Respect.

2.24.2010

Did you guys watch the Women's short last night? Yu Na Kim killed it, Mirai Nagasu spun beautifully and got a bloody nose, and Mao Asada flaunted her flexibility. But the most beautiful moment of last night was when Canadian Joannie Rochette performed.

If you didn't know, her mother passed away from a heart attack two days ago...that's TWO days ago. And yet, she delivered a beautiful and heart wrenching performance. Here are some photos:


What a courageous woman.

By the way, I apologize that Sans Borders has turned into a figure-skating coverage blog...but that's what is consuming my life at the moment. I promise "normal" life will resume after this, whatever that means :)

Have a beautiful Wednesday!

Bravo, Plushenko!

2.23.2010

It has been a week since Lysacek's deserved win. It has also been a week of Plushenko crying, digging himself into a deeper hole, showing ever-so-gracefully his disgruntled self. Plushenko, if you keep whining, your nose is going to get bigger. We know you don't want that.

The latest news: Plushenko denies his silver medal win and creates a platinum medal on his website.


Plushenko, I hope you read this:

shut up.



Ok bye everyone...have a beautiful Tuesday (tee hee hee)!!

Women's Figure Skating

I would just like to take this moment to express my excitement for tonight's Olympic events. The women's short program will be tonight and I can't wait!!

Is it bad that I'm going to root for South Korea's Kim Yu-Na? I mean, I know I'm American and all, but I'm really drawn to her charisma and natural talent. Sure, it would be great to see the very young Americans continue the streak of winning...but the odds are against them. And I can just picture my crazy family members in Korea going crazy...jumping around, dancing, drinking, etc.


Regardless, I just love to watch figure skating so whoever wins, I'll be happy. :)

Freedom of speech

2.22.2010

This post is in response to this story. I suggest you read it before you continue on to my post.
The biggest complaint here is the students' right to freedom of speech. I completely agree that, as students, we have a responsibility to respectfully voice our opinion and concern when we disagree with something. And I believe that it is wrong to be arrested for expressing our right.

HOWEVER...

I used the word "respectfully" above for a specific reason. Everyone is throwing a hissy fit because these students were simply arrested for expressing their opinion. But that's not the issue here. We have a right to speak freely but not if we are suppressing someone else of the same right. I understand that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is intense, always heated, and very touchy. However, the basic fact is that this guest speaker who was invited to UCI had a right to speak freely and regardless of what spectators believed, they should have waited until he was done to debate or disagree. Not only did these students' actions show disrespect, it should immaturity. I am embarrassed that they couldn't act maturely; what kind of representation do young adults have now that this news had made headlines? Will we not be dismissed even more than we already are for just being stupid, fiery college students seeking to wreak havoc?

And when have we ever been successful in getting our way if we kick and scream? Hasn't history shown us that the best way to do something is by being civil about it?

Guilty

Instead of studying, I watched THREE episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Uggghhhh, what's wrong with meeeee and my inability to motivate myself?

On another note, Kourtney's boyfriend, Scott, is a total tool and they really should not have spent 2 episodes on how much of a tool he is.

Ok, I'm done ranting.

Shame on me...

negligence.

2.20.2010

Hi lovelies...I apologize for neglecting the blog for a couple of days. This last week was a bit hectic with birthday celebrations, Valentine's Day and more midterms (yes, mid-terms two weeks before the quarter is over...) But I'm back and ready to tackle life and this continuous writers/creative block.

I'm going through that whole "I'm feeling uncreative and uninspired again." I'm not sad or upset; in fact, I'm fairly happy with life but I have a huge 5,000 word piece that's looming over me and I just can't bring myself to start it.

I feel like this...

I've been in bed all day. It's sooo comfortable and warm. I'm going to try my best to be productive and stay in bed but usually, that combination is an instant failure as I usually fall asleep.

Also, have you ever experienced a time in your life when you begin to differentiate between the people you want to keep in your life forever and the "friends" that aren't growing with you and are instead keeping/pulling you down? I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it has been a pretty intense process. In the last month or so, I've grown closer to some of the most amazing, beautiful people ever that I know I will want in my life forever. At the same time, I've been really frightened in realizing that some friends aren't who I thought they were.

Maybe this is the overarching dread that I've been experiencing that has prevented me from progressing creatively.

What do you suggest I do? If you've gone through this, please let me know that I'm not alone. I mean, who knows, I could just be over-thinking the entire thing.

On a lighter note, how awesome did Evan Lysacek do on Thursday night? I mean, he killed it. And the fact that Plushenko has been such a baby about it makes the win that much better. You can read it about it here.


For those of you that didn't know, I used to figure skate as a child. My goal was to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics but I lost the passion for it and quit in 2000. However, figure skating still holds a special place in my heart and the fact that an American won the gold with grace and poise makes me that much prouder. I can't wait until the women's!

Until next time (which will be soon, I promise!), ciao <3

Joyeux Anniversaire!

2.12.2010

Happy Birthday, Marky! You're the best and you deserve the most wonderful birthday ever. I love you.

Oh Joy

2.10.2010


[Aristotle]


[Plato]


What does this mean?

MIDTERMS.

.Bye. for now :)

Who Dat?

2.08.2010

Last week, I committed to working at the Orange County Register for the next 6 Sundays or so. I saw it as a great opportunity to excel and work an exciting shift (breaking news). But I soon put two and two together and realized that the first Sunday I'd be working was Super Bowl Sunday! I've always loved Super Bowl Sunday oh-so-much. Not only do I enjoy watching football, I love spending the entire day with friends. So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that I would miss out on all of this.

However, this Sunday proved to be anything but disappointing. When I walked into the office at 9 am, my editor informed me that I would be going to Mission Viejo to cover a New Orleans Mardi Gras-style block party. OK, I thought, at least I get to enjoy some pregame festivities.

When 1:30 rolled around, I made my way to the Painted Trails neighborhood in Mission Viejo. What I saw blew my mind--150+ family and friends hanging out, eating & drinking, dancing to music, repping Saints' colors, just having themselves a good 'ol time. After spending about an hour and a half there, I rushed back to the office to write my story. Being around these crazy fans made me want to go home and watch the game...I was so pumped.


Thankfully, I finished around 4:30 and made it back to Newport around 5ish. I put on my black & gold colors and ran to the nearest bbq to be near some good friends while catching the last half of the game. It was so worth it too.

Going into Super Bowl, I knew I was rooting for the Saints. I rooted for them for a number of reasons: they were the obvious underdog and I was tired of seeing the big and powerful monsters win the last couple of championships; they truly played with heart; and after hanging out with the New Orleans locals and hardcore Saints fans, I was 100% convinced that I was a Saints fan from birth. For those of you who watched the game, didn't you think they played with impressive momentum and tons of heart?!

PS- I was bawling when Drew Brees was holding his son, explaining the importance of this win into his sound-muffled ears. Hands down, it was the most adorable, special moment I have ever seen.



Happy Monday!

style inspiration

2.06.2010

Being in France and cutting off all my hair has really turned my interest towards the lines between masculinity and femininity. I love when women rock men's clothes and still look feminine doing it! Right now, I'm all about blazers, stripes, flat oxfords, men's watches, etc.



When it comes to fashion/celebrity muses, I'd have to say--in no particular order-- #1 Charlotte Gainsbourg, #2 Garance Doré, #3 Kate Moss (who doesn't she inspire?), #4 Sienna Miller to name a few.

[Charlotte Gainsbourg]

[Garance Doré]

[Sienna Miller]

I'm especially a fan of classic/timeless staples, such as blazers, solid colors, geometrical cuts, blacks/whites/grays, etc. Although it can look really cute on some, I generally steer clear from metallics, neon colors, 80s-anything, hippie 60s-anything* , crazy gladiator sandals and such. These items tend to be really trendy and although they're cute for about a month, they get old fast.

Have a good Saturday!

--A little "hello" to my newest follower & real life friend, Liz!

* Correction by Mark Ratto. He texted me saying "Elysabeth, hippies are from the 60s. 70s was disco" :)

Agreed.

2.02.2010

The newest issue of Vanity Fair displays the "New Hollywood of 2010" but apparently, that doesn't include women of color. Read it here.


I couldn't have said it better myself, Joanna Douglas.

Thank you and good night <3

**A loving shout out to my newest follower [and real life friend!], Tanya!

i don't care if you're taking a shower.

2.01.2010

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Zzzzz"

"The birds pooped on my car. lol"



As Facebook evolved into a more twitter-like social networking site with its status updates, the lack of censorship has increased significantly. And to be quite honest with you, I don't care if you're going to take a shower, or catch some Z's, or if the birds decided to use your car as their dumping grounds. I'm sure the most logical response to that is, "Ok then. Don't read it. Simple as that." If only it was as simple as that.

You see, if I want to go on Facebook to write on my best friend's wall or look at pictures from an event, I have to be bombarded by mundane, narcissistic updates like these. (Ok, I may have a streak of narcissism myself to have a blog but that's irrelevant...I really should stop playing the devil's advocate to my own argument). What I really want to tell these people is "No one cares so please save yourself some time and stop" but I can't because then, I will have no friends and I don't want to waste my time trying to revolutionize the Facebook community. And I'm always shocked to see someone respond to those updates with an occasional "lol" or "me too" because that means that they, too, probably do the same thing and bless the world with their every move.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with random posts or links to other sites, but I think the general rule of thumb should be this: post something if it will add something to someone's day. Maybe it will be new knowledge or an update that will enlighten someone (such as "Today is my first day at my new job" or something to that extent). Maybe a quote that will make someone smile or think. But please, I beg of you who do this and may be reading my ranting post, don't tell me that you're bored (because it's obvious if you're on Facebook) or that you're driving right now (because #1 that's illegal and #2 I'm pretty sure everyone in California drives). Or, at the very worst, that you're on the toilet (no explanation needed).

I'm going to put part of the blame on Facebook-capable phones, such as PDAs, iPhones, and Blackberries. With liberty to Facebook at any time and place, those little thumbs are tempted to type something...anything. As a result, we get those annoying updates.

This is the very reason why I haven't joined Twitter and this is the very reason I don't use the update feature on Facebook very often. There's certain boundaries that need to be upheld with social-networking sites (blogs included). We have a responsibility to keep private matters...well, private. Yes, I am guilty of using my blog to complain and rant at times (most of my January posts unfortunately) but I try to spare the public of private details that may make readers squirmy, uncomfortable, or just plain bored.

My Facebook status right now is www.sansborders.blogspot.com. It has been the same status update for the last week but I'm hoping now more than ever that people will click on it and read this post.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bag on people. I'm just begging them to stop. Right now, the ability to look at pictures and keep in touch with friends far away is looking less attractive if I have to be bombarded by these updates every time.

Anyway, have a GREAT day :)

(really, I'm in a happy mood!)

xoxo

a word of advice to...me

l'art


amen to that.

up, up, up.

I'm happy to report that I've been feeling better...I think I may have found a way out of this month-long slump. It took a couple of slaps from my loved ones, a few nights of letting myself sulk, and some heavy digging for a little creative inspiration. With hard work, unconditional love from friends and family, and a little self-indulgence, I feel good :-)

Money is still an issue (as always), but I can't let a never-ending problem, such as money, take away from the everyday pleasures like a beautiful sunset, fluffy white clouds, a great breakfast with a loved one, etc.

[Courtesy of my friend Alvin J. Rocha]

How was your weekend? Tell me what your highlight was?

I had a great little weekend. I spent two awesome evenings with the girlfriends on Thursday and Friday night. Then, I was treated to a terrific lunch with my family. That evening, Mark and I took my little brother to buy his very first skateboard. On Saturday night and Sunday, I totally enjoyed myself doing minimal work. I went to the library, checked out a couple of books and CDs.
[The essence of a lazy afternoon.]

Now, it is the start of February and a new week and I'm feeling really good about it. Don't you? January may have just been a yucky month for me and I have no problem dismissing it as just "one of those" months. But now it's over so let's focus on the brighter days, shall we? If it was up to me, I'd make the beginning of February the official "happy & positive" week. What do you think? It's got a certain ring to it, doesn't it? I say we do it...who's with me?

I have a huge piece that I'm working on for the next few weeks. It has to do with my journalism class and I really need to start dedicating some serious time to it. I'm excited though because I get to be very creative yet challenged at the same time. These are the types of challenges I thrive on! Maybe I'll let you read some of it ;)

[I'd love to work at a desk like this]

Anywho, I hope you have a beautiful beginning of the week.

Happy "happy & positive" week!

PS- A loving "hello" to my new followers--Melita & Mark [my real life boyfriend!]