Month: March 2012

Variables.

yrreskrap1 Comment

If you think about it (and you don’t have to think too hard), you will be amazed by the variables that affect your life everyday.

These variables help life circulate. It keeps the cycle perpetuating. It’s what makes people cry, shout, laugh, scream, jump, and smile! It’s what makes people ponder, create, reminisce, nurture, grow, and forget. It does not matter where you are, what your background is, or what you are doing. Variables are there.

Now, variables come in many different forms. And as we grow older, these variables give rise to more and more variables, adding complexity to your daily functions (haha math pun) in life.

Family. Family is what brought you here in the first place. Without mom and dad, without grandmothers and grandfathers, we would not have a place on Earth. The chromosomes from both your parents have beautifully combined to create a unique you. These are your very first and most significant variables. Family.

 

But soon enough, friends will become much like family. Especially during adolescence when peer relationships are more likely to be stronger than parent-child relationships. These variables can influence much of what goes on in your head and your actions. Whether your friends hold the same mentality or opinions on different subjects, they will be impact you in some way. I know I can say that my friends have become so close to my heart and that they have helped me through good and bad. I don’t know what I’d do without them.

 

And then there’s school. There are expectations to be met, or not. There are emotions like jealousy and hate and greed. There is war. There are different motivations, different talents, different niches to fill. All of your variables that constitute who you are will eventually reveal to you the person you are and the person you want to be. There are various values that factor into your life, shaping the road you will ultimately walk.

So.
Many.
Damn.
Variables.

And these variables are precious. Why? Because they drive us to meet new people, run into old friends, see foreign places and perhaps be able to call them home. These variables are precious because they allow us to feel heartbreak and separation and appreciate compassion and closeness. These variables are precious because they allow us to age and mature. They are precious because you learn so much about yourself from what surrounds you.

So much to say about variables but.

Variables are beautiful.

Ojai Valley School continues to Relay

rangerthecat1 Comment

In the past two years, I have been one of the many students from Ojai Valley School to attend an amazing event called Relay for Life. It is sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise people’s awareness and fight against cancer in a fun and community-oriented event.

When I first signed up to attend the Relay for Life event at Buena High school in Ventura, I had no idea what it was about. But within no time, there were hundreds of people and tents set up all around the track with different information, games, prizes, raffles, and live music as well. Everyone was walking or running around the track, and it was a great feeling to see all of these dedicated people in once place.

All of the teams, including the OVS team, raises money ahead of time to donate to the American Cancer Society to help research. Last year, our school raised over $5,000, earning us the Silver award, which means we donated in the middle category of high-level contributors. Although OVS is a little school, we are still mighty. Donating $5,000 is such an amazing contribution that I never could have even imagine for us.

This year, OVS is in the game once again – we even have our own Ojai Valley School page on the Relay for Life website where there is information and an opportunity to donate to this great cause. (Click on the link to go to the page)

Personally, I absolutely CANNOT WAIT for the Relay for Life event this year. It has been an amazing experience in the past, and I’m sure we can contribute just as much if not more this time. So far, we have $50 worth of donations, but I know how supportive our school will be and the donations will grow greatly over time. If money isn’t an option, anyone can contribute by attending the event and walking, running, or just being there to support. The first year was great, the second was even better, and I’m looking forward to a flat out amazing time this year.

I highly encourage everyone to check out the Relay for Life website and our school’s personal page and help support the fight against cancer!

My idol

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

Jordan Hasay is an amazing runner who runs for University of Oregon, which has one of the best cross country and track teams in the nation.

She was born in Fontana, California and went to Mission College Prep school in Southern California. Her father used to play basketball in college, and her mother was a national swimmer in England. Jordan was selected 2008 Girls High School Athlete of the Year by Track&Field News and by Gatorade.

She has been unbelievably fast ever since her youth. She set the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Youth record in the 1500m and 3000m run. Also, she could’ve ran World Junior Championship in 2006 to represent the US, but she was too young at the age of 14.

During her freshman year in high school, she won the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships, becoming the second freshman to win in the history.

During her junior year, she ran the US Olympic Trials breaking the national high school record for 1500m and qualified for the finals.

She runs 6 to 8 miles per day along with swimming 3 to 5 times a week, weight lifting twice a week and biking twice a week. That’s incredible, and I don’t think many people can manage to continue this workout.

Go Jordan!!!

Your Feet

yrreskrap3 Comments

Your Feet

“When I cannot look at your face
I look at your feet.

Your feet of arched bone,
your hard little feet.

…But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.”

Pablo Neruda

I love this poem because it can describe anybody that is special to you. Friend, family, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

My mother has always told me that your feet are the doorways to your well-being. If it is flu season, and your feet are bare, you are welcoming the sickness into your body.

I’ve always wondered why she said that. I mean, I could understand why she would advise me to take good care of my hands or perhaps my head, but my feet?
I figured that it was because we use them everyday to walk, to sprint, to skip, to tiptoe, to dance, to keep a rhythm. And since we use them so often, it is crucial that we take care of them.

But this poem took my perspective to another level. Your feet carries you from place to place.
It is not how often you use them or how you use them that make them so special but where they bring you and who you will meet.
That is why my mother stresses me to take care of my feet.

My feet have brought me so far these past 18 years. They brought me up and down mountains and through my life’s pinnacles and pitfalls.

It’s quite funny because my feet used to be my biggest source of self-consciousness. I hated them. I hated the way they looked. I especially hated that because of 4 years of soccer and track, I have two black toenails.
But now, I kind of admire them for where they have taken me. It is almost as if I have a strange respect for them.

Now, as I am going to college, it is time to let my feet take me wherever they choose to go. OH and the places I will see! The people I will meet!

Life is remarkable.

Asante Samuel-Oh God Not Again

backinphilly1 Comment

Eagles put Asante Samuel back on the trade block for the third time in a little less then a year. Trying to get something in return for Mr. Samuel is surely…well…stupid at this point.

Asante had arguably his worst professional season this past year and the Eagles would have been able to secure a pretty decent price for the ex-Pro Bowl cornerback. Last year, as reported, the Lions were willing to sacrifice a 2nd and 3rd round pick for Samuel, to which the Eagles wanted a 1st and 3rd. The Lions rejected that proposal and the deal was not completed.

I can only wonder what could happen this time around. I don’t think the Eagles will get much from any potential trade except for the extra 10 million dollars of cap space.

We could then use that money to pay All Pro running back LeSean McCoy.

We are building the team for the ages. How you like us now, New York?

Animals are GREAT!

r3t5nomLeave a comment

I think that in this world people take animals for granted way too much. Animals are what keep us fed,and are what keep us interested in the possibilities out around the earth. But most importantly, animals are what keep the earth in check.

Wild animals are not meant to be in cages or confined to a small area but they are and it breaks my heart to see the animals inside a zoo who shouldn’t even be in the weather that they are in. Animals are like humans, they take care of their young, feed their young, and would do anything to protect their young.

It is unbelievable to me when people make it a huge deal about being attacked by a mama bear with cubs in the wild when those people should have never been there in the first place. The people are the ones intruding. If a bear was to come in to someones house and go into your kids room and be standing near just to get a “closer look” you would kill it without thinking because your kid could be in danger but when people are “getting a closer look” on some cubs and they get attacked the bear is the one who should be killed…? that makes no sense to me.

Animals aren’t infinite, that has been made very clear by the california state bear, which is on the california flag but was killed off and is extinct. Bravo humans, bravo.

One day we will all pay for neglecting the fact that we NEED animals. even if it’s just because we need a hug…

Hopefully we can just learn instead of decimating the animal populations of the world but by the looks of things, that is looking like it will never happen.

Baseball Photos

r3t5nom2 Comments

Last week the baseball team traveled through the windy road up the 33. It was a long drive up to Maricopa, CA to play against a school but the team made it up there and came out victorious. As a photographer I took it as an opportunity to take pictures of the team playing their sport, and that I did.

People might think that it is only standing in one place and pointing a camera but the truth is that if you take photography seriously you won’t just stand in one place, you will walk around like a mad man or mad woman trying to find the perfect shot and then moving on to find the next one.

While I was taking this photo..

I came up with the idea to take this next photo, I saw that the catcher was standing in pure dirt and his glove was getting all dusty, then it came to me. A ball hit his glove and dust blew out of his glove as if it was smoke, it looked awesome!

This is what I love about taking pictures! The fact that I can capture moments that we only see and forget without a camera. It is truly a great feeling to catch moments like these.

What do you think about the photo?

The Thing I Love To Do

r3t5nomLeave a comment

Photography has always and most likely always will be the one thing that I truly love to do. I have been taking pictures for quite a while and still to this day I can not figure out what I like taking pictures of more.

I have taken pictures of scenery..

That picture was just a complete split second decision that I made before going and taking pictures of my friend Stosh Lindsey surfing, but I thought it would make a cool postcard 😛

Ive taken Black&White pictures..

This picture I took at the OVS play this year and in it are Jack Beverly and Carolita Landers.

I’ve taken pictures of surfing..

This was such a nice day, my friend Kai Lowe was out busting out some big airs and well I was lucky enough to be able to capture them.

and pictures of many other things but I don’t think I will ever want to settle for taking pictures of just one thing. I think the great thing about being a photographer is that you can show the world what YOU see through the viewfinder of your camera and allow them to see that not everyone sees the world in the same way.

Which one of the pictures above did you like?
and if you didn’t like any of them, feel free to NOT comment something rude about them :]

Rain

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

It doesn’t rain much where I live.

I consider LA and south to be Southern California.

North of LA to San Francisco is Central Coast.

And North of SF is Northern California.

That said, I live on the Central Coast.

And where I live, there is a lot of fog and a lot of wind but not very much rain.

I happen to enjoy rain.

Quite a lot actually.

So I was extremely pleased to see it raining today.

I think one of the very best things is going to sleep, the sound of rain tapping against your window, wrapped up in a soft, heavy blanket.

The rain makes me calm.  It turns the ocean that stormy green-gray.  The waves start looking like white horses galloping across the water, their sea-foam manes tossing and scattering as they crest and roll away.

I like watching how it comes down from the smoky dark clouds and makes every inch of the water rough and wild.

Petrichor is listed as one of the 100 most beautiful words in the English language.

It is defined as the smell of rain on dry earth.

It is a recurring word in my favorite television show Doctor Who.

In series 6, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife,” it is one of the passkey words the TARDIS sends to Rory Williams that allows him access to an archived control room.

The TARDIS describes petrichor as “the smell of dust after rain.”

I put that as my status on Facebook once.  My summer roommate Sonia pointed out, “If it’s dust after rain, wouldn’t that make it mud?”

I didn’t really know what to say about that.

But I do know it makes everything feel fresh, clean.

RAIN!

Integrity

therightliberalLeave a comment

The word integrity is defined by my Google search as “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”

This, as it would seem, is a key factor in a person. There is a reason that the word so often gets tossed around and applied in so many ways.

I have heard it said on multiple occasions that the generation of today lacks this quality when compared to those before us, and that statement makes me really look around and judge for myself.

Surprisingly, I would tend to agree with the above stated remark. I feel that my generation has less of a regard for integrity, it just simply is not a value that we seem to hold as dear.

As with most things, the blame can not be placed on one specific person or thing for the occurrence. But I do feel that there are some very key factors in this trend.

Money makes the world go round more than ever before. My generation has been taught that money is in fact the key to happiness and all satisfaction in life.

To achieve success through money, many feel as though cheating and lying is the way to get ahead, and in many cases they are right. The world of business can be a cutthroat place and in some situations a lack of integrity can really help you.

This sends a message of acceptability when it comes to lacking integrity. As stated in a previous blog, I believe that morals and ethics are unique to each person so this is not a judgement of people’s integrity, simply and observation.

Obviously business ties in with the world of pop culture, another area which I feel has diminished the importance of integrity.

It used to be that the people portrayed in movies were honest characters who would rather die than compromise their integrity.

I am not stating that these characters do not exist in the movies today for they are still prevelant, yet not in such an obvious manner. Added to that there is also the counter of many characters who derive their likability from their overall lack of integrity.

Again, I am not saying that this culture change is a horrible thing or that it is a positive. I simply find it interesting that our values have changed in this way.

From a personal standpoint I can see both sides. I have seen when being honest can bite you in the ass as well as the other way around. So it comes down to each person thinking for themselves on how much they value integrity.