Saying Goodbye

Wow it's been a long since I've done a post. But I don't know, I guess I was feeling a little sentimental, definitely sad that I'm leaving Utah, a place I called home for 16 years. I have loved Utah with all my heart. It is definitely a place I want to call home again someday. But I am excited that I'm moving to Boston. It is a very exciting time for me, as I will stay there for four years. I'm pleased with my new home. Very pleased.

Change is sometimes inevitable. With me moving to Boston, it is inevitable that I have to say goodbye to my home. It is inevitable that I have to say goodbye to my family. It is inevitable that I have to say goodbye to my wonderful friends. Goodbyes for me are the hardest. It is hard knowing that you will be thousands of miles away, and while your feelings and love will never change, you can't always be there for them. That's what's the most hard for me. Wishing I could help the people I love but knowing that I can't be there for them. That's what will be the most hard.

I have been blessed with so many amazing friends. I hate to leave you guys, I really do. It's hard. It's really hard to leave you all when I love you all so much.

Yon Soo P- We went through a lot of battles together. Thanks for being my comrade and family. Love you sista.

Elissa C- You know how I feel about you sister, you know how I feel. I'm so proud of you.

Danny T- You are brilliant and I love you man. Thanks for being in my classes.

Johnny L- Since we were 5, we've been brothers. I love you man. Bros for life.

Zach G- Man, you know how I feel about you. Your music is incredible and you've brought me so much joy. Love you forever man.

Jen M- My swimming buddy! Thanks for being there when I needed you. Love you Jen!

Delaney L- Man we've been buds forever! Love ya sista!

Levi B- My partner in crime. Thanks for everything bro.

Maren C- You listened to me so many times. And I bet you were bored haha. Thanks for being there.

Jane C- Too many battles, too many battles. Thanks for being my comrade.

Rebecca D- You just always made me laugh. Thanks for being my friend.

Benson B- Thank you Benson. You're such an example to me. Love ya bro.

Jae C- I don't know what to say........ You're crazy man. You know how I feel about you.

Nick L- Man.... Nick, you mean the world to me. Thanks for being the greatest example to me.

David S- You're brilliant. You always acted fierce but deep down, you were watching over me like a
giant teddy bear. Thanks David.

Shane M- Always looked up to you. Thank you for being so good to me.

Tayla S- Thanks for being such an amazing friend.

Jon E- Proud of you bro. Love you. Keep doing what you do.

Michelle S- Brother and Sister for life! You've always helped me out. Thanks Michelle.

Aubrey G- You're crazy dude. But I'm gonna miss ya and I love ya.

I'm gonna miss you all so much. So so much. Thank you for turning me into the person I am. You've all had such a huge influence on me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything.

Today I said goodbye to two of the most important people in my life. The first was my piano teacher Dr. Irene Peery-Fox. Dr. Fox has been a teacher, a mentor, and a mother to me. She has taught me how to work hard. She's taught me how to be a good person. For the last 8 years she's nurtured me. She's guided me. She means so much to me. My life will be so empty now without her in my life. Thank you, Dr. Peery for everything. For helping me become a pianist, for teaching me about the important things in my life, for being my mom. I love you very much.

The second, is my best friend, Tosha Kohler. Tosha is simply a remarkable person. She's been such an amazing friend to me, and she's been such a huge influence in my life. She's always been there for me when I was down, when I was sad. When I was going through dark and tough times in my life she was my pillar. We shared so many happy memories together. We talked, we laughed. We danced, we sang. We cried. We went to dances, we saw movies. We made pies, we went on many adventures. She taught me what it meant to love someone, what it meant to care for someone. Thanks for being my world, Tosha, thanks for being everything to me. I was so lucky to have the time I had with you. Thank you for everything Tosha. I love you so, so much. Thank you for all the special memories. I hope that you will always be happy.

Music is such a powerful thing. It connects people. It's such a powerful force in our lives. Through music, we can describe how we're feeling without any words. It brings people together. It makes us happy, it makes us sad. It brings out our most powerful emotions. It makes us feel, it makes us love. It is such a special thing. Here's how I'm feeling:

I'm gonna miss you all so much. Thank you for everything guys. You mean the world to me. I hope you all will be happy and find success in your lives. You all deserve it. Thank you.

Love,

Ray

Senior Ball 2012!!!

Oh goodness............ Still can't really get over how perfect Senior Ball was............. And really, it was perfect thanks to my beautiful and perfect date, Tosha Kohler. How does one describe a princess? Beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, amazing, sweet, nice, funny. Well, she is all of that and so much more. Being with her is a dream come true. Really, words are not adequate enough. I think she can now guess how I feel about her huh? Well, that can't be helped :) Here's a song that reminds me of her. A song says a thousand words and wouldn't you agree it fits her well?

And this one too :)

Thank you for the beautiful night Tosha.

A New Song That I Enjoy

Why hello there. Welcome to another edition of Panda's blog. Hmmm so there's this new song I really like, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1. I pretty much listen to this song all the time now. I listen to it doing homework, doing my sterling scholar portfolio, writing essays, etc. It's a pretty boss piece, full of emotion. The first movement is just amazing, and I want to learn it someday. Listen to this piece, and enjoy!

Hope you're enlightened. Go eat some rice.

Ray

New Stuff that I Enjoy

Why hello there. It has been about two months now? I suppose I should be more diligent about this blog so I decided that I will be posting stuff about once a week. Probably just a few songs that I like or something deeply profound that I come up with which hasn't happened yet and probably won't ever happen, but yeah. We'll see how this goes.

So......... some stuff that I've been listening to............ Let's just say Chopin is a boss.

Yeah, I know it's the most cliched Chopin piece but it really is beautiful. Oh and the pianist is gorgeous too.

My favorite pianist right now. Love his interpretation too. I pretty much use the exact same style for this piece.

My 3rd favorite piano concerto. I don't mean to brag but did you all know that my little brother mastered this when he was 15? Talk about freaking talented. Every musician at Timpview should be jealous. 

Shout out to my bro Conlan for blowing me away with this piece. You are outstanding man, and I can't wait to come listen to your concerts when you're famous.

Oh and you about killed me here too Conlan. Those octaves man....... Made me want to just cry.

Oh my gosh Lucy you were absolutely incredible that night. Your Rachmaninoff moved half the crowd to tears and I was so impressed with your Liszt. Lemme know when you're playing in Vienna to a sell-out crowd will ya? You were amazing. Both you and Conlan left me speechless. I have a lot to learn and look up to.

I really like this one and I'm thinking about learning it next. You think I should?

Hope you all like this stuff. Now go eat some rice.

Ray

Panda's Secret to Stress Relief

Yeah, so most of you out there live stressful lives. School....... ummm....... More School....... Shelton....... Mac.......... Can't wait for college................. Where the real life starts........... Senioritis............ are probably just a few things that the average teenager is stressed about. Well, a lot of you are stressed about your opposite gender, and in that case I cannot help you. But I can help you deal with other kinds of stress. In my life, I have found that music is one of the best ways to relieve stress. Here are a few of my personal favorites that you may want to try.

This is a really soothing song which I pretty much listen to whenever I want to calm down and really feel completely at piece. Feel the vastness and magnificence of the sea. Btw you should all play the game.

I feel that this song represents all of the chaos in my life. A whirlwind of my many troubles. But it's so spirited and lively that I feel like everything will be alright and idk, I just feel happy.

Words just cannot describe this piece. Exquisite. Beautiful. Full of warmth. I usually listen to this piece when I'm sad and stressed. It's one of those pieces that you can drown yourself in. It's a piece that you can just listen to and let all of your emotions out. It's a piece where you can just listen to and cry. :)

Love this song. It's just peaceful. Hopeful.

Some other ones I love are Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto No.1 1st Mvmt, Chopin Sonata in B minor, Chopin Piano Concerto No.1, Liszt Mazeppa and La Campanella, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, and the list goes on and on. Too lazy to find and post all these up. Look these up yourselves since probably 5 of you will see this anyways.

But really, pretty much any kind of music can calm you down, make you feel at peace. Every song on my blog except Friday by Rebecca Black will bring peace to your soul. Music is man's greatest gift to the world, and I'd be willing to take you on anytime for all you that disagree.

Lemme know what kind of music YOU listen to to relieve stress.

Ray >_<

Video Games: Art?

So this is for Jane and Jacob. Remember that one time when you guys were arguing about whether or not video games are art? Well, I'm gonna chip in and just say that I think video games are art because of music. That is, unless, if Jane, you're gonna tell me that the music in the video games is a separate matter. Music is everything. It brings out emotion, it impassions the soul. Music makes video games art. Try this.

Epic

Epic

Epic

What do you humans think?

Ray

Louisiana!!!

My secretary wrote this. The grammar is kinda bad, but I'm not gonna fix it.


so i went to this competition. it was a pretty big deal, i was representing america. and china because i'm chinese. but america because i live here. and there were all these crazy good pianists. and they were intimidating, because their whole life is piano. but i held my own, because i'm ree lu. anyway, i had some ridiculously hard pieces and i sounded pretty good, if i do say so myself. and it was so much fun, and i learned so much, and i was sad to come home. but tosha really missed me, so i guess i had to come home at some point, because that girl is crazy. oh and i looked really handsome in my suit. and that's pretty much it. yay louisianna!


now go eat some rice.
Ray