i went with sewon and kristy to the reprint mint, the poster store on dwight and telegraph. i love going into poster shops... looking at all the different artwork, and respectfully wishing that i also possessed the talent to portray my emotions through a vivid splash of colors or contorted shapes. it also makes me wish that i studied art more... to know about certain painters to better understand where they were coming from when they painted a particular painting and to learn to appreciate the painting for how it truly deserves to be appreciated. anyways, i bought a painting called "after the storm" by pierre doutreleau. i absolutely love it. the part that struck me is the sheer simplicity of the painting itself. it's a large painting with very few details and the majority of the painting is devoted to the sky. utter calmness... just as it always is after a storm subsides. it amazes me that someone can possibly capture such a feeling and transfer that feeling into a piece of art. i remember times when the rain would be crazy and it'd be pouring and pouring with the wind blowing and howling. and then, the morning after... everything is incredibly quiet, showing no traces of the previous night. i love waking up to those mornings... where it's still gray and the air is still damp and you hear the occasional drip drip from leaves and branches. it is so calming and soothing.

everyone always tells me how i revel in life's simplicities... "simple mind, simple pleasures." i can't help it though if i do happen to be struck by such things. i look at this world today, and i see how everything has become so detailed and complicated and my head hurts. maybe i lack in sufficient brain cells to comprehend such difficult matters, but i don't really mind. like my poster, for example. the fact that it is so simple is what appeals to me the most. i look at my life and sometimes hate how complicated it's become... so many mixed emotions and uncertainties. in a way, my life's like a storm right now, rocky and tempestuous, and i desperately want the storm abated so that the peace and calm can come. not that i'm saying that i hate my life so that the only way i can achieve peace is if i was dead; it's more this particular stage of my life that's stormy right now. * i just got reminded of when roy told me that he wished i died tomorrow so that i could go to heaven faster than him. =[ * in my english section earlier today, we went around talking about why we enrolled in the class [its a children's literature class] and then we discussed some of the books we read as a child. it was so interesting hearing everyone's different perspectives of what they were exposed to as a child. for me, i was saying how it amazes me that within two decades, the selection of books readily available to children has drastically changed. when i was growing up, i was hardly ever exposed to multi-cultural literature and it almost intimidates me how society has changed so that more of these controversial and multi-cultural issues are raised. not that im close-minded and don't want my children to be exposed to such literature, but it makes me really think about how time brings about so many changes. and thinking back to children's literature, i am again struck by its simple messages and honest, direct words. the messages generally touch upon so many fundamental tenets essential to someone's life and it fascinates me to realize how much literature has had an impact on my own life. i used the example of the giving tree, by shel silverstein, as a book that i remember when i was younger. the simple dialogue between the tree and the boy and the simple message of being unselfish appeals to me in a way that makes me wish i was a child again.

i say i like things simple and yet i've rambled on for quite a bit. =/ haha. i am such a paradox.
anyways~ come over and look at my poster. =]