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The All-American Rejects’ Nostalgia Museum + Album Release...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:22:00 -0400

The All-American Rejects’ Nostalgia Museum + Album Release Party

Growing up in a small town on an island, I thought I would never...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:58:05 -0400

Growing up in a small town on an island, I thought I would never be able to accomplish anything or go anywhere. Somehow I managed to graduate high school with honors and attend my dream school. Life is so exciting in the creative city of Los Angeles, but there are a few important things I left behind. The person I miss the most is my nine year old sister. She is my best friend, my everything. I changed her diapers, watched her first steps, heard her first words, helped her with math facts and learning to read, and grow as an individual. It’s so tough being away, but I know that she is a smart girl and she can be successful and happy. When she told me she wanted to be like me when she grows up, I nearly cried. Even at such a young age, I know she already is a better person than me. She may look up to me as her big sister, but really, she is the one influencing me. I hope that while I am away, she can make memories in the vacant, lamp lit streets of Anacortes like I did when I was a kid, and shape herself to become the best person she can be.

FALLING DOWN THE HOLE OF ADOLESCENT WONDER

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:33:05 -0400

dreams; road trip games; hopes; wishes; being careless; feeling free; being so naïve; happy meals; driving around without a care in the world; being young; having no worries; staying up late because it was fun, not because i couldn’t sleep; eating lunchables; walking the streets at all hours just to get a snowcone; running through the sprinklers at school; being lost in time, not controlled by it; blurred streetlights; dancing in the rain; winning goldfish from carnival games; falling down the hole of adolescent wonder……

Too young, too smart, too much for this one town.

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:08:05 -0400

This particular picture was taken during a trip to one of Asia’s renown water park - Sunway Lagoon.

Kids in the street. I will be the first one to admit that I’ve always been the goody two shoes. I don’t smoke, not all that fond about alcohol, I keep away from drugs, and you know the drill. Hence when I first heard about this contest that you lot are throwing, it did not once occur to me that I should in any way, participate - I wouldn’t stand a chance against all ‘em other kids with life way colourful than mine, anyway.

What changed my mind though, this might sound petty. It’s the release of AAR’s third single, ‘Kids in the Street’. When I first heard of that song, wow, it literally blew me away. It really did struck a chord. & it had me thinking. Heck, why not. I have nothing to lose anyway. As boring as my life might turn out to be, it is still, quoted, ‘a marked chapter’.

We all have our own definitions of ‘kids in the street’. & my, well. Obviously doesn’t wander around the street. Malaysia doesn’t have that many alleys and streets for one to take shelter, anyway.

Moreover, in my opinion, ‘kids in the street’, I reckon it doesn’t take form that literally, it’s more about a feeling. Yes, & now, I am about to rant about feelings. Brace for the impact, folks.

Starting off with that picture, as I’ve mentioned earlier, it was taken during a trip. It was, say, a farewell trip, to a very dear friend of mine. She was flying off to Australia in days’ time. That piece of memory, it was bittersweet. We were thrilled, of course. You see, it takes a blue moon to rise in order for us to get permissions hitching a ride, all the way to Sunway Lagoon. But at the same time, forlorn. Nobody likes goodbye, certainly not I. I do realize even with the booming technologies nowadays, nothing would ever be the same, once that one person whom you treasure is on the other side of the world.

We had fun. We laughed, we thrashed the entire park as if we owned that place, without a care in the world, we went wild, yelling and hollering like a bunch of recently freed dogs. It was crazy.

Looking back, I’ve realized that my friends and I, being raised ever so strictly, by your typical Asian parents. Any mishaps that might get us into a good ol’ whipping. They are merely trying to protect us for what’s right & what’s wrong via their ways, I get their point of views, really, I do. But at times, I feel suffocated by the rules that they set, tired of being caution, afraid of violating the rules, and the like. Which explains the strange phenomenon that happened that day. It dawned to us that, we were parents-free for a day, no matter how short the hours. We were let loose, free, for awhile. It was refreshing, loitering around the water park without a mean. Spending what’s left of your pocket money on an overpriced ice-cream, staring at boys daringly, and proceeded in laughing it off. Without our parents’ watchful eyes.

Though born and raised in an Asian community, we were somewhat westernized. No thanks to the social media. Ha. I’ve come to envy the life foreigners led. Their carefree parents, hell. Correct me if I’m wrong, their carefree manner throughout life. Reflecting upon myself, I have always scored good, decent grades in school, abide the rules as if my life depended on it. For what? For whom? I have no idea.

Well, at least not til’ a few hours ago. The single, ‘Kids in the Street’, really did open my eyes. Sharpen my perspective towards things. I could almost imagine I, myself, being caught in that case of scenario. & oddly, I savored every moment of it. Thus, I’ve immediately dropped the homework that I’m tending to, at that very instant, and rebelled. Well, rebel in my own sense. Oh, have I mentioned I’ve been surfing the net, practically doing nothing, and even organized a ‘movie date’ with all my girlfriends? Yes, it might mean nothing, senseless. But to myself, it’s a mega-big step. REBEL, REBEL, REBEL.

I know it’s a tad late for new year resolutions, but who cares. Starting from today, I vow to speak up more frequently. Stop shelling myself up, and retracting all the opinions that I have, just to please someone, or for the sake of courtesy, decency. & of course, finally start doing things that I enjoy, immensely. For instance, continue my guitar lessons & paint my nails in 192738173 different shades of color because I desire to.

Ah, yes. Stop being on diet, and eat all I can.

I am positive, one day, I will be able to lead the life that I’ve always wanted and break free from all the rules and regulations. I will travel the world, perhaps I wouldn’t even want to come back, who knows. Life is full of surprises, and currently, my life is taking a drastic turn. A turn which no doubt surprises myself, but of course, I’ve accepted it graciously.

Having said all that, but right now, one step at a time. We only have one life to live. Might as well live to its fullest. Fall in love because your heart tells you so, and so forth. We all heard of that. But it is only now that I’ve completely grasp the statement above. EUREKA!

My rant might or might not matches the context of ‘Kids in the Street’, perhaps I’ve misinterpreted the whole idea entirely, but in my book, this is what ‘kids in the street’ is all about. & this is an awfully lengthy post, sweet Jesus.

‘I’ll burn both ends until my fire’s out, lost in the darkness I can still scream out.”

Burn Both Ends

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:12:29 -0400

To me, kids in the street doesn't just mean putting life before responsibility. It's the rush of adrenaline you get when you take advantage of every moment without considering your responsibilities.
To me, being a kid in a street is ditching 6th period and going to Starbucks with your friend. It's finally cutting out time to hang with your best friend whom you haven't seen in a year because both of you have been really busy. It's sneaking out of tutoring (and almost getting caught) and racing at 80 mph(on local and residential streets) to get Chipotle with 3 of your friends and laughing your head off when one of them screams, "I'm gonna die!" It is listening to music (AAR) and relaxing instead of studying for SAT II physics (every Asian parent's worst nightmare). To me, kids in the street is forgetting about everything in your life when you go horseback riding and racing through the trail not caring about getting caught.
To me, kids in the street is the pure excitement and nervousness of doing those things and wishing those moments would never end.

Draw me a Story, Tell me a Picture

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:12:07 -0400

It was the four of us, the open road, and our last summer together. And that’s all the reasoning we needed. So we piled into the minivan, laid out the blankets, turned up the radio, and headed south. 14 hours south to Tennessee, to be exact. We had no real reason to go there, but looking back there’s no way we could have gone anywhere else. From changing drivers every three hours and stopping at every gas station, to drinking the night away and singing Don’t Stop Believing karaoke while Andrew made friends with a homeless lady.. to ZORBING and museums and aquariums and pools and pocket knives, we accomplished a lot in less than a week. We visited Johnny Cash’s grave. We stopped on the side of the road to go swimming in the river. We drank whiskey and threw it right back up. We carved our names in a tree. We bought way too many fireworks. We had food fights and ate at every barbecue, buffet, and bacon joint the eye could see. Because we wanted to, and because we could. We were wild. We were free. We were together for what could have possibly been the last time. And damn did we do it all, kids in the street.

Burn Both Ends

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:11:48 -0400

To me, kids in the street doesn't just mean putting life before responsibility. It's the rush of adrenaline you get when you take advantage of every moment without considering your responsibilities.
To me, being a kid in a street is ditching 6th period and going to Starbucks with your friend. It's finally cutting out time to hang with your best friend whom you haven't seen in a year because both of you have been really busy. It's sneaking out of tutoring (and almost getting caught) and racing at 80 mph(on local and residential streets) to get Chipotle with 3 of your friends and laughing your head off when one of them screams, "I'm gonna die!" It is listening to music (AAR) and relaxing instead of studying for SAT II physics (every Asian parent's worst nightmare). To me, being a kid in the street is forgetting about everything in your life when you go horseback riding and racing through the trail not caring about getting caught.
To me, kids in the street is the pure excitement and nervousness of doing those things and wishing those moments would never end.

Photo

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:11:40 -0400

Photo

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:11:31 -0400

The Air Is Alive Can’t you just feel it? The Rush, the...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:11:25 -0400

The Air Is Alive

Can’t you just feel it?
The Rush, the energy…its like its in the air.
Can’t you just feel it? Not everyone knows what this feeling is like, but I do. It’s a high…a natural high, maybe an unnatural high, but a high all the same. It’s a addicting. It’s awh-inspiring. It’s missed by me. I morn for those days now, but at the time….I lived. With every breath I took….I lived. The air was alive, and I breathed it in like a glimpse of Heaven.

What It Means To Me To Be 1 Of The Kids In The Street

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:10:17 -0400

What It Means To Be 1 Of The Kids In The Street

this is post I am writing intertwines the Plain White T’s and also the All American Rejects.

What does it mean to you to be a kid in the street?

to me it means that you are recalling the old times in your life that made you happy. The times that made me smile and act like a kid again at heart. Those moments in life where all you can do is just hide from the world the thoughts you are thinking, just be, & also bare the big grin & smile on your face. To look outside a window & stare out into space & wonder what or where you are in your life at this point & wonder what you want to be really doing for the rest of your life.

The Kids in the Street to me reminds me of the Plain White T’s and the Wonders Of The Younger. To finding the part of yourself that you threw or hid away & thought you really lost. That favorite toy you had as a kid like a robot, a doll or even just your Legos or the favorite film you had like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or even Goonies or like Drop Dead Fred. One of the times in your life where you can also realize your age, where you are & the responsibilities we wish we could just toss a side for a day. Just live your life to the fullest in just 1 whole day & do what ever we wanted & throw every last care away. To also just live in the moment of the Life we have & do something totally spontaneous no one would guess we’d do. To find people in our lives who make us also want to be better people to further who we are & yet also make us want to do some good in this world if we can.

Sometimes I wish I could be truly young again like my little nephew in this picture he probably doesn’t have any cares as of this moment in his life he is so young that he is just trying to live each day as it comes.

The Kids In The Street is the AAR’s new album coming out March 26th, 2012 actually & 2 of there songs on the album have been released out so far one is called BeeKeeper’s Daughter & the other is called: SomeDay’s Gone. The story they say behind the album is pretty nostalgic & pretty deep & actually had me pondering & trying to remember what it means to be a Kid In The Street too.

Love Always,

Joanna

Help

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:10:00 -0400

Last year, when I was 14, life was pretty rough. My parents were fighting all the time and I got transferred to a new class where I was always the object of entertainment. Racist jokes, insults towards my smartness (or lack of), you name it and I’ve been there. Except for actual physical abuse of course. One day, I got so overwhelmed by all the pain and I didn’t know what to do so I cut myself. 49 times along my forearm. The relief was amazing. The cutting went on for that entire year. Then on the 2nd of January this year, I met this girl. And she had depression and cut herself every single day. I cant really explain it but for some season I felt that me and this girl had to stick together. Slowly, we got each other through our depression and made new friends. Me and that girl noticed a few other people that seemed to be going through the same things we had gone to so we decided to go to the school councellor and set up this sort of helpline, where students could text their problems to a number (the SIM card would be put into my old phone) and whoever was on duty would text back advice and stuff, so the kids could remain anon if they wanted to. The helpline is going great and I’m so, so glad that me and my friend could help a little bit with making people feel less ostracised or depressed. That’s my great moment. (: xx -

A Day in the Life of a Kid in the Street

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:51 -0400

A Day in the Life of a Kid in the Street

What It Means To Me To Be 1 Of The Kids In The Street

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:24 -0400

What It Means To Me To Be 1 Of The Kids In The Street

johnadreams

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:17 -0400

Hi, my name is Austin. Your music has helped me see my dreams, filled me with joy and aspiration, even when I didn’t know who the hell was behind these words. Sitting in the back seat of my moms car hearing some dude singing about dirty little secrets and darkness turning to light, sent this little 4th grade boy into a part of his mind that he never knew he had the love for himself to see. Thinking about that girl I was too scared to ask out, or how you gotta smile even in the dark. You guys have been my friends for 7 years, and been with me especially when I felt I had no friends. But I know that you have to man up sometimes and remember that my mom loves me, and that she’s the one who sacrificed everything for me because of what my deadbeat dad didn’t have the heart to do. Moving around to my dads and step moms house, having to switch schools, and dealing with alcoholism around me kinda got to me after a while. But through it all I held onto music to give me hope, which includes playin some getar. I wear your bands symbol around my neck so I can always know that when I feel lost in my own fears, I will always have friends and music at my side.

What I think kids in the street means, is being free. Not letting change being forced on you by someone else or their beliefs, but also loving people for the unique characters that they are and make themselves out to be. Being a loyal dog to the things that we are surrounded by way too much, you know like cars, colors, and brands. Using what they are trying to say to you and applying it to yourself, and even if you’re being innocent you don’t care. Maybe seeing the color in someone’s words and immediately understand what feeling they’re trying to give you, and getting that unbreakable trust. I think that’s what being a kid in the street is about. Being stupid, but in a completely right way. I guess that makes no sense when I read it back, but it makes sense to me :p

I put all my pics in a gallery cause it was too many to embed.
http://imageshack.us/g/823/img0100wn.jpg/

This is a painting I made in 5th grade, where we were told to make a Mona Lisa interpretation of ourselves. I keep it on my nightstand and I always think of “here’s another pity, there’s another chance, you try to learn a lesson but you can’t.” a line and a smile I understand all too well now, but wouldn’t have understood back then. The other pictures are from December 2009, one with my friends Chacche, Tom, and Ryan, and the other picture is when me and my friend Robbie went to NYC during Christmas time.

This is a video of a mosh pit at Bamboozle 2011 in New Jersey. Just thought it was a cool video showing how everyone just hides themselves in the midst of the show but still keep some understanding that everyones just bein someone that theyre not. My friend Beddy was in the pit, hes the dude with the tattoos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyX3A4Buc0U

i’m only fourteen and i don’t feel like a kid...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:11 -0400

i’m only fourteen and i don’t feel like a kid anymore. our generation has developed to old to quickly. i live for the moments when i feel free and happy, like as long as you have a smile, nothing can touch you. aar and their music saved me from myself,when no one was there for me, their music and lyrics of wisdom always was. i know the innocence can never last, but atleast feeling free gives the illusion that it is eternal.

I miss being innocent. I miss living in a small country town when I was just eight years old, and...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:05 -0400

I miss being innocent. I miss living in a small country town when I was just eight years old, and even the smallest, most pointless things made me truly smile. I remember when I was happy with the way I looked, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about my weight or appearance. Things have changed. Society has me feeling ugly, not good enough for anyone. It has caused many teenagers to find the solution in self-harm and eating disorders. I never saw myself someone that would do this, but it’s the truth. My insecurities could eat me alive. I just miss not caring what anyone said. I miss how close my family was. I miss all the friends that promised they would never leave, but they lied. I want to be a kid again. I want to not have a care in the world. I want to live for the moment .I want to feel free and happy, like as long as I have a smile, nothing can touch me. The All-American Rejects and their music saved me from myself. The song ‘move along’ inspired me to get past the bad things in life; I listened to it on repeat for literally weeks after my parents’ divorce. It somehow taught me that things may be bad now, but you can always move along and make it through.

I am a very insignificant person in the world.

But being a kid in the street can make me feel a part of something.

Meeting Tyson Ritter would actually complete my life ♥ ♥

I miss being innocent. I miss living in a small country town...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:09:00 -0400

I am a very insignificant person in the world.

But being a kid in the street can make me feel a part of something.

Meeting Tyson Ritter would actually complete my life ♥ ♥

Brothers

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:08:55 -0400

Me and my older brother playing soccer during a rainy July day.

Nightlife

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:08:48 -0400

Youth is a time in life when nothing feels right yet everything seems as close to perfect as it’s going to get. It’s a time of ignorance and angst that becomes a scrapbook of memories for you to share with the younger generation and something to look back on. I have been writing an album for the past 3-4 years (7th-11th grade); the album is, in a way, an autobiography of my youth. From the brightest memories to the worst moments of obscurity and gloom. As of right now, the album is just a collection of demos. These songs represent me as a teen and a kid in the street.