Day: May 14, 2012

Cars, Cars, Cars

therightliberalLeave a comment

I love cars and I cannot fully explain why. There is something about them that just excites me and turns me into a little boy.

I think Top Gear said it best by calling that feeling the “fizz”, the feeling that certain cars give you that just cannot be explained.

I love going fast and yet I don’t need to while enjoying a car (although some cars just have to be driven quickly).

Being a poor teenager there is no way that I get to drive supercars and hypercars, just admire them from a distance.

And yet, that is good enough for me.

It is an art form that combines design with functionality. It is not something that can be replicated exactly but something that evolves and is interpreted differently.

A simple car that is made as cheaply as possible is just as impressive as a car that can go over 200 mph. It is the brilliant engineering in both.

Ultimately a great car is one that you can bond with, one that adopts human-like characteristics. That is the dream car, no price tag, no status, just a relationship.

My Current Musical Obsessions

yrreskrapLeave a comment

I think it is amazing what a voice and a guitar can do together.

I am currently obsessed with these two contestants of a Korean television show called KPOP Star. Before I start flooding this blog with videos of them performing, I’d like to mention that they both come from Southern California.
So Cal represent!


This is Woosung Kim. Actually, this is one of his first videos on the show. It includes a little bio about him. He also sings one of my favorite songs: Live High by Jason Mraz.
I LOVE HIS VOICE!!!
And although he can’t dance, he does not say no when the judges ask him if he can dance. He puts himself out there, shuffling at the end of the video to get a few laughs from the audience. Ah, just great!!


In this video, he changes a k-pop song into more of a ballad. Again, it is just his voice and the guitar. It’s pretty great.

This next video is of another contestant that I like as well. He got a little farther in the competition. His name is Jaehyung Park.


This song is a cover of Frank Ocean’s “We All Try.” He changes it up to have more of an R&B feel. To be honest, I like this version so much better!


If you know me, I am a big fan of Maroon 5. And when I heard him sing this song, I nearly melted right then and there.


This is another great video but my favorite one is the next one!


This is a song that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. I think he sings with such genuine emotion.

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and become fans too!!

Combinations.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

Beans on toast

There are some combinations that just go naturally together: pancakes and syrup, cookies and milk, and of course the classic all time American snack, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

These are all American traditions, none of which I have adopted. In England we have our own that strangely many people in the foreign country do not know. These are all things that I am unwilling to let go and still today practice on a daily basis.

Here are just a few of my all time favorites: tea and biscuits (yes you’d call them cookies), beans and toast, chips (fries) and mayonnaise, and these are only a few.

Ok these may all seem a bit alien to you but so do many of the things that Americans eat I mean pancakes and sausages, really? But you never know how good they are until you try them. So mix it up try some different combinations.

The mighty 12

venturatreker1 Comment


Today we played Midland in lacrosse.  For us this was our lynch pin game, the game we worked up to the entire season.  In the end we lost. But what I love most about our team is that the score does not matter.  Win or lose, we play every minute of every game.  Unlike many other OVS teams, losing does not deter us, because no matter what we grow and learn from our defeats and always come back stronger the next time around.

In today’s game we had one goal at the half, down by 6.  Even for Lacrosse that is a big lead.  Yet we came out playing harder than we had all game, and were rewarded with a goal, And let me tell you, you would think we had just won the super bowl we were so excited and jumping around.  Two minutes later, another goal, and we just won Gold medals in the Olympics.

The point I am making is that no matter what is happening it is important to always stick with it because no matter what you will learn from it and get better. Every game we’ve played this season we always walk away with our heads high, leaving it all on the field.

Summer… School?

rangerthecatLeave a comment

When thinking about the summer, I was always overly excited to graduate, go back home, and spend time with friends and family.

But, recently, those plans have change. I am still graduating, of course, but I am not going back home. Instead, I am staying right here in Ojai and working for OVS‘ summer camp program!

I knew I would need to get a summer job this summer. So, I started looking for many places back by where I live, but not many of them wanted to hire someone just for a few months during summer. My friend had told me that she was planning on staying in Ojai and working for OVS this summer. I figured it would be a really good opportunity and I would also be making a good amount of money.

I am pretty excited about this opportunity! First of all, I love kids and I am excited to work with the younger kids this summer and do fun activities with them.

Secondly, I am happy that I will be around a lot of my friends, since most of them are day students and live around this area anyways.

After I work, I will be able to go home in early August and spend a month at home with no obligations. I can see my friends and family and then, after that, it’s off to college at Cal Lutheran! I am so excited for this summer and for what’s to come after it as well! 🙂

The Avengers

kirbyfullyloaded1 Comment

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for The Avengers to hit theaters!

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to vacation at the family beach house in Ventura.  The bedroom I slept in had a chest of drawers and in the bottom drawer was a mountain of original Marvel and DC comic books.  There were Spiderman and Batman, Justice League and Avengers comics piled so high that the drawer barely closed.  I used to sit on the floor at the foot of the bed for hours, reading and rereading all these strange, colorful stories.

And so I became enamored of the Marvel Universe (Batman was a separate favorite).  Naturally, I went to see all the Marvel movies when they came out.

I absolutely adore Robert Downey Jr.  The first movie I saw that he starred in was Iron Man.  It is one of my very favorite movies, Iron Man 2 was better though.

I saw The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor.  

And those movies were good.  Really good.  I love action movies, attractive people and super heroic snazziness.  And Marvel movies have those three things in spades.

My sisters are  on their first backpacking trip, and they get back Friday.

They’re super cool and they like all the same actors and actresses as I do, so we’re going to have a freak-out party in the theater when we go to see it the night they get back.

Oh yes, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth (not a fan of Liam but Chris is amazing), Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson all in one movie????

It is going to be magnificent.  I can’t wait!!!

All Time Low

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

There’s always that one band you listen to in your early teen years that you never forget.

When I was 13, I discovered All Time Low and fell completely in love.

I usually like one or two songs by a band.  Four songs TOPS.

But All Time Low…they were different for me.

To date, they’ve recorded 4 albums and one EP.

The Party Scene (2005)

This album is no longer available. There are only 1,000 known CD copies.

EP: Put Up or Shut Up (2006)

So Wrong, It’s Right (2007)

Nothing Personal (2009)

Read More »

Happy Birthday Evan!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Today, it was one of my best friend Evan’s 18th birthday. He decided to have a get-together with some of his friends at his house. After a riveting ultimate frisbee/disc golf demonstration, my friends and I got picked up and drove to Evan’s house.

His mom cooked us an excellent dinner with tri-tip, kabobs, salad, and delicious tea and lemonade. We all sat around the table and joked around, and were alternating taking turns at doubles ping-pong, which I will admit, got quite intense! There were a bunch of different teams, some of which dominated, and others which hardly got any points. But over all it was very fun, we all got some good laughs out while playing.

After Evan opened his presents and it started to get dark, we moved into the garage for a game of “water pong“. Now, water pong is basically the same as beer pong, which is a popular drinking game, but of course we played it without any alcohol. It’s a fun game to play and we had two teems of four that battled hard. There were some awesome shots made and, like the ping-pong, it got pretty intense.

We all had such a great time and I really couldn’t have asked for a better Sunday. I was sad when it was over and we all had to return to school. But, 39 more days (and believe me, I’m counting) until we graduate and spend the beginning of summer together with time to do whatever we all want! All in all, it was such a great day with friends 🙂

A New King In The World of Nikon

r3t5nomLeave a comment

Recently I purchased the Nikon D3s which is an extremely fast camera when it comes to fps which means frames per second, at an impressive 9 fps in full format and 11 fps in cropped DX format, my camera was one of the fastest cameras on the market.

But then came the Nikon D4, it is a dream camera for a professional photographer and definitely should be looked at as a work of art. Well it was the dream camera for a professional photographer until the Nikon D4 came out and took the throne.

The D3s and the D4 don’t look too different at first glance but it is at a closer look where you can see the great changes that were made from one to the other.

First change that will definitely benefit a photographer in the long run is the angle at which the shutter button is placed on the body of the camera. It is placed 35 degrees more tilted so that it makes it easier to shoot for a long period of time.

The second big change on the camera is the quality of the censor. The Nikon D3s is equipped with 12 mega pixels and the D4 is equipped with a 16 megapixel sensor. A big difference that truly hit me hard when I found out 😦

It also does up to 14 fps, that is un believable.

In the end what I am trying to say is that I got the D3s because I didn’t know that the D4 was coming out so soon after, it sucks so badly.

And also that the Nikon d4 is one of the most remarkable cameras ever made by Nikon.

Whale Watching

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I love the ocean.  But I’m reaaaallllyyy lazy when it comes to actually getting into the water.

Today it was hot and sunny and absolutely beautiful outside.  But I had no motivation to get in the ocean.

My mom probably asked me 7 times to go paddle-boarding with her.  I think I just took a nap instead, I can’t actually remember.

But when I finally stopped being so sluggish, I agreed and we got in the water.

We paddled out and I absent-mindedly started singing “Starlight” by Muse.

All of the sudden, I heard a strange whooshing noise to my left.  I turned and saw a baby gray whale, staring at me. I freaked out and almost fell off my board into a kelp bed I was so excited.

“MMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!” I screamed, I yelled so loud some of the surfers nearby gave me a sideways look.

“Loookkkeeeyyy!” I exclaimed, pointing frantically at the foamy white water where the whale has just disappeared.

She turned just in time to see the whale poke his head up at us.  He seemed to wink, one large eye closing just before he went back under.

“Follow that whale!”

We tailed him long enough to see there were two adults with him.   They each let out a happy spout as they traveled up the coast.

No doubt they were heading for the food-rich waters of Alaska.  They gray whales pass up the California coast each year, an annual migration from Baja, Mexico up where they breed to Alaska, where the feed.

After a while, we lost them in the blinding reflection of the late afternoon sun.

We waved goodbye and started paddling back home.  But after about 5 minutes, I saw a shining black flash peeking out from within a cresting wave.

“MMMMOOOOOOOMMMMM!” I yelled again, pointing and bouncing up and down on my board.

She looked, only to see the bubbles of its disappearing shape, as it dove deep beneath the surface.

We started back again, seeing another pair of whales as we got closer to the beach.  They were far out in the distance, surfacing and playing in the middle of a swarm of seabirds, their dark backs glistening in the sun.

We got so excited about seeing them that we watched a documentary on gray whales after dinner. It was truly an amazing day.

I LOVE WHALES!