The Beginning of an End

Note, it says AN end, not THE end. Because the end comes at different times for different things. For example, the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign for world emperor-ship ended quite a long time after the end of those poor dinosaurs, who could no longer function in an environment that did not have the over-hanging water shield of sorts that gave them the humid antediluvian environment in which they thrived.

I thought it would be fitting to end this year with a post, seeing as I haven't been posting at all lately--school, life outside the Internet, my parents finally enforced their "no-Internet-until-we-get-home" rule with a changed password, take your pick. (although I still personally blame procrastination)

I've discovered the magic of allowing the desktop picture to change! Apparently this is also better for the pixels of your computer screen or something, because it allows them to give different areas of your monitor different brightness levels, or something. That did not come out as literate as it sounded in my head. Ahem, moving on...

2011 is almost here! Or is here already, depending on when this post is read. We have almost completed another revolution (is that the correct term?)/orbit around the sun! Huzzah! We must forget all of the bad things that people have done to us, and focus on trying to build bridges, clean up the environment, and hopefully do something BIG so that the poverty issue in environmentally-threatened areas of the world will be greatly diminished. For people, in the end, are more important than the trees, even though they are of immense import to our ecosystems.

But most important of all is their souls, for it does truly matter what you believe in, and no, we are not random bits of matter left over from a cosmic accident.

With that cheery thought in mind, I just want to wish the entire hemisphere of the world a happy new year's eve! See you in the year of TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST, GIVE OR TAKE A FEW DAYS/SECONDS/MONTHS!

Swan Lake

A great deal of ballet is hard work. And grace. And some natural ability also helps, too. But if you really love the art, and want to dance, then by all means dance. With your heart, your soul, and your mind.

I shall forever rue the day when I was a tiny second grader, griping about how ballet was too "slow" and"boring" (because, looking back now, it is most definitely not). But, I believe that every happens for a reason. Just because I'm not dancing ballet anymore doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it! Thank goodness for Anaheim Ballet.  Huzzah for ballet dancing! And most dancing in general!  And Chinese traditional dance (which is what I am fortunate enough to do)! But on to what I think was supposed to be the main part of this post.

The music of the Swan Lake ballet is so haunting, and mystifying, and just magical in general. It perfectly captures the hopeless feeling of the story, and the despair and grief that results in its climax. Because, like any good classic story, a character MUST die.

I think my sentiments can be fully described in the first part of this video (even though I can't understand a word the guy is saying, except maybe for a few cognates "prima ballerina" and such).