RISE

thecamhouston: As the installation of Jane Alexander’s...

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:45:55 -0400

thecamhouston:

As the installation of Jane Alexander’s exhibition progresses, a new milestone; the sculptures are standing!!

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Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:39:31 -0400

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Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:39:07 -0400

zitterberg: A.L. KaplanSynesthesia (Source:...

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 12:23:21 -0400

zitterberg:

A.L. Kaplan
Synesthesia

(Source: cinderscar.deviantart.com)

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Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:39:47 -0400

From the bottom of our hearts

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:35:40 -0400

Today, I want to apologize.

To all of the people who have ever been hurt by someone or anything.

For not trying hard enough to make other people happy.

For not caring sometimes.

For being negative and not always positive.

To every single kid who has never known what happiness is.

To every teacher who is never listened to.

To every person who has to live a life full of regret

To every person who has ever killed his or herself.

To every person who has lost their way.

To every child who is looked down upon.

To every child who grows up thinking that life never gets better.

To every animal who has ever been killed by a human.

To every human who has ever been killed by another human.

To the world and the earth itself for war.

To every person who has ever been stolen from.

To every thief that has ever been caught.

To every person who was spanked as a child.

To every mom who’s kids have never done the dishes or the laundry for her.

To every father who was left alone by his kids.

To every kid who grows up without a mother or a father.

To every kid who grew up without either.

To every person who is made fun of for being fat.

To every person who is made fun of for the clothes they wear.

To every person who is made fun of for the music they listen to.

To every person who is made fun of for the color of their skin.

To every person who is made fun of for the way they talk.

To every person who has ever had people talk about them behind their back.

To every animal that leather is made from.

To every never who was never seen for that beautiful mind but instead for the way they didn’t fit in.

To every person who has ever felt alone.

To every person who has never been to see music.

To every person who has never been able to feel color.

To every person who once was, but no longer is anymore.

To every person who has never had shoes or a bookbag.

To every person who never got to tell someone that they love them.

To every person who never had someone say I Love You to their face.

To every person who thinks that nobody loves them.

To every person who’s favorite color doesn’t exist.

To every person who feels like they will never be happy.

To every person who has never had the wind knocked out of them.

To every person who has never been able to stare up at the stars for as long as they want.

To every person who has never gone for a walk.

To every person who is hated for loving something that is hated.

To every person who has never pondered history and what it means.

To every person who lost childhood to life, and not death.

To every person who has ever been bullied.

To every person who feels like peace will never exist.

To every person who wants to be alone but cannot be.

To every person whose heart has been ripped apart.

To every person who has done something they feel sorry for.

To every person who thinks that they can never be perfect.

To every person who has searched for the truth but never found it because not a single person wanted to give it to them.

To every dog that was never embraced.

To every cat in the world, on behalf of the people who say “I hate cats.”

To every water bottle that has been twisted up

And to every water bottle cap that has been shot off.

To every little brother who has been hit or picked on by his older brothers.

To every single women, because it is disgusting that men think they are superior to you.

To every person who has to see selfishness, but does not see selflessness.

To every person who is selfish but does not realize it.

To every person who has never picked a flower.

To every person who has never laughed.

To every person who drowns in tears and sorrow.

To every person who finds reading awful.

To every person who cannot smile at themselves.

To every person who thinks they have a reason to hate themselves.

To every person who wishes that they could be someone else.

To every person who has lost belief.

To every person who thinks that they are not beautiful in any way shape or form.

From the bottom of our hearts,

I promise,

We love you.

“Don’t forget to look at the sky tonight. It’s perfect.” Sometimes I talk...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:35:00 -0400

“Don’t forget to look at the sky tonight. It’s perfect.”

Sometimes I talk to this girl I know about how badly we both want to live in space until the day we die. I think that people in general sometimes forget how beautiful the sky looks at night. It’s the time when the rest of the universe is as clear to the naked eye as it ever is. To me, that is one of the most beautiful part of ever single night. Whether I’m out for a walk or getting out of my mum’s car, I gaze into the night sky, hoping that it is clear so I can see the stars. We are so often surrounded by the term, “reach for the stars.” but why is there never anyone telling us to look at the stars and appreciate that we are fortunate enough to exist among them? I wish that the kids who always used to dream of being an astronaut never gave up on it. Imagine being able to step foot on the moon, experience earth from a perspective that less than 1% of our population gets to discover. Sometimes I get lost in the very thought of space. It fascinates me to the point where it hurts almost. How can we as people be such a small speck of basically dust compared to the rest of the universe? I, personally, struggle to comprehend the size of a state in its entirety, let alone the whole world. So how can it ever be possible to comprehend the size of, for example, Jupiter? You can fit almost 1000 Jupiters in the Sun. Yet the sun that we get our light from has to be multiplied by 1000 to equal one of the largest stars in existence that we know of. That is planet Earth times 262 TRILLION. When I think of space in general, I find myself lost in a trance of imagination intertwined with such an immense sense uncertainty and incomprehension that it frightens me, but leaves me yearning for more. It kind of makes me wonder, how did we all end up here together with the people in our lives and where are we all going?

So, how can people on this earth sometimes value themselves as so superior to others? Are those people not thinking about the humbling size of the universe? Who are we to think that we as a race of people are the most significant thing to ever come into existence. Sometimes, I wish I could scream to everyone to open their minds up every once in a while.

Dear Tony

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:47:00 -0400

I want to write about my friend Tony tonight. For those of you who do not know him, I wish you did. In fact, I wish Tony could be video taped every single day and every single person in the world watched his video every day. If that were the case, what the world would be seeing every day would be the life of one of the most inspirational people I have ever met. Tony is the type of person the world needed as soon as he was born, still needs him right now, as long as he lives, and for some reason I feel like the world is still going to need him after our generation has come to pass. He is literally, I mean that, the brightest person I know. I can find absolutely no flaw in him. The power of his brain is unbelievable. I don’t care how easy he makes it seem, being number one in the class takes something special. And whatever that special thing is, Tony was made with more than enough of it. He refuses to let it go to his head though. Modesty is a trait that not enough people have. Sometimes I think that it is because it was sucked out of the people without it and it was placed inside of Tony’s heart, one of the biggest hearts in the whole world too. I think it goes unnoticed by most people because they are blown away by how smart he is, but Tony is one of the sweetest, most compassionate people I know. This kid is seriously perfect, I swear. And he is hilarious. His humor is such a unique style that is drives me crazy too. He will say something so random sometimes that it makes complete sense in the context of his joke. And he has a wicked laugh impression of the guy who says, “gnarly!” from Spongebob. What surrounds Tony is nothing but a blindingly positive aura. He will never say anything bad about a person, and he only speaks the truth. He is SO kindhearted, so respectful, and so brilliant that I want to have kids who are just like him. Hopefully they will be as adorably Asian as him too. What I love about Tony the most, though, is the essence of his soul. He has the most natural purity I think I have ever come across in a person. He is completely, 100 percent straight-edged. Like, I don’t even think Tony knows what straight-edged means because he is such a good person that he never has to think about not being straight-edged. His integrity and trust levels are something from out of this world. I don’t know where he gets it from, but I hope he reads this eventually because this goes out with the intention of finding its way to Tony. And Tony, I don’t care where you are at the moment but I hope you feel loved while I write this because I know for sure that there is one person thinking about you right now, and that’s me! So, thank you for being everything that you are, and I sincerely hope that you are never anything but yourself because you are everything that everyone needs in their life. I mean honestly, who doesn’t like a little Tony in their life?

Until You Lose Yourself in It

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:28:05 -0400

As of right now, I am thinking about last night. Some nights, every thing just feels so perfect that you never want it to end. Personally, I believe that those nights play a bigger roll in shaping us as people than we know. Last night, I spent it with one of the greatest people I have ever met in my whole life. And honestly, I don’t think I will ever come across a person quite like this ever again. We ended up watching a movie about my favorite band, Rise Against. And I remember saying out loud,”Rise Against alone is enough for me to wake up every morning.” And the amazing person sitting on the couch next to me knew exactly what I meant. I meant that when a person finds music they can really connect to, that music has the ability to change their entire life without that person realizing it. It could be because of simply the way it sounds. But it could also be because the person who wrote that felt exactly the same way as you when he or she wrote that song. And being able to feel music, not just hear it, can do more than change a person. It can ignite a spark of emotion in them that would never be touched if it weren’t for the music. Think about it. When you find yourself at a concert, you are surrounded by people who are into the same music as you, who you can connect to just because they feel something as incredible as what you feel. Obviously, there are no words to describe it. But when it comes to music, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from. The music is what makes you come together. Even if someone finds a different meaning behind the song as you, it still doesn’t matter. Because for some reason, what ever is going on in your life and that other person, you both find salvation behind the same words. I think that we all take for granted, sometimes, what music can really do for us as people, and for our souls. It gives such a sense of not being alone. You can look into the eyes of someone who is into the same music as you and automatically understand them to a certain extent regardless of if you know each other or not. You can be yourself. And even if there are people who judge you for the music you are listen to, think about all of the people who will embrace you for loving it anyways.

Appreciation, Introspection

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:25:34 -0400

Today I wanted to write about something I think too many of us do too little of: Appreciate. Over the course of the last few weeks, for some reason I have continuously found myself coming back to appreciation in my train of thought. I realized that I could never tell the people I love just how much I love them. Or the people who make me happy just how happy they make me. Or the people who inspire me exactly what it is about them that makes me want to do things I never thought possible. I also relearned something that never fails to deeply uplift roots of sadness in my heart and in my mind. That something was the understanding that not everyone is appreciative of what they are lucky enough to have in their life. What hurts me the most is that so many people are never given an opportunity to realize how many beautiful aspects of their lives can be smiled upon and built off of. If each person were to take a step back and appreciate what life or the life of another they know has given them and continues to give them each day, there would be an endless list of new possibilities and paths discovered for the better.

For me, it all ends up in introspection (analyzing your emotions, looking and finding within yourself). How could I go for such a long time without realizing that I was unappreciative for such a long time? Why are there so many people like this? I think we all need to take a little more time to really think about what we are, who we want to become, and we can change things. The problem is that not everyone knows exactly what they want to stand for. But once you do find it, hold on to it and do whatever you can to make sure it is heard in your voice. For me, I want to represent and stand for the idea of standing up for what you believe in and standing up for what is going to better other people and their lives. Strangely, I am constantly relating this to my personal appreciation for my life, for the ones in my life who support me, talk to me every day, for not being anything other than what I am today, for being understood and accepted as someone who wants to be something worth remembering and letting all of you know that you have ability to remembered too. I will never be able to show how much I truly appreciate all of you, and all of you who are reading this. So, I am going to spend the rest of my life trying to do just that, along with some other stuff. Honestly though, as soon as one person begins to feel like they understand how grateful I really am for them simply existing in my life, I will know that I have failed.

Racism is everywhere. It never ceases to amaze me how people can...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:17:32 -0500

Racism is everywhere. It never ceases to amaze me how people can be okay with racism. I would like to personally ask a racist person how he or she can think that simply because someone is different than you, that person is understood to be treated like garbage. Is it okay to say that a black person is less than another person who isn’t black? Is it okay to say that every white person is racist against black people? Is every middle eastern person really a terrorist? NO. Where is the right, equality, or fairness in being racist? There isn’t any at all. Some people say that life isn’t fair, but that is because we don’t give life or people a chance to be. How can there be so much racism in the world, in The United States? Why is “the land of the free” is so infamous for slavery? The color of someone’s skin, the accent they have, the culture they are accustomed to does not mean that they are worse than you are. Even though what they see as right may be different from what you see it as doesn’t mean they are wrong. What I know is wrong is racism. What confuses me is how half-hearted the effort to stop the issue is. There is nothing wrong with not being racist. As people we must open our minds up to the others surrounding us in this world. So many of the problems we face as a global community could be solved if we could all get over this mindset of being better than those who are different than us. Just because racism has always been a part of our life doesn’t mean that we can’t change it.

“The things that made us different were the things that...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:02:00 -0500

“The things that made us different were the things that made us awesome.”

Introducing my theme to all of you is probably going to take some time. Actually, I probably will never sit here and write down exactly what the general idea behind this is. It is something the viewer, reader, blogger is going to have to come into. But by the quoted segment of the clip I think the direction in which this blog is going will be understood a little more with each post.

With this video in particular, it’s not only reaching out to the LGBT community but to any teen who feels like they’re completely alone in the world. To those of you coming across this who are in that moment, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There is someone who cares about you, about people like you, about the ones who feel like they don’t want to take part in life anymore. There are too many of us who feel dejected, beaten down by life everyday. And at the ends of those days, not all of us have someone there to tell them that it is going to get better for them. There are people everywhere like Tim McIlrath trying to lift you up, so don’t give in.

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Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:00:59 -0500

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Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:59:58 -0500

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Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:59:24 -0500