Trust is a Virtue

I've really just been super enthusiastic about school that I have to share.

Today's topic for my International Tourism class was goods, services, and experiences. My professor showed us this video and I'm going to show it to you because not only is it a good business approach, but it gave me the warm and fuzzies. I'm a sucker for these things.

For my sociology class we did an activity where we got into pairs and interviewed each other. I really enjoyed interviewing my partner and a few of the questions I answered made me learn a thing or two about myself.

When I was asked to name a person I admired and what virtues they possessed, I named my grandmother because she is very persevering. She practically had to raise her 9 siblings when she was only 19 years old and has persevered to survive her whole life. I admire that and I wish I was more like her in that way.

I was also asked to name one of my strong virtues and one of my weak ones. I guess this is somewhat something I've had in my mind since I started my Resolution Tree. I chose love as my strong virtue because I do pretty much everything I do with all my heart. I do things because I love my family, my friends, myself and I have love for whatever it is I do.

For my weak virtue, I said I lack compassion. This caused my partner and me to laugh since it is quite odd that I am loving but not compassionate. I kinda just contradicted myself, but there is an explanation. For my friends and family, I have nothing but love for them and will do just about anything, but unfortunately, when it comes to strangers I, more often than not, forget to see past the surface. Sometimes, I just don't try hard enough to see where they are coming from, since they are not close to me.

We did another exercise dealing with trust today. With our partner's guidance, we had to walk around the building blindfolded! I was amazed that I actually did it because I hate not being able to see. It's a control issue I have. My partner did such a good job guiding me, but I was still so terrified. I took these teeny little steps while following my partner's voice. I felt so vulnerable, but by the end of the exercise, I did start to trust my partner. My senses also hightened to the point that I could smell the salt in the air coming from the ocean.

I must have been one of the exceptionally nervous cases because my professor, who was observing the whole thing, had to ask, "Have you been in many bad relationships?"

Oh, you have no idea, sir. :)

Birthdays :)

When you come from a big family, there are always going to be birthday greetings to be made! These are the two most recent pieces for my 365 Days of Art:

DAY 26: January 26, 2010

TITLE: Happy Birthday Boom!!

MEDIUM: Computerized vector graphic

This one is for my nephew Marvin, who we endearingly call Boom. We always have funny nicknames for our family members. He turned 20 yesterday.

DAY 27: January 27, 2010

TITLE: Happy Birthday Tita Bambi!

MEDIUM: Pens

This one is for my aunt, Bambi. She gets the nickname from the word "Bambina" which is the Italian word for "baby girl". I was hesitant to do something Bambi-related because she's probably gotten that all her life, but I caved because I wanted to draw Bambi. :P

Paisley fever and the Social Work Framework

DAY 25: January 25, 2010

TITLE: Notes

MEDIUM: Pens and Hi-Lighter

Hi, I'm Nella, and I am a chronic doodler. All my life, it's always worked out for me in regards to my academics. I guess it helps with my visual learning approach and it made studying more aesthetically pleasing. :)

Now, I sat down and thought about whether I should include this in my 365 or do something else for the day, because I thought "I didn't really put too much effort into this". At the same time, I thought, "I am somewhat expressing a bit of my personality, I'm sharing a part of my day that I thought was really interesting, and I'm making my world a little prettier!"

Then it made me think that my doodling shows that I'm actually happy right now. I feel a little like my old self again.

I think the reason why I wanted to share this with people was I found this lecture for my sociology class really appealing because it highlights the components of our social world today, and helps us all understand how things work. It's a very interesting world we live in! :)

365: Day 23 & 24

DAY 23: January 23, 2010
TITLE: Fever!
Medium: Computerized Graphic

Still sick!

DAY 24: January 24, 2010
TITLE: Paisley Nails
MEDIUM: Nail polish

I thought I'd take use this lazy Sunday to do something different with my nails. Then, I got to doing the nails on my right hand and realized I might have been a little too ambitious. I've been able to do flowers, dots, stripes, and other things using my left hand, but not paisley. I'm going to work on this!! :)

[edit] I attempted to do the nails on my right hand and I succeeded! :P

Sick Day

DAY 21: January 21, 2010

TITLE: Black Balloon

Medium: Marker

Inspired by the song "Black Balloon" by the Goo Goo Dolls. ♥

DAY 22: January 22, 2010

TITLE: BOO!

Medium: Pens

"BOO!" to being sick and my Friday night being ruined! :(

Please excuse the crappy quality of the photos. Since I am feeling a bit under the weather, I wasn't feeling up for walking to the living room to scan these drawings. Instead, I took pictures with my phone camera.

I was thinking today that I am not doing such a good job keeping up with my resolutions. For instance, I didn't get to do all the things I set myself out to do before school started. I haven't noticed an improvement in my independence, or my patience level and I haven't been doing a good job with my temper. I guess the important thing is I am aware of it and I'll work on fixing it. I might also be a little to hard on myself because I do notice improvements in other areas of my list, like my sudden burst of social consciousness and my slightly improved health habits.

Well, tomorrow is a new day and another opportunity to practice my new ideas. And I hope I feel better. :P Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Hello, Spring 2010!

Yesterday was the first day of this semester. It looks like it is going to be a good semester. As I stated in one of my earlier blogs, I am going to make this year a good year, and not look to outside forces to make my year a good one, however, it sure helps when things are going well. :)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to cross off everything on my to-do list before the semester started. I attended the EIS meetings, went to the beach, cleaned my room, and did the photo project for my grandmother, but due to the insane rain lately, I didn't get to go to any more beaches to do a clean-up, and I was only able to get through half of the second book I planned on finishing, and I was only able to cook two out of three dishes. The two dishes turned out awesome. The first being the cookies, and the second being my Japanese-style chicken cutlet curry. It was sooooo good!

I really like my classes this semester. I am taking international tourism which is looking to be very interesting. What I like the most about this class is I won't need to buy a book! :P I am also taking a Sociology course called "Social Movements and Change" with one of my most favorite professors in the whole campus. This year, we will be doing a project where we will do a visual presentation on how we see Guam. I am so excited for this project! I have so many ideas of what I could possibly do. I will definitely be blogging about this project.

I'm also taking a class in Astronomy. My professor seems very upbeat and seems to have her own unique rhythm. I love it. Her philosophy is, "when you learn about the universe, you learn about yourself." While in class, I was doodling:

DAY 20: January 20, 2010

TITLE: Everything Else

Medium: Pens and highlighters

I know, I know. First day of class and I'm doodling already? That's just what I do. I learned a lot today, considering it's the first day of class. My professor said that while in our other classes, we learn about what is on the earth's surface, this is the only class on campus where we will learn about everything else! :)

My fourth class this semester is Art Gallery Management, where we will learn everything about putting up exhibits from hanging up paintings, matting and framing, and promoting art shows. I'm stoked. I also found out that we can mat our own paintings. I have a couple of pieces that are in absolute need of matting!

Here's to an awesome semester! :)

Voices of Concerned Citizens

The following 365 Days of Art pieces are reactions to the military build-up. I just want to take this moment to say that I am not anti-military or anti-American. I am just a concerned citizen who is worried about what the military build-up will bring to the island, and who is hoping that these concerns are addressed properly in the future actions taken.

DAY 18: January 18, 2010

TITLE: WTF!

Medium: Markers

This is another drawing of a butterflyfish in his coral home. He is distressed because they are about to wreck his home to be able to accomodate a nuclear aircraft carrier.This species of butterflyflish is one of the species that will sufffer fatalities due to the planned dredging in Apra Harbor.

DAY 19: January 19, 2010

TITLE: Legend Retold

Medium: Computerized Graphic

Drea asked me to do a computerized graphic of Guam with out the military bases, including a large piece of the northern coast where AAFB is, to be used for an entry on her blog, Waiting for Wonderland.

She wrote:

As a child growing up on Guam, I heard many legends. Some I learned at school and some my parents told me. One legend that has been on my mind this past month, is the legend of thebig fish that ate Guam. You remember the legend, don't you? It explains why Guam is so narrow in the middle. As I was told, many many years ago a very large fish was eating away at our island. Many strong men tried to stop the fish, but none succeeded. At this time, the young women of Guam had beautiful long hair. One day the women decided to weave their hair in to a net. With the net made from their hair the women caught the big fish and saved the land and people from the monstrous fish.

The reason this legend has been on my mind, is because I've been looking at many maps of Guam recently. Yes, our island is narrow in the middle, but I've also noticed that there are many parts of our island that is innaccessible to the people of Guam. It's as if the big fish has returned. This big fish is feasting on the graves of our ancestors and land that is lush and beautiful. Sometimes this big fish spits out the the land, returning it to us, but by that time much of the land is contaminated.

What will our island look like 4 years from now? How much of it will be contaminated by the big fish? Where will we be 20 years from now? Will we be telling our grandchildren the story of the fish that annhilated our island? We must gather together, like the women in the original legend, to defend our home, before there is nothing left to defend."

The map is from 1991.