Light in the Dark

“It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

This symbolizes that the tree is the Burmese citizens and the sun shines
through and spreads it rays of light like Aung Sang Suu Kyi and the
Junta is the Earth being pressured by the rest of the country when they are
stretched thinly and destroyed by the Democracy.

This quote is a masterpiece! Not only does it look good but I captures the military government's way of ruling and in here own quote Aung Sang Suu Kyi is the scourge of power and the Junta are afraid of her as they are the have power and fear for losing it. The Junta must also see her as corruption to the people because the people of Burma are subject to her speeches. Her own words could be turned against her but even the Junta won't do that to her. Sure they might lock her up for fifteen years but they would never turn the entire country against her, and why? Because she is the scourge of power and if they go against her she will bring her full will to bear and woe betide any who is subject to it. This one saying could undo all that she has worked for if played right but they can't because they are scared. Its called being gun shy and that is why she is still spreading her influence to take control of the Junta and have peace in her country and I believe that she will succeed. Whether it be tomorrow or not until the end of the world, she will succeed in her long journey to freedom and love.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

This picture really touched me because of the face
speaking to the world, I thought of the face of John Donne
speaking and think it symbolizes a spark, just like Fatmire Feka.

Is mankind no island? I don't believe so. It says If a man dies mankind is less and I agree with that but in this part it says Europe is the less. Europe! It only says Europe which implies that Europe is and island and with its history it has reached out to other countries. So this poem made me think "If it only mentions Europe, what about the other continents?" Well I think this means that mankind should be one but it will take a while to get to other continents. Mankind is not a continent but if we were a continent it would be a better world because we are always fighting, murdering and committing Genocides. Mankind is an island but if we commit to world peace, every last one, then John Donne will have had his dream come true at last.

What is Identity?

This picture is merely a summary of white people and black people. Like in the blokes white people  are the center while black are the outliers but when Jesus Colon intrudes it creates quite a bit of confusion and generates the red in this picture.

Jesus Colon, a man on a train who turned away. One night Jesus Colon was on a train and was wondering if he should help this white lady or not. He chose not to because he is black. I believe that he had good reasons and bad reasons to help that lady. Was it because of ethnic difference or racism I don't know but I know that I have been in the same situation, not ethnically but just personality difference. Last year there was a boy named Jakob, he always undid my work and when I finally hit back he responded with all his strength. Was it right of me to hit him, no but there is a saying and it goes 'To pardon one offence is to commission many more.' This quote i'm not sure where it came from but it sums up the fact that Jesus Colon has probably had experiences like this before and when he chose not to help it was merely and act of caution, of course he could have asked to help her and that would have helped but the fact that he is self aware is enough for him not to help, even if it was the wrong thing to do.

10 Things Important To Me

With a book, a video, birthday cards, a planner, an American flag, a snow globe, coins, sunglasses, and a guitar, I think I have just about summarized myself.

I chose a book because I spend most of my free time reading, and also because I don’t have to many alternatives. It shows that I like fiction or alternate realities. One of my favorite books and most recent books is called The Red Pyramid and is by the same author of the Percy Jackson series. What really got me hooked into this genre was when my older brother read Eragon aloud to me. [when I was younger.] I had always disliked reading but my older kept on saying “Once you start, you can’t stop!” and he was right. He read the first two chapters of Eragon and all of the sudden I was racing through books that I thought had sounded stupid before, and some were but most were even better than the last. My older brother really set me off and I still am reading anything I can.

I have a video game as one of them because like most boys, we really like video games. I chose this because it was a gift from my brothers who knew I was researching WWII. When they gave that game I was really happy because not only had they given me a gift but it was something that helped me with my research about WWII [especially tattics] I got interested about it when I saw Saving Private Ryan and realized just how bad war is. I had always thought war was cool before, that they were just playing with blank rounds and faking death. Know I know its worse, much worse than that and that is what got me going. To start I read band of brothers, and citizen soldiers which are accurate recounts told by WWII veterans. I got Band of Brothers [T.V. show] for my birthday this year and that is very accurate.

I placed Sun glasses as one because it shows that I like the outdoors and enjoy challenges. These also mean a lot to because I went through many challenges including Malaysia Week[MW], Mt. Kinabalu, Slim river White Water Rafting, and relaxing on the beach. It has survived from beaches to vertical cliffs on Kinabalu to volcanic craters in New Zealand. These sun glasses are important because more than just playing or hiking. These sunglasses have come to symbolise what I love. The outdoors: the ocean, mountains, forests, and my favorite: glaciers. These have been all over and they symbolise my love for the outdoors.

There are some birthday cards in the picture above and I chose them because my family means a lot to me. It also shows that my family thinks the same of me. I value these all the more because I only see my uncles, aunts, great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins once a year. This also makes me think about them a lot and I think that’s because last year my grandad died of disease and my grandma had a stroke last Summer. I have had a lot of relatives die lately and to tell the truth I have been pretty sad for the last year and maybe that is what made me value my family and friends so much in the last year.

I have a miniature American flag in the picture because I am proud to be part of that country. It shows that I am American. I always think of myself as a little patriotic but that might just be me and this brought back the memory of the 4th of July celebration in the U.S. and launching fireworks with flags built onto them. I remember the hot dogs and hamburgers along with a big firework going off on the ground and sending everyone running, which was really funny. The events leading up to that firework going off on the ground were pretty funny also. In the U.S. its illegal to set off fireworks within the city limit but this police officer didn’t know that so he came up trying to confiscate our fireworks and started writing a ticket but my uncle dug up some book telling what was legal and not [don’t ask] and proved him wrong. He looked at us and he just smiled and his entire face went bright red as he walked back to his car and must have been doing 20mph over the speed limit.  :D

There is also a planner in the picture which shows that I care about my school and education. It also shows I go to the International of Kuala Lumpur [ISKL] My planners have meant a lot to me because without them I would be repeating 6th grade because I know that when I forgot to write something down I would never remember the homework. This isn’t the original planner I had obviously but I had started to forget to write in my planner near the end last year and when that happened my grades in humanities, science, band, math, and health dropped to B’s and C’s and an NP in band. Also besides my planner my parents forced me to write my homework and I know that without them I would be repeating 6th grade.

I chose the snow globe up on the picture because it is a gift from my best friend Stefano who live in Quatar. It shows that friendships and Stefano are important to me, even though the Stefano part isn’t obvious. Friendship means a lot more to me than probably a lot of people because to tell the truth I don’t actually have many friendships aside from Dylan, Stefano, Sam, Austin and Amin. I also never forget any detail about them [Stalker!:D] and I know its true because I remember my best 5 year friend who moved when I was 7 years old. Over the course of my life I have had maybe 20 friends and most of them only okay friends I’ve only ever had 5 good friends in my life and that has made me value friends a lot more than the usual person.

I have a guitar and it shows that music is a big part of my life and is very important to me. I have done many different musical instruments in my life and it has gotten even bigger from my dad telling what he likes and suggestions. I’ve played the Piano, Alto Saxophone, and Recorder. I also have a huge library of almost 9,000 songs. [I am a rich cracker!]  It started when I was begging my parents for a guitar when I was a lot younger. After a year they finally bought me a very nice guitar, that was almost 1.5x the size of me at that stage and although I hadn’t understood at that time but everyone except my brothers were laughing hysterically.  

Finally there are the coins in the upper right of the picture which shows I hoard as many souvenirs as possible to remind me of all the trips I have made. mostly I hoard them because of their reminders, but also because at least 40% of them are gifts from relatives who bought them for me. I first started my hoarding when I went to China and saw an approximation of a Chinese coin from the ancient times. I keep them all because as you already know. Family mean a lot to me. My uncle is a major adder to my collection of stones animals, coins, masks, art, and different types of money.

These ten things are the things that define and colour my personality and life.

Stuff that means a lot to me!

My country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.

I chose the picture of United Nations [UN]
because most of the people in there respect
the differences of others and are probably
all world citizens and patriots.

I chose the quote I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world. Eugene V. Debs because I felt this applied to me in many ways because first of all, I barely remember my life in the U.S.A. and, I have traveled a lot like Matt Harding and, being a world citizen just means to respect other cultures, religions, and differences between you and strangers. I feel I have done all of that and it is because of that, that I chose that quote in particular for it applies to me and many others on this planet Earth.

Dancing for the World

I thought that what he was doing was a great idea and that every time someone does something like that it pulls the world a little closer together. I also was thinking that what if we did something like that for a video and went to KLCC or something similar and dance there. I also think the music for that video is very good and that music is usually a great way to get people motivated and so I was thinking that what if the the people who made the video chose that song intentionally so people might do the same around the world. From watching the video I also realized that people like to get together, laugh out loud and just release the pressures of their daily lives and have fun.                                          
                                                                                                                       I chose this picture because
                                                                                                                       when I searched his video
                                                                                                                       I noticed that this picture
                                                                                                                       was very popular.

Compliments to America

The last time I got a compliment was in the US when I fixed the Wii we had just bought and couldn't play any games on it. It made me feel really good because I don't usually get complimented by my brothers and when they did I was grinning like an idiot and I think they really boosted my self esteem. The last time I complimented someone was when my family climbed Mt. Kinabalu and my older brother climbed over an overhang on the Via Ferrata. [Iron Staircase] I don't actually know if he felt good or not at the compliment but I could tell he had taken into account because he was nice to me all the way down the mountain.

 I chose this picture because to tell the truth it was the most fun and memorable part of climbing Mt. Kinabalu [Near the overhang!!?]