Posts from — October 2009

@ Veggie-BurgerQueen

* Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, objects, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment.

Would you believe me if I told you there was a new, cheap and different way to travel? A way to see the world outside of the hotel chains, guidebooks and tourist traps? A way to intimately experience the real culture of everyday life? A way to connect with travelers and interact with some of the most locals you could possibly find? Well, it’s not too good to be true, it’s called CouchSurfing. My friend introduced me to it a few years ago.

It is basically a social network or community of young travelers and other folks interested in enabling travelers to connect, meet, and host each other. And yes, it’s free. After becoming a member, you just fill out a profile with personal information, hobbies, passions, beliefs, places you’ve traveled, etc so that you can absolutely know everything about someone  by reading his or her profile. You then have the option of setting your profile to be available for advice, meeting for coffee, city tour or even hosting others for a night or two. Despite the name, it’s not just for people with a literal spare couch. It can be an air mattresses, futons, private bedrooms, random space on the floor, tents, camper vans, sleeping bags and even completely empty houses. Wait, what? Meeting strangers from the internet? Stop freaking out. The CouchSurfing staff is actually putting security its top priority. First, there is an official “verification” system. It’s completely optional, but is a good way to help build confidence. Then, the most important verification is the previous references from other surfers or hosts. After you’ve hosted or stayed with someone, you can leave a reference. Also, you can chat with people to get to know them as long as want. Seriously, if you are a little careful, it’s totally safe. And, it is SO global – there are people in nearly every country around the world. You can find a couch to stay on in places like Iceland, France or in any cities in the US. CouchSurfing is not just a free way to travel, by participating in it you actually get to meet people from hundreds of different cultures, pick up new languages and try new things. I think it’s one of the most amazing website on the internet. I haven’t experienced it by myself but as I said, a friend introduced me to it: he used to invite people all the time – I almost met all of them, roughly 10 – and go on trips all over Europe. The great thing is that he always selected people with the same age and interests as him so they ended up being invited for longer that expected and some have became his best friends. Honestly, they were some of the most interesting, open and fun people I’ve met. You can find tons of reviews on the internet and everyone is having a blast. I definitely want to do it very soon with someone else, it’s such an amazing way to travel on a budget and meet cool people.

A few months ago, I took a well known personality test (MBTI) that divides people in 16 different personality groups. I ended up as an INFJ which is the rarest personality group – around 1% or 2% of the world population – and maybe the weirdest? Well, it did not surprised me at all. I started to realize that I was different from most people when I was about 8 years old. I’m talking about my personality, not about sexuality and stuff like that. Since that time, I have always felt that way and growing up, I could understand it better than before. I asked my mom when I was a kid and she told me that I was very smart. She had high expectations for myself and I always failed to meet them until recently… which made me feel terrible. As I got older, I realized that I didn’t fit in with the rest of people around me and in my teen ages I learned how to act so that I didn’t appear unusual to others which was not hard to do but very hard to live. For years, I dreamed about finding an other me who would totally understand me. I found some people who understand me way more than the average people, but not completely yet. I’m guessing only INFJs can understand INFJs.

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Today I was going through my old stuff that I carried with me in the US during the last 14 months and I found some letters from my mom. It made me realized something, I miss handwritten letters very much. I don’t know what’s your opinion about that, but it makes me kinda feel bad that computer keyboards have literally killed handwritting. It has been around for centuries, it has been raised to an art – calligraphy – and nowadays, only a few people still writes and enjoys writing letters with a pen. Computer typed emails are cold like death. It doesn’t share any emotions. It doesn’t have any personality. I miss reading the writer’s feeling through his handwriting. I miss all of the little imperfections of everyone’s handwriting. I miss the smell of ink and new paper. I miss the feeling of a pen on a piece of paper. And above all, I miss love letters. It’s something that you can keep forever, stick them on your wall or put them in a beautiful box. I remember when my mom used to show me her little metal box where she keeps all of the letter from my dead dad, tied together by a cute red stripe. It fascinated me to see his handwriting and to smell the old paper he wrote on. I remember how excited I was when I was receiving letters from my Australian penfriend when I was 12. Emails will never replace that, but no one seems to care anyway.

Everybody’s talking about the end of physical music media. Who knows whether they’re right or not, but for me it will never end. For one reason: album covers. Even if I recently haven’t bought many albums, I love them. So much that I stick my favorites album covers on my wall. It’s the first thing that we see in store, and sometime it’s what make us want to buy the CD. I love to be blown by music, as well by amazing album arts. Music and artworks is a wonderful marriage. Music always kept pushing graphics and vice versa. That’s the good thing about Hard Format, a website that selects and shows the most beautiful and stylish album covers. The era of the artwork is not finished.

I know, we all love music, we all need it in our lives but sometimes I think I am emotionally addicted to music. Especially this intimate relationship that it creates. You know when you have that song running through you, it plays so vividly in your mind. I’m not talking about a beat that would make you want to dance, but a melody or atmosphere that generates deep emotions, so deep that it can change your mood or make you wonder about things in life. At this moment, you understand the relationship you and the musician have both gone through for it to speak to you in that way. Because it’s not just a song stuck in your head, it’s playing a part of you at that moment. And you hear this music, playing over and over in your head. And your constantly think about it and you wait for the time you can get home and actually listen to the song again. That’s what I am addicted to. I’m craving for it and nothing else can make me feel the same.

“Environment? We’ll deal with it when the profit is right.”

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Longmen town in Hanchen city, Shaanxi Province (陕西省韩城市龙门镇) has large-scaled industrial development. Environment is very seriously polluted there. April 8, 2008

So, I’m taking an environmental science class and it really changed the way I see a lot of things. We had to do some research about developing countries and pollution and I ended up on a blog talking about China. Pictures spoke for themselves. They have been taken by Lu Guang from People’s Republic of China. He won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary “Pollution in China”.

You probably wonder what make people do this kind of things? It’s very simple and it’s summarized in one single word: consumerism. And this is why everything is made in China. Everything’s so cheap and it can only be because the Chinese government does not care about the lives of its own people and environment, typical communist attitude. And we consume everyday things that have caused such degradation and pain to our planet and others like us in their production. I wonder when this will all stop, how many will have to suffer and die before we begin to see? This is just very sad and pathetic. Not just for China as a country but as the evolution of mankind. What is the problem with us? Have we not figured out that this is the only planet that can sustain life as we know it? Are we so consumed with our own ignorance and selfishness that we just don’t realize or care? We are literally shitting were we eat.

We’re going into the studio in winter. It’s always miserable! Are we at the whim of the seasons? We are! When you’re in a studio in the countryside, the music you make is definitely affected by what season it is.

Yesterday I was so delighted to see the news on Cass’Soundtrack and then NME that Radiohead is to head into the studio again and begin recording their new album this winter. Ed O’Brien confirmed that a new Radiohead album (yes, album) is in the making. That’s a amazing surprise. How could anyone expect that after Thom Yorke’s words in The Believer (08/13/09): “None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again.(…) But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us.” So, get ready to listen to Radiohead’s new album in 2010 and see them live. Whoooo.

Official Website _ // Myspace _ // Last.FM

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. I am working on getting my thoughts together. Lots of things happened. This summer has been rather interesting. Eventful and uneventful, boring and excititing, but simply just fast. I really don’t know where the time has gone. My mom visited me for two weeks and we travelled a lot in some wonderful places. Unforgettable memories. Fall is here already. Days are getting shorter and colder, the leaves are falling… love it.