opinions do matter.

Today in AP English 11, our teacher was cruel enough to be gone and have the substitute teacher give us one essay and two multiple choices. AUGH!! The prompt for the essay was talking about opinions in media, blogs, ordinary citizens, etc. Do these opinions matter and do these opinions foster democratic values?

I KILLED THAT SHIT! I think I did the best I've done so far (which isn't very good). But I was lucky that day because I discovered this wonderful site, Global Voices Online and it helped me a lot miraculously. This site is for bloggers to translate the words of other bloggers around the world in English. I thought it was amazing. They don't just talk about politics, they talk about EVERYTHING. It is really cool to read the opinions of a person living in Botswana (for example) or how some person in Japan feels about our 2008 Presidential candidates. I didn't even know they cared about who was our president.

Obama is hot even in Japan.

I found the site in first period (web design 2) with our free time since the play we were supposed to watch was canceled. So I started talking about how opinions do matter but my counterargument was that misinterpretations of opinion can lead to bad results. My counter was kind of weak. But I started talking about how recently Koda Kumi (japanese singer) said something in an interview :


"The comment came on Tuesday night while Koda was hosting "All Night Nippon." The topic of her manager's marriage came up, and Koda was asked about when her manager was planning to have children. She made a seemingly light-hearted reply that "when women turn 35, their amniotic fluid goes rotten, so I'd like them to have a child by 35."


It sounds really stupid to me but the Japanese public were offended especially since the late Japanese princess had struggled to produce a heir at age 41. I wrote about that in my essay. Haha I am sure my teacher is kind of like what the heck but she is cool enough to accept it. And it is true. I think opinions really do sustain democratic values. Restricted democratic values = restricted opinions. Then for my argument I talked about the bloggers in Japan and other stuff. I made the conclusion in the last 2 minutes so it was really cheesy, something like:

"An opinion can change a thought, a mind, or a life. Opinions do matter."

The two multiple choice tests were freaking killer. My brain was dead at the end of the day. So I am doing luau for PIC (pacific islander's club) with Chrissa. It seems really cool. It was our first time going to their meeting and it was kind of weird but at the same time I felt comfortable. I only knew less than five people in there. But Mindy is one of the club officers so I felt comfortable with that. I think it will be really fun to try something new. And most of the members seems really nice and funny. It is nice to be involved with a fun activity when I am stressing about all these crazy classes.

OMG PACHIA's PROM IS TOMORROW :] lucky her.

mine is not until march 8th. a lot of time. haha. kind of.

love,
ck.

some like it hot.

I really want to watch this movie. I cannot wait until it comes out on clubbox soon. I think An So Hee from Wonder girls (she is the young one) is the cutest thing. I am so jealous of her because she is fifteen and she is so talented. There is a whole bunch of young Korean talent nowadays. I feel so old. Yeah that is weird.









I am also super jealous of Kim Min Hee's gorgeous cheekbones. Looking at the caps of the movies, makes me want to watch the movie more. The movie is called "some like it hot". It revolves around three main characters, a single woman (40s), the oldest daughter (20s), and the youngest daughter (teens) and their romances. It is supposed to be a comedy.
to
Today I was pretty much lazy and stayed home and did nothing. I was super bored. My mom was out and my dad took my sisters with him to do errands. My brother was asleep upstairs, really sick. I was just doing nothing. Sometimes it feels good to do nothing though. So I have been downloading a bunch of new songs and I am really into relaxing vocals and cool beats. Of course that has to mean Humming Urban Stereo and Clazziquai. Clazziquai is probably one of the only artists where I can listen to the WHOLE album over and over and not get tired of it.






So today I did a dumb thing. I spilled juice on my small blanket so I decided to hand wash it since our washer and dryer is on the fritz at the moment. I just soaked it with hot water and scrubbed with soap and let is soak for awhile. So I did that at like 2 pm and then I rememered it around like 9 pm. So I tried to squeeze the water out of the blanket and my arms were freaking sore. Then I called my sister to the bathroom to help me (did i mention I soaked it in the bathroom tub). So we just decided to grab the whole blanket and push against the wall and try to squeeze it by one of us punching it. It kind of worked. I should have just tried to soak the part that just had juice. -___-

So I was reading an article on NY Times online called "Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular". It turns out that Japanese fanfic writers are now posting their online novels by their cellphones so readers can read it on their phones. That is pretty insane to type a whole story on your phone. Some writers argue degrades real writing and such. "Critics said the dominance of cellphone novels, with their poor literary quality, would hasten the decline of Japanese literature. Whatever their literary talents, cellphone novelists are racking up the kind of sales that most more experienced, traditional novelists can only dream of." I guess it is like the popularity of the online fanfics in Korea that are turned into books. They write with slang and online facial expressions (^__^) and it kind of insults writers who can take years to write books filled with words only. I think the reason fanfics are popular is the content. It appeals to young people (especially the females) because a lot of fanfic contains romantic/comedy plots. I do read online fanfics because to me, they can be like watching a movie or a drama. I probably could choose it over a book but I think there is a quality in books that fanfics don't have. Not to be mean but a lot of fanfics don't have quality. They are just kind of repeats of each other with different names. I am pretty picky when it comes to read fanfics now. But I think that some fanfics do emit that "author sincerity" and can have as much feelings as a book can. Though I think cellphone novels sound pretty scary to write after I read this " A year ago, one of Starts Publishing’s young stars, Chaco, gave up her phone even though she could compose much faster with it by tapping with her thumb. Because of writing on the cellphone, her nail had cut into the flesh and became bloodied,” said Mr. Matsushima of Starts." O____O

I watched the Bring It On marathon on ABC Family today since I had nothing to do. I was excited to see the latest Bring It On. I still think the first on is the best one. The second Bring It On was total crap. The third BIO with Hayden P. was not so bad. The latest one was pretty good too. Though Michael Copon is totally hot and him being a former Power Ranger too is a plus. I think the only thing worthy to watch in all the movies though is the cheering choregraphy. Man I would love to meet a guy cheerleader. That seems pretty cool to me. Though I did like some of their funny sayings in Bring It On 2 like "make like a tom, and CRUISE." That cracked me up bad.

So apparently A Tale of Two Sisters (american version) should be coming out pretty soon. I remember watching the original Korean one and it was scary and creepy and twisted. however I was pretty much hiding behind my pillow the whole time. It was really confusing and my best friend and I had to get some guy online who loved the movie to tell us the whole plot of it before we figured it out. I do want to watch the American version when it comes out because after I saw the pictures of the actresses playing the two sisters (played by Im Soo Young and Moon Geun Young in the Korean original), I think it may be okay but everything depends on the new plot and the directing. The girls playing the two sisters look pretty cute and I love their hair color. Yeah that is totally irrelevant to the movie. I hope it comes out soon. It was orignally supposed to come out January 1st 2008.



THE ORIGINAL


THE REMAKE (girl on right is girl from unfortunate events)


---Christina

dont sweat those little things.

I was reading about this new book called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all small stuff". It is one of those self-help books (which are totally boring so I never read them but I guess they are cheaper than seeing a shrink right?). There were some certain sections that I did relate to and my week.

See the Innocence
"For many people, one of the most frustrating aspects of life is not being able to understand other people's behavior. We see them as "guilty" instead of "innocent". It's tempting to focus on people's seemingly irrational behavior - their comments, actions, mean-spirited acts, selfish behavior - and get extremely frustrated. If we focus on behaviour too much, it can seem like other people are making us miserable."

I think that is really true. I do sometimes label people "guilty" when their behavior is not "normal". I do that to my brother all the time. I think partially because my parents do that. Instead of listening or understanding, they just label GUILTY or bad behavior or disrespectful behavior on my brother. Then when I bag on my brother, it just makes me mad because of his behavior. Like I will yell at him to do the dishes before he goes jogging but he says he will do it after he goes jogging but I just continuously yell at him until I get frustrated and then let him go and then I feel superbad when he just comes home after jogging and actually does the dishes.

"The next time (and hopefully from now on), when someone acts in a strange way, look for the innocent in their behaviour. If you're compassionate, it won't be hard to see. When you see the innocence, the same things that have always frustrated you no longer do. And, when you're not frustrated by the actions of others, it's a lot easier to stay focused on the beauty of life."

That is sound advice. Stop worrying and getting mad about other people and just let it go. Just listen and see the innocence in their behavior and it will be easier to accept them the way they are. Instead of yelling at my brother, I should just let him jog and then I can trust he will do the dishes.

Choose Being Kind over Being Right
"You have chances to "correct" people, privately as well as in front of others. What all these opportunities amount to are chance to make someone else feel bad, and yourself feel bad in the process. Without getting too psychoanalytical about it, the reason we are tempted to put others down, correct them, or show them how we're right and they're wrong is that our ego mistakenly believes that if we point out how someone else is wrong, we must be right, and therefore we will feel better. In actuality, however, if you pay attention to the way you feel after you put someone down, you'll notice that you feel worse than before the put-down. Your heart, the compassionate part of you, knows that it's impossible to feel better at the expense of someone else."

I am absolutely guilty in doing this. I did it just recently and it hit me hard in the conscious. So I hoped this one friend would do bad (well not really) because I was feeling competitive (we were jokingly bagging on each other) but then this friend calls me later to tell me I did great on my presentation. I felt super bad. Though it may not seem much to some people, I think it is a lesson to learn. I would rather be kind than right sometimes. There is no point in pointing out a person's every flaw and mistake. I just don't like it when people feel the need to criticize excruciatingly on others. I am guilty of doing this but I am trying to follow the "if you have nothing good to say then don't say anything at all." I don't feel right in my heart when I end up gossiping or talking about someone behind their back. I don't do it as often but I know that I have done it more than I should. Humans are made to make mistakes and I know that and I know that I can be hypocritical of my own sayings but I can accept that.

So to talk about more fun stuff:

So apparently these two new designs are a South East Asia EXCLUSIVE by Nike during their tour in Asia. The female shoe is the pink with purple check and the ID on the show says "true love" and the male shoe is the purple wiht blue check and the ID says "be true". They are super cute and if anyone is going to South East Asia please COP ME A PAIR! I think they are only giving them exclusively though. They are super sweet though. I really love the IDs on both.

Finals weeks as been crazy for me. I think the stress is starting to seep in. I failed a math test so my grade dropped three percent so I have to get an A- just to get a B+. T_______T (weep, weep). I am already stuck with B in AP US (just fingers crossed for AP test). Art can easily changed to an A. Chemistry is an A right now but I'm really worried that I will fall below A- if I get a B+ on the final. WHY WHY WHY does everything always fall at the end. I tried so hard and now it is like SPLAT in my face. Sigh. My parents both think I am stupid now because all I get is B's. My mom even told my sister once that she thought i was going "lower and lower". It really disappoints me that my parents are so unfair like that. My mom was some fob in high school and didn't finish college. My father didn't even attend high school (too poor back in Korea). They just don't understand. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am too tough to cry about it anymore. Why do parents make school more stressing than it is? And you know what I hate.. people who don't stress about school and act like it is nothing and don't even care about college. Or smart people who don't use their potential or work hard. Sigh life is unfair. The average people have to work harder than those above always.

I am feeling depressed now. To cheer me up here are some inspirations for junior prom.

PSYCHE. JK.
the day you see me wear that,
i will probably like 80 years old.
that is called "princess style" from japan.
crazy japanese.

-----CHRISTINA

ice cream unlimited

"i scream for ice cream"

I love ice cream but there is a limit.
The Japanese never fail to amaze me with their creativity.
I will be adventurous and try one of these flavors, someday.

Miso Ramen Ice Cream

Chili Pepper Ice Cream

Salad Ice Cream

Raw Horseflesh Ice Cream

Pit Viper Ice Cream

Soy Sauce Ice Cream

----CHRISTINA