Lovely Day =)

I woke up extra early today around 5 am. It was horrible. It was extremely hot, though my window was opened, and I couldn't stop thinking about the scary movies that Ka and I watched. (shivers). It looked like it was 11pm because it was so dark and there was no peek at all from the sun. I think I stayed in my bed, burning and terrified for about 30 min... until my BF called. =)

As my younger siblings got up around 6am to get ready for school, I was up getting ready to hang out with my BF. And let me tell you, it was a WONDERFUL day despite my awful morning.

We did hang out the whole day because I didn't see him at all during the week. Haha, it's funny how we still, er... 'I' (correction), still yearn to be with him being it's been about two years.

Anyhow; just thought I'd drop by and share a little of my day. Don't want to be neglecting this blog for long. =)

Until then,
MaiNou Vang*

Look of the Day (Mon. & Wed.)

Like I promised, I am posting up and sharing my looks of the day. And mentioned before, don't expect too much! So on Monday, I was rather bored and started playing around with my eyeshadows. I also wanted to try out something new instead of the same old neautral colors I use practically everyday. This is what I came up with:

I thought I'd add my faux lashes for a little spice and curled my hair for the extra fun. I used four main colors: brown, gold, gray, yellow. Here listed are the products I used and where I placed them:

Eyes:

-L'Oreal De-Crease (primer)

-AquaCeuticals AquaMousse Eyeshadow in BeachComber (outer corner)

-Cream Eyeshadow/Very nude color (inner lid)

-Lancome's Pampered and Priveleged Pallette, color used Elite (over nude cream base, blending out towards the outer corners)

-Maybelline's Utaupia, picked up the gray color (over the crease area)
-Lancome's Pampered and Priveleged, VIP Scene (over BeachComber, outer corners) and Enamored (brow bone highligheter)

-Hot Looks 36 Eye Glamour Palette, Yellow (under bottom lashes)
-Mary-Kate and Ashley Shimmer Plus/All Over Stick in Chill Shimmer (inner tearduct)

-Ardell faux lashes in 110

-Revlon's ColorStay liquid eyeliner in Blackest Black
-Maybelline's Define-A-Line in Ebony Black

-Maybelline's Mascara Lash Stilleto in waterproof
Lips:
-The Giving Bee Lip Balm in Wild Strawberry and Forest Honey
-Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude

WHOO! What a list; I didnt realize how much eye products I used until I listed them out. =P I know I didn't list out what I used for my face but it was mainly just foundation, mineral power, and n0 blush! For my hair, I just used CHI Silk Infusion and curled my hair with a flat iron. And.. I think that concludes my Monday look =). Haha, now on to the next one.

So yesterday, I also tried something different. Not a whole lot different but I used a color I've never used before and it turned out looking something like this:

I really liked how this look turned out. The eyeshadow that I wanted to try out was actually the shimmery white shadow I placed on the inner lid. I basically used some of the same products as the first look but the shadows are different:

-Icing's Cream Black Shadow with Shimmer

-Revlon's Illuminance Cream Shadow in Vintage Chic, Black Cream
-Urban Decay's Polyester Bride

-Hard Candy's Pixie Palette, White shadow

-Sonia Kashuk's Ink, dark matte blue/gray

-Hot Looks Glamour Palette, Purple with blue undertones

Everything else was the same, such as the eyeliner, lashes, mascara, etc.

Anyhow, I really hope you guys enjoy my make-up looks. I take A LOT of time doing my make-up to try to perfect it, though we all know perfection doesn't exist. =P I will be trying out different day-time/night-time looks in the near future and of course, share them! So don't stray too far and stay-tuned,
MaiNou Vang*

Look of the Day

I will be posting up blogs of looks of the day. Already I want to share two looks of how I did my eye make-up. I won't be posting them up now but I will soon! =)

Don't be expecting too much because I am not a professional or have legit knowledge on how to apply make-up; but who needs knowledge in cosmetics? As long as you have a brush in one hand and an eyeshadow in the other, go crazy! Haha (my motto). As they say, 'If life gives you lemons, squeeze away.'

I am just starting to get into make-up and therefore, have been watching a lot of gurus on youtube =), and I want to share my little knowledge and experience to people. I do not make video tutorials but I do take photos of my work so check them out if you are interested.

Please don't discriminate me because I take my time on my make-up, if you don't like that fact, simply look away. I am who I am and I won't change for no one. Just respect my interests as you'd expect me to yours.

So bloggers, until then! =),
MaiNou Vang*

Update on BLOG!

And HELLO everyone! This blog was originally created for school purposes but for personal reasons, I dropped in and thought I would continue this blog. =)

I am a passionate writer as it is and figured that if ever I find myself needing the satisfaction of typing out restless words stufffed into my head, why not do it on this blog?!

So, I am considering on completely deleting and erasing everything on this present blog up until now because I am following other students from my high school (I am a graduate now) and don't know if I would still want to see their updates. (*laughs* am I being too frank and selfish?). On the other hand, I could follow them still but wouldnt it be rather annoying? Hmm... what to do? What to do? (No worries, nothing important)

SO, quick updates on myself. I'm a graduate from Central High School and I do miss my friends dearly, however my schedule during the summer and fall has been quite busy; mainly with family and long-term BF, Doua =). I am looking for a part-time/full-time job right now because I will be entering college in the Spring at the UniversityofMN. I regret days and nights when I dont think about school and I do beat myself up pretty bad about it so one of these days, I promise I will get off my butt and take care of all the things I need for college. Hmm, is that about it? I think so, =).

Besides updates on myself, I am going to also be posting up random poetry, short stories, and pieces that pop into my head on restless nights or melancholy times. So check them out, first series of my short stories: Ransom of Tears.

I think that will be all today. Tune in soon and hopefully I will have a new blog awaiting...
tata. _MaiNou Vang

Ransom of Tears

I gently uttered a few words beneath my breath as I fell on the floor. The beautiful shining wings of the creature captured me into its mystery and promises. Before I could stand, the creature glanced over to me in such a manner that made me gasp. Is it really looking at me? How am I to respond?

With slow and delicate strides the creature came upon me, flapping its enormous wings. Gorgeous and all glory. And it spoke.

"The Angels awakened and dressed to come for the great white whale. " With a low and bold voice, the creature kidnapped me of my thoughts. "Come."

"Who is the great white whale?"The creature didn't answer. I noticed that though the creature was unexplainably exquisite with shimmering eyes and glowing hair, it did not have ears.

It turned to me and lured me into its gleaming yellow eyes. I had an urge to reach out and touch it; my eyes paralyzed at its strange allure. Startled when it spoke again with such a powerful voice, I stumbled back.“My heart sits beneath my chest in a wretched box full of chains. Only until I find the river of tears and the white snow that holds the whale prisoner can I escape from this restraint.”

“What do you mean?” I managed to ask. But as the creature abruptly turned to me with agony in its eyes, I suddenly regret asking. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know, scared for the truth of the sacred secrets inside of the creature.

In silent and slow steps, I realized that I was no longer on ground. I was walking across a vast green body of water. Water?The creature swiftly moved across with its wings barely touching the water. “Stare not into your own reflection for it may hold a truth stronger than you can bear.” Scared and trusting what it said, I shut my lids closed. I nervously walked on with the little hope I had left that all that was happening now was only a dream.

(continued)

Memoir: On Gold Mountain Final Review

In the book, On Gold Mountain, Lisa See writes about the history of her one hundred-year-old Chinese-American family. This book first focuses on the life of her great-great-grandfather, Fong See, but later revolves around the lives of Fong See’s children and their children’s children, Lisa See involved.

While living in America, the See family finds success in their family businesses and prosper. Some may even say that the See family lived the ‘American’ dream.

The book totals up two different cultures intertwining into one, love, marriages, business and love affairs, racism, and the meaning of family. Each theme is brought up in the memoir and focuses on many characters’ lives to conceive these themes.

See does a wonderful job in providing to readers the authentic history of a hundred-year-old story but the historical facts that she adds in her memoir are a little distracting. I personally felt as if the historical facts kind of lowered my opinion of the memoir because it was taking over the stories of the characters’ lives. I sometimes found myself dreading to read the book because of the history it covered and not the actual story of the people’s lives. But overall, I enjoyed reading the book. I don’t think that I would necessarily recommend this book but it was interesting to discover facts about the Chinese history in America that I’ve never learned.

Memoir: On Gold Mountain Section 3

MaiNou Vang
Ms. Peifer
Creative Writing hr. 3

In the third section of the book that I have read, the young See family is now all grown up. First, the book was relatively focused on the life of Fong See, the author’s great-great-grandfather but now the book is relatively focused on the life of Fong See’s children and his ex-wife, Letticie. Each son: Ming, Ray, Bennie, and Eddy married Caucasian women. Sissee alone did not marry. Ming married to a woman named Dorothy who was a party-goer, Ray married a woman named Leona, Bennie wed a girl named Bertha, and Eddy married Stella Copeland, the only sister-in-law in the See family that the author really wrote about. Letticie stayed unmarried after the separation with Fong See.

Since the separation, Ming and Ray decided to start a new business of manufacturing furniture and built their own goods. Later, Eddy and along with his two artistic friends, Tyrus and Benji, opened up a restaurant beneath their shop. Even during the Depression, the two businesses attracted customers and resulted in success.

Until now, I discovered that this memoir is also a story of love. Lisa See wanted the readers to understand the relationship of certain couples in the story. Since the separation, Fong See lived his life with his new wife and children, only occasionally meeting with his first family. Through the years, Letticie’s hatred towards Fong See grew but eventually died down and created a hole inside of her. Letticie’s “anger at him had long burned out, to be replaced by grief, then a final, horrible emptiness” (pg 174). Everyone knew that Letticie missed him as she “sat in a wicker chair at the back of her store on Los Angeles Street, looking out the window and wondering if Suie would stop by on his walk either to or from his compound” (pg 174). From this passage, you can see the desperation that Letticie had and how she yearned to be with her ex-husband. Later in the story, the core was based on Eddy and Stella. Stella loved her family but she thought she would live an easy life when she married Eddy because Eddy came from such a wealthy family. But effects of the Depression caused Stella to be a hard-working woman, just like how she used to be living with her intermediate family back then. A hard-working mom and wife, Stella found “a piece of stationary folded over and over again into tiny squares. A feeling of dread crept over her. Somehow she knew what it would be, as she unfolded the paper crease by crease” (pg 200). Eddy had been cheating on her with a married woman named Helen Smith. Stella’s first reaction was to scream. After confronting Helen, Eddy apologized and promised to never see her again. But only a few weeks after that, Stella received anonymous letters informing her that her husband and Helen were still momentarily together. With love and strength, Stella decided she would hang on and wait, “for she knew that if she left, she would not only be losing a husband, but also the only real family she had ever known” (pg 205).

The memoir is intriguing most of the time now. It covers less of the historical facts and focuses on the story and the characters’ lives which I genuinely am interested in.

Memoir: On Gold Mountain Section 2

MaiNou Vang
Ms. Peifer
Creative Writing hr. 3

In the next couple chapters that I have read so far, the story of Fong See, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather, starts to unravel in his success in America. Through the years, Fong See only became more wealthy and recieved fortunate events in his years.

Fong See and his wife, Letticie Pruett, gave birth to five children in all. First came the four oldest sons: Ming, Ray, Bennie, and Eddy. Then the last child of the See family was a young girl named Florence but later nick-named 'Sissee' by her brothers. The story starts to narrate the lives of Fong See's five children and how they grew up being in a Chinese-American family. The memoir shows some difficulties that the children faced while growing up in a dominant society that I believe still exist today.

The two older boys, Ming and Ray, went to high school together. Though they were obviously handsome and intelligent and born into an already financially stable family, the two still had trouble fitting in or finding friends in school. Because at the time the majority student population were white and were not sociably accepting of Ming and Ray because of their half-chinese blood, the young boys were not able to explore and be a part of any form of group of friends, etc. but "have been ignored, shunned, excluded" (pg. 136). I believe that even today, sometimes we still see this bias in schools between the student population. Though not so much anymore, there is still truth in what this passage was talking about.

In this section of the memoir, one thing I found that caught my attention was the disagreements that the two parents, Fong See and Letticie, had over their daughter, Sissee. Because Sissee is half-Chinese and half-Caucasian, obviously there were certain things that a mother and father would expect from their only daughter. Sissee's father is a traditional Chinese man versus her mother who is an American who wasn't born into a religious family. Fong See argued that his daughter must "not work, except to help her mother decorate baskets and do her embroidery" (pg. 91). To Fong See, he saw it that "No man would marry a Chinese girl if she didn't master the womanly arts" (91) which was her needlework and "needed to be trained to be virtuous, graceful, courteous, polite, and obedient" (89). On the other hand, Letticie argues back that Sissee "is an American girl..." (89). Letticie believes her daughter needs to have her fun and be a girl. I could understand this situation of Sissee because being a Hmong-American, I understand the two different cultures that clash together. Though I'm not half-Hmong and half-Caucasian, I grow up in a traditional Hmong family that lives in America. It is demanding and complicated for a young girl to try to fit in two different cultures but never really satisfying anyone because the two cultures are so different from one another. So to learn that in the past so long ago and then also in present times that families are still troubling over how to participate in two different cultures and live in peace, this will still be a problematic situation in years to come.

In the last couple chapters I read, the children grew up and started their lives and contributed to the F. Suie One Company owned by their father. Ming and Ray both got married and Bennie and Eddy had girlfriends.

The greatest change of all in the See family was that during a trip to China, Fong See had stayed overseas by himself for about two or so years. He built a hotel in China and for 'business' purposes, married a young girl by the name of Ngon Hung. It was said that Fong See only married Ngon Hung so he would have a trusted family to take care of and run the business of the hotel set in China but only Fong See would really know the truth. When Letticie discovered the second marriage, she signed for an official seperation with Fong See and lived with her five children. Fong See and Letticie divided the companies they had in America and suprisingly, were still able to become successful people despite the seperation.

On Gold Mountain, I soon realized, has a lot more depth than I had imagined. There are a lot of truths and theories in a certain event that happened so long ago that I, too have to wonder what really happened versus what didn't. I'm looking forward to how the author finishes this memoir.

Favorite Childhood Place (revisit)

MaiNou Vang
Ms. Peifer
Creative Writing
12 February 2009

Now as I drive into Indian Mounds Park, the park that I had loved so long ago as a child, I feel a little envious. I no longer feel the need to run with the wind through my hair, to view the beautiful town that I had lived my whole life. I sometimes want to be a child again but an invisible force is holding me back.

Maybe it is because I do not visit the park with my sister anymore. My sister was a huge part of my memory. She had fun with me, short and simple. She would suggest me to do crazy things like climb on the stone pillars of Indian Mounds or climb down into the midst of tall grass and discover the hidden adventure beyond. My sister and I having fun at Indian Mounds is one of my greatest memories.

Though I do not feel as exuberant anymore as a grown-almost-adult-teen when I visit the park, I still see the beauty of Indian Mounds’ history and lumps of mystery in the dark night. To me, Indian Mounds will always be a place of memory.

One day, I promise, I will go back to Indian Mounds and climb the stone pillars, crawl down into the tall grass that warns us not to and evaporate into my own adventure, run again in the night at Indian Mounds and let my hair fly away behind me. And I promise I will be a child again.

Favorite Childhood Place

MaiNou Vang
Ms. Peifer
Creative Writing Hr. 3
12 February 2009

Indian Mounds Park was the perfect escape for me. With its’ mesmerizing scenery of the beautiful town I live in, and with its’ mysterious history that I didn’t know much about, I was soon fond of relaxing at Indian Mounds.

Usually on a regular visit to Indian Mounds, I would go with my older sister in her Camry. Often, we visited the park at night. We waited until night fell so as we arrive to the park, the lights of downtown St. Paul/Minneapolis would bloom into life. The flow of the Mississippi River would be present beneath our eyes. But something else is alive at Indian Mounds, the starts, the moon, the night.

Breathing in the cool, night air smelled refreshing. I could smell cold and a subtle distance of grass; I loved it. Sometimes when I ran outside, in the open scene of a platform, I could smell my shampooed hair flying away from my face.

The sight was another story in itself. How the lights of downtown came to life was the perfect dream. It glowed in my eyes as I sank it into my memory. I want to remember Indian Mounds this beautiful. As the stars lay above me blinking and twinkling along with the streetlights, I open my eyes, never wanting to forget.

Memior: On Gold Mountain Journal 1

MaiNou Vang
Ms. Peifer
Creative Writing Hr. 3
6 Feb. 2009

In the remarkably told memoir of the See family, Lisa See tells her 100-year-old Chinese and Caucasian family history in the novel, On Gold Mountain. In the beginning, before she started the memoir, she provided to readers a glimpse of her family. Lisa mentioned her aunts, her great-great grandfather who is on the cover of the book (which implies his importance in the book), and other relatives near and far. For this memoir, it required See to be totally committed into researching her family's past, as she pointed out, and how hard it would be to recieve the actual truth in a story that existed so long ago. With what I have read so far, I can clearly see the hard and exhausting studies and research See had to endure in order to write such a compelling story.

Beginning the memoir about See's great-great-great grandfather, Fong Dun Shung, he starts his life in the fresh land of "Gold Mountain", the chinese word for America. Briefly told, Fong Dun Shung's life in America is surrounded by herbs and Chinese men but also the abusive "fan gway", the white ghosts that roam the land of Gold Mountain. Fong Dun Shung's fourth son, Fong See, comes into the memoir as a determined young man. The memoir so far is relatively revolved around the life of Fong See. Through chapters 2-5, Fong See becomes a successful working man and prospers in the hard times of America. He was at first a merchant then became his own businessman. Here in America, Fong See found what his heart had been passionate about: a challenge, an adventure, and a love. Almost 19 years older than his betrothed, he happily married a young woman from Oregon named Letticie Pruett.

In this memoir, See characterizes Fong See as a very confident and courageous man. In detail, See conveys Fong See's character through his appearance, actions, and decisions. In chapter 2, even after his countrymen told him to beware of the "fan gway" when he attempted to go sign up for papers, Fong See had just signed official papers in order to run his own business. As celebration of his official papers, Fong See went to a photographer to take pictures. On page 33, it describes what Fong See felt during the process of taking his picture: "His clothes were western. Ever since he had observed the Victorian opulence on his first trip upriver, he had sensed that his place was in there among those white men and women in their finery, and not down in the dark, cramped quarters of the "China Hold," with his countrymen and their fears." In this passage, it proves how bold Fong See must have been in his time because he was wearing what a typical white man would in America. It shows that Fong See wasn't afraid of what others would think of him.

I think that women losing their identity is a very large theme in On Gold Mountain. From what I have read so far, almost half the women mentioned in the memoir have lost their identity or somewhat familiar. Fong See's wife, Letticie, was raised by her father and five sons after her mother had died of pneumonia. When she was 8-years-old, her father had also passed away from pneemonia. With only her brothers left who eventually got married and had their own family to take care of, Letticie ran away, no longer wanting to care for her stubborn brother, sister-in-law, and their kids. When she went to go work for Fong See and later wed to him, she sent a letter to her brothers back in Oregon to tell of her news. But unfortunately, they did not meet eye to eye: "Letticie wrote her brothers o fher marriage, and recieved a terse letter back, in which her family disowned her. How could she marry a Chinese? It was disgusting, they wrote, and she was no longer their sister. She knew she would never see or hear from any of them ever again" (pg. 57). Another example of women and loss of identity is when Fong See and Letticie had made a visit to Fong See's homeland, China. Fong See had three older brothers, one died of opium and the other two got married. Both of them had married a "no-name" girl. I assume that these girls were considered no-names because they were truly poor and their parents arranged the marriages for the money. Though this book doesn't really provide information on these no-name girls, it is evident that in the past, a lot of times women were bought into marriage, prostitution and lived with no identity.

The memoir so far has been interesting. It started off slow but I soon learned to be engaged in the reading. The book provides a lot of historical information that I didn't know happened and I think that for that reason, the historical reading in this book is also helpful. Lisa See did a wonderful job in providing readers detailed descriptions to fill in the history of her great-great grandfather.

The Names: A Memoir

From the excerpt The Names: A Memoir, written by N. Scott Momaday, the author describes in traditional story-telling of his childhood home and how it came to be with an imaginative mind. From the excerpt, I chose two passages that made an impression on me.
The first passage that I was attracted to was: "The light there is of a certain kind. In the mornings and evenings it is soft and pervasive, and the earth seems to absorb it, to become enlarged with light... There is something strange and powerful in it." This passage caught my eye because it paints a vivid image in my head of how the author percieves the nature of the sun and moon. To me, it seems like the light was of an importance to him or impacted him somehow. I understand because when I see a beautiful sunrise or breathtaking moonlight on a cool night, I become enveloped by the beauty. All the colors from the sun or moon comes to life. The image of the sunlight/moonlight is powerful because that single image can make us feel.
The other passage that I enjoyed was: "...for hail is beating down upon the door, and the roar of the wind is deafening, the earth and sky are at odds, and God shudders." I was interested in this passage because the author made everything turn into life by his compelling use of personification. To me, when it rained and I was only still a child, I would imagine the rain to be of God's tears. This passage reminded me of that childhood memory because rain to him wasn't just water pouring down; there is something more meaningful and essential to rain and thunder that only your mind can speak of.

Childhood in the Park (or Outside)

I was a very young girl, maybe age 6 or 7, and I remember it being a very beautiful day. The sun was up and it was one of those perfect summer days where it was bright and sunny but not too hot. My parents, numerous siblings, and I had all went to the apple orchard. The grass was a beautiful fresh, clean green. The grass was so green that it was amazingly bright in my eyes. I remember that there was a building there also but only slightly.
My family and I went to the orchard in our big, green family van and as soon as we got to the orchard, the kids rushed out in excitement. My siblings and I raced to see who could the farthest but running to nowhere in particular as my parents followed behind. There was something about picking your own ripe apples, as if you are treating yourself to a winning prize. As I chased after my sisters (the older kids were always first), I saw that the apple trees were to my left and I could see some of the juicy, red fruits that we would soon go pick. After my parents had purchased some soda to hydrate our thirsty mouths, we all climbed onto a hay tractor and sat in anticipation, waiting for our adventure in the maze of apple trees.
Riding on the hay tractor was one of the best parts at the apple orchard. Though it wasn't hot that day, I loved feeling the subtle breeze swimming through my hair. As I sipped on the can of coke, I anxiously turned my head from side to side as the endless trees of apples passed by.
When we finally reached our desired location to start our apple-picking, the children waited for our parents' permission to start. As soon as we each grabbed a wooden bucket to place our apples in, each sibling grabbed a partner, chose a tree, and started picking their own apples. I remember climbing trees to reach certain apples, picking some from the ground as they fell, and catching some apples thrown to me from my brother while he was on the tree.
At the end of the day of apple-picking, we had a few batches of apples and ate more than enough while we were picking. We went home that day drained from the demanding physical work of apple-picking but satisfied with the amount of apples we would bring home with us.