using only one sheet of paper

was the only rule
for the entries for this art contest at the Hirshorn Modern Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.

(reload if the pictures don't show up at first)

I don't believe in bad weather

I believe in grabbing a jacket, in getting over yourself, and going to Venice Beach.


That is all.

Look I'll give you your space

just don't take it and run

gifts!

i almost forgot!

*brainmelt heaven
(that's where i'm watching The OC!)

and


so on one of my last posts a few of you expressed that i was basically going against everything i stand for by posting pictures of cigarettes on my side panel.


after being in denial about the whole thing,


i can't anymore.


so now "the ashtray" is not named so for a collection of cigarette portraiture but rather for the gray pigmenture of the collection of black and whites that i have collected over the years. i'm kind of excited about this because now i can share a lot of other good stuff i have with you that DOESN'T involve cigarettes, and that's always nice.

=)


Love,
Lo Ling


*a few things I should clarify:
-yes, all those asian language character are supposed to be there, this isn't an american website
-just type into the top search bar and search away
-enjoy!

"Welcome to the OC, b**ch"

in other words
(i had actually accidentally typed out "in order worths"... lol)

I need to stop being so judgmental towards shows encapsulating sex drugs and beautiful rich people.

This is coming from the girl who loves to watch The Hills and Gossip Girl.

Who am I. What am I doing. What am I saying. What the heck.



Well let me start here. Or there. Okay I need to stop... and go (SORRY!) OK here i go!

I don't like

HYPE.


And I think that may have been the reason I never got in to the hit tv show, "The OC". This post really is going to be about my first encounter ever with The OC (the tv show), which was only as of last night, which I know I know... is probably years after the OC time already. I'm so behind. But I'm not. I just take my OWN time. I really believe there is a difference.

But let me get back to what I was saying (I'm sorry that this post is so windy and maze-like, I'm sure this is reflective of the internal state that I am in. And we will never go there here because that only goes in my personal diary. The depths of me to which no one will ever know. Why am I still talking like this?)

What I was saying was that yes, this post will be about The OC, but let me just say a few words about hype.

I've noticed a pattern in my life. It goes like this: something arrives, something is hyped, i dont understand the hype and i dont get into it, then the hype goes, the thing goes, and then i "discover" it (for myself) (on my own time) (with no outer influences such as... hype) and then i either really love it (sadly after the "trend" has passed, but not so sad to me because i like it without the trend or the hype anyway) or leave it. This was how it was with those "power bead" bracelets, and even with ... yeah! My signature CHUCK TAYLOR's CONVERSE ALL STARS. Maybe I'm just slow but the thing is, I like the "!" moment of discovering something on my own time and realizing that I really like it (or don't) for what it is. and not because it's being sold to me by billboards and magazines and your word of mouth. So anyway, back to The OC...

I'm not sure what it was that so randomly led me to search up online episodes of The O.C.
Whatever it was-- I'm so glad

ha ha ha


So I don't have too many things to say as of yet, except that after watching Gossip Girl Season 1, I see a strange parallel between these two shows. There's always an "upper class" girl in love with a boy from "another world". Does that sell more than the upper class boy in love with a girl from the barrio? I don't get it. But whatever.

So now I will summer-ize (hahaha "lame joke" ...ooh did you catch that? "lame joke" was at the end of the first episode), some before-and-afterthoughts after watching the first couple episodes of... The O.C. ...

before:
mischa barton is pretty
after:
DAMN MISCHA BARTON IS REALLY PRETTY!

before:
rachel bilson is cool whatevs
after:
okay summer roberts is really annoying.
will she start doing anything but drinking and making the girl-gasp noise?

before:
i remember all the girls loved "seth" i wonder who seth is
after:
ew that's seth?
i dont see why he was in everyone's binder sleeve thingamabob in high school. but his lines are humorous.

before:
this ryan character (no opinion could be formed "before" because there wasn't enough... haha.. "hype" around him-- i'd barely even hear about him from my "omg did you watch the oc last night!???" friends)
after:
wow. ryan. must be THE coolest character ever. i definitely do NOT understand why there was little to no hype around RYAN. SETH??? what! whatever

and i really like sandy cohen's character he's cool


ok i need to finish episode three




and here's a limited time only present from me to you. me making a fool of myself muaha
Love Song

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

i love reading the newspaper

world news must be one of my biggest interests of all time. some things in some places are some of the most interesting i've ever heard of. today i've posted an article that was in today's issue of the L.A. Times. I found it all really interesting, and I might share more of my personal thoughts later-- as of now I've bolded all the lines/statements that really struck a chord with me. As always, feel free to share your opinions please!



COLUMN ONE

Democracy by royal decree in Bhutan

The tiny Himalayan kingdom moves, albeit reluctantly, toward people power under monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who prefers evolution rather than revolution.

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 21, 2008

THIMPHU, BHUTAN -- In this idyllic Himalayan country that measures progress by its "gross national happiness" index, the stoplight just didn't cut it.

Residents here in the capital complained that Bhutan's one and only automated traffic signal was too impersonal. It got taken down. Now, a white-gloved police officer gracefully directs motorists.

Map

A lone man in charge: That's what most Bhutanese want when it comes to how their entire country is run, not merely a single intersection. But their beloved king, the man in question, has other ideas.

On Monday, Bhutan is set to become the world's newest democracy, with the first general elections in the history of this isolated Buddhist kingdom. At the heart of this brave new world lies a paradox: It is people power by royal decree. The Bhutanese are choosing their leaders because, essentially, they were told to by their king.

He intends to bow out as an absolute ruler and turn Bhutan into a modern constitutional monarchy. But the changes afoot have produced deep ambivalence in a traditional, largely rural populace more inclined to see democracy as a Pandora's box apt to bring dissension and other nasty influences to their placid, cohesive society.

"I feel maybe we're too early for democracy," said Wangchuk Wangdi, 47, a tour operator who was dressed for work one morning in a colorful striped gho, the traditional knee-length robe worn by Bhutanese men. "Till now, we've been under five kings. All have been good."

Few people here seem particularly thrilled about the prospect of governing themselves, preferring to remain subjects under direct rule by the Golden Throne, which has guided the Land of the Thunder Dragon for the last 101 years. But spurred by devotion and duty to the king, they say they will do their best to fulfill his vision of a shiny new Bhutan.

"We are reluctant democrats," said Sonam Tobgay Dorji, a candidate for parliament. "It's been forced on us, and we have to embrace it."

In many ways, the carefully planned transition to democracy is the most daring leap into modernity for a country whose diplomatic and physical isolation had, in the eyes of most residents, been pretty splendid for much of its history.

Sandwiched between Asia's two giants, India and China, Bhutan has fiercely guarded its independence and held itself aloof from the rest of the world, establishing ties with only a handful of nations, which do not include the United States. Its population of fewer than 700,000 citizens lives in an area barely twice the size of Vermont. Most are devout practitioners of a form of Buddhism believed to have been introduced to Bhutan in the 8th century by a guru who arrived on the back of a flying tiger.

Television, including satellite channels, and the Internet were gingerly allowed in only in the last decade, and only after great debate. Even then, authorities banned MTV and a sports channel that broadcast professional wrestling because of their potentially deleterious effect on youth.

Protecting Bhutan's spectacular natural environment -- glacial lakes, fertile valleys and towering forests of blue pine, oak and cypress -- is one of the pillars of public policy here. So is preservation of its cultural heritage, which includes the elegant native dress, the Dzongkha language and, many say, the Buddhism-inspired social harmony that is now under threat from the evils of Western-style party politics.

"It frightens me," said Dorji Yangki, 18, as she hung out with friends in the main square in Thimphu. Like many youths here, she likes her fashions new and hip, such as bluejeans and sneakers -- but not her politics.

"Democracy is just starting right now," Yangki said. "We can see the candidates fighting, and it's just the beginning."

Newspapers have shuddered at the negative campaigning between the two new parties: the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, or DPT, and the People's Democratic Party, or PDP.

But even Bhutan's gloves-off politicking seems more akin to a sandbox squabble than the vicious mudslinging common in the West: A typical dispute centers on one party's use of yellow in its logo, which the other side indignantly points out is the king's color.

In reality, very little separates the two parties. Neither dares deviate from the blueprint for increasing "GNH" -- gross national happiness -- laid out by the king, based on sustainable development.

"Bhutanese politics is still without ideology," said the Harvard-educated Sonam Tobgay Dorji, a candidate for the People's Democratic Party. "So basically, what people are looking at is what candidates can deliver."

The politicians' promises are of the usual kind in the developing world: more roads, reliable electricity, better sanitation, safe drinking water.

But to an electorate afraid of change, both parties also preach stability. The DPT, whose slate of nominees boasts five former ministers in the royal government, promotes itself as the safest hands for an uncertain time, while the PDP projects a younger, more dynamic image, a party able to "walk the talk," as its slogan goes. The leader of the party that wins a majority of the 47 parliamentary seats will be Bhutan's first elected prime minister.

This may well be one of the most micro-managed elections on Earth, with officials eager to regulate almost every aspect of the process to ensure the smoothest, most harmonious outcome possible. They even held a mock election last year to prepare voters.

There are rules on fund-raising limits, the size of posters, where they can be displayed, what goodies can be handed out to voters, how the parties ought to treat each other (only "constructive criticism," please). Candidates must have a college degree, which drastically shrinks the available pool. Monks are ineligible to vote, in order to keep religious institutions and figures remain above politics.

The parties are also barred from campaigning on matters of "security" or "citizenship" -- code words for Bhutan's most intractable issue, its population of ethnic Nepalese. A crackdown on "illegal immigrants" by the king more than a decade ago resulted in tens of thousands of Nepali speakers fleeing the country.

Independent observers are monitoring participation in the election process by ethnic Nepalese who stayed behind.

No one knows with certainty why Bhutan's fourth "Dragon King," Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided a few years ago that the time had come to limit the monarchy and impose democracy. (The monarchy was established in 1907 after centuries of feuding between chieftains and religious leaders.) Turbulent experiments in democracy -- and dismal results -- in some other South Asian countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh were less than encouraging.

On his nationwide tour to explain his decision, some of his subjects wept and begged him to reconsider. Almost to a person, the Bhutanese credit the king's wisdom and ability for the impressive strides in literacy rates, life expectancy and other social indicators the nation has made since he inherited the "Raven Crown" as a teenager in 1972.

New hydroelectric projects, partly funded by energy-hungry India, which buys up all the power, are bringing in much-needed revenue to what remains a fairly poor country of mostly small farmers who plant rice, wheat and other crops. Annual per capita income is more than $1,400 -- high for the region but low by international standards.

Some speculate that the example of another Himalayan kingdom may have triggered the push for democratic reform. In April 2006, a violent popular revolt forced the king of Nepal to end absolute rule; that country now stands on the verge of abolishing the monarchy altogether.

In Bhutan, the royal palace has, in effect, opted for peaceful evolution now rather than possible revolution later. After setting the democratic process in motion, the fourth king abdicated in December 2006, handing the throne to his Oxford-educated son, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, then 26.

"We are blessed to do this peacefully, literally as a gift from the king. Everywhere else it's at the point of a gun," said Ugyen Tshering, a candidate for the DPT in north Thimphu.

For 10 days, Tshering hiked and rode horseback to visit the more remote parts of his constituency, pressing the flesh in three far-flung villages with about 300 voters, out of an overall roll of 4,888.

"Every ballot is going to count," he said one afternoon while out canvassing a hillside of whitewashed mud-and-wood homes just a few miles, as the tiger flies, from central Thimphu. Campaigning "wasn't something we were used to. It took a little time to get into the rhythm of it."

Now, putting aside the characteristic Bhutanese modesty that frowns on self-promotion, he waves down passing cars and motorcycles to introduce himself. He shakes hands. He sips tea in living rooms. At a silversmith's house, he gamely climbs a narrow staircase that is little more than a hollowed-out tree trunk.

Everyone who receives him is unfailingly polite. Some are bewildered. Few give any inkling as to what they think. There are no opinion polls.

"The Bhutanese people are consummate diplomats," said candidate Dorji, who is running in south Thimphu. "They listen to both sides, but none of us can get inside their minds."

Wangdi, the tour operator, has not been impressed with any of those who would be his new leaders. "People can yap and convince and talk," he said, "but when it comes to the realities, we don't know if they can handle it."

He hasn't made up his mind which party to support, but he plans to cast a vote Monday anyway.

It's what the king would want.

Email Picture

henry.chu@latimes.com

"the color of your jacket goes really well with the color of the wall"

and that's how it began

"Stam"

is the pseudonym i have likened to my good friend who i shall now owe the rest of my happy days to. thank you for telling me about this.

i have been known on more than one occasion to exclaim my great desire to be in a movie. i have these images in my head of old friends coming of age losing their grip on life only to realize through a panoramic moment the love and the simplicity that IS life. i see them climbing over to the better side of the hill and laughing, pushing, falling, smiling, jumping and then standing together to watch the sun go down.
i think i'm starting to realize that this isn't just the kind of scene in a movie that i would like to take a hand in creating, but rather, these are the moments in life that i would like to be living. i dont think i would need a story to my movie. i think i'd just want many clips of us sewn together in a gray tinted movie grain accented with nostalgia, a package of our moments of truth and youth for an eternity. i think i'd just want a music video.


that being said

the link, if you have not discovered by now, is the link to Jason Mraz's newest video, to his not so newest song, "I'm Yours."


I don't remember ever being more content with anything I have ever seen. I really don't. Not even "Napoleon Crossing the Alps". And you know how much I love "Napoleon Crossing the Alps". And as much as I wanted to watch this video a second time, I didn't, because-- well, I knew that I'd probably start crying at how much I liked it.

You know all those images that float around in my head of all the happy scenes in my "movie"... it was like I had seen them all come to life in this video. or at least the very precise idea behind them all. it really was just everything that i've ever wanted to see, and experience, and be, presented to me in this beautiful form for this beautiful song-- which already means a lot to me. (as i'm sure the song does to so many other people i mean c'mon who am i kidding LoL.)

Anyways. Goodbye, YouTube favorite-ed "Garden State" movie clips. I've found the real deal. And I have an idea. I hope that I'll be able to share it with you all very soon.

it is a good time

when the sun hangs neither high or low, but rather suspended--a little bit under that marginal area we like to call "the middle", straight ahead, warm like the yolk of an egg, soft and even, like it spilled over the peel of an orange-- and harmless, sublime like a slice of mango as it radiates in one hue, the shielded flame only glowing in orange not burning to blue, remaining tasteful, safe and warm like the yolk of an egg. the blue is bright around the sun in a light cerulean dream and this is the sky, streaked with clouds that run pink, creating stripes that hug each other like the stripes that hug a zebra's skin, fading in and out from pink to carnation, melon to mauve - clouds, pink, streaks, bright like a neon sign against this clear cerulean sky even in the light that is the sun. this is a good time. and i am awake in the orange incandescence that marks this moment in the afternoon-to-night, from the sun suspended in that middle, straight ahead, i know she's in your eyes as you drive. but she's not in mine. and in twists and turns and patterns of pillars and highways and byways and straight ahead the pink is there, the blue is there, the glow is there, my sphere held in an orange embrace like the peel that holds the slices, the slices of that orange globe fully encompassed. i like to see it, in and out, under the bridge, greeting us all again as it returns from its 2 second trip from behind the widest pillars that all hold up the other cars that too have somewhere to go, this sight to see. this time to feel. and then i am again straight ahead, i hope she isn't in your eyes anymore. and the trees and trees rise up in jet black silhouettes and i can see the pink of a cloud and the clear of the blue sky through every tiny space outlined in the black of a thousand branches creating the pattern of laced lines in a design known only to God, in a state of art and beauty known to me, and to those around me, looking out their window as they go, go, and go. a graphic artist's dream i think. an urban modernity i never knew to be drawn in this parallel and inspired by that which is holding me now. i know now and am glad. the slides of silhouettes continue to move with me as i move with the car, black trees like paper cutouts turning into black buildings all shapes and sizes, like a bouquet against the sky. buildings really are beautiful, the way they look right now. decorated by dots of light from within them, an electric lime, a laser lemon, an unmellow yellow. it is a good time and buildings are beautiful. which men designed this scene who placed that building there. who added the tall one by the short one, like a florist that put the daisy by the daffodil. it is so beautiful. i never knew but those buildings sure are beautiful tonight. i know now and am glad. i move forward, the black silhouette, the bouquet of buildings behind me, another bridge another pillar. cars pass beside this one. all orange in the glow. pink are the clouds that still run in streaks, and the sky is now a deeper blue. and it is a good time tonight.

The American Film Institute

came out with the list of 100 most memorable movies quotes of all time on their 100th anniversary, which to my recollection was about two years ago.

I just wanted to say,

"Don't turn your back on me Scar"

is in my opinion one of the best lines from a movie ever. and not just any movie, but an animated American CLASSIC. it wasn't on the list. That's okay. I still think it's an amazing line, nothing short of profound and poignant. Especially when spoken by James Earl Jones.


Anyway,



"Don't turn your back on me Scar"

-Mufasa