"Art is better when you don't have to fear other people's opinions."
-ME!
Think about it...
My dance Professor thought it was WISE!
I love being wise at my young age =)
hahaha....
10.20.2008
Shades of Gray...
Alright, there is something just pulling at my heart and I'm not sure how this blog is going to turn out. All I know is that whatever I type here on out is what i'm feeling.
Last night (the picture below) was a chill night. I was hanging out with the band (www.myspace.com/futureofforestry) at a gig for a church in North Park. The church's motto was "Christianity for All." Now, North Park and Hillcrest are areas here in San Diego that are openly open to homosexuality. The pastor of the church was gay. There were men raising their hands while holding each others hands. There was a man dressed as a woman. But they were all there worshipping God and saying "AMEN!" and "Preach it!" Completely enthusiastic about believing in God without anyone making them feel unwanted. The Pastor's message was how God loves you no matter what. God is love and Christianity is about everyone together not just one person.
Do you see where this is going?
There's a weird line between religion and homosexuality.
I hate sides. I don't consider myself an extremely religious person. I consider myself a believer of truth. I feel like that the church we were at last night was a support for those who have felt unwanted, who have felt eyes staring down at them and have gotten the cold shoulder countless times. All they want is to know love--to feel love. If being homosexual has brought them to that church and closer to God then I'm not sure why people have to be so judgemental.
I understand that the argument against my apporach is that in the bible it says that it's wrong. That living a lifestyle like the men and women that we met yesterday is not right in the eyes of God. I get it. But who gives people the right to say that they are wrong and point fingers? I mean... what did you do wrong today? Have you sinned today? Cause I know I have. What makes you so righteous to make people feel like crap and tell them that they are sinners? Is that really the way God would want us to react to homosexuality? Or to any sin in general? Is what you're saying out of love?
Maybe I'm just completely and insanely empathetic. Maybe I was a gay man in another life. I don't know. I don't know a lot about everything. But I know that God isn't standing in all of his glory and saying to all the homosexuals that they are sinners and they are going to hell. I think he's standing there saying "hey, you're mine. I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul." If I didn't think God was capable of love than I wouldn't believe in Him. The only reason I write from the standpoint of a believer is because I know that God loves me. No matter who I am, what I do, what I say, or who I support, He made me and I have felt his love.
So when people say "DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON? HOW THOSE TWO MEN WERE HOLDING HANDS IN CHURCH?" yes, i'm gonna get a little peeved. I honestly didn't think i'd get so worked up about it but I feel extremely emotional about this topic.
The thing is... the homosexual lifestyle is becoming part of our culture now. So as much as people want to say it's sin and it's wrong... it's there. It's there and you're gonna have to accept it or look like a hypocrite. Too bad this world couldn't live harmoniously.
Am I allowed to hate hate? If I hate hate, then hate still exists. It's a vicious circle.
Palin wants to convert all homosexuals into God loving individuals. What if they already love God?
My best friend is openly gay. Does that mean God loves her less?
I just can't get my mind around the whole situation. I feel like it shouldn't be so complicated. Is it really just black and white? Or can we just create nice shades of grey?
I'd cry if I weren't at work.
And writing this blog isn't my way of saying how much I dislike a person or a person's opinions. I love all the musicians in Forestry. If anything, I wish issues such as this wouldn't tear them apart. I wish they could set things like this aside and believe in their music. And know tha their music brings people together for God. No matter who those people are... they are coming together though music for God. Isn't that enough? It's enough. I know it's enough.
Last night (the picture below) was a chill night. I was hanging out with the band (www.myspace.com/futureofforestry) at a gig for a church in North Park. The church's motto was "Christianity for All." Now, North Park and Hillcrest are areas here in San Diego that are openly open to homosexuality. The pastor of the church was gay. There were men raising their hands while holding each others hands. There was a man dressed as a woman. But they were all there worshipping God and saying "AMEN!" and "Preach it!" Completely enthusiastic about believing in God without anyone making them feel unwanted. The Pastor's message was how God loves you no matter what. God is love and Christianity is about everyone together not just one person.
Do you see where this is going?
There's a weird line between religion and homosexuality.
I hate sides. I don't consider myself an extremely religious person. I consider myself a believer of truth. I feel like that the church we were at last night was a support for those who have felt unwanted, who have felt eyes staring down at them and have gotten the cold shoulder countless times. All they want is to know love--to feel love. If being homosexual has brought them to that church and closer to God then I'm not sure why people have to be so judgemental.
I understand that the argument against my apporach is that in the bible it says that it's wrong. That living a lifestyle like the men and women that we met yesterday is not right in the eyes of God. I get it. But who gives people the right to say that they are wrong and point fingers? I mean... what did you do wrong today? Have you sinned today? Cause I know I have. What makes you so righteous to make people feel like crap and tell them that they are sinners? Is that really the way God would want us to react to homosexuality? Or to any sin in general? Is what you're saying out of love?
Maybe I'm just completely and insanely empathetic. Maybe I was a gay man in another life. I don't know. I don't know a lot about everything. But I know that God isn't standing in all of his glory and saying to all the homosexuals that they are sinners and they are going to hell. I think he's standing there saying "hey, you're mine. I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul." If I didn't think God was capable of love than I wouldn't believe in Him. The only reason I write from the standpoint of a believer is because I know that God loves me. No matter who I am, what I do, what I say, or who I support, He made me and I have felt his love.
So when people say "DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON? HOW THOSE TWO MEN WERE HOLDING HANDS IN CHURCH?" yes, i'm gonna get a little peeved. I honestly didn't think i'd get so worked up about it but I feel extremely emotional about this topic.
The thing is... the homosexual lifestyle is becoming part of our culture now. So as much as people want to say it's sin and it's wrong... it's there. It's there and you're gonna have to accept it or look like a hypocrite. Too bad this world couldn't live harmoniously.
Am I allowed to hate hate? If I hate hate, then hate still exists. It's a vicious circle.
Palin wants to convert all homosexuals into God loving individuals. What if they already love God?
My best friend is openly gay. Does that mean God loves her less?
I just can't get my mind around the whole situation. I feel like it shouldn't be so complicated. Is it really just black and white? Or can we just create nice shades of grey?
I'd cry if I weren't at work.
And writing this blog isn't my way of saying how much I dislike a person or a person's opinions. I love all the musicians in Forestry. If anything, I wish issues such as this wouldn't tear them apart. I wish they could set things like this aside and believe in their music. And know tha their music brings people together for God. No matter who those people are... they are coming together though music for God. Isn't that enough? It's enough. I know it's enough.
10.19.2008
10.14.2008
Movies Are Real
There are different reasons I like a movie. I like some movies because it feels like it's complete. Everything from cinematography to the script to the costumes is in its entirety. Chocolat is my favorite movie EVER. Everything was so well done. I LOVE that movie.
Now, there are other movies that I love not because of its artfulness necessarily. I think it may be more of a sentimental attachment.
I've been realizing that whenever I watch the movie, I place myself in it's world. I really start to feel what the person is feeling and react to what they are saying or doing. My roommates make fun of me cause I talk to the characters. I don't mean to. It just sort of happens. I yell at them and clap and laugh with them and I start observing every detail. It's probably why I can't watch a good movie only once. I have to watch it twice or more.
A movie that has a sentimental attachment to me is a movie that I can relate to. Even if I have never felt it, I feel like I can relate. Empathize. Sometimes, I want to be more like a character. It's the beauty of acting isn't it? Being someone who you wish you could be. Even if that person is evil. When else can you be evil and hateful? I'm not a hater in reality.
I love the movie Mona Lisa Smile. Julia Roberts had her Romantic Comedy reign and then she started portraying real women who once existed (Erin Brockavich, Mona Lisa Smile, Charlie Wilson's War). Autobiographies. The movie isn't really anything spectacular. It's simple. Historical. A period piece but slightly more modern than most. But Katherine Watson made a big difference. Katherine Watson is someone who everyone should model their lives after. Or at least a little bit.
"To Change for others is to lie to yourself."
"Not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image."
"Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea."
The person who was Katherine Watson, who Julia Roberts only imagined and tried to portray, is the only reason I love Mona Lisa Smile.
I once heard a woman in a video rental store say, "I don't want to watch real life in movies. I watch movies to escape real life."
I love her enthusiasm about movies but I realize now that I disagree. Everything that I see in movies has never EVER happened to me personally. Maybe I can relate to feeling like happiness, betrayal, sadness, anger, love--but I think movies always take us into some other realm of our lives that we will or never will experience. If you don't like real life endings, which are usually sad... than well, that's understandable. It's just a choice of preference.
I think it's a choice to let go and escape into the movie. To open your mind and wander. It's fun to escape once in a while. Or in my case... EVERY DAY.
Now, there are other movies that I love not because of its artfulness necessarily. I think it may be more of a sentimental attachment.
I've been realizing that whenever I watch the movie, I place myself in it's world. I really start to feel what the person is feeling and react to what they are saying or doing. My roommates make fun of me cause I talk to the characters. I don't mean to. It just sort of happens. I yell at them and clap and laugh with them and I start observing every detail. It's probably why I can't watch a good movie only once. I have to watch it twice or more.
A movie that has a sentimental attachment to me is a movie that I can relate to. Even if I have never felt it, I feel like I can relate. Empathize. Sometimes, I want to be more like a character. It's the beauty of acting isn't it? Being someone who you wish you could be. Even if that person is evil. When else can you be evil and hateful? I'm not a hater in reality.
I love the movie Mona Lisa Smile. Julia Roberts had her Romantic Comedy reign and then she started portraying real women who once existed (Erin Brockavich, Mona Lisa Smile, Charlie Wilson's War). Autobiographies. The movie isn't really anything spectacular. It's simple. Historical. A period piece but slightly more modern than most. But Katherine Watson made a big difference. Katherine Watson is someone who everyone should model their lives after. Or at least a little bit.
"To Change for others is to lie to yourself."
"Not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image."
"Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea."
The person who was Katherine Watson, who Julia Roberts only imagined and tried to portray, is the only reason I love Mona Lisa Smile.
I once heard a woman in a video rental store say, "I don't want to watch real life in movies. I watch movies to escape real life."
I love her enthusiasm about movies but I realize now that I disagree. Everything that I see in movies has never EVER happened to me personally. Maybe I can relate to feeling like happiness, betrayal, sadness, anger, love--but I think movies always take us into some other realm of our lives that we will or never will experience. If you don't like real life endings, which are usually sad... than well, that's understandable. It's just a choice of preference.
I think it's a choice to let go and escape into the movie. To open your mind and wander. It's fun to escape once in a while. Or in my case... EVERY DAY.
10.10.2008
10.09.2008
Wheels and Stalkers.
You know what I would love to do? I would love to just follow someone with a camera. Capture their interactions. Capture their gestures. Find their quirks, things they do when they're nervous, happy, sad. I want to know what they do habitually and what they do in order to pass the time.
Kinda sounds stalkerish. I know. But how cool would that be? Admit it. It'd be pretty cool.
For my last semester at school I have to do a capstone and I've been thinking about what I want to do. A capstone is a final project within your field of study that you must perform or show depending what your major is.
This may sound weird, but I want someone to follow me back to LA. Getting on trains, meeting with old friends, visiting places that I've been to. I want to show things coming full circle. Wheels. It's the wheel of life. Hello's, Goodbye's. New friends, old friends. Leaving, staying. Things in life just keep going. "The circle of life." It's like a wheel. Time keeps moving but with every turn, you've got something ending, something beginning, something happening. Even in relationships. You won't be the last to love him/her. They'll find someone new and someone will love just as hard as you did.
I have no idea when I'm gonna finish school. I'm hoping soon. But with the end of college begins something completely unknown.
In my head, I see this huge, long, vast blank canvas. It looks like it goes on for forever. And there's this wheel. And it's a pretty big wheel. As it rolls over the blank canvas, it leaves it marks. Loves lost, fights won, marks of joy, anger, intensity. But until that wheel makes its mark, I really don't know what's coming next.
Wheels. I've just been stuck on wheels lately. Wheels and Life. Same Difference.
Along with that thought, I've been looking over some older journal entries of mine and I found something sort of pertaining to the vastness of my life that I have not yet accomplished. So I leave you today with this.
"I live for something more than this life that i'm living.
Just like looking out where the ocean meets the horizon.
It's vast.
And ongoing.
But I believe I can touch every part of that vastness.
If only I try.
And do.
Do what I can.
Do EVERYTHING that I can.
Anything is possible.
Even touching every part of my vast, vast life is possible.
And pictures that I see inside my mind are pictures that can one day be framed.
Placed on the walls inside my soul."
Kinda sounds stalkerish. I know. But how cool would that be? Admit it. It'd be pretty cool.
For my last semester at school I have to do a capstone and I've been thinking about what I want to do. A capstone is a final project within your field of study that you must perform or show depending what your major is.
This may sound weird, but I want someone to follow me back to LA. Getting on trains, meeting with old friends, visiting places that I've been to. I want to show things coming full circle. Wheels. It's the wheel of life. Hello's, Goodbye's. New friends, old friends. Leaving, staying. Things in life just keep going. "The circle of life." It's like a wheel. Time keeps moving but with every turn, you've got something ending, something beginning, something happening. Even in relationships. You won't be the last to love him/her. They'll find someone new and someone will love just as hard as you did.
I have no idea when I'm gonna finish school. I'm hoping soon. But with the end of college begins something completely unknown.
In my head, I see this huge, long, vast blank canvas. It looks like it goes on for forever. And there's this wheel. And it's a pretty big wheel. As it rolls over the blank canvas, it leaves it marks. Loves lost, fights won, marks of joy, anger, intensity. But until that wheel makes its mark, I really don't know what's coming next.
Wheels. I've just been stuck on wheels lately. Wheels and Life. Same Difference.
Along with that thought, I've been looking over some older journal entries of mine and I found something sort of pertaining to the vastness of my life that I have not yet accomplished. So I leave you today with this.
"I live for something more than this life that i'm living.
Just like looking out where the ocean meets the horizon.
It's vast.
And ongoing.
But I believe I can touch every part of that vastness.
If only I try.
And do.
Do what I can.
Do EVERYTHING that I can.
Anything is possible.
Even touching every part of my vast, vast life is possible.
And pictures that I see inside my mind are pictures that can one day be framed.
Placed on the walls inside my soul."
10.06.2008
Two Ways
This is my mood study. The assignment: Pick a mood, any mood. Portray that mood through dance, video, and editing.
There's actually a lot that has to go through your mind. What time of day, location, costumes, choreography, props...yadayadayada.
So my mood is anger. To go further I thought stubbornness and frustration and lines being crossed. I saw the two arrows going different directions and I thought PERFECT! And then came the pulling and all the other stuff you see is basically improv.
Enjoy.
PS: I'm not really violent. But when else can you protray someone other than yourself?
There's actually a lot that has to go through your mind. What time of day, location, costumes, choreography, props...yadayadayada.
So my mood is anger. To go further I thought stubbornness and frustration and lines being crossed. I saw the two arrows going different directions and I thought PERFECT! And then came the pulling and all the other stuff you see is basically improv.
Enjoy.
PS: I'm not really violent. But when else can you protray someone other than yourself?