Simple Gifts

When true simplicity is gained

to bow and to bend

we will not be ashamed

to turn, turn will be your delight

till by turning, turning

we come round right.

And when we find ourselves

in the place just right,

'twill be in the valley of

love and delight.

Our Lonely Western World

I'm often surprised by the places I will find beautiful things... I found this excerpt of writing in my anthropology textbook in a section about reverse culture shock. It's written by a cultural anthropologist, Alan Beals (1980) upon returning home to San Francisco after a year of fieldwork in a village in India.

We could not understand why people were so distant and hard to reach, or why they talked and moved so quickly. We were a little frightened at the sight of so many white faces and we could not understand why no one stared at us, brushed against us, or admired our baby.

We could not understand the gabble of voices on the television set. When we could understand people, they seemed to be telling lies. The trust and warmth seemed to have gone out of life to be replaced by coldness and inhumanity. People seemed to have no contact with reality. All of the natural human processes--eating, sleeping together, quarreling, even playing--seemed to be divorced from earth and flesh. Nowhere could we hear the soft lowing of cattle or the distant piping of the shepherd boy.

Candide

I spent 12 hours today, completely focused on music. Practicing horn, piano, studying music history, music theory, rehearsals and sectionals, and just listening to music. Now, I sit here, trying to read my anthropology textbook, and it's like it's in another language I don't understand. I try to read a paragraph, and I realize I'm just skimming the entire thing while Candide Overture and The Messiah battle in my head. It's so loud. There is so much music drifting in and out of my thoughts, it's difficult to think of anything else. It's a feeling somewhat like being stuffed up from a bad cold.

Right now, my life only makes sense in music. I've only been back at music school for three weeks, and I'm already submerged in the depth of it all. It's incredibly difficult, stressful, and overwhelming, but I love it.

Asking for flowers is like asking you to be nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNELkebgB9U

Saturday Brunch

Saskatoon buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, plain yogurt, and fresh berries. Best Hangover food EVER.

My Sad Happiness

Sometimes when the overwhelming sadness in the world hangs heavy around me, I find myself wondering why I have nothing to be sad about, when everyone around me does. And that thought alone saddens me.
It seems to be some sort of oxymoron only experienced by privledged people such as myself, who have had the opportunity to be happy and healthy and safe. With an uneasy feeling of sadness and guilt, I sit here wondering how to make others happy.

And my heart melts

Commercial Radio and I

I AM extremely pumped for folk fest, but I'm going through a major top 40 phase.

THANK YOU

One more sleep till Folk Fest!! My very favourite place!

Alabama, Arkansas

Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros- Home (RAC remix)

Phlegmatic Obsession

My Newly Discoved Favourite Food

Solstice

Heather Lair Designs

My wonderful mother's bags have been featured on a website called Handbag Designer 101 today!

Heather Lair Designs
Heather Lair on Etsy

Pappy

Ever since I was a small child, sailing has been a part of my family life. Living on the lake, I have developed a strong connection with the water. I love the way it affects the way we live our lives in this little town. I love its serene purple evenings, and its fierce gray storms. Many of my best memories involve the lake, and some of my best memories of my Dad and I are memories of sailing. So it only made sense to spend Father's Day on the boat with my dear old Pappy, swimming off of South Beach and eating tomato sandwiches.

Burritos, Beach Boy, and Quilts

Beach Boy on the Boat

love

We hung 56 quilts in our house for the Wave tour last weekend.

delicious delicious burritos

Alexander McCall Smith

"You did not wipe a child's tears because God told you to do so. You did it because the tears were there." - La

I Hate Money

Saving money and making budgets and applying for bursaries . Please make it all go away. Educating yourself is probably the hardest thing you could do. Without any outside financial help, it is nearly impossible to attend university and live on your own, unless you don't sleep. I can't imagine getting through my year of university last year, while working a job. I barely have time for everything as it is, and now I have to work while I go to school. It's not fair. I'm becoming an educated person so I can make the world a better place, and the world is making it really hard for me.

Family

Spring

Today, as I walked outside after finishing my last exam of the year, I was greeted by the warmest sunniest day of the year. Despite being exhausted, hung over, and mentally drained, I felt pretty good.

This will be the summer of naps.

I need to catch up on all the sleep I lost over the winter.

It Ain't Easy

This is just what I've been searching for:

It Ain't Easy- Abigail Washburn

I hope it affects you the way it did me.

I think I'm in love with music.

Lull

Lately I feel as if I am waiting for inspiration.

Something to affect me.

Some new kind of feeling.

A reason.

How does one seek out inspiration?

Leave these fields and skies of blue

This evening, as I walked home down my street, I looked up.

The moon and the stars are here. Even in this city.

Sometimes I forget that.

I miss the big open prairie skies.

I miss the horizon over the lake and the fields.

On my bus ride to university, along one stretch of Pembina, there is a field -of sorts- behind the big commercial buildings. As the bus speeds along, sometimes I can catch a glimpse of the open field through the little cracks between buildings, and it makes my stomach twinge.

I never realized how much I took these things for granted.

Weakerthans Binge

The sidewalks are watching me think about you.

The full moon makes our faces shine like over-ironed polyester.

I wait in 4/4 time.

And I'll cater with all the birds I can kill.

We wait till the dress rehearsal to say, I wanted it this way.

Let the rain be your applause.

Take this moment to decide, if we meant it, if we tried.

Depluralize our causalities.

Beauty's just another word I'm never certain how to spell.

My confusion corner commuters are cursing the cold away, as December tries to dissemble the length of their working day.

How many beautifully simple, clever lyrics can this man come up with? How is is so possible for him to write what we all live everyday. His songs are anthems for the incredibly ordinary.

Be the love you want to receive.

Schumann

For the first time in a long time, while playing horn, I had that feeling. That incredible warm, right feeling. Like, I want to do this for the rest of my life. I don't get that feeling very often anymore.

I don't know what I really want to do with my life. I love music. I love horn. I'm not sure if I am capable of committing my entire life to it. There is so much more I want to do.

Bye, Gimli

Looking forward to:

goofing around in theory class

practicing my bum off (partly motivated by fear)

dance parties

the condo

NAT looking forward to:

sitting alone at home

-40 bus rides

copious amounts of homework

wind ensemble