Back home in LA. I'm trying really really hard to focus on work. My studio final is THIS COMING FRIDAY OMG. And my M&M and Structures finals are on the following Tuesday. So December 4th, and 8th....UGH! I'm trying to make a 3D model of my culinary art school, and I'm failing incredibly badly at the moment...OH WELL.
Here are some random photos from the trip:
A random painting in the financial district...I think it was the financial district..
<3 aww I saw how they made these...so cute~
This one was my favorite. I am obsessed with crocodiles..
My sister and I <3
A very tall tree & my sister/mom/moi
Outside of the Sheraton, they had seating areas to keep us toasty and warm
I can't get over this wall. I wish my room's walls were like this..
I'm sitting in the Sheraton lobby drinking some tea, trying to warm up my body. It's so cold...my family and I came back to the hotel an hour or so ago, from eating and walking around. Our hotel is right in Fisherman's Wharf, so everything is close by, but it's so freaking cold, that we were running around, trying to keep warm! Today is my mom's birthday! So we tried to do things she wanted to do, but she wanted to do things we wanted to do, so we kept going at it in a circle. It was fun though~
Before we ate, we went to a jewelry store that sells pearls~ My sister, mom, and I all bought a pearl~ My mom made hers into a ring, and my sister and I turned ours into necklaces. Very expensive...but something I will treasure~
Here are some random photos I took with my phone. I would upload the ones in my camera, but I forgot it in the car...yay me...
Entering San Francisco~ Bay Bridge! I have a fascination with bridges...I think they are cute.
Typical SF street..my dad loves driving here, while my mom hates to sit next to him while he drives here. I love San Francisco cause of all the unique houses...every building is different from the other...it's so beautiful~
Inside a supermarket.
I have no idea what this was, but it reminds me of a place in Zelda.....I loved it...it was breathtakingly beautiful..this photo is soooo crapy.
The oysters that we picked with our pearls insidea~ Mine is the bottom left one~ Our hotel is marine themed...I really like the waves on the walls~~
OK~ I'm gonna try to get some homework done here~~ BYE BYE FOR NOW~
This is my desk...you can't see my comp, but this is where I do most of my work~ At the moment, my ENTIRE room is a horrible mess with everything from clothes to basswood and cutting mats and glue on the floor. I do my studio work in here too..but on the floor...so it gets incredibly messy. I'm using studio as an excuse for my mess...but I am a messy person to begin with. Bad lolo.
My newest "cute thing". I bought him during the summer I believe...he sits next to my glow in the dark Duck, and that other weird looking thing that I named "EHHHH".
My Hello Kitty that sits in my nailpolish collection~ I got her as a present from my sister~
I think this is my newest friend...I got this souvenier from my friend who went to study abroad in Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, and Italy during the summer~
When school is over, I'm gonna paint my room a more neutral color and start organizing, cause I go crazy with all the clutter sometimes. When I'm done, I'll show you~ Right now I'm too shy to show my floor haha~
Before I begin, I want to say that I am extremely happy that I was born and raised in Sweden, and I am very appreciative of living in California. These two places have allowed me to learn and meet so many people, that I am very greatful for.
When we would go on long trips in Sweden, my dad would always play his tapes. One of his favorite artists was a man named Arthur Meschian. His songs are poems written to wake people up. They are about the meaning of life, about happiness and sadness, pain, and pride. He began in the 60's and during the 80's he was censored by the Soviet Union. Armenia was in control by the USSR at this time. So he moved to the United States and began working as an architect while he wrote songs about Armenia. He moved back to Armenia a few years ago where he works. He was retired from music. On Sunday, November 22, he came to Pasadena, California, and performed. It felt very unreal to me...a dream really. Who would have thought, that I, born in Sweden, listening to his songs, would one day, in California get to see him play. I have only seen my dad cry three times in my life, and one of the times was on Sunday. Meschian is concidered an Armenian hero, someone who even when his life was threatened, continued to send his message out. I am so proud of him. I am so proud that we have him. It is important to keep people like this close to your heart. It means a lot to me, since I was born in a country with no Armenians. His songs made me feel like I belonged somewhere as well.
My parents are both from Iran, though we are Armenian. Hundreds of years ago, the Persian king saw that Armenians had a rich culture and were flourishing with their builders and bankers, etc. So he forced a bunch of them to move to Iran, to help flourish his country. My parents' ancestors are the ones who were forced to move, so that is the reason why my parents were born in Iran. The day after they got married, they moved to Sweden to study.
While they were studying, they over came a lot of different things. First they had to learn a new language, and let me tell you, Swedish is nothing like Armenian or Persian. They then entered medical school shortly afterwards and went to school while working during the summers. They couldn't recieve any help from their parents, because the Iranian government was refusing to allow them to send money. So my parents were basically on their own, in an unfamiliar land. It is very scary, and only now, when I am older do I understand. It was easy for me, I was born into the culture. They struggled, however, and worst of all, they experienced a lot of hate. Racism was very strong. My parents would go to a super market, and people would yell at them "Go back to your own country." My parents used to work in the same clinic as dentists, but when I was seven, they split up and worked in different places. My sister and I had no clue, but a few years ago, my mom told me, that they had a Persian friend as a doctor, who had been killed by a man, who went around the country and killed immigrants who where doctors. They were afraid that if they worked in the same place, my sister and I would have no parents. So they split up, so in case the guy got one of them, the other would be able to be with us.
I grew up in a small town called Hallsberg. In school, it was very obvious that I was different. I didn't see it as a bad thing, but sometimes, I wished I had blonde hair, sometimes I wished my skin wasn't as dark. Sometimes I wished my name wasn't 'Lorik' cause it sounds so ugly the way they pronounced it. I knew I didn't fit in with the other girls. But thanks to my parents, who always spoke Armenian in the house, who cooked Armenian food for us, who taught us Armenian history, and who taught us to love ourselves, I was very proud of what I was, despite the fact that I did not fit in. And my lovely classmates always supported me. Always. There was once a guy who made fun of me, but years later apologized. That meant the world to me. When it was decided that we were gonna move to California, my friends threw me a small party in and they gave me small presents. One of the presents was a drawing of the Armenian flag. When I showed it to my mom, she cried and said that I am was lucky to have such good friends who understood how important my homeland and culture was to me.
I have never lived in Armenia. Neither have my parents or their parents. In 1915, during the beginning of WWI, 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks. Ever since then, we have been scattered around the world. But we all cherish Armenia in our hearts. It is important no matter where you live, to always cherish and remember your culture. It defines you. I am a Swedish (and American) citizen, but when you look at me, I don't have blonde and blue eyes. It is obvious that I am not a Swede really. I am an Armenian, born in Sweden, living in the United States. It sounds so funny to me sometimes, but I like it. I am a mix of different cultures and I appreciate all of them, because they define me.
There is was a Swedish singer/songwriter that my dad and I love. His name was Björn Afzelius. He sang about many of the same topics that Meschian does. They both remind me of eachother. I'm so happy that Sweden had a great singer and human being like him, and this is one of the many reasons I am happy that I was born there...I got to grow up with his music as well.
This is my favorite Meschian song. The name is 'Tapanagir', which translates into "Epitaph"
"If we lose the light of art, the darkness will drive us crazy..." - Arthur Meschian
I'm sorry if there are a lot of mistakes in the writing. I just sat down and wrote without looking back~ Thank you
