So I thought this little two-line poem seemed particularly apt today. Enjoy.
Introspective Reflection
Ogden Nash
I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance
Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.
To insouciance!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
My Little Bit of Sugar
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/27/163560417/beth-orton-these-songs-are-my-little-bit-of-sugar
"Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup...I liked also the idea that sometimes you can smell that spring in the air even though it's the dead of winter; you just get that vague glimpse of it, and there's that sense of hope that it brings. I just thought, all in all, it just creates this wonderful imagery of writing songs: For me, it takes a lot of experience to make a little bit of sugar. These songs are my little bit of sugar, I think."
-Beth Orton
I love this whole idea of turning experience into "a little bit of sugar." I think a lot of the time it's so easy to get caught up in how things are going, and sometimes it seems like nothing's going right. But maybe the thing is, it just takes a lot of experience to make a little sugar...it takes a lot of things going wrong - or at least the feeling that things are going wrong - for you to create something or realize something that turns out to be worthwhile.
To turning experience into sugar, whatever form yours may come in.
"Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup...I liked also the idea that sometimes you can smell that spring in the air even though it's the dead of winter; you just get that vague glimpse of it, and there's that sense of hope that it brings. I just thought, all in all, it just creates this wonderful imagery of writing songs: For me, it takes a lot of experience to make a little bit of sugar. These songs are my little bit of sugar, I think."
-Beth Orton
I love this whole idea of turning experience into "a little bit of sugar." I think a lot of the time it's so easy to get caught up in how things are going, and sometimes it seems like nothing's going right. But maybe the thing is, it just takes a lot of experience to make a little sugar...it takes a lot of things going wrong - or at least the feeling that things are going wrong - for you to create something or realize something that turns out to be worthwhile.
To turning experience into sugar, whatever form yours may come in.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Dancing and Shadows
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-dancer-who-made-lifes-transcience-lasting/2012/10/14/b797929e-1626-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
First of all, sorry it's been such a long time. I was consistent for a while...and then inconsistent for a while (maybe a cycle of its own?). I'll try to update a couple times a week again (to the possible one person out there who's reading this).
I haven't actually seen Eric Hampton's work at all, but a few sentences caught my attention in the article:
"The dances he created...had everything you need in dark times, or in life in general: humor, poetry, human warmth. Moments that trapped a fleeting sensation and kept it aglow in your mind like a candle flame."
Don't you just love that? There is so much truth in those sentences, especially the part about how humor, poetry, and human warmth are so essential.
"It was always Hampton’s strength to find gold in the shadows."
I would like to be able to do that. We don't control so much of what happens in the world, but we can always control how we react...yes, maybe it does feel like the sky is falling. But isn't it the loveliest shade of blue? (Okay, maybe that just sounds completely absurd...but you know what? Maybe life is absurd. Things don't always make sense.)
"Yet Hampton’s courage (or was it unquenchable artistic fire?) still astounds those of us who witnessed it, and borders on the superhuman. As amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (the dread Lou Gehrig’s disease) gradually shut down his outer functioning, he still managed to bring forth a creative, nurturing inner life. "
That's just beyond words, isn't it? Impressive doesn't even come close.
To "humor, poetry and human warmth" - wherever you may find them: dance, art, sports, anything. Everything.
First of all, sorry it's been such a long time. I was consistent for a while...and then inconsistent for a while (maybe a cycle of its own?). I'll try to update a couple times a week again (to the possible one person out there who's reading this).
I haven't actually seen Eric Hampton's work at all, but a few sentences caught my attention in the article:
"The dances he created...had everything you need in dark times, or in life in general: humor, poetry, human warmth. Moments that trapped a fleeting sensation and kept it aglow in your mind like a candle flame."
Don't you just love that? There is so much truth in those sentences, especially the part about how humor, poetry, and human warmth are so essential.
"It was always Hampton’s strength to find gold in the shadows."
I would like to be able to do that. We don't control so much of what happens in the world, but we can always control how we react...yes, maybe it does feel like the sky is falling. But isn't it the loveliest shade of blue? (Okay, maybe that just sounds completely absurd...but you know what? Maybe life is absurd. Things don't always make sense.)
"Yet Hampton’s courage (or was it unquenchable artistic fire?) still astounds those of us who witnessed it, and borders on the superhuman. As amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (the dread Lou Gehrig’s disease) gradually shut down his outer functioning, he still managed to bring forth a creative, nurturing inner life. "
That's just beyond words, isn't it? Impressive doesn't even come close.
To "humor, poetry and human warmth" - wherever you may find them: dance, art, sports, anything. Everything.
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