Happy Birthday to @Beckywilder
To my bff
Maybe today is an appropriate day to repost this post from last year, which was called When We Were Young.
I have to quote this poem, b/c I don’t think I’d be able to write such a cheesy one. haha. Though the ticklish part is not quite true. Yeah, I like you because you know that I’d be truly mad at you if you tickle me.
I like you and I know why
I like you because you are a good person to like
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special
And you remember it a long, long time
You say, remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember
When I think something is important you think it’s important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too
Hah-hah!
I like you because you know where I’m ticklish
And you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too
You know how to be silly – that’s why I like you
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting to jump
Hooray!
I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don’t always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can’t stand the others being so goggly and gaggle every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time
I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It’s awful when the other person isn’t
They are so nice and oooh you could just about punch them on the nose
I can’t remember when I didn’t like you
It must have been lonesome then
Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again
And that’s how it would happen every time
More Than Life
Whitley’s More Than Life
Belief in the breeze,
The smoky morning haze.
The sun on her face,
and the touch of lovers’ hands.
The pain that comes today,
Is here, then goes away.
And we are homeward bound,
And I,
I want this more than life,
I want this more than life,
I want this more than life.
To touch something real,
Will help your wounds heal,
Like the sun on your face,
The dreams of starry nights.
And we are homeward bound,
And I,
I want this more than life,
I want this more than life,
I want this more than life…
I want this more than life.
Birds
I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.
“You can never stop loving the person you used to love.”
I Graduated.
I graduated.
Let me say it again, I graduated. Four years ago, I swam all the way across pacific ocean to the country famous of Status of Liberty for college; and I finally did it all, with supports from my dearest family and sweetest friends
.
This four years had been more than amazing. Challenging indeed. Adventurous indeed. Invaluable indeed.
My family (parents, brother and my aunt) flew from Shanghai to New York and then Charlotte, drove to Columbia for my graduation. Right now when I recall the graduation day, I see my dad’s face again, so proud and content. I would never be able to make it without my family’s support. They have never asked me why I want to stay in the U.S. even though I know they want me back. They only tell me, “Do what you believe is right.” And that is what I always do.
Time goes fast. It has been two weeks since I graduated. My family and I went to Miami for a week and then flew back to New York. It was great finally showing them where I have mostly been in the four years. I tried my best to make they visit almost perfect. My graduation present from my parents was a brand new large suitcase. They do know what I need for my journey to be carried on.
Until the momentI waved and said bye to my family at Newark last Sunday, I realized I reallygraduated and I am all onmy own in this metropolitan city – New York. It really feels like a dreambeing in the BigApple.Even though I’ve been to the city a few of times before, but this time is different.I actually felt more scared than I first landed in the foreign country four years ago when I was not able to speak the language very well. However, unlike four years ago when I knew I’d be at a university, this time I have no plan, no certain path…
People like to ask plans after graduation, whether I’m going back to China, where I will be, what Iwillbe doing, blah blah blah… I know theydonot really care the answers. So I politely smile to them andsay, “I am moving to New York.”"For what?” “Living.” “Yeah? You got a job there?” “Not yet.” I gottado so. I only live once. New York is my dream,a Wall Street kind of job is another dream. Life can be perfect when they come truetogether; while life could still be perfect even if they might come separately.
It annoyed me so much that I do not have a job when I came here. But weird enough, I actually enjoy itnow.After three homeless days, I am, now, sitting in my new but short-term apartment in Jersey City close to Newport by Hudson River and enjoying some wine and a night view of Manhattan. I would never be tired of this moment; and I like that my dream of living in New York comes true first, andnowI am working on another dream. This dream-driven show neverends…
Good Night. Manhattan.
热爱生命
我不去想是否能够成功
既然选择了远方
便只顾风雨兼程我不去想能否赢得爱情
既然钟情于玫瑰
就勇敢地吐露真诚我不去想身后会不会袭来寒风冷雨
既然目标是地平线
留给世界的只能是背影我不去想未来是平坦还是泥泞
只要热爱生命
一切，都在意料之中— 汪国真
汪国真的这首热爱生命的诗，算是陪我走过了初中和高中。大抵是因为我向来热爱生命，心怀梦想，不然每次读他的诗，都那么感动。昨晚突然想到这句 “既然选择了远方，便只顾风雨兼程。”感到很是欣慰。
Never, never, never give up.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to us
Juliana Jordan, aka Roomcat J, aka my American birthday twin, has moved to Russia since last September. During the years I have lived in South Carolina, she has been… (god, I can’t even find a word)… more than just a great friend, even when she is abroad.
What is a chance to meet your birthday twin across an ocean? Well, it happened to me. Luckily.
Anyways, since it is April 4 in Russia already. I am posting this to wish Juliana a happy birthday. And excuse me being a worst BFF who never post those pictures that were from a year ago.
twenty-something
Finally, I signed up for skydiving. Do what? oh, I mean it is #NBD, but still kind of something for me. This has been coming in two years.
Every year since two years ago the first thing I could think of, when April is coming close, is that I want to jump off a plane for my birthday. (side story: my roomie Anna got the tattoo that she wanted for years on her birthday last Wednesday. We just figured that we gotta do something #nbd for our own birthdays.)
It is a sense of mine that I could only feel alive like a human on the planet, either when I am close to wildlife, or when I do somethings. And there has always been an adventurous root in my body, yet I have not done many cool things. I used to wish I had a cooler childhood. But honestly twenty-something is also a time when you can make some differences and do some adventures. and may this be the first of many jumps to come.
“Live on the edge” has always been a motto of mine.
I will post pictures after I complete my jumping tomorrow.
Lauren, Katrina, Caroline and I (Flying Gamecocks) drove up to Chester, South Carolina last Sunday, April 1st 2012.
FYI: The first jump was amazing! And I do believe that I will do it again. The moment when I jumped out of the plane, I was thrilled! I was literally and finally flying.
Rachael was my tandem instructor.
Erik Johansson
Erik Johansson is a professional photographer and retoucher from Sweden based in Berlin, Germany. He works mostly with personal- and commissioned projects. Photography is just a way for him to collect material to realize the ideas in his mind. Erik gets inspired by things around him in his daily life. Every new project is a new challenge and his goal is to realize them as realistic as possible.
End of February in Columbia, SC
Enjoy the sunny southern life while you can.
Your darkness is shining,
my darkness is shining,
have faith in ourselves,
Truth.
Yes I’m only loving, only trying to only love;
That’s what I’m trying to do is only loving…
