Ode to a car...

I was delighted to discover that my post Add Some Music to Your Day actually inspired a wonderful art journaling post by Julie at Copy+Paste. It's great when you manage to inspire someone who inspires you. Then I discovered that through her post about my post, Carmen was also inspired, and then also through Julie's post, SarahLP was inspired to create a wonderful page managing to combine Kirsty's tilt-shift post and Julie's post that was inspired by my post... confused? Well, the point I'm getting at, is how wonderful it feels to be a pebble. Yes, I am the pebble in the pond creating ripples. And isn't that one of the great things about blogging and this strange world of online communities - how people just keep dropping pebbles into a huge cyber pond and the ripples spread and spread and spread.

Well, before I stretch that metaphor too far, I thought it probably time I stepped up to my own challenge and created an art journal or scrap book page featuring song lyrics. My problem was... which lyrics to begin. At first I thought of Blur's Tender: Love is the greatest thing, we have. But I may use that for a different project... and then I considered countless other lyrics all with hidden meanings and twists. But in the end, I went for a straight forward, simple approach: Madness. I like driving in my car... it's not quite a jaguar. 

The reason this lyric won out is because I've been meaning to scrapbook a page for ages now about a most beloved car. My Creature Car, Jason. Yes, that's right, I named my car Jason. He was known as the Creature Car because he was also used as the business car to ferry Jennifer and myself between workshops (and our business is called Creative Creatures). He was beautiful:

I loved Creature Car not only because he looked magical, but because he was the first car me and my boyfriend bought together. He also represented a new stage in my life - freelancing and running workshops. And he had character.

Creature Car drove off to the car park in the sky in May this year. His head gasket having blown for the second time and being, sadly, too expensive to fix. It was like losing a pet. In fact, I quite often consider my cars as pets.

Having a car for me is Freedom. It is independence. It is wonderful. Driving along an empty road with the music loud and any destination before you - utterly brilliant. And I know that cars will come, and cars will go, but for now, please, take a moment to remember magical, faithful, wonderful Jason, Creature Car extraordinaire...

 I wanted my scrapbook page to be about freedom (so the castle in the background kind of suggesting adventures and possibilities). I also wanted the page to be about fun, which is why I included the saucy-lady air freshener. This was our actual air freshener, and I liked it because it was unexpected and it made people laugh. 

The tyre tracks were done by cutting up some ribbon and pasting glossy side down.

 

I wanted the key to look like it had just been thrown down on top of the page because I am notorious for leaving my keys lying haphazardly on tables and shelves and never being able to find them, and the tax disc brought a different colour and shape element in. I also tried cutting up an old MOT certificate to use as background, but the page just became drowned out with stuff, so I left it off.

Finally, I've taken a couple of liberties with the song lyrics. The first being that I changed 'like' to 'love' and then made it past tense. Because, of course, I can no longer drive this particular car.

So, that was fun. What next?

Rb X

The world in tilt-shift

Kirsty from Copy+Paste posted recently about a technique known as 'tilt-shift' that makes the word seem to appear in minature when the technique is applied to photos.

I've got hundreds of photos stored on my computer, all calling out to be tilt-shifted. Once I'd shown my boyfriend Kirsty's post and directed him to the tilt-shift webiste, he spent a very happy hour playing around with our photos and Tilt Shift Maker.

 Visit the copy+paste project for more detailed information. All this post is for is to show off David's own tilt-shift efforts.

If you fancy making your own tilt-shift photos you can do so very easily here. Be warned! It gets addictive!

Add some music to your day...

Music is essential for me to have a good day. If I don't have the radio on at least once during the day then I am more grumpy and pessimistic than usual. But a couple of banging pop tunes or a soulful blues song, or a noisy indie band later and all is right with the world. I think it corrects some hormonal imbalance.

I'm pretty open to most music, as long as it's made with passion and heart and isn't just a tick the boxes formulaic hit the notes sort of the thing. I don't know what my favourite sort of music is. I can listen to good quality country, pop, indie, jazz, blues, folk, rock. I probably don't 'get' dance music or techno music or music that abuses you, or most rap music, but sometimes something crosses over. So what does make good music for me?

Well, I love to dance to music, but I also love to sing along, and I think that one of the most important thing in a good song are strong, lyrics: witty, intelligent, simple, to the point, flowery... I like any of these types as long as they hit the spot.

For me, lyrics don't have to make sense, or tell a story, but they should seem like they do. I'm a huge fan of Sparklehorse and I often have no idea what his songs are about (You are a car, you are a hospital, play good keyboard with horse's teeth, on Saturday...), but they touch something in me and I find them inherently beautiful (Keep all the crows away, keep skinny wolves at bay, with big piles of smiles, may all your days be gold my child). One of my all time favourite Sparklehorse songs is Most Beautiful Widow in Town.

The words are simple but they create such an atmosphere of longing and sadness and even a slight twist of humour. I think it's absolutely beautiful. Anyone who can listen to that song and not be touched by it at all must be made of stone or have ears clogged with sawdust, the lyrics run:

'We were both standing in your mothers living room

Sweating up a storm in that terrible month of June

And the sweat rolled down your cheek and into your mouth

 I knew it must have been a dream

'Cause your mother would never let me in her house.

You are the most beautiful widow.

You are the most beautiful widow.

I bet you are the most beautiful widow in town,'

And that's just the opening verse and chorus.

I also love Sparklehorse's style. His album artworks, his sense of experimentation with his lyrics, his obvious love of language. His music is probably an acquired taste. He plays with his instruments and arrangements, his songs are a mix of electronica, acoustic, rock, folk and pop. He is slightly indefinable, and I like that. I like that he makes you work a little. Have a listen to him - even if you think it's awful, I think you'll agree it's done with love and sensitivity and originality. Sadly, Mark Lincus, the guy behind Sparklehorse, died earlier this year. He shot himself through the heart. I think the music world is a slightly less sparkly place without him. You only have to hear his album titles to get a sense of his uniqueness, they are like poetry in themselves:  

Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot 

Good Morning Spider, 

It's a Wonderful Life,

Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain,

Dark Night of the Soul,

In the Fishtank. 

 Dreamt for Light Years... is probably the most easily accessible album, and a good place to start if you want to get to know him. You can also visit his website: http://www.sparklehorse.com.

I could talk for ages about lyrics and my favourite song writers (Van Morrison, Devendra Banheart, Adem, Blondie... the list would go on and on). But I'm going to end with a small nod at The Smiths who I have only really started appreciating this year. I find their song lyrics so refreshingly simple and direct compared to many other songs. They are blunt and unusual and wonderful. Here's a selection of my favourite. I've deliberately not said which songs they are from, or copied them exactly word for word, but if you'd like to know, then I'll be happy to tell you. I think they stand alone rather well though:

'Punctured bicycle on a hill top, desolate...'

'I was looking for a job and then I found a job, and heaven knows I'm miserable now...'

'How can someone so young, write words so sad?'

'Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know, it's serious...'

'Shyness can stop you from doing all the things in life you'd like to... so ask me ask me ask me, I won't say no, how could I?'

'And if it's not love than it's the bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb that will bring us together.'

What I'd really like to do, if I was slightly less lazy and slightly more talented, is create art journal pages for all these. Maybe I will one day.

Are there any song lyrics that stand out for you? Is there anybody out there who feels compelled or inspired to create some art pages from these lyrics or any others? I'd love to know.

Until then, add some music to your day and see what it inspires you to do...

Rosie

A cherry on top

Well, I was absolutely delighted to be awarded a Cherry on Top award:

Thank you very much Jennifer. I feel very chuffed.

I understand that there are some conditions I need to fulfill to accept it. I need to list three interesting facts about me, post a picture I love and nominate five other blogs for the award. Well, the first two tasks I'll fulfill a little later this week once I have access to my photos and have thought about the facts I'd like to share.

As for the nominations, well I don't follow a very large range of blogs at the moment, and the ones I do, I think already have the award. But I would like to nominate the girls at Copy and Paste Project. I love their blog - a wonderful blend of book love, craft ideas, inspiration, beautiful art and random things. Check them out here if you haven't already.

Rosie x

Revelation...

So, a sweet and short post as I reveal,  as promised, the meanings of the words in my 'word collection'. And congratulations for those of you who already knew one or two of them, please go ahead and enjoy that sensation of being a clever-clogs. Here is illumination:

Sesquipedalians   - multi-syllable words   

Duffifie - to make a bottle 'confess' (that is to lay it on its side until all its contents are drained).


Colus - a whitish beast with a hogs head that drinks through its nostrils.

Quizling     - an enemy/traitor.

Wobble Shop  - illegal intoxicant shop.
    
Spelunking - exploration of caves.

Tchotchke - (pronounced chach-kuh) a trinket/knick knack.

Tyromancy - the divination of the future by reading coagulation of cheese.

Discombobulate - having your composure disturbed, a state of confusion.

Limn - to depict by drawing, to portray in words, describe.   

Obstreperous - noisy and stubbornly defiant, unruly, boisterous.

Bombinate - to buzz, hum.


and finally (and possibly my favourite):


Bibliobibuli - to be drunk on books (a state I often find myself in).

Should you wish to locate a good word of the day generator for yourself (and I highly recommend it), I can heartily suggest wordsmith.org (today's word: Sward), or sign up to a free email service which will send wonderful words into your email box. Go to: http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday  
(today's word: Schlep) and sign up to email or SMS (you'll have to pay for  the first SMS).


Alternatively, become my follower and I'll post a round-up of all the best words once a month.

Enjoy! 

A word a day...

I used to work for an academic publisher in Oxford. Although the job often felt like little more than a glorified admin assistant, I was very lucky to be surrounded by some of the best people I've ever gotten to know. Which is funny to type now because after my first day I returned home to tell my boyfriend that I could never imagine myself making friends with anybody there. How absolutely and fantastically wrong I was about that. 


Not only was this publisher a haven for like minded souls, but it seemed that my own creativity festered well there. It was a long drive in and back and I'd often find my mind just ticking over so that by the time I'd arrived seeds had been planted. As I carried out the tasks of the day those seeds would take root and grow and by lunchtime I was scribbling pages and pages of a story that was playing in my mind. I wrote the first outline of a novel within 3 months. Sure, I've been working on the same novel for three years now, but the essence was conceived and written in the opening months of that job.

As I was clearing out stuff from my desk drawer today I came across a bundled roll of post-it notes. And as I unfurled them a sudden storm of memories swept over me: of cardboard weaponry on rainy days, of surreal conversations over tops of computers, of a time when I my brain was actively engaged in working and talking and dealing with people in a job that, although was mundane, was also somehow in tune with me.

The curly post-it notes were remnants of a whole forest of bizarre words that I used to surround myself with. They would be stuck on my computer, on the grey thin partition around me, on the book shelf, on the filing cabinet. Words plucked from my 'word a day' generator that emailed me every morning at 11am with a new word to learn.

The ones I really liked I wrote out on a post-it and stuck up.  So as I enjoy a satisfying misty eyed rememberance of an easier time, I thought I'd share some of these wonderful words with you.

I've listed them below, but I'll leave their definitions until Friday. Have a guess if you like, but no cheating by googling them - all will be revealed. Of course you may know some of them already - in which case you are allowed to smile smugly and feel superior - I'd never heard of any of them until they bounced into my email all shiny and new. Say them out loud, they bubble in the mouth!

Sesquipedalians       

      Duffifie               Colus

Quizling           Wobble Shop            

Spelunking

Tchotchke         Tyromancy         

Discombobulate

Bibliobibuli        Limn     

Obstreperous   Bombinate

A wall of wonder

As you may be able to see from my header, I have a wall of postcards. I've been thinking a lot about these postcards recently because I had a move about of my study and, as often happens when you start moving things around without planning it out, I became slightly overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have. Trapped, in fact. Trapped by my past but also by all the things that I hoped would be.

I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but for me things take on a life of their own. So, a crappy broken necklace I keep in a box on my desk is forever associated with my brother when we were younger. 

He found it for me up a hill when on french camp. He had an awful time at french camp. He was bullied very badly and was homesick. And yet, he saw a pretty broken necklace on a walk in the rain when he was feeling unhappy and he thought of me and picked it up and brought it back. 

So I can't throw that old broken necklace away because it would be like throwing away that moment. It's silly of course, because it still happened whether or not I have the necklace. But keeping the necklace is proof and it makes me remember. 

Well. I was sitting on my floor surrounded by this kind of clutter. The kind of clutter that to an outsider means nothing. But is in fact steeped in emotions and memories. And I was feeling exasperated. Why keep these things? 

I have boxes and boxes of old letters that I used to receive from my friends. Friends I saw every day, and still wrote to with alarming regularity. These letters are full of nothings. But nothings that are strangely significant and bitter sweet. I hate to think what the ones I wrote in reply are like. I would never like anyone to trawl through them at a later date to assess my psyche or to get an impression of my childhood and teenage years. Angst ridden, delusional and arrogant I suspect they are. My bossy know-it-all younger self can be a cringe worthy memory to revisit at times.

But anyway, to my wall. As I sat there, trying to sort through all the genuine clutter worth keeping and the bits and bobs that weren't, I came across a stash of postcards that I had brought ages ago with the intention of putting up on my wall.

 I love postcards. Postcards of everything. Beautiful postcards, silly postcards, thought provoking postcards, inspirational postcards... if it touches a nerve, or emotion in me, up it goes on the wall. People send them to me, or make them. I buy them at exhibitions I enjoyed, or I collect free ones from cafes.

I can't really remember when this started. I have a feeling that my dear friend Pamela may have helped instigate it, I certainly remember collecting stacks of the free postcards you used to get at cinemas with her. She is also largely responsible for much of my collection, having sent them to me over the years with unerring taste of what I like. I still get a tingle of excitement when I receive a letter from her, just in case she's slipped in a postcard for me. 

It's not just postcards, there are greeting cards, pictures from diaries, or magazines, hand drawn post it notes, photos and even interesting book marks or ticket stubs. They span years as well. Some I have had since I was little, carefully preserved for the time I would have a wall to put them on. Some are from my days at Uni, some are from my times of travelling. Some I love with a strange intensity because they epitomise something special or something I yearn for. Others I have up because I don't understand them, or because they are strange and unusual. But all of them have a story behind them (sometimes literally in the case of those written on and sent by my friend). I am confident that if required I could tell you where I got each and everyone of the cards and pictures on my wall. And why I have kept it. 

So, why do I keep them? Why the fascination with them? 

It's the same reason as I keep clutter. Because I love stories. And I love worlds within worlds. On my wall around me are countless possible stories and worlds. I need only look up and scan the erratic layout of cards to see glimpses of stories, to taste hints of other places, to remember emotions, to get sucked into a daydream. Like putting on a CD, a striking picture can remove me from myself and open up endless possibilities and I think I collect them because the idea of there never being possibilities or opportunities is terrifying for me.

There is so much in this world and there will never be enough time or money to see or experience it all, and this is not a bad thing. I think, with my wall of wonder I am trying to remind myself of this, that there is more to life than this square little room, that there is always something new and interesting to discover. That is wonderful to me. 


Oh, and I did eventually get the study sorted. It's much better now.


Rosie x