the unobservant bird

The Unobservant Bird has found a new home.

2010-02-04T06:15:00.006-06:00

Please do visit me over here. :)

And that's how I justify buying myself flowers.

2009-11-13T18:43:00.003-06:00

29540016, originally uploaded by unobservant_bird.

"Nothing is more necessary than the unnecessary." ~Guido's uncle, Life is Beautiful

A thousand fibers.

2009-11-03T17:02:00.004-06:00

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." ~Herman Melville

It's been a Jonah day.

2009-11-02T20:33:00.004-06:00

The kind of day when all the little mistakes you didn't realize you had made in the last week...two weeks...month, catch up to you at the same time and throw themselves, mocking, into your face.

That kind of day.

But a new day follows today, and, Lord willing, there will be a new day even after that. And after enough new days have passed, maybe then I will have learnt wisdom.

Trying not to say anything.

2009-11-01T23:06:00.006-06:00

"I try not to say anything with my art," the Artist Statement began. To which I laughed, because that's not the kind of thing one ought to admit to in an Artist Statement, not if one wants to be taken seriously.

And yet, I approach art in the very same way, which is why I have never considered myself to be an artist. I don't care so much about "saying something." If that means that I will never be called an artist, that's quite alright. Because it doesn't matter what lofty title I go by (or not), I will keep learning and keep creating; in the end all I really care about is offering a bit more beauty to those around me.

Random Photo + Happy Weekending.

2009-10-30T22:21:00.013-05:00

Life is slipping quickly, quietly by. I'm staying busy and learning contentment in all things, doing my part to change those things that I can and trying to accept those things that can't, or won't, be changed...but keeping on praying that they'll change anyway.

Tonight I went to Final Friday with a few friends, the first time I've been in several years. I was secretly hoping to ride the trolley, but it kept coming by at the most inconvenient times, such as when we were nearing our destination. Maybe next month. Walking around the city on the night of a major art event, and on the eve of Halloween, opened my eyes to how very small and sheltered my world has become. The things and people we saw - oh! I loved it.

My Saturday plans were canceled at the last minute, and despite how much I was looking forward to them, I am now looking forward to spending the day working like mad on a few Christmas gifts. Which may be the story of all of my Saturdays between now and Christmas, since I lost track of time and am just now getting started making gifts.

Anyone have any thoughts on good handmade gifts to give men?

Another day, another cemetery.

2009-10-24T00:17:00.007-05:00

Something about this time of year makes me want to spend a lot of time wandering through cemeteries, a fact which most people probably find disturbing. This one was particularly creepy, being one of the oldest in town. The air feels different when you walk into the graveyard: still, heavy, and rich with the stories of the lives of the hundreds lying there dead.

But despite all that, this set of mausoleums did strike me as a bit funny because they so remind me of my very first apartment. A little blond fourplex apartment that really was not much bigger than one of these mausoleums and even had the arched doorways. The resemblance is uncanny.

Those Fall colors.

2009-10-12T23:07:00.003-05:00

It has been a very cold, very grey Fall (when was the last time we saw the sun?). I am loving what the constant cloud cover has done to the colors of the Fall, muting them, fading them into tones that are calming and comfortable. Here's hoping that the gloom hangs on just a bit longer so I can look my fill.

Getting back (or, hello, and I've missed you).

2009-10-11T16:22:00.013-05:00

I took a rather long break from taking pictures. Earlier in the week I went to this very lovely cemetery that is so old in sections that headstones and benches are crusted over, graves are sunken in. It was a perfect place to get back in touch with my camera.

There's just something about cemeteries, isn't there?

God gives us love. Something to love He lends us. ~ Tennyson

I came home by way of a different route, and almost got killed doing so.

2009-09-16T21:05:00.005-05:00

But the things I saw along the way made it completely worth it.

In this imperfect world.

2009-09-07T20:18:00.003-05:00

"...from now on...I'll be searching for those moments of always within never. Beauty, in this world."
~ Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Some days.

2009-07-23T19:04:00.013-05:00

Some days I feel like a dried-up weed, tired and stringy-nerved.
Some days I get tired of headaches.
Some days I am acutely, uncomfortably, aware of the times in which we are living.
Some days I step through what is a promising opening in the trees, am met with a disappointing field of dirt on the other side, and
Some days I am left thinking that that just might be the metaphor for Life.

But on these some days, I remind myself of what the cure for these some days is - a little prayer, a little food, a little sleep. So I honor this triumvirate, partaking of each part, and when I have awoken my spirit is refreshed and the world seems brighter, and I wonder why I ever skip one, or two, or, some days, all three parts.

Looking up.

2009-07-08T18:39:00.008-05:00

Mostly I just like the way the leaves become lace against the sun and skies.

What we must do, then, is to do good while we are here: spread joy and beauty and hope. So that even in our leaving, others may see it and be moved.

2009-06-22T06:56:00.005-05:00

This is the only picture of me, as a child, with my dad.

2009-06-21T21:53:00.007-05:00

At first I was bothered by this, as I sifted through the tubs of photos, searching for one - just one - more. Then, after giving up the search, I stopped to look at the photo with new eyes. And I realized: why do I need hundreds of photos when this one says it all? He looks at me, as I laugh, with so much love you would think I were his first child rather than his fourth. Seeing that transformed the photo from the depressing evidence of being the last child, into something precious: a witness to the happy and loving childhood I was given.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

When a friend and I decided to pack a picnic and go see Shakespeare-in-the-Park, we had no idea it would be so entertaining.

2009-06-19T21:38:00.008-05:00

In short, we had a blast.

I personally thought the highlight of the show was when the young people playing Romeo and Juliet, standing together at Juliet's window, engaged in a kissing match that was so - enthusiastic - that the plywood set threatened to fall over.

Is it great theatre? No. But despite the painfully awkward or just plain hysterical moments that crop up in the performances, I love watching them each summer. It may, in fact, be those moments that have endeared the Shakespeare Company to me.

Lately it seems that I've run out of words, have you noticed?

2009-06-14T00:25:00.003-05:00

I am sorry, truly. I hope this photo will be enough, until I find my words again. It can be a reminder - for me, at least - that it's time to begin on this year's Christmas gifts. All those lovely sleigh bells, just waiting to ornament wrapped homemade gifts!

Life's an adventure.

2009-06-12T15:18:00.004-05:00

"See things from the boy's point of view." ~ Sir Robert Baden-Powell

My favorite flowers welcomed me home.

2009-06-10T22:49:00.004-05:00

But I wish I knew how to keep them in blooms longer than a week...

We're all moved in, Marius and I,
and, yes - we do love it.

Antiquing.

2009-05-16T21:08:00.004-05:00

"You should check out the building in back," she said to me as I stepped out onto the porch, clutching my finds. "There's no one back there, but they have some new things in."

That is how I came to be creeping, alone, amongst the desks and chairs and stoves and mirrors piled high in the musty, dusty old building. Amongst all that and the glass display cases filled with fur, and the deer head reclining in a chair, staring, arrogantly watching every move I made.

I stared back. I shivered.

I left.

Re:discovering Mother.

2009-05-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day.

Blue skies.

2009-05-09T09:56:00.001-05:00

It's very nice to see them again.

Mint Chocolate Chip has healing powers, I think.

2009-05-08T21:48:00.004-05:00

A sure cure for a day at work that leaves you visibly wilting. The wood of the balcony, unfortunately, has no respect for that kind of work day. Four splinters in the last two days. It's okay, though, despite the fact that two of the splinters are still lodged in my foot. It's okay because I plan on moving out to the country within the next month or so. And the country has healing powers of its own.

Everything in its place.

2009-04-23T21:46:00.005-05:00

Life refuses, so often, to be arranged in the way that I think it ought to be. So I settle for arranging strawberries, which is second-best.

You know how it is.

It was good.

2009-04-04T22:15:00.007-05:00

Walked for a cause. Finished reading Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Made fudge. Ate fudge. Talked to my sister on the phone. Talked to my mother on the phone. Wore flip-flops. Wore a flower on one finger. Ate Korean food with a friend. Bought wind chimes. Attempted to hang wind chimes. Watched a movie. Read Philippians.

Yes, it was very good.

Finally.

2009-04-01T21:04:00.005-05:00

The kitchen rug that was begun last September, then stowed away and forgotten about until last week, is finished. Need I mention that I love it? It's cushy beyond belief; washing dishes has never been more fun.

In KCMO, wishing for tea in a bluebird cup.

2009-03-22T07:44:00.009-05:00

I awoke from a dream that was disturbing because it is always, ever, just a breath, a careless whisper away from being real. The dream showed the consequences of a mistake made. I'm thankful to have learned the lesson from a dream rather than from reality.

My Chinese fortune cookie came with no fortune today.

2009-03-15T13:04:00.007-05:00

This, I've decided, can mean one of three things: First, that my future is so dull that nothing in it is worth mentioning; Second, that it contains things so horrific I shouldn't be burdened with the foreknowledge of them; or Third, that my indecisive and nomadic nature has thoroughly confused even the Chinese fortunes. I like to think I've accomplished the last one.

Chinese fortunes aside, I hope that whatever my future, it will always include a window with a pretty view.

The settling of my soul

2009-03-14T18:17:00.005-05:00

There is this corner in my home where I write. Sitting on my cushioned chest-turned-window seat, I hear the rain falling some days, the wind rustling through the trees other days, and I write. Nothing important, nothing profound. Just things. This time at the window is what I call "the settling of my soul."

Everyone needs a soul-settling place, I think.

It's even more garrish in real life.

2009-03-09T18:44:00.009-05:00

In a burst of productivity and a re-commitment to get my fiber work out in the world this year, I decided to finish this piece that has been sitting neglected on my table for months. The result was a defeated sewing machine that either became clogged with the amount of yarn passing underfoot, or, at the very least, began choking on that color combination.

And they tasted good, too

2009-03-04T17:25:00.007-06:00

Once upon a time I dreamed of opening my own bakery.

Then I realized how much I love baking, for the pure and simple pleasure of it, and decided that I'd like to keep it that way.

This, I'm afraid, is the best of it

2009-02-21T13:35:00.010-06:00

Things are a bit messy right now. I have this habit, you see, of leaving various projects in various places around the apartment, all in varying stages of doneness (or un-doneness, if you will). When it gets too unbearable, I will rush around, tidying and organizing and cleaning properly. But until then, I'm simply making the best of it. I do hope you don't mind.

(And yes, Marius does often sit and stare, wondering what I'm doing. Quite often.)

Today I just needed a pretty picture and prettily paired words

2009-02-05T19:23:00.013-06:00

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure but from hope to hope. ~ Samuel Johnson

Sometimes it just doesn't do to do things out of proper order

2009-01-22T20:21:00.005-06:00

I applied to a new school, in a different town. Then I looked at how much it costs to attend said school. Then I worked over my budget Dave Ramsey-style. Then I realized that what I was experiencing was not my life's brightest moment.

Knitting: my personal art therapy, at the moment.

Four red peas in a pod

2009-01-20T18:54:00.008-06:00

Still learning to find beauty in the ordinary.
Even in the bruised and unwashed apples tumbling about in a ceramic dish.
Next up: learn to find enjoyment in eating the apples. Plain.

And so another begins. Or, here's to 2008.

2009-01-01T11:31:00.018-06:00

Wonderful and terrible,

beautiful and hideous,
simple and complicated.

It was all that life is made of, however much we wish it wasn't.

Yet, it is within my power to look past the terrible, hideous, and complicated, and to focus on the wonderful, beautiful, and simple. Because they were most definitely there. Perhaps more subtle and less volcanic than the others, but they were there just the same. Their mere presence in the face of the overwhelming negatives is, for me, a sure sign of the mercy of God. So I am made thankful.

It would seem that I completely skipped September

2008-10-04T09:01:00.003-05:00

Life's crushing blows will make you do that. Thankfully, it is impossible to skip October. There is something so magical about the month of October, don't you think? It makes all other months pale in comparison. While some months are filled - as full as we can stuff them - with man-made magic, October doesn't need our help. And I love it for that.

Wishing you a leaf pile to play in this month.

I'll get a female cat and "Annoushka" to my heart's content

2008-08-29T01:29:00.009-05:00

My first alarm clock (of four, in case you were wondering) will go off in exactly 3 hours and 31 minutes. I may or may not wake up to it (or the three that will follow). Not only is the stifling heat in a house with a broken-down air conditioner a bit too much to fall asleep to, I also stayed up much too late reading a frilly, teenage-girly book about an exiled Russian countess hiding as a servant in England. Of course, there is the inevitable falling in love with a handsome man. What can I say? My taste in reading never quite "grew up." I will always find children's and young adult books much more interesting than grown up books. This one was full of wonderful bits of Russian: dousha...mylienkaya...Annoushka. I loved it. In fact, I am now possessed by an overwhelming desire to name a daughter of mine Anna, just so I can call her Annoushka. Although, I think that in revealing this, I just condemned myself to a life of daughter-less spinsterhood. So be it. I'll get a female cat and Annoushka to my heart's content.

I've recently begun pondering the paths we take in life

2008-08-09T11:52:00.010-05:00

More precisely, I ponder my path, how it has not led where I, or those around me, previously hoped and expected. I consider the reasons for that, and most days I conclude that it must be three parts the result of my own disastrous decision-making and one part providence. I find I don't want to alter my long-held plans for who and where I would be in my adult life. But I also find I must do so, although living in a different set of life plans, a different path, feels very much like donning an article of clothing that just doesn't fit quite right. I remind myself that while the path I've come down and the path ahead may be steeper and slower and generally less comfortable than others, it is still my path. Mine alone. And I am learning to trust that someday, perhaps when my years are very, very ripe, I will wake up to find that all of the pieces will have slid neatly into place and that I am exactly where I need to be.

"One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night."
~Kahlil Gibran

Into the night

2008-07-15T18:05:00.006-05:00

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.

~ Minnie Haskins

Happy handprints

2008-07-01T17:46:00.008-05:00

In the country,
in the gutter,
hidden by weeds.

I never would have seen it if I had been the driver.

But I was not the driver,
and I did see it,
and this bit of silliness made me pretty happy.

So I'm passing the happiness on to you. :)

the french, again

2008-06-28T10:16:00.004-05:00

excerpt from the french on life and love, a charming little book i bought while thrifting in kc last year. i recently considered re-thrifting it so someone else could enjoy it, but decided to go the way of the selfish with it. i really do love the quirky illustrations that accompany some of the quotations. there just aren't enough of them.

sunshiny day

2008-06-17T18:05:00.007-05:00

in a fit of nostalgia, i very nearly posted a poem that i wrote while in high school. one of the few non-teen-angsty poems that emerged from those years, it was an ode to the sun.

(or something like that.)

fortunately, i came to my senses and, to save my self-respect, decided that surely someone else had said the thing better than my own pimpled self. the french came to my rescue (using a lot fewer words than i had):

"a summer's sun is worth the having."
~ french proverb

p.s. i no longer write poetry. my self respect also required that i point that out.

i have a new sister

2008-06-03T17:27:00.004-05:00

this weekend, in nashville, i watched my brother get married. the wedding was beautiful. i'm afraid i cried a tiny bit. not so much from secretly being a hopeless victorian who cries at least a tiny bit at everything, but from the knowledge that i was watching countless prayers of countless people being answered. it was amazing.

mutti?...dad?...

2008-05-21T16:55:00.002-05:00

happy 37th!

pattern

2008-05-20T16:54:00.006-05:00

pat-tern: a reliable sample of traits, acts, tendencies, or other observable characteristics.

thinking a lot lately about my own patterns, habits. things i consistently do that i ought not, or things that i ought to do but consistently don't.

i find i have a great many problems.

the task of changing is so daunting that i have to force myself to be motivated to change, rather than throw myself into bed in a weepy, unholy fit of depression. which is, i admit, a wise habit to begin breaking.

stand still

2008-05-09T20:28:00.004-05:00

"stand still. the trees ahead and the bush beside you are not lost."
~ albert einstein

taking time to remember:
Whose i am,
Who has a plan for me,
and that my fretting will not help.

a miniature adventure

2008-05-06T17:22:00.007-05:00

last night, my mother and i walked to a bible study at our neighbors' across the rather large pond. she wanted to take the road, but i coerced her into going around the pond--through pasture and over dam. when we came to the dam, we found it was flooded over with water from the heavy rains we've had recently. so, rather than go back around the pond and take the road after all, we forged ahead, continuing on through the pasture to come out at the road our neighbors live on. the moment we tumbled out of the pasture into the ditch littered with old tires, a sheriff's deputy drove by. "y'all alright?" he looked a bit concerned over our sanity. we tripped over our own tongues and each other's, trying to explain, until he drove off.

after the study, armed with a flashlight in the dark, mom was thinking of skunks when she insisted we take the road back. i was thinking of snakes when i agreed.

a sunday afternoon walk

2008-05-04T16:58:00.002-05:00

in which a girl found a hole in the woods,
and went through it.

hi, there

2008-04-22T17:15:00.009-05:00

after years of wishing, the camera came for christmas.
now the film is discontinued.
yeah, this is my life.

magic

2008-04-19T21:14:00.011-05:00

my long and frustrating friday evening was spent in front of the sewing machine, finishing the ~~pile of mangled scraps~~ gift for today's baby shower, which i was dreading getting up early to drive two and a-half hours to get to. i am very protective of my sweet, slow saturday mornings. imagine my delight this morning when, glancing out the window, i was rewarded for getting up at dawn. i ran out to enjoy it-that rosy sky, the throaty honk of the goose paddling around the still, foggy pond. it was magic. i happily went off on my baby showering road trip. while it was fun, my favorite part was, as always, coming home. because only here does a nice little pussy cat sit in the window waiting for me.

threes about me...

2008-04-01T22:45:00.011-05:00

because it's my blog, and here i can do such things as participate in memes sent by aunt debi.

-three jobs i have had in my life:
florida college library student worker; data conversion operator; teacher's assistant.

-three places i've lived:
kansas; florida; missouri.

-three people who email me regularly:
knitting daily; career builder; the boss. (i'm popular!)

-three of my favorite foods:
chocolate; chocolate; chocolate. (the common myth of the food pyramid is rubbish.)

-three places i would rather be right now:
ireland; surrounded by family; asleep in my bed with marius curled up at my feet.

-three things i am looking forward to this year:
growing closer to God; change; watching as prayers are answered.

restless

2008-04-01T17:16:00.005-05:00

.
"to what purpose, April, do you return again?
beauty is not enough." -edna st. vincent millay

ready for something more, or just different.

caged

2008-03-23T20:29:00.008-05:00

sometimes,
to grow tall and straight
we need to be caged.

still,
i don't much like cages.

thank heaven for little girls

2007-06-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

the little girl (5 or 6 years old?) who lives across the street enjoys sitting at her open window looking down on the street below and singing to her heart's content. every time i see and hear her there, every time, i cannot keep from smiling. i love catching a glimpse of her dream world. she's not the average little girl on the block when she is in her window serenading the world. she is juliet on her balcony, or rapunzel in her tower window, or the five year old mary of scotland sailing the seas with the french fleet, or--you get the idea.

homeless, unite!

2007-05-14T16:01:00.000-05:00

very recently my brother, with whom i have been living, decided to move three states away. in three weeks he will be packing up and leaving, which means that i will very soon be without a home. i find the entire situation rather humorous, because the same week that i found this out, i also agreed to participate in the 5K hillcrest walk for the homeless on may 19.

hillcrest transitional housing is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping families move from homelessness to self-sufficiency. the families are offered rent-free housing for 90 days, and are required to get full-time jobs and to attend weekly classes on such topics as case management, budgeting, nutrition, and life-skills.

i have pledged to raise $100 for my walk. if you would like to sponsor me this saturday, or to simply learn more about the program, you may do so online at www.hillcresttransitionalhousing.org. i am participating in the platte county walk.

thanks so much for your support!

better times collide with now

2007-05-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

i spent the last three hours driving down the highway with the windows down, listening to johnny cash and neko case, and watching clouds until the one shaped like a rabbit lost its head. about once a month i go back home for a weekend visit, and each time i fall even more in love with my kansas. i make the drive back to kc wishing that i could somehow pack up all of the lovely people i have met here and move them down to wichita. but until i find a way to make that happen, i will be content to make the occasional three hour drive to sit by the pond and revel in the sight of the heavens being more expansive than the earth beneath my feet.

life is good

"better times collide with now
and better times
and better times are coming still" - neko case, "a widow's toast"

rainy day wednesday

2007-05-02T17:01:00.001-05:00

it seems that no matter how many times they are proven wrong, children still think that their teachers are simpletons who will fall for the story of the day, whatever that story may be. on monday one of the middle schoolers turned in a note from his mother. problem was, the large and illegible handwriting resembled that of a kindergartener. still, the student looked the principal in the eyes and said, "that is the way my mom writes". and again, today at lunchtime a student insisted he was too full to stuff another bite in his mouth. he had obviously eaten very little of the healthier foods on his tray, and i was trying to get him to eat a bit more. when he told me that he had eaten ten chicken nuggets, i eyed the small mountain of nuggets on the tray, raised my eyebrow, and replied, "they don't give students that many nuggets". then i stared him down until he admitted that, yes, he had eaten just one nugget. we negotiated. he ate two more.

matter of perspective

2007-05-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

it is incredible, and at the same time slightly ridiculous, how very little it sometimes takes to inspire awe in the hearts of middle schoolers. last month i wowed them with my 'artistic abilities' by drawing simple pictures on the paper table cloth for a baby shower our class had for a teacher. all of my old drawing teachers would have been amused to see how impressed the kids were with my shabby drawing skills. today the exciting news that had to be shared was that i, miss king - or miss 'anna, as one of the kids calls me - outraced two of the sixth grade boys...while wearing a skirt...and while barefoot. i'm talented that way.

pleasance

2007-04-16T16:01:00.001-05:00

for eighteen years, until i was thirteen years old, my family lived in a tiny house on hood street. mrs. strand, one of our elderly neighbor ladies - the nice one - loved flowers. her tidy backyard was bordered with flowers on all sides. the irises and peonies that grew along the chain-link fence separating our yard from hers grew through the links of the fence, brightening our yard. mrs. strand always let us pick a few of the peonies that poked through. i remember occasionally wearing a peony to church, pinned to my pretty dress. my mom and i loved those flowers. twelve years ago we packed up and moved - moved away from the tiny house on hood street, away from mrs. strand, away from mrs. strand's peonies.

last may i went to the nursery and found one spindly little peony bush (they are supposed to be planted in the fall) to give to mom for mother's day. by the end of a hot kansas summer, the bush was, by all appearances, dead. so much for that gift, i thought. this weekend, however, i drove back to wichita for a visit, and to my surprise, saw that the bush had sprung back to life this year. it was bigger. it was green, despite the fact that snow had fallen on it the night before. the sight of that little peony bush filled me with pleasure, joy, hope, enthusiasm for the future.

the Lord is indeed good.

from the cynic

2007-04-11T20:29:00.001-05:00

a man who knew of my background in art asked me tonight if i have done anything creative this week. i sheepishly admitted that, no, i have not. he was dumbfounded: "but i thought you did lots of artsy type things...don't you?" when our conversation ended, i began thinking back over the last four months that i have lived in kansas city, and i realized that in all this time, i have produced only one moderately creative project - a purse. while there are many valid excuses that i could give myself for taking a break from making things, i simply will not let myself go there. to create things brings joy into my life and i have not been fulfilling my need to create. last weekend i wanted to begin a quilt - went to the fabric store - stood there in front of hundreds of beautiful fabric selections - and left again having bought nothing because i just could not decide on a color scheme for the quilt. maybe i'll try again tomorrow night. because the next time he asks that question, i want to be able to respond with excitement over my latest project.

"the opposite of creativity is cynicism." ~ esa saarinen

in the sky, in the street

2007-04-10T20:55:00.001-05:00

if you are like me and you appreciate the sight of interesting-looking people wearing interesting clothing, you might enjoy the sartorialist. the people photographed for that blog are uniquely fashionable, and perhaps the thing that distinguishes them from the average person is the fact that they look so comfortable in their fashionable clothes - belong in them - as if the clothes just grew on their bodies. while i consider it a chore to rummage through my closet finding something to wear every morning, these people actually enjoy the daily routine of donning their garments to become walking pieces of art.

i may not be one of those people, but i certainly enjoy looking at them.

"fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." - coco chanel

good oblivion

2007-04-10T15:50:00.001-05:00

the early childhood special education program that i work with in the afternoons shares its building with a regular preschool, and the hall walls are covered with things that their classes have worked on. one class simply wrote and displayed a list of what each child in their classroom wants to be when he/she grows up. my favorite is the little girl who aspires to be none other than sleeping beauty. that little four-year-old knows what she's talking about. my life is overflowing with blessings, but right now i am so exhausted from inner turmoil, working with tumultuous children, a weekend packed full of social events, and the crummy april weather that it is tempting to put a halt to everything and aspire to be sleeping beauty myself.

and if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then i have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~d.h. lawrence