Vienna Teng

by skyrien

music and words by Vienna Teng

we’re here where the daylight begins
The fog on the streetlight slowly thins
water on water’s the way
the safety of shoreline fading away

sail your sea
meet your storm
all I want is to be your harbor
the light in me
will guide you home
all I want is to be your harbor

fear is the brightest of signs
the shape of the boundary you leave behind
so sing all your questions to sleep
the answers are out there in the drowning deep

you’ve got a journey to make
there’s your horizon to chase
so go far beyond where we stand
no matter the distance
I’m holding your hand

—

…that’s just one of the amazing songs that Vienna Teng played/sang tonight at the Union. And I am saying, it was one of the most amazing concerts I’ve been to. From the first time I heard her songs (two days ago) I was amazed at what they had to say–and almost for the first time, in person, she didn’t disappoint.

Songs that meant something to me found even deeper depth from how she created them. Every song had some sort of story behind it–some real, some fictional; but all of them were genuine in emotion. She wrote them at the oddest times (probably what I empathize wiht more though): procrastinating an English paper away, being annoyed at her roommate, and her boyfriend… and wrote songs, in their point of view. That’s somehting amazing for me, something I find really rare in the pop music world–and so each song has its story. Bah, whatever, I’m not writing a review, I’m talking about how amazing the concert was.

One amazing thing about her, besides her is how… normal she looked. She commented that one day, she was being egotistical, and Googled herself; found a site about 20 hits down, where she found a guy who truly loved her music, but also said (paraphrased) “dude, if vienna teng was hot, i would totally stalk her”—lol–whereupon she concluded that she’d take it as a good sign, finding the best of both worlds: good enough to be liked musically, but not hot enough to be stalked.


Teng happy after pulling off some song

Pretty cool how the internet can affect people so far away. Sometimes it seems so private up here… in Xangaworld–yet ANYONE can access what I”m saying… cool in a way?

Haha anyway–her music was AWESOME, and I found her writing process as amazing as the stories themselves. She also sang a song in Mandarin (“excuse my American accent–I’m a 5th grade Chinese school dropout”) which (I believe) was originally a Taiwanese folk song… respectable. THe immigrant story, from so many 1st-2nd generation families are destroyed in the inter-generational conflicts; mine almost was. So many Asian-Americans that venture out of the “traditional” asian specialties (math/sci/eng/med) also strip away their cultural-selves, yet knowing that she at the very least tried, (and probably did well, it was a nice song) to hold on to the stories of her past gives me some hope. I wished I knew the song’s title so I could find it… (more on that later) and looK!:


Autographed CD!

I actually bought her CD (first CD purchase in nearly a year)–I’m just glad to support her, not because she’s Asian-American (and we could definitely use some more Asian artists in this counrty) but I truly appreciated her… songs/stories/humor/attitude… it was good, and the least I could do was to buy the CD (IT WAS A FREE CONCERT!). And for her sake, I shall do all the marketting that I can–OH, she’s coming to CHICAGO later this month too!

Besides, this made it all worth it!

Uh huh–that’s right–whos the man??? I forgot to ask her what her REAL name was… oh well. The dudes flanking her are the Lams, hilarious tite twins that make the Huangs look like arch-enemies–

I also found a hidden track on my CD–playing it, it was the mandarin song she had sung! And my life was complete, and I am gonna sleep now…

lol–oh yea, in response to a question she said one of her favorite programming languages was Java… maybe java aint so bad–:-|

Check her site out (yay marketting!) Free MP3’s!  No guilt!

Xander’s College Life – Chapter 6

by skyrien

Be Perfect

<EDIT> prepending Imagestation Localles!


A Visit to Northwestern  – Moi in front of the beach!


NCHS Homecoming – A Night to Treasure  – Yes!


’04 Northwestern Fall Formal  – LOL

</EDIT>

i am in such a very good mood right now

Time is going by so fast! (YES! Finally, an entry that doesn’t start with “So…”) My second month here whizzed by without much notice—too busy doing so much other stuff. Kind of scary really, the first semester of college is going to be over in six weeks. And what do I have to show for it? I’m on the verge of having my time here become a blur before me; I think it’s time to capture it back! So, onwards to a review!

  1. Managed to stay above the water (mostly) in terms of grades—at least, as of this posting, but another barrage of midterms coming in a week (grr…I will battle you to the death you evil creations! ), who knows?
  1. Made a visit back home every two weeks since getting here—I’ve realized that I should privileged. First time I came out here, it felt like I was being shipped off to some island, far away; it seemed to take forever. It got easier the second time, and the third… then forth. Last time I came back here (on the bus for once!), I watched a stupid movie, talked to Diana a bit, and suddenly, I’m here! I loved being back home, for its familiarity, its comforts (real showers!), and the driving…! I miss everyone back home, every single person I ever talked to, helped, been helped by, made a difference, felt a difference… yes, you too.
  1. But now, it’s about time that I learned to truly live here, and I won’t be going back any time soon; not until Thanksgiving, and that will be a good thing. (yes that means doing the laundry too). At this university, though it wasn’t my first choice, I will thrive!
  1. So much to be thankful for— —I have friends from ages past, and made a few friends for the future. At first, there was massive socialization between new people, and now, it seems to have died down a bit as everyone’s settled. Time for me to renew the social fire! There are so many good people out there… just a matter of crossing paths.

Lol—screw this list, there’s just too much to say. For a while, I thought that college (especially here) wasn’t that different from high school. But it truly is—especially in review, I’ve realized that I can completely rebuild myself; this is the new beginning that is the end of all high school regrets (of which I have many). It is my time, perhaps one of the last, to prove myself in a world I haven’t built. Blessed with this gift, how could I possibly not make the best out of it? I WILL!

More worrisomely, I’ve admittedly—(whoa…worrisomely is a real word?!)—faltered a little bit. I’ve slacked off, procrastinated, and grades have suffered. Time to get crackin’ again—it’s been tough yes, but no one ever said it was easy.

And for a while, I complained about everything here, food, people, even architecture. That was so stupid—and now that’s gonna change. Mind set means so much right? Well it’s about time that I get in the mindset of ruling my world, not letting it rule me. To being perfect.

If you haven’t watched Friday Night Lights , I urge you with all my heart, to do so, for it has inspired me to work, and to live, putting in every ounce of dedication I have to save my sorry butt, knowing that I did everything I could, so that in the face of whatever comes my way, I have been perfect in all I could do/be.

So this is my message to the world today. This is my message from here on till the day I leave this earth! God bless!

.XS.