Depending on how I feel, this post might turn into a lengthy one. But it's been a while since I had one of these update notes. Or it feels that way, at least.
I just watched the semi-biographical film Ip Man (2008), directed by Wilson Yip. It basically revolves around the period of time after the second Sino-Japanese War, where the Japanese seriously broke China. This was a really emotional film (or, should I say, I'm a really emotional person?) Yeah. So anyway, the setting is Foshan (in China) and the protagonist is Ip Man, who is the renown martial artist Bruce Lee's master. But anyway, this film focuses on Ip Man (hence the title!). I would have to spend 5,000 words trying to give all the background information, but let's get to the point as quickly as possible: after the Japanese invasion/conquering of China, they basically slaughtered the Chinese whenever they fancied, or put them into grueling labor. You get the picture--formerly bustling villages turned into ruins, a mass of impoverished people. So the commander in charge of Foshan is especially interested in martial arts and basically drafts Chinese people who have martial arts skills to compete with his own men. The incentive is that if a Chinese man wins, he is given a small (note: SMALL) amount of provisions in terms of grain to take home to his family. Supposing that he wins. If not, BANG, you're dead. So Ip Man, who is obviously the master, participates in a match after seeing that his friend goes missing after volunteering to compete against the Japanese soldiers, and he beats ten men in one match to avenge his fallen comrade (according to the movie), which is a real eye-opener to Miura, who takes an interest in him. Eventually, Miura asks him to train the Japanese soldiers in martial arts, but Ip Man's basically like, "I will never do such a thing since you are the Japanese and therefore my country/people's enemies, but if you want to fight me, bring it on." It's an intense match, and Ip Man wins. However, a Japanese general shoots him, which causes the Chinese people to riot, and that's pretty much where the movie ends (very epic finish). I thought he died, since I didn't read the Chinese text afterward, so I cried really hard because I was very moved by the portrayal of the injustice the Chinese faced and how honorable Ip Man was. My aunt thought I suddenly went crazy. Even she, a traditional Chinese woman, did not cry during the movie, which (I think) says a lot--about me, maybe. Oh, how easily I get affected! Definitely an epic movie, and even though this post is so long, it still doesn't do the film any justice. By the way... I made a really hilarious discovery by crying...my laugh sounds just like when I cry. The reason I know this? First I was crying because I was moved to tears and then I was laughing because my aunt asked what was the matter with me and whether or not I had finally gone crazy.
Continuing on...
The beginning of the week was horrible, to say the least. This whole week, the earliest I ever slept was 2 a.m. That was only for two days. The rest? I slept at 4 or 4:30 a.m. Not going to say anything more about it. This is the lowest point of my life, no joke. I could spend an entire day explaining how/why, and what I feel, but, really, I've fallen. For a while, I kept wishing someone would walk into my life who could pull me up and give me spirit again. But self-realization kicked in, and I realized there would be no such person. I don't know where I'm headed, but I do know it's going down. It's not the time to sit and watch, it's time for me to suck it up and get my act together.
On the lighter side of things, amidst the oblivion, there were some pretty good/funny things that happened. Ariel remarked, "I feel like I just went through a war." right after we walked out of Chemistry class. And speaking of Chemistry, basically, the class first started out with the concept that each table would have a whiteboard to draw Lewis Structures of compounds listed ona worksheet, and Ms. Koppel (the teacher) would come around and inspect our work. All the tables except mine had equipped geniuses, so we were the only ones who seemed not to know anything/were incapable of drawing Lewis Structures. Ms. Koppel came around to our table about two or three times, and each time we basically were like, "We have no clue what we're doing in this class" and you're probably wondering how any of this can be funny or good. So the funny part is... Ms. Koppel stopped visiting our table altogether, though she stopped by the two tables on either side of us. She skipped us. I guess she gave up on us.
But in the end, we (my table) figured out one or two things. It was pretty great.
Anyway, my head is swirling with science fair (@#$%) and **** like that, so I don't know what I else I should say, other than that TPT ISSUE 4 IS OUT! DIDJA GUYS READ IT YET??? Questions? Concerns? Comments? Great news: my column was going to be cut (for reasons I shall not disclose publicly), but in the end, it made it in the newspaper! Long story short... I have mixed feelings about it. So what did you think about my column?
Now I have to think about what to write about specifically for issue 5. I already have a few ideas, but some of them are pretty controversial/sensitive topics... Hmm...
***Impart your inspirations and ideas on me.
Photo-wise, I shall dedicate another post to my weekly 365 progress.
This was a really tangential post. It was all over the place, wasn't it?
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I guess I felt like writing a long post.
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