May 31, 2011

"If I Should Have a Daughter" by Sarah Kay

Instead of Tuesday Tunes, I've got a little something else I would like to share. Last Friday I was listening to a bunch of the TED Talks podcasts and found a particular one interesting. It is spoken word poetry by the wonderful Sarah Kay. She has a great project called Project V.O.I.C.E.

About Project V.O.I.C.E. "Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression) is a national movement that celebrates and inspires youth self-expression through Spoken Word Poetry. Conceived in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages young people to engage with the world around them and use Spoken Word Poetry as an instrument through which they can explore and better understand their culture, their society, and ultimately themselves. Project V.O.I.C.E. brings together performance, writing, and a supportive environment to inspire youth to recognize that their views are significant, valid, and necessary."

The poem was at the start of her presentation. It is called "If I Should Have a Daughter." 

To watch the rest of her presentation, go here.

If I should have a daughter…Instead of “Mom”, she’s gonna call me “Point B.” Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”

She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up 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 like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And “Baby,” I’ll tell her “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that, I know that trick,you’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.”

But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boats nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say, “Thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.

You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

“Baby,” I’ll tell her “Remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.



Tuesday Tunes will be back next week. I've been finding some great music lately. 



Adventures in the Homeland 1.0


Lilacs.



This is my new favorite springtime color combination.

Puppy paws.



Farmin'



First part of my photos from this past weekend. More to come...eventually. 



May 30, 2011

Gorgeous Skies


Friday night after I got home, it rained. And then a gorgeous, huge rainbow came out.





I tried to get the whole thing in a photo but my lens wasn't wide enough...And I definitely didn't get to take as many photos this weekend as I was hoping too.

Home was great; I got to spend time with my Ma and Pa, did lots of shopping and over spending, retaped one of my old softball bats and played fetch with my dog, and ate lots of unhealthy food. Now I am ready for a 4 day work week, then it's back to Fargo for the day on Saturday. Hopefully I can get my contact lenses...

I'm going to work on editing the rest of my photos and hopefully get them up soon.


May 26, 2011

Words of Wisdom...Until Monday

Alrighty you fine folks, I am heading out of town for the weekend. I shall be back Monday afternoon/evening with a post of some sort. There's a stack of ideas sitting on my desk, in my phone, scribbled in my sketchbooks and on post it notes, and some shoved in the dark corners of my brain. I have a lot I want to share but cannot seem to find the time lately to post them. But that's what happens when the weather gets nice and it's time to go out and play. I hope you've been enjoying the great weather as I have.

I may try and get a post in while I'm at home. We shall see. Until then, I leave you with these fine words of wisdom:


“Rely upon your own judgment; be true to your own conscience; follow the light that is within you; all outward lights are so many will-o’-the-wisps. There will be those who tell you that you are foolish; that your judgment is faulty; that your conscience is all awry, and that the light within you is darkness; but heed them not. If what they say is true, the sooner you, as a searcher of wisdom, find it out the better, and you can only make that discovery by bringing your powers to the test. Therefore, pursue your course bravely.” James Allen

Found via DesignLoveFest. (Bri has an awesome blog. Check it out.)
Original poster source here.

Later! Have a wonderful (and long if you're in the States) weekend! 



May 24, 2011

More Photos from Sunday


Just getting in a few more photos before the night is over.


Love the texture in this.


Workin' a lil HDR in. 

Peaceful.

Must take more photos...



Tuesday Tunes: Foster the People


Do you like MGMT? What about Broken Bells? Welllllll...if you do, maybe you should check out Foster the People too. And if you've never heard of any of them, best go look them up. (Don't worry, I found Broken Bells not that long ago either thanks to a former professor.) Foster the People just released their album, Torches, a couple days ago. It has pretty much been playing non-stop since I got it. Addicting.

I think I posted this song awhile back. Oh well.



And how about something completely random? I just heard this song a couple weeks ago while hanging out with some friends. 


Ridiculous I know. But for some reason, catchy. I watched the first episode of Flight of the Conchords on Sunday...Haven't decided if I'm going to continue yet or not...

We were supposed to have softball practice tonight. But nobody wanted to play. I was all excited and ready to practice. Just have to go into tomorrow's games unprepared I guess...



May 23, 2011

Photos from Sunday



Apparently Sundays are now for photography. Adventure around the dam in TRF. Everything was super green since it rained ALL DAY on Saturday. It was nice to get out, walk around, and break in some new kicks.

Spring is definitely here.



The Dam.



Hartz Park.


Creepin'.

Favorite.

I think that these are some of my new favorite photos I've taken recently. This time of year is wonderful. So pretty. 



May 20, 2011

Quick Photos


What an insane week. There was lots going on and it was all outside. I didn't make it back to my apartment until 9:30-10 every night and just didn't have the energy to blog. But the week was great. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. And currently...it's raining.

Tuesday: Softball practice.
Wednesday: Softball games. We lost both, but it was a lot of fun. I'm rusty. Definitely need to find some time to work on catching. Although, whenever I'm just tossing the ball around with somebody, I do just fine and actually make some pretty great catches. Then, I go into a game and freeze. Oh well. It's all in fun right?
Thursday: Surprise birthday party for a friend. I was surprised that roughly 10 people could keep it a secret throughout the week. It was a success. We had a grill out and tons of good laughs. Whenever we get together, it seems we get great ab workouts from laughing so dang hard. A couple photos from my phone.

 
Reflections.

Sunset over the dam.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of recuperating and buying new running shoes. My feet aren't doing to well after this week. I also hope I can catch up on all of the interwebs happenings from the week too. Lookin' for some good inspiration.

A few friends are running in the Fargo Marathon tomorrow. I bid them "Good Luck!" and hope that they don't get rained out too bad or that the world ends half the way through. (Just found out about the world ending thing last night...)


Because It's Friiiiiidayyyy

And when you read "It's Friiiiiidayyyy" you have to kind of sing it like that ridiculous "Friday" song. It's become a tradition on Fridays that it gets passed around at work. This morning I woke up, realized what day it is, and started saying it...

But, I found a quote I would like to start the weekend with:

“There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.”
- Richard Bach


It has been a busy week. No time for sitting in front of the computer. Now it's off to work...



May 16, 2011

History Lessons: April Greiman


This is more like a 2 sentence history lesson...

In my spirit of old school advertising, I thought about a graphic designer that stuck out to me when I took my History of Modern Design class a couple years ago. Her name is April Greiman. She was one of the first designers to embrace the computer as a medium for graphic design during the 80's.






The source for all the images found here. For more on April Greiman visit her website and her design consulting company Made in Space.

I think it's interesting to think about how much design has evolved, especially the process. I wonder how the process would be now if the community hadn't taken to computers when they did. It would be fun to do some designing the "old fashioned" way. 

Now I may have to start a mini series or something of 70's and 80's graphic designers...


Note 1: Since this is the time of year when the weather is FANTASTIC I may no be posting as often as I did during the winter. As much as I love researching and blogging, I just can't always justify sitting on my computer when it's sunny and perfect outside. My apologizes. 

Note 2: The season finale of Chuck was on tonight. I recommend, obviously, checking out the show. I'm quite sad that in the fall S5 will be its last, especially with the cliffhanger tonight. There are so many stories that can be told now! And for those that don't like the ending, think about it, the concept completely works for who the character is. (I can't say too much, I know there's a couple of friends out there that would be disappointed if I spilled the beans since they probably haven't watched it yet...)


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...