A somewhat goofy mini-collection of stuff I’ve been reading, stuff I’ve been thinking about and oh, some completely random crap.
Basically the stuff that never gets mentioned here because I’m not the kind of person who can just make some teeny little point. Not into the whole brevity thing, as the Dude would say.
Actually, I’m under the strict compulsion to write ten pages about anything on my mind. So this is me. Practicing brevity.
Really I just write these posts because I love saying Item!
Like this:
Item! I don’t know where I’m going with this! Not even slightly!
See how much fun? Okay.
Item! Post No. 33 in a series that used to have a point, possibly.
Item! A beautiful site with great stuff!
Do you know Fi? Because you should.
She’s talented and bright and fun and … really funny too. Oh, and she does lovely art pieces.
And she’ll probably be oh, somewhat less than thrilled that I’ve mentioned any of this, but that’s what happens when you publish a blog. And a gorgeous one. That’s really good. And … open to the public.
Your Right People can find it. And get excited about it. I know, it’s hard.
Aside from the gorgeous art, there’s also a nice piece about television and pre-Raphaelites …
“I have no excuse for not having seen these paintings in the flesh; it’s only a couple of hours to London (even if I do loathe the place with a passion). But even if you’re not so close, you can now take fresh look at these familiar images through the marvel of modern electrickery. I commend it most highly to your kind attention.”
She’s @fibowman on Twitter.
Item! Fantastic copy.
I pretty much never get to read website copy that I think is great. Most of it sounds decidedly like it’s been run through a machine that takes out all the human.
This totally surprised me.
“I am picky, and already pretty booked. So I have these criteria: One is being fun to work with, and having a cool idea. I love working with authors, curious niche bizfolk, fanciful nonprofits. “
He teaches you how to do your own video marketing.
I kind of want to hire him just because.
Take notes, people.
Item! A big huge understanding about why saying yes is scary.
A lot of people have been reading my Very Personal Ads and started posting their own.
They’re all interesting to read, but this one really hit me.
A really powerful understanding about how an old, old situation created a stuckified pattern that she’s working on untangling now. Amazing.
“Ever since then I have been afraid to say yes, in case “something better” would come along later that I would have to say “no” to. “
From Andi. Who is lovely. You should read it. It’s beautiful.
She’s @annaline_39 on Twitter.
Item! Scary!
This is a really scary story about a rattlesnake. That, amazingly, ends well.
The story ends well, yes? Though the rattlesnake is also fine, for those who worry about things like that.
“The canyon was too steep to consider leaving the trail to go around the snake. My only way out was on the path, past the snake. And that snake didn’t want me anywhere near it.”
Wow.
She’s @barbarajcarter on Twitter.
Item! My chickeners are biggifying each other!
Speaking of Barbara, did you read the comments in last week’s Friday Chicken?
Because that’s where I learned that someone who comments on the Chicken posts bought one of her paintings.
First of all, how cool is that?
Second of all, lucky person. Because I also have one of Barbara’s paintings and it’s gorgeous.
Third, talk about the magic of the internets. This is why I always tell people to hang out on blogs that they enjoy and not just (or even at all) in “strategic places” where your “target market” (ew) supposedly is.
But definitely leave comments (once you work through your gah I don’t have anything interesting to say bits or whatever your “stuff” is saying).
Because planting seeds in unlikely places in a non-strategic way is a great way to symbolically support a habit of organic biggification.
Item! Freedom from Self-Improvement Week!
My beloved friend Jen Louden is hosting Freedom From Self-Improvement week on her blog. And it’s going all week (started Monday).
Here’s how she described it (because then you’ll instantly get why I adore her, if you’re not already a Jen fan):
“It’s about acknowledging you don’t have to do anything to be worthy.
Not only that, but you can make mistakes and yes, you are still totally lovable.
It’s a shot across the bow of everyone who markets to our fear that we aren’t good enough.
It’s a bath of relief from endless shoulds, have tos, and get somewheres.
It’s a breath of self-mercy. “
So there will be posts and videos and give-aways and lots of reassuring kindness and probably some bonus smartnesses, because that’s my Jen.
She’s @jenlouden on Twitter.
Item! Update from the land of the Peculiar & Hilarious Shivanauts!
The “peculiar and hilarious” thing comes from Melynda’s sweet bit about Butterfly Wishes.
An amazing story about an artist (I heard about it from my friend Andreas and had to write about it).
“I want to leave you with this image of my artist friend, buzzing into stillness, going straight from shavasana into the studio, fearlessly mixing colors. And letting her art happen. “
Item! Comments!
So it was really cool the other week when I got to work on my practice of how I ask for stuff and you guys gave me the best reading recommendations ever!
So I’m going to try it again.
Here’s what I want:
- Things you’re thinking about.
- Music recommendations! Or really, the stuff that you like. We don’t have to call it a recommendation. 🙂
My commitment.
I am committed to giving time and thought to the things that people say, and I will interact with their ideas and with my own stuff as compassionately and honestly as is possible for me.
Even though asking for what I want still feels awkward for me, I’m just going to remind myself that this is a thing I’m practicing.
That is all.
Happy reading.
And happy Blustery Windsday. See you tomorrow.
Follow
Havi,
I have no idea what kind of music you like, but there is a band that is near and dear to my heart. They are Jaggery, and I’m hoping to have a chance to work with them as a photographer soon.
http://www.jaggery.org/
.-= Lisa´s last blog .. =-.
This week I’ve been listening to:
Myth and Myrrh (chants–you can hear clips at lilamusic.ca); Leonard Cohen Live in London; A Meeting by the River (Ry Cooder & V.M.Bhatt); de todo Coro Son (Digna Guerra & Coro Nacional de Cuba);Beethoven, Missa Solemnis; Written on the Wind (Hari Prasad Chaurasia).
I’ve been thinking about inner communication and the relationship between head and heart. How bringing every part of ourselves into the conversation–no matter how quiet or noisy or troublesome or invisible that part might be–brings peace, unity, the ability to move forward as a whole rather than leaving bits and pieces of ourselves behind.
.-= Hiro Boga´s last blog ..The Magical Monsoon: a love story in a minor key =-.
The iPod morning-run shuffle delivered up “Yes” by Morphine at just the right moment yesterday (“Swing your swift sword sister, swing your swift sword now…”) Ah Mark Sandman, we miss you. Or I do anyway.
And in the car this week: Brahms’ piano-violin sonatas. Makes the traffic seem like a gentle flow of energy and sound, swelling and subsiding.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..Comment Fear, or Why Am I Not Cool Enough? =-.
Velvet Underground and David Bowie. Get the Ziggy Stardust live last concert album if you can.
Recently heard some of it again and blown away – need to hot foot it to music shop to buy again (all my copies on tapes which I can’t play any more)
.-= creativevoyage´s last blog ..Chinese Pocket Bookmaking Workshop =-.
MMMMM. Music. Rediscovering Chopin.
REALLY like a song by Eastenders. The song’s “On the Ride”. Currently one of my favorite dance songs. 🙂 My version’s from the North African Groove CD by Putamayo, rather than off of their actual album…Come to think of it, that’s the album I’m using a LOT in class these days in general…
.-= G. Romilly´s last blog ..So many Kinds of Needlework… =-.
Music – lots of music! It helps so much with sucky stuck.
Lots of Fabeku’s sacred sound and tonight it will be remembering through resonance.
Muse, lots of Muse because their piano and guitar seem to speak to the middle of me at the moment.
Sparked partly by own experience and partly by Jen Louden’s Freedom from Self Improvement, I’ve been thinking and practicing a LOT of self acceptance. Which to me, is the complete opposite of self improvement.
Because I’m training for the Cardiff Half Marathon quite a lot at the moment there’s a lot showing up in my head about how emotions and our bodies work in quite a similar way – you just have to think sideways to see it.
.-= Wormy´s last blog ..Rejection Stuck/ Suck =-.
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the processes of transformation and moving forward. I have been going through a sticky (though not nasty) divorce that has been dragging on and just making me feel MIRED and anxious and like a butterfly trapped inside its chrysalis waiting and waiting for the time to re-emerge…
Even though I have been TERRIFIED of just letting me be… ME…
When I went through the Sacred Decluttering with Lisa and Leonie part of it was to build an altar to help me focus on what I wanted in my home, what I wanted my home to be. Through that process I started to see that I have been letting myself feel like i have to wait for the divorce to be finalized, when really, all I need is to start feeling safe and secure. I needed to let myself out of my tightly wrapped chrysalis and unfurl my wings… and just as I came to that realization my kids brought me a chrysalis they found in a tree in our yard, which I added to my altar.
And I realize that I am taking the first shaky steps in shedding the heaviness that was MrsTheEx and becoming the light that is ME. I have reclaimed my name, am applying for my very first passport, and planning a trip out of Canada… to visit Kyeli and Pace and attend their wedding — all things I never would have dreamed possible even 6 months ago.
What I am listening to?? I love the sound of RoBert which is an artist from France, and her music is haunting and gothic. I also love the Maedevel Baebes a lot… anything that makes me MOVE…
.-= Pam´s last blog ..More List-tastic Goodness (Moon’sLark… =-.
This is a lot of music to think about. Hooray. Thank you!
@Wormy – nice! I love that it’s becoming normal again to think self-improvement is a ludicrous way to treat oneself. Thank goodness for that. 🙂
Item! I got mentioned in Havi’s fantabulous blog today! *Twice!* (Big grin)
I’m overwhelmed. Thank you, Havi!
.-= Barbara J Carter´s last blog ..My very first open studio is Saturday! =-.
Wasn’t going to comment on anything today, but a piece of music popped into my mind that I’ve always wanted to tell more people about.
It’s the most wonderful song for anyone raising children of any age:
Kahlil Gibran’s “On Children” put to music and performed in a capella harmony by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Oh, my gosh. It got me through my daughter’s troubled adolescence that started at age 9 and lasted 12 years.
Thank you all for your music tips — it’ll be fun to check stuff out at Rhapsody!
.-= sandy´s last blog ..Maitland Farmers Market =-.
Oh you are the best curator of the web ever. Loving Jen Louden’s freedom from self improvement week and I’m all over the PDF over at DIY video marketing. Yay!
Music- I’ve been so addicted to Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm lately- to the point that I just want to not want to listen to it anymore. I rediscovered it a couple of months ago and I’m stuck! Thanks @Emily for helping me to get out of the Bloc Party rut (though a happy rut) must go put on some Morphine now!
I totally missed the Chicken this week. What was up with that? I don’t even have an excuse! Eek!
I finally got myself the Procrastination Dissolvomatic. So that’s mostly what I’m thinking about. Ha ha! I’m also gearing up towards a move to a smaller home, where I will live with just one boyfriend instead of the three I have now (the extra two are actually each other’s boyfriends. I get to claim them cause I’m the girl.)
So I’m thinking a lot about Stuff, and how much I love Space, more than Stuff, and how that means I’ll be so happy to say goodbye to some of my Things.
As for music, I really like Cake, but you already know about Cake. I also listen to Japanese pop music, because it is hyper and crazy and sometimes you need that.
Music recommendations!
I really love the album Wild Young Hearts by Noisettes. Sort of soulful indie pop I guess?
Also possibly my favourite band of all time are Rhode Island, not least because all of their music is free.
http://www.rhodeisland.org.uk
I highly recommend “Landmarks, Junctions, Etc.”.
Thanks for this week’s Item!s Havi, some great stuff you’ve come upon.
.-= Paul´s last blog ..Passion Fruits =-.
I’m thinking about the sea of sub/unconscious, and ways to work with it.
Wondering whether it’s better to be conscious of the unconscious? Or whether it’s better to move the dark rocks without consciousness of what the rocks are. Does consciousness help?
And…
I really like Dar Williams and Shawn Colvin and any other girl with a guitar singing about quirk.
.-= Bridget´s last blog ..Learning the Sea =-.
Thanks for the sweet mention, Ms. Havi.
Music! Always wanting to learn new things to listen to besides my current love of Krishna Das’s newest Heart full of Soul. Not that I ever get tired of him!
.-= Jennifer Louden´s last blog ..Freedom from Self-Improvement: The Freedom of Being =-.
Yay for not having to self improve!
Oh Jen Louden. You are full of so much awesome.
As for music:
Fabeku’s Remembering Through Resonance because it kicks so much ass. Seriously. I still can’t get over how awesome it is.
Jeff Buckley’s Grace, because it makes me feel all inspired and full of emotion at the same time.
And last but certainly not least, Bessie Smith. Because sometimes you just need some smokey, dirty 30’s blues sung by a woman who could probably beat up most of the UFC contestants with one hand.
🙂
Rufus Wainwright, any Rufus Wainwright will do really. Talk about someone who has embraced his own voice!
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Wax On, Wax Off =-.
Thinking about a story I’m working on and what I need to do to hit the next plot point so I can start wrapping this chapter up.
Also, Emerald Rose is awesome Celtic rock.
I love reading these Wednesday items! Gives me stuff to check out for the next few days.
Music recommendations:
1. Lori Cullen – “Buttercup Bugle” The best. I want to buy 30 copies and give it to people for christmas.
2. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss “Raising Sand” I know this album is already a couple yrs old, but it takes me that long to get into stuff sometimes. And now I can’t stop listening to this. It’s AMAZING.
3. John Southworth – “The Pillowmaker” One of my favourite albums. period. oh – and his album “Yosemite” is also fantastic.
oh – I could probably take up this whole comments section with music recommendations. I’ll just stop now. 3 is a good number.
.-= Christine´s last blog ..Masters Of The Burial =-.
The Loud: a new Vancouver duo called Black Betty. Like the White Stripes but reverse the genders. Heavy.
The Soft: Rockabye Baby Lullabye versions of AC/DC. My baby girl likes it too.
Music recommendations!
It blows my mind that she’s known all over Canada, but not at all in the US. Jann Arden is one of my favorite artists ever – you can check out her stuff at her website, http://www.jannarden.com
I’ve been thinking about the lyrics to one of Jann’s songs, “Into the Sun”
“You can complain if you want
But keep in mind all the things that you’ve got.
You feed a wicked mind
and you make a wicked heart.”
And the chorus:
“Hold your head high
Keep a smile upon your face.
You’ll be gone before you know it
Hold your shoulders
square upon your back
Turn your face into the sun.”
It’s been a good reminder that things are never as urgent or horrible as they seem to be in the moment. Remembering that life is short, we’re not here long, allows both more seriousness and determination, and more lightness and letting go.
Don’t you just love paradoxes! (paradoxi?)
Happy Wednesday, everyone.
Heather
I’m glad you mentioned the comment magic. I’ve found all kinds of great people and blogs (and music!) in here! Good on top of good.
.-= Sandra´s last blog ..Ping pong pearls =-.
I am so thrilled, I ordered all the NIA music as they were all marked down from $15 to $5 – so I bought all of them and saved heaps of money.
I love the NIA music there is something in there for all the moods I’m in and I love it when music speaks to my person within.
One music ritual I’ve loved doing is having a music bath. I put my seriously favourite music of the moment on as loud as I want it to be or as soft as I need it to be and just lie down and let it wash over me.
Lovely!
.-= Marilyn´s last blog ..Sexuality and the small child =-.
I’ve been listening to “Wake Up (It’s Africa Calling)” by Youssou N’Dour. It reminds me that Africa is calling, and that I will visit it someday.
I do love my new candy colored dot painting from Barbara. I stare at it when I’m weary of current work and want to remember that it won’t last forever and then I will be doing my right work. 🙂
Yay for freedom from self-improvement!
.-= elizabeth´s last blog ..call of the wild dog camp =-.
Since I’ve been thinking about The Heart Of Business and my friend Mark lately, the music I recommend is “Carrot Juice Is Murder” by the Arrogant Worms:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmK0bZl4ILM
It’s the tender story of a Vegan and his principles.
.-= Dick Carlson´s last blog ..It’s A Shame To Waste A Good Solution — Let’s Fix Education, Too! =-.
On my drive home this evening I was getting really into Sing by the Dresden Dolls – enough that I played it again after it finished the first time. I find it powerful and inspiring, plus the end is really fun to improvise harmonies to at top volume!
.-= Shannon Henry´s last blog ..Spirosketch is ready! =-.
Hi Havi
I’ve been allowing myself to listen to songs again and again – feels forbidden somehow, like grapes, which were always a ‘treat’…
My favourite at the moment?
A Boy Like That from West Side Story with Marni Nixon and Betty Wand, the original singers from the movie.
For ‘You should know better… you were in love…. or so you said…’ and *that* harmony in the I Have A Love part.
*shivers*
(Sidebar: How did my monther not know I was gay?…)
.-= Andrew Lightheart @alightheart´s last blog ..Never how you planned it =-.
Hi Havi
One of my fave tracks of all time, which I think you might like too, is Banderas “This is your life”.
Another current fave of mine is the Pet Shop Boys “All over the world”, from the album “Yes”.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Link roundup =-.
Music recommendation! Just one song- A friend gave me a mix with a song by Kurt Elling, “The Waking.” It’s his vocal interpretation of the poem by Theodore Roethke: http://is.gd/375jZ This guy is usually categorized under Jazz, and (shocking admission) I generally don’t like jazz… but this one’s a keeper. Very simple, beautiful vocal arrangement accompanied by a subtle bass line, and it feels true to the intent of the poem but also seems to break it open into something new.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Retrospective: Poetry and Process =-.
I can’t wait to check out all this new music. Yay! I’d like to offer up one of my Musical Happy Buttons, complete with an adorable little yellow robot:
Keepon dancing to Spoon’s “Did You Evah”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdP1jBfxzo
.-= Sally J.´s last blog ..Little. Yellow. Dangerous. =-.
Hey, that quote looked familiar and then I saw it was my quote! Cool! Thank you! I was anxious when I put that posting out there, but you keep saying “be yourself” and sometimes it is not all happy sunshine and rainbow artmaking, sometimes it is process.
I am currently thinking about Marty’s return to school and happy that I can resume my walking the bike path at least twice a week now (when he is in class). I am also grateful that school is back in session so that Donkey baking orders have increased. And I have five new paintings on the drawing board. My head is kind of full right now.
.-= Andi´s last blog ..Fabric Gardens =-.