| Excerpt from Walter Pater's "Renaissance" |
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| 05:53am 28/10/2009 |
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mood:  enthralled music: "Mr. Blue Sun" - Electric Light Orchestra
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"The service of philosophy, of speculative culture, towards the human spirit, is to rouse, to startle it to a life of constant and eager observation. Every moment some form grows perfect in hand or face; some tone on the hills or the sea is choicer than the rest; some mood of passion or insight or intellectual excitement is irresistibly real and attractive to us - for that moment only. Not the fruit of experience, but experience itself is the end .... The theory or idea or system which requires of us the sacrifice of any part of this experience, in consideration of some interest into which we cannot enter, or some abstract theory we have not identified with ourselves, or of what is only conventional, has no real claim upon us ....
... as Victor Hugo says: we are all under sentence of death but with a sort of indefinite reprieve... Some spend this interval in listlessness, some in high passion, the wisest, at least among "the children of the world," in art and song. For our one chance lies in expanding that interval, in getting as many pulsations as possible into the given time. Great passions may give us a quickened sense of life, ecstasy and sorrow of love, the various forms of enthusiastic activity, disinterested or otherwise, which comes naturally to many of us. Only be sure it is passion - that it does yield you this fruit of a quickened, multiplied consciousness. Of such wisdom, the poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for its own sake, has most. For art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those moments' sake."
- Walter Pater, 1868 |
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| 07:51pm 12/11/2008 |
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I'm going to try to follow through with this one. I really am.
I figure 70% of my entries are friends only anyway, so... why not? I could use a cool banner. :)
And I'm planning on changing the banner every now and again. I've got a few lined up and I'm rather excited...
So, you read it... friends only. Shoo! Or add me and comment. |
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Read 4 - Post |
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| My own cup of sea |
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| 10:40am 18/07/2008 |
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mood:  peaceful music: "Swansea" - Joanna Newsom
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Cape Cod is lovely.
The salty breeze has permanently saturated my hair in a tangle of sea smells and wild snarls.
Such is Cape beauty.
I'm listening to Belle and Sebastian and Joanna Newsom.
I'm enjoying fresh farm stand lettuce with goat cheese, dried cranberries, and cucumbers.
I have my pup dozing across my feet and a wide view of the sea out the door.
I need nothing more from life.
My love waiting for me in the courtyard of the Ladies' Library. |
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| 05:47pm 26/02/2008 |
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I forgot what writing is to me.
"Why must we define ourselves? What do we define ourselves by? Or against?
Why must we always understand? Science, mythology, mathematics. Personality tests, clique labels, reasons for being the way we are. The who we are. Why we are who we are. Or are they not so much reasons as guidelines on how to be someone you can understand, someone who fits the description in the box. Maybe those who play to society’s archetypes just want to understand themselves. Maybe that’s all we ever want."
I think it is. |
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| Second opinions? |
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| 04:53pm 31/05/2007 |
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mood:  busy
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I was just informed that Pooh Corner won the "Best Show" award from WIQH. I'm beaming. I could honestly not be more proud.
Okay, so maybe this is just a high school radio station award, and my competition is mainly freshmen and sophmores playing Fall Out Boy or goofing off with sound effects and being very, erm... unprofessional shall we say, but even so. This is the girl who generally has zero luck and the last thing she won was a washcloth tatoo prize for pairing rabbit tracks with rabbits at the girl scout environmental day which she helped run. I mean, really.
So in celebration, I am treating myself to a new kid's cd.
The only thing is that I'm finding everything has started to melt together and sound the same after just so many hours of playing the stuff. It's like asking whether Baa Baa Black Sheep is better than Mary Had a Little Lamb... you know both like the back of your hand and you can't quite tell which one would probably be more likeable on first listen. (Right guys? Please tell me that you know what I'm talking about and I am not in fact completely lost in childrens' culture with no hope of returning with sanity...)
So, I figured I would ask you guys.
Would the following contestants please step forth...
A) Use Your Napkin (Not Your Mom!) is done by bluegrass / folk / country singer Kathy Kallick, and contains songs with cute and funny lyrics and a great amount of upbeat and just-plain-fun energy. My only fear is that, well, it's bluegrass / folk / country music, which isn't exactly what they're used to hearing. Will it keep the kids dancing, or will it just give the parents headaches?
B) No! is a fantastic sounding indie children's cd entirely by They Might be Giants. The music is very... indie. A little quirky. It's silly, but not in the "giggle giggle" children's sense, more of the "beep boop toodle doop meowachoop" way that might be just a little too strange for six or seven year olds. Is it too far out, or would it be a refreshing and fun break from the typical?
C) Rocket Ship Beach is by Dan Zanes, ex-lead singer of the Del Fuegos, and features guests such as Sheryl Crow and Suzanne Vega. The songs are really just your typical classic childrens' songs, but are performed in such an exhuberant and overall talented fashion, that it's not painful to hear over again. And of course I do feel slightly compelled to get it because what's a childrens' radio program without "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and such?
D) For the Kids is a wonderful album made up of all sorts of popular artists including Cake, Guster, Barenaked Ladies, and Wilco singing both classic and silly new kids' songs. I find it pretty neat to hear these artists who play all sorts of popular radio music switch genres entirely, and am impressed at how well they manage to make the songs their own. Again, it's basically your typical children's cd done by popular performers, and therefore isn't absolutely awful to hear on your fourteenth time around, but it's really just the same as much of the other stuff I play, and I'm thinking that I might be up for something more exciting and unique this time. Thoughts?
E) House Party is another album performed by Dan Zanes with a scattering of other artists as well. From the reviews, it sounds like the kids are absolutely addicted to this one and the parents don't mind one bit. Just what I need?
Thoughts and suggestions would be much much much appreciated.
If you can convince me to get a certain cd, I'll thank you on air if you'd like me to. It will be your fifteen seconds of fame. How could you possibly pass that up? :P |
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Read 7 - Post |
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| 02:13pm 19/05/2007 |
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music: "Passing Afternoon" - Iron & Wine
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You know those days when you wake up and feel so much more fragile, so much more vulnerable than usual? But in the best way possible. You're so alive. You feel everything fifty times more deeply and you're so connected to life and being and living. And then a song you've never truly listened to comes on and you cry because you never realized there could ever be something so completely beautiful. It's my favorite kind of day. |
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Read 2 - Post |
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| 12:16am 09/11/2006 |
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mood:  shattered
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Sick. Sick. Sick. Nauseous.
How can this be happening again? |
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Read 3 - Post |
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| *Poof* |
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| 07:58pm 24/10/2006 |
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mood: confident music: "Uh-Merica" - Regina Spektor (today's obsession)
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Anyone know where I can get a tutu and leotard and wings and a fairy wand?
I'm not looking for Learning Express or something... Quality is pretty important.
AND I have about 95% of the million hour oil painting done.
It's still going to be slippery when I bring it in, though. Oops? |
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Read 2 - Post |
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| So bored. |
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| 02:56pm 14/10/2006 |
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mood:  annoyed music: "What's Golden" - Jurassic 5
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Grawr.
I hate wasting time. Watching the hours roll by and finding that I've done nothing makes me anxious and annoyed with myself.
Example: Spending four straight hours in front of the sewing machine and walking away with a destroyed plain tank, and new patch and beadwork that I don't even like on an old shirt.
So, what do I do? I eat cookie dough and figure I'll waste more time on playing the Sims 2 for a few hours.
Somebody drag me out of my house...
Oh, and I can't go to World/Inferno tonight. Sorry guys. I'm guessing at this point that none of you are going either? |
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| NEVER taking these off |
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| 10:17am 09/10/2006 |
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I HAVE PINK CAT EYE GLASSES!!!
As well as a good faded belt and new fishnets and tons of other stuff.
Old Gold and Power Pop are the best stores in the world.
Love love love |
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| Regina Spektor anyone? |
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| 03:29pm 28/09/2006 |
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mood: much better music: "Beautiful" - Belle and Sebastian
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Hi all...
I've got an extra ticket to see Regina Spektor at the Avalon on the 6th... anyone interested? It's about $25 (Ticketmaster is ridiculous) and I need to get rid of it. And would love company. :)
Let me know.
AND in case you don't know... Dispatch is playing one more concert. NYC here I come!? |
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Read 6 - Post |
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| 06:19pm 16/09/2006 |
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mood: content music: "Mouth Wooed Her" - Animal Collective
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Things I did today...
- Failed miserably in attempting to make eggs for breakfast
- Got clobbered in a white skirt by five dogs playing in thick mud
- Downed an entire Kimball's ice cream
- Saw the newww exhibit at Decordova
- Cried for the chimps
- Sketched. A lot.
- Made a stranger happy
- Wandered through the woods
- Burned Pickman three cds
- Concluded that I'm a emotional extremist
- Worked on the bitty bunny that I haven't touched for weeks |
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| Name Suggestions |
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| 01:47pm 09/09/2006 |
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mood: pleased music: "Black Cab Motorcade" - State Radio
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Alright, so the grandparents are here and they gave me a fishbowl, which was very sweet... even though I didn't have a fish. So we figured we should change that.
It's a betta and it's got really cool coloring. The body is a very light red and the fins and such are dark red / maroon that reach out to an electric azure-like blue. I'm pretty sure he's a male.
I'm running low on creativity today, and I feel like he needs a good name. Let your originality and wit run. Something. Anything. All suggestions will be taken into consideration. :) |
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Read 14 - Post |
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| Opinion please? |
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| 10:15pm 04/09/2006 |
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mood: busy music: "Elias" - Dispatch
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So ( this ) is the cute little bugger I've beem making. Hopefully he'll have many brothers and sisters to come.
My question to you is whether you think I should fill them with beans or stuffing? I can't decide.
And depending on how they come out, they *might* end up as your christmas presents. Each one personalized, of course... :)
Edit: I now have a facebook. Find me if you wish... |
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Read 10 - Post |
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| The joys of being four... |
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| 12:38am 28/08/2006 |
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mood:  artistic music: "Casseopia" - Joanna Newsom
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Me with good friends E.E. on the left and Violet on the right...
Four straight hours. My back kills and my pen writes barely anything.
But I'm done with all the summer assignments... hooray!
*does a little one-in-the-morning-too-tired-to-care dance* |
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| Things I have loved I'm allowed to keep... |
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| 06:26pm 27/08/2006 |
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mood: better music: "the Flowers" - Regina Spektor
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Yay!
I just sat down at the piano for the first time in at least three or four years... and voila! I took down the music to "the Flowers" by Regina Spektor and can play it perfectly. Now all I have to do is be able to sing in time while playing... *gulp*
But other than that, this day has been a pretty big bummer. The weather has left me sitting on the floor of my room all day. I drew a toddler, though. And I have a good idea for one of the summer projects that I might start in an hour or two.
I forgot how theraputic a good mug of chai tea can be... yum...
And just because it feels like a listing day...
regina spektor = &hearts
rainy day reading = &hearts
inky pens = &hearts
green days = &hearts
blue dog book = &hearts
hammock chair = &hearts
love = &hearts
crayons = &hearts
piercings = &hearts
mary poppins = &hearts
curiosity = &hearts
imagination = &hearts
buttons = &hearts
pimpin' bathrobes = &hearts
happy dogs = &hearts
lists = &hearts
Edit: I just heard a flock of geese fly over my bedroom. It just dawned on me that... it's almost autumn. School is starting. Summer is over. The leaves will turn and drift off soon and the air will become sharp and brisk. It's kind of funny how easily you forget these things, and how suddenly you can be snapped back into the roll of the seasons with a little honking.
nature = &hearts
geese = &hearts
and...
new icons = &hearts |
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| "I'm especially good at expactorating..." |
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| 02:47pm 22/08/2006 |
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mood: peaceful music: "Maybe" - Annie Soundtrack
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- I love writing that's just like... art. The words flow through you and lift you out of your reality as you're consumed by its other world, other characters, other emotions. It's as though you are no longer reading, but watching from deep inside yourself the story as it unfolds in your mind.
- I want to be a writer. I want to be an artist. I want to do something that lifts me out of the present, and into something I create. Something controled solely by my imagination.
- Downside to taking the nanny job: I would have no decent social life and would only be away from the kids on the weekends. It would be a huge sacrifice and my summer would be gone.
- I just found an entire box of kids tapes from when I was five or six. Includes just about every Disney soundtrack you can think of, books on tape, and broadway shows. It's a little creepy listening to all these songs that you somehow know every single word to, but can't ever recall hearing them before since it's been so long...
- Ahh! Who used to listen to the Playground? Come on, now... fess up. I just found their website which includes enormous lists of all the songs they have played on their past shows. Between these lists and the tapes, I should be all set for a great year on Pooh Corner. :D |
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