Day nineteen: A picture of your favorite book.
Like the Flowing River, by Paulo Coelho.
I actually stumbled upon this book as I was drifting down the cobblestone streets of Sienna, Italy. I wandered into a little bookshop and, through nothing that could be called coincidence, my eyes fell upon its title. The next thing I knew I was sitting on a little brick wall in the middle of the town's square, surrounded by people speaking Italian, enjoying gelatos, and happily strolling down the flowered alleys, reading a book that must have been written just for me.
The book is a collection of thoughts, reflections and short stories from Coelho's own life. Coelho is an incredible, world renowned Brazilian author who has traveled everywhere on the earth. His life is incredible--he's lived so many places, experienced so many things, spoken in front of so many different audiences, connected with so many different people, and yet he still sees the simple majesty, priceless lessons, and tiniest miracles wherever he goes. I love it because all of these short messages are real, true experiences and reading them helps me to see life in a different, brighter light. His writing is beautiful, poetic, understandable, relate-able, and enjoyable. It's full of incredible life wisdom, and yet it's so simple. If I had could transform my personality into a book, this would be it.
One quote out of my countless favorites: "While separating the wheat from the chaff, and not allowing ourselves to be discouraged by the enormous number of charlatans in the world, I think we should ask ourselves again: what are we capable of? And then, quite calmly, go off in search of our own immense potential."
If you're looking for a short, easy read that will bring you happiness, further open your eyes to the beauty of the world, and help you be a better person, this is my formal recommendation.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Coming Home, 2011
Day eighteen: A picture of your day.
Let's pretend I'm posting this on Saturday. Okay? Okay.Ahh, homecoming! Utah State, my heart will always lie with you.
My day on Saturday was perfectly prepared by an eventful Friday night, camping out on the Quad with some wonderful new friends as well as breaking the world record for the longest kissing chain. You know us Aggies and our kissing ;)
And then came Saturday. A great morning with time to get some good soul searching in, going to the USU Bookstore to get game day t-shirts, pre-game BBQ picnic out in the sunshine, homecoming game with my best friend, neighbors, and roommates, and finally the homecoming dance followed by late night ice-blocking with great company.
These are my days in Logan, Utah.
Friday, September 23, 2011
It's Indie Rock & Roll For Me
Day seventeen: A picture of your favorite band or artist.
The Killers. Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci, and Brandon Flowers. My love for this fabulous indie-rock band first caught aflame junior year thanks to Wendy Kimble, the beginning to a love story of which I will never cease to adore. I can't say it better than her own Killers post. Their four albums (Hot Fuss, Sam's Town, Day & Age, and compilation album Sawdust) are some of the most diverse, original, and incredible collections of songs ever. They bring something to my life, something that makes my indie heart sing. And no matter how much my music tastes change, the Killers will always reside.
"Glamorous indie rock and roll is what I want, it's in my soul--it's what I need. Indie rock and roll, it's time."
The Killers. Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci, and Brandon Flowers. My love for this fabulous indie-rock band first caught aflame junior year thanks to Wendy Kimble, the beginning to a love story of which I will never cease to adore. I can't say it better than her own Killers post. Their four albums (Hot Fuss, Sam's Town, Day & Age, and compilation album Sawdust) are some of the most diverse, original, and incredible collections of songs ever. They bring something to my life, something that makes my indie heart sing. And no matter how much my music tastes change, the Killers will always reside.
"Glamorous indie rock and roll is what I want, it's in my soul--it's what I need. Indie rock and roll, it's time."
Labels:
Live the Beat
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Whoops.
Day sixteen: A picture of something you wish you could forget.
I wish I could forget embarrassing moments! Not the kind that really taught you something and helped you realize how to better handle situations, but the ones where you were seriously just being an idiot, made a total fool of yourself (in a way that wasn't even comical) and now it's forever stuck in your memory. These experiences don't benefit anyone in any way-- begone, red-faced moments of the past!
I once saw a picture with the words:
"Remember that one time when you did that one thing that was really embarrassing?
Yeah, no one else does.
Get over it!" Words of wisdom.
I wish I could forget embarrassing moments! Not the kind that really taught you something and helped you realize how to better handle situations, but the ones where you were seriously just being an idiot, made a total fool of yourself (in a way that wasn't even comical) and now it's forever stuck in your memory. These experiences don't benefit anyone in any way-- begone, red-faced moments of the past!
I once saw a picture with the words:
"Remember that one time when you did that one thing that was really embarrassing?
Yeah, no one else does.
Get over it!" Words of wisdom.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Learning the Language of the World
Day fifteen: A picture of something you want to do before you die.
I desperately, wholeheartedly want to be fluent in another language. I don't care what language (though preferably Italian,) when I learn it, or how long it takes me-- only that I'm fluent before I die.
I want to be beyond a uni-lingual, typical, white American from Utah. I want to be a citizen of the world. :)
I desperately, wholeheartedly want to be fluent in another language. I don't care what language (though preferably Italian,) when I learn it, or how long it takes me-- only that I'm fluent before I die.
I want to be beyond a uni-lingual, typical, white American from Utah. I want to be a citizen of the world. :)
Labels:
If You're Looking to Improve,
Of Myself
Monday, September 12, 2011
"...True Poets, They Who Are Seers, Seek to Express the Universe in Terms of Music."
Day fourteen: A picture of something you wish you were better at.
MUSIC. The thing I most wish I was better at is playing musical instruments. I play piano, I'm picking up the ukulele, and I played some guitar for awhile but now it just feels huge and awkward in my hands compared to my uke.
But I'm just average. And I want to be, "Daang. That girl has got some serious talent."
I feel like a part of me is lacking, or is not fully developed...like I can't fully express myself yet. Ideally, I would be proficiently awesome at playing the
MUSIC. The thing I most wish I was better at is playing musical instruments. I play piano, I'm picking up the ukulele, and I played some guitar for awhile but now it just feels huge and awkward in my hands compared to my uke.
But I'm just average. And I want to be, "Daang. That girl has got some serious talent."
I feel like a part of me is lacking, or is not fully developed...like I can't fully express myself yet. Ideally, I would be proficiently awesome at playing the
- Piano
- Ukulele
- Guitar
- Drums
- Harmonica
- Tambourine (Does that really even count?)
- Harp
- That small flute-ish instrument like from Lord of the Rings
Yeah. Pretty much. And no, that's not unrealistic. I'll get there. Even if it's not until the millenium. :)
"Music is the purest form of art...therefore true poets, they who are seers, seek to express the universe in terms of music... The singer has everything within him. The notes come out from his very life. They are not materials gathered from outside." ~Rabindranath Tagore Indian poet, playwright, and essayist; won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913
"Music is the purest form of art...therefore true poets, they who are seers, seek to express the universe in terms of music... The singer has everything within him. The notes come out from his very life. They are not materials gathered from outside." ~Rabindranath Tagore Indian poet, playwright, and essayist; won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913
Labels:
If You're Looking to Improve,
Of Myself
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Endings
Day thirteen: A picture of something you wish you could change.
There are a lot of things that I wish I could change. I wish I could change the world into a better, peaceful place where people simply believed in being good. I wish I could change my height, the cost of gas, the media, and how long the Autumn season lasts.
But today--today is different. Today I wish I could change endings.
You see, everyone's life is a story. (Hence the blog title.) And everyone's story consists of many different chapters. Some chapters are long, some are short, some are sweet, some are sad. Everyone's chapters vary, spanning a wide range of painful, trying, scary, lonely, to infatuating, lovely, peaceful, exciting, or joyous. Every reach of emotion these chapters touch is essential and important. Opposition and trials are indeed a great blessing, and that is not ever something I wish I could change.
But the endings.
What about the chapters that close in a way that is so unsatisfying that you can't possibly make sense of it? What about the chapters where the main character in your life suddenly walks away, only to be glimpsed here and there as a total stranger, and you never found out what really happened, or how things might have been different if times had only been.... What? If they had only been what? That's the problem--you don't know. And of course you will continue on with your story, searching inward for some self-made closure, learning from it what you can and beginning anew, where happiness will be waiting for you just around the corner.
But there is still that tiny little part of you that yearns for the hidden story, wondering why things happened the way they did, what compelled that person to act in such a way, if things could have been different if you had acted more maturely, if your ending was really how it was supposed to turn out, etc.
In some cases, these questions will be soothed further in the future when you will look behind you and understand the purpose and necessity behind these things.
But some will not. The fact still remains that at that moment-- the moment when you came to realize that things have changed and you must close a chapter that was so much a part of you and claimed so much of your heart, never to open it again-- that it was an ending that made your heart sad.
And that is what I wish I could change.
Labels:
In All Poetic Seriousness
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Source of Awesomeness
Day twelve: A picture of yourself and a family member.
I'm pretty sure this picture is self-explanatory as to the nature of my relationship with my brother.
Ten Reasons Why Ryan Kasparian is the Source of Awesomeness
1. He's 13 years old and can grow a scary good mexi-stache.
2. He's pro at pwning all the newb-lets at Star Craft.
3. He can never take a picture without pulling an abnormal facial expression. (At least, not that I know of.)
4. He has a shirt that reads, "What? I can't hear you over the sound of my AWESOMENESS!"
5. We dominate at team Mario Kart.
5. We dominate at team Mario Kart.
6. He's already way talented at composing some sick-rad original songs on the piano.
7. Whenever I come home from college, he walks in and states with a straight face, "Sister." Then he proceeds to do whatever else he was doing previously.
8. You will hear the word "Sp-gowsh" (or something of that sort) at least once a day.
9. He has a legitimate afro.
10. He's one of the nicest kids you will ever meet.
Here's to you, brosef :)
Labels:
Family
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Journeys
Day eleven: A picture of something you love.
Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. ~Miriam Beard
The following is two stanzas of a 15 stanza poem by Walt Whitman. The whole poem is absolutely fabulous. It is my favorite poem-- if you can spare five to ten minutes, fulfill your quota of great, classic literature for the day and read the rest.
BY WALT WHITMAN
The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
Continued at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178711
How to Travel the World Part Two: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-travel-the-world-part-2-on-the-road/
Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. ~Miriam Beard
TRAVELING. The world. The open road. The adventure. The serenity. The expanse of human experience.
What more can I say than quote the great words of those before me?The following is two stanzas of a 15 stanza poem by Walt Whitman. The whole poem is absolutely fabulous. It is my favorite poem-- if you can spare five to ten minutes, fulfill your quota of great, classic literature for the day and read the rest.
Song of the Open Road
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road, the gay fresh sentiment of the road.
O highway I travel, do you say to me Do not leave me?
Do you say Venture not—if you leave me you are lost?
Do you say I am already prepared, I am well-beaten and undenied, adhere to me?
O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave you, yet I love you,
You express me better than I can express myself,
You shall be more to me than my poem.
Further Linkage to Fun Traveling Tips: Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
How to Travel the World Part One: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-travel-the-world-part-1-pre-trip/How to Travel the World Part Two: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-travel-the-world-part-2-on-the-road/
Labels:
Journeys,
This is What We Call Life
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