Jesus: Still Impacting the Lives of Common Folk (or, close encounters at the BP Station)
posted: September 13, 2011
|
I stopped for gas yesterday, and as luck would have it, the woman who took my money for gas was exquisitely "country." She was rather twitchy and overly smiley. Those are the ones you've got to look out for.
Since I prepaid with cash, I had to back my car out of the parking space and into the gas lane and find a pump that worked (3 were broken and out of service). It so happens that I had to make a 17 point turn in the ungodly small parking lot. Over the course of the 45 minutes it took to make this 17 point turn, a young woman with her child Bogarted the only available pump, pulled up beside it and proceeded to balance her check book, wash her hair, read the entirety of War and Peace and then top it all off with a full makeover for her 7 year old. After this, she then decided to fill up her car with gas. After this part of the process was complete, I watched as she took her child and casually walked inside this store. Seven hours later, she still had not returned to her vehicle.
During this time, I am parked in line behind her vehicle. I'm not in any big hurry, so I check my email on my phone, send a few text messages, watch the strange people driving by, plan the rest of my day, and so on. I was actually quite thrilled with myself for not getting in the "get the hell out of my way lady, so I can get my gas and go on with my day" kind of place. I was relaxed. At this point, the friendly, twitchy store clerk comes walking out towards my car. What? I think. I open my door and turn sort of sideways out of the car.
"hey there!" I say.
"Oh my Lord, I'm so sorry about all this!" she says with a big smile on her face, leaning over to caress my shoulder...no kidding! She was caressing my shoulder. "I can't believe it's taking that woman so long. I know you must just be ready to freak out!" The grin on her face was other-wordly.
"Actually, I'm great. I'm not in any hurry. Nothing to worry about here. People generally go bonkers when they have to wait for gas or stand in line too long, don't they?" I replied.
"Oh my Gawd, you would NOT believe the way people get when they have to wait for their gas! It's just crazy." she said. "I tell you what, if I didn't love Jesus I'd totally kill people! I mean, I totally would. Well, not really, but you know how it is with crazy people today?!" she said with a gigantic, nervous smile. She was kind of looking sideway at the roof of my car, her hand on my shoulder, leaning slightly into my car.
Huh, I thought.
I did, in fact, know what she meant about crazy people today. I was actually dialoguing with one of them in the parking lot of a gas station, while waiting for a woman and her daughter to compose an opera in the mini-mart.
"Well, I hear you," I said. "People can definitely make you want to do strange things to 'em, that's for sure. Remember that crazy gas shortage back 3 years ago? Man, people went insane. But don't worry about me, I'm in no hurry. I've got nowhere to be anytime soon." I had no intentions of prompting this woman to begin to question her faith, so I in fact was going to be more than patient. I wouldn't even do the half-honk at the lady move her damn car.
She then reached over and touched me again on the shoulder, then said, "Well, you're different than most folks that's for sure." her hand went in the air, palm facing me, and I thought, Oh my god, here it comes! I'm going to get slapped in the parking lot of the BP station by a crazy woman in mom-jeans and Ugg boots.
Then I realized she actually just wanted to high-five me. Okay, fair enough. Smack! She gives me a thumbs up and grin and walks back into the store. Wow.
Time warp lady finally walks out of the store with her child and gets into her car. Of course, when she got in the car, she had to make a 4 course meal on a hot plate for her daughter, converse with her about god-knows-what, and write her memoirs before pulling forward even the slightest bit for me to get my turn at the pump.
I gas up, finally, and as I pulled out of the parking lot, I saw crazy jesus lady laying on her back in the passenger seat of her minivan, her legs kicking in the air out of the car door, as if practicing a synchronized swimming routine.
Alright then.
|
What Inspires You?
posted: September 12, 2011
This season, I'm thinking a lot about inspiration. Feeling what inspires me. As the days are getting shorter and the evenings are cooling and the weather is becoming quite crisp, I am feeling the thickness of the subtle things. This time of year has always been my favorite.
I am moved by the warmth of fire and folks in my backyard, laughing and connecting. I am inspired by the angelic inspiration of Icelandic music and my daughter's colorful feather collages. I am inspired by the courage of those around me, searching for their own heart's inspiration. I am moved by the deep listening that many people in my life give to each other. I am in awe of the generosity and steadfastness of the elements. I am shaken by the death of things that don't work in my life, and am renewed by the birth of new beginnings filled with life, joy and hope. I am blessed by the baby hawk that circles my back yard.
What INSPIRES YOU?
|
I'd Eat This Guy's Words
posted: February 4, 2010
|
Hitchcock Meets Garamond
(Give me a break will you!! Amazing!)
|
Emiliano Lionel Suárez / Argentina.
(the site's in Spanish. Turn on your translator)
This guy can use my keyboard whenever he wants. You like good (and i mean knock your socks on your ass good) typography and exquisite use of higly impressive fonts? Go see this. I especially like his "Nowhere man y yo" and please, by all means, check out his "Elipsis - Posters." This man is a genius.
If you're not hot around the collar (and everywhere else) after you look at this work, you're not the typo geek I thought you were.
I'm going to take a cold shower.
|
Bring the Outdoors Indoors
posted: January 24, 2010
A Moss House.
I kid you not. Japanese designers at Nendo renovated this old wooden house on the Shibuya River in Tokyo using moss in the interior. (Check out the wallpaper in this house!) I love this idea, and though I would find it dizzying to live with so much pattern around me (I am very "cozy-minimalist" in my living space preference), I am loving the cleverness and innovation of this idea.
I almost expect a being, half-human/half-fairy, to come flitting around the corner and offer the visitor some magical tea and wisk them away on some far-flung Japanse adventure filled with forest creatures secretly moonlighting in the city as super heroes.
|
Beautiful Things
posted: January 5, 2010
|
Eva Hesse, "Repetition Nineteen III" 1968
Museum of Modern Art, New York
|
I read an article in the Washington Post called "Pearls Before Breakfast." The article begins with a violinist who set himself up in L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, DC (dressed very casually) at 7:50am one friday morning in the middle of rush hour. He played 6 classical pieces for 43 minutes. 1,097 people passed by him. Those people did not know that "the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made."
Seven people total stopped to listen to his performance. Every single child that passed by wanted to stop and listen. Every parent rushed the child on. None stopped. How often I watch my 3 year old get the beauty of what's around her. The quiet and settledness of really seeing. Really hearing. How much I miss some days because I can't stop the frenzy of getting things done, getting somewhere fast, getting home fast, rushing rushing. In a culture full of luxury and excess, I say that the balance of beauty and abundance is essential. The beautiful things out there aren't bad. They represent, in my humble opinion, a glimpse of the Divine around us and in us. Nature? Yes. Absolutely. Fashion? Yes. Design, Architecture, Scuplture, Art, Music? Yes. An amazing concoction of perfect bath salts. By god, Yes! The perfect pair of brown leather knee boots? Oh, you better believe it!
Today as I was making lunch for my daughter, I felt my mind racing and my heart pumping faster as I began to think about the simple things that delight me. Here i was in my tiny kitchen watching the water boil for noodles and cutting a beautiful red apple. I smelled the apple as i cut it. I watched the elegance of the water as it rumbled and roiled about in the pot. Saw the apple peel lying on the counter in a heap. My mind took me down a long road of luxurious things that tickle and delight me.
On that short journey I began to see myself wearing an amazing Chanel white button up and a pair of sharp back slacks. I pictured a beautiful man in a burgundy sweater wearing loose jeans and black Doc Martins. I remembered a scuplture I saw in person by my favorite artist of all time Eva Hesse. I saw myself eating mangoes and beautifully white vanilla yogurt. I saw myself sitting in front of warm fire outdoors with friends and family. I felt a cool rain falling on my face and arms and the sounds of thunder and saw cracks of lightening. I thought about running my fingers through whipped cream. Long baths with lavendar and mint. Big cups of coffee with lots of cream and sugar. A good katherine Hepburn movie (and for me, that's ANY Katherine Hepburn movie). Long kisses. Beautiful typography. Tears on the cheeks of a freind who's just figured something out. My daughter's laughter. This list could go on forever. But, i'll stop here. I've got a delicious cup of hot coffee with ample sugar and cream and a Vivaldi Concerto to sink into before getting back to work.
|
Make It Move, Baby!
posted: January 4, 2010
Kinetic Sculpture!
Ever heard of it? (I know you've heard of someone named Leonardo DaVinci and his early flying machines.) Basically, kinetic sculpture all hinges on movement/motion. The object can be powered by a person, by a motor of some kind or by natural elements (wind, water, etc.) Kinetic sculpture has been around since ancient Egypt (leave it the Egyptians to come up with another collosally cool idea!).
You remember those beautiful Alexander Calder Mobiles? Hmm hmmm. Kinetic sculpture. (His work was created in the 1950's), but the earliest piece of exhibited kintetic scupture goes back to 1913...thank you, Marcel Duchamp. His "Bicycle Wheel" was totally out of the realm of how the viewer had previousely been allowed to relate to art. He required the viewer to actually participate and be engaged with the piece, not just standing back gazing from afar. What a huge gift he have to us as art observers.
My favorites at the moment are by an amazing sculptor named Arthur Ganson. And my absolute favorite by him is demonstrated in this video called Machine with Wishbone. Tell me this is not absolutely amazing! Everytime I look at it I feel my pulse race. (I am indeed, my own brand of nerd.)
So, go look at these pieces online and feel your soul begin to salivate. You'll want to see them, to touch them, to hang out with them for a good long while. Reinvent how you participate with art. It has the possbility of making your soul sing. It does mine.
|
Belt Buckles, yum.
posted: January 3, 2010
Buncome Buckles
I'm in love with a good belt buckle, and this woman is right around the corner. First, I love a woman metalsmith (that's so bad ass, and don't even try to tell me it's not). Second, they're totally to die for. Third, they're made from scrap metal straight from the family scrap yard. Yep, a family scrap yard. They use reclaimed materials to make these babies. They're expensive but worth it.
How did I find this little business? It's a funny story actually. I was at the Big Crafty one year, and I walked by the Buncombe Buckles table and the guy sitting behind it selling the buckles was so flippin' hot that I had to stop and look at stuff on the table. Much to my surprise, the buckles were insanely wonderful. Come to find out, he was running it for his girlfriend who made the buckle art. (silent bummer). Anyway, he proceeded to check out my 2 year old daughter's shoes, and he then held his foot up and said, "We have the same shoes." And sure enough they did.
|
Exquisite Hand Jobs
posted: December 31, 2009
|
(close up of an ad hand-lettered by Alison Carmichael.)
|
This sounds dirty, doesn't it? But it isn't. It's freaking amazing!
This is the title of an article in the visual communications magazine based in the UK called Creative Review on Alison Carmichael, an amazing designer who specializes in hand lettering in her fabulous ad work. (Unfortunately, you can't actually read the article unless you are a subscriber.) For any of you out there who are as obsessed with typography and handwriting as I am, you will be in LOVELOVELOVE her work. I'm a wee bit jealous, to be honest.
I have always been obsessed with handwriting and calligraphy and the more exquisite the better. The addition of that hand-lettered style to any ad or poster or marketing piece brings a warmth and an organic feel of monumental proportions. I am completely in love.
check out more of Alison Carmichael's work. You will not regret it. Click here.
|
Clothes, Accessories = Divine
posted: December 30, 2009
|
(this dress makes me weep i love it so much.)
|
Makool Loves You
(and so do i!)
Portland, Oregon seems to put out amazing art, design and fashion! Hurray for beautiful handmade clothes. I'm a closet fashion hound. Though you may not know it just by looking at me (after all, a single mom doesn't get to spend money on new clothes) but i love beautiful clothes. If you're in the market for some feminine fashion that sustainably created check out these folks:
|
Oh How I Love Thee, Flowers
posted: December 28, 2009
|
(from their site)
|
Birch Flowers
This site enthralls me, inspires me and moves me! the art of working with flowers. these folks have it down. plus, their site is simple, elegant and bright with all the flowers being the focus. aaahhh, makes me excited for the day when i have a continual stream of fresh flowers in my home.
|
|
: things i like at ivaluva.com
|
