~HOW TO MAKE PICTURE-PERFECT PAPER SNOWFLAKES

*Photion reblogged

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~PHOTION FOR THE DAY

 

 

 

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~PHOTION FOR THE DAY

 

Nope!

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~FAITH FOR THE DAY

 

"The Lord looks into the heart."

(1 Samuel 16:7)

 

*Image was found on pinterest

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~SONG FOR THE DAY

 

 

 

"hello lovely people. my name is jillian and i want to make music forever and ever, even if its in coffee shops until i'm a cute, little old lady. i want to make you feel alright about life and lighten your load by telling you that we are all in really good hands. i also want to tell you some good news - that everything, everything - heartache and joy and sorrow and bad days and sunshine - it all pushes us onward to see that we are a lovely people made for lovely purposes. we are dearly, hugely, and personally loved."
 

I want to be a songbird
And I want to sit on the tallest branch
Of the tallest tree
And I want to sing lullabies
To Earth as she cries
I really want to try and make her laugh
I want to be a songbird

And I want to watch sunrise
With my love by my side
And I want to grow
And I want to learn
I want to fire
And I want to burn
I want to rise
And I want to fall
I want to run
And I want to crawl

I want to be a songbird
And I just want to try
To know how far and deep and wide
This love is that You give
Cause that's what it is to really live
To just try and look around
See You in our breaths
And hear You in our sounds
I want to be a songbird

Go through things that I need
Make me hurt, make me bleed
Cause I will rise and see the light
I'll pray my way through the night
And I want to be a songbird

And I want to sing lullabies
To Earth as she cries
I really want to try and make her laugh
How You made me laugh
You made me laugh
You made me laugh

Take the strings and the things
I use to tie me to the ground
Let them all be gone
I want to be a songbird
I want to be a songbird

• ~ • ~ •

 

Jillian's website

Jillian on facebook

 

Jillian is a senior at Baylor University.  Here is an article about her on Baylor's alumni associations's website.

An interview with Jillian by Uproar Records, Baylor's student-run record label.

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~POESY FOR THE DAY

I came across this poem one night on tumblr, and I really love some the imagery in it...

~ ~ ~

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

~Ellen Bass~

*Photion reblogged

• ~ • ~ •

~TRIVIA FOR THE DAY

• It takes 7 seconds for food to pass from mouth to stomach.
• A human hair can hold 3 kg.
• The femur is as hard as concrete.
• A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.
• Women blink twice as much as men.
• We use 300 muscles just to keep our balance when we stand.

• ~ • ~ •

~SONG FOR THE DAY

"Reality is a lovely place
but I wouldn't want to live there."
~Adam Young~

♥ I can't decide which is a more charming treat:
 the song or this homespun video!

Owl City bio
(here's to insomnia!)

Owl City on wikipedia

Adam Young's home tour
(excited fans in Wal*Mart)

Owl City's website

• ~ • ~ •

~QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"After all, what is art but transcendent play."

 ...Agree or disagree?

One mustn't take away from the fact that, like anything else, it can also be very hard work!

• ~ • ~ •

~POESY FOR THE DAY

 

 

The wild rose, eglantine, and broom

Wasted around their rich perfume;

The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm;

The aspens slept beneath the calm;

The silver light, with quivering glance,

Played on the water's still expanse,--

Wild were the heart whose passion's sway

Could rage beneath the sober ray!

~From, "The Lady of the Lake,"

 by Sir Walter Scott~

• ~ • ~ •

~QUOTE FOR THE DAY

courtesy of
 ayuliyana.tumblr.com

• ~ • ~ •

~A BED OF ROSES FOR THE BAND PERRY

Rose & Robin is enamored of the song, "If I Die Young," by The Band Perry.  It contains an allusion to a Victorian ballad entitled, "The Lady of Shalotte,"  which was written by an English poet named Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).  In the music video, Kimberly is lying in a boat, floating down a river, as the Lady of Shalotte does in the poem.  In addition, she holds a copy of the poem, a book, in her hands.

• ~ • ~ •

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river, at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh, uh oh

Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother

She'll know I'm safe with You when she stands under my colors

Oh and life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no

Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river, at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white, when I come into Your kingdom

I'm as green as the ring on my little, cold finger,

I've never known the lovin' of a man

But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand,

There's a boy here in town says he'll love me forever

Who would have thought forever could be severed by

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar

They're worth so much more after I'm a goner

And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'

Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river, at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)

The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)

Go with peace and love

Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket

Save 'em for a time when your really gonna need 'em, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

• ~ • ~ •

*The poem in its entirety can be found here!

• ~ • ~ •

"The Lady of Shalott," by John William Waterhouse

 

• ~ • ~ •

 

"When talking about The Band Perry, each member of the trio stresses how much family figures into the mix: 'Reid, Neil and I share genes and a musical pedigree,' Kimberly explains. 'We read the same classics and cook from the same recipes. With all of our likenesses though, I believe it's our distinctions that stir up the magic when we create. When the three of us sit down to write songs together, we pull from all of our individual perspectives and happenstances to create the most interesting song concoctions.'"

• ~ • ~ •

Here is a video of the band performing the song on Dancing with the Stars:



• ~ • ~ •

~CALM AFTER THE STORM

Always having been what one would describe as "bookish," it is no surprise that I enjoy incorporating literature into my jewelry; it has been pleasing to me that with the type of pendants I make, a quotation from a classic author can be used to further adorn whatever vintage or antique image I'm using. 

The photos above were taken back in middle and high school when I was on family vacations in sunny locales.  My favorite part of going on trips was being able to take along books I wanted to read, and my nose was stuck in them the entire time, whether I was en route to our destination (via car, plane, or train), on the beach, or in the hotel room. 

In the first photo, I am at my family's condominium at Atlantic Beach, NC, and I'm holding, Night, by Elie Weisel, which we read in school.  The second photo was taken at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and what I'm reading there remains a mystery.  In the last photo, we're either in Florida again or at Sea Island, Georgia.  To my right is a family friend/babysitter who went with us on some of our vacations.  It worked out very nicely that we were both readers and enjoyed each others' company.  The rascal on the far right is my little sister, who was not at all pleased that we were readers, as that meant much less attention for her.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm reading a scandalous romance novel, which I am proud to admit I have read only a few of in my lifetime, and many years ago at that (see footnote at end of post).

I have never written very much myself; however, the recent spate of tornadic weather which blustered through my city reminded me of Hurricane Fran, which took place 15 years ago (!).  To make a long story short, I recalled being housebound and without television after the fallout from Fran, as trees were down, roads were blocked, and we had no electricity.

Here is a photo of our back yard, showing fallen trees upon our trampoline (see footnote at end of post).

 
I suppose these conditions sparked my creativity, because I pulled out some notebook paper and decided to try and write a few poems.  Tonight, I managed to locate my journal, which I haven't looked at since that time.  Lo and behold, the two poems I remember having written post-Fran are in there, as are several more, which I had forgotten about having written. 

Here is the first, which I can only decscribe as being stream-of-consciousness; I could delve into exactly what it means to me, but...nah.  It will say, though, that it seems to have issued forth from the "dark and twisty" side of my personality (see footnote at end of post).

FORSAKEN WAVES OF REGRET
      LOST AMONGST THE FLOOD
RINSING OUT HIS PERSPECTIVE
      PRESSING THE WRINKLES
            OF HIS FURLED ASPECT
STARCHED AND BLEACHED
      IMBUED WITH PROPRIETY
THE SEAMS ARE STRAIGHT
      STALWART CUFFS
BECOMING CIRCUMSPECT
      FOLDING UP HIS STATE OF MIND
HIS LOT ON HIS COLLAR
      HIS DESTINY ON A LINE
WRAPPED AROUND HIS OWN COATTAILS
      MESHING WITH HIS PHYSIQUE...

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU SEEK?

I wrote the second poem while listening to my Out of Africa motion picture soundtrack.  Though the book is one of my favorites, ironically, I have never seen the movie.  However, the score is melancholy and personal, romantic and sweeping (see footnote at end of post).  As I listened to it on my little portable CD player, this is what it inspired me to write...

Singular memories
                 f l o a t i n g like dreams
Waving around doorways
      Subjects of themselves
Hues that sing to unseen things
      My own two eyes looking on
            Ennobling to watch
                  The colors recount their own story

Metaphysical moments
      Sun-gilt on the steps
                  step
                        down
                     
                               Your throne is waiting
                                                  On top of the sun

                                                            You are a flaming sphere
                                                            And a cold tide
                                                            all
                                                            in
                                                            one

In closing, perhaps it would be best if I weren't whipsawed by bad weather into writing poetry anytime in the future, as I'm definitely no poet laureate, nor can I ever hope to win the Nobel Prize in Literature...*sigh*

• ~ • ~ •

Footnotes:

1. I don't consider it to be a splendidly worthwhile pursuit to read this type of book because I don't believe they have much, if any, artistic or moral value.  uh-hum.  In fact, I found the book I am reading in the pic in the hotel room when we arrived there; a previous guest must have left it behind, and I can see why they didn't consider it to be a treasured possession.

2. Trampolines are certainly on my "thanks-but-no-thanks" list as well, as I believe they are neck injuries waiting to happen.  In fact, someone I know was once bounced off of one, and he landed head first with his head between two of the springs around the edge.  A friend had to pry the springs apart so he could get his head out.  Blessedly, he wasn't hurt.  amen.

3. Though I have issues with the television show, Grey's Anatomy (the foremost of them being that so many of the characters are promiscuous, and not only that, they switch their liaisons, pairing off with each other--ick!), I have taken a hankering to the way in which the character, Meredith Grey, is described by her love interest; let's just say I can personally relate to the concept of "dark and twisty."  can i get a testimony?

4. Here is a video of Aliona Savchenko and Robin(!) Szolkowy skating to the "Out of Africa" score at a competition.  Check out the amazing lift which begins at minute 3:10.  bee-yoo-tee-full.



• ~ • ~ •

~QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."

 ~G.K. Chesterton~

• ~ • ~ •

~FIREWORKS

I was watching Oprah's Ultimate After-Oscar Party show, and at the end of it the chorus who performed at the Oscars came out to sing.  This chorus is made up of 5th-graders who attend a public school in Staten Island, NY.  On the Oscars they sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  When they began to sing on the Oprah show, I thought the song sounded familiar.  It was only when--surprise!--Katy Perry appeared onstage that I realized it sounded familiar because it was a popular song which gets tons of airplay.  When I realized that a choir director for an elementary school had picked this song for his students to sing, I immediately leaned in to discern the lyrics.  Though I had heard the song on the car radio many times, I had never noticed or paid the least bit of attention to the lyrics; in fact, the song was one that had become a little bit irritating to me since it was being played so much.  To make a long story short, I was really taken with the lyrics, and I think the song sends a great message!

Here is the video of the performance

 on oprah.com ☺

• ~ • ~ •

Firework

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin

Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?

Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you

'Cause there's a spark in you?

You just gotta' ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

You don't have to feel like a waste of space

You're original, cannot be replaced

If you only knew what the future holds

After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe the reason why all the doors were closed

So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow

And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta' ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

It's always been inside of you, you, you

And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, ah, ah, ah

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

• ~ • ~ •

~DRESSED THE BEST

The best-dressed lady at the
2011 Golden Globe Awards by far....

 

 

And, I would really like to see The Black Swan.  Natalie Portman is such a talented actress, and imagery from the dance world can be so beautiful.
 

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