Forget Me Not

It's hard for me to believe that a flower has the power of prophecy...

The Reality of Sisyphus

A young man in his twenties looks past me as we head towards opposite directions on Mount Emei. His 100+ pound load consists of dirt and sand – all of which are used to maintain and build new walking trails on Mount Emei (which is at an elevation of 3,099 meters (10,167 feet) – more than twice the height of the former World Trade Towers that stood at the heart of New York City). He makes less than US$1 an hour.

Wheelchair Gladiators

Will Groulx (Team USA, #10) yells in agony after having just fallen a few centimeters short from crossing the goal line during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Gold Medal Match.

Spirit Calls

I've had this past week off to rest and recuperate (China's National Holiday). Yay! In this time, I've been able to do something I haven't done in a long time - compose.

This piece, Spirit Calls, is an idea I've been working on since my travels to Chengdu and Tibet...hmmm, well mainly just after seeing Mt. Everest. I've also had some inspiration from various artists - mostly Jay Chou with his song, Twilight's Chapter Seven (one of my favs). I'm sure you'll be able to hear some of the themes of his introduction in my introduction - it's not hard to miss.

I'm not done with this song. Actually, I'm far from it; but I've got the basic jist down (er... just the first 10 - 11 seconds), but I'm sure you'll be able to figure out where I'm going with this.

Anyway, it took me a loooong time just to do these first couple of seconds (and tons of stressing out because my computer caught this nasty virus yesterday and literally obliterated my computer. I seriously thought I lost all work. Luckily, I was able to salvage some of it - though some of the end parts were lost). Also, kudos to Sean for helping me synthesize and inputting all the "wind" sounds. I don't know when I'll be able to complete this song since our next break won't be till January... but wish me luck!

Comments welcome!

The DaVinci Collection

The portrait of Christ, Leonardo DaVinci's self-portrait, and two other random DaVinci sketches make up my first sketch collection entitled "The DaVinci Collection" - all of which are my own imitations of DaVinci's portraits.

These were my first few attempts to study and familiarize myself with the human face in various positions and expressions. Since all of these drawings relied heavily on full imitation, my goal in the near future would be to break free from this technique and truly develop a more original sketching technique.

Enjoy!

The Charcoal Collection

"Untitled", "The Girl", and "Stone Mystique" make up my first art collection entitled, "The Charcoal Collection" - the common theme being: charcoal as the medium of art and the human body as the subject of study.

"Untitled", "The Girl", and "Stone Mystique" are my third, second, and fifth works of art using charcoal respectively. I haven't produced another charcoal drawing since "Stone Mystique" as my one and only piece of charcoal went missing traveling from home to school after the winter holiday. I guess I could buy another piece of charcoal, but I've always felt intimidated stepping into an art store. My knowledge of art (and its various mediums) is quite limited. The last art class I took was in the fourth grade - when it was required as part of the school curriculum. I never really had an opportunity to take an art class since. Needless to say, I feel like a fish out of water every time I'm in an art store.

The last time I was in an art store I sought to buy a sketch book for a friend. I thought this errand would take me five minutes at most. Seven, if I had to wait in line. But oh my gosh! It was a total nightmare - even with the nice store owner's help (I think his name was Bill).

'What kind of sketchbook are you looking for?" he asked. Um... a regular sketch book? "Ok, what kind of paper do you want?" What is this, a trick question? Normal paper of course! Duh. What exists outside of notebook paper, printing paper, construction paper, tracing paper, and photo paper?

"We've got acid-free paper, neutral pH paper, 400 recycled paper series, premium recycled series, windpower sketch pads..." My jaw literally dropped to the floor. WHAT?!?! "...we've also got heavy weight and medium weight pages, depending on what you want..." he continued.

I looked at the hundreds of sketch books lying neatly in their racks hoping one of them would be labeled, "CHOOSE ME" in big bold letters. Instead I saw 50 lbs, 65 lbs, and 100 lbs written on their covers. What? What do all these numbers mean? Do these sketchbooks weigh this much? Impossible!

I blushed with embarrassment. I wanted to melt into the floor and spare myself from further humiliation. The nice store owner must have sensed my confusion (and my thoughts to just run out of the store and cry), for he asked, "hard-bound or soft bound?" Soft bound, I said meekly. He nodded and continued, "spiral bound, thread bound, or leather casing?" Spiral bound, I said with a little bit of confidence, though not enough to extinguish the humiliation that I felt. "Size?" Medium. "Color?" Uhh... white? What other color is there? (Apparently cream tone, ivory, ash colored, various shades of grey, and black, as I found out later on). "Rounded corners?" No. "Elastic closure?" No.

He nodded politely and picked one off the shelf for me, brought it to the counter and rang it up. "Twenty-four fifty". I hastily handed over some money, waited for the change, muttered a sheepish thank you and dashed out the door. Never again will I step into an art store by myself, I vowed.

I guess this story never really answered the question of how I got my piece of charcoal in the first place… though technically, I never posed this question. My answer is simple: my first year college roommate gave it to me.

Smack That: 2008 Summer Olympics

Just came back from watching my very first Summer Olympic tournament EVER - the Women's Preliminary Pool A Volleyball Tournament (Cuba vs. Poland) and the Women's Preliminary Pool B Volleyball Tournament (Algeria vs. Brazil) at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China! It was extremely exciting! Though I was sitting somewhat high in the stands, I was still able to get some pretty awesome shots. Check it out.

"Smack That: 2008 Summer Olympics" taken on August 9, 2008 at the Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China (Brazil vs. Algeria)

On A Summer's Night

and so, (on a summer's night)
I want to go on talking to you
as freely and intimately about what we live and die for
as if I knew you
better than anyone else whom you know,
on a boat, just by ourselves
as the purple darkness engulfs us
into the night.



(inspired by Tennessee Williams' Person to Person)

[editor's note: Blogger doesn't let me format the poem as I want it to; thus, 'On a Summer's Night' is aligned hard-left]

'On A Summer's Night' taken on July 26, 2008 at Bei Hai Gong Yuanr (Beijing, China).

You've Got a Friend In Me

Though the world may seem big and lonely at times, as long as you have that one special friend, that's all that really matters in life.

"You've Got a Friend In Me" taken on July 30, 2008 in a Hutong near the Forbidden City (Beijing, China)

Illumination

I feel like this picture represents my Chinese language experience so far - dark, uncertain, but with bouts of intrigue, illumination, and self reflection.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - but I'm not quite there yet.

"Illumination" taken on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at Bei Hai Gong Yuan (Beijing, China).

The Egg Keeper

Yes! Itzhak Perlman, perhaps one of the most distinguished violinists of our time, will be coming to Beijing, China in early September. He'll be playing at the National Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets have not yet been released but I am absolutely DYING to go - regardless of the price.

Today's picture: "The Egg Keeper". (Taken on July 12, 2008; Beijing, China)
China's National Center for the Performing Arts (aka: 'The Egg') at dusk. This glass and titanium ellipsoid dome was designed by French architect Paul Andreu and seats 6,500 people in three halls.

Labyrinth

Today's picture, which I have titled "Labyrinth", is symbolic of what I am feeling right now. As Plato has so eloquently summed up in Euthydemus:

At last we came to the kingly art, and inquired whether that gave and caused happiness, and then we got into a labyrinth, and when we thought we were at the end, we came out again at the beginning, having still to seek as much as ever.


[Photo taken on July 19, 2008; XuanWu District, Beijing, China]

Weathered Soles

Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to my first blog ever! Yay!

I've finally given in to "blogging" after being opposed to it for many years. Let's just say that I've come to realize the many benefits of keeping an online newsletter/journal.

This blog attempts to chronicle my experiences abroad through photography. I'll try to update as much as possible, but my current work load makes this quite challenging.

My first picture, "weathered soles", was taken yesterday (July 19, 2008) whilst walking around some hutongs in Beijing's Xuan Wu District.

Please feel free to leave comments/critiques/questions/concerns.

-Genevieve