January 2013 – Leah Wise

attend to life

January 30, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged attend to life, carpe diem, cherish, chore, error, intentional living, matter, meditation, moments, original poem, poem, poetry, ritual, thankful, the small things3 Comments

Each minute doesn’t
have to count
but it has to matter

Each waking eye
Each phase of the moon
Each dawn and
rain
it’s bound to come again
but never with
just the same flourish
or shape or pattern.

It doesn’t have to count
but it must be
acknowledged

Each hair brushed
just so, each sizzle
in the pan and
coffee ground and
alarm sounded
it’s the dance and
melody of normalcy
but not mediocrity.

It doesn’t have to count
but it should be appreciated

Each sigh
Each staring at the
wall and
backache and
hangnail and chore
forgotten
it strikes in the cheek
like a sinus headache
but it dissipates.

It doesn’t have to count
but of course it matters

Each daily ritual
Each daily error
it’s a rhythm, cycle,
slow creek in an often
parched wood
but it persists

It isn’t a counted forward march –
It is a sinewy, strengthening web
of rich matter.

water lily thrift has a model

January 27, 2013Posted in Water Lily ThriftTagged etsy, model, sale, shop, vintage, water lily thrift, womens clothing1 Comment

And it’s me!

home tour: The Library

January 27, 2013January 27, 2013Posted in interior designTagged book room, budget, color scheme, design, gold, home tour, interior design, labor union pin display, library, low cost, mod podge, paper cutting, personal home, real library, red, shelves1 Comment

Finally, a post about the library. It took me forever to arrange and re-arrange and add furniture and put up artwork in just the right way. I didn’t feel satisfied with the overall look until two weeks ago, when I moved the cube shelf we used to have in the living room onto the bookshelf wall. It is incredibly difficult to decorate rooms that have a glaring wood element built in (in this case, the window frame); no wonder my peers who own homes are all painting everything white. I settled on multiple wood tones to make it look intentional rather than makeshift.

Walmart pillow, painted reindeer, Target paper lamp, banjo (!), TJ Maxx ottoman, hand-stretched frame with antique labor union pins

Modpodged San Francisco “Street Sheet” newspaper headline, paper cutting by Daniel’s sister, art print from Tallahassee shop

This room has a red and gold color scheme by default; items that didn’t fit in other rooms made their way here. I had intended to add an area rug to bring in another color, but that proved difficult on my current budget (which is essentially 0.00). We hardly go into the library, but I’m glad it’s presentable. Maybe I’ll use it more now?

For all home tour posts, click here.

snow day

January 24, 2013January 24, 2013Posted in life in photosTagged berries, blue ridge mountains, canon eos rebel xs, canon zoom lens, charlottesville, cold, landscape, ll bean boots, photography, snow, virginia, walk, winter2 Comments

Every morning I open the bedroom curtain just a bit to let more light in to do my makeup. This morning, I looked out and exclaimed, Oh my gosh!, waking up Daniel on accident. A blanket of snow covered every horizontal surface, including my car. They predict another snowfall this evening. Tomorrow may be my lucky day for capturing snow in action!

by a different route

January 23, 2013Posted in life in photosTagged 50mm lens, canon eos rebel xs, clear, crisp, landscape, nature, neighborhood, photography, stars, virginia, walk, winter3 Comments

or, Why Walks are the Best

After taking Daniel to school on Monday afternoon, I looked about me on the drive home and realized suddenly that it was a beautiful day. We had about a week and a half of weird, dreary weather; it messed with my mood – everything felt stagnant. But Monday was cold and dry and crisp. The winter sun was at its brightest and the leaves and houses shone with its glaring light. I walked, this time, by a different route and felt refreshed. And at night, I looked up and saw Orion as clearly as if it were beaming out from a constellation chart.

Enjoy the winter light while it lasts.

Enough

January 23, 2013Posted in UncategorizedTagged enough, grace, grace is enough, original poem, poem, prose, red chalk, self worthLeave a comment

I am not enough.

I know this to be true. The struggle of the quest to be enough is that it has no blunt ends or signposts or sections in the dictionary.

Enough : being what you need to be and nothing more.

But context is the final definer of the lines around enough and that story rests largely in my perception, my point of view.

I am not enough, I say, because I want to be more. Need is not a good enough end.

And here grace steps in, shaking her head, drawing a circle in red chalk in the center of the blacktop street – telling me firmly to Come In!

I step into the center, see a single word scrawled in bold block letters beneath my feet.

It says, Enough.

pieces of home.

January 21, 2013January 23, 2013Posted in life in photosTagged acrylic paintings, canon eos rebel xs, home, magazines, mums, pet rats, photography, self portrait, shoots, still life, table, window, wordlessLeave a comment

weekly review

January 20, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged blue, book, coffee shop, dixit, emotional, falling leaf, funk, inefficiency, january, jennifer nichole wells photography, photography, poetry, sexing the body, summary, vietnam war, week in review, wrap upLeave a comment

This week felt a little off, sort of like Marie Cardouat’s surrealist artwork in the game, Dixit (more on that later). Either my positive attitude or my energy level – or both – tend to run in a cyclical pattern: one week on, one week off. I had such a satisfying week before last that I guess my brain gave my body a break without telling me.

That’s why I need to reflect on it now, to give myself closure and perspective.

This week:

a customer compared my coworkers and I to the donuts on a Krispy Kreme conveyor belt in terms of efficiency; it was meant as the highest of compliments.
I wrote another poem. I feel really good about this one.
I gladly partook in American Apparel’s Friends and Family sale. Hooray for checking things off my wishlist.
I considered joining choir, backed out, then considered taking ballet lessons again.
three of my sister’s photographs were accepted into a Jacksonville art show; it’s the first non-student exhibit in which her work will be featured!
I met with a friend at a local coffee shop and had a marvelous time conversing on various topics (and imbibing too much caffeine) as the snow came down.
several friends and acquaintances visited the coffee shop where I work.
I talked for nearly forty minutes with some customer friends about poetry, the elderly, and the Vietnam war. He survived some of the worst parts of the war and writes poetry now to cope and help others through their trauma. It’s really great!
Speaking of Vietnam, a customer told a coworker and me that we are beautiful women in Vietnamese (but couldn’t tell us how to answer, thank you, as he forgot the phrase).
the sun finally came out on Friday morning, bringing me much cheer.
Daniel and I joined some friends for a game night. We played a fun interpretation game called Dixit, which includes whimsical surrealist paintings by Marie Cardouat.
I slowly continued to work through the book, Sexing the Body. It’s a good read despite its small print and daunting size.
Daniel and I had a heart to heart on my seeming embarrassment over not attending grad school. It was an emotional but necessary discussion on which I’ll reflect in a separate post.
my dad was interviewed on the radio about his new book, Working Would Be Great If It Weren’t for Managers.
my camera remote came in the mail, so now I can model vintage clothing for my store! I guess that’s this week’s project.

As always with these wrap-up posts, I feel immensely better after reading through my list. So much of my angst is due to an emotional funk rather than any real lack of progress or efficiency. Here’s to another good week!

catalog favorites

January 19, 2013Posted in inspirationTagged anthropologie, bright, catalogs, clarks, fashion, floral, fossil, j crew, madewell, shopping, spring fashion, stripes, styleLeave a comment

Winter hasn’t quite hit Charlottesville, but I’m already excited for spring fashion. I know fall is the season for fashion, but I’ve always preferred the bright, floral, bare-legged styles of spring over the drab, monotone glamour of fall. Fall is too serious for my taste.

I’ve been flipping through old Google catalogs for inspiration. Here are some of my favorite looks (including some fall looks that easily transition into spring):

Clockwise from top:

Anthropologie, March 2012
Clarks, Fall 2012
Fossil, Fall 2012
Madewell, Spring 2012
J. Crew, February 2012
Madewell, Spring 2012

tutorial: digital photo film effect

January 18, 2013January 19, 2013Posted in DIYTagged black and white, black and white film, editing, photo filter, photo tips, photography, picmonkey, tutorial, vintage filmLeave a comment

Have you noticed that black and white film, especially older film, has a slight green tinge that distinguishes it from black and white digital photography? I prefer the softness film provides to the harsh gray scale of desaturating a digital image in photo processing software.

Since I use PicMonkey for most of my photo editing, I thought I’d share an easy tutorial on how to make your digital images look like black and white film prints.

1. Open your image in PicMonkey.

2. Click on the Effects button (it looks like a flask), then click on the Black and White effect located under the Basics category. Click Apply.

3. Scroll down to the Time Machine effect, select Trixi, and move the saturation tab to somewhere in the 70-80% range.

4. Go to the Basic Edits category and click Exposure. Adjust the brightness and shadows tabs to achieve desired amount of contrast. It helps to zoom in on the focal point of your image for this part.

5. If cropping is desired, click on Crop and adjust to your heart’s content. I typically set the crop tool to Original Proportions or 4×6.

6. Congratulations! Black and white film perfection.

Compare to a real black and white film image:

on coffee shops

January 17, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged coffee, coffee shops, community, culture, espresso, friendship, latte, local, meeting, ode, ramblings5 Comments

Coffee shops are a necessary social institution. They’re a place for meeting, reuniting, flirting, reading, studying, napping, meditating, observing, and imbibing.

I feel immensely grateful to work in one. I eavesdrop on brown-nosers, innovators, hobbyists, gossipers, and over-sharers. I see joyful reunions and daily fights between friends over who gets to pay for whose latte. I meet local business owners, professors, students, artists, volunteers, and retirees. I see kindness and generosity extended. I see community at work. And I get to be a part of it.

Today I met a new friend at a local coffee shop. Although the ambiance differed from the one where I work, the purpose was the same. Coffee shops create an open atmosphere for free expression, a safe space for complaining, intervening, and frivolous merry-making alike.

My daily work is addictive. That we can unite under the banner of espresso – republican and democrat, Christian and Atheist, heterosexual and homosexual, scholar and athlete, male and female – fills me with joy.

Diplomats should consider conducting their meetings exclusively at coffee shops.

the thin green line: when eco and fair trade meet

January 17, 2013January 17, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged atrazine, EPA, fair trade, human rights, organic, pollution, style wiseLeave a comment

An essay I wrote for my fair trade blog, Style Wise:

the thin green line: when eco and fair trade meet.

See! I am doing a new thing

January 15, 2013January 15, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged biblical, christianity, creative writing, doubt, growth, isaiah, mums, new thing, new year, original poem, poem, poetry, transition, writing1 Comment

The planting is hard but
the Sprouting
it hurts.
Imagine! Writhing
Up against nature’s grounding force
through mildewing grime
Would you – human –
with free will, with choice
ever push? Eat dirt,
awaken?
The mums are stronger
It wasn’t their choice
It’s nature
Look! If it’s light and
dew you want
you already have it.
Dilluted/deluded
in your watery
thoughts, you were
already taken Up
You have already fought
You are a golden mum
echoing light on each
dewy drop.

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”

end of isolation

January 13, 2013Posted in thoughtsTagged beetle, charlottesville, fast, free photo session, goals, introspection, isolation, life, loneliness, paper lantern, photography, potluck, resolutions, winter breakLeave a comment

For the past two weeks it’s just been Daniel and me. And it’s nice to spend time together – to work and read and relax in the same room for hours on end – but almost everyone else left town and you kind of feel like you’re holed up in a room the size of Charlottesville with nothing to do and only your second half to talk to (which may really just be yourself).

Last night we broke the fast from socialization with a potluck dinner. I sat on a couch squished between two people, leaning forward to take in the conversation, and felt grateful – and lucky – to be a small part of such an interesting, dynamic, funny, and thoughtful group. The isolation was worth it for the chance to realize that.

That being said, the past few weeks have helped me think through and intensify my goals:

I’m eating (a little bit) healthier, eating in more, and saving money.
I’m taking more walks.
I’m considering delving back into the world of portrait photography (I’m offering free photo sessions in the Charlottesville area).
The advertisements I put out for my store are slowly but surely bringing in new customers and I’m staying on top of bookkeeping.
My fair trade blog venture is bringing me great satisfaction.
I’m in the process of working with Fair Trade Towns USA to approve the city of Charlottesville for their Fair Trade directory.

How do you work through periods of isolation? How are you achieving your short and long term goals?