Harper Likes Pandas

Security

2012-01-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have failed to mention this! After gathering my luggage at the airport, I walk out of baggage claim and see Lauren, we proceed to walk to a bench and as we do, I am taken aback by the men in camo fatigues carrying AK47s... Lauren says they take things seriously here. We laughed and thought about what would happen if that was LAX...mass hysteria!

Walk With Me For A Minute

2012-01-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy my handheld camera abilities, you are going to love this!

What the wee babe and I are listening too.

2012-01-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

What's Up Malo?

2012-01-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Bus

2012-01-23T06:29:00.002-07:00

I got on the bus today and I had to pay because I misplaced my bus card earlier this month. The bus driver was female and she said hello, I put my money in the tray but I guess I had miscalculated because she told me I was short 5 centimes. I put 6 more cents up and she gave me 1 back with a big smile and said thank you. It was easily the nicest bus driver interaction I have ever had. Side note on Tuesday my bus driver was wearing a full suit with tie. Talk about taking your job seriously!

Cathédrale Saint Gatien (gas-see-N)

2012-01-21T12:56:00.001-07:00

Link to my route today: http://maps.google.com/maps/
Today I wandered the streets again and found myself again at Cathédrale Saint Gatien. It was cold outside so I took refuge in the Cathédrale, like someone in The Hunchback of Notre Dame I don't remember who. Upon entering I saw a woman sitting in a booth. I went to her and asked if I visiters were allowed at the moment. She said they were. There was also an option to visit the cloister for 3 euro. So, duh! I did. (What is a cloister? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloister) It was magnificent. There is a lot I could say, but I will post my pictures instead. After visiting the cloister I sat in the chapel for a long time and drew and took notes. Someone was practicing on the steel organ and it was epic. Have you ever listened to music in a Cathédrale? It IS epic.

View Larger Map

I usually go out by myself so I don't get photos with me in them, but here is one I took in the room on the second floor of the cloister. It displayed some illuminated manuscript pages.

Le Mont Saint Michel

2012-01-21T12:30:00.002-07:00

Guess what? At the end of the month the family is going to Mt. Saint Michel to celebrate an Aunt's birthday. She has rented a cottage there and the whole family is going. I am invited too!
Below is a map followed by several pictures of this famous and beautiful place. Please read more about it on Wikipedia.

View Larger Map

Answering your Questions

2012-01-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Reader David writes: "comment sont les enfants? pénible? " (how are the children? painful?)
The children are as to be expected. Malo the baby is silly, he smiles real big and isn't scared of me, as I am new I thought he might be. He does get cranky but I expect that is because right now he is a bit ill. Marcel the 3 year old is a handful. I wouldn't call him painful, not even close. He can be really cute sometimes, but you have to be patient with him.
The parents are very patient and have a method of parenting I have not observed before. They are very loving and very patient and try to teach as they handle the children.

Reader Tiffany writes: "très interéssant! j'aime ses photos à Facebook. comment est la famille? le dîner sonne(?) delicieux! " (very interesting! I like his photos to Facebook. how is the family. dinner? delicious!)
The family is great, I really like them especially the mom, Stephanie. When looking for a family I poured over many profiles and spent many hours looking. Once I was able to Skype with Stephanie I had a really great feeling about her and her family. That feeling has only increased upon being here.
The food. The food is the same and different. There is always fresh bread and it is very common for Stephanie to run to the boulangerie on the corner to get fresh bread for breakfast. The croissants are the best I've ever had and there seems to be an art to eating them without creating a million crumbs. Every meal is eaten in courses. Cheese can be at the end of lunch and dinner, if no cheese was included in the meal. The food does not have very much spice in it and focuses on the natural flavors of the food. We eat a lot of soup, lentil soup. My favorite desert is the compote that Stephanie's father makes and cans. The one I like best is apple and peach. Compote is the consistency of apple sauce and has no added sugar but is so sweet because of the home grown fruit!
Food I've eaten so far:
Quiche w/bacon (thick), cheese (I don't know what kind), spinich
Lentil soup x10
Pasta w/gruyere and bacon (thick)
Ratatouille w/rice
Couscous w/carrots, broccoli, sausage (slices)
Sausage w/apples -very good!
Chicken, roasted w/potatoes
Cabbage salad w/raisins
Camembert
Compte -my new favorite cheese
Baguette
Chocolatine (like a croissant with chocolate in the middle)
Creme au Chocolate (something yummy in between pudding and mousse)
Gallette du Roi (almond cake for the 3 Kings holiday)
McDonald's salad and fries that are better than anything at US McDonalds ha ha ha

Keep asking questions, it is good for me to remember these things.

What the What?

2012-01-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Walked in, saw this, took picture, left.

Pastries (for Suzi)

2012-01-19T06:47:00.002-07:00

Chocolatine

Individually wrapped

Les Bebes

2012-01-18T00:35:00.001-07:00

Many of you have been asking about the children. Here they are. Malo, 5 months and Marcel, 3 years.

Jour 5

2012-01-16T10:51:00.003-07:00

I am sorry the video is Cloverfield-esque, fast forward if it is too much. This is video I took today while walking around Tours.
I just watched this and I can see that I have picked up Stephanie's accent. I am really sorry if that is bothersome, she lived 5 years in Britain and so now I have some weird British-French English accent.

Info about France.

2012-01-15T12:27:00.001-07:00

This is from an email I sent to my Grandma, but I thought it had some info that may be interesting to you.

On the 11th I moved to France to the city of Tours. I am an au pair for a family of two boys, one 5 months and the other 3 years. The family lives in the old part of town in house with 3 floors from the 1800s. There are many cute and charming things about this house, for example I have a closet, that is more of a cupboard, it locks and the key used for locking is the original and not like our modern keys at all. The windows all have shutters, as does every window in France. At night we close the shutters to keep out light and/or keep in the heat. The windows do not slide open like they do at home, but rather there is a handle in the middle of two windowed doors and when you turn the handle it retracts a metal lock from the top and bottom. The windowed doors fit together and lock tightly. One of my windows seems to maintain the original locking mechanism. The ceilings are unexpectedly tall! If a standard room back home has 10 ft walls, then I would guess these are 11 or 12 ft.

The staircase in the house is very narrow and steep, further more they are wooden -very old if not original, and they curve down the house, meaning the stairs are wedge shaped and if you don't step towards the outside of them, you will slip. The stairs are very smooth from many years of wear which makes not slipping more difficult and harder still as I wear socks in the house.

Tours is in the Loire valley where the kings kept their country castles. There are many close by and I expect to visit one soon.

At the end of the month I will be traveling with the family to Mont Saint Michael. If you are not familiar with it is a beautiful town with an abbey, what makes it special is that it is built on a island and is conical shaped. The island is accessible by land when the tide is out and is very beautiful, I believe it is in Normandy.

My best friend and her husband live in Paris so it is comforting to have someone near me. (About an hour by train)

I met several Americans at church today and they are very nice and excited to have another like themselves here. One of them even gave me a ride home so that I didn't have to take the bus.

Jour 2

2012-01-14T01:57:00.001-07:00

Jour Un

2012-01-13T13:17:00.002-07:00

So Long Suckers

2012-01-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

So I leave for France in 5 days. I have here included a map of France with a marker for Tours, the city I will be living in. You can zoom into the map to the house even, by clicking on satellite of course. AKA stalker mode.

France shares borders with seven countries, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, and Andorra. Cool huh?

I have a friend living in Switzerland, my BFF and her husband live in Paris and another friend and his family living in England. NOT TO MENTION British Tom Widdison living England! I would really like to meet him! and his new son Charlie!

I am beginning to pack, mush to my dismay -I really detest packing. Currently I have 5 cameras sitting in my suitcase...I'm going to try to cut that down. Please someone talk me out of that. I really don't want to carry all that. I also have seven sticks of deodorant, ten razors, and multiple shoe insoles so that I can wear cute shoes and still be comfortable. Gotta look good, right?

I am excited to go, but not excited about a day of travel spanning something like 19 hours. ugh.

Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted once settled in and of course, you can expect tons of pictures.

New in 2011

2011-12-31T22:27:00.001-07:00

I am tired of annual blog posts, but I'm stuck on a train for NYE and the passengers sitting I front of me are loud and annoying and apparently dumb. So I am listening to Rogue Wave and writing to you.

This year was different for me, I took a semester off of school so I had a full time job from January to August. I was really fortunate to land that. During that time I made a new friend. That was great as it brought my Bakersfield friend total up to three.
I lived at my parents homes and had no car during this time which was a lot of fun, trust me.
By the time spring rolled around my wisdom teeth showed up and caused a fuss, they are still causing a fuss as they haven't fully joined the party. Then one day in spring I also realized that I could suddenly whistle! That was a welcome surprise.
March was fun because my friends Zach and Christina Gibson got married in Oakland. I went up north to meet them and a bunch of our friends from Idaho and Arizona came too. It was a lot of fun and a grand old time. The day after their wedding was my birthday and I got to play your guide to seven really funny friends.
In May my family got bigger as I bought my mom a rabbit for mothers day. I bought one for myself too so that the rabbits could be friends. Their names are Betsy and ChouChou.
The spring was also a fun time as my friend Garrett was living at home in Fresno which is two hours from Bakersfield, but close when you don't have any close friends. Garrett and I went on several adventures, one weekend we explores Fresno, another we explored Mariposa and the surrounding areas. Then we had a fun trip to San Francisco! It aw nice to go on adventures.
2011 was a long hot summer that I had not experienced in several years. I fortunate to have a job and air conditioning.
During this whole time one of my bbfs had been begging me to come visit him in Hawaii. Eventually the stars aligned and I booked a flight for cheap. In August I was lucky enough to have Best Friend month. First Tyler came to visit twice, the i got to reconnect with Amanda and THEN Lauren and David came home from France and we partied. Later that month I left my job and three weeks before school started again I left for Hawaii. I've never been there before and I had a lot of fun. Alex was a great host and his family was very gracious.
The tropical wonder ended and I flew home. Three days passed and I packed and drove my (now working) car to school in Idaho. That is a blog post in itself but let me summarize by saying not long into the trip the odometer, anti lock breaks, cruise control and seemingly every other gauge broke. Luckily I downloaded an app to tell me how fast I was going and made it to school in one piece.
School was really boring and I instead focused on a rock opera my friends were working on. I was hired to do advertising and poured myself I to that. October was a very stressful month for me but it was all good experience.
November came and I assisted another friend with a workshop he was holding for children in a neighboring town at The Idaho Art Lab. By this time I knew something was wrong with me and I made the difficult decision to leave school and go home.
I drive home in one day but not without thinking I had lost my mind...very long drive and very broken car.
In the weeks prior I had started looking into becoming an Au pair in France.
Once home I did nothing until Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I lied, I did choose a family on France and began the very stressful paperwork. That is all settled now. I have a visa to live and work on France and I leave on the 11 of January -my very beloved Gege's birthday. The last two weeks of December have been crazy, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism which explained a lot of things including the school sitch. I had a visa appointment and then went to SF with my Aunt Suzi.
While in SF I had the joy of accidentally taking the WRONG bus deep into the good and having to turn around, losing my bus pass twice, finding it only once, eating all sorts of great food with my Auntie and getting to meet up with my old friend Mike! I played your guide to him for a few hours and it was a blast. The next day I ate blue cheese, cauliflower and polenta (separately) for the first time.
That was yesterday. So that gets us up to date.
Happy New Year or whatever.

(blogged from phone and likely riddled with errors)

Thanks to Spotify

2011-12-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Spotify I have discovered/rediscovered/enjoyed these bands. My favorite playlist is one that I made when I was sick, thus it is called "i don't feel well." If we're friends on Fbook or Spotify you can follow it, if you should so desire.

Here are some videos of some of my favorites of the songs. Also most of these videos are lame, but try to enjoy the music.

Too Fake by Hockey

Helicopter by Deerhunter

Shadows by Au Revoir Simone

Get Some by Lykke Li

Sail by Awolnation

Go Outside by Cults

Underdog by Kasabian

Bon Voyage

2011-12-10T23:54:00.001-07:00

This is intended to be a blog post making an announcement with a long explanation and full of information. I cannot, however, get myself to do this. So here are the Cliff Notes and you can try to persuade me for more details.

I am moving to France. I have accepted a position as an au pair. I will be living in Tours. Here are some pictures of the city. There is a real cathedral and medeval architecture.

Intentions

2011-09-21T20:30:00.001-06:00

I have been meaning to post ever since I got to Hawaii. I've been back for several weeks now and I'm finally getting to it, I think. I mentioned some things that I wanted to do while in Hawaii in my last post and I .5 of them -by that I refer to Makapu'u Beach.I had an adventure everyday thanks to Alex and his friends.

I enjoyed these things most:
- wild chickens that roam around and wake you up at 3 AM
- reading all the Hawaiian names of things
- super clear water!
- best pineapple ever
- cheap pineapple
- yummy foods
- breathtaking foliage and scenery
- funny looking birds
- geckos
- picking up pigeon

I did not enjoy these things:
- mosquitos
- centipedes with horns
- waking up at 3 AM to the wild roosters
- sand crabs
- salt water in my mouth
- falling rocks at Sacred Falls
- HUMIDITY

I had an amazing time and met some cool people. I had a lot of fun living with a big family and I really miss it now.

Alex and I being Asian with a Japanese display at Pearl Harbor.

Turtle Bay, adjacent to LOST film sites.

Alex, Mike, Jordan, Paul, Giselle, and Danny surfing at Turtle Bay.

Andrew on his street.

Sunset at Turtle Bay, it was the best one of the whole trip.

The view from Sacred Falls before the rocks started falling.

"Come Back Looking Dominican"

2011-07-28T15:54:00.000-06:00

That is my number one goal for Hawaii. I want people to question my ethnicity.

I researched some other things I may enjoy while on my trip. I found there is an old light house, which sounds awesome called the Makapu'u Lighthouse. In reading about it I found something particularly eye catching:

Makapuʻu Beach Park and Kaupō Beach Park – All of the rocky shoreline and pocket beaches between the sea cliffs at Makapuʻu Point and the State Research Pier (Makai Pier) are beach parks open to the public. Wave conditions at Kaupō (western end) are more suited to young beach-goers and poor swimmers. Makapuʻu Beach is a popular body-surfing beach, but the shore break can be dangerous.

I feel like someone knew me and knew that I would be best suited to this beach. ha ha ha. I'll be the oldest one there while all the little kids play in the shallows. In speaking with Alex about my upcoming trip he did recommend a beach to me, where I'd be safe and couldn't get hurt. Ha ha ha, I didn't ask him for this information, he just volunteered it. He knows I'll be spending a lot of time by myself, so maybe he is just looking out for me so that he doesn't come home from school to find stuck out in the ocean. o.O

Then I learned about North Shore, which sounds so dreamy. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

The spot of Ehukai Beach, commonly known as the Banzai Pipeline, is the most notable surfing spot on the North Shore, and is considered a prime spot for competitions due to its close proximity to the beach, giving spectators, judges, and photographers a great view.

AKA, Harper doesn't get to surf/swim here. Look at that beautiful water! Amazing!

I love animals, duh, see the blog name up there? They have a zoo in Honolulu aptly named The Honolulu Zoo. It is home of this guy, the matamata turtle:

I also want to go to the Waikiki Aquarium, ocean creatures are cool and admission is only $9.

We'll see how it pans out. Hopefully it does't turn into Boston all over again where I wake up at 10 AM. That probably won't happen seeing as how I am probably sharing a room. Did I mention will be staying in a house with SEVEN other people? I'm scared.

What is your sign? (Something Left, Something Taken)

2011-07-24T22:34:00.000-06:00

A cute animation.

Something Left, Something Taken- Full Version from Tiny Inventions on Vimeo.

To learn more about this film visit the site: Here.

So, I'm moving to Hawaii

2011-06-24T21:42:00.001-06:00

...in August I'm moving to Hawaii *cough forsixteendays cough* and I need to compile a list of things to do there. I did this type of blog once before when I was going to Boston for 10 days.
Honestly, I've never wanted to go to Hawaii, it just didn't appeal to me. Yeah, I know it is beautiful, I won't argue with that, I just never wanted to go, kinda like how I don't care to go to New York City -that is another story.

BUT, the tickets are paid for and I'm going and it is going to be great. The thing is, what should I do while I'm there? Obviously I'm trying to get in shape so that I can be a beach bum. One of the things on my list of things to do before I die is to surf one wave -which is going to be hard. SOOOOO I need to get in shape for that which means I need to work my ass off, literally, have you seen this thing?

Item 1: Surf a wave (aka stand up on that damn board)

Item 2: See an active volcano, run around on it. (Or awesome lava flow)

Item 3: Visit the Honolulu LDS Temple

Item 4: YOUR IDEAS GO HERE

Have you ever been to Hawaii? What did you do there? What is fun? I'm not made of money.

I'll be there August 23rd to September 6th, I don't like falling, so cliff jumping is a NO and I don't eat sea food. I will be on the island of Oahu living in Laie.

While looking through my old sketch book...

2011-06-22T14:38:00.002-06:00

I found this on a page. It isn't a drawing, it is a note or what seems like a journal entry, it reads;

"I'm in art 110; drawing 1 -very technical. I think I might die. I mean I think I'm dying. I am not sure how I am awake. This is so difficult; to stay awake. That I am literally in pain. This can't be helpful to my non existent healthy body. This is probably detrimental to my health. they shouldn't offer this class at 8AM, it is a health risk.
I am dreaming of DDP (Diet Dr. Pepper.) How luscious and wonderful that sounds right now. I am fantasizing of the vending machines on the second floor! What treasures they must hold this early in the morning! They are likely over flowing with food and options and not a single row empty@ How joyous. Maybe I'll indulge in some 400 calorie pop tarts and a diet root beer. It is a crying shame that they do not sell any caffeinated drinks on campus. Boo hoo.
I do enjoy this class, just not when I'm in it. ha ha. I'm clenching my teeth and now my jaw hurts. My eye lids are sore, my limbs are cold, my head feels pressured and cloudy and my butt hurts from trying to balance on the ledge I was sitting on earlier.\
Oh no! I can feel my eyelids closing, bridging the gap between awake and asleep, between A's and D's, between constancy and heaven. I have never so desired a bed before. I wonder what my bed is doing right now? How lonely it must be! How could I have left it all alone? It has never been anything but good to me. Always supportive, comforting, and loyal."

Father's Day

2011-06-21T17:52:00.000-06:00

Father's Day this year fun, I guess. On Saturday we went to Marie Callendars and got pie since it was on sale. We had dinner there too and we never eat at restaurants, so that was fun, I would say that I paid for dinner, but lets face it, I didn't. (I bought plane tickets this week and was broke, but he doesn't know that. Shh!)

Sunday afternoon I woke up from a nap to here my dad yell "Yeah!" and I come out into the living room to see my dad Shuffling to LMFAO's music video. I joined in. After that Lady Gaga's Judas came on and that is a dance we've been working on already so we danced to that until we got really tired.

My relationship with my Father is a work in progress as many relationships are. It isn't easy and I recognize as I grow older and more mature that I may never be able to have the kind of relationship I would like as we are just not wired that way.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my dad and I.

Fresh

2011-06-17T05:34:00.000-06:00

her eis a little something to listen to as you're getting ready for the day.

The Aston Shuffle - YOUR LOVE - from maxime bruneel on Vimeo.

Yellow Bird Project and The Tallest Man on Earth

2011-06-16T13:52:00.001-06:00

I've been a long time lover of Yellow Bird Project. They produce some well designed work and it is cute too! You can learn more about there HERE.

This is a video they made that is awfully cute.

The Tallest Man On Earth - A Field Of Birds (YBP Theme Song) from Yellow Bird Project on Vimeo.

Quite Great, Really

2011-06-15T22:14:00.003-06:00

This will make you fall in love! brought to you by Free Videos

You Couldn't Be More Wrong

2011-06-02T14:05:00.002-06:00

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-02T13:39:00.003-06:00

Now that I am a working woman, the three day weeknd for Memorial Day was quite a relief. I took this opportunity to catch up with my friend Garrett who is also living at home working a boring job.

I called up my Nana and Papa and asked if we could visit and they said yes!
The plan was as follows:

Friday: Take train from Bakersfield to Fresno to meet up with Garrett

Saturday: Drive to Bodie, CA an awesome ghost town, then to my Nana's house in Mariposa, CA.

Sunday: Explore Mariposa or Yosemite

Monday: Morning adventures then drive to Fresno, then take a train from Fresno to Bakersfield.

This is what actually happend:

Friday: Take train from Bakersfield to Fresno, plan drive for the morning and realize that the road we need is closed for the season. All other routes are very long and far. BOO.
Saturday: Drive from Fresno to Mariposa and seek out adventure.

We decided to go for a walk once at my Nana's place. She lives in the mountains on family property. Most of her neighbors are cousins and extended family. We walked down about a mile and half to the bridge and got in the water. As I was standing on the "shore" I took off my shoes so they wouldn't get wet, but then acidentally flung one right into the water. :( So now my shoes are useless.
Garrett found this lovely rock to climb and below that was this pretty pool.

We got hungry and thought it would be a good idea to go pack a lunch and then have a picnic on one of the rocks. So we hiked back up to the house and then back down. Along the way a gross dog started following us. It got in the river with us. Water + Dog = nasty smell. By this time I'm just wearing my shoes in the river and making better time. We spent the afternoon hungry and trying to ditch this dog so that we could eat lunch. Garrett suggested that we name the dog. I chose Damn Dog who we called DD for short. We waded through the creek and around 3 or 4 barbed wire fences all while being followed by DD. Eventually we got lunch and ditched her by running when she walked behind a building.

The next day we drove on Chowchilla Road into Ponderosa Pine Basin which a alternate route up to Yosemite. It was beautiful. We came to a beautiful river that was splashing over rocks in a small ravine. We were fortunate enough to find a big pine tree that had been cut down and spanned the ravine. We climbed on it and I took pics. I gave Garrett one of my cameras to use so that I could be in some pictures too and he took off exploring. I was much more cautious as I was packing my RZ67 on this log that was moist from the mist of the river. I didn't go very far but it was very beautiful.

After finding that river we found this beautiful lookout. It started to rain on us so we made this stop quick, but not before Garrett could climb some rocks.

Eventually the dirt road turned into a mud road and we could not continue our adventure. We opted to not try to traverse the mud pit and turn around instead. It was a fun journey.

On Monday we went into Mariposa and looked around at the shops. I also got to visit my Gege's grave and Papa Robert who was a WWII veteran. There was a bunch of other family up there too, but I've never met them. All in all it was good trip, at least I thought so.

Rereading

2011-06-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

I have spent the last little while reading old blog posts. I read my posts from my trip to Boston! That was an amazing trip. I am so grateful to Tyler and especially his parents for opening their home to me and feeding me for 10 days!

Reading those posts from 3 years ago causes me to wonder why I was able to compose well written posts, when I feel that now they are lackluster. I apologize for that dear readers.

The song up there is a favorite of mine and after reading about Boston I was singing this song.

I will now make an effort to create a blog post that is not boring but interesting.

Good at Being Bad

2011-05-24T19:00:00.001-06:00

These people are my friends. I'm in their gang and I have a certificate to prove it. Love them.

Celebrities and Cats

2011-05-21T22:50:00.000-06:00

You knew the day would come when I make a post like this. Just enjoy it. These are not my photos and most of them can be found at celebritycats.tumblr.com

Morgan Freeman

Cute Cat with that lady

Steve Martin

The Godfather

Kim Novak

Audrey Hepburn

George Harrison

Paul McCartney

David Bowie

Earnest Hemmingway

Martha

Clark Gable

Freddy Mercury!

James Dean

Kim Novak

Marlon Brando

Cat that looks like my cat

Spock

Andrew WK

Karen O

The Band Manager

Devendra

Morissey

Patty Smith

Mark Twain

Truman Capote

Van Halens'

Zooey

of Bon Iver

Pete

Maggie

Hunter

Carlton

Frank

I Love Baby Animals

2011-05-16T19:49:00.001-06:00

It is no secret that when I need cheering up or I'm bored, I frequently turn to the internet and it's wealth of baby animal photos. Here are some cute ones I found today.

I take no credit for these photos and their host sites can be found by clicking on the images.

Inspiration

2011-05-16T14:40:00.002-06:00

Inspiration (ˌɪnspɪˈreɪʃən) is one of those words that is difficult to describe without using some other form of the word. My elementary school teachers would be very displeased with me if I were to define it as: "the state of having been inspired."

I looked up the word at Dictionary.com (by the way in doing this research I realized that Dictionary.com is an Ask.com website...remember Ask Jeeves? This makes me feel like Dictionary.com is not a credible source.) The research was easy enough but the definition broke the cardinal rule of defining words! The definition included another form of the word! Mrs. Watson would be very displeased. What a lousy website, I cannot trust it now! ha ha ha. With further inspection, i.e. I scrolled down the page, I found a definition from the World English Dictionary which made me think of world music that in turn made me think of hippies and liberals who eat cous cous would use. (I really like cous cous, but you get the point.) Lo! and behold they had a workable definition that is as follows:

1. stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity
2. the state or quality of being so stimulated or aroused
3. someone or something that causes this state
4. an idea or action resulting from such a state
5. the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © Harper CollinsPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

The definition isn't really important and I know that is really tacky way to start any sort of essay or speech, in all reality I was just curious how you would define a word such as that. This blog post, however, is about inspiration, so tacky or not, I'm starting my post this way.

As I have complained on here and many times, as well as via Twitter and Facebook, I have been lacking in creativity. I was reading things online about art portfolios in regards to the material that is "out there." I then went to the only photography presence I currently have online, my "art" blog and began to delete things that are sub par. In doing so I saw a lot of photos that were just plain bad. They were either not given any thought in their production, or given thought but born of naivete. It was then I realized that I have learned, ...things.
What a great feeling it is to realize that you are not as you once were! That you have gained knowledge that makes you better at something, that gives you usable skills. That help you to answer the question; why?

I had been feeling down since I was unable to think of anything to do with photography. I was bored with the images I took and just stopped. I remembered the images I had taken in the last year and I began to reflect on how poor they were. Blah blah blah pitty party for one. However, in cleaning out this blog I saw a lot of bad images, but I saw some good things too! I saw old projects that I remembered poorly and found that in fact they were not so bad after all. I then became inspired by my own work! I was able to critique my own work and see the flaws but also see aspects that I could say were good. This is what this post is about, finding inspiration in your own craft. It was a great feeling and since then I have revamped my blog, turned it into my website and shot several rolls of film.

Please take this post as it is, I'm not saying I'm awesome or that my creations are perfect or even very good, I am just saying that when you are able to look back on things you have done or made or created and recognize their good qualities, it is a satisfying experience.

Trying to Look Nice

2011-05-04T09:36:00.000-06:00

Hey friends, in case you didn't know and aren't following, I recently changed my photo blog around and reconfigured it as HarperCasimiro.com

It has a new look and I've posted some new photos up of stuff I have been VERY SLOWLY working on for the last 6 months. I'd appreciate it if you would stop by and leave a comment (it makes me feel nice.)

http://www.harpercasimiro.com/

Space Jam

2011-04-26T12:12:00.008-06:00

I am currently exploring the very real possibility that Space Jam is the most important movie made in the 90's.

I delighted in watching it again on Easter Sunday.

Here are the facts:

Michael Jordan is awesome, he is still awesome, and everyone wants to like him. His years with the Chicago Bulls were the best years of basketball in my life thus far. I have fond memories of watching the Bulls with my dad as a child.

Bugs Bunny is awesome as are the rest of the Looney Tunes. This is another call to my childhood with the antics of these crazy characters.

These things combined, with the best animation and special effects of the time creates a movie that is a time capusle of greatness.

AND we cannot forget that is has possibly THE BEST soundtrack ever made. Seriously we've got Seal, Boys 2 Men, Monica, R. Kelly, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, and even a diddy by Bugs Bunny. You should really look into owning this masterpiece.

I've asked my Twitter follower why they like Space Jam. Here are some of their responses:

tffnyw: @harpski Looney Tunes + Michael Jordan. I was amazed MJ could exist within a cartoon world.

"Bill Murray's guest appearance."
"Because Michael Jordan wore the best Nikes ever made, the Air Jordan IX" (It should be noted that TuPac wore these same shoes in popular Thug Life photo circa 1993.)

Be apart of the conversation by following me: @Harpski

15

2011-03-31T14:50:00.000-06:00

My name is Harper and I have been sitting at this computer for a long time. Five, five hours. Everyday at this time I have been sitting at this computer for five hours, except for Saturdays and Sundays when I will have only been awake for three hours. When I am done sitting here for five hours, I will sit here for another four more.
Everyday at 3 o'clock I am permitted to take a break, however this break is scheduled. I stand up from my chair and turn to the counter behind me. I collect the mail and packages. I cross the room and stand before three elevators.(I do not like riding in the first one because they are always working on it.)I enter an elevator and take it to the first floor and continue through the front door. Once outside I pass the many relective blue windows that make me feel like I am walking with several of myself. Beyond the windows I pass under granite arch, it sounds pretty, but it is not so. There are three arches to pass to arrive at the row of four mail boxes and two news stands. I sort the mail here.
Then leave the two news stands, four post boxes, four aches, and three elevators to return to my computer where I sit for two more hours.
Are you bored yet? I am.

New Post

2011-02-22T22:47:00.001-07:00

I have over the last couple of weeks found myself at this page; the new post page in Blogger. It always ends the same way, I cannot think of anything to write and I leave. In an effort to make myself write again, I am making this post about nothing.

Thank you for reading, hopefully something interesting will happen soon.

Currently.

2011-01-14T15:52:00.002-07:00

Katy on Sesame Street?

2011-01-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

blah blah blah music of 2010

2011-01-05T02:12:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little late on this, but I am going to bare my soul here and declare my favorite bands of 2010.

As the year was happening I remember thinking that music was boring and nothing had moved me in quite the same way that Fleet Foxes had a few years ago...but then, I took a listen to some music that had been given to me and I fell in love with

1. Local Natives
2. Temper Trap

The sad thing is that I had both of these band in my library since the year before, but it took a while to recognize them and give them some R-E-S-P-C-E-T.

Then Danger Mouse and James Mercer had a love child and the heavens opened up and a beam of light shown down and The Broken Bells was born and it was good. I'm probably going to hell for saying that, but I mean really, c'mon, their stuff is so well put together and delightful that it is just that good.

3. The Broken Bells

The next band came to be out of a desire for something raw and emotional, something that would move me and make me want to sit a bar and smoke. That is how I started my horrid affair with The Black Keys. Hot Damn. Duh, they've been around for a while and I have listened here and there, but it wasn't until 2010 (or two years before the world exploded) that I came them the time of day. I cannot cite any one album of their's but I will note both Brothers and Attack & Release.

4. The Black Keys

Now I gotta give props to POP people. Yes, I like pop, sue me. "I don't like Katy Perry." That is what I say to myself as I listen to her album Teenage Dream on repeat. Okay, not all the songs but, E.T., Teenage Dream, California Gurls, and Who Am I Living For? It is just fun music to listen to.

5. Katy Perry

Then there is my girl Rihanna. Lets talk about how hot her collab with Eminem is, esp. that video staring Domminic Monaghan. ...drool. In reality, I want her kick ass red hair. It is hot. I may not agree with her lyrics as for some reason they are dirty and we are the same age and I feel like she shouldn't say some of that stuff, but then that is just me being was criitcal and mommy-like. That aside, I gotta give the girl mad props for "Only Girl." My current jam. I made my dad listen to it 6 times on our drive home from SF last weekend. (Also there is fab Dubstep remix of that song at http://salacioussound.com.

6. Rihanna

No. Seven goes to Dubstep. Then genre, and in particular remixes. I got a lot of cool dubstep remixes at Salacioussound.com I am thinking in particular of the aforemention Rihanna song and of "Magical World."

7. Dubstep

Other mentionables in music for the 2010 are:
-I finally went through a Death Cab For Cutie phase.
-Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi
-Pursuit of Happiness cover by Lissie
-Erik Satie whom I studied to when I was still doing homework.
-The XX >can't say enough great things about them, love them.
-Miike Snow
-Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
-The Bird and The Bee covering Hall & Oates
-Julian Casablancas
-El Perro Del Mar made me want to have my heart broken
-Major Lazer remixing La Roux!

Okay look these things up if you are not familiar with them, you won't be sorry, I promise, that is Harper guarantee!

Kinamand

2011-01-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

I thought
that love
could wait
too late too late
too late
-OMI

I just finished watching a beautiful Dutch film entitled "Kinamand." (Chinaman)
The film follows a plummer named Keld who's wife leaves him one day, in the midst of trying to win her back he takes dinner at the Chinese grill across the street. Keld is befriended by Keng the restraunt owner who learns of Keld's impending divorce and offers Keld money to marry his sister that is visiting from China.

I give this movie 4 stars. I think it is beautifully made, the colors are solemn and the music is sweet.

Awesome things that happened in 2010

2010-12-21T02:22:00.003-07:00

I lived with my Nana and Papa in Mariposa, California for almost a month and sewed everything.
I bought a plane ticket on a whim and moved back to Rexburg on Valentine’s Day.
I donated plasma for the first time.
I got a job at Little Caesar’s with half of my friends.
I road tripped with Tyler through California and met a ton of his family and learned what it is to be from a big family and get teased.
I became obsessed with double exposures on film.
I donated plasma for the first time.
I became apart of the A Team.
I went to Montana for the first time.
I celebrated Independance Day with a bunch of Canadians in a cabin on a beautiful lake.
I got over my fear of fireworks.
The 4th of July didn’t suck for the first time.
I went to Glacier National Park and discovered the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
I drove on the Road to The Sun.
I drove a Canadian car, which was confusing for about 30 mins until I got used to kilometers being prominent in place of miles on the speedometer.
I photographed my first full wedding.
I lived at home for an extended period of time for the first time in two years.
I stood in a burning ring of fire...literally.
I snow boarded for the first time.
I photographed a large event at the Howl as a VIP…I have the pass to prove it.
I went to Thanksgiving at another family’s house for the first time and partied.
I received a very sure testimony of the apostles of God at the dedication ceremony of two new buildings on campus.

Written on the Road

2010-12-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

It is 11:36 PM MST, I am currently in 10:36 PST about an hour outside of Las Vegas. We hit the road at Noon MST, AKA 11.5 hours ago. I am in the back seat of an SUV. Next to me, not one inch from bent knee is a plastic bin, and atop of that a plastic bin full of shoes. Behind that bin; another bin and on top of that one is a duffel bag full of boots. The rest of the car is packed with framed art from ours truly and one Brady Craig Smith, a suitcase with vacuum packed clothes, and bins filled various accouterments.
I am squished back here to say the least, and if you have spent any time with me in the last two weeks, you know that I recently bruised my tailbone and find it quite painful to sit (or walk, or stand, or lay down). So, this seemingly endless car ride is not so nice to my derriere.
But enough about my ass, onto the reflecting I have been doing. As you might have guessed (or probably not) the soundtrack of this trip is Nickelback, Evanescence and the soundtrack of The Beatles’ Love. The ladder isn’t bad, but we’ve listened to three times, so I am cruising in the back seat with a dubstep play list that has evolved into “November Loves You” a mix by DJ Matt Hoffman (www.ILoveMattHoffman.com) Currently I have 99 problems, but a – ain’t one. I am meditating and attempting to sleep, but I can’t as my mind keeps wandering to Human Centipede also courtesy of DJ Matt Hoffman and I keep jolting awake. Eventually I am able to get past that, then I am able to reflect on things. It is during one of these times that I remembered something someone said to me on Sunday. He said to me, “Harper people are drawn to you. Do you realize that? Who else could throw a party like this? … These are real friends.” (I took the liberty of paraphrasing what I remember of a conversation a week ago.)
(it is my blog I can talk about how awesome I am, so suck it.)
I didn’t think much of this comment at first, but then I thought about it some more and realized that I have meaningful relationships with people, a lot of people. I looked around the room and I realized that many of these people:
*I have known since I first came to school in August 2006
*I know intimate details of their life, and they mine
*I have traveled with them
*I have been in their homes and their parents’ homes (often in far away places)
*I have shared meals with them
*I have lived with them
*I have cooked for them and they, me
*I am going to miss terribly once we are parted
This realization made me happy, proud, sad, and humbled. It was a wonderful experience. My friends are my family away from home and we take care of one another and like a child leaving home for the first time, I am afraid to be apart from them and fend for myself.
Aaron McGregor, Alex Fisher, Ford Erickson, Tom Widdison, Brittany De La Rosa, Whitney Westenskow, Taylor Bluth, Kate Westenskow, Brady Smith, Tyler Wonnacott, Alex McDonell, Ryan Hayes, Garrett Sherwood, Matt Hoffman, Kara Kartchner, Drew Grella, Zach Gibson, Christina Matekel, Katelyn Bickmore, Amy and Jeff Poole, Jeannette Snyder, and those far away: Amanda Petrelli, Tori Dickson, Leah Morris, Kari Patterson, Laura Nielson, and Lauren McDonald. These are the awesome people that you should be blessed to know and special if you’re friends with. Its okay you can get jealous if you like, I would be.
Thank you to my friends. I am sorry if I omitted you from the list; I have been squished in the back seat for a long time.

White Woman's Workout

2010-11-19T15:44:00.001-07:00

White Women's Workout - watch more funny videos

I Got a Stone Where My Heart Should Be

2010-11-04T20:54:00.000-06:00

Lies
by The Black Keys

Said the moon was ours
Yeah
Said the moon was ours
The hell with the day
The sunlight is always
Gonna take love away
Brings up suspicions
And alibies
But I can see blue
Tear-blinded eyes
Lies, lies, lies
Ohh, lies

I got a stone
Where my heart should be
I got a stone
Where my heart should be
And nothing I do
Will make you love me

I'd leave this time
Break all my ties
Be no more
Use for any disguise
Lies, lies, lies
Ohh, lies

I wanna die
Without pain
I wanna die
Oh, without pain
All this deception
I just can't maintain
The sun, moon
The stars in the sky
It'd hurt me too bad
If you said goodbye
Lies, lies, lies
Ohh, lies

400 Notifications Later

2010-10-25T02:01:00.000-06:00

A rather chilly breeze is drifting in from the open window. As it runs across my exposed neck I think two things; I should shut the window and I wish my hair were longer. I have been wearing the same pair of leggings for over 24 hours and I feel really good about it. Maybe I'll be buried in these leggings... you never know.
It is late, or really early, but either way you look at it, it is strange time to be awake. As you know, I am an avid watcher of cartoons and at present you can find me watching Rocco's Modern Life-which actually tends to scare me. Such a strange program.

I keep looking at my phone hoping that someone will text me, but that is rarely the case, if I do get a text it is from Twitter or Facebook. Hey, speaking of Facebook, today I decided it would be a good idea to "Like" everything on Matt Hoffman's wall. (DJ Matthoffman) There I was going about my business liking everything when my notifications started to blow up. Suddenly everything, and I mean everything that I have ever done of Facebook was suddenly and mercilessly being "Liked" by Matt. Then I switched my angle and quickly Googled "stupid cats" and began posting links to stupid cat pictures on Matt's wall until I had filled the whole thing up. 400 notifications later I gave up and told Matt he had won. It was quite the event and the highlight of my day.

Well that and having a Romeo monologue pronounced to me with my name in place of Julliet's. That was nice too.

New Sound: Snowden

2010-10-25T01:47:00.000-06:00

Ce jour-là avant

2010-10-19T02:50:00.000-06:00

This has been a long time coming. I thought about it when I was young. I thought about when I was in college. I thought about it last year and I am thought about it this week, but it was today that I realized what I need to do.

On Saturday I had a wonderful experience. I got to go to the gallery on campus and have a tour of our archives. As BYU-Idaho is an extremely conservative school we have a lot of very beautiful art cannot be shown, i.e. anything with boobs, buts, cleavage, suggestive natures, etc. Oddly enough, it isn't a school policy, but rather the students that will write complaints about the pieces. Personally, I find this infuriating, but I try not to think about it as it is too much to bear. So Saturday, Brady and I go to the gallery and get a tour of some of the amazing work that cannot be shown and in consequence get to see a lot of other cool stuff. I got to hold in my hands a print of "The Temptation of St. Anthony" by Salvador Dali.

I held in my hands several Rembrandt prints, a print that was handled by Matisse and one by Braque. I held a sketch by Picasso and looked at a beautiful wood block print; "Buste de Femme."
After my trip to the gallery and having a personal tour of some fantastic works, I was inspired. I was inspired to create something worth keeping, of creating a legacy.

Later in the week I would have the opportunity to read from my best friend Lauren's blog post, L'Espoir. In this post, which I encourage you to read and comment on, she explored the ideas of different philosophies on art and artists. I found it quite inspirational and encouraging. In the end I had this to say:

" If for no other reason, I need to go to France to talk to people on the street. This gives me hope that I have been looking at things wrong or rather that is more than one way to view the world and that different isn't wrong!
That young man just changed your life, and perhaps in some small way, with a continent and ocean between us, he has changed my life too.
... I have been fortunate enough to have not been raised within such a tight bubble, that is to say that I know differently than those that I share my bubble with currently, but after being confined to this small space for so long, this becomes the normal. This is what is right and good, and everything else out there is strange and feels wrong. But it isn't!"

Finally today I shared a wonderful lunch with Brady and we discussed grad school. We discussed the future and what it means to go to school and learn. We discussed the importance of knowledge and how that is something that lasts forever.

I want that. I want to learn. I want a Master's, I want a Doctorate. I want it all and who is to say I can't do it? Certainly not my Mother or Father. Certainly not my bank account. The only voice I would listen to is that of Heavenly Father and so I shall take the matter to Him and see what he has to say about it.

And so, "Ce jour-la avant", this day forward is different. Tomorrow is the next day towards my future. It is a step to graduate school. I have a friend that is currently creating a paper mache effigy of himself to burn and start fresh, I feel like I am should do something like that.

New Sound: Lusine

2010-10-17T13:40:00.000-06:00

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

2010-10-17T13:39:00.000-06:00

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was one of the most renowned painters of late nineteenth-century Britain.

New Sound: A Fine Frenzy

2010-08-12T01:26:00.000-06:00

Personal Truths

2010-08-11T02:48:00.000-06:00

For your listening pleasure while you read, some Kid Cudi:

In advertising class last semester we talked about personal truths. Personal truths are things we believe in, well, personally. They are things that we know about ourselves and aren't necessarily something that share with other people. For example my teacher likes babies. This means that ads with babies in them are particularly eye catching to her.

Today I will discuss some of my personal truths that conflict with one another:
1. I admire the idea of being a "Lady."
     a. Speaking foreign languages
     b. Playing a musical instrument
     c. Being well read
     d. The ability to sew/craft
     e. The ability to cook
     f. Understanding of proper etiquette
     g. Has a sense of propriety
     h. Is said to be 'classy'
     i. Modest yet enviable

2. Live without regret. In 2008 I made a New Year's resolution to live without regret. I have done so everyday since then.

3. Don't say things you don't mean.

Today I faced a dilemma; being nice, possessing good etiquette, and avoiding saying things I don't mean. I was encouraged today to be nice and not rude. It was suggested that I make small talk and inquire after someone's family so that I may appear more sociable. The problem is that while I don't want to be rude said person, I don't care to know how their family is doing and I felt that taking time to make that conversation would boring and I might not be able to stay focused as I really don't care. It seemed like too much energy to exert over something that I don't believe in.
In the end I opted for making eye contact and cordial salutations to show respect to this person. Again it wasn't a matter of distaste for the person -that is not the case at all, rather I wanted to be honest and I felt that making "small talk" in this manner would be dishonest.

Okay, call me a brat, or another b word, but that is that.

Pogo: Great and Fun Remixes

2010-07-31T01:24:00.000-06:00

You can see all of Pogo's videos at his YouTube channel.

From a favorite movie of mine when I was young, Secret Garden:

a real life version:

another from Toy Story:

TERMINATOR

Hook

New Sound: Fanfarlo

2010-07-30T15:59:00.000-06:00

Smashing Pumpkins cover:

New Sound: The Heavy

2010-07-29T23:52:00.000-06:00

The Very First CD I Ever Owned: Aqua's Aquarium

2010-06-22T00:54:00.000-06:00

I'm Crushing: on Kid Cudi

2010-06-18T02:28:00.000-06:00

Day and Nite (look for Travis Barker!)

Pursuit of Happiness

A cover of Pursuit of Happiness by Lissie:

The Broken Bells, The High Road

2010-06-18T02:26:00.000-06:00

I love this song, I want you to feel the same way.

New Arcade Fire!

2010-06-15T19:31:00.000-06:00

We Used to Wait
Used by a437915

Ready to Start
RTS by a435927

The Best 48 Hours

2010-06-13T14:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been crazy. I reconnected with the OG Nintendo, and got addicted to Ski or Die.I watched as tires were lit on fire and dumped down the Teton Dam spillway. I played video games to stay awake then went to a party at 3AM in a laundromat. I came home and couldn't sleep; passed out then drove to West Yellowstone, Montana just to get Huckleberry malts. On the way back to keep tradition alive, we danced and sang along to Aqua's Aquarium.We kept the party alive by once again trying to master the the ski aerials on Ski or Die then went to the 10:10 showing of the A-Team. After which we all assumed the role of one of the A-Team members and then went to blow stuff up. Needless to say this weekend, thus far, has been epic.

Somehow or another the four of us ended up spending a lot of time together and in the end we bonded into our own little A-Team. Tom took the role of our wise elder, Hannibal. Mike assumed the position of the smooth talking Face, Noah's near insanity left him no choice but to be Murdock and well, I, I assumed the role of the minority. I may not have a mo hawk or be black, but I will over use the phrase "I pity the fool."

Local Natives, World News

2010-06-12T01:51:00.000-06:00

The lane next over is always faster
And you wait so long until you're so bothered
But right after you complete your merge
The lane you started in gets going
And while you wait for your luck to change
All you can think of is where you started

ooooh do-do-do-do-do .. do-do-do-do-do!

You don't like anything on local radio
So you fumble around 'til you land on NPR
And listen to world news
Well, a bomb went off in the parking lot
Of a newly opened sunni marketplace
And a cloud covers your car at just the right time
For you to see the dark on your face
in the mirror
do-do-do-do-do .. do-do-do-do-do!
Local Natives World News lyrics found on http://www.hibeamlyrics.com/world-news-lyrics-local-natives.html
do-do-do-do-do .. do-do-do-do-do!
Whoaa!

o-o-o-o-o-oaaaaaah!

guitar solo

Your phone goes off with a picture of your mother
It's five to six, and she can't find your brother
And while normally you'd yell and scream,
Instructing her to go and find him on her own
but calmly you're exiting,
And telling her that you are headed on your way home

She does not know what to say,
Just glad you're on your way home
You turn off your phone in a different tone
Oooh as you think,
The bad feeling so bad makes the good so gooooooood!

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaooo!

I am breathing

2010-06-10T02:16:00.003-06:00

I am writing this blog while listening to this song:

Two days ago in my documentary photography class we watched the documentary "War Photographer" about photographer James Nachtwey. (James Nachtwey (born March 14, 1948^[1]) is an American photojournalist and war photographer. He has been awarded the Overseas Press Club's Robert Capa Gold Medal five times. In 2003, he was injured by a grenade in an attack on his convoy while serving as a TIME contributing correspondent in Baghdad, from which he has made a full recovery. -Wikipedia.com)
Nachtwey's work is both captivating and unsettling. Here are two examples of his work:

Watching documentaries like this always have an effect on me. As I walked out of class that, I noticed what an exceptionally beautiful morning it was. I also noticed that I could not enjoy it because I was once again reminded of the horrors in the world that other people live in and have experienced. I walked home passed manicured lawns and landscaped gardens up a few flights of stairs to my apartment with white walls, wooden floors, running water, electricity, plumbing and a fridge full of food.
I sat down on my couch and realized I was warm so I took off my cardigan and color coordinated dress shoes to be more comfortable and then I felt sick. I was sick for the luxury that I live in... and I'm a POOR college student! This is ridiculous.
I spent the rest of the morning trying to sort out my feelings. (This happens to me every time I watch the Invisible Children documentary, only I cry during that too.) I want to do something with my photography that doesn't include photographing weddings forever. I want to help people to feel uncomfortable and recognize that there is more in the world than color coordinated outfits and the next episode of the Bachelor.
Long story shorter; I don't think I can commit to being a war photographer. I know I would be that kid that gets shot on her first assignment. These short legs don't move to quickly; also I'm lazy. So I spent several hours researching the Peace Corps. I don't know if I am ready for two years, but I love everything else about the program.

Lucky You

2010-06-05T04:40:00.001-06:00

The Broken Bells, The Ghost Inside

2010-06-03T13:38:00.001-06:00

And now for an honest conversation about "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon

2010-05-25T01:17:00.001-06:00

I am not sure if I should be sharing this with you. I may delete this, but as of right now in my leopard print pajamas and red lipstick, it seems like a good idea. (edited 5/31/10)

What I Really Want to Say I Can't Define

2010-05-23T00:51:00.000-06:00

I don't practice santeria
I aint got no crystal ball.
Well, I had a million dollars but I
I'd spend it all,
If I could find that heina and that sancho that she's found,
well I'd pop a cap in sancho and I'd slap her down.

What I really wanna know,
my baby, what I really want to say I can't define.
Well it's love,
that I need, oh ,
but my soul will have to,
wait till I get back find heina of my own.
Daddy's gonna love one and all.

I feel the break,
feel the break,
feel the break and I got live it out,
oh, yea huh, well I swear that I.
What I really wanna know, my baby,
what I really want to say I can't define.
Got love! make it go,
my soul will have to...

ohhh What I really wanna say,
my baby,
What I really wanna say is I've got mine.
and I'll make it, Yes, I'm comin' up.

Tell sanchito that if he knows what is good for him he best go run and hide.
Daddy's got a new .45.
and I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down sancho's throat.
Believe me when I say that I got somethin for his punk ass.
What I really wanna know, my baby,
oh what I really wanna say is there's just one,
way back,
and I'll make it, yea,
but my soul will have to wait.
yea, yea, yea

The Most Beautiful Thing I Ever Read

2010-05-21T01:01:00.000-06:00

The following is an excerpt from the book Now Let Us Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. I read it at 3 AM last morning and I could understand what he meant. I understood the feeling and situation he was trying to relate. It is long, but I know that you will love it if you will read it through. I have been in a situation like this and it is spell binding to read another's account of a similar situation.

"...I heard footsteps in the ahll and Emma appeared, all dressed to go, looking somehow as if she had come to report a decision that had been made in a conference, for which I, without knowing it, seemed to have been waiting. She spoke in that same way, too, not wasting any roundabout time or waiting for an appropriate rhythm, yet not in haste, looking me steadily and sweetly in the eyes, and said, I want you and Mr. Walker to know how much we all like you, because you make us feel easy with you; we don't have to act any different from what it comes natural to act, and we don't have to worry awhat you're thinking abbout us, it's just like you was our own peple and had always lived here with us, you all are so kind, and nice, and quiet, and easygoing, and we wisht you wasn't never going to go away but stay on here with us, and I just want to tell you how much we all keer about you; Annie Mae says the same, and you please tell Mr. Walker, too, if I don't see him afore I go. (I knew she could never say it over again, and I swore I certainly would tell him.)
What's the use trying to say what I felt. It took her a long time to say what she wanted so much to say, and it was hard for her, but there she stood looking straight into my eyes, and I straight into hers, longer than you'd think it would be possible to stand it. I would have done anything in the world for her (that is always characteristic, I guess, of the seizure of the strongest love you can feel: pity, and the wish to die for a person, because there isn't anything you can do for the them that is at all measurable to your love), and all I could do, the very most for this girl who was so soon going out of my existence into so hopeless a one of hers, the very most I could do was not to show all I cared for her and for what she was saying, and not to even try to do, or to indicate the good I wished I might do her and was utterly helpless to do. I had such tenderness and such gratitude toward her that while she spoke I very strongly, as something steadier than an 'impulse,' wanted in answer to take her large body in my arms and smooth the damp hair back from her forehead and to kiss and comfort and shelter her like a child, and I can swear that I now as then almost believe that in that moment she would have so well understood this, and so purely and quietly met it, that now as then I only wish to God I had done it; but instead the most I did was to stand facing her, and to keep looking into her eyes (doing her the honor of at least of knowing that she did not want relief from this), and, managing to keep the tears from running down my face, to smile to her and say that there was nothing in my whole life that I had cared so much to be told, and had been so grateful for (and I believe this is so); an that I wanted her to know how much I like them, too, and her herself, and that I certainly felt than they were my own people, and wanted them to be, more than any other kind of people in the world, and that if they felt that of me, and that I belonged with them, and we all felt right and easy with each other and fond of each other, then there wasn't anything in the world I could be happier over, or be more glad to know (and this is so, too); and that I knew I could say all of the same of Walker (and this, too, I know I was true in saying). I had stood up, almost without realizing I was doing it, the moment she appeared and began to speak, as though facing some formal, or royal, or ritual action, and we stayed thus standing, not leaning against or touching anything,about three feet apart, facing each other. I went on to say that whatever might happen to her or that she might do in all her life I wished her the best luck anyone could think of, and not ever to forget it, that nobody has a right to be unhappy, or to live in a way that makes them unhappy, for the sake of being afraid, or what people will think of them, or for the sake of anyone else, if there is any way they can possibly do better, that won't hurt other people too much. She slowly and lightly blushed while I spoke and her eyes became damp and bright, and said that she sure did wish me the same. Then we had nothing to say, unless we should invent something and nothing to do, and quite suddenly and at the same instant we smiled, and she said well, she reckoned she'd better git on in and help Annie Mae, and I nodded, and she went..."

The Adventures of Canada and Panda

2010-05-21T00:37:00.000-06:00

Last night or rather this morning was another chapter in the Adventures of Canada and Panda. On a whim I decided to join Canada on a photo adventure at 1AM. I was in my panda suit so it became a Canada and Panda adventure. It lasted for 6 hours and here are some highlights:

* getting scared, while taking long exposures, by creepy noises and things hanging in door ways.
* black cats freaking us out
* reading Now Let Us Praise Famous Men until the windows fogged up, whilst passing time for the 90 minute exposure.
* getting questioned by the cops as to why we were sitting in the car in that situation.
* reading the most beautiful thing I have ever read
* travelling to Idaho Falls on a whim
* photographing grain elevators and silos
* Denny's breakfast at 5 AM
* photographing Canada/Panda across the table
* having the absolute feeling of being in a 90's teen movie
* witnessing one of the most beautiful sun rises ever seen on Earth
* capturing the moment with a Mamiya
* returning home to continue reading in the book only to pass out on my bed
* sleeping for an hour then reuniting with Canada in doc. photo class

It was a great adventure that led to some great memories and possibly a round two in color. One of the coolest things that happened last night was reading from the book Now Let Us Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. I will follow this post with the most moving words I have ever read, that are so identifiable that I am very nearly brought to tears.

Fill In da Blank Numero 2

2010-05-18T17:31:00.000-06:00

1. The very best thing about the summer are tans.

2. My first crush ever was on Jeffrey Tanner in my ward in Westchester. I was in Kindergarten and First Grade.

3. This may sound really silly but I love pandas...duh.

4. I squeeze my toothpaste from the bottom.

5. My absolute favorite "comfort food" is frozen yogurt/ice cream/root beer floats.

6. A random fact about me is that feet bother me.

7. The one piece of technology that truly makes my life better and I couldn't live without is my camera.

I got this from the same place as last time.

Yay for Sureys to Quell the Boredom

2010-05-12T00:57:00.000-06:00

10 Years Ago

1.) How old were you?
12

2.) Where did you go to school?
Thompson Jr. High School, Bakersfield, CA

3.) Where did you work?
too young to work

4.) Where did you live?
Bakersfield, CA

5.) Where did you hang out?
At home, or church.

6.) Did you wear glasses?
No

7.) Who was your best friend?
Morgan Capilla

8.) How many tattoos did you have?
0

9.) How many piercings did you have?
Ears

10.) What car did you drive?
Too Young

11.) Had you been to a real party yet?
...no?

12.) Had You had your heart broken?
No

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?
Single

----------5 years ago----------

1.) How old were you?
17

2.) Where did you go to school?
Stockdale High School, Bakersfield, CA

3.) Who did you work for?
Dr. Kimball's office

4.) Where did you live?
Bakersfield, CA

5.) Where did you hang out?
Home, School, Church, with Lauren/Bree/Ellis

6.) Did you wear glasses?
No

7.) Who were your best friends?
Lauren Cooper, Bree Kinnison, and Ellis Britton

8.) Who was your crush?
I can't remember his name!

9.) How many tattoos did you have?
0

10.) How many piercings did you have?
Just ears

11.) What car did you drive?
1999 Volkswagen Beetle

12.) Had your heart been broken?
No

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?
Single

----------Today----------
1.) How old are you?
22

2.) Where do you work?
Little Caesar's

3.) Where do you live?
Rexburg, Idaho

4.) Do you wear glasses?
No

6.) Do you talk to your old friends?
Just Lauren

7.) Who is your crush?
Fortunately, I am without one.

8.) How many piercings do you have?
Just ears, but there is a scar from my lip.

9.) How many tattoos?
0 and counting

10.) What kind of car do you have?
No car

11.) Has your heart been broken?
Not in reality

12.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?
Single

Old Pictures Old Memories

2010-05-12T00:30:00.002-06:00

I looked at old blog posts just now. All the posts from San Francisco. It made me super homesick. Sigh.
http://artandharper.blogspot.com/2009/02/light-pollution.html

Ke$ha - Tik Tok Death Metal

2010-05-10T19:32:00.000-06:00

Death Metal Hilarity:

The real deal:

Not Facebook

2010-05-10T19:25:00.000-06:00

Hi, my name is Harper and I spend too much time on Facebook. Welcome to Facebook sabbatical 2010 in which I return to Blogger with full force, and also Tumblr, and also StumbleUpon.

I hate myself in this picture. I like it about 3% and hate it about 97%. Tyler looks fine. Wait no, that sounds wrong, not fine, but fine, like decent. Ugh, never mind, I mean Tyler looks normal.

Fill in the Blank

2010-05-10T18:38:00.000-06:00

1. My favorite book growing up was Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice! If we are talking like 0-12 years then it was most likely one of the Little House on the Prairie books; LOVED THEM.

2. The funniest book I've ever read is The Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.

3. The one book that has truly changed my life is Our Search for Happiness by M. Russel Ballard. This gave a completely new perspective on the gospel that I am eternally grateful for.

4. If you're looking for a real "tear jerker" you should probably read ...idk, I don't think I've ever cried while reading a book.

5. If I could meet any author living or dead I would want to meet Jacob A. Riis. I LOVE How the Other Half Lives. I want to meet him because he was a also a photographer and I want to be a documentary photographer like him.

6. The next book on my "to read" list is The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

7. If I was snowed into a remote cabin in the woods and could only choose three books to bring with me I'd bring Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina - because I would have time to try to read it, and something funny probably by David Sedaris or Dave Eggers.

Toms Shoes

2010-05-01T01:15:00.000-06:00

Today I received in the mail my first pair of Toms shoes. I call them my first because after wearing these all day I know that I need many, many more pairs. I love the idea; get a pair, give a pair, and I love the look; simple, but most of all I love how comfortable these are!

So much love for these things. So much. If you don't already own a pair you should get one, or three. If you have never learned about Toms, you should. You can do both of these things at their website: www.toms.com

Up Too Late Cut My Hair

2010-04-08T02:12:00.000-06:00

I think I am about 10 minutes from cutting my hair and one pair of hair clippers short of shaving my head.

However, if I don't I can have like any of these to look forward to. I'll for an appointment tomorrow if my hair survives the night.

Gay Foot

2010-04-04T01:27:00.000-06:00

Important Things with Demetri Martin

Thursday, 12:30am / 11:30c

Nature - Gayfoot

www.comedycentral.com

Joke of the Day

Stand-Up Comedy

Free Online Games

Happy Easter, Easter Egg

2010-04-03T13:27:00.000-06:00

In Honor of the wonderful holiday we have this weekend here are some beautiful images honoring birth, new life and beauty.

Pretty Green Things

2010-04-03T01:29:00.001-06:00

File cleaning

2010-04-01T23:17:00.000-06:00

So I was going through my old files on my computer and I found these pictures from high school. I thought blogland might enjoy them because they are ridiculous. So here you go folks, enjoy.

What it is.

2010-03-26T04:28:00.003-06:00

It is too early in the morning, or too late at night, I am not sure which and to top it off I cannot log onto Facebook. I know I should have more of a life then this, but I don't, I have Facebook and it isn't working for me right now.
Oh! the frustrations of social media addict/anyone aged 15-30.

I want to sleep yet the amount of caffeinated medicine I consumed yesterday allowed me a five hour nap and then said wake up, take a shower, get on your computer and have fun not logging onto Facebook. ...so I will look forward to tomorrow, today?

At 1PM this afternoon a couple of friends and I will embark on our journey to Provo, Utah...a destination vacation to be sure. We are all going to see our respective siblings, mine of course being Lauren McDonald, my long time BFF and closest thing to a sister I've got. I am quite excited about this and maybe it is keeping me awake too!

We have a lot of things planned, namely, photographing things, each other, stuff, each other. That will be fun when that time arrives in what seems like a million years.

Okay, I have to try to sleep again or I will probably die. I love you all, good night (good morning?)

Sweet Asians!

2010-03-24T02:31:00.002-06:00

TGIF!

2010-03-24T02:06:00.002-06:00

Today

2010-03-22T01:33:00.002-06:00

today i am grouchy
today i am disappointed with the gorillaz new album
today i miss san francisco that i am about to start crying about it
today i am worried for some friends that i love
today i wish some friends could be more considerate of other friends
today contention makes me feel ill
today i noticed it was windy
today i looked at christina's blog and got so homesick for san francisco that it hurt(s)
today i confronted feelings that I would rather not
today i read an article on seratonin
today i took a nap and woke up feeling sick
today i couldn't help someone who needed help
today i tried to think nice things
today i tried to stop complaining in my blog
today i failed at discontinuing complaining in my blog post
today i am too blank to care to cry about being homesick
today i am homesick for a place that isn't really my home
today everyone bothered me
today my punctuation went to hell

tomorrow will be better?

New Sound: Suckers

2010-03-21T15:07:00.000-06:00

Another psychedelic band from NY, but folk-y and indie and not too bad. I like 'em. ha ha ha. No really, they are quite good, take a listen.

Their Myspace. Their webpage.

New Sound: Nurses

2010-03-14T03:02:00.000-06:00

They sound like your local band, but good.
Their Myspace.

L'Estranger

2010-03-12T02:17:00.004-07:00

Today I checked out and read "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. I quite enjoyed this quick read and I learned, among many other things, two things I will remember for a while; I learned to identify with a murderer, and I should pay more attention to the sky.

Here are selected quotes from my reading:

"...Nevertheless I answered that I had pretty much lost the habit of analyzing myself and that is was hard for me to tell him what he wanted to know. I probably did love Maman, but that didn't mean anything. ..."

"Then the judge stood up as if to give me the signal that the examination was over. He simply asked, in the same weary tone, if I was sorry for what I had done. I thought about it for a minute and said that more than sorry I felt kind of annoyed. I got the impression he didn't understand. But that was as far as things went that day."

" I realized then that a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison. He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored. In a way, it was an advantage."

"For the third time I've refused to see the chaplain. I don't have anything to say to him; I don't feel like talking, and I'll be seeing him soon enough as it is. All I care about right ow is escaping the machinery of justice, seeing if there's anyway out of the inevitable."

"Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter. Therefore (and the difficult ting was not to lose sight of all the reasoning that went into this 'therefore'), I had to accept the rejection of my appeal."

"He seemed so certain about teverything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainties was worth one hair of a woman's head. He wasn't even sure he was alive, because he was living like a dead man. Whereas it looked as it I was the one who'd come up emptyhanded. But I was sure about me, about everything, surer than he could ever be, sure of my life and sure of the death I had waiting for me. Yes, that was all I had. But at least I had as much of a hold on it as it had on me. I have been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn't done that. I hadn't done this thing but I had done another. And so? It was as if I had waited all this time for this moment and for the first light of this dawn to be vindicated. Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I'd lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living. What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God or the live people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we're all elected by the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him who also called themselves my brothers? couldn't he see, couldn't he see that? Everybody was privileged. There were only privileged people. The others would all be condemned one day. And he would be condemned, too. What would it matter if he were accused of murder and then executed because he didn't cry at his mother's funeral?"

"Then, in the dark hour before dawn, sirens blasted. They were announcing departures for a world that now and forever meant nothing to me. For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiance,' why she had played at the beginning again. Even there, in the home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live it all again too. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."

New Sound: Dappled Cities

2010-03-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

Their Myspace, Their website.

Cray Day

2010-03-08T02:13:00.003-07:00

Today started fine, got bad, got worse, got odd and got better. Today I am grateful for happy associations with good people who are willing to love me and put up with me and take care of me.
I am grateful for cell phones that allow me to talk to my parents and my bestie.

Today I am grateful for men who are the closest thing I have to brothers who "babysit" me sometimes and feed me and look after me.

New Sound: Blind Man's Colour

2010-03-01T02:49:00.003-07:00

How do I describe these guys? Uh, Animal Collective meets The Temper Trap. Enjoy that.
Myspace Their Blogger.

It is All I Listen To:

2010-03-01T02:22:00.004-07:00

The Temper Trap and the Broken Bells are all that I have really been listening to lately, if you don't believe me, you can check out my Last.fm.

breaks on breaks on the car is running empty breaks on breaks on the car is runnin empty downhill head on this crash is comin slowly downhill head on this crash is comin slowly move or watch the slow death of your way of life there's a science to fear it plagues my mind and it keeps us right here and it keeps us here my ears my eyes my brain is slowly bustin black smoke red sky the television's sayin downhill head on another crash is comin move or watch the murder of you way of life there's a science to fear it plagues my mind and it keeps us right here and the less we know the more we sit still my baby's stuck on a road that lead to nowhere nowhere, nowhere.

Proof that they are amazing:

Oh iPod

2010-02-27T19:25:00.003-07:00

Do you remember in high school when the iPod made its debut? Do remember how they were notorious for frequently "dying" a year to almost the day you got it? I do. I remember that by the time I [my family] could afford one I got a 5th generation iPod. Sometime around generation 4 the iPods had stopped dying at a year. I got my first iPod for my 19th birthday, the first birthday I spent away from home.
image found here

Well, it is three years later and you could say my iPod is elderly and it is starting to show. The back is mysteriously loose and it frequently freezes when I charge it. I will say that this is better behavior than others. I feel fortunate. (Oh P.S. I have the black iPod pictured above, his name is Augustus.) My BFF Lauren's iPod [4th gen] kicked the bucket the day after Christmas after showing no signs of wear or age. Fortunately for her, she receive an unasked for iPod for Christmas, so she was covered...jealous.

I guess I am just writing this to say that Augustus and I have had great times together. We have been up and down eastern Idaho, parts of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. We traveled to Boston together, kept each other company on several flights and tuned out the crazies when we lived in San Francisco. I will be sad to see Augustus go, but I am happy in knowing that he has served me well and I have only dropped him once, 3 weeks ago.

The Temper Trap

2010-02-27T11:00:00.006-07:00

Dear Blogland People, (I like to believe that we all exist a little bit in Blogland as separate entities from our human selves, hence why we complain more than we would in person, over disclose, and generally share too much information making ourselves sound stupider/or in special cases smarter than we appear in human life.) (This is written to those over disclosing versions of people.) I was recently blessed with the album "Conditions" by The Temper Trap. Lets just say I have never looked back. I am particularly in love with the song "Fader." I am listening to it now, and so can you, I hope you like it:

Here are some lyrics for you, though I will say, I am not in love with this song for the lyrics. In the event that you are the type of person that likes to read lyrics, here they are for you:

I'm in transit
Floating stranded on this boat
And I pledge my self allegiance
To a better night sleep at home
And the sweet sweet sun's comin' down hard
The sun's comin' down hard
It burns the bones
So hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover from harm

Woo, ooh, ooh
Talk don't change a thing
Oh, it's fading fader

Woo, ooh, ooh
Words don't sink it swims
Oh, it's fading fader

Bless this mess
We tried our best
That's all that we can do
While the angels walk
With the lonely ones
In the cold rain to rescue you
And this fable world's comin' down hard
The wall's comin' down hard
On all our homes
So hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover from harm

Woo, ooh, ooh
Talk don't change a thing
Oh, it's fading fader

Woo, ooh, ooh
Words don't sink it swims
Oh, it's fading fader


Oh and these guys are from Melbourne, Australia... COOL.

A Response to Here a Little, There a Little

2010-02-22T01:44:00.004-07:00

Last week I posted this blog: (Here a Little, There a Little) in which I confronted the challenges of growing up and hating "the man."

A couple readers responded by saying:

Myke said...: Tell you what, it doesn't get any easier when you're almost 28 years of age.
Lauren! said...: I think we all feel that way. There were more prescribed roles/paths for everybody a generation ago, but now since anybody can do anything they want, all these choices and possibilities are overwhelming. Our parents were contented working the same 9-5 job their whole lives, but ours isn't. I would even go so far as to say that our generation isn't contented period. We're always thinking, challenging, and trying to overturn something. Which is good, but frustrating on a personal level.

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to their comments.

First, Myke, your comment makes me want to go shoot myself right now. Seriously, the most depressing thing I read all week, second only to my bank account balance.

Second, Lauren. I refuse to believe our parent's and their generation are some mindless zombies who willingly worked horrible jobs because it is what is expected of them and eventually contented them. I simply cannot believe that the many people I know in that generation just didn't love themselves enough to care. I think they got to a point where they didn't hate it. I think some people call that "maturity." I think those people are wrong, but I honestly think that to cope with life you do what you have to do, which is in this case pretending you life the 9 - 5 to get by. I do not believe that contents people, but rather they keep lying and say it does. Granted, I cannot pool everyone into one group, there are those rare specimens who actually like what they do, and that I why I stay away from the engineering and science and business buildings on campus; weirdos.
I agree with you that our generation is hard to please, that is for sure. We have been taught to have the attention span of a squirrel. Finding contentment will be hard unless you are the other 98.8% of the female population of my school, in which case this can be found in shiny rings and mini vans. (Okay that was harsh, but maybe like 50%?)
I bet we are going to be a fun bunch when we all hit the retirement homes; we will not be able to sit still! And just things of the nurses taking care of us! Will there be any? Will our children's children have patience enough to sit through the NCLEX?

image: http://polynesiangardenscondos.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/elderly-people-on-computer.jpg

Be Warned

2010-02-22T01:34:00.007-07:00

Have you ever done something your parents really did not want you to do? Something you had to talk about for a week before it happened and then every single time you talked after after wards?

I did.

My dad's emotions were as follows:
1. Anger
2. Disappointment
3. Guilt-causing
lather-rinse-repeat

I didn't get a tattoo, I didn't do drugs, I didn't date someone I wasn't supposed to, in fact I have never done any of those things. All I did was move.

image: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/39/2010/01/500x_72545103.jpg

So a word to the wise, if you father is Filipino and he doesn't want you to do something, you better be darn prepared to suffer the wrath of guilt-laden conversations for the rest of your life.

Oh yeah, and while I know I am baby to the rest of the world, I'm 22.

Here a little, There a little

2010-02-17T20:07:00.002-07:00

So I gave up the wonderfully warm days of California for the blisteringly bitter ones of Idaho. This decision was made after much thought and prayer. I cannot say that I know that I am supposed to be here, actually maybe, just the opposite.
Let it be recorded that I am almost 22 years old and feel I have no direction of what I should be doing. I feel like a character from some 90's coming of age movie. I understand what "the system" and "the man" are. I always joked about these things, but suddenly selling out to the man has become something real.

There you have it.

I feel stupid. But I guess people feel that way? Hmm? Adults did you feel that way?

Anyway, now whatever. I moved to Rexburg.

Vlog 5

2010-02-02T02:45:00.001-07:00

Vlog 4

2010-01-26T00:22:00.003-07:00