Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Two things.
"You need two things on every page. You must have one beautiful sentence, beautiful enough that someone would want to read it to a friend. You must have an invocation of one sense beyond sight and sound. You need the first because you are competing with all the dead writers and the second because you are competing with God." -- Don Webb
Interestingly enough, I wiki'd Don Webb since I had never heard of him before, and he's a fantasy/sci-fi writer. And former High Priest of the Temple of Set. Does that wonderful, incisive advice on writing lose meaning because of who it came from?
One more quote, which finally, succinctly defines the purpose of this blog (which I've been searching for since I started it 7 years ago):
"Integrate writing into your life. They are not separate. Going to an event? Write about it. Fighting with the family? Write about it. Angry with the driver next to you? Write about it. You are living your life anyway, why not capture those moments and use them for your writing. Integrate writing into your life and you will never lack writing ideas." -- Douglas Welch
Other great advice from a variety of writers here.Labels: quotes, writing life
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Twenty
"When we lose twenty pounds, we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty."
-- Woody Allen
I recently heard this quote on the latest podcast of The Splendid Table (which I also recently discovered via Sarah), and I just love it. Just thought I'd share something lovely to start/end your day.
P.S. OMG I have comments on this season's Project Runway (hereafter affectionately known as Proj Runz) contestants, but I'll keep 'em to myself until next week. Though I will say I quickly learned you cannot judge a book by its bathing-in-self-tanner-cover.Labels: project runway, quotes
Monday, March 10, 2008
Good Things for Monday.
(image and bobbypin by foundling)
that extra hour of daylight
time to wear poppy bobbypins in your hair
finding a Beard Papa's near me! Can't wait to stop by after work and pick up a box of incredible cream puffs.
the Reuban sandwich from Follow Your Heart
Design for Mankind's two inspiration zines for download
finishing season 2 of Arrested Development
a newly Netflix'd Flight of the Conchords waiting at home
Fierce: The Hot Mess Makeover Show
cruising the Target makeup aisles (guilty pleasure) on Sunday afternoon
a brand new pot of MAC Fluidline (it will change your life)
cool breezes during a hot nap
baking Lime Meltaways
There's a lot to be pleased about and happy for right now, so I'm holding on with all the might my tiny little hands have. Trying not to let crappy health insurance companies and recurring health issues get me down. Trying not to let recent setbacks or disappointments muddy the gorgeous days. Set back the setbacks. I'm going to take more walks, read Mary Poppins, draw in my sketchbook, kiss my sweet boyfriend, and paint. And I'm going to be okay.
Let me leave you on this gorgeous Monday with this quote by Rainer Maria Rilke:
"So you musn't be frightened, dear Mr. Kappus, if a sadness rises in front of you, larger than any you have ever seen; if an anxiety, like light and cloud-shadows, moves over your hands and over everything you do. You must realize that something is happening to you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any misery, any depression, since after all you don't know what work these conditions are doing inside you?"
Labels: good things, quotes
Monday, March 03, 2008
Something I come back to again and again....
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
-- Marianne Williamson Labels: quotes
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful.
Girls, 11"x14", acrylic on canvas
This is the painting I did for my mom for Christmas; I think she really liked it. My mom is very funny - every year she tells us not get her anything, that she wants to save up Christmas credit so that when my brother and I have "real jobs", we can get her something big. I gift her anyway.
It was a really lovely break. I spent a lot of time with family, a lot of time with Ryan, and a lot of time sleeping. I read a lot, baked a lot (i.e. Nigella's Dense Chocolate Loaf the day after Christmas), ate a lot, watched delectable films in the theater (Sweeney Todd, my goodness the costume design!), and indulged in some guilty pleasures (Girls Next Door marathons). I'm ready to swing back into business as usual, armed with optimism and a shiny new to-do list. Among them, blogging every day this month to get in the writing groove.
Today, I'll leave you with a wonderful quote about the new year from a wondrous writer (who, I'm positive, would never talk about his writing and how damn writerly he is even though he also has a blog):
"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
Labels: artsy girl, quotes
Sunday, June 10, 2007
From the Weekend
"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" -- Kurt VonnegutLabels: good things, losangeles, quotes
Saturday, June 02, 2007
There is enough time to be everything you want to be.Labels: photolog, quotes
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Maximalist Merriment
"Get rid of all your boring, tiresome friends. Make friends with cabaret stars, exotic dancers, and down-on-their-luck royalty instead."
-- Jonathan Adler
A few of my fashion illustrations for my final project; they're framed in black wood and ready to go up in my walk-through closet.Labels: arts+crafts, quotes
Saturday, March 31, 2007
on the eve of the eve of starting a new job
"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."Labels: growing up, quotes
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Love-centric
The world is smaller than you think, and the people on it are more beautiful than you think.
-- Bertram van Munster
I'm so Valentine-minded right now, finding myself drawn to cute vintage valentines even though I've yet to send all my Christmas cards still (I know, sick!), sweet Valentine's mixes at the local five Starbucks (the cover is so charming!), a tiny pink hyacinth plant that's now sitting on my windowsill. Participating in Free People's Valentine swap is also helping me get into the mood. I'll take pictures of the scarf I'm crocheting once I finish! I even made a themed soundtrack for this month, to your left, and am reading The History of Love (so good so far).
Valentine's Day is one of the craftiest holidays around, and so I've found myself reveling in all the pink and red and lace instead of rebuking the commercialism of the holiday. It's all in how you celebrate! And this year I'm especially grateful of all the love I've received from all my friends and family this year. My life is perfect, even when it's not.
On another note, because of the stress of job-hunting and growing up and all matters of that sort, I've taken to baking again. I found this adorable vegan cupcake website: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World from the people who brought you the book of the same name.Labels: arts+crafts, quotes
Sunday, January 28, 2007
All Happy Couples Are Alike, It's the Unhappy Ones Who Create The Stories
This past week has been pretty insane. All I know is that more changes are bound to be afoot very very soon.
I started art classes at Otis this weekend. The Marker Rendering Class turned out even better than I had hoped. I've been wanting to take a perspective class even though Otis doesn't offer one, but the instructor for this class is not only teaches marker rendering techniques, he teaches and emphasizes perspective! I'm so excited to become a better drawer in these next few months. Tomorrow I start Life Drawing at night, and the best part will be Ryan taking the class with me!
I've also watched Charade & An American In Paris this weekend, which are both really good (despite the extremely drawn out dance sequences in the latter). I'm almost done with Feast of Love by Charles Baxter, FINALLY. It's rich with beautiful passages, but also skillfully nuanced in how well Baxter captures the individual voice of each character. The novel shifts first person POVs between the few main characters in the book who are only loosely related to each other, and does it so well. I highly recommend it. I plan on digging into The Alchemist, The History of Love and Jane Eyre next, I really need to step up my reading goals for this year.
Thursday was our one year anniversary and I handmade a reconstructed sketchbook for Ryan. I don't think I want to say much else about it all except that I revel every day in how incredibly lucky I am.
I'll leave you with this short excerpt from Feast of Love:
People don't go to psychiatrists and pay good money to talk at length about how happy they are. Talking can spoil it. As a rule you don't settle down at the end of the day with a beer and tell your friend the particulars of how you lucked out and how well the day and the week and the year went, unless you're the gloating type. You just don't do that. It's provocation. You find some other neutral ground. If you're smart, you keep happiness to yourself.Labels: arts+crafts, books, films, photolog, quotes
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