May 30, 2012

Can I perform this with 6 days of practice?… We’ll see. But for now, challenge accepted. Got to figure out a back up song, though.

1:24pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xMQhtC7
(Notes: 2)
  
May 4, 2012
Ripple Effect by Ly Nguyen

Some people label the second generation of Vietnamese Americans “drifters” because we seem so preoccupied with being American.

I feel I am more of a seeker than a drifter. Being a seeker has helped me understand my parents, Vietnam, the war and, most importantly, myself.

Being distant and angry with our parents only makes us hurt more. Only through our understanding of the past can our parents and our own hearts be healed.

(Source: nguyenwriting.com, via surnameviet)

10:17pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xKuMhg6
(Notes: 11)
  
March 25, 2012
Home food

Reading through these recipes reminds me of my momma. They seem pretty good… Must try some vegetarian versions sometime. :)

10:04pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xIa4ysr
March 17, 2012
Personal To-Dos

Research/broaden my knowledge on/think about:

  • the origins of our ideas of equality
  • revolutionary history of Viet Nam
  • science behind bodily emotional responses (purpose of anger, fear, happiness, sorrow, etc.)
  • what we consider to be the responsibilities of mainstream society, if there are any
  • international structural issues
  • stages of age
  • the nature of a capitalist system (in depth) and how it affects individual morals

Mental note: Don’t be so quick to grasp any perceived opportunities that cross your path. Stop and take the time to think first. Then initiate and move. 

2:51am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xI6qUni
(Notes: 1)
  
March 14, 2012
Relieve

I feel like I just need rest. 

Not sleep. But, time… time to recover from my thoughts, feelings, and acknowledged chaos of the things around me. Figure out how to organize tangled strings.

Always learning. Always absorbing new knowledge and trying my best to understand what to make of it. Take in. Bring out. Constantly learning how to love, to live to my own expectations, to listen, to put aside my needs when necessary yet still be attentive to them. 

To forgive - to forgive others and myself.

To accept and not accept. Walking backwards to move forward. Embracing.

Moving forward. Breathing — gasping for air. Feeling like I am midnight: not the day before and not the day after. I’m there in between, sitting on what is not one nor the other. 

Just keeping learning. Keep learning and living life for what it is. 

4:44am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xHzQLEx
March 1, 2012
Perhaps the World Ends Here

By Joy Harjo

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.

Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

3:59am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xHHOSn_
February 6, 2012

Expectations
Take care of where you place them
In your mind, your heart, leave space to rearrange them

8:47pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xG0MGNP
February 2, 2012
To my own mother

Excerpt from Letter to Ma by Merle Woo

Ma, I wish I knew the histories of the women in our family before you. I bet that would be quite a story. But that may be just as well, because I can say that you started something. Maybe you feel ambivalent or doubtful about it, but you did. Actually, you should be proud of what you’ve begun. I am. If my reaction to being a Yellow Woman is different than yours was, please know that that is not a judgment on you, a criticism or a denial of you, your worth. I have always supported you, and as the years pass, I think I begin to understand you more and more.

3:45pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xFnKmHI
February 1, 2012
Thought 0—thoug— Oh wait.— thought 1— thought 2 —thought 2.1— what the crap

I feel like there is so much going through my mind right now; I just need to see all my thoughts in front of me to help things settle down. Normally I’d write this in my own private journal, but I just feel like writing it in my blog. This will be a really random post, which may or may not make sense at certain parts. 

I don’t know why I’ve been using Tumblr more frequently. In the past, I’ve always thought that Tumblr was used for topics that seemed shallow to me. But that was before I found out about a lot of great bloggers. (Many thanks to Cara for introducing them to me.)

I need to finish my college application. Almost done. I can do it. I can do it!

All my classes are so awesome. My teachers are great. I love the material. I feel like I’m learning so much. Knowledge is beautiful and fantastic and super uber excellent. I’ve also encountered quite the surprise in one of my classes. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

I need to take out time to plan out and organize my classes. My mind has been too tired recently with the Tet festival. 

Speaking of the Tet festival… It was great. Actually, that is a hell of an understatement. Seeing everyone work their butts off and still enjoy every moment of it seemed like the quintessential example of teamwork. So much happiness circulated through that constructed village…  I am so glad that I’ll have the opportunity of initiating Lang Viet Nam next year. Looking forward to teaming up with Teresa.

Family stuff— Everything feels like it is just swarmed up in front of my being and decided to just fill up my entire conscience. But I feel relieved and more at peace with things… to some extent. I feel like I understand my parents so much more than I ever have. I’m grateful for the experience. These are only the initial steps… I expect that this will be a lifelong journey. Nonetheless, it is a journey I want to take.

I need to figure out how to incorporate more time for physical activity in my life. In need of a rock climbing/hiking/biking buddy!

Jeez I really hope I get into USC.

“Home: Word” has been playing in my car constantly… I can’t get enough of this album. I had downloaded the digital version, but I love their shirt and the wonderful CD. Thank you for all the gifts. I love them. We should go shopping with that card you gave me hehe.

Cleaning is relaxing and a good start to getting things done. Felt good.

Relationships… goals… happiness… embracing struggle… enjoying everything… life’s is always overall good no matter what happens. But the “valleys” are there for us to experience the “peaks” (HBT). I am very lucky for all the people who are in my life and for all the experiences that have knocked on the sides of my own life bubble. 

Ok. Now back to finishing my college application. I CAN do this. I WILL do this. I AM doing it. *motivational Rocky theme music*

GO GO GOOOOOOO

3:03am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xFilgTf
(Notes: 2)
  
January 31, 2012
Education: Philosophy

Micah Cobb’s thoughts on what one can expect to feel like when studying philosophy:

          The second feeling is the feeling of having a great breakthrough or genius insight. You will be thinking about a philosophical problem or reading a text and you will see something that you take to be especially insightful. You might even begin planning paper about the insight that will surely get you recognized by even the most seasoned philosophers. However, these insights will probably end in one of two ways. Most devastating is when you realize that your “breakthrough” turns out to be an obviously faulty argument. You made a simple mistake that, when corrected, leaves your apparent breakthrough as nothing more than a stupid thought.
          A great illustration of these “breakthroughs” comes from a story one of the professors tells. One of the professor’s fellow graduate students partied too hard one night. After he had lost all sobriety, he discovered the key to the universe. Before going to bed he wrote it on a piece of scrap paper and left it on his bedside table. He forgot about it the next day until midday, and, upon remembering that he had written down the key to the universe, he rushed home to read what it was. When he finally arrived home and read the paper, he was disappointed (to say the least) to find that he had written, “Ants can see molecules.”

 I thought that the anecdote there was pretty funny hahaha.

On another note, this article makes me excited about pursuing philosophy in college. :) 

“In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/education/06philosophy.html 

Other students said that studying philosophy, with its emphasis on the big questions and alternative points of view, provided good training for looking at larger societal questions, like globalization and technology.

5:10pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZEcn-xFhadcx
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