I've said it before, and I'll say it again: writing and reading are a god-send. The ability to express yourself, the ability to be completely alone in the world and write down how you are feeling and have someone not even understand your original language, but understand your original feeling.... that is something only accomplished by the use of words. And where better to find a group of words to stimulate you then in a book?
I have been transported to the time of Jane Austen where my female independence warred with my blind ideas of true love and romance. I have fallen down a rabbit-hole, stepped through a looking-glass, and tried to hide in a wardrobe and come out the other side in a world only considered a figment of my imagination.
I've fought in a revolution, played in a Secret Garden, and flew with Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. My best friend has been a werewolf and I have fallen in love with a vampire. I've walked through the halls of a school of witchcraft and wizardry and belonged to a fellowship. I hid in an attic because I was scared of Nazi's and lived a life where my only concern was where I was going to get my next fix.
I have lived more lives in my 22 years, then most people have. I have experienced loss and love and dreams and death in ways that are both distant and near to me, similar, but surreal. And my obsession began with a Dr. Seuss book, when a silly Fox decided he just had to wear socks...
T.V. is killing the age of writing in ways that terrify me. Seasons on a television program will pass, but a book is eternal. I implore all of you to go out and read something; A newspaper, a magazine, a blog, a book, ANYTHING! Just go out there and get lost in the power of the written word! You will not be disappointed. There is a genre out there waiting to be discovered by you, waiting to sweep you off your feet and touch you in the most intimate of places: your mind, heart, and soul.
Love,
Ariday
"A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy." --Edward P. Morgan
[& because one quote wasn't good enough:]
"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." --James Bryce
[[& a third, I believe, is in order:]]
"Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book." --Author Unknown
Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Chapter Four: I love it when you ROAR!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... at least that's what we all say all of the time. The people of the 1920s in the United States are no different.
During this time a horrible government crusade took full effect: Prohibition. [[Gasp!]]
Prohibition was the period of time, 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned throughout the U.S. [[A perfect example of the government sticking its nose where it isn't needed]].
In retaliation organized crime lords, like Al Capone [[the times biggest cheese]], for example, made a hefty profit off the bootlegging and smuggling of alcohol. Places, commonly refereed to as "Speakeasies" are born and Capone was said to control every speakeasy in the Chicago area. He was also rumored to have control over every smuggling and bootlegging transaction between Canada and Florida.
A "Speakeasy" is a hidden club where the selling and consumption of alcohol took place. Speakeasies received their names from the way patrons had to "speak easy" the password to enter. Raids were common and so the location of many of these places were kept secret.
The "Dry Season," as I like to call it, brought upon the people a sense of rebellion. That's the only reason I can think of for the hicks actually wanting to join the KKK. During this time the KKK grew in numbers and were generally accepted in the United States. [[Don't look at me! I hate these white supremacist rag-a-muffins and I think they need a better education, the ignorant fucks. This is all I'm going to say about this topic. I don't promote a thing they did and I don't want anymore of it on my blog.]]
Music of the 20s was really the Bee's Knees! Jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and his wife Lillian Hardin-Armstrong, Joe Oliver, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and the colorful Ferdinand Morton were some of the most popular musicians of the time. The Fox Trot and the Charleston were the names of popular dances at the time and, contrary to popular belief, Swing dancing is a thing of the 30s.
So who better to listen to this New Orleans born music then the flappers, hoofer, Janes, swells, molls, hoods, and daddies of the time?
A flapper was a hedonistic young woman of the 20s who wore short dresses and had even shorter hair.
This was in response to the woman's suffrage movement, the idea that women have the right to vote on an equal basis with men[[damn straight]], without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status. She usually wore a loose fitting dress that dropped down to right about her knees. A direct contrast to the clothes of the 1900s where women usually wore long dresses with much fabric and cinched waists. Corsets in the 20s? Don't make me laugh. A woman of the 20s would rather poor all the juice in her hip flask over you and light you on fire with her ciggy. She wore beaded and bejeweled headbands. Her eyes were lined heavily in black, her skin was pale, and her lips redder then blood. Her hair was short, usually curled or waved, and she had a no bullshit attitude. She ran with the men and gave as good as she got. She was what the women of the time represented: freedom to do what she pleased whenever she pleased regardless of "the man", or men in general, trying to put her down.
A swell was a stand-up gentleman with money. A hood was the short term for hoodlum and a moll was his girl [[Take Bonnie for example, though she reigned in the early 30s]]. A daddy was a woman's man, her boyfriend or lover, and if he had $$$ you could punctuate it: Daddy! A man's station could be told at a glance by the hat he wore. A flat cap or no hat meant a lower-class man, a worker. A fedora was middle-class and a homburg hat was upper-class. Suits were all the rage and trousers were tailored to be short, so as to show off a man's socks. Jackets were usually worn with a fitted shirt and some type of vest.
As bad as things were, as good as things were, I'm sure the people of the 20s wouldn't have it any other way. Everything was copacetic!
Love,
Ariday
"Jazz is open-ended music designed for open minds." -- Unknown
During this time a horrible government crusade took full effect: Prohibition. [[Gasp!]]
Prohibition was the period of time, 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned throughout the U.S. [[A perfect example of the government sticking its nose where it isn't needed]].
In retaliation organized crime lords, like Al Capone [[the times biggest cheese]], for example, made a hefty profit off the bootlegging and smuggling of alcohol. Places, commonly refereed to as "Speakeasies" are born and Capone was said to control every speakeasy in the Chicago area. He was also rumored to have control over every smuggling and bootlegging transaction between Canada and Florida.
A "Speakeasy" is a hidden club where the selling and consumption of alcohol took place. Speakeasies received their names from the way patrons had to "speak easy" the password to enter. Raids were common and so the location of many of these places were kept secret.
The "Dry Season," as I like to call it, brought upon the people a sense of rebellion. That's the only reason I can think of for the hicks actually wanting to join the KKK. During this time the KKK grew in numbers and were generally accepted in the United States. [[Don't look at me! I hate these white supremacist rag-a-muffins and I think they need a better education, the ignorant fucks. This is all I'm going to say about this topic. I don't promote a thing they did and I don't want anymore of it on my blog.]]
Music of the 20s was really the Bee's Knees! Jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and his wife Lillian Hardin-Armstrong, Joe Oliver, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and the colorful Ferdinand Morton were some of the most popular musicians of the time. The Fox Trot and the Charleston were the names of popular dances at the time and, contrary to popular belief, Swing dancing is a thing of the 30s.
So who better to listen to this New Orleans born music then the flappers, hoofer, Janes, swells, molls, hoods, and daddies of the time?
A flapper was a hedonistic young woman of the 20s who wore short dresses and had even shorter hair.
This was in response to the woman's suffrage movement, the idea that women have the right to vote on an equal basis with men[[damn straight]], without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status. She usually wore a loose fitting dress that dropped down to right about her knees. A direct contrast to the clothes of the 1900s where women usually wore long dresses with much fabric and cinched waists. Corsets in the 20s? Don't make me laugh. A woman of the 20s would rather poor all the juice in her hip flask over you and light you on fire with her ciggy. She wore beaded and bejeweled headbands. Her eyes were lined heavily in black, her skin was pale, and her lips redder then blood. Her hair was short, usually curled or waved, and she had a no bullshit attitude. She ran with the men and gave as good as she got. She was what the women of the time represented: freedom to do what she pleased whenever she pleased regardless of "the man", or men in general, trying to put her down.A swell was a stand-up gentleman with money. A hood was the short term for hoodlum and a moll was his girl [[Take Bonnie for example, though she reigned in the early 30s]]. A daddy was a woman's man, her boyfriend or lover, and if he had $$$ you could punctuate it: Daddy! A man's station could be told at a glance by the hat he wore. A flat cap or no hat meant a lower-class man, a worker. A fedora was middle-class and a homburg hat was upper-class. Suits were all the rage and trousers were tailored to be short, so as to show off a man's socks. Jackets were usually worn with a fitted shirt and some type of vest.
As bad as things were, as good as things were, I'm sure the people of the 20s wouldn't have it any other way. Everything was copacetic!
Love,
Ariday
"Jazz is open-ended music designed for open minds." -- Unknown
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Chapter Four: Lovly Words, Sung, Never Spoken...
Swan Dive
I'm cradling the softest, warmest part of you in my hands
Feels like a little baby bird
Fallen from the nest
I think that your body
is something I understand
I think that I'm happy
I think that I'm blessed
But I've had a lack of inhibition
I've had a loss of perspective
I've had a little bit to drink
And it's making me think
That I can jump ship and swim
That the ocean will hold me
That there's got to be more
Than this boat I'm in
And they can call me crazy if I fail
All the chance that I need is one-in-a-million,
And they can call me brilliant if I succeed
Gravity is nothing to me
I'm moving at the speed of sound
I'm just gonna get my feet wet until I drown
I teeter between tired
And really, really tired
I'm wiped and I'm wired
But I guess that's just as well
Cuz I've built my own empire
Out of car tires and chicken wire
And now I'm queen of my own compost heap
And I'm getting used to the smell
I've had a lack of information
I've had a little revelation
I'm climbing up on the railing
Trying not to look down
I'm going to do my best swan dive
In the shark-infested waters
I'm gonna pull out my tampon
And just start splashing around
Cuz I don't care if they eat me alive
I've got better things to do than survive
I've got the memory of your warm skin in my hands
And I've got a vision of blue sky and dry land
I'm cradling the hardest, heaviest part of me in my hands
The ship is pitching and heaving
Our limbs are bobbing and weaving
I think this is something I understand
I just need a couple vaccinations
For my far-away vacation
I'm going to go ahead and go boldly
Cuz a little bird told me
That jumping is easy
That falling is fun
Right up until you hit the sidewalk
Shivering stunned
And they can call me crazy if I fail
All the chance that I need is one-in-a-million
And they can call me brilliant if I succeed
Gravity is nothing to me
I'm moving at the speed of sound
I'm just gonna get my feet wet untill I drown
I don't know if you have ever heard this song before, and I'm pretty certain that most of you haven't, but this is a song from the extremely talented folk singer Ani DiFraco and it's off her 1998 album Little Plastic Castles [[a great album, as is most of her work]].
DiFranco was born in Buffalo, New York sometime in the 70s. She was really big in the early to mid 90s when alternative music was at its peak in the Tri-State/U.S. area. She plays the guitar and has massive vocals which she combines together to express her ideas, poetry, and life for the audience to hear.
This song is beautiful in its simplicity, both in music and words, but never in metaphor or symbolism. She packs so much emotion into one song gals like me cant help but tear just a little. Don't believe me? Listen to her. She's got something to say for everyone and, more importantly, to everyone.
She is an activist for the Gay/Lesbian/Bi community, she being Bi herself. She is known for her outspoken ideas and her encouragement to all women to, "stand-up." In the song "Hour Follows Hour" there is a line that explains her ideas about her involvement in life: I have something to prove, as long as I know there's something that needs improvement, and you know that every time I move, I make a woman's movement.
She is my idol. I love her. Plain and simple. She has this way with words that I am jealous of. She is 5' feet tall and she has this presence that demands proper attention. The first time I ever saw her in concert she was the size of a pea in a seedy New York club and when she moved, when she swayed, I mimicked her because her presence commanded it of me. When she spoke I listened and when she sang she brought upon me this sense of enlightenment.
I know I probably sound like an obsessed stalker, but I cant help it. Throughout my life, well since the first time I heard her anyway [[that was sometime around the 2000-01]] she was one of my main constants and she helped me through more than my fair share of problems. I remember thinking, "What would Ani do/say?" Sad, right? But honest none-the-less. I thought she had all the answers when I was a teenager and sometimes still, in the back of my mind, I think to myself, "If Ani were hear and she heard this she would say...." and the next thing I know the words I thought she would say came out of my mouth. I laugh to myself when things like that happen.
If you want to hear a woman express herself without shame, but dignity and respect, listen to Ani DiFranco. Songs like, "Pick Yer Nose", "Done Wrong", Anticipate", "Evolve", and "Blood in Boardroom" are just some of her little treasures.
Love,
Ariday
"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness." -- Maya Angelou
Friday, April 16, 2010
Chapter Three: Loving the World through Closed Eyes...
I'm sure most of you notice this painting. If you do not, I have no problem telling you about this beautiful piece of art and about the artist who painted it.
His name is Claude Monet and he was an impressionist painter in France during the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. Some would say the impressionist painter. He was a founder of the impressionist movement and he was part of the reason the movement came about. At the time most artists were copying old masters and their styles, Monet, instead, began painting the scenery in loose brushstrokes. His painting Impression, Sunrise was said to be the reason that this new movement of art was called just so: Impressionist.
This painting is known as "Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies" and it was painted in 1899. [[Unoriginal title, I know, but what can I say? He was an artist, not a writer! Give the guy a break!]] Today it hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York.
As time progressed Monet's eyesight worsened and his paintings really did just become impressions of his subject. A shame really, but interesting all the same. If I am not mistaken [[you see, I'm writing all this with only memory to go on]] this particular scenery was painted at least three more times in Monet's life and you can actually see the decline in his eyesight through his art.
As sad as that is, I can't help but think that by painting, even though his eyesight was damn near none existent, we can see how he chose to express his courage. I'm sure going blind little by little and never knowing when one day you will wake up and never see again is a terrifying way to live, yet he showed his strength, passion, and resolution. I like to think that one day he thought to himself something along the lines of, "I'm not going to let this sickness keep me from pursuing my passion. I was born to be an artist and I will die painting. Even if all I can see is darkness."
I know, I know, I'm romanticizing Monet's condition, but I can't help it! The decision to keep painting, even though he could hardly see anymore, was a conscience decision. He must have considered many things when he began loosing his eyesight, and I'm sure he thought of quitting art more then once, but I know that even when you compare his earlier work to his later paintings [[and believe me, you will see a difference]] you will be happy he didn't quit when the "going got tough."
He took the idea that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to a new level. He could hardly see and yet he choose to immortalize the impressions of beauty around him. He could hardly see and he still soaked up more beauty in one nearly blind eye, then someone with 20/20 vision takes in throughout all their life...
Today, as it was nice out, I took in the world around me. I looked at the people and I thought about myself, and I thought: Yesterday, I didn't see the world. Tomorrow, I probably won't see the world either, but today... today I want to absorb everything my eyes can take in.
Love,
Ariday
"Whether I'm painting or not, I have this overweening interest in humanity. Even if I'm not working, I'm still analyzing people." -- Alice Neel
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Chapter Two: O' Lover Boy, Lover Boy, where for art thou Lover Boy?
I was in search of one of my most beloved books, and you J.R.R. Tolkien fans will love to hear this, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, when my eye caught a book that I have had with me since Jr. High. A compilation of William Shakespeare's Love Sonnets 1 - 154. I remember first getting the book because I loved the rich literary texture of the period's time, though I didn't understand a damn word then. Now when I turn the pages and let the words and it's meanings wash over me a sense of wonderment entrances my being. Don't believe me? Ill prove it to you...
You have a shiver running down your spine right now, don't you? I know, I don't blame you.
In this sonnet Shakespeare immortalizes his beloved, whoever that may be. He begins the poem by comparing this unidentified person to a summer's day and then, as the poem goes on, this lucky individual becomes the summer. Shakespeare also goes on to say that even in death the person to whom he dedicated the poem to will never truly die and will always remain beautiful because they will live on forever, the way he remembers them, within his verse.
Now if that isn't a love poem, I don't know what is. [[I just might need a cold shower.]] Look at the words. Read each line carefully and let its meaning filter through your mind and settle in your heart.
I love how people can write about love. Even those who have never experienced love first hand can write about never experiencing love first hand. If there is one thing all people have in common it is that they all want to love and be loved in return because, when you think about it, we are alone in this world. We come into the world alone and we die alone, but it is the loved ones we surround ourselves with that make the loneliness bearable, tolerable, and, for some, easy. Think about those you love and those who love you and spare them a smile. It's the least you can do. After all, love, though the light of the world, is still a heavy burden.
Love,
Ariday
"Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill." --Edmund Morrison
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare
You have a shiver running down your spine right now, don't you? I know, I don't blame you.
In this sonnet Shakespeare immortalizes his beloved, whoever that may be. He begins the poem by comparing this unidentified person to a summer's day and then, as the poem goes on, this lucky individual becomes the summer. Shakespeare also goes on to say that even in death the person to whom he dedicated the poem to will never truly die and will always remain beautiful because they will live on forever, the way he remembers them, within his verse.
Now if that isn't a love poem, I don't know what is. [[I just might need a cold shower.]] Look at the words. Read each line carefully and let its meaning filter through your mind and settle in your heart.
I love how people can write about love. Even those who have never experienced love first hand can write about never experiencing love first hand. If there is one thing all people have in common it is that they all want to love and be loved in return because, when you think about it, we are alone in this world. We come into the world alone and we die alone, but it is the loved ones we surround ourselves with that make the loneliness bearable, tolerable, and, for some, easy. Think about those you love and those who love you and spare them a smile. It's the least you can do. After all, love, though the light of the world, is still a heavy burden.
Love,
Ariday
"Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill." --Edmund Morrison
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Chapter One: Love At First Sight...
It is customary when preparing to embarrass yourself in front of all the world wide web to introduce yourself and so I will go with custom and inform you, dear readers (if I even have any), a little bit about myself.
My name is Ariday and I was born October 20, 1988. For those of you with math skills resembling my own that means I am 21yrs old. I am a firm believer in Karma: What goes around, Comes around; and the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be Treated.
What I love most in this world are people. My family especially. [[Keep in mind, family to me isn't just blood relatives, it's the people you carry with you in your heart and mind each day.]]
My favorite things in the world are to read, write, and listen to music (avid rock fan here, though I dabble in all genres).
There is nothing more beautiful then self-expression, though I will admit I've seen and heard some freaky things in the act of pursuing a person's right to express themselves.
And speaking of self-expression,
I, Ariday, am here to Blog. "What about?", you might ask. I will tell you: Self-Expression. My self-expression.
I want to write about Art (i.e., paintings, drawings, sculpture, photograpphy, etc.) Culture, Fashion, History, Literature, and Music. By appreciating the works of other's who have expressed themselves I will, hopefully, give you, and myself, a better understanding of what I love most in this world: PEOPLE.
Love,
Ariday
"Men are born with two eyes, but only one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say." -- Charles Caleb Colton
My name is Ariday and I was born October 20, 1988. For those of you with math skills resembling my own that means I am 21yrs old. I am a firm believer in Karma: What goes around, Comes around; and the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be Treated.
What I love most in this world are people. My family especially. [[Keep in mind, family to me isn't just blood relatives, it's the people you carry with you in your heart and mind each day.]]
My favorite things in the world are to read, write, and listen to music (avid rock fan here, though I dabble in all genres).
There is nothing more beautiful then self-expression, though I will admit I've seen and heard some freaky things in the act of pursuing a person's right to express themselves.
And speaking of self-expression,
Blog: a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
I, Ariday, am here to Blog. "What about?", you might ask. I will tell you: Self-Expression. My self-expression.
I want to write about Art (i.e., paintings, drawings, sculpture, photograpphy, etc.) Culture, Fashion, History, Literature, and Music. By appreciating the works of other's who have expressed themselves I will, hopefully, give you, and myself, a better understanding of what I love most in this world: PEOPLE.
Love,
Ariday
"Men are born with two eyes, but only one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say." -- Charles Caleb Colton
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