Post 8: Awaken

It is 5:44 A.M. I am sitting at a square wooden table in a Starbucks on G Street, sipping a cool, refreshing, but seemingly tasteless, venti caramel frappuccino. By no surprise do I still feel like a robot; it is as if I am sleepwalking in a dream...

...When I first walked in, there already was a lady – she was most likely in her late forties – wearing a wheat-woven hat (I do not know what else to call it), sitting on a small, circular table that is opposite to the painted wall that I am currently next to. The cashier, who was at least a pretty six feet tall, and her co-workers, gave a dull, but friendly, “good morning.” There must have been at least five people, most of who included a “good morning” and “have a good day,” that have walked in and out since I sat down – similar to the hat lady, most of them appeared to be in their forties. Diagonally to my left is a college student: with his left elbow making a 45 degree angle on his table from both sides, he is resting his forehead on the palm of his hand and painfully forcing the contents of a book into his mind. In the background is the familiar Goo Goo Dolls song that I cannot seem to pinpoint, singing “And I don’t want the world to see me, ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand. When everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.”

The shoveling of ice cubes, which oddly reminds me of people shoveling snow and paving the icy ramps at the end of ski lifts, the blending of unhealthy calories and caffeine, and the chit-chat of the employees are apparently nonexistent to me unless I want them to be something: I did not notice them while I was observing customers until I just allowed my senses to curiously expand and absorb each aspect of this Starbucks, slowly but surely. Younger customers have come and gone, always more cheerfully and quicker moving, as time passes by. 40 minutes have expired; I effortlessly glance outside and notice that the gentle glow of dawn has come out of hiding and confidently brightened the skies. Unfortunately, the summer weather must have also awaken and have started brewing the temperature – it was about 73 degrees when I woke up and got here, and now it must almost be 80...

...My frappuccino, usually devoured in ten minutes, is still more than half full; my mind is still half empty (or asleep), perhaps still stubbornly unwilling to wake up. And yet, the bubbly beginning of Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” has just come on; interestingly, I suddenly feel a comfortable nudge in my head and feel like it is a sign to really get up. I take another sip of my frappuccino - it tastes a little sweeter. I am awake now: I can finally start my day.

Post 7: Happiness

One of my favorite aspects of our UWP class is how we are able to take one simple thing, such as Wednesday's comic, dissect its elements and plunge ourselves into an engaging discussion based on the original thing. I cannot remember everything that we spoke about, but I do recall sitting there, thinking about how we went from analyzing "The Unexamined Life" to personal happiness in more than an hour's class time. Responding to the comic, a student commented that American life is all work and money. In addition, the student mentioned how people in Latin America appear to be more happy than those in the United States because of reduced working hours. I made a mental note to myself, agreeing that Americans are too caught up in work and money and do not have enough time to be happy and to enjoy life. What do you think? Have you ever found yourself stressing out over studying, work and life in general? Do you ever wish that you had more time to relax yourself and be more happy?

Ironically, I just found an article indicating that North Americans are among the world's happiest people. Specifically, the United States is the 16th happiest country in the world out of at least 97 countries. In addition, two of the countries in the top 10 are Latin American countries. I thought to myself, "Either I'm a pessimistic guy or the world, in general, is just

."
In the article and YouTube video, Ronald Inglehart states that there are three factors contributing to happiness: prosperity, democracy, and high social tolerance. Findings include positive correlations between happiness and peace, and democracy and peace. However, Inglehart declares, is that "the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives." This does not mean that economic prosperity and income are not important: the article notes that "lowest ranking nations struggle with legacies of authoritarian rule and widespread poverty" and that as prosperity rises, personal choice becomes more important.

Based on the article, Americans should generally be happy, but why do some of us feel just the opposite? It is because of our personal choices. We are given the opportunity to succeed but we rarely use it to our fullest extent because we are too caught up in expectations not just from ourselves but also from others. These expectations divert us from the outlets that we need to keep ourselves happy at the same time. Perhaps if we close our eyes, take a deep breath and focus clearly for even a minute, we will realize that we don't have it as bad as we think and that happiness is always right around the corner - we were just too blind to see it.

Post 6: History

What designates an event to become part of history? Everything that you have done today may certainly already be history, but what specifically allows it to be written in stone, so to speak? Also, how can we distinguish what is true and false in works that adapt famous, historical or existing, things and events?


Captured frames of time through videos is one way. For instance, professional basketball has been around for over 60 years, but video accounts of memorable events have existed for about 40 years. There is no doubt that the greatest moments in basketball history in the 50's and 60's had occurred; huge crowds witnessed the events and photographs of memories, such as Wilt's 100-point game, proved that they were no hoax (the same might not apply today because of the endless possibilities of using Adobe Photoshop). Nevertheless, videotaped games that emerged in the 60's only solidified unbelievable moments, such as (sorry, I got a little into video posting):

"Havlicek stole the ball!"...


Dr. J's reverse...


Magic Johnson's junior junior skyhook...


Reggie Miller's clutch 3's...


Jordan's final shot of his Bulls' career...


...and Robert Horry's finishing 3 against the Kings.


These events are forever recorded into the history books, reminiscent of the greatest moments in basketball history.



In contrast to videos, books rely on material drawn from reliable sources. In Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, Brown uses real, historical, present-day places, treasures, and landmarks, from famous paintings to CERN to St. Peter's Square. In Angels and Demons, Brown goes as far as utilizing anti-matter and the Illuminati to mesh fiction with non-fiction: anti-matter, although it can be artificially created, is not abundantly fused in labs; the Illuminati, which formed in the late 1700s, is unlikely to be active today.

Unlike memory, history is definite and recorded - it will remain forever. What determines history may rely on visual accounts, present-day structures, or even the history of another event. Personally, history is a mundane subject and I have always been trying to avoid it; all the same, when I grow up everything I am experiencing now, such as the Iraq War and the crashing down of the economy, will be recorded in the books. I will be a speck, standing in a sea of billions of other specks, ground into the stone.

Post 5: Consumption

From which perspective of consumption is more prevalent, needing or wanting? New Keywords states that early usage of "consume" in the 14th century signaled destruction, exhaustion and waste. Presently, the economical analogy between producers and consumers, where consumers purchase products developed by producers, represent the neutral or positive consumption. In addition, consumption may apply to what living organisms do every day: eating. Furthermore, before discussing "consumption" in class today, I always thought of the word representing food. However, after Smaill informed the class of his pessimistic insight, I also began to perceive "consumption" from a negative point of view.

Below is a clip from Smallville, where Clark attempts to save a drunk Santa Claus. I have included the times that are significant to this argument:
0:00-2:03
5:54-end.



How does this tie in with consumption? Santa is disappointed in the world because “it’s all take take take, bitch bitch bitch.” He is implying that people are thinking about what they want and complaining if they do not get it. Likewise, humans have become narrow-minded in desiring the best of everything and not giving back to the world. Humans have become engrossed in consumption for their own desires and not for their own needs. The last minute of the clip is the conclusion of the scene, where Santa realizes that “the spirit of Christmas isn’t dead after all” because there are some, like Clark, who sacrifice their own desires to help others. In addition, Smallville uses peaceful music and special effects to add emotion and excitement to the scene. These elements supplement the viewers to help them understand what Santa is trying to say and how he changes his perspective of the world.

I also believe that the world today is focused more on what people want as opposed to what people need. For instance, in class we talked about televisions. At one point in time, a person who owns a 30' flat screen would be of "high class." However, a few years later, owning that same flat screen would become embarrassing because others may have larger and more "advanced" televisions, such as 70' HD TVs. Yet, is it necessary to be able to see every single bit of detail on TV? Isn't a TV that is moderately viewable good enough?

Another example would be purchasing hybrid cars. I was talking to my friends once when I casually brought up my desire to own a hybrid car. They were in shock. Why? Their reason was that hybrid cars are not stylish. I retaliated by indicating that a hybrid would produce less carbon byproducts and that it would help me save money. Again, they smirked and said that they were not worried about global warming and the costs of a gasoline-powered car.

These are just a couple of examples that blatantly depict that people are more considered for the superficial than the beneficial. On the flip side, humans are programmed to take care of themselves and to appeal to others - no one is perfect. We all want to have the good things and the things that others have. Similarly, mankind wants to continue to develop technology and make new discoveries (which is not necessarily bad), but the "wants" generally outnumber the "needs." Hence, the combination of these factors ultimately leads to the negative connotation of "consumption," or the "wanting" of the best of everything.

Post 4: Memory

It is 10:50 P.M. I am sitting in a comfortable beige couch, with two pillows supporting my back. It has been nearly two hours since I first planted myself here, reminiscing about the past, listening to "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~." When this fourth, random blog was announced and assigned in class in what seems like a year from now, I was adrenalized by the endless things that I could write about, whether it was about my favorite sport or my horrible addiction to Smallville. In reality, this possibly endless blog has caught me off-guard, taunting me with its blank white slate, in which I can fill with anything. And still, the memory of the past remains.

What is a memory? Is it a fantasy or a reality? Does it exist to remind one of happiness or to mock one with pain? New Keywords defines memory as "an indispensable condition of effective human life" and states that John Locke believed that memory contained "the storehouse of our ideas." Also, there is no doubt that psychologist have studied the profound concept of memory. Even movies, such as Memento, have used the theme of memory, something that is not fully understood, to mentally challenge and thrill viewers. All those things may further define and elaborate memory, but memory itself has no definition mentally or physically. Bits of memory slowly fade, but most, especially heart warming and heart crushing, memories remain.

I can remember what happened yesterday. I left class, excited about the limitless boundaries of the fourth blog, and talked with a friend (and ended up missing the bus). I can remember January 12 of this year: my heart was sweating and pounding, yet happy and full of love, while I was at the end of a 50 candle lit and flower arranged path, standing under a gazebo in the Arboretum, and dancing to Slow Jam with a special someone in what was like a heaven-like dream. I can also remember the middle of senior year of high school, when my heart was stabbed in the back, crushed mercilessly by a hand, and transformed into a heavy rock. These memories still remain.

What do memories mean to you? Are they your heaven or hell? Do you remember or try to forget them? Think of the random moments, the affectionate instants, and the painful marathons. Try to relive them and to escape from them. They are frozen pictures and videos in time in a photo album that take a form of our head. These memories will always remain.

Memories are neither fantasy nor reality. They have no physical form; they take on any shapes. Perhaps they exist in a form that reminds us that we are human, that we go through happy as well as sad times, that nothing is perfect, that things sometimes go wrong, and that we cannot always have what we want. Memory reminds me that I have been sitting on this beige compressed couch with two swished pillows behind my back, for almost three hours, thinking of what to write, only to find the answer in the form of the past. Memory is unbelievably abstract and really questions you what it is and what purpose it serves in life. Nevertheless, I cannot spend an eternity squeezing out the energy from my brain to figure out what it is; I will give up for now.















Still, my memories remain.

Post 3: Theory

In class, we initially discussed theory as a scientific term, and it may very well be. However, I was thinking of something completely different. Personally, my very first experience with theory was drawing oval-shaped bubbles with lines sprouting out of their right side. When I was younger, I would be thinking to myself, "What's the point of doing piano theory? Aren't I supposed to be practicing playing piano instead of writing out harmonic scales and drawing triads?" I later realized that, as it is with everything else, learning theory is a fundamental component of learning how to perform and perfect anything.

A definition of theory in the New Keywords textbook is "a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts." In addition, a student in class mentioned that a theory also has opposition. Interestingly, contradiction arises between opposition and theory's definition: how do these two coexist? Musicians (or at least I) take a general set of rules when writing and playing music for granted. For example, when playing a piece (on piano) in A major, there would be three sharps: F, C, and G. However, there are certain exceptions where one does not have to play these sharps, in which the F, C, or G note has a natural sign or a double sharp sign.

I admit that my idea of theory in music may appear somewhat ignorant and naive; it is hard for me to even think of music as hypotheses or in terms of rules because I am like a robot following a written code. In scientific terms, brilliant minds test out their hypotheses and, if their experiments succeed, then their hypotheses become theory or fact. However, if you think about it, these hypotheses are developed based on previous ideas, which may be true or not true. The bottom line is that these ideas are generally taken for granted; they are theories that few people attempt to disprove or not believe. Hence, the definition of theory and opposition to it coexist in a sophisticated way.

If none of this makes sense, I can at least say that our UWP 101 class is very much like theory. Unlike other mundane English classes, we are able to test out new ideas, such as writing blogs and examining key words, and see if they work. If they do work, then we continue with it. Similarly, if the ideas fail, then we find another approach. Our theory for this class, as of now, is randomly picking key words and composing a blog on them each day. Not everyone may agree with this trial and error, but this is just how it is for now - and that, in itself, is a theory.

Post 2: Race

After cooking myself a little something after returning to my apartment from class, I sat comfortably on the couch and stared blankly at the television. I let my brain rot and mold like how it should over the summer - for five hours straight. Of course, I took short 30 second breaks in between to grab some food and drinks to keep myself plump and cool. Inevitably, at the end of five hours, after finishing my unusual television marathon, I finally reached for my New Keywords textbook and proceeded to reboot my brain. I laid down on the couch, and began reading, "Race is a politically charged and ambivalent word that has evaded precise definition..."

It is profound how one word can instantly instigate a flurry of memories, is it not? Reading and thinking about race was like watching a film strip: memories of my being in different environments involving people of different races flashed right before my eyes. To be honest, I only thought of playing basketball and sitting in my Asian American Studies class. I closed my eyes and speculated on how I was to discuss race in those two different environments in a narrative...

On one hand, I figured, race is not an important factor that players think about while playing basketball. More importantly, it does not separate them from one another. In all my uncountable visits to the ARC, I have never experienced a moment where a players excluded one another from playing because of their race. On the basketball court, you may be white, black, yellow, brown, or even green. No one cares - as long as you have talent. In other words, the players are a diverse, homogeneous group.

On the other hand, my Asian American Studies class from the past spring quarter was - predictably - a class full of Asians. We talked about similar key terms in the "Race" chapter discussed in New Keywords, such as racial groups, race-mixing, racial profiling, racial stereotypes, and racial hatred. For example, we all, literally, have heard of stereotypes about different races, such as "Asians are smart" or "African Americans are good at basketball." Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to walk around and be devoid of labeling because of race. Yet, this may be either a good or bad thing; it just depends on how one perceives it. Nonetheless, race somewhat defines the identity of a person.

Having procrastinated for about five hours and working and taking a break, back and forth, for two hours, I believe that this is an appropriate and general analysis of my experiences with race. Although race is a broad topic that may be approached from many directions, there is one fact about it: race is always a part of one's identity.