– from “Solitude”
Month: December 2012
people, look east
A selection of verses from the Advent hymn, People Look East:
Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen,
God for fledgling time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today,
Love the bird is on the way.
Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim,
one more light the bowl shall brim,
shining beyond the frosty weather,
bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today,
Love the star is on the way.
Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
with the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today,
Love the Lord is on the way.
shallow dof
When my sister was in town, I discussed with her how I’d really like to achieve a better bokeh effect by purchasing a 50mm lens. A photography major, she scolded me promptly, telling me that achieving a shallow depth of field had everything to do with knowing how to adjust manual settings, not with buying more equipment. Although I was a bit embarrassed by the chastisement, I knew she meant well. And she was right. Too many wannabe photographers (like myself) think better equipment will automatically equal a better photo. All the while, we fail to take advantage of all the specifications and adjustments our fancy-schmancy cameras already provide. I read up on dof, then tinkered around with my camera outside until it started to rain. I’m pleased with these first attempts at achieving shallow dof.
I leave you with this photograph of my favorite, naked tree.
images & inspiration
- Rachel Antonoff for Bass Fleur Wedges
- Sara Sherman Samuel’s pretty studio
- P.S. I Made This… Graphic Print Napkin tutorial
- An eight year old with a marmot he befriended in the Austrian Alps
- Elsie’s dining room makeover
- This quote – it encouraged me to clear some stuff out this week (could not locate source)
live/wear + week in review
After car repairs ruined my last full day off, I needed to pick myself up and get motivated this week. Surprisingly, it worked. I listed several items on etsy, went to the bank, paid my city taxes, revised an article (more on that soon), completed a poem, did three loads of laundry, finished The Autobiography of Malcolm X (all 466 pages!), and kept the house (very relatively) clean. Additionally, I read some good articles online:
- A New Theory of PTSD and Veterans by Tony Dokoupil
- This is Christ’s body, broken for you by Rachel Held Evans
- Why I Never Play Hard to Get by Rachael Kay
and discovered a few blogs:
Thanks for reading. What did you accomplish/take pride in this week?
a poem for Advent
Light of Christ
She held it cupped in her wrinkled palms,
across her lifeline, it burned
And fragmented and grew.
She peered in, squinting hard,
Hands to nose
Stars igniting in her eyes.
She clenched it then, tightly
Pushed it away with the force of her now
elongated arm, like a sigh, or fainting,
or a fervent dance.
She didn’t let go.
Afraid, though, of
The Revealing:
over-exposure,
Conviction – no trial necessary
But it hurt, holding its
heat, its heaviness
She shuttered her eyes
Release.
She knows it’s gone.
She can see the sun with her eyelids pinched tight.
A whisper, a knowing – she musters the courage to
Look.
She is enwrapped in a gown of radiance
frothy and feathered and laden with silk,
A light that imparts light
A glow that reveals, not her own:
griminess, despair, darkness.
The light of truth and love,
The light of Christ encroaching on:
decay, vanity, deceit,
Death.
Embraced, ignited,
A girl on fire
Enshrouded in the revealing and
Holy Light of Christ.
on living honestly
I’ve been burdened by the sentiment above for the past several months. On my old blog, I started a goal called The Secondhand Year whose guidelines demanded I buy as many material goods as possible on the secondhand market instead of buying into an unethical, international fast fashion market. I struggled with it. I excused myself by it. I succeeded and failed in equal measure. But I can’t give it up.
I not only believe but know that it is immoral to participate in our consumerist culture in full knowledge that I contribute to darkness and suffering. When I purchase a garment from Kohl’s or Sears or Forever 21, I implicitly shout that I am ok with treating people who work at their garment factories like crap, that I am ok with the fact that they don’t make enough to give their children better futures, that they consider suicide a viable option, that they could very easily die for the cause of producing cheap garments at less than a liveable wage for gluttonous Americans. We must look like devils to them, absorbed in our coveting and spending and hoarding. We freaking shoot people on Black Friday to buy the products they slaved over at low, low prices without a second thought about their well being.
I’m being dishonest if I toss and turn over this reality and promote its demise but continue to buy into it. Shopping is the thorn in my flesh. I may fight against its flirting gaze for the rest of my life. But I have to keep fighting.
oh, Christmas Tree
The tree is up, adorned with an assortment of ornaments, old and new. Our most prized ones are from Ten Thousand Villages, a Mennonite-founded company that provides jobs to artisans around the world at a fair wage. The tree topper is 1970s Hallmark.
live/wear
This outfit is a bit crazy. But this room is a bit crazy, in a good way. Who would have thought to mix a tangerine, oriental rug with graphic, modern art and über contemporary accents (apparently Elle Decor)?
I tried to pick up not only the color scheme but also the sense of texture and playfulness of the room in my outfit, accenting a gray chiffon dress with a patterned cardigan, carpet bag, and statement wedges. I’d like to lounge on that couch and peruse an art book for the afternoon. But I’m not sure I’d like to live here full time. Super modern isn’t really my thing.
While doing some “research” for this post (aka, looking up words to get some context for my thoughts), I stumbled upon this Wikipedia article on hypermodernity/supermodernity. So long, post modernism? Even fashion can be intellectual.
month in review: 11/2012
November is difficult to summarize because I can barely remember what happened before Thanksgiving. I think I’m finally at the point where calling these posts, ” …months in C-Ville,” is unnecessary; I no longer think of my life here in terms of my moving date, which is a sign it really feels like home.
Thanksgiving table, sans Turkey
Last month, I:
- toured Luray Caverns and Woodstock, VA with Daniel and his dad
- found a limited edition, made in Israel, art print for .50 at Circa
- went on an invigorating walk on the Saunders-Monticello Trail with two new friends
- had to wear a jacket every single day
- thrifted a ton of vintage (and a few things for myself)
- drove to Richmond twice in one week to pick up and return my sister to her Florida carpool
- took my car into the shop twice
- watched Waitress and sipped hot chocolate with a friend
- promoted Water Lily Thrift‘s first annual Black Friday sale
- edited a product information email for my boss
- got another raise at work
- finished ballet classes for the season
- wrote an article
- got halfway through The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- visited Carter Mountain with Daniel and my visiting friend, Andrea
- spent Thanksgiving week with two friends and my sister (who also happens to be my friend)
- hosted Thanksgiving
- attended the Tree Lighting ceremony downtown
- bought lots of Christmas gifts
- hosted a church mini-potluck (where everyone brought dessert!)
- bought my first real Christmas tree
- began an ornament collection
- tinkered with the blog layout
I’m so glad I sit down to make these lists. Without them, I wouldn’t realize how much I actually do and accomplish each month. It looks like we had quite an adventure after all! Guests, parties, outdoor trails, holidays. We’re regular Charlottesvillians, it seems – all settled in and welcoming people into our home.
December is here. It’ll be an exciting month.
Leah Wise 