Just Yell

jessicay10 on Jun 1st 2008

So, I’ve heard Lee Myung Bak decided that with the help of developers, South Korea would establish a canal from Busan to Seoul. This is the most stupidest idea I’ve heard in a long time.

Lee claims it is,

“the environmental revitalisation of the 21st century” — linking four major rivers and improving water quality through dredging and other clean-up measures. The grand canal, he claims, would also reduce flooding, create an international tourist attraction and — most importantly — slash transport costs and improve the environment by taking container traffic off the roads.” (Trend News).

I am entirely flabbergasted. This is 200 miles of CANAL we’re talking about. This is the most idiotic idea I’ve ever heard of. It’s not like Korea is landlocked! Korea’s a PENINSULA–with three oceans around us. Are we that desperate on time that we need a CANAL?  And it’s not like its canal connecting East and West. It’s a canal connecting North and South, when there’s two seas that do the same job. I would totally understand the purpose of a canal if we were a country that needed a water route. The things is–we already have PLENTY of them.

And *shudder*–”environmental”? I hate how Lee Myung Bak is claiming that this can be good for the environment. How much forest will have to be cleared? How much soil will have to be eroded? How much pollution is going to be emitted trying to build this canal? Container traffic won’t get off the roads, either. That’s a wish–not a probable outcome. The Korean companies are going to use every way possible to transport their goods. Just because a canal is built, it doesn’t mean trucks are going to become obsolete. And one thing a canal can’t press on is SPEED, which is what the road provides these trucks.

Many environmentalists are acting against Lee Myung Bak. I feel that THIS, more than the beef import issue, is angering me right now. Economically and environmentally, this idea is poorly constructed. This plan needs to be shot down before Korea’s money gets drained toward such a project.

jessicay10 on May 28th 2008

This morning, I noticed our chemistry teacher had a college t-shirt on that said, “Communism Atheism Free Love”. Considering it was a t-shirt from an American university, I was shocked.

Image from Reed Magazine

My first thought: How could a t-shirt like that even exist in the USA?

I’m personally very liberal like the college that this t-shirt was from (Reed College). And I see that communism is more ideal that capitalism. I read Peter L’s blog post, “Communism…” and he said,

Though in capitalist countries that I have lived in, such as USA and Korea, associate Communism with a negative connotation, when I think about it sometimes, ideally, for me, Communism would be the ideal economic system for a consummate world. With people sharing around the same amount of money and people having about the same things, would epitomize the definition of equality.

I am entirely in sync with this ideology. I’ve always hated indulging in anything. I was always the type of kid that didn’t really request toys for Christmas or for birthdays. I feel strongly that there shouldn’t be a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. I remember seeing the Radiohead video called “All I need” that shows how capitalist countries sometimes exploit workers in poor conditions.

The reason that people usually frown at the idea of communism is because of the very textbook knowledge we get all the time. There has never been an ultra-Communist state. These communist states were always corrupted by other powers. The parties were more stronger than the people–which entirely contradicts what communism was about, according to Marx. For example, the Soviet Union. The Soviet Party completely took over the government and did what they wanted to do. It became an authoritarian state. North Korea even took this a step further and made their leader a god.

I guess what is ideal for me is a truly democratic communist state. It would share resources and provide for its people. I feel that this will allow for the equality that all humans are entitled to.

jessicay10 on May 28th 2008

It is in the American custom to eat cereal in the morning. Just like pancakes, fried bacon, etc. it is breakfast food to most people in the world. But there is no reason for it to be classified as so. In my house, it is not uncommon to see us eating cereal in pitch-dark.

Image credit to deanaia

It is sad to say that this is not very popular in most households. Of course, I do eat my other three meals a day. However, I need those in-between snacks. These in-between meal moments are celebrated with my favorite snack in the world–cereal. I’m addicted to this snack!

Whenever I’m thirsty–instead of drinking water, I eat cereal with milk.

Whenever I’m seeking something sweet–I eat cereal.

Whenever I’m seeking something crunchy–I eat cereal.

Because it can serve many cravings, it is the ideal snack for me. Everyday we have milk delivered to our house, just to serve this purpose–cereal. As long as you don’t eat cereal with high sugar levels or artificial flavoring–it is doing all the better for your body. People lack calcium because they don’t drink milk, but cereal ensures that daily intake. When you have cereal before you go to sleep, you have a better sleep, because drinking milk can help you go to sleep.

It tastes good, it does good, and it is good. For me to blog about food, it must mean a lot to me! A short tribute to my favorite snack in the world.

jessicay10 on May 28th 2008

A messy room is the natural consequence of poor cleaning habits.

Image credit to cranky mama

The sound of the sticky slippers. The creak of the plastic and the metal of the Swiffer as it makes a turn. All but the maple flooring, the Swiffer will swiff it away. It is driven by an angry matron scrutinizing every object that does not belong. A piece of string here, a couple bobby pins there, and shreds of paper. They do not stay for long.

The door knob turns–adrenaline. I grab the clothes laying on my dresser and stuff them into my closet. I pile the papers on my desk into a pile. I pick up the dog’s bone and throw it into his bed. I pull the bed covers, straightening them. The Swiffer is here.

The matron already has an expression that shows strong disapproval. Her eyes scan the room, and stops at the shelf. She yells at me, explaining that there are too many books crammed into the shelf. Then her eyes arrive at the closet, “Should I open it? Should I?!”, she threatens. I close the door and tell her that it will be taken care of. She resists and thrusts open the closet door and a colorful heap of clothes come pouring out onto the ground. “What is this? And this? Why aren’t your clothes folded?!” I think of an excuse but due to experience, I know the excuse will not do. I show subservience, and fold the clothes, one by one.

With the Swiffer, she slides over some floor that just, won’t slide as well. It is dried up dog’s urine. She is completely shocked and she yells at me, “Wipe the floor well–with a wet paper towel”. So I grab the wet paper towel, scrubbing at dried dog pee. It smells so repulsive and I feel like a miserable maid. The dog just sits in his bed, smiling, as I take care of the canine’s urine. Then the matron calls my attention to the pile of rubbish she had swiffed together. It is an impressive pile. But how do you pick up all that dust from the ground? She tells me to take another wet paper towel to wipe the dust off the floor. The last instruction I do not listen to, so relieved that the Swiffer is far away from my room.

I walk around, entirely forgetting about the pile of rubbish. It spreads across the floor. I change my clothes, and leave them about. I look at the papers briefly and throw them on my desk. I lay on the bed and the bed becomes unmade. Then the dog pees at the corner. The moment the dog pees in the corner, the matron returns.

The sound of the Swiffer.

jessicay10 on May 17th 2008

Yesterday, we had the Project Global Cooling (PGC) concert at Hongdae’s SPOT, May 17th.

All year, we’ve been working in the PGC club for the PGC concert and PGC website. This program’s purpose is to increase global warming awareness and actual action– building sustainable schools. We really tried to make this a global effort and a lot of schools joined us having concerts all over the world! I did the Turn it Off video on Earth Hour and several blogs about green habits (check them out!). As for the concert, this last week was extremely chaotic. For the first year, I didn’t expect much and we were thinking–”We always have next year”. However, it went fairly well, and I would like to congratulate our PGC club for pulling this concert togehter.

The music portion of the concert was extremely successful. There was a lot of variety which people really enjoyed. Mr. Joo did solo guitar songs, E-xPlosives played classical crossover songs, “Dog Soup” featured a lot of jazz/funk. Even Mr. Burell performed with them! Kong from SIS played all their own original rock songs and that was quite amaing. Last but not least, ABC Analysis played and they did an awesome job as usual. I think everybody was really satisfied with the music.

The thing I thought this concert lacked was the global warming concept. Was global warming even mentioned? I feel that we were so caught up with making the functional parts of the concert work that we didn’t really get the message across–global warming awareness. I guess what we were missing was either a speaker on behalf of the cause or an impacting video that actually puts ideas into people’s heads. It definitely could have had a more meaningful message behind it.

But the good news? We made a whole lot of money! The proceeds I feel deserve to go to an non-profit environmental organization for either reforestation or wildlife like World Wildlife Fund. Or, it could also go into making our own school more eco-friendly by replacing the current light bulbs with more efficient ones. We have yet to decide where the proceeds are going to…but if there is a particular organization that is worthy of this money, please let us know!

Even though it was a great concert music-wise, I thought the concert largely lost its purpose. Next year, definitely, we need recognize this cause and make sure this concert actually give impact on the students.

And for more information about Project Global Cooling, please check out projectglobalcooling.org

jessicay10 on May 11th 2008

There was a household improvement that was long overdue.

Image credit to warfarepolarbear on flickr

When I bought my Macbook in August, I never had wireless Internet at home. It entirely ruined the purpose of having a notebook. I was restricted to the one telephone wire in my room–at my desk.

Blogging, in a sense, became deskwork. And my desk is probably the last place you want to do work. It is completely cluttered, shadowy, and just too uncomfortable. It became an ugly task sitting in my uncomfortable swivel chair. I felt like a suffering cubicle worker from “The Office”, hopelessly chained to my work and with work and people I didn’t want to be with.

But now that we set up wireless Internet, it feels as if I can fly. I’m not kidding. It really really feels like I can fly. It is like finally being free from a rope tied to your ankle. I can take my Macbook anywhere in the house. Like right now, I’m typing on my bed–comfortable as can be. Going wireless may be just a minor adjustment. But it already feels like this change can really bring the better out of my writing.

jessicay10 on May 9th 2008

Image credit to: World Picture Network

A couple weeks ago in my Asian Studies class, we were reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Out of all the statements it had made, I remembered this one distinctly–”There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare” (Sun Tzu, Ch.2)

Why did that quote stick so well in my head? Perhaps, because of news like today’s. Today, in an exchange of grenades, 19 Shiite extremists and one U.S. soldier have been killed in Iraq. Over 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed since 2003. Many more Iraqi civilians have been killed. Five years it has been. Five years.

It has been five years of spending billions of dollars on weaponry, losing countless lives, and causing political chaos. Was it all worth it?

When I was visiting Guam, we had asked a man to take a picture of our family for us. We asked him if he was there on vacation too, but he wasn’t. We learned that he was a military officer that had served in Iraq. His wife did not want him there, so they chose to move to Guam. Things were evidently not going well in Iraq. He explained to us that the number of deaths were so insignificant compared to the number of soldiers that had been struck with lifelong paralysis and amputations. He told my dad with a heavy heart: Americans only hear about the deaths. They don’t hear about the soldiers and Iraqi civilians that have to live with no legs, no arms, or damaged faces. He even shared with us that though many had willingly signed up for the army, many of the soldiers were scared inside. Even he was scared for his own men; but he told us that he had to stay strong in order for them to be strong.

It’s not even like this is combat against a clear enemy. This is guerillas they’re fighting against; they hide among the people. Its unbelievable that George W. Bush even thought about fighting against them. It’s like Vietnam War II. September 11th sparked this action. But guess what? More Iraqis and Americans have been dying in the fight against terrorism than from September 11th alone. Sure, if this was a thorough plan of eradicating terrorism, it would have been fine. But if I’m still hearing news like todays, it’s not fine.

Billions and billions of dollars have gone into this war. When the United States went into this war, everyone thought it would be a quick police action. But it wasn’t. Afghanistan, Iraq, then Iran. More and more soldiers had to be brought over and more and more weapons had to be bought. Politicians signed to this war, not knowing this is what this was going to turn into the most pointless and prolonged war of all time. It wasn’t even a war worth fighting. To be the international firefighter is not the U.S.’s job. George W. Bush should have read The Art of War if he was going to start one. This war has costed too many lives, too much of the United States’ funds, and too much time!

If George W. Bush is thinking about how people will remember him, he should end his presidency on a good note, and start demilitarizing NOW. Even if he doesn’t recognize this as the best solution, he should just do this for the very people that are dying due to the American presence in Iraq.

jessicay10 on May 8th 2008

Image credits to: afrO- on flickr

I was watching the movie Elizabethtown the other day…

The movie opened with a young man named Drew (played by Orlando Bloom). He had proposed a design for a shoe for a big shoe company. This shoe, however, terribly fails. The shoe has to be recalled, and the company loses something close to a billion dollars. A billion dollars…gone. Newspapers have headlines saying this failure wasn’t merely a failure. It was a “fiasco”…which is defined by Dictionary.com as a “complete failure”….if that makes any difference. People were giving Drew facial expressions of sympathy left and right. All Drew could say was, “I’m fine”, when he was really thinking suicide.

As ridiculous as this plot conflict seems, I could not believe the similarities it has had to my own life (of course, the movie was much more exaggerated). In the past, I’ve always had trouble dealing with my failures–particularly embarrassing moments. Embarrassing moments usually are pretty humiliating. But that was not the case for me. My mistakes felt beyond humiliating; they were so painful I was crying all the time. I suffered from this social anxiety; when people laughed at me, I felt like digging a hole in the ground and burying myself right there in front of them. Even though these mistakes were so insignificant, I was the one making it a fiasco. I had made my failure such a huge deal that it burdened me to such an unhealthy state of mind. Self-esteem just went down the drain and I lost all self-confidence. I didn’t know what to do with myself…I truly felt like a failure at everything. But I kept going.

And like slapping yourself repeatedly in the head, my embarrassing actions felt numbed. Failures just didn’t feel so disastrous. Pretty soon, failures were just…failures, nothing more. I guess this is the point in the movie when Claire appears in Drew’s life–giving him directions to the exit on the Kentucky highway. I realized failures are only complete failures when one makes it so. We all have the choice to exaggerate our faults…and it is clearly a better choice to not. I guess if one were to believe they’re in the land of hopelessness, they’re going to be stuck there. If one moved past these types of minor failures…you could head in the right direction. Even if you really did lose a billion dollars

Failures aren’t fiascos. We only make them that way.

jessicay10 on May 3rd 2008

This is my own photo on flickr. I took it in April 2008, in Guam.

It is springtime. Well, it has been springtime for quite awhile. I’ve just haven’t announced it yet.

OK. Now, it’s springtime. I’ve always set the mood of my work time with music, and I’d like to put the spotlight on a composer that I have grown to love for many years.

Classical orchestral music is definitely not my forte. So I apologize if I am being ignorant when I say that DARIO MARIANELLI is today’s master at orchestral music. He has written original scores for numerous movies such as, “Pride & Prejudice”, “V for Vendetta”, “Atonement”, and many other motion pictures.

One thing I noticed about Mr. Marianelli is that he always has a way with building emotions with his works. Whether it’s during the epiphany of a gorgeous lady, whether it is the climax of a fighting scene, Dario Marianelli builds up to that point with his music–splashes of perfection. He never composes music that cannot transition well or doesn’t relate to what is going on. The masterpieces he creates are constructed with complexity, so that the music perfectly corresponds to the scenes of the movie. I especially was impressed with the music behind “Pride and Prejudice”. It was so intricate and beautiful. It wasn’t just music to listen to. It was music to be played in the heart; this completely draws in the attention and pulls out emotions of all kinds.

One thing Marianelli is known for is that he always adds in a piano part to the music. It’s like a staple of his pieces. I don’t know if it’s just because I play piano, but these piano parts are just amazing. I read in Sun Hong’s post about “Pride and Prejudice” and she finds great value in this movie as well.

A lot of people fail to carefully notice the music behind the movie. However, it is a habit people should get into. It helps you understand the purpose underlying a scene. As well, it just makes the movie so much more meaningful. A movie experience wouldn’t be complete without the music.

jessicay10 on May 2nd 2008

Image credit to: Vos Efx on Flickr

AN IRISH BLESSING GOES: “For each petal on the shamrock this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck, and happiness for today and every day.”

As I walked out of my apartment building this morning, I noticed an elderly woman passing by, holding on to a four-leaf clover with her two hands. I was in awe at first, because it felt like a still from a movie. My eyes just focused in on the four-leaf clover and the most irrelevant and random word popped in my head: luck.

It just wouldn’t stop following me today. What could that lady possibly need that four-leaf clover for? Was it for her children, was it for a sick loved one? If not, was it for hard financial times? Was it for her marriage? Or there’s always the possibility she just sought the rarity of such finds. Even at this hour, I am still really curious with the reason she was holding on so dearly to that four-leaf clover.

Dealing with overwhelming tasks today, such as the dance performance and the day-to-day class activities, I cannot resist the fact that luck is something that we all yearn for. Hope in times of hardship. Comfort in times of trouble. The bits of happiness in times of depression. This is what humans naturally seek for–the better in the bad. The practice of plucking a four-leaf clover from the ground is simply a symbolic measure for many.

People connect luck to  a variety of things in everyday life. Some relate it to gambling, odd wins, and $. But luck does not have to be associated with such activities. Often, it is the needy ones that seek for this odd chance of getting something they do truly need for a brighter future. I wholeheartedly believe that the lady I saw this morning had a good reason to be holding that four-leaf clover.

So whatever that lady was wanting luck for, I hope she got it.

But I need some luck as well for my SAT subject test tomorrow