.Christmas in July.

It's been a while since I've blogged because Scott and I have been enjoying some downtime with family in VA and an extended honeymoon/vacation in South Carolina (pics will be posted soon).  While on vacation we went to several different Christmas shops trying to find some eccentric ornaments.  This Christmas will be our first together so we wanted to find a cute ornament for the occasion.  After searching several different shops in the low country, we found a snowman ornament made out of the easily-recognizable sock monkey material (red & grey).  As soon as I saw I knew that was what I wanted for our first ornament together!

While searching the many ornament shops (with the other weirdos who don't find looking at Christmas paraphernalia in the middle of summer unnerving) I found many very cute ornaments that I could easily make with some felt, buttons, and other simple materials.  So in addition to working on the vacation scrapbook, I will be making a trip to Michael's for some materials to make ornaments!  Here are some of my favorites after googling online:

.another experiment: why do you write?.

I just finished writing a paper in my Lit. Theory class that questioned and explored the authorial intent of a collection of Holocaust poems called, I Never Saw Another Butterfly.  The collection was written by young children imprisoned in the concentration camp of Terezin.  A particular quote by Walter Benjamin, in his article, "Task of the Translator," sparked my interest in discussing this topic.  His quote reads, "...in the appreciation of a work of art or an art form, consideration of the receiver never proves fruitful […] no poem is intended for the reader, no picture for the beholder, no symphony for the listener."  I found this quote extremely problematic, especially as a writer.  

In my paper, I discussed how, when reading the poems themselves and considering the circumstances in which they were created, a modern-day audience would think that the young children lived on the very idea that their poems would one day be read by others.  However, because we were not present during the act of their writing, nor did we get the chance to question their authorial intent, we as a present-day post-Holocaust audience, will never have the authority to answer this question. Frustrating, huh?


Indeed, after writing this paper, I still cannot wrap my head around what Benjamin's quote means for writers.  I can assume that, as a writer himself, he considered that his words would one day be read by a future audience (several of his articles and essays were published during his lifetime), and I understand that he is discussing the constraints that can come along with writing with a type of audience in mind; when we do not consider a particular audience, we can write free, unbridled meditations.  Perhaps Emily Dickinson is a prime example of this notion.  Although she gave her poems to others as gifts and her poems were read by others during her lifetime, she writes countless poems about the diminishing factor that publishing can cause for great art.  Once such poem is called "Fame:"

Fame is a fickle food

Upon a shifting plate

Whose table once a

Guest but not

The second time is set

Whose crumbs the crows inspect

And with ironic caw

Flap past it to the

Farmer’s corn

Men eat of it and die.
Returning to Benjamin's quote, he too greatly emphasizes the "unfruitful" art that can arise when one does consider an audience.  


It made me question why I, myself, write. I can say that having had this blog for a few months now, I write a little more deliberately, knowing that others will possibly stumble onto these words and read them.  However, I have found that in having a place where I can freely publish my thoughts and words, my poetry-writing has decreased tremendously in the last few months (this could also be due to the fact that I've not had too many bouts with insomnia lately, which is when I usually write poems).  This pattern could be unrelated to the presence of this blog, but it is certainly disheartening to myself as a poet.  Perhaps, in order to write (and create "fruitful art," as Benjamin writes) we must first step away from the need to publish and write merely to write.


Now I know in the case of the children writing during the Holocaust, their reasons for writing were very different from mine and many present-day writers.  All theories questioning the motivations behind writing during the Holocaust point to three basic reasons: writing as resistance, writing for survival, and writing to remember. These are all very probable reasons for why these young children were writing, along with the fact that their teacher, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, gave them small assignments and art lessons in a small school-like setting of the camp.  It's hard for me to believe that these children were only writing in response to assignments, however, because they depict the events occurring around them with such urgency and detail.  But like I mentioned above, we can never know for sure to whom, or for whom, or with what intention they were writing.  


So, this is a question for my fellow writers, poets, and bloggers (another experiment if you will)...why do you write?  Do you consider any type of audience or do you have to step away from your knowledge that others will/can perhaps read your words?

.market-inspired salads.

Scott and I love eating salads...they're a light and delicious meal and you're able to sneak in vegetables amid the dressing, cheese and croutons.  That being said, even though we eat them we don't eat different varieties of salads.  Usually our salads will consist of Romaine lettuce, carrots, cheese, croutons, bacon bits, and whatever dressing we want that day (and we keep a large variety in the fridge at all times!).  

However, after making a very successful trip to the farmer's market this weekend, we were able to venture into some different types of salads.  The first salad contained fresh Romaine, spinach, and Lamb's lettuce, so we definitely had a variety of greens.  Then I tossed in some large chunks of tomatoes, broccoli, some mushrooms, cheese, and Italian Vinaigrette dressing.  This would have  been a fine meal by itself along with some bruschetta, but we had also picked up some rabbit tenderloins (another adventurous move) and marinated them in some red strawberry wine.  After they thawed we dipped them in an egg wash and brushed on some bread crumbs and salt & pepper.  To top off this meal, we had some delicious sweet corn with it as well.

 

For dinner I was craving salad again so I put together our three greens, some chopped strawberries, mushrooms, shredded parmesan, crushed black pepper, and Caesar vinaigrette.

We are very glad to have found a farmer's market near us with a great variety of produce, meat, and bread! Here are some other recipes for salads that I hope to be trying soon: Recipes from AllRecipes.com

.how do you "see" characters? & the summer reading list.

A few weeks ago, one of my classmates in my Lit. Theory class posed a very interesting question that I thought I would share:  How do you imagine/see characters in books?  My other classmates answered several different ways; some said they saw the characters only as their name, not necessarily as a person (it was interesting that these students also had either contacts or glasses and did not have colorful dreams; they claimed that their dreams were either blurry or in black & white); others said they saw the characters fully detailed and colorful in their minds, imagining their clothes, their hair color, mannerisms etc.  Still, others imagined a person they knew or imagined characteristics of their own, totally disregarding the author's details of the character.


Personally, I usually see the character as the author depicts him/her and view them this way throughout the novel whenever their name is mentioned.  This becomes a problem, however, when I see a movie first (or movie preview as with "The Time Traveler's Wife"), then I usually can't get those characters' faces and mannerisms out of my head.  I however, don't have glasses or contacts, and I dream in full color.  So, I wonder if our imaginations have anything to do with our sight, or vice versa.  It seemed to be a pattern that, at least in our Lit. Theory class, if a person does not have dreams in color or they are blurred, that person is more apt to see characters only as their names or in less details than those who are closer to 20/20 vision.  This presents an interesting experiment!! Help me out here....how do you "see" characters when you are reading?


Now that my classes are winding down and all papers/exams will be due next week, I am making my summer reading list and here's what I've got so far: 


(I'm currently reading "The Piano Teacher"by Janice Y.K. Lee - mostly while I bike at our gym)

"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford and "Unfinished Desires" by Gail Godwin

  

"The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake and "Dreamers of the Day" by Maria Doria Russell

"Imperfect Birds" by Anne Lamott and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver

  

"The Tortoise and the Hare" by Elizabeth Jenkins and Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman, by Sam Wasson

Let the summer reading begin!! : )

.Balcony photos: Before & After.

About a month ago, I blogged about the balcony makeover contest at our apartment complex.  Whoever has the winning balcony will receive tickets to see the Dayton Dragons baseball team!  I (with the help of Scott) have been decorating and planting flowers on our balcony, and we have created a cozy outdoor oasis for our apartment.  Here is what we had to work with:

BEFORE

 

AFTER

      

{We used red, teal, and beige for our colors (inspired by Martha Stewart kitchen) - an adirondack chair is perfect for reading and we love our beige chairs when we want to go outside and eat.  The red/white cushions came from IKEA at $1.99 each (bargain!!) and the beige/white cushion came from Goodwill.  The clay pots were my mother's and the large red pots are from IKEA (they were actually waste baskets and Scott drilled holes in them so they could drain water...I think they really work as pots!)}

 

{The plants on the right are called "hens & chickens" and they are very tolerant in all types of weather and temperature.  Their oblong clay pot is another Goodwill find!}

 

{The small green birdhouses in the pots were handmade by my dad for my mom on Mother's Day when I was little! The plant on the left is called a "Shasta Daisy" or "Crazy Daisy" (I love the name!!) and will bloom later in Spring or early summer! The plant on the right is called a "Delphinium" and it will bloom beautiful purple flowers in the summer!}

 

{Lanterns were another part of our themed balcony, and I just love them!  They are left over from our wedding so they are a nice little reminder of our special day!  The small black ones are hung on our railing with pull-ties and tea lights can go inside them for lighting at night! This eccentric bronze lantern serves as a cute accent amongst the clay flower pots.  The small clay pots hold mixes of marigolds! I just love all the colors together.}

 

{I was so excited to see that our Delphinium is already blooming!! This orange plant was purchased about a month ago and I'm so excited about how vibrant it is!  I was worried for a while because it started looking sickly (it spent a few cold nights outside), but now it looks beautiful!}

 

{When I saw this cute birdhouse, I just had to get it to match our red accents! Scott and I think it looks like something from "Fraggel Rock" or "David the Gnome."  This plastic tub is another teal accent and holds our unused soil and other outside supplies}

Well I hope you have enjoyed looking at our balcony photos.  We are really enjoying a place to go outside and read, have dinner, or just sit and sip coffee & tea!  Sammie and Sophie, we are realizing, really enjoy the outdoors too! 

 

ukuleles and vacation plans

This week has been busy, busy so I've not been able to update.  We got back to Ohio from our weekend in Virginia on Monday night and then I worked at Gap pretty much everyday this week except for today.  Scott and I did manage to plant all the flowers I bought on Thursday evening.  We put our bare hands right down into the soil and filled all our pots with flowers.  It was a lot of fun, and our balcony is nearly complete! 


It's old news (but great news!!) that Scott will be teaching an introductory Theology course at his school, but I just recently found out that I will be teaching ENG 101 at my school in the fall! I am super excited and can't wait to get started.  I will be teaching MWF at 9:45!


In other news, in addition to my guitar lessons, I will also be teaching ukulele lessons beginning this week.  You heard it right, ukulele lessons! I don't know a whole lot about the tiny Hawaiian instrument, but a few minutes sitting down last night with a chord book had me well-acquainted and ready to give my first lesson.  

A fellow teacher at the music shop where I work approached me about giving the lessons to her daughter.  I told her straight-out that I didn't know a whole lot about it, and that I'd only played around with one when working on a Shakespearean play in college (not considering the time I was a "ukelele girl" in the Spring Variety Show in primary school).  Knowing that it wouldn't be too hard transitioning from guitar to ukulele, I agreed to take on the new task and new student.  I've already looked up several songs and I'm pretty excited about learning another instrument. 


Okay, so a guilty pleasure that I must admit to is that when I was in high school I loved all of Nicholas Sparks's books.  I loved their hopelessly romantic characters and corny lines. Although this pleasure no longer exists for me, I still hold a special place in my heart for, "The Notebook."  I guess I find myself relating to the forbidden love that ends happily despite the obstacles and mistakes Allie and Noah must go through and learn from.  Needless to say, I am ecstatic that Scott and I will be staying in a Bed & Breakfast that looks a lot like the house Noah builds for Allie in the movie made a few years ago with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling.  

It got up to 87 degrees today so I am definitely ready for some lazy vacation days in South Carolina!

Diplomas, Road Trips, and Totes

This weekend Scott and I packed up and headed to Virginia so I could walk through my undergrad commencement ceremony.  Even though I've been in my Master's program for almost a full semester, I feel a bit more official.

It was definitely an action-packed family weekend complete with a trip to the movies to see Robin Hood (which I highly recommend), a graduation party with yummy Reese's ice cream cake, and a road trip to Pigeon Forge!  This morning Scott and I packed up once again (cats and all) and headed back to Ohio so I could attend my night class.  I'll be posting pictures of our balcony soon as I have acquired more clay pots from mom and will be going to purchase flowers sometime this week.


Last week, I wasted precious time blogging about my favorite tote sightings online.  As a graduation gift, my mother-in-law gave me this fabulous tote from Fossil! 

What's that in the mail??

Concert tickets to see James Taylor and Carole King in concert!!!  

This was my graduation present from Scott!!  We have some thanks to owe James because his music was one of the things that brought us together.  Now, I won't go into the details but our story goes back to a discussion of the music of James Taylor in a booth at Burger King almost seven years ago - it's what started it all.  So needless to say we're both excited to be making the trip to see him in concert with the lovely Carole King! 

*For our "first dance" song at our wedding, we danced to his song, "You Can Close Your Eyes:"

{I love this picture because it shows Scott singing it to me}

Well the sun is surely sinking down, 
but the moon is slowly rising. 
So this old world must still be spinning around, 
and I still love you. 

So close your eyes; 
you can close your eyes, it's all right. 
I don't know no love songs, 
and I can't sing the blues any more. 
But I can sing this song, 
and you can sing this song 
when I'm gone. 

It won't be long before another day. 
We're gonna have a good time. 
And no one's gonna take that time away. 
You can stay as long as you like. 


So close your eyes; 
you can close your eyes, it's all right. 
I don't know no love songs, 
and I can't sing the blues any more. 
But I can sing this song, 
and you can sing this song 
when I'm gone. 

fighting the urge to do something productive

I love reusable tote bags...


I carry my school books/notebooks, library books and movies, extra clothes, shoes, and just about everything else in them.  I usually have a few bags in the back of my car just in case I might need to carry something around or bring in light jackets that have accumulated in my car.


All of my totes have usually only cost me a couple of bucks (or euros if you count one of my favorites that I bought at the National Library of Ireland with my mom).  Another of my favorites is one Scott brought back from a New Hampshire bookstore that says: PEACE, LOVE, BOOKS.  And just the other day, I WON a reusable bag from the library at my school.  I rarely win anything, so I was very excited to leave with my new (free!) tote...


So in an effort to procrastinate and do anything other than work on my Dante paper, I have been browsing canvas bags.  Here are some of my favorites:

{From treehugger.com - I love the colors}

{Lush & Wild Tote from Anthropologie}

{From J.Crew and only $10.00 - I really like the two little cats...reminds me of Sammie and Sophie}

{Recycled burlap totes!}

{I love these owls - from nightowlpapergoods.com}