Category Archives: Visual Diary

Where I live

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I live at the top of a mountain.

I have to go on a trip to get home. It’s a straight path, a climbing trail. On my way home I have the chance to prepare for what I will feel when I arrive.

The ride home builds up anticipation of my arrival.

 

When I get there, nothing exists, except freedom.

When I reach the top of the mountain on the lift or snowmobile, I see hear and feel freedom.

 

The world lies at my feet, I am at the top of the world.

The next thing I feel is on my carve away from home. The wind is crisp and clean, the trip down the mountain is exhilarating and it clears my mind.

 

I am the only one who chooses my route down the mountain. I am in control, but at the same time I have a respect for the mountain and for nature.

 

I live on the mountain; the mountain and I are one.

The forest is my home, and everyone else’s

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As I enter the forest, the path beckons me in, to explore deeper. I can wander around here forever if I want.

We got my dog, Snoopy, years ago, when he was just a puppy, from a family that, we later found, was mistreating him. This made him distrust people and he would often run away. However, we would always find him running around in the forest. Even now, when he is old and content, he loves to wander the forest with me.

I am not the only one who loves the forest. Many people my age come to the forest to relax. They find or make many places in the forest where they can be at ease, not bothered by anyone. That’s why everyone loves the forest, it gives us freedom. You can do whatever you want here.

Where I live…

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I live in the things I love, or rather, through them. They follow me in different ways throughout my life and shape the world around me.

This is my dog.

His  name is Oliver and he is my little angel. He literally follows me around  like a puppy whenever we’re together. I can’t even be in the bathroom for a minute before he starts whimpering at the door. It’s nice though, having a creature so attached to you, when he’s around I’m never lonely and I live in a state of perpetual company. His presence gives me the energy to go out and experience the world in a way I never bothered to before I had him. When I still lived at home, I would take him for an hour long walk every night. It was really nice to have an excuse for going outside after dark. I get restless at night.

This is my best friend, Becca. I haven’t known her very long, but we are inseparable and I’ve never had a friendship like the one I have with her. During the last few weeks of summer, I literally saw her every single day. And when she was out for the day, I’d ask her when she was coming home, referring to my house, or when she was going to take me home, meaning her house. It’s really lovely, to have two homes. I’ve experienced so much that I otherwise wouldn’t have thanks to her. She has a driver’s license, so I experienced the freedom to go wherever I wanted over the summer (Where I wanted to go was wherever she was). I live through music, my ipod provides almost constant noise to me as I go through my daily life. I love music with every fiber of my being and she does too. We have similar tastes and she has introduced me to some artists that are now part of my identity. She also accompanied me to multiple concerts that I couldn’t have gone to otherwise (Concerts are one of my favorite things and a huge part of my life. They’re how I meet new friends and get really close with one sI already have). We went to the Blackout Forever Tour, Bamboozle, and Warped Tour.

The Blackout Forever Tour and Bamboozle bring me to my next picture.  The lovely man in that picture with me is Eliot Lorango. He is the bassist for a band called Matt Toka, who I first saw on the Blackout Forever Tour. I met him after the show and he was super sweet. A few months later, when we were at Bamboozle, Becca recognized him walking along one of the streets in the concert and we wound up talking to him again. He remembered us, probably due to my pink and blue hair, and we wound up befriending him. The next day we made a sign for him and were at front for his set. We talked to him after the show and he asked if he could keep it. It was apparently his first sign ever! (We unfortunately misspelled his name though.) We hung out with him and the guitarist, John, on and off for the rest of Bamboozle. We also spent some time with them at their tent during Warped Tour. Eliot, and the band Matt Toka, are now an important part of my life. I can always get excited when I know I’ll be seeing them again and I constantly check to see if they are touring nearby. The really funny thing about Eliot, is that he represents one of the things that brought me and Becca so close together in the first place. The Blackout Forever Tour, which he was on, was the first concert I went to with Becca, and very much responsible for my very intimate friendship with her. So my friendship with Becca, circles back to Eliot, who circles back to my love of music. My dog, my best friend, and my music are all a big part of my life and I live in them and through them.

 

Friends 4Ever

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This is my German Shepherd, Lucky. He was adopted into my family in 2000, when I was only 5. The adoption came right before he would be “put to sleep” because no one else had wanted him. As a result, my family named him Lucky because he was lucky to have escaped an eternal sleep before he could enjoy life. This dog is my eternal companion. I am responsible for providing him with sustenance, cleaning up his messes, giving him his vitamins, and bathing him. In return, he has given me affection and loyalty beyond anything else a person could muster. It helps that we horse around together and I rub his belly and scratch him behind his ears so that he can feel relaxed. I will always treasure my pet as a family member!

 

The handshake – A sign of formality or a mark of true character and personality? To some, a handshake can signify a successful business transaction or interaction with another professional in the workplace. Many could interpret it as a sign of understanding that one has gotten a job from a superior. But for me, it signifies true equality between the two people on either end of the handshake. The degree of respect and fellowship in the handshake can measured by its firmness, the use of eye contact, and the positioning of the body (in this case, forward). This direct contact with another person exudes mutual respect and comradeship. It is through this formality that I have sealed strong bonds with my male friends and continue to do so today.

 

 

 

 

I’m here with my good friend, Edward Aminov, valedictorian of our graduating Class of 2012 from James Madison High School. I became friends with him in junior year when we were in the same AP Calculus BC class. We bonded over our shared class, music, and girl interests. We’ve helped each other out countless times through our shared classes while also being academic rivals with another (He won in the end, though not without a little help from me!) He is one of my only friends who truly thought like a man. Because I pride myself as being very masculine, he was the ideal guy that I could bounce my thoughts off of, both academically and personally. Although we have different career aspirations, with him wanting to be a genetics engineer and I a lawyer, we still desire the best for ourselves and each other and will continue to collaborate together through all of the bad times and good times. We are truly friends forever!

Best Friend’s House by Dave Kim

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This is my best friend’s house. One could say that I literally live here, because I’m here so often. I might actually be here more than at my own house. My best friend Brendan and I have had many memories here. I love staying over his house because I feel so comfortable and I know that I’m not being a burden to anyone. I also have fun every time I am there. Unfortunately, my friend’s house burned down this past summer, but I will never forget all the memories I had there.

 

This is my beautiful, majestic guitar. Brendan and I would always jam out together at his house. We played a lot of Sum 41, Blink 182, Green Day, and so on. We practiced songs together a lot and it never got boring. We would always be so excited to show people the new songs that we learned. We should get a medal for rocking out so hard.

 


Brendan and I loved to blast the music, especially at his house. Brendan has a thing for loud music, so he bought two huge speakers and a fairly sized subwoofer. Whenever he got the chance, he would put the music up so loud that the entire house would shake. Meanwhile, we would be lounging on the recliners in his room and just taking it all in. It was one of our ways to unfold and relax. My best friend’s house is “where I live”.

 

 

“It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.”

-Marlene Dietrich

A Longing for Unity

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“The distant soul can shake the distant friend’s soul and make the longing felt, over untold miles.”        – John Masefield

I live on one side of a long, broken bridge. On this end, also known as my actual hometown, I stand peering across the bridge trying to find a way to unite with the place that I call home, Buenos Aires. This beautiful city is where my entire extended family resides; where all my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents get together to celebrate special occasions, Christmas, New Years, birthdays; where my relatives spend evenings together playing cards, talking, laughing, eating, and watching soccer, all without me. My entire life I’ve been longing for some kind of unity with the people I love dearly overseas; jealous of all those around me who can enjoy this simple, yet precious luxury. Despite this, I’m grateful to have these people be a part of my life and I cherish the brief opportunities that I have to be with them, fully aware that there are others out there who are much less fortunate.

 

Where I Live

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Unlocked Cage

As the years passed, I feel more and more like I live in a cage and I realized people around me feel the same way, too. This cage is called “harmony.” People change due to harmony. They have to blend into society, causing them to lose themselves. I have started to want things people expect me to want, and not what I want.

The keys to the cage are in my hands, yet, I cannot leave because I have to first figure out where I want to go after I escape.

When harmony becomes confinement,

When lies become true,

When life feels vacant,

We had lost the dreams we meant to pursue.

The more we struggle to break out of this cage,

The more wounded we became,

Then we finally broke off and we are free,

Just to end up in another cage we did not see.