Inspirational Monday #7: Dreams

My friend and I were talking over skype one day, and I asked her what were some things she wanted to do before she died. Somehow, we were complying our own bucket list.

We were tired of waves and waves of exams, so it was fun to think about dreams and aspirations. I'm not going to share my whole list here, but here are a few things that I want to do:

1. Ride a camel across the desert (I ended up youtubing "riding an ostrich". Very extreme.)

2. Participate in a tea ceremony (I've always wanted to be dressed in a kimono while making some green tea and then munching on some traditional Japanese desserts.)

3. Learn how to waltz (I'm a horrible dancer, but somehow waltzing seemed cool . . . at least from the historical films I've seen.)

4. Publish a novel (That's probably very, very, very hard to achieve unless I decide to self-publish my work. I don't think I'd self-publish though.)

5. Go on an exchange for a year (I really want to accomplish this. I'd like somewhere completely different from where I'm from. It'd be interesting writing material anyways.)

So, try to make your own bucket list. I think it would feel great to scratch one thing off a list. :)

Jubie (cubierock11)

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Inspirational Monday # 6: Don't mess with girls

I always check up on music for J-pop, Kpop and Cpop, and so, I saw the latest MV for 4Minute's new song, Heart to Heart.

What can I say? What did I learn?

Precisely the title of my post. Don't mess with girls. Really. This MV is supposed to be lighthearted, but let me tell you, there's a difference between an angry guy and a pissed off girl. I find the female species  scarier than the male species. Don't bite me, girls. I'm a girl too so I know.

The MV portrays girl behaviour that has gone bad . . . very well.

Here you go. Enjoy. (Oh, and girls, don't turn this way, please. We have better things to do in life than avenge for some guy.)

Funny note: For the first minute or so, I thought the guy was a girl. . . until I heard his voice and looked to his chest and realized that he was lacking some . . . *cough* *cough* assets.

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Inspirational Monday # 5: Historical Dance

I was writing a scene for Rebirth's sequel, Legacy, and I needed a scene with some dancing. Now, I am no dance connoisseur. Yes, let me use that overused phrase: I am that person with two left feet. I can play instruments, but I cannot follow dance moves.

So, without personal experience, I thought, why not do some Googling?

I started with the word, waltz. I thought waltzing seemed romantic enough, but the era from which it emerged, was surprisingly . . . modern. If you know some history and you've been a faithful reader of Rebirth (which I hope you are), then you would know that I like to blend my favourite parts of history to this story. I used a bit of Victorian fashion for their empire waist and long coats, and trousers for Urcis. For other components, I was looking at 16th to 18th century events, so for the dance, I wanted to pick something within that time frame.

But . . . who knew that waltzing was so young?

Then, I thought, okay, why not just find another dance? Easy enough said than done. Really, most of the hits online were for dance classes and bits of description, which did not prove to be helpful for writing my story. By now, I moved onto youtube and clip after clip, I looked at dance styles. (Honestly, couples pretty much imitated each other's moves and only occasionally joined hands or touched one another. No wonder waltzing was scandalous in the beginning.)

Anyhow, I came across this particular clip that had just the right moves, so here's a dose of baroque dance!

 (source: tobit2008 from The Banqueting House - Whitehall London
TRILION PICTURES (1987) present:
George Frederick Handel's "THE WATER MUSIC")

Lovely, isn't it?

Jubie (cubierock11)

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Inspirational Monday # 4: One Good Thing

I was absolutely freaked out about receiving my results for my business midterm. Honestly, I felt that I did poorly on that exam. First of all, it's very hard to prepare for it since the midterm pretty much tests your skills on the spot. Every case is different, so you're really assessed in a fair, yet unfair way. Sometimes, you get the right case and you feel great while other times, you receive the wrong one and you're perpetually stuck on the calculations. (I'm usually fine with analyzing my data. It's just . . . I get the wrong numbers . . . all the time.)

Anyhow, this case was odd. I could barely understand it at all. I really felt lost and not to mention, during the exam, I was starving . . . which made things even harder for me. (I can't live without food!)

I wasn't prepared to receive my mark, but you know how it goes, you still have to confront your fears. When I finally saw what I had received, I squealed, "Oh my god!"

Okay, this was a good type of "oh my god". I've had the bad sort and those are real shockers. Well, it's not to say that this wasn't a shocker. I was absolutely astonished to see my mark. Really. I thought I had failed yet I had received much, much higher than I had anticipated and did better than my last midterm.

Now, how does this relate to my title: One Good Thing? Well, I've been having some difficult times, particularly with an arduous group project, a bit of family arguments thrown in the mix, and more disappointing midterm results.

After I received that one good thing, I felt motivated to work again. I felt like . . . finally, I've done something right or that something is working. For once, there are no external factors.

That's how I feel with writing sometimes. I'm stuck in a sticky situation for my characters. I'm actually still trying to figure out some kinks in my plot, but luckily, I think I'm in the right direction after researching a ton about something. I won't reveal that something. Plus, sometimes your characters or your story just need one good thing to persevere.

Go find that one good thing,

Jubie (cubierock11)

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Inspirational Monday # 3: Names

I always go name hunting for my characters. I spend at least a couple of hours trying to find the perfect names for my characters. The meaning has to be right. The sound has to be right. The look of the name on paper has to be right too. It's hard to fulfill these. Not to mention, if you're trying to have a couple, the couple's names have to go well together! 

So, let me share a name I found. (Oh, don't use this name for your story! I found it first and I will be using it for a story I have in mind. Finders keepers huh?)

Emel: means desire and is Turkish

I generally visit this website: Names

*Side note: I was searching for names on baby name websites and my friend freaked out. She thought I was pregnant. Great. I told her that I'm giving birth . . . to new characters in my story.

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Inspirational Monday # 2: Love, love, love?

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day! 

I haven't done anything special today, except for . . . taking an exam. In fact, today was not a very good Monday for me, but let's not make Mondays that bad. Let me start with what I think about Valentine's Day. Whenever I think of Valentine's Day, I'm reminded by this song by Epik High. It's called "Love Love Love". This was actually the first Korean song I ever heard of in my life and it would be the start of many that I would eventually hear.

This song is about unrequited love or a broken heart . . . which could be part of Valentine's Day . . . I know, I'm supposed to share the joy, but this song is still lovely! I especially loved the beginning of the song, where the phone is dialing and the girl is singing.

(Credits: This was from Flyaway87, who also subbed it in English.)

Enjoy,

Jubie (cubierock11)

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Inspirational Monday # 1: A Storm of Male Models

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be writing on every Monday with some interesting things that I have found during the weekend. Hopefully, they'll bring some joy to mundane Mondays!

I accidentally found this video uploaded on jeremyjn23's channel while searching for male models to use for my stories' covers and posters. I enjoyed the clip a lot. I thought it was rather fun and amusing to see models lipsynching to a song. There was one segment that really intrigued me and that had to be the moment when all the models walked on stage with tons of Beagles. I was a dog fanatic, and I still am, so I know my breeds. ;)

Anyways, I suddenly experienced that moment, where I had an image of a scene of a future story I have in mind. I won't be sharing the exact details, but I'm sure that in one of my stories in the future, you'll identify with this scene. There will be males walking . . . a group of them.

I hope this clip will brighten your Monday!

Be inspired,

Jubie (cubierock11)

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