Update: Another Near-Resolution for 2014, Language

Between French and Spanish, I really should have been able to speak a language other than English by now.

I took French all four years of high school (in part because it sounded so beautiful and sophisticated and in part because my parents spoke the language, so I figured I would have an upperhand). Those 4 years were to little or no avail. My siblings took Spanish and everyday I see how much more pracitcal that was. I would love to know both, but language is not my gift and I have not yet had the discipline to put in the hours it would take me to learn. Here are two songs that I love, one in French and one in Spanish that I would love to sing if I ever grasped either language.

Here's to hoping I can sing one of them by the end of this year.

Fun Friday: ROYALS, the Kingdom 3B Remix

My sister Kerissa works at a daycare, and besides children, she loves children’s music. Her class is referred to as 3B (the room number?) and they are having a party for which the theme is “Kingdom 3B”. Kerissa (or Miss Kerissa as her students call her) re-wrote a pop song especially for the occasion: Royals. You know the moment in one of Swoozie’s “Cheating in High School / College" videos when one teacher says to another “You’re a genius” - that was my initial thought for my sister when she introduced me to the song.

My Pink Princess by Kavita Ramchandran
*Her dress has been made purple on behalf of the Kingdom 3B Royals


Here are the lyrics:

 

V1

We walk with bubbles and duck tails

We try our best and never fail

to share toys

And when we walk we make no noise

In the halls to gym

We get compliments

 

bridge:

And every parent’s like

Kingdom 3B going down the hallway

Doing awesome, bet they’ve had a great day

They’re so cool

Setting examples in the school

And every teacher’s like

Kingdom 3B sitting in the classroom

On the brown line

No one had to ask them

Give applause;

They’re sitting criss-cross-applesauce

 

CHORUS:

And we’ll always be royals

It just runs in our blood

Having manners just ain’t enough

We gotta take it up a notch

May we be your rulers?

Call us kingdom 3B

And baby we’ll rule

And we’ll all bow regally

 

V2:

When chewing food our mouths are closed

We don’t drop crumbs upon our clothes

or the floor

And everyone who knows us knows

We push in our chairs

We always play fair

 

bridge + CHORUS

 

bridge 2:

Oh-uh-oh, oh-uh-oh, oh oh

Saying please and thank you

is something we know how to do

Oh-uh-oh, oh-uh-oh, oh oh

We know not to interrupt

And to stop when you say enough

 

CHORUS

About Time: A few small thoughts on a big thought and a beautiful film

I finally watched the movie "About Time" today. I have been wishing and waiting to do so since I saw the trailer, however long ago that was. The movie was everything I hoped for and more, which is not to say that it was what I expected. It left me to reflect on the big thought of time. What does that even mean, right? There are so many thoughts to think about time. However above all, we want to know do we, or can we ever really have enough of it, and have we really spent it wisely. What better bottom line for a story than time-travel to explore those questions?

In case you haven't seen it, here's the trailer for "About Time"

I could try my best to go on and on about my own thoughts on time, but they are too many and too scattered. The film sums it up so well, I will just say that I agree with the notion it presents.

Here are 3 quotes that just about summarize the movie:

1. "Lesson Number One: All the time traveling in the world can't make someone love you."

2. "We're all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride."

3. "The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life."

The fact of the matter is that we will never feel like we have had enough time, but whatever amount time on this earth God appoints us, it is enough. As for whether we have really spent it wisely,  the way I see it, that ought not to be measured by accomplishments and the like, but in the impact we leave behind us each day.  The greatest impact we can leave is love, and our days are best spent when we embrace them, whatever they hold. Whether it is true or not, I must imagine that for every difficult day, there is one I will want to relive forever.

via Tumblr

I love love loved this movie. The message, the story,  the set and costume designs, and the acting were all so beautiful. The cast could not have been more perfect. Speaking of which, can I just say RACHEL McADAMS!!! She is one of those actresses who is typecast for the right reason - she is such a wonderful romantic onscreen that I imagine the same is true offscreen. Domhnall Gleeson, the leading man and narrator of the story is such a wonderful character in the movie that I want to meet him in real life. The same is true of all the cast members I suppose. Richards Curtis (writer and director) gave these characters and the story so much heart. I know that the film is a reflection of his style of storytelling, but I wonder how much of the story and the humor is influenced by the writer and (some of) the actors being British. The humor is the subtle charming kind - the kind that you see in those people who say and do things that make us laugh and smile without a clue as to how or why. All the same, something about the film, and Curtis' writing in general, is so natural, as one interviewer who spoke with Curtis pointed out.

One of my favorite things about the film is the fact that there is no bad wrap about love - not one conflict of consequence takes place between Tim and Mary, Tim's parents, or Tim's family members. Everyone loves one another in such a real and deep way, and they just continue on in their daily rhythm doing the things that they do together. It portrayed the kind of life that I want for my own family someday.

I don't generally cry during movies, but heads up, I cried for this one - and I won't say more, lest I give anything away. It was incredibly moving and while many a cliche movie have tried to make us give serious pause to a similar message, this one succeeds in making us truly think about time.

Tuesday's Ten: 10 Places I want to go

1. Haiti - Being a part of my heritage, it's one of those places that I feel a sort of obligation to go and visit. I know the dark and dreary place that I see on TV, but I have heard of the beautiful bright land that was home to my father and is home to my grandparents today.

2. Germany - I've known a number of wonderful people who come from Germany and even now I have friends there who would be ready to have me stay with them. Above all else, I want to spend time with those friends and see their home as they do.

3. London - I wanna go there for every cliche reason that there is. So sue me.

4. Ireland - I've read so many stories that have taken place here and it sounds beautiful. I like the thought of rainy mornings and endless green. Also, that movie Leap Year kinda sealed the deal.

5. Australia - My friend Jonathan has always wanted to go along with a group of friends we are part of. The hope of us all making that trip is what makes this destination special.

6. India - I have known many people from India and their culture is like a splash of color on a black canvas - it simply calls to you. Already I am fond of certain Indian foods, the traditional attire and every detail of Bollywood that I hope to find true.

7. Japan - Of the most commonly thought of countries in Asia, Japan is the one that stands out to me. It seems so calm and serene, besides breathtakingly beautiful.

8. Rome - Another one of those cliche destinations. When in Rome . . .

9. France - After the amount of time I spent studying French culture and language in high school, I always wanted to go see it for myself.  As my cultural background is not without French influence, I feel some personal ties to it as well. I sometimes imagine me living there in a tiny apartment above a bakery where I would grab my daily baguette and spend my days visiting new people and places, riding along on my simple bike. I even see myself wearing a blue and white striped shirt and a red scarf (is that Italy?).

Via bijoor.me

10. Honduras - another place from whence I have met a number of people. I'm sure there are several places in South America that I would like to visit, but this one comes to mind first. I remember the first girl I met from Honduras. Her name was Emi (I don't recall what that was short for) and we were in the same fifth grade class the year she moved to the United States.

The Last Post on the Resolutions that I said I wouldn't have

So I guess I've come around on the matter of resolutions. I'd say I'm still keepin' it real and that these are more hopes for the year. This final one is one that I most defienitely should be able to manage: reading.

I used to read all the time. As a child, reading was my primary for of entertaiment, and even as I grew to gain more of those, reading remeained a favorite pass time. I read books well above my level and in copious. The effects were evident in my vocaublary first and foremost and showed in ertain knowldege that I had as well. Of course the more you read the better you write. All of these wonderful positive sideeffects of reading made me want to read that much more,  but aboce all else, I just loved a good story. And though I seldom read anymore, the fact is, I still love a good story. So why did I stop reading?

The first reason is an easy guess: time. I seem to have run out of it since leaving childhood. With age we take on more obligations than most of us probaly bargained for. And each new one seems to take just a little more time than the last. Growing up is some kind of adventure I guess, but sometimes, it's exhausting. By the time I see how much time I have left for the things you would like to do, it's hard to decide which activities will make the cut.

The next factor is the amount of obligatory reading you deal with as you get older. College first and foremost will require more reading than is humanly possible. So I develop a skill for skimming and half-reading that sill takes somewhere near forevier.

Thease two factor combined oftern mean that reading for pleausre seems less pleausurable and more like another task to be completed. Now I find my stories on tv and in movies. And those are great, but they do little for for my mind in the process. Furthermore, they leave little the imagination, whereas reading opens boundless fields for imagination.

This year I want to read more, and I intend to start with the book everyone has been telling me to read (for two years now): The Faulit in Our Stars, by John Green.

Year's End Toast: A Few Thoughts Going Into the New Year

This is not a post containing New Years' optimistic cliches about fresh starts and positive changes that we can make in the coming year. Forget that - well, for a minute anyway. In my experience thus far, those January hopes and dreams that I ring in with the new year seem to wither and die before the year is half over. Of course I could work up my resolve and be diligent enough to carry out the plans I make at the onset of a beautiful bright new year. I could do my best to keep  my annually renewed dreams in tact, shiny and not tarnished by the darker days that will surely be ahead with as much familiarity as the glorious sun-shining days. I just know that no year is without it's hard times and that the second wind we seem to catch on the first of every year rarely carries us all the way through the whole year. I'm not pessimistic, just realistic (well there's a cliche for you).

In that spirit of realism, I commit to this single resolution for the new year: I will let less of my words be unspoken and I will strive to know people more.

I wrapped up the end of the year cleaning my room - the literal nature and the symbolism of that are so much deeper than you know. In the process of doing so, I came across so many letters/cards/notes that I had written and/or started writing  to others, and I was struck by the number of thoughts I had on those sheets of paper which had remained with me rather than going to those whom they were intended for. Those letters were a physical manifestation of even more thoughts inside of me that I had kept to myself which would have been better spent if they were shared.

One of the letters I had written was to the sister of a young man who had passed away this past summer. He had been friends with my sister and especially my brother brother in high school, and we had in fact lived across the street from him for a period of time. I knew of him more than I knew him and it never occurred to me what a shame that was until his passing. He was a beautiful loving soul from what I hear and I will never know more than that. This haunting thought was more of a regret than the letter that I had failed to give to his sister. It is with that bit of heaviness in my heart that I decided to make it my mission to know people better.

I think mine is a large enough resolution to try to carry out over the coming year and I do hope that I will. "Smaller" hopes (which I will not yet call resolutions as my determination does not seem high enough yet) include getting in shape and loosing weight this year, improving my situation in school this semester (that's a whole story in it self), strengthening my current relationships, and getting more deeply rooted in my faith.

As I enter the new year with my realism and my hopes, I also look back on a year in my life that has been unlike any other and I celebrate the person that I have remained - that is of course the best of me, and not the worst, rather than the person that I have yet to become. There is something to be said for remaining true to who you are every year, even as you strive to be a better person, especially in worse times. It is with that sentiment in mind, as well as the recollection of the past year that I have had, that I wrote this short song, titled "Year's End Toast".


My First Fundraiser - an original title, I know

Last night I did some version of managing a fundraiser at Shady's Burger Joint on behalf of ORR. Like many a good experience, it was a learning experience. 

The first lesson I learned was that Murphy's Law is undeniable - if it can go wrong, expect that it will, and know that nothing ever goes entirely according to plan. The sky was cloudy, grey, and threatening rain. The sound system went nuts after wires were somehow rearranged, the chord for the mixer and the piano stand were somehow forgotten at home, the photo booth was barely withstanding the wind, let alone being noticed by customers, and the merchandise table was let pretty much unmanned, as I ran around trying to manage other things. Also, it seemed that no one actually knew what we were there for. It was quite clear that I was in over my head. I had a list and a plan and it all went out the window once we got on site.

Even so, the musicians were quite understanding, working with me through the lack of order and the audience was quite supportive. Several friends came out to support myself or musicians who performed.  One of my little sister's teachers came out to show support and brought clothes to donate. There were a few faces I had not expected to see who came out and really showed support, bringing along friends and clothing. One of our own ORR staff members came out and supported, even handling the merchandise and donations for some time.

The other lesson was that I have to ask for more help - it's something I don't quite do naturally and when I do it, it is with hesitation and reservation. My family was helping me with everything and several of the musicians, some of whom I had been meeting for the very first time, offered to lend a hand. At that point, it was to late to equip them to help me with those items that I would have needed help with.

Of course I could not have accomplished anything without some help. My family helped me with much of the prep - building the photo booth, making the props for it (tedious,work with adorable results) , as well as origami and posters. Family friends lent us sound equipment, one of the musicians brought mic stands and additional mics/equipment,and two of my gifted friends came out to handle photography. Shady's of course allowed us to use their restaurant as a venue and donated 10% of sales from the duration of the event.

Despite the many mishaps that were, it all worked out and came to show the beauty of community - so many people working together to make this happen and so may more supporting the cause. Not every customer who watched our performers chose to donate money or purchase merchandise, but just sticking around to show support meant so much. I brought a large box for clothing and left with more clothes than I could fit into that box. Folks donated money, tipped in favor of the artist or the cause, and came to speak to me to learn more about what we were doing. 

I recognized one woman and her husband from their rsvp on Facebook, who happened to be the parents of a high school classmate of mine. I wanted to stop and tell them that, especially his mom, who's face was like a mirror image of her son's. One couple came to see me towards the end and purchase t-shirts (we didn't have their size). They bought an album (the only sold that evening) and gave the rest of their cash. We talked for sometime and I came to learn that they knew my youngest brother as their daughter had been in class with him. One of them handcrafts guitars (how awesome is that?!) and gave me a few suggestions for how to help the organization and get more familiar with the Dallas music scene. They left me with contact info and some serious encouragement.

On the whole the evening went not according to plan, but well enough to have made an impact. We raised $325 and collected several articles of clothing (I haven't counted them yet). This marked the first of what I hope will be many more Music Night Fundraiser that I will be orchestrating for ORR.

Look out for an update on the clothing count and photos from the event soon!