Frohe Weihnachten

Hoping everyone has a fantastic day with family, friends, and those who they care deeply about.

Call/text/skype someone you haven't spoken to in a while; it will make their day.

Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël/Frohe Weihnachten/God Jul

Much Love from DC,

JP

A Week of 10s Day 6: Feel Good Songs

So I had a request to do my top ten "feel good" songs. Songs that make me smile. My music tastes change constantly, but there are a few songs which I always enjoy going back to and listening because they're fun, upbeat, or just too catchy. Here are my top 10 "feel good" songs.


1. The Killers - Mr. Brightside

This song came out when I was still in middle school and I can still remember rocking out to it today. It's just a great song and the fact it has had such lasting power for me must mean a good thing.

2. Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

My ultimate feel good song and also driving song. If I do well on an exam, do something epic, or and just in a great mood, I always play this song. It's a really upbeat and happy song.

3. Nicki Minaj - Superbass

Freshman year of college, this was one of the first songs I really danced and had fun to with what would become my core groups of friends today. Basically, whenever this song plays, I gotta dance. Great memories with this song.

4. John Denver - Country Roads

While I might be a state over, this song makes me miss home too. They played a remix of this at the club I was at last night. I don't know if Danes even know where West Virginia is on a map but everyone was singing along. It's one of those songs which makes me all fuzzy inside.

5. Frank Sinatra - Come Fly with Me

I love oldies and classics, and this is definitely one of my favorites. I feel classier just listening to this song. But Frank, he's a musical god.

6. Cartel - Let's Go

I love Cartel. They're definitely one of my favorite bands and one of the few I actually follow. Let's Go is one of those really loud, hard, and fast songs which I love. It's one of my pump-up songs when I'm preparing for something big.

7. Tina Turner - Proud Mary

So I didn't know much about Tina Turner until I did a project on her with Miss X during junior year of HS as part of a AP US History class. Since then, I've fallen in love with Tina and especially this song. She's the original diva, and you can't be the original.

8. Kap Slap - Guetta's Calling Solveig Up

This song was one of the songs which spurred the growth of my love of mashups. This is freaking epic. It's a staple of my workout playlist, my rage playlist, and I also play it whenever I just want to celebrate.

9. Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

My favorite Christmas song. One thing I look forward to every year before Christmas is Darlene's performance on Letterman. Actually, it's the only time of the year I actually watch Letterman.

10. Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas is You

Because Christmas.

Hope you found something that you like too among my picks.

All the best,

JP

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I hope you have a great day full of laughter with those you love.



Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Live on Letterman, 2011

All the best,

JP

Christmas Traditions

Being a first-generation child of an immigrant family, I got to experience many things my parents and even a few of my cousins never were able to for at least some substantial portion of their lives. One of these things is celebrating Christmas.

First and foremost, they way we celebrate Christmas in my house isn't for the same reasons as many other do. Since we aren't a religious family, Christmas always meant something different. For us, Christmas was about family, food, gift giving and listening to Mariah Carey belt to "All I Want for Christmas is You" on the radio. Of course, many other families celebrate Christmas for the same reasons we do, but often it is in conjunction with some religious background like the birth of Jesus and the like. What my parents tried to do was to provide as "authentic" of an America experience for me as possible, and that meant Christmas was high on the list.

Since I'm an only child, I will admit to having a spoiled Christmas experience when it comes to my life as a whole. For example, when I was 15, I had an obsession with guitar even though I had never played one in my entire life. I begged for an electric guitar and I got one, it was a gift from my aunts. Well, long story short, let's just say it never really left the box and today still sits in the basement. In the four years since that day, my love for guitar has waned and the only use I see for it is to maybe mount it on the wall as some decorative piece of art but that I feel would just be wrong and the music gods will strike me down for a. quitting the violin after six years and b. degrading what is a really nice instrument. As the years have passed however, I've gotten harder to shop for and the pair of shoes, sweater, video game or whatnot that would have been perfect four or five years ago now has simply become money in the red envelopes most Asians would be familiar with.

You might be thinking, "JP, are you honestly complaining about getting money!?", to which I respond, not, not really. Yes, it's practical, it's always gets the job done and it gives me the freedom to buy whatever I would like but there's something missing. One of my favorite Christmas day traditions from when I was little was being able to rip open boxes covered in wrapping paper and solving the mystery of what was hiding inside the colourful packages underneath the tree for the past week. It felt magical in the way I think only small children and those who still feel like a kid on the inside could understand.

While presents always did play a starring role on Christmas day, it was always the family dinner that I looked forward to. Apart from Thanksgiving, Christmas was and still is one of the few opportunities I have to see most of my family at one time. We either stay home with my mom and aunts all cooking something as we all sit at the big dining table or we go out to a restaurant together. Even though Christmas dinner isn't nearly as lengthy, boisterous or grand compared to Thanksgiving, I almost like it more since it was so casual and comfortable. This year we're staying in and having dinner at home. We're doing hot pot which looks something like this:

Yummmm

Basically, there's a pot of boiling stock in the middle and you take raw meat, veggies, seafood, whathaveyou and cook it in the boiling broth. Then you fish it out, dip it in a sauce and eat it. It's a very communal, winter specific style of dining which is really fun to try if you ever get the chance. We've been doing this for the past few years and is one of my favorite Christmas traditions that I look forward to once I'm on winter break.

Last year, I also wanted to try something new so I got a gingerbread house kit that I built with my mom. It turned out pretty nice so this year I got another one, this time a Christmas tree gingerbread kit that I finished tonight. It turned out better than I expected. It's takes some time to build and it's repetitive but it's surprisingly relaxing which is why I think I like it so much (this might also explain why I like vacuuming and cooking). I'm hoping to turn this gingerbread thing into a tradition too.

Success!

With Christmas only a few days away, I still have lots of shopping and baking to do. Being broke for the most part, I'm making bacon shortbread cookies with chocolate ganache for my friends instead of buying gifts. If you think bacon on a backed good sounds gross, I dare you to try something like it and say that afterwards. Bacon+anything is delicious...just sayin'.

What kind of traditions do you/your family have for Christmas?

All the best,

JP

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you're home safe and sound this evening.

Christmas isn't about the presents or food, or about worrying about bills, work and tests, but rather simply reveling in the company of family and friends you love and care about. So this Christmas, raise a glass to life; be thankful for what you have and remember that happiness can be found in even the smallest of things and the most obscure of places.


Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby please come home)

Merci pour vos amitié; Je vous adore.

JP

Priceless

Wool Pea Coat - $50

"Clearance" Abercrombie and Fitch Button Down Shirt - $55

AE Jeans - $25

Seeing an elderly woman go up to and complement a gay couple about how cute they are together - Priceless

Maybe there is hope for society in this lifetime after all.

I hope you had a safe and memory filled Christmas!

JP

Merry Christmas!

The lights are dimmed, the fire, casting it's dancing light on the floor, is crackling away, and the tree, bedecked with glittering ornaments, is shinging bright. For sure, it's Christmastime.

I hope you're spending this Christmas with your family or with someone you deeply care about this year, and that you will have a lot of fun and memorable moments in the process.

For me, it's never truly Christmas until Darlene Love sings "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the Late Show; it may just be my favorite holiday song of all time along with "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey. I'd like to share it with you-



Merry Christmas

JP

Fuck Yeah!!!

Because of the recent snow storm school's closed all week, meaning Winter Break is now officially two weeks long :D

wooo! and to all my readers, have a very happy and safe Christmas Holiday and a prosperous New Year! (don't get too carried away y'hear)

JP

2000 Meters

I'm so nervous right now! God, I've been dreading December 2nd for two weeks now and now, the dreaded day is mere hours away.

So why am I so anxious? It's because tomorrow I have my very first 2000 meter test of the season for crew. If you're involved in crew or know someone who is, you've probably have heard people talking about 2Ks and their 2K times and maybe you don't know too much as to what it actually is. A 2K test is the standard test for rowers in order to measure performance, strength and endurance. As the name implies, it's a 2000m piece that is done on an erg. Your goal is to find a 500m split that you can hold for about 1750 meters and then you sprint at the very end to get your overall time as low as possible. A 2k usually lasts under 8 minutes for guys and 9 minutes for girls but those are probably the most draining and painful 8 minutes any rower will experience short of being in an actual race.

Because the 2k measures performance, it can ultimately decide your seat in a boat and which boat you are placed in (1st or 2nd etc), so your goal is to get your time to be lower than everyone else's. Of course there are those who are absolute beasts, but you're competing against everyone else on the team to fight for the best spots. It's so competitive it makes my mind and body hurt just thinking about it. >.<. Just tough it out. just. tough. it. out. *sigh*

College Application update:
-Teacher recommendation stuff finally all handed out :D
-There are still supplemental essays to write (probably will finish this weekend, hopefully)
-SAT scores sent out
-Dues for two schools paid, five more to go

With everything being so busy and hectic, the only thing that's keeping me going is Christmas break which is rolling 'round pretty soon. We haven't decorated the outside of the house yet but hopefully we will soon. I put some lights up in my room though and the tree is up and decorated (well, to be honest, it's kinda up all year since we're too lazy to take it down lol). Well, hopefully things will ease up a little and everything smooth out soon. Also, I just downloaded "Alejandro" and "Dance in the Dark" from Lady Gaga's new album The Fame Monster and my god they're good, especially along with "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" Lady Gaga is my total obsession music wise right now if you couldn't tell lol.

Go listen! - Dance in the Dark

I hope you have a great week!

wish me luck :)

JP