Oh, Hai!

Going to NYU for orientation, then Barcelona in a week. oh damn: anxious/nervous/excited/scared.
I need some cute/funny stuff to distract me. Oh, and maybe some cute pics of my dog when she was just a pup!

I want one of these:


nomnomz



I wish geese where I live were this cool:



Bonus pics of Chuleta (aka pork chop):

Summertime Clothes, Good Friends, Late Nights.

I finally feel like I can sing along to AnCo without reminiscing about summer. It feels like 'freedom'.
Its perfect, just chillin'-out with friends all night--one of the things I love most about summertime.

Listen to some (new/new-ish) albums in their entirety, you deserve it hear them:
James Blake
Toro y Moi
Smith Westerns
Bon Iver
YACHT
John Maus

**Also, watch some Tiny Desk Concerts on NPR! I need to catch-up on these, there are so many I haven't seen, and they all look amazing.

Freedom?

I collected some photos (from the interwebz), of what I thought 'freedom' looks like. Does that make sense? They are of some pretty 'chill' moments: hanging-out with friends, playing music, feeling good, and just being outside.

What does freedom look/feel like to you?

**I tried to choose photos that I didn't just like because they are beautiful photographs, but also because they help me imagine myself feeling 'free'.

Fantasy.

I just killed a huge bug with a library book, I feel a little guilty (that i killed it, and that i got the library book dirty). But its too late now.

Anyway, Owen Pallet (aka Final Fantasy) is a wonderful musician! I found out that he plays most of the stringed-instrument arrangments for Arcade Fire.
One of my musician friends is letting me borrow 14 CDs from him, including Final Fantasy, has a good home. I'll definetly give it a good listen this week. By good listen, I mean I'll listen to the album start to finish at least 3 times, untill I understand the meaning of every song. Its kind of excessive, but I feel like thats how one should listen to an album, by really listening (which takes more than one time).  

How do you listen to an album?
I think my favorite way is either in the car, on long rides, or with headphones before I fall asleep.

He has a demo on Soundcloud availble for (free) download. Also, this Pitchfork video of him playing is quite beautiful (the embeded video doesn't work, but that link should take you to the right place!).

seeking inspiration

In the summer, I get lazy and end up wearing flip-flops, shorts, and t-shirts too often, because its hot out. But it makes me feel really conventional. Can't wait for this fall, when I can walk the streets and get inspired by all of the style conscious (hipster) people living and working in the city.
Do you ever lose yourself for hours while on LookBook?
Embarrasingly enough, I do. Everytime you scroll down, the page loads more looks. It is so hard to stop. I sure hope somebody agrees with me!



*I love the edge and confidence that these women have. You go girls!

A few of the sites that I got these photos from:
The Sartorialist (blog)
LookBook (fashion community)

Altramira (blog)

Ai Weiwei

The famous Chinese contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, who co-created the 'Bird's Nest' stadium for the 2008 Olympics, has been released by the Chinese Government.
Weiwei is also an activist (as seen on his blog and artwork--watch this video) against the Chinese government. He has refused to pay taxes and encouraged others (via his blog) to boycott the government.

One of his many photographs, acknowledging the government:

This article, from BBC News, talks about the growing concern, before his arrest.

Amnesty International has an article about his release aswell. Activists are still working on his case, aswell as others in China. Please read it, act now, and assist in the call on China's disregard of human rights.

A picture he snaped in an elevator, to prove police brutality: 

A poster found in NY, asking for public action on his release:

Loitering

My friend, Michael Pyon, is going to be a film student at NYU (with me!) and we hung out this weekend with my close friends, Michael Flynn (an amazing musician) and Stephanie (check out her blog!) who left for South Korea the next day, so it was a bittersweet night, the last time I will see her for months--which is a big deal, because I normally see her for at least 3 hours, everyday. Here are a few of the photos Pyon took. We had a bunch of fun loitering/taking photos. Even though they look serious, these photos just make me laugh! That was also the day when he filmed us pretending to cry. Haha, I am much better at it than I thought I would be! I am excited to see the actual video, of all of us fake crying. Maybe I will post it in the future, if possible.

Me pretending to be a gargoyle:

(just for fun)

Flynn and Stephanie, being all mysterious:

yum, yum, dim sum!

Pork buns are yummy in my belly! I want more of that amazing cloud-like textured bread stuff that they are made out of. So good, I think I could eat it all day. It is the perfect texture and yummy taste!
Oh yes, I went to dim sum today, it was wonderful and well priced! But I got full too quickly, and forced my self to eat pork and seafood. I haven't been eating them for a long time, mainly after learning horrible things about the meat and food industry. But I wanted to try everything, so I just felt a little guilty.

Then I dragged two friends into a record store, CD Cellar, that I didn't know existed. I was so happy to find a large variety of new and used LPs and CDs. It was cute how they promoted local bands by putting their music in its own catagory, and posting their bios on the walls. They also had a ton of indie music, which always makes my day! But I don't think my friends had as much fun as I did...they drank coffee and waited untill I finished going through the entire store. I'll have to take my father there! We only really bond with music, and both he and I can spend hours in record shops. I even saw plenty of '$1 rock LPs' that he might like to have.

I ended up picking about 6 CDs and 2 LPs to buy. But I don't have that kind of money, so I had to narrow it down unfortunetly. I got down to five: Strawberry Jam, Merriweather Post Pavillion, The Suburbs, The Flying Club Cup, and Thom York. I had to get one of the Animal Collective CDs, but I couldn't decide which one; then a random guy listening on our conversation yelled at me from across the room to get MPP, so I did. I also decided not to get the Thom York album. But I might get it next time! I got a frequent buyer card, so I'll definetly be back. Oh, and I realized I shouldn't have bought The Suburbs, because now you can buy it with the short film, and this one didn't come with it.

The last thing I did today was make smores in a bond fire. We tried to make weird cand/banana/chocolate/mint smores, but some where better than others. My stomach is now upset (from all the fried food at dim sum, and sugar in the smores). My friends decided it was necesary to tell scary stories tonight (in the dark, near the fire). But I am a wimp, I can't take the suspense/mystery. Damn it you guys, I hate scary stories! I am going to have nightmares now...

Focus

I want to do a lot of things while I'm still relatively young. One of those such things is backpacking in (eastern-ish) Europe. I can use my family's airline miles to get there, so I would only have to save up enough to get a plane ride home.

I would play music or do performance art on the streets to make spending cash. Sleep in hostles or tents, carry all my belongings on my back, travel by foot or train, experience new adventures, and communicate with language barriers. Maybe I could be like Zach Condon (Beirut)...if you don't know who he is, you are missing out (please look him up).

I've talked to a few friends about this, but you have to be very careful/serious when picking a traveling partner. I would perferably want to travel with a guy, but someone who does not create sexual tension. It just makes things more stressful and complicated, I'd want to be with someone who is like a brother to me (that way they can protect me from other men).

Have you or anyone you know done this before? For how long? What are the pros/cons?

Its too early to make plans for next summer, but I dont plan on being home for long. I guess I could backpack for the summer, but it might be better after I graduate college (so it can be in a transition period/break). However, I might just stay in NYC if I get an internship, and take summer classes meanwhile. Or I could try to get a job in Europe for the summer in someplace like Helsinski or Prague? That would be amazing. I might recieve Spanish citizenship this week (if I finally have all of the correct forms), and that would give me European citizenship, which would give me a better chance at finding work in Europe (or so I hope). 

I leave for Barcelona in less than 2 weeks.

Wah wah wah.

I have been to sleepy to write a post. Every time I start a new post, I can't think of anything to write about, and then I fall asleep before I have anything written. So I just realized I should write about that...I'm probably going to fall asleep in the next 5 minute though...

Ok, update on my life:
- I graduated from hs on friday (freedom?!)
- spent the last 2 weeks party-hoppin grad parties and eating too much cake
- met a lot of cool, interesting people...many of them going to school in NYC (maybe i'll chill with them next year?)
- sucked at poker and lost in a game of pool
- gave my dog a bath (she looks like a rodent when wet)
- made fun of mainstreamers
- continued to read more poetry collections and trying to understand The Tibetan Book of the Dead (so many words and buddhist things i've never heard of. but i still like it).
- forgot to turn my car engine on; almost rolled down a hill into another car...
- fake cried on camera (after going on a photoshoot in a parking lot, at midnight)
- played lots of Settlers of Catan, but still havent won.
- watched Bill Maher* tell some great political jokes
- i know there's more, but i am starting to fall asleep--like i said I would

*He's too funny, go to his website, and then click on 'Media' to watch some of his best stuff.

What should i call myself?

I was thinking (ah)feza, but that sounds like a soda. Then friends told me my rapper/musician name should be a-fez or a-fern. What do you like best/do you have any other suggestions?

Because I just created a Soundcloud....I needed someway to put my music on the internet, and that website is pretty legit. Please check it out!

There not really 'done' yet, but here are a couple pieces I've been working on for the past two months.
Thank you sooo much to Michael Flynn who helped me a ton on both of these tracks (because I am still learning how to use Pro-Tools). Peace and love bro. You should check out his tumblr: ioio.

I might add some more music later, but these two are my favorites.
I like constructive critisim if you wanna leave a comment.

if not now, then ever?

I have also just finished reading The Haiku Anthology (3rd Edition), so good. I guiltfully (is that a word?) bent down a lot of the pages to be able to go back and remember which poems where my favorites. I then recited most of them to some of my closest friends, they enjoyed them too. Some were serious (via exposing universal/human truths), while others were more simple.

tugging and begging/at the end of his leash/the dog's owner - Mykel Board
mirror//my face where I left it - Bob Boldman
morning surf/a dog fills the sky/with seagulls - Jim Boyd
it is growing dark,/no one has come to the door,/and still the dog barks - L.A. Davidson
back from vacation/I let traces of sand/remain in the car trunk - Robert Epstein
how come/whatshisname/never speaks to me - Dee Evetts
I hear her sew/I hear the rain/I turn back a page - Leroy Gorman
winter night/writing letters/to get letters - Marlene Mountain
acid rain less and less i am one with nature*/*less and less nature is nature - Mountain
tonite/nothing to write//but this - Alan Pizzarelli
Sunset:/riding the merry-go-round/alone. - Alexis Rotella
between cities/on the interstate/so many stars - Karen Sohne
alone at last/i wonder where/everyone is - George Swede
Sunrise:/I forget my side/of the argument - Swede
thick fog lifts--/unfortunately, I am where/I thought I was - Swede
the blues singer/tells us how bad it is/then the sax tells you too - Cor Van Den Heuvel
reunion:/a pause/before each hug - Ruth Yarrow
I stop to listen;/the cricket/has done the same. - Arizona Zipper


Also, for today:
a new video for Panda Bear-Surfer's Hymn



love that it seems spooky, but is actually happy (they're just doing what they love!)

And an amazing/beautiful/lo-fi? video for the newest Fleet Foxes-Grown Ocean. If the embeded video isnt working, try the link below (it is really worth watching!):



http://pitchfork.com/tv/music-videos/383-fleet-foxes/#ooid=1qcGYwMjrgB7gRxX8m7Kji9MBNzx-vak,54OXNjMjqVsZ_BGb8Iubu_EDT8vAQ57Q

That music video makes me want to be best friends with them and live the way they do, so I can be happy like they are. I want my life to be like that video: full of love and freedom.

poetic dreams

I went to my town's Used Book Fair, it was wonderful. The best deal was $8 for a large paper-shopping-bag full of books. I bought 15: 3 fictions novels, 4 books on psychology/dreaming (including The Interpretation of Dreams-Freud), aswell as, Brave New World, Studies in Zen, and a few more that looked interesting.

I haven't started any of them yet, but just being at the Used Book Fair made me want to become an avid reader, maybe even librarian...That happened to me last time I went to the library (to return a book). I put the book in the outside slot for returns, but I still felt compeled to go inside.

I wasn't really looking for anything, so I started with non-fiction, and then looked through every single bookshelf untill I got to graphic novels. I don't know why I decided to do that, it must have taken an hour...but it was plesant, and quite, and insightful.

Anyway, I left with 4 books (3 poetry collections, and a Paulo Coelho book). I finished Xaipe, by E.E. Cummings, late last night. I have never read any of his poetry before, I really love his use of (these) and other punctuation. He also spells and splits up words; some of the words didn't make sense untill I said them aloud in my head. There are several of his poems (in Xaipe) that I identify with, but here is the first one that i really liked, the 6th poem in the book:

dying is fine) but Death

?o

baby

i

wouldn't like

Death if Death

were

good:for

when(instead of stopping to think)you

begin to feel of it,dying

's miraculous

why?be

cause dying is

perfectly natural;perfectly

putting

it mildly lively(but

Death

is strictly

scientific

& artificial &

evil & legal)

we thank thee

god

almighty for dying

(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death

Before I die, I want to finish what I started.

While on the interwebz, I discovered Candy Chang, a graphic designer who has been involved with many projects of urban/social/global development, disguised as street art. Check out her website to see all of the projects she has been invloved in aswell as a nice biography and disscussion on influences. 

Some of my favorites projects include,
Project Mustache:

and the 'Before I die...' chalkboard:

El Teatro

Went to a play with my parents tonight. It was very well done/written/acted/directed. It was called Como si fuera esta noche, performed by the hispanic theater company Teatro de la Luna (in DC).
I felt bad for the actresses, who were sweating bullets. The air conditioning stopped working (it got really hot in the blackbox in which they performed) and they must have been dying under the lights. But they both acted so well, it was a very passionate performance.

The play was performed in Spanish (as it was written), but english subtitles were also projected to a screen above the set. Luckily, I don't have any trouble understanding Spanish (I just struggle with speaking), so I didn't have to read the subtitles...but most of the time I did anyways because it was hard not to notice, and also I wanted to see how it was translated, it didn't always match up.

Sunburnt

Yep. I got sunburnt. :/
Luckily, only on the top/front of my shoulders. I am normally very cautious with protecting my skin, since I was a lifegaurd. I used sunscreen today, but clearly not enough. It was sooo hot and humid yesterday, record breaking temperatures near 100 degrees (and I live very far from the equator).  

This is only one of 3-ish times that i have ever been (lobster-red) sunburnt.
The worst/funniest time, was when I was on vacation with my family 2 summers ago, in Cancún. We had the entire day to just sleep under the palm tree huts. My entire family feel asleep for over an hour in the shade. Well, it turned out that the shade didn't really protect us from UV rays....we woke up and went back to the hotel. When we looked in the mirror, all of us had very distinct red-white tan lines. It was quite embarrasing, going out for dinner that night, everyone stared. You think I would have learned my lesson.

Really worried about skin-cancer now (via ozone depletion), and using sunscreen with dangerous toxins in them...kinda wonder if the FDA even tests Sunscreens...in the end, everyone has to die somehow, so i guess i am not that worried, just upset.

Watched One Week on Netflix Instant Watch today. It was alright, I liked the idea of it, but it could have been a better film. The main character (a young, healthy man) is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and decides to adventure before he becomes a cancer patient.
I think I would do the same, if I was still relatively healthy. Once one starts agressive cancer treatment, the (physical and emotional) agony is great, that fulfilling lifelong wishes (via the bucketlist) is pretty hard to do.

What would you do if you had one day, one week, or one month to live?
Would you want to adventure on your own, or stay home with friends and family?

Slow Motion

This a a great video. It has the music video for 'Slow Motion' (off Tomboy). Then at around 4:30ish an interview starts (I believe its from gorrillavsbear) and Panda Bear talks a lot about his ideas for Tomboy, which I have been listening to soo much lately, and I really 'get' what he's saying.



I found this video on Pitchfork, Stereotype Helenski, and HipsterRunoff, but I think it was originially posted on Gorrillavsbear.

Seemlingly Chill.

Have you heard of Cory Arcangel?
He seems pretty legit:


He's a musician-turned-artist who lives in Brookyln.
Maybe I will get the chance to meet him when I am studying Music Technology at NYU. He majored in Technology of Music at Oberlin....so there is a good chance that we have a lot in common? Maybe we can be friends/co-workers or something in the future?!?? Maybe I should learn to hack a computer game first...

Someone recomended that I read about him in The New Yorker, so I did. I was a little confused when they talked about all the computer-hacking-language stuff, but it was very interesting. Some of the things he does as art seem a little sarcastic and strange, but he doesn't mean anything negative towards obsolete technology, he actually admires it. Seems pretty chill.

I am trying to find the most comprehensive site/article/interview about him, but everything is a little different. Check out his website and the Wikipedia article on him first. If you are interested, then check this one, which has some examples/photos of his art.

Crazii

This time of year is pretty crazii. But I guess I'm kinda happy right now? Not everything is the way I wish it were, but it is what it is.
I've acknowlegded that I tend to find beauty in unconventional ways, I don't think I know how not to... I love sharing my enlightening/expressive visions with open-minded people; that means a lot in my mind, thank you (to all those people in my life that kinda 'understand me' a lil).
Also, thanks for everyone who lets me get to know them on a sub-surface level (via sharing idealistic philosophies and enlightening moments). Being able to do that is kinda beautiful in its own way aswell, I hope you think so too.

Anyway, here are some pics of friends & dogs that I also took with an slr camera/color film. Love these people/animals:





Summer Souls

Here are some photos I promised to upload as soon as I got them developed.

Camping (and stopping at Cox Farms) on Memorial Day Weekend:

I learned that goats are very greedy and candles can get hot enough to burn through plastic. But I had a great time with my friends and I was very proud of the campfire I worked hard on. I'll upload a photo of the 'tent' here as soon as one of my friends uploads it on facebook or something.

Strawburriez

Forgot to mention that yesterday I also gorged on strawberries and whipped cream. Yummmm. I love food.

I was 'Stumblin' today, and stumbled upon some really great sites.
Found a great vegan food blog and some legit street art.
Also found this music site. Lots of good, free, music listening and recomendations. Also has a few free downloads, which is nice.  

Do you use StumbleUpon? If so, lets follow eachother!
Do you have a Last.fm too? Friend me!
(my usernames for both is Oddities9) 

Cloudy.

Sitting in AP Pyschology, trying to do something to keep myself busy/alert so i dont fall asleep. I'll finish this later...(11:47 am).

Back. 3:01 AM
Can't sleep, too busy watchin Ali G/making fun of my friend passed out on my couch/and Alex really 'winky' still. lawls.
I felt pretty infinte tonight, driving around with a car full of close friend, screaming to Sufjan Steven's Imposible Soul:



Do you ever stare at the ceiling and imagine yourself walking on it upside down?
Did you star-gaze tonight? It was really clear and beautiful tonight.
Do you like Swifel Sweepers? So tired of 3 AM commercials!

Tired Eyes

My eyes are closing, too tired to write a real post. feeling kinda sad (about life), i should go to sleep now.
The only thing that i am thinking about (besides sleeping and having to wake up extra early tomorrow) is if i want to go see Bright Eyes and M. Ward or not. There are playing at a venue only a few miles from my house, i guess i should go.

somewhere soon.

Rediculous how this is not photoshopped. I wish I were there right now. I need to be away.