Doth move

Acres

Visible horizon

Right where it starts it ends

Oh when did we start the end?

Acres

Visible illusion

Oh where it starts it ends

Love like a sunset

___________________________________

Currently in Redding, CA. Flew to SF two weeks ago, literally right after youth camp (a whole other story, not a less amazing one, too) and I'm now at BSW, listening to amazing messages and taking guitar classes and writing, attempting to write, new songs. It's incredible.

I'm so blessed to be here, I almost can't believe it. Sometimes we forget what a privilege it is to travel and experience fresh things, because traveling the world is no longer a luxury but a commodity to most. But it's important to realize the infinite moment we're living in and appreciate the joy of just being... Present. It would be such a shame to be anything less than that.


More soon, on USA.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 12

'You've been to so many places, due to the nature of your job and throughout your childhood. Is there any place in particular you'd like to live in, and why?' 

'Honestly, it's wherever I feel God wants me to be, wherever I have purpose, you know? (laughs) So it's not necessarily about wanting to live in a country like say, the States, so I can have a big house there, because these things don't really matter much to me. Honestly, I don't mind living in a box in some third-world country as long as I have purpose and I have an impact.'

Alarice T. 26

Singer-songwriter, recording artist

You can find out more about Alarice & her music here.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 11

'Let's start with a brief description of yourself.' 

'I'm Sam. I like to buy useless things. Writer, sort of. Film enthusiast & critic... okay that sounds ridiculously pompous. Scratch that. I like movies. Sometimes have trouble distinguishing real life from, say, television or novels.' 

'If you could live in any other era, what era would that be and why?' 

'Perhaps the '50s. I feel as if I could have been good friends with the average Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg. Or maybe the '60s... Yeah, the '60s. I want to see Johnny Cash & The Beatles & The Sex Pistols. I want to go to Woodstock and, ah hem, accidentally get stoned because honest to goodness, I can't tell a bong from a pretty vase... (laughs). I think I would also find it hard to say no to cute hippies.' 

'(Laughs) So anyway, what do you think inspired you to start writing?' 

'I just couldn't help it.' 

'Explain.' 

'Well, first of all, I started doing it because apparently I was pretty good at it. Good grades in English compositions, prizes at writing competitions, all that jazz. But then I realised it just felt good... I could string words together and lay it out on a page and people would read it and feel... (long pause) changed. I find that the love of writing always stems from reading. Once you have that love for reading, words & poems & stories flow out of you uncontrollably, whether you want it to or not.'

Samantha T. 20

Communications major & fiction-writer

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 10

'Why do you like to travel?' 

'I have always been fascinated by the size of the world, the diversity of human race, their cultures, the terrains they live in and many, many other things. I won't say it's important for everyone to see the world. Everyone has different interests, but new sights definitely give more perspective.  

'What was your favourite place in the world that you have been to?' 

'I don't really have a favourite place. Everyone is different & I like these differences. My favourite place will be the next one that I am going to.'

Swee Cheng, 35

Marine biologist, photographer, avid traveller. 

The above picture is taken by Swee Cheng himself during a recent trip to NYC. You can see more of his beautiful photographs of places across the globe here.

Woah, my love.

'I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets needed tails.'

Looking For Alaska

John Green

I visited an old friend today. This book by Mr. Green is special to me; every time I read it, new revelations surface. New words and phrases jump out. The pages are filled with masses of scribbles and marked margins and lines, which I believe, is exactly how the insides of a book should look like.

Where Light meets Dark

Come!

Let us leave this place,

This wretched place behind.

Somehow we will be enough for each other.

And we will teach each other to love

To love each other

We will learn

Yes

Somehow will be enough for each other

For what else is there but love?

I know nothing besides the fullness of it

If just sorrow lasts,

we will only melt into rain and become its cry

I believe that it is the dawn of love that keeps us alive

No?

Then what are you afraid of? 

What scares you to death & silence?

I only want oblivion

So come! 

Let us leave this wretched place behind!

Only do not ask me where,

for I do not know myself.

__________________________________________________

You say to me

The light in your eyes has gone out:

Once aflame,

now grown cold.

I do not deny

You make me weak in places 

that I had not previously known existed

And as we sat there, 

wrapped in sheets,

And as I breathed in the musk of your collarbones,

You painted me in fire,

Colours that speak of passion & boldness

You tell me of newer & better places

Places which I fear

And you said... 

Come.

But no!

I am so sorry

I am not one to go against the grain

I am not that man

Somehow this leaving, this departure

It sounded more elegant in my mind.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 9

'Hi Nick.' 

'Hi. (laughs)' 

'So... what's a place you would like to visit before you die and why?' 

'I want to visit... well I want to go to the Montreal Jazz Festival. It's the biggest jazz festival in the world. I went for the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta recently and that was one of the best experiences I've ever had. It's just so inspirational... I want to know and see the music scene outside of Singapore.' 

'Do you have a particular role model or musical artist whose style you admire?' 

'Marcus Miller. Hands down.' 

'That was quick! (laughs)Why?' 

'(Laughs) Well, I only really started to admire this guy when I watched this video of him from his biography. Sometimes you think that these guys are made out of pure talent, that they come out into the scene and they can just play everything. But what I realized was that they actually put in a lot of effort into playing and practicing... not everything is given to you for free. You have to work for it, there's a certain amount of effort you have to put into the theory.' 

'Okay. So why bass? Out of all the instruments...' 

'The groove. For me, music is all about the groove. It's the groove that attracts me to it, it's the rhythm. When I first started playing music, I didn't like piano... I tried guitar for a while and it was fine, but the bass just really attracted me. It's just such a cool instrument! There's really nothing quite like it.' 

'Talk about what inspired you to learn music. Your first experience, or pivotal moment you remember. and said 'Oh my goodness, I must learn the bass!' 

'The video that changed my life was... (laughs) Level 42 playing Mr. Pink. That video of Mark King playing that song was just... I mean, that was the point where I decided I wanted to take bass more seriously. Bass and music. And after that I started exploring a bit more... When I went to Poly and got into jazz band, that was when I started to take it even more seriously because it was there that I got introduced to Jazz. Prior to that I was just playing for fun. I mean, I liked it and all, and I was trying to get better, but I didn't take it too seriously.' 

'Can you imagine the world without music.' 

'No. (laughs)' 

'Why?' 

'Music is just so integrated into everyone's lives. It's so much a part of one's existence. It's like taking music out of a movie. The movie would just die, I think.'

Nicholas Lee, 19.

Engineering student, tres charming, & hands down the best 19-year-old bassist I know