...what I was going to post for Valentine's Day

On Marriage
Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

"Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss" -Antonio Canova, Louvre

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them...

Isaiah 11:6 -- The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

I think I often underestimate kids. Every time I go home and visit my little brother or my cousins, I'm reminded of this. At times, they undermine all my "intelligence" "knowledge," and "maturity," in one fell swoop. I think about how often the scriptures counsel us to repent and humble ourselves to become as little children. And I wonder... if we study little children, and spend time with them, is it possible to capture some of that wonder and enchantment... is it possible for those of us who are "learned and wise" to remember how to be "a child"? What would that look like? And what exactly did Christ mean when he said that, and how do we enact that commandment-- to become again as little children?

I think that Jonathan Safran Foer has been able in some ways to do this in his book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." I just ordered it on half.com, so if you know me, I might let you borrow it. Many of you have read it. It's about a kid named Oscar, 8 years old, whose father (in the story) died in the Twin Towers. The book is his attempt to come to terms with that death, and pull together other loose strands from his family's frayed and fragmented past.



It's one of my new favorite books, the kind you fall in love with from page one. And one of the reasons I love it so much is because of Oscar's voice. It is full of throbbing pain and heartache, but under-girded with equal amounts of love, hope, and redemption. I would argue with anyone who says it's simply "sentimental," because I believe it's one of the most important books that has been written in recent years. I think in writing this, Foer has in some sense redirected Post-modernism (this literary era we consider ourselves to be in) for the better. But that's another post for another day.

We still have so much to learn. And that's ok. :)

Anyway.

Here are some other kids who just won my heart over. I know that the "scary" Second Coming is supposed to be upon us, but I'm just going say: if this is what is "slouching toward Bethlehem to be born"(below), bring it on. I'll be a tickled observer. Just check out these gals:

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

(This first one just made me chuckle. I really hope that my daughter is this animated.)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

(A couple things I noticed after getting over my own feelings of guitar inadequacy: That's a FULL-SIZE guitar-- freak, it's almost bigger than her body! And look how little her fingers are! Even people with normal sized fingers have a hard time playing a full-size guitar, let alone bar chords. And she's got her theory down-pat. Incredible. I almost can't believe she's from this planet. I wondered until the point in the song where she starts smiling. Definitely human.)

A Song, Simply...

This is my new song (and it's temporary album art, courtesy Elise Bucket Photography). I might put it on my page "The Stuff Bucket" when I become more blog-savvy. For now, it will be here.

I'm competing in Lilith Fair's Local Talent Search, and I while I can't imagine my little ol' blog is generating enough traffic to merit a plea to my readers, I'll do it anyway. Please vote for my song here: http://www.ourstage.com/go/lilithsaltlakecity ...(click on vote). If I am in the top ten by May 28th, the judges will pick out the finalists and I'll have a chance to open for some big act at Lilith Fair in July. So that would be really cool, right?

Now, some explaining about my song. The guitar that you hear was recorded last, and I'm going to blame that for my pitchiness because I think that IT is what is off key, not me :). I mean, maybe its me. But the guitar we used can have problems and we probably should have done the guitar first anyway. This is by far not a finished product (I entered it into the contest on the deadline of the competition), but I think it has potential. This is what I've got now... we'll probably go back and re-mix it later.

Feedback, please!

Variations on a Theme

I like to cut apart magazines, then reassemble the fragments all over notebook covers or guitars or boxes. It's one of my favorite past-times. One of the more serious projects that I've worked on in this manner I started my senior year of high school. I don't want to even guess how many hours it's taken to complete, but this year alone, when I pulled it out again to work on, I've probably spent at least 15 hours going through magazines, cutting, and pasting.

You might recognize a more primitive version as the banner for my blog. I might change it, but I kind of like her fragmented face.

Anyway, she is finally done.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Miss Audrey Hepburn (clap clap clap)


She turned out better than I expected when I started this, and with a different meaning than I had originally planned, too. For those of you more artistically inclined, I would love to hear your interpretations of this piece (there is no right or wrong answer.) Leave those interpretations as comments ;). You might have to open up the bigger version of the photo so you can see everything properly.

I'm still using my mom's 4 megapixel camera, so you might not get all the details that are there. And it's a little blurry.

But I didn't want to just stop there. Cutting out magazines and seeing how things play out can be rather addicting, so here are some of my favorite temporary discoveries/additions to my art that I thought were worth sharing. I give you "Variations on a Theme."


"Mona Lisa Hepburn"


"Mona Lisa Hepburn" + almost perfect Maybelline Hand


"Too Coy for Comfort"


"Take Me to Your Leader"


"Butterfly Kisses"


"The Reticent Wide Receiver"


"The Breautifur Geisha"


"Horsin' Around"


"Smoky Secrets"


"Pearly Whites" -- a tribute to my cousin Mary Ashley, because the smile is hers.


"Anti-Smoking Campaign" (Courtesy of Edward Munch)


"Raising the Woof"


(Haha. I know, this one's just thilly.)

"'Oh Baby' Blues..."


And now just the eyeballs:


Pretty striking, huh? And a perfect fit. I still can't bring myself to glue them on permanently. I mean, I've covered every other part of her... I can't take her eyes. But I am going to keep them poster-puttied to the butterfly in the right corner just so I can keep my options open :)

If anyone can think of a good title, leave a comment. I'm still stumped. 10 points to the winner.