Daily Prompt: Kick It

Today’s daily prompt: What’s the 11th item on your bucket list?

You know, I haven’t thought about my bucket list yet.  However, I do read lots of blogs here of people doing the craziest things in my book.  You can count me out on anything requiring to jump willingly out of a plane like parachuting or sky diving.  And anything like jumping off a platform like bungee jumping. Forget it! I won’t even survive the fall.  My best friend tries to convince me to do that and I’ve refused on multiple occasions.  I’m all for adrenaline rushes but I’m also very happy with my two feet on the ground.

Let me take a pause and direct you over to one of the most adventurous bloggers I have visited.  Her blog is called Bucket List Publications and I love reading her adventures even if I personally wouldn’t do it.  Click HERE to see her Bucket list in 2012 and HERE for her Bucket  list in 2013.  Although I think she’s had me convinced that swimming with whale sharks could be extremely awesome.

Okay, well lets get back on track.  I’m not even sure I have 10 items on my bucket list.  Talk about 11.  Let me see if I can put one together quickly.

Lets see…

My bucket list would have places that I’d love to see and visit.

Top 3 travel destinations:

1) Prague

2) Santorini

3) Maldives

Make that 4 with this one:

4) Barcelona (for its architecture)

It would include something like:

5) Seeing the Sakura Festival in Japan

6) Studio Ghibli Museum

This is probably the most dangeous choice:

7) Visit a Tropical Rain Forest

I can already hear my boyfriend saying that he would never go because he heard there are massive dangerous insects from Top Gear episode of Bolivia Challenge.

8) Visit Zhang Jia Jie National Park/Stone Park

Maybe you have no idea what this is, but if I told you it was the film setting of Avatar.  This place I’ve wanted to go to even before the movie came out because its has about the most amazing scenery.  It would feel totally awesome to see it.

9) See Les Miserables performance in UK

I already talked about this before but that would really make me super happy because its something that would just totally be amazing.

10) Going to see a live show of Top Gear in UK

Have you ever watched Top Gear? That show is crazy good.  I love Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.  The challenges are crazy awesome and to see it right in front of me would be the best in the world.  However, its almost impossible to do it.  I believe it lands into a game of luck, which I usually lack.

These are off the top of my head so it could not be that in 6 months.  Who knows? But the goals of this isn’t my 10 items on my bucket list but the 11th item. It was already hard enough to get those down, now I need one more.

Let me think…I GOT IT!

11) Get married and be with the love of my life for the rest of my life

And scratch that, I’m moving that one on number 1 and pushing everything else down one.  Sorry, Top Gear, you just landed on the 11th spot of my bucket list.

Daily Prompt: Forever Young

I’ve been slacking on writing up on these daily prompts.  I just find some of these topics would look like I’m whining about life and its not what I aim to do with my blog.  I will try to do a little writing every week.  Hopefully you will all enjoy a bit of my horrible but improving (I think) writing.

Today’s daily prompt: If there were a real Fountain of Youth, would you drink the water?

I remember writing something on immortality when I first started this blog based on a daily prompt back then in Post a Week 2011. Let me go check it out…here it is.  You can click HERE to find it. Its good time to link it since back then there was probably 1 view.  Give it a go, I just re-read it and its not too bad.  You can see why I don’t want to be immortal, despite my fond love for vampires and all things supernatural.

For that same reason, I wouldn’t really think I’d drink the water from the Fountain of Youth.  I’m 26 right now and turning 27 in a few months, provided the world doesn’t end on Friday.  I’m not old.  Although some days, I think I feel older than I actually should be.  Although being younger would probably mean I have a better memory, which could help.  I blame my job and the stress level that occupies all my brain space, so even if I was younger, doesn’t mean I stop being at this job.  It’ll deteriorate eventually.  Forever deteriorating memory…I’ll pass on that one.

I graduated in accounting and currently work in that field , so the mindset of taxes don’t escape me.  Aging means that I’ll eventually get to reap the benefits of being retired.  Freedom from working and Old Age Security.  I’d like to have that some day.  I worked hard to earn that benefit.  Why give it up? Not to mention, if I retire I get to actually go travel with all the money I’ve saved.

However, if I think about it, being young might mean that I won’t be in this constant back pain.  But then, thats mostly from work-related stress.  I even have to see a chiropractor at my age.  All this can’t be avoided if I am young, still won’t quit my job.

Final argument though, if you didn’t click on that link for my Immortality post, I want to bring up that wonderful quote I put in there.  Its from a Hong Kong movie called Wait ‘Til You’re Older.  Its about a boy who believes that growing older is the escape from his current life.  He gets offered a miraculous growth formula from a man and grows older but realizes that there are no ways to stop the growth so he also ends up aging incredibly fast as well.  He meets this man again to find out how to escape this aging process and the man answers him this: IMDB translates it like this, “Life is like a passage. Too bad it’s a one-way trip. Good thing is, there’s no need to return.”  Before I found this translation, this is my translation ” Life is an experience: Pity is that is that it cannot be relived but fortunately it doesn’t need to be re-experienced either.”

With that said, why would we want to go forward or in this case, go backwards in life?

To join this daily prompt or see more on this topic, click HERE!

Mix Tape of my Life

Daily Prompt: Put together a a musical playlist of songs that describe your life, including what you hope your future entails.

I love music and I don’t share that nearly enough here.  When I saw this topic, I knew I needed to go through the jukebox in my head and give you the mix tape of my life in 10 songs.

This is in no specific order and it’ll be multilingual..just a note in advance. For the foreign language ones, I’ll try to do a translation of the lyrics so at least you can understand  the message I would like you to get from it.

1)In the Dark- Tiesto feat Christian Burns

“When it seems
Like the world around you’s breaking
And it feels
Like there’s no one else around you
And it’s quiet
There’s a silence in the darkness
And it sounds
Like the carnival is over”

 

2) Dare to Believe – Boyce Avenue

“It’s feeling like the time’s run out
But the hour glass just flipped itself over again
The sun is slowly sinking down
But on the other side a new day waits to begin

If you dare to believe in life
You might realize that there’s no time for talking
Or to just wait around while the innocent die

No more
We’re gonna lose everything
If we believe all the lies
I may fall but I swear that I’ll help you believe
No more
This world’s running on empty
And there’s no reason why
You may fall but I know that you’ll help me believe

We’ve been in the dark for way too long
But when we turn around
We see a light shine through the haze
So forget about who was wrong
Because I’ve never been more ready to turn this page

If you swear you believe in life
Embrace forgiveness
‘Cuz it’s all that I’m asking
Or keep holding out while the innocent die”

 

3) S’il Suffisait d’aimer (If Loving was Enough) – Celine Dion

Translation of the chorus:

If loving each other was enough, if loving was enough

If we changed things a bit, just by loving to share

If loving each was enough, if loving was enough

I would make this world a dream, an eternity

 

4) Beautiful Day – Ekin Cheng

“Only need the sun to be bright and companions are strong, Its a beautiful day”

 

5) Vanilla Twilight – Owl City

“But drenched in vanilla twilight

I’ll sit on the front porch all night

Waist-deep in thought because

When I think of you I don’t feel so alone”

6) I Really Got Hurt – Jackie Cheung & Ivana Wong

For the breakups in my life, few but once profound, song starts at 1:00

“Outside the window  its getting dark, The music is getting quiet, my heart starts to think of you.

 

The lights are growing dim, the music is getting quiet, the cotton candy in my mouth has melted away

Outside the window its getting dark, I’m getting bored, my heart starts to think of you.

The phone rings, you want to talk, I thought that your heart was thinking of me again.

How come your voice has become cold and distant? You have changed, you have changed.

 

The lights are off, the music has stopped, I can’t stop the tears from falling

The sky has started to rain, I’m not happy anymore, My heart really hurts now.”

 

7) Broken Angel – Boyce Avenue

We already went through this song with my previous post When Is It Okay.  You can click HERE if you haven’t read it.

 

8) Little Moments – Brad Paisley

For my relationship which is going strong, almost reaching our 5 years together in less than 3 months.  And this song, both my boyfriend and I know it reminds us of the relationship, especially giving directions.  I’m horrible at that…

“I know she’s not perfect but she tries so hard for me
And I thank god that she isn’t ’cause how boring would that be
It’s the little imperfections it’s the sudden change in plans
When she misreads the directions and we’re lost but holdin’ hands

Yeah I live for little moments like that”

 

9) So Long – Zooey Deschanel

For my best friends and the future friendships…

“Because it’s been so long since I made a friend like you

Some like to be alone, independent, and on their own

All alone I guess their free

But not me”

“You test my nerves, it makes me stronger, Can you bother me a little bit longer?”

 

10) Totoro – Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi is the man behind the magic of all the musical scores of Miyazaki movies.  When you look at his expressions when he plays this song (or any other score), you can feel his passion for his work, the energy that it brings him.  Thats what I want my future to have.  My best friends and my boyfriend and my family are the foundation of my happiness but to find and do things that will make me fully passionate in what I do is something I strive for.

To join this daily prompt, you can go check it out HERE!

 

Daily Prompt: Hindsight –>Redoing The Beginning…

It’s nearing the end of the year.  According to the Mayan calender, who knows if we’ll even make it there but its inevitable that we will sit back and look at the things we’ve done in the past year.

I haven’t done writing prompts in a while, mostly because I’ve been writing like a crazy lady already for the last month. I’m back in style though.  Today’s sounded fun: Go back and re-write our very first post.  I won’t write my “very first post” because it was drafted by the daily post challenge to commit, so nothing much to re-write and the other one was just 2011 revelations.  I always tend to do one for the new year so if we make it there, I’ll have one up then.  So I just jumped straight to re-writing the first actual post called I Love To Laugh.  Click HERE to read the original 2011 version. Its due for a re-run, back then it was no one that that read my posts.  Maybe you’ll like it, who knows, right?

So here we go re-writing the first post titled: I LOVE TO LAUGH! (Tell me which you enjoyed more…its sort of tough to rewrite I think)..

Laughing is a very original feature in everyone.  We all love to be laughing whether in groups or just by yourself sometimes.  How would you describe your laugh? I know that I have a very laughable laugh.  Try giving me a lame joke when I’m tired and you’ll have to laughing non-stop for ages.  However, I still don’t really know how I laugh.  How do you describe the sounds of your laugh? Do we even have adjectives in the dictionary for it?

Although one of my favorite movies in the world describes it quite nicely with a little song.  Anyone know what that movie is? That’s right! MARY POPPINS!

That movie did it with this little song called I Love To Laugh! Here’s a little video with the lyrics on the bottom to look at:

Some people laugh through their noses
Sounding something like this ‘Mmm…’
Some people laugh through their teeth goodness sake
Hissing and fizzing like snakes

Some laugh too fast
Some only blast – ha!
Others, they twitter like birds
Then there’s the kind
What can’t make up their mind

Are you one of those people listed above? By the way, when you laugh through your nose, isn’t that snorting?

I can tell you I don’t snort, nor do I hiss.  I don’t twitter or blast either.  So what do I do? I giggle in a loud way and that builds up if I can’t resist it and turns into something a bit more thunderous.  It doesn’t matter how you do it.  Point is laughing is different for everyone but the cause is mostly the same: its from happiness and joy.  That’s what is important.  After all, laughing is good for you.

So tell me, how would you describe your laugh?

 

Daily Prompt: Wicked

Today’s daily prompt is: Pick a random word and do Google image search on it. Check out the eleventh picture it brings up. Write about whatever that image brings to mind.

I just watched “The Wizard of Oz” last night for the first time.  I know, I know, you can close your opened mouth.  Everyone that I saw that to seems to have that reaction.  I saw Wicked Broadway in August when it was on tour in Montreal.  It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  I’m serious.  It was fun, the songs were fantastic and now I understand the link and twist of the Broadway from the movie/original story.

Of course seeing the movie afterwards, I had to slightly analyze and compare the two to see what happens and how the story before Dorothy got into Oz.  There are certain parts that we doesn’t really connect but still, this Broadway musical is the top of the line.   Part of me would like to see it with the Original Cast with Idina Menzel  and Kristen Chenoworth.

I have the soundtrack and till now, I’m still listening to it and singing along when I’m not walking in the street.  You know, that would be somewhat weird.  Although I do smile and chuckle to myself when I walk in the streets listening to podcasts.

Back to Wicked, so for those that haven’t seen the broadway, its the “Untold Story of the Witches of Oz”.  We get to see how Glinda (the Good Witch) started school and made friends with Elpheba (the Wicked Witch of the West).  Its a story about love and friendship, to do things against the flow, you know, defying gravity.  If it does stop at your city, you really should see it.  I loved it and I wouldn’t hesitate to see it a second or third time if it came back to town.  I saw it with my best friend and we both enjoyed it a lot.

Have any of you ever seen it before? What did you think? Any other Broadway musicals that you’d recommend?  I have my eyes open for anyone new ones right now.  We have Mary Poppins and Billy Elliot scheduled to tour in the next few months.  Hopefully I’ll get a chance to catch it.

Daily Prompts are Back: One thing I hope people never say about me!

As of yesterday, it was announced that daily prompts has made its comeback.  I’m really happy.

Last year, on January 19th, 2011, it was the daily prompts post a week challenge that got me started into being a dedicated blogger.  Lets just say it was my initiation (link to that first post).   I didn’t really get anywhere with that as I didn’t get involved as it was just a form of self-expression.  When I entered 2012, I had to work up my imagination and creativity and figure out how to keep this blog going without any more of those prompts.  Its thanks to that that I’ve not only gotten all you wonderful followers and I get to meet others through their own blogs and their fantastic contents.

Yesterday’s topic I just realized coincided with the A Word A Week Challenge about what is the most precious thing I’ve lost.  My dog is definitely a part of it.  2010 was a horrible year.   I lost my cat earlier that year and experienced the death of my 22 year old friend from unknown reasons and the death of my aunt in Hong Kong from sickness within the same month.  It was just depressing.  BUT it was also what made me want to have changes in 2011 and motivated me to connect with others.  When you hit the bottom, the only way you’re going to go is up.

Today’s daily prompt question is: What is the one thing you hope people never say about you?

I’m human.  As much as I don’t try to reveal in my posts, I have buckets of flaws.  Some I know I can keep in check most of the time and not exert too much on my friends.  One thing I know I would never hope for people to say about me, and is also now how I choose the people in my life that I associate with, is being a “drain”.  Do you know what a drain is? It was some time last year, I had written a post about friends.  The link is here if you’d like to give it a quick read.

The last paragraph says it perfectly about Drains and Radiators.  I would hate for my friends to say that I’m a drain.  I really would feel offended and saddened by that.  That post was written in April 2011 and I read it over again and it ended as I don’t know how to define my friends back then.  I’m telling you that after more than a year, I have been able to figure that much out.  I can detect drains in my friends most of the time.

Drains are people that take away your energy.  During a conversation, they are negative and depressing to talk to.  They are not encouraging and always find something wrong in their lives.  They continuously complain and there just never seems to be something good in their lives.  I understand that people have problems and we all do.  Life throws us curveballs all the time.  The difference is that some people talk about their problems but they are able move past and find a way out.  Find some uplifting aspect to move us forward and change or extract themselves from whatever bothers them.  They will have happy moments and positive thoughts to share also.  I haven’t had a chance to read through The Secret yet, but I’ve heard that the idea behind it is that when you are negative and say negative things, you are attracting negativity and things will just get worse and feel worse.  That is what a drain will do to you.  Their negativity will impact you and make you feel horrible about what you have already.  I once finished having a conversation with a “drain” and I went home and burst into tears then went into this ugly mood.  Now that you somewhat have an idea as to what a drain is, you can see why I don’t want to be labelled as that EVER.

How could I ever think about being a person that doesn’t bring a smile to someone’s face or encourage and support for people I care about but instead drag them into the same ditch.  I always want to be a happy  person to my friends. You know, the radiator that picks up others and gives them a little smile.  I’ve learned that being positive pays off.  Everything negative usually will have a positive turn and it just depends on whether you can change your mindset.