Tempus Fugit

Wow, it's already been a year since I created this blog. A lot has changed since then - I'm almost done high school and starting university next year (post to come). Surprisingly, I've only managed to write 40 posts during this time, a record I don't think i'll be able to break considering i'll be even more busy next year. I'll still try my best to keep posting stuff frequently though.

Happy April 18th!

Life as I know it

In honor of my grandfather, whom I've learnt everything from.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” – Albert Ellis

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” – Bill Copeland

“If what you’re doing is not your passion, you have nothing to lose.”

“The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

“All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

“What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” – Seneca

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle

“The sky has never been the limit. We are our own limits. It’s then about breaking our personal limits and outgrowing ourselves to live our best lives.”

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – Life’s Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind — adjust your sails.” ~ H. Jackson Brown

“Everything you want should be yours: the type of work you want; the relationships you need; the social, mental, and aesthetic stimulation that will make you happy and fulfilled; the money you require for the lifestyle that is appropriate to you; and any requirement that you may (or may not) have for achievement or service to others. If you don’t aim for it all, you’ll never get it all. To aim for it requires that you know what you want” ~ Richard Koch

“Confidence comes not from always being right but not fearing to be wrong”

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

On the G20 protests

Quick post on something that should be expressed by a Torontonian.

For all these years that I have lived in Toronto, I have never been more disappointed in our people than I am now. I applaud the police for using force with tear gas and rubber bullets against those who have caused tax payers millions of dollars in damages.

It's quite a disgrace to think vandals such as the Black Bloc would deface such a city for no particular reason at all.

Freedom of speech is something that should be treasured in this nation, peaceful protesters however got little media coverage while numerous news casts broadcasted the events surrounding these vandalisms, and therefore did not get their message's across the nation on issues that actually mattered.

People can be very stupid.

~Happy Canada Day

... Sigh

Null

Just turned 17 recently and thought I should update my blog.
~ One year closer to the sweet release of death.

Currently, i'm very busy with school & soccer, so perhaps I won't be posting anything for a while in order to compensate for exam downtime.

The world cup has kicked off to a rather 'shaky' start, but exciting nonetheless.

I would usually convey a long discussion on my predictions and such, but i'll just get to the point as i'm going against a tight deadline.

Argentina & Spain.

I'll provide 'why' following exams ...

~Cheerios

Exploring The World

It's early in the morning and i'm currently working on an essay based upon the great renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci. Being me however, I got sidetracked due to my imagination.

One of my life long dreams is to one day get the opportunity to travel around the world. And yes, so do 6 billion other people. But let's see how this is gonna go ...

Ever since I was a kid, my father told me stories of him going around the world and the experiences he had with different cultures. I was inspired and eager to one day do the same.

Now, when one usually says "I want to travel around the world", automatically, thoughts of iconic monuments, sculptures, landscapes, and cultural people come to mind. And sure, those are all great things to experience, but I want to go beyond ordinary travel experience and understand the differences and similarities between each unique lifestyle. The world is truly a utopia, and being encompassed in one region, one cannot appreciate & explore the beauty that is beyond ones 'borders'. I want to meet people of all cultures, explore foreign lands, and experience what my life would be like had I not been fortunate enough to be here. There is a whole other universe out there, and I want to observe & be awed by the nature surrounding it.

A few years later, when I was able to write and follow the globe, I began a list of all the places I would one day like to visit. I was a kid yearning for adventure. As the years passed, this list kept growing. This morning however, I don't know what came over me, but I decided to type it all out in a .txt file, and make a quick program to sort them. I believe I have a substantial knowledge of world geography & attractions, and so, here's a compiled a list (in alphabetical order) of places I would one day like to visit (excluding Canada - That's another list by itself):

• Abu Simbel, Egypt
• Agra, India
• Ala Archa Gorge, Kyrgyzstan
• Alhambra, California
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Angor Wat, Cambodia
• Antseranana, Madagascar
• Area 51, Nevada
• Athens, Greece
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Auki, Solomon Islands
• Austin, Texas
• Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Batik, Morocco
• Beijing, China
• Bengal Jungle, India
• Berlin, Germany
• Boulders Beach, South Africa
• Brisbane, Australia
• Brussels, Belgium
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Cairo, Egypt
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
• Chakachino, Zambia
• Chicago, Illinois
• Chichen Itza, Mexico
• Christmas Island, Australia
• Chuuk, Micronesia
• Cologne, Germany
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Dublin, Ireland
• East Jerusalem, West Bank
• Easter Islands, Chile
• Ephesus, Turkey
• Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
• Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland
• Golden Temple, India
• Grand Canyon, Arizona
• Great Barrier Reef, Australia
• Great Wall Of China, China
• Gurgaon, India
• Half Moon Caye, Belize
• Haute-Piccardie, France
• Hawaii, USA
• Hong Kong, China
• Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Kilimanjaro Summit, Tanzania
• Kish Island, Iran
• Kjeragbolten, Norway
• Kuwait City, Kuwait
• Lancelin, Australia
• Las Vegas, California
• Lemur Island, Madagascar
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Lisse, The Netherlands
• London, England
• Los Angeles, California
• Luang Prabang, Laos
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Madrid, Spain
• Male, Maldives
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Miami, Florida
• Mokolodi, Botswana
• Monte Alban, Mexico
• Montreal, Quebec
• Monument Valley, Arizona
• Moscow, Russia
• Mulindi, Rwanda
• Mumbai, India
• Munich, Germany
• Mutianyu, China
• Neko Harbor, Antarctica
• Nellis Airspace, Nevada
• New York, New York
• Panama Canal, Panama
• Paris, France
• Paro, Bhutan
• Persepolis, Iran
• Petra, Jordan
• Poria, Papua New Guinea
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Pretoria, South Africa
• Princeton, New Jersey
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Rock Islands, Palau
• Rome, Italy
• Routeburn Valley, New Zealand
• Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
• San Francisco, California
• Sana'a, Yemen
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Seattle, Washington
• Seljalandsfoss, Iceland
• Seoul, South Korea
• Shiraz, Iran
• Siberia, Russia
• Singapore, Singapore
• Sossusvlei, Namibia
• South Shetland Islands, England
• Soweto, South Africa
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Stone Town, Zanzibar
• Stonehenge, England
• Suhbaatar, Mongolia
• Sydney, Australia
• Tagaytay, The Phillipines
• Taipei, Taiwan
• Tel Aviv, Israel
• Teotihuacan, Mexico
• The South Island, New Zealand
• Thimphu, Bhutan
• Tikal, Guatemala
• Timbaktu, Mali
• Tokyo, Japan
• Tongatapu, Tonga
• Tsavo, Kenya
• Uluru, Australia
• Vava'u, Tonga
• Venice, Italy
• Very Large Array, New Mexico
• Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
• Wadi Rum, Jordan
• Wainivilase, Fiji
• Warsaw, Poland
• Washington D.C, USA
• Yangon, Myanmar
• Yosemite National Park, Nevada

Note: I have already visited some of the places mentioned above. However, I'd like to visit them once more - Why not?

In 1971, a French ethnomusicologist recorded a traditional folk song in the Solomon Islands, near Papua New Guinea. The song, Rorogwela, was sung by a young women named Afunakwa. In 1992, Rorogwela was sampled by Deep Forest and used in a song called "Sweet Lullaby". The song became an international pop hit, selling over 3 million copies.

Enjoy this traditional folk song - it's really unique even if you don't necessarily understand it.



Though this dream is not a realistic option for me, I am somewhat of an optimistic environmentalist, and therefore, in the future I will do everything in my limited power to make this dream come true and explore all different kinds of environments and have a new grasp on how beautiful the world really is and why it should be preserved & protected.