parties in the usa

two parties. twice the fun.

dancing and singing in abandon.

teen spirit.

effervescence.

living life.

tpt in the motions of issue 7

[diary] another day cloudy memory

This is actually a real diary. Mine, in case it wasn't obvious. At least, now it's mine. I just finished all the pages in my old diary (this is the first time I've ever completed a whole book!) so now I'm starting on this one...



It's vintage-y and my cousin bought it for me in Seoul when I was with her :)

[diary] Wild Woman Miranda

Today my English teacher referred to me as "Wild Woman Miranda." And added that I'm the one that likes to look at "ads in fashion magazines."

I suppose I've become quite notorious for a little social experiment I performed during English class (I basically showed people ads and editorials from fashion mags, gauging their reactions) and subsequently for writing a column related to it.

But I laughed when she called me "Wild Woman Miranda." I don't know what exactly she thinks of me when she says that (does she think I'm the typical reckless youth?) but I took it literally, replying, "I am wild." She chuckled and said a few things and that was that. But it made me smile from ear to ear. You see...I don't really consider myself a docile, timid girl. The stereotypical shy Asian girl is far from who I really am, in my opinion. I consider myself, well, wild.

Wild often seems to have the tendency to be synonymous with "bad" and all that.

One evening, when I was lagging outside hoping to shoot a night photograph, my aunt said exasperatedly, "why have you turned so wild?!" because apparently if you're an outdoorsy/like the outdoors type of person, that means you're wild is what she's implying. But I took no offense--it was true, really, I am a wild child/woman/whatever. The point is...

Like it or not, but, I'M WILD and I love it.

[me] inspiration

I'm easily inspired. I'll hear a song and it'll become the theme of my imagination for a day. I'll see a single photograph and there'll be fifty different stories and scenarious stemming from it in my mind. I'll look at the sky and I'll feel sad just because it's so breathtakingly beautiful, or in awe because it's so grand. I'll just sit and hear the ticking of the clock and it will become an element of a photograph I take later on.

And then, sometimes I'll be down in the drain, frustrated, sad, angered, all that, like I have been for the past two days. And then I'll just hear a song, like Opus 23, or wake up realizing it's 1 in the noon, and it'll empower me. It'll make me breathe steadily, bring life back into my eyes, take away the aching, make me forget defeat. I'll make spontaneous decisions, however absurd they might seem, like today.

Today, I heard Opus 23. And later, I feel like today's a pretty nice day. And then I'll look at the stunning sky and decide all of the sudden:

"Today I'm going to be happy."

I make those decisions and statements a lot. And then I become totally absorbed with making them come true, making them what I want them to be. So I will be happy.

Annie Leibovitz climbed Mt. Fuji with her first camera.

"The first thing I did with my very first camera was climb Mt. Fuji. Climbing Mt. Fuji is a lesson in determination and moderation. It would be fair to ask if I took the moderation part to heart. But it certainly was a lesson in respecting your camera. If I was going to live with this thing, I was going to have to think about what that meant. There weren't going to be any pictures without it."

-Annie Leibovitz (Annie Leibovitz At Work)

That is perhaps the most inspirational story I have ever heard.

But yet I still find it difficult to concentrate, to persevere in school, to actually get the job done.

Here's my personal itinerary:

1. 365 project
2. Finding someone to job-shadow
   
3. Get an internship
4. Finding a scholarship
5. Continue reading The Beautiful Fall
   
6. Continue reading Annie Leibovitz At Work
7. Start a scrapbook of fashion

Here's my academic itinerary:

1. Column for TPT
2. Mr. Chantilly story for TPT
3. Graded Review for Algebra II
4. Chapter 29 for APW
5. Science Fair speech practice for Chem
6. Finish reading Frankenstein for English seriously, I loved it. Frankenstein = must read.
   
7. Helping my little sister with her homework did it!
8. APT

Bolded stuff are due immediately tomorrow.

So how shall I get about to motivating myself to doing such tasks? I don't know. But I figure that exercise comes in hand. I recently (i.e. 30 minutes ago) went out with my little sister to look at our shadows in the snow, since that's one of her homework assignments (she's only in Kindergarten, don't be hatin!). And obviously, I took photos. But I forgot to exercise. Ugh. Fail.

Now I feel miserable since I didn't get to work out. Outdoors. :/ And working out indoors is one of the most terribly drab things to do, in my opinion.

Earlier this morning, my cousin and I discussed about finding our inner "IT" like Thoreau and and Emerson, as he put it. I'm not sure what Thoreau and Emerson did, or what my cousin means by them finding their inner "IT", but he said something about one (?) of them going into the woods for a few days, enabling him to find his inner "IT." My definition of inner "IT" would be enlightenment. Here is how I plan to someday find my inner "IT":

1. Meditation. Seriously. This is not a joke. I would love to know how to meditate.
2. Yoga. Again, serious.
3. Climbing a mountain like Mt. Fuji with my...future camera (hopefully a DSLR) though this will be in the bucket list (i.e. the one thing I'll do before I die type of thing)
4. Hiking or camping isolated in a mountain or forest for a couple of days...
5. Take Amtrak alone
   

These are things I plan on doing want to motivate myself to do this year:

• Going to the Smithsonian every Friday(?) by myself with my AP World homework (this is going to sound hilarious and ultra dork/nerdy, but I'm going to do my homework in an epic way by going to the Smithsonian to get into the mood and all that!)
• Just taking the metro alone, traveling around D.C.
• RUNNING
• uh....a lot of other extreme ideas.

You probably don't see how running or taking the metro and traveling is going to help motivate me, but I think it will. In a way I can't explain. So let's see how many of these things I'll actually be able to do. I just forgot you have to pay to take the metro. Every time. Sigh.

And let's see which piece of homework I'll do next and how long it takes me....

late nite snacks - lifesaver (and destroyer), motivation, and incentive

School is frustrating for many, many obvious reasons.

The first reason is that you are forced to take several classes that you have absolutely no interest in. Nobody likes to do what they don't, well, like to do. Or have any interest in.

The second is that it doesn't matter whether you like the classes you take or not--regardless, you are forced to take several classes--many of which you probably have absolutely no use for in the future, really. Think about it--if I am going to be a a journalist or historian, will I have to apply Calculus or Chemistry in my daily life? Is it a practical necessity? No. (And no, I am not going to be a historian.)

But I'm not here to rant about school being frustrating.

I'm here to say that it's very sad that I've come to rely on late night snacks as prominent sources of motivation, incentive, and lifesavers.

Food late at night is not exactly a very wise decision. Certainly not healthy.

But they've become lifebuoys for me. When all else fails, there'll always be something delectable to remind me that I can still live, that I can still muster enough strength and soul into getting something done.



Oh, food.
I love food.
I love life.

[update] Flickr, reformation & horrible week

Life has been tough these days. Of course, I wouldn't deny that I brought it on myself, but I can't help but eek out a defeated sigh, yeah? I'm very tired. I swear I will sleep by 2 a.m. tonight. But I really want to pass the Algebra II quiz with an A... (my grade in the class is currently an A-)...

And here's what's been going on with my life; since I officially dub this week as the "most horrible week eva":
-I discover that I practically failed the Algebra II test with a 77%. Ew.
-The same day, I also discover that I have a C in Chemistry--it's absolutely confounding (that I have a C, though it's in Science class...)
-I have 5 articles due on Friday (tomorrow). I've finished two of the five today and I'm getting ready to start and finish a third before I go to bed tonight. Or something along those lines. But, what a mess I'm in.

Haven't had the concentration to spend on photography lately, but here some highlights of my most recent batch:

1
2
3

Yep, been experimenting with b&w lately. Not sure how I like it. Your thoughts?

Oh, and, on the subject of photography, Lyzan Rashid is my awesome photo buddy :D

Okay, Friday and Halloween, DO YOUR THING. I NEED SOMETHING MAGICAL TO HAPPEN TO MY LIFE. I NEED TO DO A 180.

I, Miranda Leung, swear that I will reform my lifestyle after this week. I am going to change my life very, very soon, all for the better (those of you who know my uh, procrastination issues will understand). I'll give myself an assessment next Friday on my reformation progress.