I just want all the Cassies out there to know that Yunho is my fashion god right now. I don't know why but lately I been looking at his pictures and I am loving the polo shirt, aviators, and Fedoras that he wears. So as crazy as this may sound I am starting to build a wardrobe that kind of resembles his clothing style. No, I am not crazy or an obsess fan, I just find his style really comfortable and it actually works for my body type. So polos and fedora for me this summer. I'll post some pictures one of this days. tehehe

Specific environment

My vacation home in the Philippines has a very interesting environment. Since its place in a tropical setting and close to a mountain and a farmland you can imagine so many wildlife gets into my house.I have found garter snakes and boas, gecko, frogs, and any insect that exist in the northern hemisphere.
A couple of years ago I went and visited the Philippines and stayed at our vacation home. I remember the first two nights, I can barely sleeps because of all the noises inside and outside the house. On the second night I heard that they found a small garter snakes in our living room under our couch. I know its trying to protect itself from the heat outside and under the dark couch was the perfect environment for it.
I have also found a gecko inside the house. It has an orange body with lots and lots of white spots. It would not stop making sounds so I thought I should try and pick it up with a stick and try to throw it outside. I accidentally hurt its tail and in return it bit me on my finger.
As you may now know a house in a tropical country is like what my family owns is like a jungle in the Amazon rainforest.

Dan O'Brien "Buffalo for the Broken Heart

1. How does the "Buffalo for the Broken Heart" fit into the larger "nature writing" canon? O'Brien portrayed his experienced with the buffaloes as part of nature. He enjoyed watching nature as it goes. For example, just watching the buffaloes wallow through the mud and enjoying their bath. In another chapter he was watching and paying attention to an eagle trying to catch its pray. In context of the class Dan O'Brien represent Buffalo for the Broken heart as a series of experience of racing and observing the buffaloes habits.

2. How does O'Brien relate to his environment?

As the "cowboy" of his land he portrays himself as a tough man and the kind of person no never cares about the nature of the buffaloes and through observing nature he found happiness just watching the buffaloes habits and nature.

3. If you were to make one suggestion to O'Brien, regarding his land use what wold it be?
Half prairie half ranch (American buffaloes viewing and classroom). I think it would be nice to keep the buffaloes but maybe more as wild animals then add a prairie for additional natural effect.

This past spring break I went to Los Angeles with my brother and cousins. The picture above is a snapshot from the Korean Restaurant we went to. I was grilling some beef and onions. I particularly like this picture because of the memories that comes back to me everytime I look at it. This piture will always remind me of the good times I spent with my brother and cousins.

Thoreau: Walden

I can honestly say that when it comes to ideals I would agree with Thoreau and that he has a different way in expressing nature experience. I have read parts of Walden before and I remember him saying “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity," which I believe means experiencing nature that is already in front of you. Thoreau spent two years in that same Waldon pond to write about his ideals and everyday he seemed to find something new to write about. He experienced new things; notice new things happens every day. As I believe "Nature is everywhere you just have to look closer."
On the other hand McCandless's believe "The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences," that there should always be a renewal on settings, there should always be changes around you to experience nature. This is where I believe that Thoreau's idea of experiencing nature differs from McCandless's ideals. It is not necessary for a man to travel in the most unfamiliar place to experience nature. Again nature is everywhere, and nature changes every day, therefore a new experience with nature happen.

Blood Dazzler: Looking for Bodies

I believe that in " Looking for Bodies" poem, Patricia Smith organized the poem's rhythm in a mysterious way. Since every one knows that us humans would like to find answers on everything, she made the poem sound mysterious. In the lines "don't kick the door open, no matter how weird your heart drums,"I believe that she was trying to excite us to try and find what is behind that door. At the same time she was trying to warn us on what is behind that door. Through this line " There maybe something all wrong behind it," I believe that she wanted to warn us that behind that door we do not know what we will find but we have to prepare our selves.

50 Word Journal

1. One summer I went with my family to go swimming in a resort close by a river. The day was really nice, the sun was out and everything seems peaceful. Until an hour later the owner of the resort started running around yelling something. The problem was my cousin and I do not understand the dialect they speak so we couldn't make out what he was saying. I guess he was saying that there was a sandstorm but by that time the sand started clouding the pool nearby. So my cousin and I were stuck in the pool for about twenty minutes.


2.When I used to live in the Philippines seeing snakes is very common. One day on my way home a snake fell of a tree and I thought it was just one of those common snakes but it was a Philippines cobra. I knew right away because it was hissing at me. I was really scared that I might agitate it and strike me. Therefore I froze to where I was standing, waiting for it to just slider away. The problem was I have been standing there for twenty minutes and the snake just stared at me. Fortunately there was a person walking by and I quietly told him that there is a snake in front me. Therefore he threw a stick close to the snake for it to move and I was saved.


3.My family owns a mango orchard in the Philippines. When my cousins and I where young, we used to watch the farmers picked mangoes during harvest season. One day I decided to play in the orchard and I saw a ripe mango. It was bright yellow and red in color, that is why I knew it was sweet and ripe. The only problem was that I could not reach it and the maid was not around to help me. So I sat under a tree and pray for it to fall down, but it never did. Eventually I was tired of waiting and just left. The next morning I went there again and brought the maid, the problem was the mango was already gone. I found out that after I left it rained and a lot of the ripe mangoes fell down including the one I wanted the most.

My Hometown

This is my hometown of Laguna, Philippines. This lack the actual picture of my actual house and the farm land that surrounds it. Moreover, my house is surrounded by many trees and it stands about a mile from this river. This picture also does not show the area behind the balcony, where many colorful souvenir stores are located. On the other hand this picture highlights the fact that I came from a tropical country. There is a mass of coconut trees at the north side of the river. There are also bamboo grass and mango trees along the river bank. In the summer time, when this picture was taken, there is usually a lot of tourist, therefore there are canoes from left and right of the river. Last but not the least you can see a part of a balcony where the girl is standing, it is actually a vacation home. Since the river is one of the main attraction of my town, along the right side of the river, vacations homes are built for tourist.

Walt Whitman " This compost"

I believe that one of the themes in this poem is that the world is big compost pit. When people and other living things passed they eventually comes back to the soil and become compost, nourishing the next generation.

"I will run a furrow with my plough—I will press my spade through the sod, and turn it up underneath;"

On the other hand I also believe that he tries to show us the beauty of the earth we live in. Praising the new life that happens everyday and reminding us to treasure it.

"Behold this compost! behold it well!
The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches,
The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves,
The tinge awakes over the willow-tree and the mulberry-tree,
The he-birds carol mornings and evenings, while the she-birds sit on their nests,
The young of poultry break through the hatch’d eggs,
The new-born of animals appear—the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the
mare,
Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato’s dark green leaves,
Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk—the lilacs bloom in the door-yards"

Home by the lake - location: Pakil Laguna Philippines

The picture represents a crowded yet very peaceful small town of Pakil, Laguna, Philippines. The blue Laguna lake seems to stretch for miles while the bright blue sky signals a sunny and blissful day. The rice paddies' array of colors shows the abundant farming activities. On the other side of town the groups of trees provides shades on the mass of small houses and streets. The church stands in the middle town, towering all the buildings depicting the strong influence of religion to the villager’s way of living.
I think that this picture needs updating. Since the last time I saw this town, drought (El nino)came by, so its more brown than green and blue now. There are more houses since the population grew quickly. Therefore, I would like to represent this town at its current state. I wanted to analyze that changes that happen and whether it is for the good or bad.

Link to the Picture:http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/390260.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.panoramio.com/photo/390260&usg=__PZOjknOemJMLHWBnHbuHSAEXgLg=&h=1536&w=2048&sz=629&hl=en&start=1&um

Deforestation"100 word Picture Description'

Darriane Sta. Romana
Ms. Dixon
English 250 Sec. FR
13 January, 2009
Deforestation
This photo shows a part of the cascade mountain range completely eradicated of trees by logging activities. Everything within the site seemed dead. The surrounding area is filled with smoke, the sky is black, there are piles of logs on the forest floor, and there are no animals in site. There is standing driftwood, which serves as the only reminder of how luxurious this mountain used to be. The workers were so tired that they sat on the fallen debris, while their campsite sits about a mile down the hill.
THe picture can be found in this link:
http://americanearth.loa.org/photo-gallery/ the 9th picture with the 2 guys sitting is what im trying to describe.