Defining my Indentity-#2

 20 Quotations I love

1. My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose.

--Bette Davis (1908 - 1989), The Lonely Life, 1962

2. I believe that one of life's greatest risks is never daring to risk.

--Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine, September 2003

3. There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.

--George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), "Man and Superman" (1903), act 4

4. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.

--George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

5. Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.

--Pete Seeger

6. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

--Abraham Lincoln

7. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

--Will Durant (1885 - 1981)

8. Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.

--Antisthenes (445 BC - 365 BC)

9. Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

--Richard M. Nixon (1913 - 1994), in his White House farewell

10. Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.

--Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

11. Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.

--Walter Anderson

12. You don't need fancy highbrow traditions or money to really learn. You just need people with the desire to better themselves.

--Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, Accepted, 2006

13. Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.

--G. M. Trevelyan (1876 - 1962), English Social History (1942)

14. I do not like to repeat successes; I like to go on to other things.

--Walt Disney

15. Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality.

--Salvador Dali

16. Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life. --Dalai Lama

17. There is only one success... to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it.

--Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957), Where the Blue Begins,1922

18. Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

--Robert Louis Stevenson

19. Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.

--Jim Rohn

20. Find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Think of their needs.

--Barack Obama (1961 - ), Arizona State Commencement Speech, 2009

TED. com

1.

a) Ken Robinson

b) "Schools kill creativity"

c) Relationship between Education and creativity

d) Ken Robinson has a presentation which is in order to develop children’s creativity, the education system should be changed.

e) He led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative education.  He is an author and educator.

f) The main topic is that the education that we are having now focuses on teaching students to become good workers rather than creative thinkers. Also, he mentions that nowadays academic subjects are the main subjects in schools and students focus on getting good marks on their report card. The truth is that students should cultivate creative thinking and their curiosity. That is what we need.

g) I was excited about this particular Ted Talk because I was curious why schools kill creativity on students and I sort of agree with this statement.

h) The presenter changed my view and behavior. During the school classes, all I concentrate on was getting "A"s on academic subjects and my major (Art) but I slowly think that that is not the all I need. Thinking deeply and asking questions to me are also very important. Maybe, I am already accustomed to becoming just a good worker. I will have to look back on myself.

i) The sentence I will take away with me is that being wrong is not the worst thing. 

2.

a) Dan Gilbert

b) "Why are we happy?"

c) Exploring happniess

d) Dan Gilbert represents the true meaning of happiness. We often think that getting what we want is the best happiness. However, Dan tries to challenge that idea. Our “psychological immune system” would make us feel truly happy even though the things do not go what we planned or wanted.

e) He is a Harvard psychologist. He published the book called, "Stumbling on Happiness".  He has won a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Phi Beta Kappa teaching prize for his work at Harvard. He has written essays and articles for New Tork Times and Starbucks.

f) The main thesis is that our thoughts which will make us happy are often wrong.

g) I was excited with this TED Talk because the title which is "Why Are We Happy" really intrigues me. I also have some questions to myself what makes us happy or what we think is happy is the true happiness.

h) Dan Gilbert changes my view on happiness. I thought that true happiness would come from how we think about. Also, I have never thought about the synthetic happiness. The speaker explains about the synthetic happiness that people used to think that is true happiness. I learned that we often overrate the difference between what we got and did not receive.

i) "When our ambition is unbounded, it leads us to lie, to cheat, to steal, to hurt others, and to sacrifice things of real value."



3.
a) Ron Gutman

b) "The hidden power of smiling"

c) Power of smile

d) Ron Gutman talks about some surprising results of studies about smiling. By only looking at smile, people are able to measure how long they can live.

e) Ron Gutman is a founder and CEO of Health Cap. He was founder and CEO of Wellsphere, an online consumer health company that developed the world's largest community of independent health writers. He also made a group of faculty and graduate students to find ways to help people live healthier and happier lives.

f) The main point Ron is making about the topic is that people might think smiling is not a big of a deal but actually it is very important to smile many time. In addition, smiling is an evolutionarily contagious so it is common to smile when people look at someone who is smiling.

g) I am excited about this topic because I did not realize smiling influences a lot of things in life. Also, the title, “The Hidden Power of Smiling”, made me curious about power of smiling.

h) The speaker changed the way I view his topic. Before I listened to his speaking, I did not recognize the just smiling makes people feel good. Also, it was fascinating that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.

i) "I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish."

4.
a) Kate Hartman

b) "The art of wearable communication"

c) Arts and technology


d) Kate Hartman explores how people communicate with world by using wearable electronics. She made "Talk to Yourself Hat", "Inflatable Hat", and "Glacier Embracing Suit" in order to provoke and develop talk. 

e) Kate Hartman is an artist, technologist, and educator. She is also a professor of Wearable and Mobile Technology at the Ontario Collage of Art and Design. Being the co-creator of Botanicalls, she is working to explore the system for letting houseplants to call their owners when they need water or else.   

f) The main point Kate is making about the topic is that people have to be active listeners which led them good relationships. That is why she created many creative hats to show the new modes of expression and communication.

g) I was excited with this TED Talk. While I was looking for TED Talk about arts, I found this one. Because I am a visual art major, I wonder what is arts that are wearable. I have never thought about it. Also, it appeals to me because I am intrigued with the communication arts. 

h) Kate changed my belief that it is impossible to communicate with non-living things. Through watching her talk and creations such as hats and suits, it changed my bias. People can relate to world around them by expressing and communicating with environment and themselves. Also, I am going to try to create and think about art pieces that can relate to not only people but also with nature and environment.

i) The one image I will take away with me is the image of Kate with "Glacier Embracing Suit".  

5. 
a) Matt Cutts

b) "Try something new for 30 days"

c) inspiring 

d)  Matt Cutts suggested that for 30 days try something you have always meant to do or wanted to do. This talk gives that suggestion to actually think about how to start setting and achieving goals.

e) Matt Cutts is an engineer at Google where he helps webmasters to understand how search works (specializing in search optimization). Also, he works making hundreds of videos that answer questions about Search Engine Land. He supports that link spam should be shut down.

f) The main point in this TED Talk is that some people may think 30 days is short to do something special or start new activities. However, during a month, people can really achieve what they really want or try to find. They can decide to change small habits or do what they really experience continuously for 30 days.

g) I was excited about this talk because it really gives me inspiration. Finishing what I have decided to do is difficult. For example, when I decide to draw every painting, I only did 2week continuously. Therefore, after hearing the Matt Cutt's talk, I determine to finish my promise which is drawing human figure every day for 30 days.

h) Matt Cutts gives me realization that undertaking small changes should be sustainable. Before I watched his TED Talk, I did not recognize that small changes do not matter on my life. However, these little alterations influence bigger changes. I am going to try not only new activities, but also something I really want to do.  In my case, if I accomplish my engagement that drawing human every day, later on, I would have more skills on observing people’s traits and drawing precisely. Therefore, it is very significant to manage and confirm myself in 30 days in order to spend essentially.

 i) The one sentence I will take away with me is, "why do you waiting for? I guarantee you the next 30 days are going to pass whether you like it or not, so why not try something new that you have always wanted to try."        

6.

a) JR

b) "Use Art to turn the world inside out"

c) Arts


d) JR who is the French street artist uses photos of people's faces to show the world its true face by pasting them on the walls. He made the TED Prize wish  at TED2011, to use art to turn the world inside out. Also, he tells people to join in at insideoutproject.net. 


e) JR is the street artist. He travelled to distant and dangerous places to befriend with inhabitants, hear their stories, and recruit them as models and collaborators. By using his 28mm wide-angle lens, he could capture the spirits of individuals. These images pasted on the urban surfaces such as buildings, bridges,trains, or even rooftops. He finished many projects around the world. He won the prize of TED Talk 2011.


f) The main topic of JR's talk is that arts can change perceptions and the way we see the world. Each portrait he took is a story. Through his many projects, he reveals the world the true faces. For example, one of this project called, "Women Are Heroes", depicts that women who goes through the war, poverty, violence, and oppression. Some may think the projects are just bunch of people's photos in the cities but, each portrait is story. Therefore, he wants to turn the world inside out through arts.


g) I was excited about JR's TED Talk. I found out this TED Talk in my photography class in school. Donna showed this talk to all students in the photography class and I was excited to listen to his saying and his projects around the world.  Also, since I like to take pictures, it really inspired me.

h) Before I listened to this TED Talk, I had never thought of people could change the world by arts. When I thought about arts, education was the first in my mind. However, it was wrong. It is potential that the way arts portray the world change the way we see the world. JR took pictures of people around the world and pasted them in the cities. One of his work, “Women Are Heroes” in Brazil depicts the power of women. There was a terrible accident in Brazil that three students were detained by army because they were not carrying their papers. Then the army took them and brought them to an enemy favela where they got chopped into pieces. After he heard that, he went to Brazil and started his project there. He showed his strong attempt to change the perception of world through his action, not only by talking. In this part, JR really inspired me and gave me a new improved vision that my decision and action can help other people who need support. 

i) JR 's TED Prize wish, " I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we'll turn the world inside out."

one of JR's project in Brazil

     

7.

a)  Brene Brown

b)  The Power of Vulnerability

c)  Expanding perception

d)  Through her research, Brene Brown explained the human connection which includes our capability to empathize, belong, and love.  Collecting many stories from people, she could find out the deep insight from the stories to understand humanity.

e)  Brene Brown is a social worker and research professor at the University Of Houston Graduate College Of Social Work. She researched vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame for last ten years. First five years, she spent her time to collect people’s stories focusing on shame and empathy. She is now using those works to investigate a concept that she is interested in.     

f)  Her main point in this TED Talk is that people tend to excruciate vulnerability because they think it is shame. However, people have to embrace the vulnerability which is necessary for their joy, creativity, belonging, and love. In other word, if they numb vulnerability, they also numb everything such as joy, gratitude, and happiness. The vulnerability is related to their willingness. According to her research, people who have strong sense of belonging and love believe that they are worthy of love and belonging because they are whole-hearted and living with the deep sense of worthiness. On the other hand, people who always struggle with their imperfection are feared that they are not worthy enough.  This is the difference between people who are afraid of vulnerability and who accept the vulnerability.

g) I was excited with this particular TED Talk because the word, “vulnerability”, is described my personality. Brene Brown accurately explains what I have worried and concerned about. Also, I never thought that vulnerability can have the power to people and I wondered about the power the vulnerability can give to them.

 h)  Brene Brown totally changes my thought and viewpoint. Living in a vulnerable society every day, our reaction to deal with vulnerability is to ignore it. I have always embarrassed with my vulnerability because I think it is showing my weakness to others so I tend to norm my vulnerability to others. It is shame for me to reveal my weakness However, after listening to her story about people who embrace their vulnerability, it made me compare with myself. They are willing to do something that does not have certainty and they are whole-hearted. They have courage, belonging, and love. It is definitely challenging. She said, “You cannot selectively numb emotion”. In other word, whenever we try to eliminate the strong feeling like disappointment, grief, and depression, we are also trying to get rid of our joy, gratitude, and creativity. This relationship made me shocked because it is paradox that every time I numb strong uncomfortable feelings, I am actually killing emotions like love and happiness. . Not only that, but I also have a struggle thinking about my imperfectness. It is very stressful and makes me blaming myself and others. However, since I learn how to be happy with feeling vulnerable, I should try to listen and keep remaining myself that everything I am doing have impacts on others. 

i)  “This is what I have found: to let ourselves to be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen; to love with our whole hearts, even though there is no guarantee, and that’s really hard.” “What might happen to say, “I’m just so grateful because to feel vulnerable means I’m alive.” “Believe we are enough then we stop screaming and start to listen. We’re kinder and gentler to people around us and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves”                  

 

8.

a)      Gever Tulley

b)      5 dangerous thing you should let your kids to do

c)       Education and arts

d)      Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, spells out 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do and give the reasons why a little danger is good for both kids and grownups.

e)      A software engineer, Gever Tulley is the co-founder of the Tinkering School, a weeklong camp where lucky kids get to play with their very own power tools. He's interested in helping kids learn how to build, solve problems, use new materials and hack old ones for new purposes. He's also a certified paragliding instructor.

f)       The main point of his speech is that people especially parents over protect their children. At the past time, it is usually for parents to let their children outside and play in nature, but nowadays they over protect their children from the world. It is sometimes very important for them to get hurt because over protection can cut off children’s great chances to learn how to interact with the problems and world.  In contrast, the things parents have to do is nurturing their children’s creativity and confident. The five dangerous things they should let their kids to do are playing with fire, owning a pocket knife, throwing a spear, deconstructing appliances, and breaking the DMCA.

g)      I wondered what the five dangerous thing kids have to do are and wanted to find out did I do those things when I was young.

h)      The presenter changed my view. I never imagine that playing with fire actually help children scientifically. When I hear the children playing the fire, the first thing in my mind is that they could hurt themselves. In fact, I notice from the video that getting hurt for children is not the most terrible thing in the world. Because I did not have experiences in my childhood playing dangerously, it seems irregular to let children play with fire, own a pocket knife, or even deconstruct appliances. Maybe, I can use that information when I have my own children. ;)

i)       “When we round every corner and eliminate every sharp object every pokey bit in the world, then the first them that kids come in contact with anything sharp or nor made out of round plastic, they’ll hurt themselves with it.”

 9.

a)      Julian Treasure

b)      The 4 ways sound affects us

c)       Entertainment

d)      Playing sound effects both pleasant and awful, Julian Treasure shows how sound affects us in four significant ways. Listen carefully for a shocking fact about noisy open-plan offices.

e)      Julian Treasure tries hard to study sound and how that sounds affect us. He is the chair of the Sound Agency. He is also the author of the book Sound Agency.   

f)       The main point of this TED Talk is that people have to listen around them carefully and hos those sounds are able to change people’s emotions. The four ways sound affects us are physiological, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral.

g)      I was excited with this TED Talk because I am very sensible with the sound of vacuuming and washing dishes at home. Every time I hear those loud sounds, they make me very dizzy and stressful.  

h)      Julian Treasure’s main point in this video is that the sound we hear can affect our condition and also productivity. Furthermore, people have to consider carefully about the ways sound around them influence them because the sound can change their body, mental ability, and behavior.

i)        I will take the sound of birdsong away with me because the sound of nature is the best music in the Earth.
     

10.

a)     Raghava KK

b)    Shake up your story

c)     Entertainment and art

d)    Artist Raghava KK demos his new children's book for iPad with a fun feature: when you shake it, the story -- and your perspective -- changes.

e)     Raghava KK began his career in art as a newspaper cartoonist His work spans painting, sculpture, installation, film and performance, always linked by his challenging opinions on identity, conformity, gender, celebrity, ceremony. Raghava KK's paintings and drawings use cartoonish shapes and colors to examine the body, His early work as a painter made a complete break with his cartoon career -- he painted watercolors on canvas using only his hands and feet.

f)      The main point in this speech is that people have to teach perspective to children in order to create their creativity. That's why he creates the children's books that are able to be shaken and then there are other perspectives coming out. 

g)    The reason I was particularly excited about this TED Talk is that I am very interested in becoming a children’s book illustrator because children's story books have to be simple but also contain a lot of meaning to it. Today people use technology everywhere and he created the IPad children's books that can be shaken or moved. I like to create my own movable story books.

h)  The presenter broadens my view. I never thought of creating story books in IPod, especially designed for children. In fact, teaching perspective can affect children’s empathy because by learning other’s perspectives they can actually put themselves in the shoes of someone who is different from them. The world surrounding us is all biased so giving them multi perspectives can influence them to consider others’ thought and respect them.

i)  The sentence I will take away with me is “Teaching perspectives is the best way to teach creativity.”

Journal post

Sept.9.2011

-People in the past believed black cats represented bad luck or misfortune.

            As soon as I came to school, I went to the counselor’s room directly to check my schedule still...Again, I could not get my schedule what I have requested since Monday. Because of that, my face was filled with stress and worries. I did not imagine the beginning of my grade 11 life was so stressful. It was a big deal to me that getting a proper timetable for semester one and two. Irritated, while I was walking down the hallway loudly, I thought that an event like this really is related to luck. Even though I don’t believe in luck, I always think that practicing and trying can make luck in difficult situations.

 Being stressful with this happening does not make things better. The one who would get tired and weary will be me, myself. Therefore, I am not going to think about my timetable again and start accepting it in order to finish my grade 11 life enjoyable.

For today, I like to choose the word, bad luck because today was all about my bad luck which are I could not take social studies in semester one and am in the waiting last to take foundational math 11 in semester two.   I like to leave with two questions. “What is the standard between people who have bad luck like me and people who always have luck in anything?” “Is it possible that I can be a lucky person?”

Sept. 12

-People in the Brave New World should remember this satement.

                Started to read the novel, “Brave New World”, I was excited. This is my first time to read this famous book. Even though I knew that this book was amazing and evolutionary, I was afraid to read it because I did not think I could understand this huge meaningful book.

                Usually, I want to explore new adventure and start something I have not tried but in my mind, there is fear and anxiety. Thinking negatively ceases me from being adventurous and audacious. This results me to think of words, boring and ordinary. Getting out of comfort zone is not easy to everyone. However, since I break the zone that surrounds me, the next step would be adventurous.

                I sometimes feel that my whole life is focused on going to university that everyone wants to go.  What is I don’t go any other post-secondary schools? What if I there is nothing I want to do at the end of graduating high school? Grade 11 is the time for me to think seriously about the future and what I really want. Doing research, brainstorming, or asking someone who can provide many information and their experiences would be some ways. I do not think it is late to think more honestly about the life after I graduate high school. Even writing a journal once a week helps a lot to organize and manifest thoughts.

Sept. 23

-The reality of modern people

               In English class, I acquire a lot of connections between the world in the book, “Brave New World”, and the world today. Even though the author of this book wrote this book in 1932, today’s world starts to become similar to the story in the book. People want more and cannot satisfy with what they have. To satisfy them, the media and companies make more and develop technology and products.

               As I think about the society today, it’s all about the money which led people to the facet of massive production. Everything today is produced massively. They are all identical and produced at once. It could be same in human being. I realized the rapid technology process through reading article that the teacher gave us. It was about the parents are able to pick the traits of their future children. For example, they can establish the diseases their children would get or the appearance. It was bizarre. Imagining the society like that remains me the word, superabundance greed of people. Wanting everything perfect, people keep developing with technology. It is true that there are some possible advantages like preventing their children from getting serious diseases, but what if they do not satisfy with their babies because their babies do not come up with what they expect they would look like or what if people start to treat human being as products like the way they switching their IPod.  

                 To maintain my identity, I endeavor to satisfy what I have. I had been always thought about what I want to have but there are many things I already have such as IPod or cellphone. There are still many students who cannot have those things. It is frequent to forget about it. I also habitually neglect what I have.  Not to become like the world in Brave New World, people have to speculate what they have and remain themselves what is the true happiness means.

Oct.3

    -With technology, it seems destroying everything is the best way to solve problems.

              I find the book, Brave New World, more fascinating as I go farther. First when I read the book, the story outline was too challenging to understand. However, when I reached chapter six, it starts to become the polar star up in the sky. It really makes me think a lot about the modern society.

              I am too dependent on technology. For example, while I was studying or painting, Ipod is always beside me. Also, I feel so uncomfortable if my Ipod is not with me. Not only my Ipod, but my computer is also beside me. There are always pros and coincidentally. While the technology helps me to live conveniently in school life, it suffocates me in pain. Students can use their personal individual computer while they are in classes so that they can multitask and it can save time. I think this would be starting not too far away. Because the technology develops too fast, it shuns nature. People start to close their eyes on nature like trees and forest. What they all care about is money.

               In Langley, everywhere what I see the most is construction zones with gigantic vehicle and trucks. I cannot open window while I'm in car on highway. The two words in my mind when I face with those views are worries and continuous consumption. There is never end; people cannot cease their consumption and companies still have to make them consume. Everything is interconnected which means that people working in companies have to make others to spend their money in order to earn their salaries and those consuming again work to create products to earn money. It is a sustained cycle.

                My questions are what makes people so generous in spending money and is there any accurate solutions for ceasing that massive production.

Oct. 14

 - When I draw, creativity is the most important part.

                In Advance Placement Art 11, I am working on my project with safety pins. The project is about creating ten different art pieces on 4" by 4" paper and all of them have to be used in graphite. Actually, it was my second time working on safety pins. A week ago, Mrs. Crawford gave another ten pieces of paper to create art pieces with relationship in safety pins. At that time, I did that project poorly and I got C for my mark.

                After looking at other students in class and receiving feed backs from others, it intrigues me to work harsh and push myself harder. Somehow I felt very humiliated. It was my first time to feel embarrassed on my art.

                 Even though creating another ten art pieces with same material and same object is arduous, I feel excited. I think that it is a great opportunity to try hard and strive for my satisfaction on my ability. While I was working on my ten safety pins project, it has to be based on direct observation which means that observing meticulously and capture every facet in images of safety pin itself, not thinking of the concept and abstraction. Everyone would think safety pins are too small and useless to use them as art object, I find out that they also have many aspects I can obtain from. The ways the safety pin opens and how it is rolled at the end are so interesting. Not only does pin have many different sides I can use, but the material also is various. I am using only graphite for this project but i can grind it and use with water and also mix with oil to make more texture. It turns out so well. I cannot wait to produce four more.

Oct.21

                 In my A block, it was my first time learn about the book, "The Secret". I heard about this book, but I was not interested in reading it because I thought that book would be difficult to understand.

                 "The Secret" is about the positive thinking would lead to the success and the negative thinking would attract negative energy which would make things impossible. There are tons of people who believe in this topic and really are inspired by this book. However, as I heard this topic, I thought little further. What is the negative energy? What about people who everyday think positive but nothing happens? For example, people who suffer from hunger and pain (disease) do not have negative energy; instead they always prey for better situation or better circumstances. However, there are people who cannot be cured or rich enough to buy daily meals. What about children in Africa or China who suffer every time from hunger, it is true that they get support from rich countries but it is an only consistent solution for their hinder? Even though they think positively every day, I do not think their situation would be changed.

                   People (readers) would consider who wrote the book, "The Secret". He earned lots of money every month from selling this book. He is rich. He can have everything he want. In my opinion, the book could hurt some people who believe this book but nothing he or she wants happened. I think thinking is important like what the author said, but action is the first step to succeed. Only thinking would take a long time to attain what you want.

Oct. 31

-Time goes by as fast as lighting a matchstick.

               Today is the last day of October. Already… It's been two months since the school has started. Every time I notice that each day passes so quickly. Sometimes I have a moment to think about the past by reading my own diary. It is very fascinating that I can see what I did at the same day in the past time.

              Every last day of a month, I always think about what I have done during that month. October has passed so busy. I tried hard to re-motivate myself to work hard and get starting in school life; I was too relaxed because of the long summer vacation. Thinking of the past could bring me some depression but it can also help me to speculate what I have done wrong or what I should not do it again. It is hard to realize what my mistake and unnoticeable habits are. From thinking and writing my last year diary I can feel and regret about my behaviors which were filled with flaws.

              Anyway, not only thinking about the past, but thinking and deciding about the future also is a considerable matter. Expecting what I am going to do in November is also a lot of fun; sometimes worries. I can say that it could be fear I am afraid of. Fear of no getting good marks or next art project are all combined together. I am the person who worries first before take action so it leads to the great abhorrence or distress. Knowing that act should go first, I think too much that eventually I give up.

               I think the brainstorm about my random thoughts is like the doodle on the marge of the science note but it is what I usually do on the last day of October.

Nov.7

                                         -There are various personalities to on individual.  

               Three objects for my personalities. For my new art project, all the students are required to pick three objects to draw with. Finding deeply on my own personality requires a lot of thinking. Because it is easy to be conditioned to be identical to others, this project makes me to have tons of brainstorms about myself.

               Speculating my own property has been asked considerable amount of time in my life, so far. Every time I changed my school, attend the first day of new grades, or write an tedious essay, automatically I was forced to think about my characteristics and fill in the blanks in the blank-where it said, favorite subject or favorite food. Those questions are just shallow answers that I do not even have to think in order to fill the blanks. However, choosing three objects has to be related to authentic traits of me, and the only person who knows best is probably myself. As for me, finding my property is like solving inscrutable puzzles in short limited time.    

                 Through my long repetition and vicissitude of thoughts eventually narrowed down to three objects: a spray, a music box, and a Polaroid picture. What the spray represents about me is the uncontrollable way the spray is spread and the ability to alter inside of the bottom with different component. Those illuminate that I am easily affected by the surrounding and others. The music box represents my motive and stimulus. This embodies my endurance of suffering and arousing myself to keep going. I got the idea from the last one, a Polaroid picture. The way the Polaroid picture slowly appears remains myself of long period of time to complete my work or decisions.

                 Now, I should go start drawing some compositions...

Nov. 17

           

   -It is always nerve-racking being in front of people.

            I did my Prezi presentation. Presenting something in front of many students always makes me sweating as if I am in sauna. However, I decided to do mine today. After Julian finished his Prezi presentation, I put up my hand in order to do mine; it was my first time to actually volunteer myself to do it. The classroom was deadly dark and the only brightness I could see was students’ eyes. The red lights in my English classroom did not bother me a lot at this moment. My legs shivered while I was walking in front of the class. As my English teacher connected my computer to the big screen which was already opened to Prezi presentation, my voice stroked the silence. I started it. Using Prezi made my presentation interesting. Also, I felt more comfortable and relax because the movement and images in Prezi were diverse. As I kept talking and answering questions throughout the presentation, I started to like resenting my ideas to others. However, after long time period passed, I finished it. The feeling of accomplishment was great but also the discontent coexisted. I kept thinking I could have done better or I should have spoken slowly.

           My own diary is filled with everything I experienced. Today’s presenting also taught me how to represent my thought to others effectively, easily, and understandably. It is challenging because everyone has his or her own thoughts and backgrounds. Explaining also should not try to change others’ thinking, but it should make them to choose whether my idea can be take some places on their thoughts. 

Nov. 28

                                          -École Parsons à Paris

           Choosing post-secondary schools is, at my age, a big decision and also gives a lot of stress to every student. This week, many different art schools come to our school to interview grade 12 students’ portfolio and introduce their schools to us. This is not my first time to watch their presentations; I watched them in last year but as I am grade 11, I have started to think more seriously about choosing post-secondary schools.

           Today was the first day and two art schools visited our school: California College of the Arts (CCA) and the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). Both schools impressed me a lot. Even though I was not interested in those two schools, they gave art students a lot of suggestions about the portfolio and showing us their present students’ activities and art works in school. Since my major is visual art, it gave me an idea of life in art post-secondary schools. Having own studio, surrounding with great art faculties and students all over the world just blew my mind already.

           I always imagine being a post-secondary student. I know it is a lot harsher than being in high school, but living campus life and explore my major with experts and doing internships would enrich my future life. I was excited and I am looking forward to see more schools, especially Paris Parsons College of Art!!    

Dec. 5

 -People have their own distinct thoughts, and they think they are always right.    

             Reading two short stories, in English class, gave me a lot of ideas related to the humans’ relationships. Through the short stories, “The Painted Door” and “A Business Relationship”, the interactions between people are revealed. In “The Painted Door”, the wife, Ann, has an affair with her husband’s friend, Steven because her husband goes out to take care of his father. However, he does care his wife, but not verbally. Therefore, after Carl comes back to his house, he finds out that his wife sleeps with his best friend, Steven, and he goes out and dies in a blizzard. I cannot say whose fault.  However, what I know in the story is that both have a charge of Carl’s death and also his friend, Steve.

 If I were Carl in this story, I would not leave the bedroom where Ann and Steven sleep together.  After finding out their relationships, first I would take Steven out and beat him up. Then after Steven would leave the house, it would be necessary to have a serious conversion wit Ann. While talking with Ann, it would be possible to realize that Ann is lonely by herself in the isolated town. It would be hard to believe her again, but as I would try to be more emotional and verbally attach with her.

Dec. 13

-I took this picture during the music show.

Having the responsibility of taking pictures for the yearbook, I attended the music show at LFAS. I set up the tripod and my camera’s white balance in the middle of the seats. Even though I went with my friend, most of the seats were taken so I had to sit by myself and my huge camera. Because I am not a member of any of the bands at school, listening to what they are striving for and practicing was thrilling.

As the music show started, I was shocked. Every music composition that they played seemed like an emotional story; even the junior band played spectacular compositions. I could feel how much they practiced. Every time I passed through the music rooms, all I could hear was sound of all the unharmonious instruments. However, because of this music show, I realized my misapprehension. There was one student who was in the junior band playing the French horn. When he blew this gigantic instrument that was hard for him to even carry, his facial expression and the redness on his face showed his efforts and nerves at the concert. In order to create whole orchestra compositions as a group, every one of the members had to help each other.

Because our art major is individual, even though we give advice and suggestions, there are people who feel unsatisfied with their works and there are others who feel satisfied. However, while I was listening to their performance, I thought that they were playing as one huge team. That really left an impression on me!

Dec. 24

                                   -Christmas is not all about presents.

 The Christmas means celebrating the birth of Jesus. However, the society keeps changing to just consuming and waiting for the Boxing Day. Understanding the true meaning of tradition is important. When people try to follow the tradition like Christmas, they should remind the meaning of it.

             I spend most of the time in Catholic Church with my family. This Christmas was not my favorite. Not a lot shopping and just staying home with family were all about this day; but what I liked about it was I could have time to relax myself. Sitting on the bed and beside me there was lemon tee and I did a lot of questions for English blog which frustrated me with the fact that I had homework on winter vacation. This “boring” time really made me think deeply just like the lesson I learned from Brave New World. I felt comfortable and could think step by step. Having always busy days, that time refreshed my mind and impacts me to start the new year. 

             My question for this Christmas is do people know sometimes boredom can give them unique ideas and critical thinking.

Dec.3l

-I will try hard to keep my resolutions for this year.  

 During the last day of 2011… Finishing the year, I brainstormed the best moments of the past year and the things that did not work over the past year. My best moments of 2011 have to be during summer vacation and being involved in the visual art major. Spending my B block as an AP class and the last block as a major class, it made me improve thinking more critically and deeply and using that as an art piece. It was my first year learning about composition and exploring my own ways to create art medium experiments. Therefore, my last year was filled with art projects which I am still working on. Also, in Korea, I spent two amazing and busy months. Among those two months, meeting with all my grandparents and relatives and eating dinner were my favorite moments. Since I stay in Canada with only my immediate family, those moments meant a lot to me. When I lived in Korea, realizing and appreciating those significant moments never occurred to me; but now it is very obvious how the whole family could give me energy and happiness.

   My father always tells me that everyone is given the same amount of time, but the difference is how they use that time. Like these words from my father, this new year, I will spend my time wisely and reduce wasting time pointlessly. I will utilize every bit of time so that I could create an outstanding and unique portfolio featuring my ideas and thoughts on or before December 1, 2012 when the portfolio day arrives.