brave bird

"I did think that I could never do this sort of thing again because if anyone asked me about Jason, I would just explode. For a long time, I didn't even try and write. It was just too big a thing, too raw. It was just too destructive to make anything creative out of. All I wanted to do was destroy things. ... You find out there's a lot of beauty and grace even in the darkness. In the way people treat you, in nature, in the things you maybe took for granted. There is something miraculous that pushes you along, makes you keep going, makes you carry on."
--Corrine Bailey Rae




I can't watch this without crying.

mumford & sons

For some reason, when the brits say f---, I don't feel the least bit offended.


(ht: bronette)

sister girl

why is my sister so great?
chris says I have a girl crush on her. 'tis true!

me. today.

working hard for the money.
Also, notice in second photo, cute necklace Chris gifted to me this weekend.

What do you look like today?

bazan, hard to be

Hard To Be

you’ve heard the story
you know how it goes
once upon a garden
we were lovers with no clothes
fresh from the soil
we were beautiful and true
in control of our emotions
til we ate the poison fruit
and now it’s hard to be
hard to be, hard to be
a decent human being

wait just a minute
you expect me to believe
that all this misbehaving
grew from one enchanted tree
and helpless to fight it
we should all be satisfied
with this magical explanation
for why the living die
and why it’s hard to be
hard to be, hard to be
a decent human being

childbirth is painful
we toil to grow our food
ignorance made us hungry
information made us no good
every burden misunderstood
so i swung my tassel
to the left side of my cap
knowing after graduation
there would be no going back
and no congratulations
from my faithful family
some of whom are already fasting
to intercede for me
because it’s hard to be…

My interview with David Bazan in this month's Sojourners.

Support Haiti

Reprinted from Rose Marie Berger's blog.

(Douglass at his desk in Haiti)

“Until she spoke, no Christian nation had abolished Negro slavery. Until she spoke, no Christian nation had given to the world an organized effort to abolish slavery.

Until she spoke, the slave ship, followed by hungry sharks, greedy to devour the dead and dying slaves flung overboard to feed them, ploughed in peace the South Atlantic, painting the sea with the Negro’s blood.

Until she spoke, the slave trade was sanctioned by all the Christian nations of the world, and our land of liberty and light included. Men made fortunes by this infernal traffic, and were esteemed as good Christians, and the standing types and representations of the Savior of the World.

Until Haiti spoke, the church was silent, and the pulpit was dumb. Slave-traders lived and slave-traders died. Funeral sermons were preached over them, and of them it was said that they died in the triumphs of the Christian faith and went to heaven among the just.

…Aye, and Haiti not only gained her liberty and independence, but she has never surrendered what they gained to any power on earth. This precious inheritance they hold to-day, and I venture to say here in the ear of all the world that they never will surrender that inheritance.”–Frederick Douglass, Minister to Haiti, 1893

From Frederick Douglass’ address at the World’s Fair in Chicago, January 2, 1893.

I sent support through One Day's Wages Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.

it's been a while

Hi friends,
Sorry for the lack of posts (not that anyone is waiting on bated breath for my next blog, right?) I've been working on getting my own web site off the ground so that I can have a place to put my clips, videos, audiofiles, etc. I might just have to hire someone to do it for me though :) So, that is to come soon.

I went home for the holidays. I loved, lived, ate (gained 2 pounds), and came back to DC homesick and missing my family. We now skype almost every other night and I am constantly calling home like a pathetic loser.

Last night I was skyping with Uno and then my mom came in and then my dad came in and they were all showing me some new clothes and the food they ate for dinner and I was at that moment deliriously happy because it felt like I was there, and then I looked down at my desk and then at my chair and then my room and realized that I wasn't there ... I was here, in DC, thousands of miles away. It's hard for me to be so far, but it was even more difficult for me to be there, feeling lost and insignificant and STUCK. So I know it's good that I am in DC and out on my own, but GOSH I MISS MY FAMILY.

OK, enough depression. Here's something a little fun. I picked up this cheap little Rodarte for Target number this weekend. I wasn't too thrilled about it at first but felt it was a practical choice - I can wear dresses like this all year round and in a million different ways. But once I put it together with tights, boots, a long cardigan and a belt, I was really glad I got it! Instantly pulled together, interesting pattern, simple cut. Highly recommend it for the working girl who needs to just throw something on in the morning.

Also to come, Uno and I found some amazing treasures at our local goodwill this past break. I'll post all of those goodies the rest of the week. We have been talking about collaborating on an etsy store together! Not sure if it will really happen, but between the two of us, I think a well-edited store could get quite stocked.

Cheers!
-Jeans