Been a While,Bye 2009

Well here it is, another one of those 'haven't written here in forever' type of blogs. Good timing too I guess since this year is about to end, it's just a few days away. I don't know where to start, so I'll just start off with going off to college.

This year has been a big one, the end of highschool and the beginning of college. Moving in day was definitely a mixed day. I was so happy and excited to be living and doing things in a new place, a place that will become a second "home" to me for the next few years, but of course I was sad to leave San Diego, a part of me was left back in SD and in the people there that I care about. My time so far at UCI has been great to say the least. Zot Zot! I've met a ton of chill people, and feel like I've grown a little more responsible and mature. I'm still learning the ways of a college student, it's so much fun though! Staying up late with people, late night food runs, tons of new people. It's really awesome having my car up there too, getting to explore the area is always fun. Guppies, The Spectrum, and The Lab, and The District are my favorites so far, but there's still alot out there. As for the school part though, it's very different from highschool. Big lecture halls, hardly any really homework and nothing but a few tests to make your grade. My grades, unfortunately, are the worst they've ever been, it could've been alot worse, but it could have been alot better too. I'm happy that I've survived my first quarter in college, and that I am motivated and determined to do a lot better next quarter and the rest of college.

One of the things that has constantly been on my mind and causing alot of stress for me is what I want to do in life. I'm always going back and forth between a few things. It's awesome when I hear people who know what they want to do and how they're going to get there, I wish the same could happen to me. I need to take some career test, and I wish there was some career day that I could go to haha.

Christmas was just a few days ago. This christmas was really different for me this year. Usually, I have a list of things I wish I could get, you know, like material things, clothes, electronics etc. But this christmas, all the things I truly wanted were things you couldn't buy from a store, couldn't order online, you get what I'm saying. I realized, that I've been focusing on alot of unnecessary things in life, and I've found out what really makes me happy and what really means alot to me. Being away for college, even though its not that far, I was happy to be free and independent from home but I realized I was taking time that I spend with my family for granted, and time with my friends for granted as well. Just spending time with certain people was what I wanted for Christmas. It felt so good to go out to the movies on Christmas day to watch Avatar in 3D. My parents haven't been out to the movies in forever, and it's definitely been too long since my family and I have gone out and done something just for fun. There's a few things I really miss right now, and I wish I could have even just a tiny piece of each back, or a chance to relive a few moments and experiences, but like they say you can't always get what you want..To be honest, this Christmas felt like a Thanksgiving all over again, for once I really think I felt what it was like to be thankful and really feel just what and who means alot to you, gotta be thankful for what you have everyday. Thank you everyone.

2009 has been an interesting year. Too many memories to list all down here. Definitely had alot of ups and downs. The transition from highschool to college was really exciting, I think its one of the most exciting times in a persons life. For me, feels like the year started out better than it's ending, I don't want to sound negative or anything, but these past few months especially have been pretty hard, college, and a couple other things have made some days and nights pretty tough. On the good side, there's been so many awesome, just awesome things that have happened this year. I'm excited for 2010 and for what it has in store, I definitely have no idea haha. It feels good to be writing again, anyone who's reading this, I don't want you to think that I consider myself a writer of any sort, but it feels good to put down some of your thoughts. I guess it isn't the same as talking to someone, but I think it serves a similar purpose. I wish I had more interesting things to write about, maybe I'll work on that for the upcoming year. 2009, goodbye and thank you for everything. hellllo 2010!

And I guess thats why..

they call it the blues, time on my hands, could be time spent with you

The Times They Are A Changin'

Summer, for the past three years its consisted of pretty much the same thing; hanging out, random adventures, wasting time, band, vacations, you know, the usual summer stuff. This summer hasn't been much different, but it sure feels way different than any other one. It didn't hit me at Graduation, High School was over and we were all caught up in celebrating 4 years of hard work. It didn't hit me at Grad Nite that this night would be the last time I'd ever see people that I had shared the same "home" with for 4 years. Its crazy if you take the time to think about it. After going to my college orientation, I realized, this is where I'm going to spend the next 4 years of life. A new place, new people, starting completely fresh. It's like being a painter. 4 years ago you got a blank canvas, and each year you painted or added things youve done, things you've accomplished, and all your countless memories. Fast forward to now, and now someone says great, now start this one. Thanks Melinda Ching, when you mentioned this "canvas" thing during your speech at Grad it totally caught my attention. I'm bummed to see alot of friends go, 2 of my best friends are leaving in two and three days, and a ton of people are leaving really soon too. I really wish I could have kept some friendships more intact, I'm sorry for taking a few granted...

But life is life right? Well, I am really excited for college. Props to all the staffers and planners at SPOP, it has really made me excited to be an Anteater. At the same time though I am just as nervous as I am excited. What I'm most nervous about is just the whole academic part and really finding what I want to do in life. I've heard stories of people, who seemed destined to do one thing but end up doing another. People gifted in the field of science, who make calculating this or computing this seem like a piece of cake, but who are passionate about things like social issues, or art and music. I just need to find my own balance of being practical, what I'm passionate about and what I enjoy doing. I've heard it everywhere, balance is key.

Anyways, before I started writing I remembered a scene from the movie Watchmen to the song The Times They Are A Changin, and it could totally relate to how I see this current time in my life. Things are going to change alot in the next few months, weeks, days, part of it good part of it not so good, but they are all things I'm willing to accept and embrace.

Heres the link to that one portion of the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2hNhM3dHB4

Again

So here it is, another blog about a song I like.

Esperanza Spalding. She's a talented bassist and singer, graduated from Berklee College of Music and was asked to be a professor after crazy huh! Anyways, shes a girl with real talent. Her song "Precious" is probably my favorite. Really deep song. Lots of things to ponder here, create new thoughts, but yeah well here are the video/lyrics.

Love me or leave me, but please don't decieve me

and say you'll love me how I am

You love the way I fit some ideal,

Not the real woman you've yet to understand

See, love ain't all heaven, and I am no angel

But I do the best I can

You always wanted something more from my body

And said you needed something more from my lovin'

But all you got was me and that's all that I can be,

I'm sorry if it let you down

Now it's no nice excuse, but all the magic was used up on trying to uphold

Some kind of tame, flattering persona that

Soon enough was getting real old

It takes more than pressure to change rock to diamond,

Now all you have is sand slipping through your fingers

You always wanted something more from my body,

And said you needed something more from my lovin'

But all you got was me and that's all that I can be,

I'm sorry if it let you down

But I'm not gonna sit around and waste my precious divine energy

Tryin' to explain and being ashamed of things you think are wrong with me

I'm not gonna sit around and waste my precious divine energy

Tryin' to explain and being ashamed of what you think is wrong with me

Set you up, you say I set you up

Like I was different than what I am offering you now

Let you down, you say I let you down

And drove your heart around

Did you forget about all the love & the acceptance that you promised me too?

So today, I had to go to UCI to take a test, and the only music playing was from the radio

almost all of it had no real value to it so annoying...

someone should invent something where you can access your iTunes library

from your car, how awesome would that be?

I notice alot of my blogs have to do with music, sorry if it gets annoying

to everyone (or no one) who reads this, enjoy anywayss

blurbs

today, i had nothing to do, so i decided to go to barnes and nobles and look for things to read. I across some really interesting stuff.

One on this japanese scientist who decided to study water and the crystals they form. really interesting. im not sure how he did this, but he had water and put words printed on paper into them such as "beautiful" "hate" "anger" even things like "thank you" and "mozart". Then he took pictures of the crystals that formed to each corresponding word and it was nuts how things like beauty and wisdom had perfect crystals formed, and words like hate had very broken crystals or no crystals at all. "heart broken" even had a crystal in two pieces. the book had a bunch of pictures and everything it was really coool.

the second book was by a musician who became a neuroscientist, and wrote a book about music and the brain. it was so awesome! it talked about why we like certain music, how music affects us and i really cant begin to describe everything that was in it. it really got me interested...

also, some good advice i found just reading through other things. it was talking about relationships with people, specifically when arguments or issues happen. when two people fight, they usually take a side over and issue and they each take one side and fight. what it was suggesting is that you should both take the same side and fight against the issue, i guess this way is that you get rid of the issue and not one another. i thought it was pretty helpful advice, i mean ive never really thought of the situation in that way, see what some curious reading can do? i'm definitely going to go back, read random things, im always up for learning something new or reading something new

sorry this blog is just a bunch of random thoughts, though i think its worth atleast for me to write or put down somewhere.

im still listening to michael jackson songs everyday, am i the only one? timeless music, seriously.

summer feels extra long, i guess that is cause i do have a month longer than the previous years, but each day feels longer too.

what else, im really excited for college now UCI is gonna be fun zot zot, but i miss alot of people now and i am going to miss alot of people even more when school actually starts

i really miss playing music in a big setting, the only chance i get now is with Mr. Torns summer band, which is awesome, but i wish there were more opportunities. i especially miss jazz, gah, some of the song we played were just crazy, Last Season, always got to me. everytime i listen to it i still get the same feeling.

summer jazz band was super fun forgot to mention that,got to play with some people ive never played with before, awesome music too.

speaking of awesome music, dont you just love those songs that just grab ahold of your insides? recently ive been finding alot of music like that.

i think james taylors music is timeless, i watched a live concert dvd the other day with my family during lunch, it was great. you should all have some of his songs if you dont already.

well this has been a run-on blog, peace

cuerpo y alma

This is super random, but here's the lyrics and a video for probably one of my favorite jazz standards ever, Body and Soul. Here's Chris Potter, whatta monster..haha well in this case a very soulful, emotional monster

My heart is sad and lonely
For you I sigh, for you, dear, only
Why haven't you seen it?
I'm all for you, body and soul

I spend my days in longin'
And wond'ring why it's me you're wrongin'
I tell you, I mean it
I'm all for you, body and soul

I can't believe it, it's hard to conceive it
That you'd turn away romance
Are you pretending? It looks like the ending
Unless I could have one more chance to prove, dear

My life a wreck you're making
You know I'm yours for just the taking
I'd gladly surrender myself to you, body and soul

My life a wreck you're making
You know I'm yours for just the taking
I would gladly surrender myself to you, body and soul

Jazz Classical Pop & Sex

Here's an interview from Charles Mcpherson, a jazz saxophonist. I was just watching his interviews for fun since I might attend one of his concerts at Anthology woo! but then he started talking about different music, as well as Shakespeare, and why only a few people may really enjoy it, and I really started to listen. As someone who listens to classical and jazz music a lot, (thats not all i listen to as well), I agree with alot of things he says, he speaks the truth in my opinion... but Watch it! I tried to type out the part of the interview I liked the most, so sorry if a couple words are wrong, itll start around 4:00


"The difference between that music, jazz music and classical music is that, the marketing ability to sell that music has nothing to do with sex.. none. none! Okay, if you take the element of the sexual component, out of pop music, i dont know if that would sell. So when you go to classical concert and youre into classical music, sex persay really doesnt have anything to do with it,if the music has something to do with it..its the same thing with jazz, so if you love music, you love the music. You dont love the way the persons pants fit, or the dress, or how handsome or ugly or pretty or unpretty a performer is its like, how do they sing, what does the voice sound like, this is what youre into. These two musics classical music and jazz music and maybe other musics too, are dealing with music, pure music, like it or not. Has nothing to do with the trappings, pop music in the whole pop consciousness, the whole thing is trappings. Its green smoke, its a guy killing a chicken on the bandstand, its somebody coming making an entrance from the top of this wall on a string, its a guy putting his guitar on fire, its somebody half naked, thats what, if you take all that away... no i mean because people like jazz because they like billie holiday because she could sing her butt off, not because..her buns were this way or that way or shes got green smoke coming out of her ears or she just killed a bunny rabbit.. soo as long as the level of consciousness is like that, which is probably about 4 inches below the naval, then itll never be, neither will shakespeare, neither will jazz, itll never be fertile(word?), maybe that will change.."
- Charles Mcpherson

Just some food for thought. Whatever it is, whether its music, or people or anything, you should appreciate something for what it really is, or for who they reallly are. Dont get caught up with the trappings, its about the substance not the shine. It's annoying, I hear people say or read comments about music artists like "omg she is so sexyyy id wife her" or "mmm i want him now". Now, I know its normal for people to say things like this, but the thing is I hardly hear or see things like "wow thats such a great song" or "i can totally relate to this". There'll always be things like this going on I know that, but I just feel theres a real lack of appreciation for real music these days, and that people and especially the media focus on the things that really don't matter, like looks, sex appeal, what people are wearing. There's a lack of appreciation for a lot of things that are really valuable like literature, art and music. I dunno..

Anyways, the music in my life is awesome. Summer band with Mr. Torns is crazy, we're playing such awesome music. And today summer jazz just started, and its fun! It's been too long since I've really written a blog, the past couple have just been lyrics/videos..I guess this is kinda the same haha but I feel like I wrote more of what I felt this time. Woo!
Till next time

Centerpiece

The more I'm with you pretty baby
The more I feel my love increase
I'm building all my dreams around you
My happiness will never cease
But nothings any good without you
Cause baby you're my centerpiece

I'll buy a house and garden somewhere
Along a country road a piece
A little cottage on the outskirts
Where we could really find release
But nothings any good without you
Cause baby you're my centerpiece

- Van Morrison

Genius

This video is crazy. The music fits perfectly with it haha, musical genius Henry Hey.

We Shall Overcome

I stumbled upon this video on youtube. Before I even finished it, I knew it would be one of my favorite videos. What this is an original composition called "Enoch's Meditation", and it uses audio from Martin Luther King's speech "We Shall Overcome" and Barack Obamas victory speech. I spent over an hour trying to find the transcript to MLK's "We Shall Overcome" speech but I was able to find Obamas part. Watch and Listen carefully! This video is definitely worth taking the time to watch. Not only is the music enjoyable and fitting, but the message really has an effect, and the speeches are amazing just to listen to. A person may die, but their ideas can live on forever.

President Barack Obama-

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voices could be that difference. It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled -- Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America!"


music, we need when language fails us, but we cannot remain silent...

A New Now

It's certainly been too long since I've last blogged. I feel like there's a lot to say, so much has happened since!

I guess I'll start with All-State. My first (and last) All-State experience is one I won't forget. I had the pleasure of playing with some of the most talented musicians I've ever heard. Some of these highschoolers sounded like they could be professional. Anyways, the convention was in Fresno. Not the greatest place to go, especially in California. Most of the drive up there seemed to be endless miles of plants. One cool thing was the Tejon Pass, driving through the mountains. The convention lasted from Thursday to Sunday, which was basically arriving there, two days of rehearsal, then a performance. The band I was in was conducted by Dr. Mallory Thompson. She was very energetic and outgoing and also very intelligent. One moment that will always stand out to me is when we were rehearsing a piece called 'Sleep' by Eric Whitacre (anyone who knows this composer knows he writes some beautiful pieces). We were doing a run through, and we got to the climax of the song, which, in a lot of Whitacres music, had its ways of tugging at your insides, and she started to cry.. not just tears but crying. She kept conducting but she had to cover her face because she couldnt help it. And when the song ended, we were all just kind of quiet. It was a prettty awesome feeling just being in a place where everyone worked hard and everyone had a common goal, to play beautiful music! aha well enough about that.

For another thing, you might already know cause it seemed to spread at school, that my car, my baby, was stolen... but luckily thanks to the stupidity of the thieves I got it back! My sister already did a blog on it, since it was hers before mine, so check it out www.capinator.blogspot.com, it has some interesting pics too but I'll explain the story anyways. So the guy driving was speeding on the I-15 (with a stolen car,smart huh) so the police chased the guy into a cul de sac in Mira Mesa, not a smart move, so thats where they got caught. My car ended up with new rims and tires (thanks guys!), but my radio was gone, and so were my RayBans but those were the least of my worries. In the car was to be found; checkbooks, movies, video games, variety of tools, trash, coins, clothes, electronics, and the crazy thing is all of this stuff was most likely stolen. The police cleared most of the car out for evidence and what not but an old but working mp3 player was left so thats cool. Right now my car is in the shop getting some repairs and what not so yeah.
This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I forgot to mention my car was on sophomore hill when it was stolen. Now i know the school doesn't have liability for that, but what I'm saying is that my car would have been more likely not stolen if it was in the parking lot. Now having 1st period online does have it's disadvantages when it comes to the parking lot, but what is up with that 30 or more empty staff parking spots EVERY morning?! what's up with the new tier II policy? Used to to be if you had a D or an F you couldnt park in the lot. Now its if you have less than a 2.0(I dont know the exact but it is around there somewhere). Used to be there were no separate staff and student parking. Now theres an exact number of staff spots that there are staff, but lots of staff have already admitted they carpool to school with other teachers, and that all teachers come and leave school at different times. It just seems ridiculous to me that the school hasnt done anything all year yet to add more student parking when the line of cars on sophomore hill gets longer, and when theres ALWAYS EMPTY STAFF SPOTS, especially after someones(my) car was stolen off it! I know a lot of people, seniors, especially know what im talking about. well anyways.. hahah

The jazz program at MC is kickin off pretty well. This saturday, both jazz bands are going up to the annual Irvine Jazz Festival. Playing jazz has really appealed to me these past couple months. It's one of the things I've committed some time to it lately, I think I've found my number one way to express myself creatively and thats through music. Wherever I go, I hope I can join and play in a big band setting, or maybe even a combo, or an ensemble but I don't plan to stop playing. I guess that leads me to college..

College college college...all I can say is I'm really thankful for whats happened so far regarding college admissions. Im excited to start new and be in a new environment. The only thing I'm nervous about is keeping up in college. My sister told me today, staying in college is 1000x times harder than getting in, and shes a senior in college so i know I can take her word for that. Only a few more weeks than AP Tests are here, and pretty soon it'll be senior activities and GRADUATION! well, I'm not gonna write a whole shpeel here all on what i think/thought about highschool so far and all that stuff now, since theres still some time left to enjoy it!