Sea Sew

I've felt twelve kinds of love for Lisa Hannigan's music since hearing her with Demian Rice years back. Her new solo album Sea Sew is love, lovely.



She gave a great interview about her creative process and the album on NPR that you can read here. The liner notes include a photo of all of the song lyrics that she herself stitched on linen. She explains her song writing by saying:

"It's that moment where you see the turn of somebody's elbow or a book peeking out of someone's bag on the train," Hannigan says. "And — I do this anyway — I sort of construct a person behind it, invariably positive. And I think that song is about that moment, where you're sort of full of hope about someone you really have no idea about."

I love that. That's the beginning of every story that has already been going on without you. You just want to jump in. I feel that way when writing or taking photographs, too.


By the way, the pub where this is filmed, Dick Mack's Pub, is in Dingle which is in County Kerry, Ireland. I have never been to this pub, but I have been to Kerry and it is beautiful. Here's a few images of the pub (from a traveler on flickr) that make me a little thirsty for a pint.
Cheers.

Waiting for this moment to arise

On the cover of our wedding program, I asked them to print Blackbird lyrics. It probably seemed like an odd choice for a wedding, but it was perfect for us. We were together 4 years before our wedding day and during the planning, I kept hearing in my head, "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."

I love this version of the song, taken from the album McCartney, because you can hear Paul's toe tapping and Linda open a door in another room of their house where he was recording. Her with her camera, him with his guitar, in their little cottage.




They felt like home to us. My husband even had a coat just like the one Paul has his little baby in when we met eleven years ago. And that photograph on the back of the album with the baby face in magic hour has been my favorite since I bought her book of photography called Sixties as a high schooler. We listened to that record, the one with the cherries on the cover and Linda's magic hour photos inside, a million times. We listened to that record during times when our visits were sandwiched between Fridays and Sundays because we lived so far apart and didn't know if we would ever be in the same place at once.

The beatles BlackBird (répétition)

I loved what seemed quiet and peaceful about their life together. Now I realize that I've been waiting for THIS moment to arise, too. And that it has. I see how so much of their story has influenced ours. Eleven years later, we live in a little cottage with a baby girl and a dog and cat and cameras and books and music. I realize now that we already have all that we dreamed of. We have our tea in the afternoon and I can hear his toe tapping to music as he types with headphones on. Our story built on theirs and so many others. I have to think this is what love stories do for us. We build on them and dream with them.

I've been blessed to photograph many weddings now. But Saturday's will be the first one that I have been with the couple since their engagement began and I am so happy for these very special people. New love stories are being told and stitched together with different songs and light and experiences and each one I capture becomes part of my story, too. And yours.

On their wedding day.

Heartbeats

I spent Saturday with a family celebrating their daughter's first birthday. They are the kind of people you wish lived next door so that you could hear them laughing and be waived over for a beer in the afternoon. They are lovely and the village of people they have collected to love this baby are welcomed like family.

We got to see Away We Go and I loved every word. I can't remember the last time I saw something so close to my own experience that I felt like it was just for me. A quiet gift. I'm so grateful for experiences like that. It's the kind of art that steadies me and keeps my heart going at 60 beats per minute.

I picked up the soundtrack and Vendela Vida's book Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name. The soundtrack is great writing music. I am saving the book for a rainy day.

Your Summer Work Out Mix

Outrun the treadmill with this summer work-out mix that I put together now available through itunes. Warning: Contains explicit lyrics.

Date Night!

I can't wait to see it. Is it on here? No. Will it ever be? Who knows. But I would love to see it.
The beautiful soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch is to be released this week. I love that the screenplay was written by a couple {Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida} who are both amazing writers.

Also coming out this week on June 23rd is Regina Spektor's new album, Far. It's gotten some less than favorable reviews, but I'm still interested. Speaking of which, I bought the new Dave Matthews and well...sadly, it's just not my thing.

However, the new Black Eyed Peas, The Energy Never Dies, completely delivers. It's hopeful. It's interesting, but it's still light enough to accompany you at a cook-out or on the treadmill.

I'm tightening up all of my photography business materials with a blue-teal-white color palette. Maybe that's what reminded me of this old album cover from Madonna's Ray of Light which I picked up used at CD Central for 6 bucks this week.


It is perfectly sunkissed for summer.

An Athem for Wherever You Are

La Blogotheque has a series featuring a few "take away shows" where bands show up, give an impromptu performance of one song and then take off.

I love Sigur Ros, so I was double excited to see this edition.

As my 4-year old notes whenever we listen to Sigur Ros in the car, "I don't know the words. They don't speak English Momma." {It's in Icelandic} But she still nods her head and tells me, "Can you turn it up?"

And you can still enjoy this song which has become an anthem for my somewhat tearful, yet triumphant, completely normal day.

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

If the scene in the cafe makes you long for Paris, check out these awesome photo prints from Simply Photo at Etsy. I love them.

To See You, To Hear You

I am sorry the posts have been sparse lately. So far, in 2009 I have been very, very blessed with work and travel. I am praying to keep up and at the same time not lose my enthusiasm for creative endeavors which are such an important part of how I organize (or pretend to order) chaos.

I am re-stocking inspiration. I know you are much more interesting than me. I would love to see you, to hear you -- your voices, your stories, your photos. Blogging can feel like a bit of a solo enterprise at times. Leave me a comment or link about what is exciting or inspiring to you these days.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope to post more in April.

In the meantime, here's a potpourri post to give you something to snack on:

Books

I'm still working through this insightful book, Thomas Moore's insightful A Life At Work


Moore writes, "A life work is a multicolored, tattered quilt. It is not simple, monochromatic, one-size-fits-all template that you simply adjust to. It may have gaps and holes and incomplete sections. It may not even feel like a life work, especially when you are in the middle of it. There may come a time when you can look back and see the sense in all the parts and glimpse a true life work, but even then it may be full of holes made by a long history of struggles."

He says that your life work doesn't have to fit into one job description. It appears in different aspects of your life and you don't have to choose just one. Amen.

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Films:

Looking forward to seeing the Sundance Festival darling, 500 Days of Summer



and Spike Jonze's take on Where The Wild Things Are.
Both look like movies with good soundtracks, too.

...this preview gets me with the boats, the sunflare, the sense that -as I have always felt- children understand the tension and the balance of it all. It reminds me of the Children's Defense Fund motto, "Dear Lord be good to me. The sea is so wide and my boat is so small."
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Music
This week, my husband is teaching Pride & Prejudice, {which makes this English major nostalgic about being a student} so I've been listening to this soundtrack from the most recent film adaptation. It's really, really good for writing, cooking, editing photos, whatever you happen to be doing. Here's a link to my favorite song:

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Food

Speaking of my husband {who has a passion for cooking} I've asked him to share a few of his quick-veggie-simple recipes here and asked him if I could videotape demonstrations of how to prepare the food and he agreed and said, "let's call it Plate Worthy." Love it. A new Plate Worthy series coming this Spring!

Can't get enough of Intelligensia Coffee which tastes amazing and also cuts out the middle-man putting money directly into the hands of the growers. I found mine at Fresh Market, but I know it's available elsewhere.

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For those of you who have written that you want more essays, thank you so very much. I am working in that direction. I didn't realize how much I need that outlet until now.

Brothers, Freddy Mercury & Bears

I lucked in to so many blessings when I married my husband, including two amazing brothers. As the youngest of three girls, I didn't know much about brothers. Now, I can say with certainty, brothers are awesome and it's so great to be part of their lives. They have both been great friends to me and never made me feel apart from what they have, which is so generous.

I asked Brother James (19) which Queen album to check out and received the following thoughtful response (reprinted here with permission):

That's a tough question.

Here are my top 5 favorite queen albums:

5. Hot Space (1982) - This album was panned by most of Queens fans for
it's disco style, but I learned to like it. Back Chat is a great track.

4. Queen (1973) - Their debut album. Hard to beat the original gangster.

3. News of the World (1977) - In my opinion, Queen's most overplayed
songs like "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" are both on this album. But a few very underrated songs like "Sleeping on the Sidewalk" and "Fight From the Inside" are also included.

2. A Day at the Races (1976) - This album has the highest
concentration of hit songs by Queen (Somebody to Love, Tie your mother down, etc.)

1. A Night at the Opera (1975) - This is in my top 5 albums of all time.
My favorite Queen song "Death on Two Legs" is the best hate song ever
(dedicated to their former manager). Need I mention that "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You're my best friend" are on there?

Choose wisely.
--James

Let us know which one is your favorite. I'm going to have to agree with James and go with A Night at the Opera. Happy listening!

Brother Carson, who does things like offer to hang out with our daughter so we can see a movie, and makes us laugh so hard that red wine sprays across the table, sent me a link to a Clem Snide song called Find Love the other day that the singer wrote for his daughter when she was about my daughter's age that brings me to tears.

"Wrestle bears, bring 'em to their knees,
steal the honey from killer bees
Find love then give it all away."

It's good to have brothers.

Captain's Log: Notes While Speeding Through the Galaxy

My friend Ami sent this poem around on Friday and I wanted to share:

Postcard: October 18/01, NYC

On the subway an old

Polish man takes me in charge,

rides two stops past his own

to make certain I find

the right place to get off. When I try

to thank him, he shakes his head

no, forget it. No one, he says,

should be lost when someone else

knows the way.

-Samuel Green

Thanks so much Ami!

***

And, since it is the weekend, I thought I would share this post from Purl and A Bee featuring the book Weekend Sewing.

I love everything about the post and the featured photos. Must check out this book!

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Our sump pump gave up on us and thank heaven for good plumbers. I've discovered lots of long lost things {as you do when there is a flood} but mostly they are things that I can let go of to make room for new ideas in my life. I'm realizing the only things I really want to keep are quilts, photographs, books and letters. I can replace the vacuum cleaner, but not the letters between my husband and me or photographs of people I can't call anymore.

***

I've had more inquiries than normal for my little photography shop that could which is exciting. I'm relieved to know that even in hard times, people still want to take in and preserve moments from their present lives.

***

Our girl fell asleep in her big girl bed all by herself last night. Normally I lay down with her until she falls asleep. {I know, I know.} It was something we've talked about for months. I told her she would know when she was ready and, much like a year ago when she decided to give up her pacifiers, last night she decided she was ready. We tucked her in and she was all giggly with "the friends" comprised of Bear, a baby doll, Curious George, and a small lamb. I'm sure the promise of the Ariel Bath toy she spotted the other day was a great motivator. As we listened for her in our room, I thought about what it sounded like as I fell asleep as a child. I remember blue light from the television down that hall. I remember hearing The Tonight Show theme song and the occasional laugh from one of my parents. I wonder what she will remember: soft yellow reading light, typing keys or turning pages or none of that at all.

***

I'm teaching myself how to use Photoshop. Wow. So much to learn. I've put it off for so long thinking that I would rather focus on making each photograph better on its own to limit editing time, but I want to stay in the curve with the industry and see what is out there. I'm loving being able to write on photos. Very cool.




***

We are getting excited about a trip to see my parents by the sea. I can almost smell the salty air, a welcomed change from this:


***
My husband gets credit for telling me about Andrew Bird years ago. The embedded version below of his song Lull has been in my head for about two weeks now. It just keeps coming back. The video is odd, but interesting. He performed a different version of this song here in Lexington at Woodsongs and you can see that performance here. It's amazing to see how he puts it all together and how it must sound inside his head. I wrote this post listening to it.



Lull- by Andrew Byrd

Being alone, it can be quite romantic
Like Jacques Cousteau underneath the Atlantic
A fantastic voyage to parts unknown
Going to depths where the sun's never shone
And I fascinate myself when I'm alone

So I go a little overboard, but hang on to the hull
While I'm airbrushing fantasy art on a life
That's really kind of dull
Oh, I'm in a lull

I'm all for moderation, but sometimes it seems
Moderation itself can be a kind of extreme
So I joined the congregation
I joined the softball team
I went in for my confirmation
Where incense looks like steam
I start conjugating proverbs
Where once there were nouns
This whole damn rhyme scheme's
Starting to get me down

Oh, I'm in a lull
I'm in a lull

Being alone, it can be quite romantic
Like Jacques Cousteau underneath the Atlantic
A fantastic voyage to parts unknown
Going to depths where the sun's never shone
And I fascinate myself, sure I do
When I'm alone

I'm rambling on rather self-consciously
While I'm stirring these condiments into my tea
And I think I'm so lame, I bet I think this song’s about me
Don't I, don't I, don't I?

I'm in a lull...

***

Sorry for the scattered post. I am so behind. Hope everyone is having a restful weekend.

Swirling In My Heart Today

I watched this TED speech from Elizabeth Gilbert and different things about it keep tumbling around in my mind like fluffy clothes in the dryer.

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My guy bought the new Andrew Bird album Nobel Beast -we are fans- but this album is really something. I love the interview that aired about it this week on NPR's All Things Considered. He speaks about his creative process in such an interesting way. He can experience synesthesia -seeing color in sounds etc.,-I am convinced he's a genius.

The super haunting/inspiring part about it to me was in the interview, when talks about the inspiration behind his first song on the album, Oh No. He said it was inspired by an upset child sitting behind him on an airplane.

"He just kept saying quietly, 'ohhh nooo. ohhhh nooo.'
He was going home and his mom kept saying, 'we're just going home, honey. It's fine.'
And it wasn't this nails on a chalkboard sound, it was actually a really beautiful kind of mourning sound and I was actually kind of envious of this kid.
I guess everyone's feeling that on the airplane, but it would be total anarchy if we all were as expressive as the average 4-year-old."

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We sat at a table this morning at Doodles {my new favorite brunch spot} next to a young guy eating alone, reading the paper. Each time our girl would try to tilt her chair back, he would almost jump up to catch her. We were right there, talked to her about being careful, repositioned her chair and so on, but I felt bad for this guy who was just trying to have breakfast and not worry, but you could tell he couldn't help it. {It reminded me of how I felt going to the beach on my day off when I was lifeguarding at a waterpark. I was constantly scanning and seeing hazards.} He finally told us that he's a pediatric nurse at the children's hospital and it was just habit. He said, "I don't mind even screaming kids. Screaming kids means they are breathing and that they are okay."
It was hard not to hug him.

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We iced them together. Yellow cake + chocolate icing = happiness.

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I picked up this bamboo salad bowl at a local shop, Lucia's, but they sell them online here.

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That's me, I'm told.

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Only 2 more days until M. Ward's album Hold Time is released. If you follow the link, you can preview some of the songs. I've been trying to get my hands on the album's first song called For Beginners for months.

In A Time of Hope

I just love this cover of George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun performed by Yo-Yo Ma and James Taylor.

Does that make me crazy?

Love Ray LaMontagne, as you know. Just discovered this cover he made of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy. Of course, the original bears repeating.

Dioramas

This post from 3191 is exactly what I've been thinking about doing as a holiday card for us. I love the outside looking in. I've been trying to photograph our family from the outside the cottage looking in for a while now. I'm waiting for perfect autumn light.


I think this appeals to me (and photos of a room taken from another room) because I have always had a big time fascination with dioramas. Remember making them for school? The smell of Elmers glue, construction paper, clay figures. Taking acorns, sticks and leaves to make 3 dimensional details.

There's a place near my parents house where you can see seemingly life-size ones as you float behind them on the waterway. They are giant doll's houses, all lit up in yellow on the inside against the blue evening light. People are at the dinner table or walking through the house. It is so peaceful to see them living their lives silently, walking up stairs and moving through their days. It reminds me of the scene in Steve Zissou where he takes you on a cross section tour of his boat. (I love that this version of the clip is in italian. I adore Wes Anderson movies and Mark Mothersbaugh who does the amazing music moves me so much). There's something about floating on the waterway that takes the eerie Rear Window voyeur feeling away. Their windows are open after all and we keep moving on.

There's an old Indigo Girls song that I love from Swamp Ophelia called Language or The Kiss, that says something like, "There was a table set for six and five were there. I stood outside and kept my eye upon that empty chair. There was steam on the window from the kitchen. Laughter like a language I once spoke with ease."

I really love that.

In The Details

My house is sleeping. I have on my favorite headphones and Ray LaMontagne is singing about trouble and wild horses, being saved and asking how come.

I'm thinking back on the week and trying to figure out how to put it into categories and alphabetized files. There are so many things I can't write about on any given week, that it's difficult to process it all. Occupational hazard I guess, but it seems I am in a constant state of (to twist around Robert Frost) confidences to keep and miles to go before I sleep.

I love this time of year though. No matter how long it has been since I had a new class schedule, Fall still feels like it is a time to go back to learn something, start fresh, wait for color. It's small, quiet things that I look forward to all year: details like the ones shared here and here.

We're all conditioned to look for certain details as a sign of changing time, and in looking for those markers that the seasons are changing or that a holiday is coming, or that a child has met a milestone, do we miss other beautiful, not so obvious markers of time and lessons of what this is, being human?

These photo books of a week in the life have elevated seemingly mundane tasks to those worthy of a photograph, a journal entry and a printed page. In close up detail, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Even though I only did the project for one day, thinking of how I would photograph an ordinary task helped me see it as something beautiful. The next time I did the same task without the camera, the sense of purpose and importance of the task had not gone away. If I could hold on to that sense that every thing I do, even monotonous tasks, has purpose and ramifications, that everything about how we all handle each other is a delicate moment, would life be more meaningful? Would I find answers or just more questions?

There's no way to know which details are the salient ones, the ones that will matter most. I can't take in all of them. Just like with writing, I guess it's about choosing the details that seem most closely related to the questions we're trying to answer at the time? I'm still trying to figure this out for myself. But somewhere in all of it is a feeling that I'm not paying close enough attention to my life to find God in every person, to be present enough for the people I love, to figure out why I'm here and what I'm supposed to be doing. I begin each day asking myself, "how may I serve," and the answer seems to change with every cup of coffee. Tomorrow, I think I'll just be and see what happens.




Don't let your mind get weary and confused
Your will be still, don't try
Don't let your heart get heavy child
Inside you there's a strength that lies

Don't let your soul get lonely child
It's only time, it will go by
Don't look for love in faces, places
It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

Don't lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don't put your trust in walls
'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now
-Ray LaMontagne

Where Would I Be Without Blogs?

I just have no idea. They breathe fresh, clean O2 into every workday. One of my favorites, brilliant Grimsaburger blogged a while back about Pandora Radio. It's life changing. I'll share.

Go to Pandora.com
Type in an artist you like.
Pandora will start playing music that you will like. If you don't, give it a thumbs up or down (sort of like TiVo recommendations) and it will adjust. Awesome.
A personal radio station finding cool things for you, just you, that you would need 12 cool college radio DJs to find otherwise.

Happy Saturday.

Instant Karma

Check out this album of Lennon covers put together by the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Everybody is on this album: U2, Regina Spektor, R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz, Jack Johnson, Corinne Bailey Rae, and so on. Highlights include Ben Harper's cover of Beautiful Boy, which reminds me of this post from artist Faye Christian Phillips. Enjoy.

For Your Beach Bag

We're shaking sand out of our bags after my first week off in two years. It was a much needed break. I'm really sad that vacation is over. But, like Grandpa used to say, "I'm blessed with work," so I shouldn't complain.

Here are a few suggestions for your getaway:

I've been on the road a lot lately for work. My beautiful husband made me a mix that I first listened to at 6 a.m. on the way across the state. The first song, To The Stars, is from this album which everyone needs. The orchestration is amazing and the lyrics are like the most genuine love letter.
"Oh my darlin'
Dear I love you to the stars
love you from my heart"
click here to listen or buy.



I just read the new David Sedaris short story collection, When You Are Engulfed In Flames and though there are a few gems (particularly the first story "It's Catching" which made me laugh out loud) many of the stories chronicle awkward moments in travel that lack the depth in personal relationships that set his other work apart. It is worth reading, but if you have to choose just one, pick up his book Dress Your Family In Corduroy & Denim for the beach. A bonus is that you can probably find it on your bookseller's bargain table now.

I picked up these super comfy flip flops that don't hurt your arches.



And, no kidding, I found the most beautiful, fluffy beach towels at Marshalls on the cheap.

Before we left, I downloaded a couple of Yo Gabba Gabba and Backyardigans episodes for the video ipod which was a lifesaver during long waits at restaurants and during travel. It's a lot less cumbersome than the portable DVD player. Also, several PBS shows like Super Y are free podcasts. Check them out on itunes.

I hope you have a vacation scheduled soon, even if it's only to the backyard.

A Quick Plug for Kind, Talented People

Our friend Kevin Johnston is appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 25th to promote his online show, The All For Nots.
Check it out.

My friend Jennifer Bradbury has published an amazing novel, Shift, and it's getting great reviews. Good summer reading from the coolest girl. Click the link above for the Amazon listing.

Summer Recipe

• add salt
• chips
• salsa
• mango
  
• cold beverage
• a sunkissed afternoon
• and my new favorite song (If I Had Eyes, by Jack Johnson)
  
• repeat if necessary
  

On The Road

A few notes from my virtual travel journal...
-an essay from Anna Quindlen about the fleeting nature of parenting
-a lovely recommendation for, "night music for when it's night, it's quiet and the kids are in bed."
-a thoughtful blog about creative parenting with a killer link list in the right hand column.
-my new favorite resource Bloesem Kids.
-another amazing photographer, Paul Johnson, gettin' it done. I mean, damn. Don't these images make you want to go on vacation, listen to Jack Johnson, paint a wall cerulean blue, get a sunburn, go dancing? Just me? (I painted my front door that color a few years ago. It still makes me happy.)