Light-Wash

So today I don't have that much to say. But what's new? So the first two pictures are of Yosemite. No matter where I travel, I will always find it the most beautiful place. I love it so much there and more than anything I want to go there over the summer. My mom has been toying with the idea of going to Greece, Figi or Tahiti since we weren't able to make reservations for Yosemite, but to be completly honest, Yosemite is like home to me. I love the dirt. I love the grime. I love all the work it takes to camp there. I love the river. I love biking everywhere. I love the freedom I have when I'm there. I can go up to a lake if I want, I can go to some water falls, or I can go visit the horses, one of which I've come to love and I call "Chase". Anytime I go over to the stables, he comes trotting along to say "hi" to whoever I've brought with me and he'll just sit there with us, even if we don't feed or pet him.

[enter]

I wish it was summer. I can feel the warmth of summer over taking my body. I can feel the freedom of the endless days. No plans. Nothing to do. Just whatever I feel like. The only thing I'm hoping is that I'm not stuck babysitting my sister all day. I just want freedom. I'm just so excited for the freedoms of summer. Is it bad I want to work during the summer? I just need money. I feel like I can't do anything because I don't even have an extra dollar to do anything. My bank accounts are at their bare minimum, I just spent $23 buying a friends old clothes and I only have $2 is change right now. I really have to get on my summer plans though. I have to take care of what classes I'm taking next year for school, I have to buy summer clothes, I need to somehow start making money, I need to sign up to do volunteer work, I would like an intership somewhere, etc.

[enter]

Anyway, by the end of tonight, I will officially be an award winning photographer. Weird, huh? I'll hopefully be able to blog about it tomorrow and maybe I will have some of my photos up here!

[enter]

Well I should do homework or something, so I'm off. Have a nice day!

[enter]

"Every time I look in your eyes

Can't control my heart,

I'm so high."

Plethora

Beach. Music. Love.

my inspirations [:

[enter]

So I've decided to try to post at least one post a day just so I can get my thoughts out and have a new photo up each day. That's another thing I'm going to try to do. One picture per post. Oh! One thing I'm really excited about. Tomorrow our school is having an arts award night and I'm invited for my photography! I don't have all my work that I've done in photography just yet because they are in the computers we use for photography, but as soon as I get them all, I'll slowly start to put them up. Yay! This week is going to be awesome because not only is the year almost over, but my boyfriend's birthday is wednesday, I might get new clothes tomorrow, I have the awards night tomorrow, I don't have swimming any more, and the list goes on. And just the backgroud behind the title of this, I love that word and for some reason it popped into my head, so there you go. Have a nice day!

Newsflash

So a while ago, it was actually my second blog, on http://iluvsoccr.typad.com/blog I made a blog called my addictions and I talked about things that I love. Well now, this is an update on things that inspire me.

[enter]

Lets start with the basics.

[enter]

Beaches. They are so beautiful. If you're lucky and not in Nor Cal, they are nice and warm. They are all so different but all share their connection to the ocean. Some beach are rocky, some, the sand is so fragile and small, some the sand is tan, others, white.

[enter]

Music. I love it all. I love that I can appreciate all music. I am yet to find music I can't appreciate. The only music that hasn't really grown on my is yoddeling. Not that I listen to it, but I tried once just to see if there was any music I don't like, and it didn't do much for me.

[enter]

Love. When you're so happy, you can look at the world from a whole new lens. You can see every aspect of things. And it's inspiring. Everything you see you can somehow relate to your happiness and weightless heart.

[enter]

Mini-Tacos. Okay, maybe they don't inspire me, but oh my god are they good. Thank you, Trader Joes.

[enter]

Arizona Iced Tea. If you've ever had it, you know it's delicious. Whether you have the fruit juice, iced tea, half and half, or energy drinks, yum.

[enter]

Pandora. Internet radio? Amazing. I love it. I find so much good music on it. Definetly check it out if you haven't already.

[enter]

Summer. I love summer. And not just because my birthday is in it. I love the heat. I love the time by the pool. I love the clothes everyone wears. I love being worry free.

[enter]

Vintage Cars. Enough said.

[enter]

Open fields. I want to just prance through them. I know it sounds silly, but I just want to grab a camera and someone with an urban outfit and just prance and photograph.

[enter]

Camping. I love it so much. This is the first year in 11 years that I'm not going to go camping with my family in Yosemite. We might go to Greece, Figi, or Tahiti instead, but I don't want that. I want the fun and dirty of Yosemite.

[enter]

Sunsets. I love them. Don't we all? So, I think that's enough said.

[enter]

Capitola. Capitola is the coolest beach town. I love it there. They have this amazing bridge for a train to go over this little river they have and it is so cool. All the houses and people there are so vintage, urban and costal. Downtown has the cutest shops and the most chill atmosphere. The beach is so nice (excluding the contaminated river) and in the summer mornings, the water is so refreshing and warm.

[enter]

Photography. Ever since I was allowed to use my mom's camera when I was a little girl, I've wanted to photograph. Anything. I think the most everyday little things make amazing pictures. They are so inspiring and beautiful and I love finding beauty in every day life.

[enter]

This last one is as inspiring as it is fun, but it is part of my life and I love it so much.

[enter]

Maui. Ka'anapali Beach. I love it. I've been there about 5 times in my life and I love it each time. The last time I went was last October and right when we got to the hotel, it was already dark but I wanted to go to the beach. So, alone, I walked over toi the beach in the dark and once the salty breeze brushed upon my cheeck, I felt I could breathe. I felt so free and weightless. I ran to the water and once the warm water covered my toes, I couldn't help but go deeper. The entire time we were there, my sister and mom wanted to stay at the amazingly beautiful pools at our resort, but the ocean was calling my name.

[enter]

So, yea, that's an update on me and my inspirations or likes. Hope you felt inspired, haha.

[enter]

Find what inspires you,

kjdhfjdhfkkAnd make it part of your every day life.

You have no idea how happy you'll be.

But I Know I Could Be Better

Get me out of here,

Get me on a plane,

And fly me somewhere warm.

Somewhere safe.

Somewhere I belong.

[enter]

Take me to a beach,

Let the waves crash over me,

Let me swim out as far as I can,

And let me keep swimming.

[enter]

Don't try to stop me,

There's no use in trying.

I'll keep going.

I'll keep swimming

Until I find land across the ocean.

[enter]

I'll forget about food.

I'll forget about sleep.

I'll just keep swimming.

I'll keep swiming until I find you,

Waiting for me on the shore.

[enter]

I'll just think of you as I swim.

I won't stop because if I do,

Fatigue will over power me,

And I'll sink.

[enter]

I have to keep thinking positively,

Thinking of you.

Of you waiting for me.

[enter]

If you weren't just across the ocean,

I'd swim across the world,

Just to see you again.

Just to prove I love you.

[enter]

I'd do anything to prove that,

And show you I care.

My Shadow Follows Me

Where I feel safest [:

I wish I could show you

how much you mean to me.

So basically I haven't blogged in forever.

Recently I've realized how low my self esteem is. So to make myself feel better about myself, I made a list of everything I'm proud of. Everything from being able to appreciate all music, to being passionate, to liking my eyes. Anything that makes me happy to be me. It made me feel amazing and I actually felt inspired by myself and like I could possibly inspire others to do the same.

[enter]

Also, I've realized how much is wrong with the world. Every day, I try to do a little thing. Whether it is send an email from http://www.chainstorereaction.com/ or inform myself about a cause or even participate in the amazing cause Random Acts of Kindness, ( http://therak.org/ ) which just does little every day things to brighten someone's day and bring happiness to the world.

[enter]

I love music. Just a random realization. I like electronica, dance, techno, house, screamo, rock, alternative, metal, pop, hip-hop, rap, reggae, acoustic, Italian opera, some country, etc. Most recently, I'm into reggae and acoustic. Anything chill. But I've also missed listening to metal, techno, electronica and screamo so I've been getting back into that. Pandora has become my best friend. Internet radio was the best idea anyone has ever had. I love being able to type in an artist and it just letting me listen to similar music and getting to know who it was by. Plus it has lyrics and little bits of info about the artist. (Side note: I'm listening to it right now and I just think everyone should know that Legend is the best album ever. Thank you, Bob Marley)

[enter]

Wow I've have a lot of realizations recently. Yay for epiphanies!

Kendall: The Legend

Edited by: Kendall Mantoani

Kendall is the most wise little 10 year old you have ever met in your life. She's always been like that too. When she asked how long my boyfriend and I have been going out and I said "four months", I aksed her how long her and her boyfriend had been going out. She told me "Well, when we are together, we are so happy that we don't need to keep track of foolish things like numbers and months." Oh goodness.

Today we were chillin' at my pool and talking about how she had murdered her wife Sweet Cream and how she got into a fight with Sour Cream way back in '87. This discussion went on for 10 minutes. She also said many of her little wise sayings. When music came on, we started dancing as if it was the last chance to dance. Disco, the robot, hip hop, anything you can think of.

Kendall is the self declared "Picture Perfect Gorgeous Girl of the Century", as you can see from the pictures above. Once she put on my glasses, I ran up stairs to get my camera and once I got them, she wanted all pictures to be of her. I have about a million pictures of her now.

Her final words? "I'm sexy, I'm hot, I'm just a girl you like a lot." Oh Kendall.

"Let's dance to joy and division,

Let's celebrate the irony,

Everything is going wrong,

But we're so happy."

Call + Response

After watching the movie in school and having a dream in which I lived in a brothel, I have become very interested in an organization called Call + Response (http://callandresponse.com/) who fight to end global slavery. The organization made a "rockumentary" where Justin Dillon got other artists who cared about the cause and just recorded and made a movie about the rising cause. 27 million people are enslaved today.

One thing that absolutely broke my heart while watching the "rockumentary" was when two little girls were talking about "boom boom" (sex) and "yum yum" (oral sex). They were talking about how "boom boom" was okay and how one of them could do "yum yum" well.

Also, one woman in the film said that since these sex slaves have been developing STDs so quickly, the clients start to go for younger girls. It started at 15, to 14, to 12, to 7, to 3.

Living so close to San Francisco, when I learned that San Francisco is the worst city for human trafficking/slavery in the country, I was terrified and wondered what has been happening in my back yard that I don't even know about. What have I been secretly supporting and allowing?

I'd recommend checking out the Call and Response website, which has a ton of links to other websites fighting the same cause, and joining the cause if you're interested.

"Justice is what love looks like in public." - Dr. Cornel West