"Here I am, a bundle of past recollections and future dreams, knotted up in a reasonably attractive bundle of flesh. I remember what this flesh had gone through; I dream of what it may go through. I record here the actions of optical nerves, of taste buds, of sensory perception. And, I think: I am but one more drop in the great sea of matter, defined, with the ability to realize my existence."


-Sylvia Plath


(first found here)

Josh Rouse

I have had Josh Rouse's song "quiet town" on my you tube playlist for a long time, I love the song and the video, and now he has TWENTY FIVE songs up on noisetrade! 


And as Noisetrade says so often "completely free, completely legal" but you can donate to the artist. 


You should go check it out.


As taken from the noisetrade page, about Josh Rouse:
For more than a decade, Josh Rouse has been honing his skills as a songwriter; traveling the world, blending his various experiences and channeling them into his work. With songs like "Directions" (which appeared in the Cameron Crowe/Tom Cruise collaboration Vanilla Sky) and "Flight Attendant" (which Glee creator Ryan Murphy hand picked for his Julie Roberts inspired version of Eat Pray Love), not to mention numerous appearances on television staples such as Grey's Anatomy and Parenthood; Josh's music has quietly found its way into the world and todays culture, while remaining timeless and relevant. Summertime, a 25 song sampler covering his most recent albums and EPs, includes a song from his new project, Josh Rouse and The Long Vacations, out on September 27th. You'll also get a taste of his Bedroom Classics Closet Archives series, a digital-only collection which features unreleased singles, radio sessions and live performances, available exclusively at www.joshrouse.com

azure ray

Source: flickr.com via Julie on Pinterest

I would love to have something like this done of Julton and I!

Source: parcelsandcomfits.tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

I wish that I would pick up knitting, or just start crocheting again. It's getting cooler so maybe soon... maybe soon I will start working on that blanket I started last year. Or maybe I will buy some kneedles to work on that "knitting for dummies" book my mom sent me. Instead of just reading it... who sits around and reads a knitting book? (without even knowing how to knit ..or trying for that matter)  Apparently this girl.

Source: None via Julie on Pinterest

I'm now officially set out to get a picture of Zanax (our cat) like this... I love it. And I usually hate cat/kitten photos. (Except of my own of course) But this is definitely not a... "oh how cute a kitten" kind of photo.. that cat is just cool... 


er, you know what i mean.

click click

Beirut

a portrait.

Source: ffffound.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I love this picture. And furthermore I would love to be the owner of a shop where this art decorated the wall. It reminds me of when I was very much younger and writing lots of poetry and using anything I could find to make something resembling some kind of art. And going to the governor's school for the arts and learning how to make a gigantic portrait of myself using only ink and my fingerprints. 


where did that part of myself disappear to??

Source: aprilandmaystudio.blogspot.com via Núria on Pinterest

felt and crochet yourself and apartment

I won't lie, when I first saw this picture, I was looking more specifically at the benches and trying to figure out if we could easily do that ourselves in our own apartment, if it would be easier than this long journey of getting ahold of some palettes (which by the way a student of mine offered to give us some from his business... just before he went on vacation (the week before i'm going on vacation... so thats been put on hold). 

so as i was looking at the benches in the picture and looking around our own apartment as I looked at the picture again I noticed the awesome and how could you have missed it the first time bright rug in the center of the photo. it turns out that it is braided and felted wool, and it's just one piece made by fashion designer Dana Barnes, who began making them solely based on the need to soundproof her warehouse studio apartment for her young children. through pinterest I found this blog post and through that blog this post on the new york times site.

you should go check out all of the awesome photos and the story at the times site. 

"If I should have a daughter"

"I'm gonna paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands. So she has to learn the entire universe before she can say "Oh, I know that like the back of my hand"


And she's gonna learn that this life will hit you hard
in the face
waiting for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they life the taste of air.


A friend of mine posted this on facebook, and I loved it so much I had to share it here. I love this site TED. 


A little about Sarah Kay (from the TED website)
Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Sarah Kay also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off. 


Now 22, Kay is a successful spoke word poet and codirects Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Founded by Kay in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages people, particularly teenagers, to use spoken word as a tool for understanding the world and self, and a medium for vital expression.

"A day with Sarah Kay reminded me of poetry's power to help us make sense of our lives, to see the world in a new way."

Deb Martin, Rowan University

Source: flickr.com via Julie on Pinterest

homemade toothpaste/deoderant

I would love to be able to make my own toothpaste like this lady has, and actually... she uses it as deoderant too... i'm a little unsure about that part. But I'm no chemist and I have no idea what goes into what so maybe it is all the same thing what we put in our mouth to clean our teeth and under our armpits to keep us from being stinky. so well... i wish i could try it. but these ingredients arent the easiest, maybe not completely impossible, but not so available and probably not at a pretty price, around here. it shall go on the to do list. besides it's only baking soda, essential oil, and coconut oil. we have coconuts... it shouldn't be so hard to find the oil... right?

a home

I had to share about this house. This couple in Whales built it themselves for their small family of four! 

From the article, about the house:

Sustainable design and construction:

1. Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
2. Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
3. Frame constructed of fallen trees from surrounding woodland
4. Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally very easy to do
5. Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
6. Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
7. Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture compared to cement
8. Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
9. Other items were reclaimed from “a rubbish pile somewhere”: windows, wiring, plumbing

I find this place very beautiful.... I wonder if I could ever get Julton to live in a place like this for a while... or if a place exists that we could rent even if only for vacation...hmmm

a sonnet

Source: quote-book.tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

it would appear that i have abanded this blog wouldn't it?


well... let the unabandoning begin.




i have been going through lots and lots of thinking and rethinking and studying and trying to figure out a direction for this life that i am living. ... but let me make a clarification there. i'm quite content with the life that i'm living, what i mean by that would be an addition such as... what would life look like if i'm not per say... teaching english forever? i love my students and my classes, but something has been stirring inside to figure out what i'm doing and where i'm going... and that has actually recently led me to the discovery that i want to pursue graduate school! marriage and family counseling masters program here i come... but.. in the meantime and even then i can still gather things that catch my eye right? i am officially declaring i'm not sure what direction this blog is going to go in... so expect the unexpected (because I am too).

knit or crochet for others

i am so very incredibly excited about a little discovery i made today! (tonight). 


As I was skimming some photos and projects I ran across a tutorial about crochet. I thought it would be interesting to see (since I myself, although technically i do know how to do it i often just fudge together stuff and i'm not so technical, so i figured a technical 5 minute how to video would do me some good). what i stumbled onto though... was much more than a crochet tutorial! (which i did in fact say ohhh that's how you do that part!). landsend.com was donating their yarn to knitters and crocheters, using a few select patterns they then knitted or crocheted blocks, mailed those blocks off, and there were other groups that put the blocks together into blankets that they are going to donate to families that need some more warmth! through the foundation warm up america. i'm so excited and wish that i could be a part of it!! it sounds like such a great idea.  plus: they also shared another tutorial.. on how to knit! i'm excited about that since i'm trying to teach myself.. mind you... im reading a book and haven't bought the needles yet.. but im getting there. this tutorial showed me just how easy it can be! although.. from the looks of it, still harder than crochet. 

you can go to these websites for more information:


landsend.com/feelgood (feel good is the name of the yarn they donate)
and to see a better explanation:

a headband.

i used to wear a headband nearly every day of the week. my favorite being s childsize belt that i found in a thrift store and loved the pattern too much to not buy it. you cant tell its a belt... until the metal hoops decide to slip out the back, to which someone always says hey... is that a belt?? i also have many a scarf, scraps of fabric, and a few ties which i used to wear more often than now. not sure why, except that i can never get it secured tight enough to my head for my comfort. 
today i ran across this:

It's a headband that she didn't even sew or crochet. It's braided from a cut up t-shirt! She based the design off a headband from anthropology. i find myself liking it very much, and would love to try to make it... maybe it will get me back into wearing headbands more often... to see her tutorial and visit her site (which i am about to go back and do again:) ) her site is Sew Homegrown

another sofa.

a sofa. 
i recently posted about our "artesianal sofa" and even though we use/love it... we are still on the look out for a sofa sofa. 

which means when i stumbled upon this photo at French By Design in her post about reusing and recreating with wooden crates... and also another DIY post over at Under The Sycamore (the pictures of which, you should really go look at) I got really excited, about us making our own sofa. I think it would go well with the apartment, and the recently hung tapestry :D 


The great addition to the bed/sofa at Under The Sycamore is that she added wheels, with stoppers. Which would be nice, because it's not just wood lying on the floor, its moveable - which would come in quite handy since we are constantly cleaning the floor which always looks dirty since it's white and I can't figure out where on earth all the dirt comes from in one day. 


We are going to undertake this task.. I'm just not sure when yet, hopefully sooner than later... but for now, I am sufficiently content with the excitement to even begin the project at all!