"Even Giants Need Someone to Look up to."-Shane Koyczan.

"I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." 

-Lily Tomlin

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If You Don't Know Me By Now.

This will be a quick post as I'm off to get ready for work in a minute here. However, in an effort to remain true to consistent blogging, here it is!

I heard a theory going around that people who made dream boards of their futures would more or less end up achieving their goals. Having a tangible target point brought their day to day into a new alignment with the big picture. SO, in light of that, I made collages of different goals and desires for decades in my life. I took pictures and now will share them! (They weren't glued down yet when the pictures were taken, so some of the cut outs are a bit crooked etc. The art is in the imperfection?) 

Dream House

Twenties

Thirties

40's and Beyond

Here's to the future!

And so Here We Are.

 "It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it."-Jacob Bronowski.

I've felt heavy lately. Being burdened with life and with school and with love and with angst -all that fun stuff- I've let my passions slide to the bottom of my priority list, yet again. So here I am. School is done and I'm making my efforts to reestablish balance.

Can I just start by blowing your mind? Please? Seriously...I gripped the edge of my chair when I saw this Pale Blue Dot. That's right. I made the font big so you'd have to want to read it. 

And now that you've been flabbergasted into a state where both nothing and everything seems to be incredibly significant and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, allow me to share with you one of my newest favorite artists. William Fitzsimmons has something about his songs that make 3 or 4 minutes way too short. 

 A bit of a different pace but equally lovable: The Submarines. 

For all the creative types (or those who haven't unleashed it yet), here is a TED Talk to connect with the process and the challenges of living a life of creation. 

And to finish this post off with: a picture I adore. Something about how the woman is faceless makes it incredibly haunting.  The lighting just adds to the very surreal feeling.

 

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The Last Free People in the World.

“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” 

-Dalai Lama

"Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint. " 
- Robert Frost

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." 

-Lena Horne.

The Lamest One Yet

I am exhausted so this entry is this one comic that made me laugh...thank you C&H for brightening up my night.

On Love.

"When Love Beckons to You...follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

-Kahlil Gibran.

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Be Thankful, Dream Big, and Never Give Up.

Music has this fantastic way of setting a mood, or reflecting a mood. This James Morrison Playlist is reflecting where I'm at, and it might set you up for the rest of this post. Enjoy!

-James Morrison Playlist-

 This picture is beautiful, from the lighting to the setting, and all the imperfections in between. Everything about this girl makes me want to know her, and who the photographer is who just thought this moment needed to be captured. 

 

Sun Showers...need I say more? They make me want to put on some sort of a sundress and shiny wellies to squeak around the grass in. 

 

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I adore this picture taken of my grandmother when she was in her early twenties. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Great reminder. "It's a lie to think that you're not worth anything." Breathtaking. Ever notice that it's the handicapped people who do the stuff the healthy people don't always do? Kids with one leg go snowboarding to beat the odds, and kids with two legs watch T.V. Something to think about eh? I take too much for granted.

Infactuation Station

I adore bright lines of converse sneakers...when I get rich I'll own at least one pair of these beauties! My favorite though is when they start to get that rugged, raggedy look to them...it always makes me want to slide them on and then hitchhike somewhere with my guitar and a notepad.

Speaking of bright colours, check out this slick art form! I feel inspired to try this out now...would be a cool paint design for a coffee table.

I adore candle light. I've decided that when I have my own place, and am married, every dinner will be candle lit. If it's hot dogs eaten over a messy table, that's alright...there will be candles and music just because I can.

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There is so much life in this song that it needs to be shared.

This is one of many adorable homes that belong in fairytales that can be found here.

I'd love to have a little vacation home like this out in the country...with those candle-lit dinners, of course.

“When you love somebody....

...your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” 
 -Karen (age 7) 

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It is Valentines Day, and with that is an extra long post complied of everything that made me go 'awwww' just a little bit. No matter your relationship status, this day is about more than just romantic love...it is about loving and being loved. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it is something we can all use a little more of. 

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"And think not you can Direct the course of love, For love, If it finds you worthy, Directs your course."-Kahlil Gibran

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"It's not that I can't live without you...it's just that I don't even want to try."

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"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control."

"For you see, each day I love you more. Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow."

A True Love Story: Couple Reunites after Decades Separated by the War.

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."-Winnie the Pooh

"I, being, poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."-William Butler Yeats

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"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more."-Erica Jong

"When love is not madness, it is not love." -Pedro Calderon de la Barca

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."-Eden Ahbez

"Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be."-Robert Browning

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-Five Fantastic Links-

Take my word for it.

-Waterlife.-

-Philosophy Timeline.-

-World Statistics in Real Time.-

-Playlists for Any Mood and Style.-

-Cynanide and Happiness Comics.-

"So Move Pen, Move."-Shane Koyczan.

This song has to be one of the sweetest concepts for a music video I've seen...very appropriately lovely this close to Valentines Day.

This is an incredible compilation of work done from a variety of artists and put into one book. This picture is just a sample of everything else that can be found here.

I'm not even sure how to describe it, but this picture makes me realize how big the world is and how small I am. It's like when you see a Planet Earth feature on insects and see ants communicating intelligently; there's this strange realization that not only am I only one of many humans, but I'm one of many species. Just when I think I'm grasping the idea that in every house on my block each person is doing something, and to each person they are the most important thing ever (and then in each city/country/continent etc.),I realize that each species has individual beings in each city, country, continent etc.

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This is one picture of many sassy homework assignments that can be found here. I'm suddenly very tempted to do this to my teachers...

This poem makes me cry..."our relationship was an anthem composed of words like 'gotta go.'" Haunting.

'Start Every Day With a Smile and Get it Over With.' -W.C. Fields

Today I'm going to begin by loving something because it doesn't exist in my world... I love that I don't have to conform to these dating guidelines
(funny how what makes me laugh now was a serious reminder to women
not long ago!)

-How a Woman Should Behave on a Date.-

Everything about this picture makes me want to sidle up to a bar and ask for a martini...shaken, of course, not stirred.

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One day I'll own this sneaky suitcase-chair. I love the colours and that brilliant re-use of an old piece of luggage.

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I love sassy observations!

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I love 'Men in Belted Sweaters,' but not for the reasons the advertisers wanted me to I suspect.

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Things Which Implore Me to Adore

Gorgeous reminder.

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I love fresh ways of looking at things...this certainly made me re-think some of my excuses.

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Louis Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Albert Einstein.”-H. Jackson Brown

Beautiful song, Tenuousness, from artist Andrew Bird.

Marcell is an adorable little shell...I think I'm in love.

Incredible, genius film...bringing a book to life, of course I love it!

Maybe That's What it all Comes Down to. Love.

"Maybe that's what it all comes down to. Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way. And maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all."

-Emily Giffin

All from this glorious site here.

Something in the Air

This song made me smile...so here it is to kick off the beginning of this post. Today is not a happy day. I'm not feeling any love today. But this blog is about choosing to love, and not about simply pretending that the world is always alright. It feels like my life is crashing around me, but I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm intentionally focusing on the good today.

And, while on the topic of music, here's a perfect playlist that I'm in love with today. (Fantastic site too, by the way!)

Here's another playlist from the same site that has seen me through more than one essay:

Delinquent Barbie made me laugh...just one more reason for parents to not want their daughters to emulate this spunky little role model.

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Remember how I said I love words and would keep bringing them up? Here it is again...20 very brilliant words I would adore back in our regular vocabulary. Some of these words definitely made me kench!

-20 Obsolete English Words that Should Make a Comeback-

I love this video...it makes me want to break into a chorus of this song here. "I love the whole world, and all its craziness!"

More Wonderful Wonders

It's 2:30 am as I start this and, since one of my main loves is sleep, I shall be keeping this to the point. I love this scene from the movie, 'Withnail and I.

'"The carrot has mystery. Flowers are essentially tarts - prostitutes for the bees..."

What I love so much with this picture is the concept behind the set-up; negative spaces in a photograph can be beautiful. The empty bits around the subject, that is, not covered by props or distractions. It made me think about what I fill my own negative spaces in my life with. Am I comfortable just being, or do I always need some sort of activity to fill my time and blur my thoughts?

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I love flowcharts and common sense...this combination is a beautiful thing!

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I mentioned in a previous blog post that I love finding books with underlined words or quotes, even if they were my own. It's incredible looking at what stands out to people...and, half the time, I'm amazed at what meant something to myself at the time I read the book.

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I love big, tall beds. Those super fluffy ones that you have to climb up into, filled with pillows and down blankets and thick sheets. I'm at that strange age where I'm old enough that I'm an adult, but a new enough adult that there are times in my day where I'm still surprised at my own autonomy; I get to own this type of bed now, and no longer have to crawl up into my parent's bed for this level of luxury comfort. Furthermore, I just ate a cookie after brushing my teeth.

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Things that Make me 'Un-Bloody-Hinged' (-Chasing Liberty).

This has to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen...ever. Can you imagine waking up to see sunlight, streaking through the water, bouncing off your skin?

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But if you're not careful you might end up re-enacting this little beauty here.

One of my favorite internet clips of all time. It's ok, news reporter, I can't breathe either.

And while I'm on videos that make me laugh, this one is fantastic.

I love black and white photos and train stations. There's something about the combination of the past and the promise of a fresh experience colliding that gets to me.

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And, on that note, I love to get lost. Last year, one of my favorite games was to try and get lost around the city. I would hop onto a bus with a pocketful of change and see where jumping off at random stops would get me to. I always found a way back home, but I guess the real appeal was that - for a short period of time - it was just me and the world in our own secret meeting places.

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A Happy Moment

Journal Entry from January 13, 2009

"Last night I was with two close friends walking around by the beach.It was probably about two in the morning and I left them behind and walked by myself for the equivalent of a block or two. It was dark...incredible. Silent. The houses were sleeping, the stars were yawning. The waves rolled over in their sleep, the foam curled up into the sand on the shore and sank between the rocks with contented sighs. 

The clouds raised their arms over their heads and stretched their toes across the sky before tucking their knees back into their chest...it was breath-taking. I felt like I had walked into nature's bedroom, a trespasser. Tip-toeing in, aware that I wasn't invited. I watched the heavens sleep, the earth dream, nature rest. 

I didn't belong, but I couldn't walk away. I stole sneaky glances at the sweet face of the earth snuggling into itself, away from the destruction and chaos of human interaction."

5 Things Which Restore my Love for Humanity

Thank you, Juno, for coining my more recent feelings toward humankind.

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However, don't lose hope. This is a blog about things I love and therefore I have complied 5 things to drive away the 'People-Suck' blues...absorb and feel the love for the things that others have created or experienced.

I want to take more cabs after hearing this...

If the Michael Jackson cabbie video didn't make you want to take call a taxi, this will. And it might make you cry like a baby like I did.

-THE CAB RIDE I'LL NEVER FORGET.-

Ah...the classic Drunk Octopus. He'd never get past a cop with those drunk eyes!

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There are no words to explain this final lecture of a university professor. Warning: there is a great chance you will not finish this video the same person as when you started it.

And, if you're a huge mess now, just remember the wise words of Dr. Seuss: 'Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.'

This is one of many incredible pictures of street art that can be found here. That's right...you are looking at a mural.

5 Things for 5 Senses

Today is a list of 5 awesome things for all of our five delightful senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

First of all, let's kick 'er off with sight. I adore images where a quick moment is captured and frozen mid-point...a raindrop falling, an explosion exploding; you name it, I love it (Thank you Mythbusters for making me love things slowed down)! For today, I present The Epic Bubble Pop.

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There's nothing like the sound of a bongo drum jam session. If you've never been at the beach on a hot summer night, surrounded with cheap wine, off-key singing, and the heartbeat of worn-out bongos...well, You've missed out. Some of my favorite memories involve Mexican blankets, stars, the waves and a drum. But don't take my word for the beauty of it...listen.

When I need some time to think, throwing pottery is one of the best ways to clear my mind. I have an old kick wheel and it makes this great hum when the momentum smooths out. Everything feels quieter around me and I can center on my hands, and how the slightest touch ripples through the clay in a perfect, seamless movement. I love the feeling of wet clay moving through my fingers. It's like socially acceptable mud-pies I suppose.

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The smell of a fresh summer rain on musty pavement always gets me. It's that smell of old buildup washing away, of the air clearing.

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I love the taste of ice cream. It's not only the taste of ice cold chocolate and vanilla, but it's also the taste of road trips and the line for the ice cream truck in the cul-de-sac. It's the taste of sticky fingers and not knowing what calories were, and the taste of success over having finished all the peas at dinner time. Ice cream brings me back to days where the biggest decisions were over sprinkles or nuts.

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