Wow. Time doth fly by. Junior year will be over in two days!
While I am nervous for senior year, I have hopes that it will be better.
This year was not very memorable, I don't think.
At least I established some new friendships (that will hopefully last for years to come).
Every year I must do some end-of-the-year reflections; I will write about them when school is officially over.
So excited for CODA!
Pieces we're playing this year:
Bizet: Carmen Suite #1
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite #1 (mvts. 3, 4)
Saint-Saëns: March Militaire Francaise
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (mvt. 4)
Listening to March Militaire Francaise (aka mvt. 4 of Suite Algerienne, Op. 60). That fanfare at the end is so amazing!
If there's one thing that I love, it's biking downhill. I love it when the breeze brushes past my cheeks and ruffles my clothes. I am going to do that more often in the future, doing things I love, id est.
I strive to be laden with nothing and regress to being a happy kid. How I miss those times. But I strongly deem that not all hopes are lost; it is still feasible to be as happy as I were years ago.
I've been meaning to start writing, or rather, the habit of writing, days ago. I intended this daily practice to improve my writing skills for the SAT, but now, I am just going to do this for myself. (Keeping a diary, yikes, too risky!)
I hate how I am sacrificing my health for "success". Is it really worth it? Staying up late surely is not something I love. I realized I am doing all these things so they will look good on my college application; I am self-contemptible.
I will snap a picture of the Pacific Ocean soon. It is one of the most beautiful and stunning places I have been to.
1. Firoozeh's father: "It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat one another. As you grow older, you'll find that people of every religion think they're the best, but that's not true. There are good and bad people in every religion. Just because someone is Muslim, Jewish, or Christian doesn't mean a thing. You have to look and see what's in their hearts. That's the only thing that matters, and that's the only detail God cares about" (85).
2. "Throughout his job ordeal, my father never complained. He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals. He only said how sad it was that people so easily hate on an entire population simply because of the actions of a few. And what a waste it is to hate, he always said. What a waste" (121).
3. "The manager of the restaurant was a large Indian man with an overhanging stomach. The big tummy worked on Buddha but not on this guy. To add to his appeal, the whites of his eyes were manently bloodshot. This man could have easily been in Star Wars" (151). A plus for mentioning SW. :)
4. "My parents are highly evolved worriers. My mother once called me in the middle of the day to make sure I wear shoes when cleaning the attic because she had just heard about a woman who, while cleaning her attic barefoot, was bitten by a rare brown slider whose venom cut off the circulation to her extremities. Consequently, the woman's nose fell off. It was pointless for me to remind my mother that I do not have an attic" (155).
5. "Watching this jovial group, I found myself overcome with sadness. I couldn't help but think of all the Iranian women who had paid to have their noses broken and reshaped just so someone might find them worthy of love. I thought of all the little girls I had known who had learned to cringe at their own reflections. I remembered how much I admired Jane Fonda's nose when I was in fourth grade in Tehran, and how much I hated my own. Thinking of all that wasted energy, I wanted to scream and tell my fellow countrymen and countrywomen that a nose by any other name is just a nose. It does not hold a soul, for no matter how big our noses may be, our souls are far, far bigger" (165-166).
6. "Swimsuit competitions go against everything that is right and decent in this world. We're told that beauty is on the inside and that who we are matters far more than what we look like. But could you please just put on this bikini and walk around in high heels so I can judge your inner beauty? I don't know which was worse, to be a contestant or a judge. I wanted to stand up in the table and tell the girls to take off their high heels and hurl them at the organizers of this event, demanding that the pageant be replaced by a spelling bee. Instead, I just sat there and prayed for the end" (177).
"It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." -Anne Frank
"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains... My advice is : 'Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!'" -Anne Frank
"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction." -Anne Frank
"No one has ever become poor by giving." -Anne Frank
"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." -Anne Frank
"We all live with the objective of being happy, our lives are all different and yet the same." -Anne Frank
"I've found that there is always some beauty left —in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can help you. Look at these things, then find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!" -Anne Frank
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world." -Anne Frank
"I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop and to express all that's inside me!" -Anne Frank
"I have often been downcast, but never in despair." -Anne Frank
"People will always follow a good example; be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow... How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!" -Anne Frank
"People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn't stop you having your own opinions. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn't be prevented from saying what they think." -Anne Frank
"The only way to truly know a person is to argue with them. For when they argue in full swing, then they reveal their true character." -Anne Frank
I have so many things to do! I have a math project which is to take twenty photos representing Geometric terms in real life, give each of them a title, caption, definition of term, and explanation. Then make them into a book, decorate it.
As if that's not enough, Shakespeare Sonnet recitation starts Thursday. I don't even know what to do. First he said put emotions into your sonnet, the next moment he said don't put too much emotions and be overly dramatic.
To make matters much worse than it already is, I have a Geometry final on June 8th and June 9th.
Now what? When is this painful school life going to end?! The teachers said we only have two weeks of school left, why does it seem like a month?!
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." –Winston Churchill
"Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." –Winston Churchill
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because, as has been said, 'it is the quality which guarantees all others.'" –Winston Churchill
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." -Helen Keller
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." -Helen Keller
"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." –Helen Keller
I present you, the ANGLE OF DEPRESSION! Ok... This is actually a geometric term, and there is also an ANGLE OF ELEVATION! I'm studying for CST Geometry tomorrow, so I guess writing this is a way to maintain my sanity.
This is all about you, yeah Flowers of your love I want you to tell me
Bakka mitai... Miugoki sae torenakatta First love Dokusenyoku no hate ni mukaeta omowanu Bad end Anata no sono hitomi watashi wo utsusu kagami datta Sugaru omoi de nozoitara Mada tsudzukerareta kana?
But I said “It's over" Cause I believed in you hitoriyogari Now I know sunao ni narezu ni Too late to wait chiribameta namida fuite Sukoshi hareta me de sora wo mita
So tell me x3 ai wa zutto kono mune ni nokoru no? Really x3 mabushii egao tsunaida sono te mo KISU mo Baby x3 daiji ni suru ne kokoro kasaneta hibi Ijippari no ano hi no watashi Ima naraba ieru no kana? I thank you for your love Flowers of your love
Watashi no HA-TO ni sakasete kureta hana So beautiful Bukiyou na yasashisa wa DORAMATIKKU ja nai kedo Sono ikikata hitamuki ni kagayaita subete ga Ariawase no watashi no kachikan nurikaete kureta deshou?
But I know it's over, Since I got over you eta mono wa? Something special atatakana I say good-bye toozakaru anata ni semete kono omoi todoku you ni
So tell me x3 ai wa zutto sono mune ni nokoru no? Really x3 itoshii yubi ga nadeta kono kami mo KISU mo Baby x3 daiji ni shite ne kokoro kasaneta hibi Sukoshi otona ni nareta mitai Kansha no kimochi wo komete I thank you for your love Flowers of your love
Mayonaka me ga same Yume no naka wo sagutte miru keredo Anata ga tada hohoendeta sore kurai shika Nazeka omoidasenai no A-a maboroshi demo ii
Nando datte kikeru REKO-DO to Mou nido to kikenai anata no koe to
So tell me x3 ai wa zutto kono mune ni nokoru no? Really x3 mabushii egao tsunaida sono te mo KISU mo So tell me x3 ai wa zutto sono mune ni nokoru no? Really x3 itoshii yubi ga nadeta kono kami mo KISU mo Baby x3 daiji ni suru ne anata ga kureta hana Ano KISU mo ano yubi mo ano koe mo anata no nioi mo Dalala... muri ni wasureyou to shinai yo I thank you for your love The flowers of your love
