with such purity, i cant help but swoon.

Other than Dean Martin's heavenly crooning, John Mayer's soothing chords, Josh Groban's moving bellows, and Jason Mraz's overall perfection ;) i'd like to recognize Alex Wagner-Trugman for making me swoon at 1 am.
I just thought i'd share just how wonderful he really is.
In Joy, Enjoy.
-jLv


ps.
I'd have to say, SAVE THE FIRST ONE FOR LAST.
otherwise, it just wouldn't have the same effect :)

We must learn to live together as brothers.

or perish together as fools.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

I watched a video today in World Religions that discussed the life, accomplishments, temporary falls, and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I always knew he was a great man. I just never knew how great. He is truly a gift from God, an incredible and miraculous individual. People all wanted the same thing, but he had the courage to make a move, to START A MOVEMENT.
No one accomplished anything in a matter of immediate timing. Moses did not escape Pharaoh's wrath in a day. Rome, of course, was not built in a day. He started a movement, that exerted echoes which were felt monumentally. I would give anything to have an impact that large. He serves as an example to me, that i am capable of just about anything. He serves as an example to everyone, that everyone is capable of something. He saw everyone as equal. He saw everyone as no one but God's children. He saw hate as a waste of energy and Love as the only real duty that we have to each other. Honestly, any one who feels as strong about Love and kins gestures as i do, is a remarkable person; especially when sincerity is nearing extinction. He would have made a great president, no doubt in my mind. Educated, Sincere, Moral (despite a few mistakes) and Genuine. In this day in age, it's nearly impossible to take any of the two preceding and find them combined. I wish we all had HALF the amount of passion this man did. The passion to make a movement. The passion to better the reality of the present, so that we could endure the hopeful dreams of the future. If I have ever had a hero, seriously and most respectfully, he is IT.

I am ashamed that his works and efforts, had he been alive today, would be faced with the mediocrity of today's celebrities, today's language, and today's monotonous disrespect of everyday life. However, i do not doubt, with any bone in my body, or thought in my head, that he would be PROUD of the progress we have made. No more everyday brutality against those with the slightest bit of color to their skin. No more protesting for equality. We face conflicts every single day, and always will, yet we must remember to carry on his virtues and legacies and to not go back to old ways. Progress moves forward, and his efforts are not to be regressed upon in action. We are living proof that change is possible. We are history.


He fostered traits of Mohandas aka Mahatma Gandhi and i admire both of these men deeply. I am an advocate for love; in that everyone should adopt love and should practice sincerity. Hatred, hostility, and selfishness has become far too common to deny the presence of reconciliation and brotherhood. Small, acts of kindness is what allows us all to get by in some way throughout the day. A simple smile is all we truly need. Of course, some do not take to kindness as well as others, but we must show them that it is so much easier and more enjoyable to love than to disperse unkindness to our peers and strangers on the street. We are all in the same boat struggling deep down to get by, why not Love one another to make the struggle that much more bearable?

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

"You can murder a hater, but you can't murder hate; And what we're trying to get rid of is hate."
-Martin Luther King Jr.


Someone buy me the full DVD for me? It's the History Channel's special on Martin Luther King Jr.

Story of My Life

it's almost disgusting as to how close this comes to our conversations. sad thing is, I Love You, and i'm leaving you. I wish you well, i wish you love. I hope we cross paths again one day; and if we do, well...i'll worry about it when it happens. but until then, Cheers, Darling.

Every Little Bit Helps.

Hey y'all.
I know how much you guys enjoy texting, but instead of sweet talkin' with your boo, or gossiping with your girls, i'm asking you all to put forth ONE text to a much more important cause.
As you all are, hopefully, aware of, there has been a tragic string of events in Haiti; one of, if not thee, poorest country in the world.
The devastation of the 7 richter scaled earthquake has burdened it's native citizens, as well as many Americans, with deaths of friends, loved ones, as well as the anxiety of those who are missing.
If you can, please please

PLEASE Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate 10$ to aid the relief efforts. 100% of your donation goes through the American Red Cross for the Haitian relief. Your cell phone carrier keeps nothing!
Please, please y'all, take this one simple action for one little moment to help contribute to supply relief and to restore comfort to one of the largest and most desperate of devastating situations.
Thanks again.
-jLv

ps.
God is Love. In joy, Enjoy, His Love.

Here, educate yourselves!!

if that boy don't love you by now.

he will never, ever, never, ever, love you.


>>> HAHAHA!
the glow effect on my macbook helped me find my "sexy face"
well, according to my mom, anyway haha.

I'm coming down to the end of the 2nd quarter at school and i'm studying like crazy.
Which, i don't expect you to believe considering i'm writing this instead.
but thats okay.

Remember that one boy i told you about in my last entry, Zack?
Well, that didnt last long. In fact, within 12 hours of meeting the guy, i was completely done.
It took me a while to get over it and to laugh, so now i'm finally able to share the story with you.
Enjoy.

You know the story about how we met.
How i was creepy and giddy and waited inside Yogaberry for him to walk out of the restaurant next door and to walk passed the window?
And how he walked by, then walked back and came inside to ask me for my number?
WELL, forget how cute all that was.
I woke up the next morning to two missed calls and a voicemail.
Judging by the immediate timing between the two calls, i'd say the first call was intentional.
The second one, not so intentional. And as for the voicemail, definitely, unintentional.
I dialed up my voicemail and heres where it all starts.
After a good 5 minutes of hearing the guy and his friends laugh and scream in the most obvious of inebriated ways, i hear his buddies ask if he "called that asian girl yet."
He replied with a typical "yeah dude" and COULD have left it at that. but he continued...
"she didn't answer though. hope she calls back, man. she was so hot, i kept lookin' at her the whole time she was talkin' and just thought, 'dude, im gonna cum inside this girl!'..."
WHO.SAYS.THAT.
my jaw dropped to the floor and i honestly think i stopped breathing after hearing that.
Okay, i understand he was with his "boys" but if that's how you choose to talk about women and your attraction to them, don't look my way.
Now, i continued to listen to the message and he went on to dig himself into a deeper hole and talked about all of the people he associates with; all of which are people i cannot STAND.
i love everyone, i really do. But i wont go out of my way to speak to these people.
So, i ended the message and decided to text him, "thanks for butt dialing me and leaving me the longest message of my life!"
i COULD have said, "thanks for butt dialing me. just so you know, you wont be cumming anywhere near me; not beside me, not down the street from me, let alone inside of me."
but i didnt. i just ignored every call and text from him from that point on.
im disgusted with the male population, really.
that was unacceptable.
guys, be classy....or at least less disgustingly sleazy.

anyway, i'm ready for this week to be over.
but don't get me wrong, i'm thankful for each day that passes and that i've lived, as well as my family.
God is Love, y'all.

have a good one!
In Joy, Enjoy,
-jLv

"what would you ask for?"

..."can i get some love?"
there's no stopping us.

i saw the cutest video the other night. one of those nights where i shut off my phone and disappeared for a while. i love quiet nights in. it gives me time to remember that i can breathe on my own, think of my own, get by, on my own.
anyway, it was a montage. just a whole bunch of clips of this adorable couple with the lovely lady visiting her long distance boyfriend for a week during Christmas. and within this week, he took her to as many places as possible. he even took her to Forks, the little town that Twilight was filmed at. Aside from the cute background music and editing, i loved the idea that it was a video of clips. clips, like, moments. and it was with that very thought that i realized, thats all that life really is. just a whole bunch of moments. usually they're lousy, but every now and then we manage to dig around and find a good one. And when we do, that's when we want to hold onto it as if we've never wanted to hold onto something before. as if it has so much value that letting it go would be like throwing away money in this 'recession.' savor every moment that you have, darlings. because really, thats all we have.

I've been able to see my twin, Erica Labad a lot more lately. i spent a bit of my New Years with her but left just in time to be with my family when the ball dropped. besides, i couldnt miss hearing my mom critiquing J-Lo throughout her NYC New Years performance. if you need a second opinion on your weight, ask my mom, she'll give it to you straight. I've missed her, i really have. thats all.

I was the gas station today when i ran into a friend of mine. this friend of mine also used to be my crush in 1st grade. (after typing that sentence, i realized that my infatuation with love started too early for my own good.) anyway, of course, in first grade, it was an unrequited crush where my love for him was futile, haha. N, HE, WAY, i saw him pull up a few pumps away from me. he saw my car, reversed, and relocated himself to the one nearest me. he said hello and smiled. he didnt know this, but i could see him through my window's reflection. he was watching me, the whole time. i couldnt help but laugh to myself. he still has his adorable charm that he had 11 years ago. except i dont desire to have him by my side anymore. i think its crazy what a few years of maturing will do to someone. be careful who you ignore, kiddies, you just might end up staring at them your next visit to the gas station.

this is when i usually tell you about a cute couple, a sad couple, a couple in the making, etc. that i saw recently, give my analysis, relate it my life and call it day. but surprisingly, i have my own story! nowhere near to the word 'couple' but it was still overwhelmingly cute. so, here goes nothing.
I went to Midtown Deli today, a new restaurant that just opened up at the beach by my work that, in a few words, blows Panera out of the water. anyway, i went with a dear friend of mine, Jessica Bowling. we sat down, ate our vegetable soup and drank the apple cider that was on the house due to their broken heater inside, teamed up with the 30 degree weather outside. towards the end of our endless conversation and binge eating session, 3 men came into the joint. One, so good looking you just knew he was trouble. Another, so handsome you didnt even want to try. and the Last one, who was so charmingly cute that i marked him mine. They sat a few tables away and i made sure not to stare as obviously as i normally do. horrible habit that ruins my game, i'd say. (did i mention that we were the only two parties in the place?) so, the Last one and i made eye contact every now and then, id hear whispers and nervous laughs when i'd walk by to pick up napkins or for whatever excuse i had to walk by. Eventually, Jessica and I left, and i still hadn't spoken to him. All disappointed, we walked out to my car and i stopped, dead in front of Yogaberry. there was NO way i was going to let him or my opportunity to meet him, slip away. so we went into Yogaberry which is located ever so conveniently next door to Midtown, and we planted ourselves at a table right by the window. No joke, while i was waiting for my order, i was praying to the Big Guy upstairs that he'd at least let me meet the Last one. So, i sat down and we ate our frozen yogurt. 10 minutes later, the attractive bunch walked by and i started to smile uncontrollably. Then, they stopped in the exact same spot that Jessica and I had stopped at earlier. Before i knew it, i heard Jessica saying, "He's coming! He's coming in!" it was in slow motion; he came inside, and approached me.
I dont think i was breathing the whole time we talked, but, he introduced himself, Zack is his name, and he earned my number.
It's only been 6 hours since i've met him and i feel as giddy as i did when i was 14 years old and met another person who had the same effect on me.
I just think, that had i not been brave and not lingered around a little bit longer, i'd have had to deal with the whole, "but what IF i actually did..." i cant stand those thoughts. they pester me, they irk me, they discomfort me.
thats all i have to say about that. maybe it's not half as exciting on paper, but when it happened, i could have sworn i was dreaming.

My Mom has been brainwashed with the stress about my Debutante Ball.
Every time we talk now, it's strictly in annoyance and hostility because when she stresses, EVERYONE in the house stresses.
attitudes truly are contagious and that's not just a phony phrase in grade school classroom posters.
i guess you could say the majority of our interactions lately have been part of those 98% lousy life moments.

But, in the midst of my overwhelming and outrageous amount of schoolwork, anxiety about working 2 jobs, and constant doubt/wonder as to whether 2010 will leave me as lonely as 2009 did, i still manage to steal a good moment out of my life when i can. i think it's what i do to stay alive, to stay sane. i savor the goodness.

i'll add more later.
but, honestly? I'm tired boss, dog tired.
Goodnight, sweethearts.
-jLv

2 0 1 0

Don't say a word just come over, and lie here with me.

I must say, 2009 was the fastest year of my life.
And possibly one of the most eventful, troubling, and moving years, at that.
I hope you greeted 2010 in the nicest and most enjoyable way possible, if we're gonna start something, we might as well start it off right.

Last year, i fell in love, i fell out of love.
I lied, i got in trouble (which by the way im still paying for! haha), i made friends, i lost friends, i fell, i got back up, i got lazy, i was productive, i gave, i took, i sang, i danced, i laughed, i cried...alot, but i laughed more.
And with all that, i still feel like i never accomplished much, honestly.

When i say i fell in love, i fell in love with the same person that i do, every time.
I met new people, yes, but settling is never any good...unless your a pilgrim or explorer.

(My Mom just asked me if i was listening to Rod Stewart...no, John Mayer, thanks.)

Im trying to be more motivated this year, trying to break my lazy habits.
Did you know it takes 21 days to break a habit?
try it, break one! it'll be fun. so far, i've gotten rid of nail-biting, cussing....almost, lying...sort of, and eating poorly...somewhat.
okay, it's not easy, but it's not hard either.

I've been asked to write a Philosophy paper, about my own philosophy on life.
to be honest, im excited. I'll be allowed to ramble on about what i think for once, without being stopped, and i'll be getting graded for it. good grade: rewarding and bad grade: still rewarding!

I'm ready to take on this year with an outlook that is as positive as positive gets.
I'm ready to work more, volunteer even more, and to love all that i can.
this year i'm doing nothing new, but doing what i always have, just a little better.

Take care, darlings.
-jLv