historical fiction / fairytales

L - Nikon / T - iphone

New reading - a book I received at Christmas - a great white elephant score. I thought it was interesting that I ended up with this book. I love historical fiction, especially when it's about an artist. What about you - what type of reading do you enjoy? / my children's lit reading list - grimm's fairy tales, frankenstein and dracula to name a few. should be fun.

words / notes

L - Nikon / T - iphone

It's good when packages contain things we need (jewelry supplies for me and school books for her) but it's always more fun when they contain something we want - books for me and records for her.
I ordered these random books based on blog mentions or amazon recommendations. I'll let you know if they're any good. Do you have any good books to recommend? I'm always looking for a next good read. / i was excited when the UPS man came to my door this time - all of my text books had already been delivered so i knew this had to be the records i ordered. yah!

exciting / boring

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

I received the most beautiful piece of art in the mail today. It's a Puffy Wall Heart with Birdie Love Bird and I am in love. This piece is beautifully crafted of porcelain. Now I just have to find the perfect place to hang it. Don't you just love etsy? I have to say I'm sort of addicted to shopping there. / i was pretty excited when i first got those packages from amazon. but then i remembered mom had ordered all my text books from there... not as excited anymore. but truthfully i do like my classes so far, i'm just saying this isn't exactly my idea of pleasure- reading books.

creative / expressive

L - Nikon / T - Nikon film camera

I was so excited to come home and find a box from Amazon. I was on Amazon the other day looking for a particular book a blogger mentioned. One book lead me to these type of books which really caught my interest. Feeling like my creativity needed a push I bought some of them. Look at these books - don't they look exciting? I can't wait to dive in - absorb the knowledge within. I'm hoping they will inspire me - to update my etsy site, to get a more active with creating and selling, and to create a blog that has a purpose and stands out. I have so many ideas - paintings, forged silver jewelry, direction for the blog, scannography visions, weavings, sewing projects, - all in my head. They're doing me no good in there. The problem is I seem to get motivated and excited to work on my own stuff when I'm at work doing other peoples projects and by the time I get home my energy for creating has died. Well Spring is a time to grow - to spring forth with new life, new color, and energy. Maybe after reading the books I will feel a new motivation, and not afraid to try some new things. / Taylor sent me this photo tonight. Those are some crazy, colorful men's shirts aren't they? This particular shop makes olds things look fresh and exciting - desirable. I'd say a guy would have to be pretty creative and bold to wear one of these - not afraid to try new things - to stand out and be expressive. The photo was taken as a segment of her photo assignment - "the role color plays in our culture".

"Hail in the Spring, a start of new beginnings.

Creativity awe-inspiring gives a reason to be living.

Plant life showing life anew, a wonder to be found.

New born lambs playing in the fields, birds nesting all around

People enjoying the sun and the warmth, feeling good to be alive.

Spring gives a purpose to our lives, a touch of Paradise."

- Kay M. Sutton, Bring in the Spring

read / re-read

L - Canon / T - film sp

I do like to read but I don't always pick out books that keep my attention. Lucky for me I have a nice library right in my office complex and can check out the latest releases and just swap them out if they don't pull me right in - some books just don't. Both of these books sounded interesting - I had just read an excerpt from them on npr.org so I checked them out today and will see if one grabs me.

I don't re-read books very often but I have a few that I enjoyed enough to re-read. Taylor on the other hand re-reads often. In fact she told me she had recently re-read "The Road" and is now re-reading "The Bell Jar". What about you? Is there a book you enjoy over and over again? / i'm re-reading the bell jar by slyvia plath.

"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." – chapter seven

growth / ambition

L-Nikon D-60 / T - Nikon 35mm

It was so quiet high up on this mountain top not far from Sugar Mountain. Quiet, windy and cold, but so peaceful. And what a view. What a beautiful site these farms were - acre after acre of neatly planted rows of rich evergreen. These trees are meticulously cared for - pruned and protected – in order to grow to the perfect height and shape for a Christmas tree. In fact, it takes approximately 12 to 15 years for a single tree to grow, from seedling to full height, to be harvested for a Christmas tree? That's a long time and a lot of hard work on the part of the farmer, but they say it's well worth the effort when their trees become the centerpiece of our holidays. Maybe there's something to learn from this: that which is worthwhile doesn't come to us without hard work, proper care, dedication and determination.
i love the quiet of a library, it's ability to elicit focus from whoever is experiencing it. focus, the desire for new knowledge and ambition - things that are undeniably important in one's life. it's necessary in one's self and those you surround yourself with. one must always know to reach and strive and push oneself to growth.

I feel like there is alot analogous to these two images, but I struggle with how to pull it together. Again, I leave it to you.

fresh flowers / fresh new book

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

I sure enjoy coming home and there still being a couple of daylight hours left. I like walking around the yard in the late afternoon sun, watching the birds and seeing what flowers I can cut and bring in. That's one thing I love about this time of year - being able to have fresh flowers on the table. The spring blossoms are on their way out and I want to enjoy them as long as possible, so tonight I cut snowball viburnum and coral azaleas blossoms to put in my vase. They won't be suitable for cutting next week I'm sure, but new flowers, like the hydrangeas, will be on their way soon. / i'd had this book, "the effects of light", for a very long time and had started reading it over a year ago, but i picked it up again over spring break and enjoyed reading it when i came back to school. one line that really stuck out to me was when one of the characters who is talking about her father, an art historian, and says, "i think just about every artist who ever lived is making art for one reason: to show what it's like to be alive, what it's like to be really here." it's neat to think about art in that way, the common aim with so many different styles and genres of art but a binding force between all artists.
now it's time to start a fresh new book.

fast growing / fast reading

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices...
-Charles Kingsley

I'm so happy to see my ajuga plants coming up. I keep dividing the plants, trying to get them to cover the slope along my path in the back yard. It grows along the ground, quickly spreading by runners, and soon creates a thick carpet of foliage that's really pretty with it's purple spikes and dark purplish leaves. Ajuga is a great plant because it will grow in full shade or full sun - how many plants do you know that do well in either sun or shade and tolerate drought? And it's an excellent plant to use for erosion control due to it's extensive root system. Can't beat it. / i go through books rather quickly. i'm already on my fourth one since spring break and i'm almost finished with it! if anyone has some suggestions of either classics i should read before i die or modern books that they think i would like to check out, they would be greatly appreciated!

recipes / reference

I bought myself this beautiful cookbook titled "Apples for Jam" by Tessa Kiros - admittedly because it has beautiful photos. Interestingly the over 200 recipes are organized by color - red, orange, yellow, pink, green, gold, white, brown, monochrome, stripes and multicolor. It combines poetic writing, art and time-tested recipes shared for generations – the pages are filled with gorgeous photos and children's artwork. And, throughout, little snippets like this "...then we sat on the doorstep, munching, staring at the cherry pinks and plum purples, the lemon blossom, the blue sky, and the soft whipped cream white of the clouds". How can you not love a book like that, regardless if you cook or not? Taylor next time you're home we'll fix one of the dishes together - I think you'll like it. / today, believe it or not, was my first time ever setting foot in my school's library. last semester i used my computer or a book i already possessed for research. we were sent there, to the library, to find inspiration for creating some sort of "monster" for our drawing class – we are to compile images of things, reminiscent of arcimboldo (take a look at his work). i started out wanting my monster to be in the style of cyberpunk, but i pretty much changed my mind while i was inside. it was very nostalgic being in there, whispering and searching for the perfect book to give me inspiration.

reading / listening

When I picked up this book I didn't know that it was the last of a series. hahaha (I've never read the others) but it seems like it holds together on it's own (I'm not very far in to it). At work we have a "library" of books that people bring in and I needed something to read today so I chose this - The Careful Use of Compliments. I make sure I get outside for a short break everyday. We have a beautiful courtyard to sit in and on a day like today of course I can't resist. OH the breeze, the sun - perfect... looks like she had the same idea / just had to have a starbucks today between classes. i try to limit my visits there through the week but it was just so nice out i couldn't resist. chai soy latte please, and on my ipod: dear ms. leading by the dear hunter, this is it, this is it by as cities burn, jesus christ by brand new, act appalled by circa survive, don't let them see you cry by manchester orchestra
What was your last favorite read? / What's on your ipod?