Photography fascinates me. I take pictures of almost anything, the skyline, and the busy streets of Manhattan, clouds, the sunset, and also the transit system of New York City. I don’t really know why I like trains and buses so much, I just happen to, for some odd reason. Ever since college started, I’ve been focused a lot more on photography rather than the college workload itself. I know I procrastinate a lot and I spend a good amount of my time outside taking photos rather than studying for exams and doing homework. I know this will eventually lead to my doom but hopefully something miraculous will happen and I will change my non-studious ways. I remember back in high school, I would be extremely studious, and take care of homework and other school related things as soon as I could.  But over the summer, I think I lost my touch. I’ve starting becoming a slacker; something that I thought could not be possible. Even now, in October, I still feel that I have my summer mentality. My sleep schedule now is the same as in June, which somewhat surprises me.  Hopefully I will be able to readjust my mentality by the end of the semester. Can’t give up hope, not just yet anyways.

It’s essential that one always tries to lead something in life. Leading is an important experience that changes who you are entirely and your mindset. I was a leader once, and it was an experience that I will never forget. Back in high school, I was voted to be the captain of my varsity basketball team. At first, I was hesitant in taking such a big position, but I realized that I would learn a lot from leading the team, so I took it. Throughout the season, I was to run drills, encourage my teammates, and to be a role model. During games, I wasn’t the one with the most points, but I was the one with his head held up high even in the worst situations. Being a leader for my team really helped me grow as a person. For once, I felt like my voice was being heard. My teammates listened to me and treated me with respect that in return I gave them. I felt I was a great leader, but in the end, no matter, I was still apart of the team.

I can’t draw glasses, so here I am without glasses.
Trying new watercolor technique.
Body Base: BBBases @ DeviantArt
Background: Xishan1 @ DeviantArt

I call myself an artist even though I hardly ever produce a work out of my own free will. I’ve done dozens of paintings and stuff for school. If I do finish a piece, there’s a purpose why I did it. In middle school, I probably painted close to fifty paintings over the course of three years. In high school, I was in Media Communications doing both traditional art and digital art. Don’t get me wrong, I really like making art. I really do, but I have tons of ideas and never enough time to actually bring it into actuality. I have a huge folder on my desktop filled with unfinished art pieces. Line art I haven’t colored in, a pair of blue eyes without the rest of the face, more uncolored line art, templates I wanted to complete, unfinished animation clips—all just gathering dust or the digital equivalent on my desktop. I haven’t touched it in months. On the physical, tangible level, I haven’t produced anything noteworthy either. The last thing I made were headpieces and props for a dance back in high school.

I tried changing my lazy artist habits this summer. I started creating flash animations with my brother. He would create a couple minutes to a story and pass it onto me to continue. The project is still in progress but even then, I was lazy. While my brother would have his part done within a day, it took me a couple of days to get mine done. My excuse was my volunteer work was tiring. It’s a pretty pathetic excuse. I mean, all I do is watch over children. During the project, I decided to do something a bit more ambitious. I decided I was going to create a transformation sequence. I used one of Sailor Moon’s transformation sequences as my base model. On and off, it took me almost a month to draw all 324 frames. I think that’s probably my proudest achievement. The other works I’m particularly proud of are the butterfly wings for my Rin’s MAGNET costume and the Avatar: The Last Airbender headpieces.

I haven’t been making art as I wanted to. I wanted to try to make jewelry, costumes and even large-scale props. But, I’m so lazy. Oh the woes of an artist!

One of the things I’ve always struggled with, is studying and doing well in school. I remember being in high school and thinking I would be in the city in less than one year and life would be so different. I would be able to party whenever I wanted , have people over, not be bothered to eat my vegetables or eat breakfast, these were actually my major concerns at the time which I suppose is rather sad. This really was a major reflection of how I had grown up. I really didn’t want anything to do with education or being a scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I was brought up surrounded by affluent trust fund babies who, in my opinion really just needed a good laugh. They were very uptight. However after my first month and a half at Baruch I can honestly say that the topics we discussed in my high school classes were very similar. I guess I am just more open to learning now. The two years I took off after high school were an incredible helpful catalyst in starting my evolution as a credible writer. I strongly believe in self exploration and separation from ones upbringing. Because now I am very excited about school; a feeling I never throught I would have.

I don’t really have great accomplishments so far in my life. I mean, come on, I’m only a college freshman. But thinking back now, I was amazed that I actually survived through the whole process of college applications. I started preparing for college essays back in August before the start of senior year. I know I’m very early. I don’t know why, I just have that OCD to get an early start on everything. Writing a two-page essay would literally take me a week to complete because I take time planning out the essays. During the end of September, I was done with all the essays. However, I felt insure. So, I asked several of my teachers to look over my essays. Of course, they gave me different feedbacks. So, I rewrote my essays, which took another month. I remember the first semester of senior year was not fun at all due to the college apps. I was super overwhelmed by those annoying applications, AP homework, and clubs. I literally sleep at 1 am every day. And surprisingly, unlike other people who lost weight during this painful process, I gained weight because I eat more when I’m stressed. After I submitted my applications, I felt greatly relieved. Around April and May, I received all my college acceptance letters. At first I was struggling between Binghamton University and Baruch College. After I visited Binghamton, I saw its desertedness. My parents refused the idea of me going to Binghamton right after they visited. Then I finally decided to go to Baruch. Many of my classmates give me plain looks and commented that I deserve a better college when they found out that I’m going to Baruch. I just give them a fake smile and inside my heart, I was holding up my middle finger at them, like none of your business. Anyway, during the middle, actually the beginning of senior year, I was diagnosed with this horrible disease – senioritis. I slack off so much towards the end. I got a 1 on AP Calculus exam. A 1 out of 5!!! Many people don’t believe it and were like “You’re Xiu! How is that possible?” Anyway, college applications drive people crazy and I’m proud of myself that I actually made it!

http://www.mixpod.com/playlist/89496825

I like the pieces in my playlist and I believe that they describe me very well especially the fact that none of them have any lyrics because I’m very quiet most of the time. Despite not having any lyrics, I believe that they are very powerful and are very meaningful in how the unspoken words can invoke so many emotions. I think these pieces also show my indecisive personality as if I was lost for words by the different moods that these pieces evoke.

1. I’ve gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas

2. Vater Unser by E Nomine

3. Mitternacht by E Nomine

4.My Own Little World by Celldweller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCLL60CsSQ0&list=PLBB69E26A6A3DB051&index=55&feature=plpp_video
5. Billionaire by Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars

6. Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA&list=PLBB69E26A6A3DB051&index=107&feature=plpp_video
7.Boombox by The Lonely Island ft. Julian Casablancas

8. Руки Вверх – 18 мне уже (Russian Song; means i am already 18)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbAh3jY6qzw&list=PLBB69E26A6A3DB051&index=186&feature=plpp_video&noredirect=1
9.The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

10. Respect My Conglomerate by Busta Rhymes ft. Lil Wayne, and Jada

Th first song describes is taken at face value. When i hang out with friends or plan to hang out with them, i get a good feeling.
The second and third are a little more about the video than the song. They describe me as being sort of nocturnal and obviously show my interest in rock/techno music.
The fourth and fifth Song describe how i always have my own way of looking at the world and how it usually involves me fantasizing about riches. It seems superficial, but if you knew me well, you would swear that I’m in my own world half the time.
The sixth and eighth song describe my relationship status. I haven’t really met someone that i truly like yet and I’m 18 already. I feel like I’m falling behind a bit.
The seventh and tenth song are pretty superficial, because they both have to do with music. the seventh shows that i consider music to be quite powerful and the tenth just shows some of my music tastes. plus, there wasn’t any rap in the playlist, so i wanted to add it.
the ninth song describes me in a nutshell, almost. I am quite lazy and often have days like the song describes. However, i do work when necessary, so I’m not all bad.

Johns Playlist

So I picked a couple songs and put them into a playlist. They are mainly from the same artists but I love em so why not right? I have this huge belief that any piece of writing or music sounds 3x better when spoken or sung by someone with a British accent. That’s probably why the kooks are one of my favorites. They have a way of putting most feelings into a single song that is really nice on the ears.

Ok, so enough ranting. Who am I? Well, I’d like to think that I am a cultivation of all the things that have happened to me. I’ve met so many new people and discovered a great deal of how life really is. Both how cruel it can be and how you can make it work. I’ve been through my fair amount of problems, between all of my family issues and problems that have arisen because of them, but I feel like all the bad things that have happened to me were for my benefit. Even the things that really hurt or damaged me were the best to learn from. I have problems trusting people so thats why your not getting much details but I feel like a huge part of who I am are the mistakes I’ve made.

I probably don’t put out this vibe but I like to think of myself as a very relaxed person. I can always accept people for their beliefs and ideas even though they might contradict mine. Of course I have a problem whenever someone tries to convince me that my way is wrong and that theirs is right. I’m easy to meet and easy to befriend but have trouble with allowing people to fully know me. It ‘s easier that way. I was once asked to finish the following sentence “If you really knew me….” My answer was pretty cynical and childish “you’d rethink wanting to know me.” I feel like I have a new answer “If you really knew me then you know a lot more than I do” I know that I have much more to discover about myself. Me and my personality have been good friends for a while but I still have a lot that I have yet to discover about him. So hi I’m John Thompson, 17 year old male, thats about all there is to me. At least that’s all I know. 😛

Here I’ve put together ten songs, some of which I’ve always loved and have accompanied me my entire childhood (like Hotel California, the quintessential road trip song to me), or some new ones that remind me of particular people (like Home or M79), or some that I can relate to because they remind me of some life-changing experiences and periods I’ve had in my life (like Novacane or Violet Hill). In the end though, my music taste is very varied, and I can usually find something to enjoy, relate to, or at least understand and appreciate in almost any sort of music or subject or style. One thing I’ve noticed about myself in terms of music is that for me songs very often easily attach to certain people, places, or experiences, and I have a very associative memory and reaction to music. Sometimes, songs that I taste-wise should really have nothing against I can’t stand the sound of because of some unpleasant memory that I’ve associated it with, and sometimes songs that are really nothing special stick in my mind because they came along in a package with something really pleasant.

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