Classic Winnie the Pooh & Au Revoir Simone

Sometimes, memories, & relics my childhood, make me happier than anything else. Here are a couple of quotes from my favorite storybook(s) , Winnie the Pooh, that stretch far beyond the understanding of a seven year old child.

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh," he whispered.

"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -" and then he had to stop and think because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called."

I apologize for slacking on my blog posts (even though I'm curious as to whether or not anyone even reads this thing). I've learned a lot lately, mostly that I need some sort of change in my life. I'll keep you updated on how that goes, but for now, it's the trial phase...so wish me luck :)

good video, great songs

Just had an amazing weekend out in New York (probably the 4 most gluttonous days of my life). Regardless, after reading this post, close your eyes and count your blessings. You'd be surprised how grateful you'll feel once you open them again.

Till Next,

Rei

chillaxin.

It makes me sad how perscription pill abuse is shooting through the roof. Prescription pills and plastic surgery are perfect pinnacles of human corropution - gaining wealth from human insecurities. Its a little offputting that doctors have adopted a method of medicating people to fix their emotional problems. Depression/ anxiety/ ADD - those are all in your HEAD. I mean, as much as a pill may cause you to think you're happier, if everything else around you stays the same, are you really going to feel better about the things in your life? It's almost like we're trying too hard to obtain human perfection. However, 'perfect' is a subjective term. So it seems odd to me that we center so much attention around gaining something that doesn't exist?

I guess if you glance through human history, satisfaction has always been built around subjective/invisible constructs - love, religion, wealth, beauty, happiness, etc. etc. Then, the really ironic thing is that we use objective things to obtain them - a ring, a bible, a dollar, a surgery, or even a pill. I think that's where we're going wrong. Rather than turning to materialism, we should look within ourselves to find fulfillment - and only then will we be happy.

Current Playlist:

1. Home - Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros.

2. Hurricane Drunk - Florence and the Machines
3. Last of Days - A Fine Frenzy
4. Reset - Mute Math
5. The Police and the Private - Metric
6. In Transit - Albert Hammon Jr.
7. Welcome Home - Radical Face
8. Moon - Little People
9. Orange Shirt - Discovery
10. As the Rush Comes - Gabriel & Dresden
11. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
12. Power Moves Baby - Inf
13. Everybody but Me - Lykke Li
14. Diz - TV on the Radio
15. Amistice - Pheonix
16. You dont know me - Ben Folds

Yelle - Ce Jeu

Diary Entrees from HIGH SCHOOL (throwback)

The one thing I love about keeping a diary, is remembering....

2/12/2005 (last entry of my Junior Year Diary):

This is the diary that I kept for a significant potion of my junior year at Redwood. By reading it, one should discover my deepest passions, pleasures, and worries that unveil themselves through my recorded thoughts. In rheterospect, by refelcting upon the occurances in this diary, I can honestly conclude that these months have persistantly guided me through my adolsecent path of self discovery. However, after my observations of myself, along with my surroundings in High School, I've concluded that things can't and shouldn't be taken too seriously. After all, life is simply a series of experiments that leads to an individal's final destination. And, at the moment, I'm just living....living and having fun...because its only TEENAGE WASTELAND.

Taken from a good friend's Tumblr account (HAPPY BIRTHDAY Elliot: http://fullgrain.tumblr.com/)

After starting a 9-5 job, I've gained a whole new perspective on life, or what I used to deem "the real world". I wouldn't say its scary, but it is a little anti-clamactic. Everytime i think of something to look foward to, like a break or "summer", I realize I dont have that anymore...and this feeling comes over me thats a little off putting. Dont get me wrong, I do love my job, and I especially love my company. I'm learning a lot and my co-workers (at Direct Partners) eased the transition by being incredibly easy going and helping me feel at home. Every day, as I do my entry level tasks, I cant help but feel excited to move forward, especially when the only direction of in my career path is up. Regardless, this feeling that my youth is slowly dissolving helped me decide what I want to be for halloween:

MAX from Where the Wild Things Are. The book was one of my favorites as a kid, and the movie is one of my favorites now. I know some people think its boring, but if you look beyond the large, gloomy beasts and into the underlying messages, its really just an anthology of a boy who is forced through phases of losing his innocence. And, in a way, right now, I'm Max, and I'm "Where the Wild Things Are".

Photos to come soon, but its a feminine version of this (with a good song to follow):

cool pics, good music.

update: I'm the Database Marketing Coordinator at Direct Partners in SF for Sony PlayStation. Loving every moment of the working world!

And here's a throw back, because as I move forward, I cant help myself from looking back.

YES YES YES

DAFT PUNK IS BACK!!! I have to see them on this tour, I'm guessing Coachella will be my best bet.

http://www.electronicbeatblog.com/2010/09/21/daft-punk-to-tour-in-20112012/

ps. update coming soon. stay tuned.

An Old Diary Entry

September 16, 2006 (entry from summer before college):

Yesterday when I was in the hot tub, I looked up at the stars and thought about the concept of astrology and how some people believe that the stars hold our destiny. I mean, quite frankly, I've always thought that stuff was bull shit, but what if, on some level, everything is connected and people really do have a predetermined path. In physics, we learned that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Perhaps theres some sort of phyiscs to the actions that people make. Afterall, every decision has a reprocussion. But what if everyone's decisions are already lied out for them. In "I Heart Huckabees", one of the main topics of the movie was how everything and everbody in the universe is connected. More or less, no matter how much I hate someone, or no matter how much I believe him or her to be emotionless, at some point in their life, they've experienced every emotion that I have...and in that way, the person and I are connected. Also, when you zoom in on a pixallated picture, eventually it will become hard to differentiate between say a nose and the face behind it. Therefore, what appeared as a distinct object lost its uniqueness from a different perception. So perhaps, and I know this is a long shot, but what if every individual on some level is the same, but we've just been handed different destinies."

Sushi Ran, Sausalito.

I used to always ask the question, "if you had to choose one thing to eat and one thing to drink for the rest of your life, what would it be?" Back in the day, I probably would have replied "French Fries and Lemonade". But as I've gotten older, I've developed an undying love for sushi. It all started, sadly enough, with the Safeway California roll (yes...with imitation crab). However, as I've grown older and my knowledge of Sushi, or Japanese food in general, has blossomed, I've discovered that there's nothing that I love more than the innovative pacific cuisine and classic Japanese dishes at Sushi Ran. There’s a lot more to sushi than simply cutting up raw fish, it’s a culinary art and I can’t get enough of it.

Stargazing, good times, old friends.

Made a bunch of wishes last night at the meteor shower! Excited to see if any of them come true...

hour-hand appreciation

"For me, life offers so many complexly appealing moments that two beautiful objects may be eqally beautiful for different reasons and at different times. How can one choose?" -Diane Ackerman

Life Update: Summer has been enjoyable for the most part. However, this brief interlude in my life has been quite the dillemma. What does the next chapter of my life have in store? Stay tuned to find out...as of right now, its a mystery.

A Visual Recap of my Recent Hiking Endeavors

girl crush/good music

The ending of The Elegance of the Hedgehog was absolutely breathtaking. I would recommend it to any and every person who appreciates good prose and philosophy. I would write a full review of it here, but I truly believe that this is a book that you need to experience for yourself. I will however admit, whenever I set it down, I felt anxious and excited to read more (which hasn't happened since I picked up Running With Scissors and read it from cover to cover).

Current Novel - A natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.

the elegance of the hedgehog

Yesterday I made a trip to borders in search of a good book. I decided to make of a somewhat blind purchase of "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" just because I love anything french (its original written language), and I love hedgehogs (even though the plot has nothing to do with the animal). Considering I had no idea what the book entailed, I really feel as though my decision was fate. The book's two narrators compile an eloquent anthology of essays that discuss their personal philosophies about beauty, time and the meaning of life. I haven't yet finished the book, but I can already tell it will be one of my all time favorites. I highly recommend it to everyone (although the writing is a little dense).

"Can one be so gifted and yet so impervious to the presense of things? It seems one can. Some people are incapable of perceiving in the object of their contemplation the very thing that gives it its intrinsic life and breath, and they spend their entire lives conversing about mankind as if they were robots, and about things as though they have no soul and must be reduced to what can be said about them - all at the whim of their own subjective inspiration." - Muriel Barbery

GRADUATION

old friends came to visit!

One last photo with my favorite tree in davis.
brunch with my parents and aunt sue!

In the gown - UC Davis 2010 GRADUATE:
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." — Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!)

Current Playlist:

1. "Burning" - Whitest Boy Alive

2. "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore" - James Morrison

3. "This Too Shall Pass" (Passion Pit Remix) - OK Go

4. "Wake up" - Arcade Fire

5. "Tidal Wave" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

6. "Night Train" - Amos Lee

7. "Wonderful World" - Amos Lee

8. "Feel it in my Bones" - Tiesto ft. Tegan and Sara

9. "Go Do" - Jonsi

10. "Like a G6" - Far East Movement Ft. The Cataracs

11. "New Day" - Kate Havnevik

12. "So Much More" - Marc Robillard

13. "The Rabbit - Miike Snow

14. "The Sun Smells too Loud" - Mogwai

15. "Ghosts and Stuff" - Deadmau5

16. "We Own the Sky" - M83

17. "Worse it Gets" (RAC remix) - Penguin Prison

18. "Listen to the Math" (Remix by the Good Life) - Tokyo Police Club

sonoma memorial day

Attending my very last class tomorrow, taking my very last final in eight days, and graduating in ten....it's a bittersweet feeling.

Some words of motivation from my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut:

"And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
— Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country)

"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone."
— Kurt Vonnegut (Timequake)

Lastly, a quote from the graduation speech Kurt Vonnegut gave at Clowes Hall, Indianapolis, April 27, 2007:

"Times change! I asked Mark a while back what life was all about, since I didnt have a clue. He said, "Dad, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is." Whatever it is.

Not bad. That one could be a keeper. And How should we behave during this apocalypse? We should be unususually kind to one another, certainly. But we should also stop being so serious. Jokes help a lot. And get a dog, if you don't already have one.

I myself just got a dog, and it's a new crossbreed. It's half French poodle and half Chinese Shih Tzu. It's a shit-poo. And I thank you for your attention, and I'm out of here."

Graduation

With graduation looming, I've realized that my two greatest fears are heartbreak and failure. I know that they both sound rather primitive, but in the end, aren't we all fighting for true love and success? I'm not going to lie, I thought that at this point I would have had some sort of epiphany about my abnormal importance in my life, or something that indicated my 'uniqueness', but that epiphany never came. It really is true that individuals are a reflection of their society. Even with the combination of my youthful rebellion and early adulthood intellect, my primary aspirations are nothing more than typical. I know we categorize ourselves as "intelligent", but how could a race that is so predictable be so smart? I hope that after school I wont develop any of these robotic tendencies to follow the crowd. By that, I mean that I hope to stay true to my character and never cave to the overbearing pressures of society. After all, it requires very little skill to follow, but an incredible amount to create.

Whole Earth

A visual entry of my day at the annual whole earth festival:

Ended the day with a dinner with Moreia and her grandparents at Tuccos!
The stages = music, dancing, good times
Exploring the festival.
We decided to hold hands and frollic.
Trying to pose like the statue behind us.
Candid, walking around.
I was born in the yera of the dragon, so I thought this was a good photo opporutity.

Trying to decide if she wanted to buy the dress (she did).

Quote of the Day

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own." -Benjamin Disraeli