Tuesday 17 November 2009

words for today

I would like to recommend Poetry International Web to everyone. It's a worldwide forum for poetry with a monthly newsletter; you can sign up for weekly poems in your inbox too.

Today's one is so evocative and beautiful I just had to share it. It's not about rainbows sadly (I'm still waiting to find the perfect rainbow poem... Gerard Manley Hopkins has an unfinished one, but it's not what I'm after...)

But it is about the city, the season, the sounds and light and rain and night. For more about the (rather dashing) Portuguese author, visit PIW here.

The electric lights, it may well be that the electric lights
will prevent the autumn fall
and the bird call at the window,
grey as an overcoat.

The jaw squeezes a verb
and no bird appears,
nothing happens: it’s the autumn
of the falling leaves, that’s all –
no verb can thus fall.

Only the bent,
welded, muffled, cold sound
of a tolling bell,

it may well be that the electric lights
and the stone blocks for example
may well prevent
the irregularity of pavements or the crushing
of hours against each other

it may well be that the shells
of the umbrellas that blur the city
may well draw your name
like in a musical

it may well be that the shops will stay
and the stone slabs will go
and it may well not be
that the rain will insist
in such an iniquitous way.

© 2005, Daniel Jonas
© Translation: 2009, Ana Hudson

And watch Daniel Jonas reading his poems in Portuguese here:

Tuesday 10 November 2009

rainbow



The other day, I saw the most magical rainbow. It was about 7.30am and I noticed a strange light coming in through the bathroom window. Actually, first I noticed that little spots of rain were hitting the window and thought, 'oh, another grey, rainy morning'. Then I saw there was some kind of glow in the light as well.

I looked out.


The colours of the garden were saturated with this glowing apricot dawn light, and high, arching over the whole neighbourhood like a magical bridge, was a rainbow, its colours bright yet somehow softened in the dawn light.

At the moment I'm very tired, my life is very full of work, not all of it very creative, and I'm struggling to keep up with things. So I'm thankful I saw this fantastically hopeful image. It reminds me how beautiful life really is.


Does anyone know any good poems about rainbows? I'd like to read one, since it seems hard to express in words the sheer delight of the thing.

Monday 9 November 2009

award!


Thanks so much Allie, of No Small Dreams, for this lovely award! I'm so chuffed that she picked The Owl Club! Everyone should add No Small Dreams to their favourites, because Allie's spirit is so irrepressible, she updates all the time with quirky and cool and random things, and has loads of other brilliant ideas, like 'pretty of the day' (always covetable creations), quote of the day, and snap of the day! Basically, you have to visit her every day!

(Also please note she lists old movies, collage, cats and red lipstick among her favourite things.... me too, Allie!)


So anyway, here are the rules that come with this award:

1. Thank the person that nominated you for this award

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name seven things about yourself that people may not know.

5. Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers'.

6. Post links to the seven blogs nominated.

7. Leave a comment on each of those blogs to let them know they've been nominated.


Seven things you might not know about me...

1. I wear a silver ring on my thumb that I found in the garden 15 years ago... and I never take it off.

2. I got married on 5th July 2008... but we've been together since 2000.

3. I had a phase of surfing and it was such an amazing feeling I still have dreams about it.

4. Surfing actually taught me the meaning of fear - but only after 2 near drownings and one concussion!

5. I have a beautiful tortoiseshell cat with adorable white paws & soft white collar, named Fafi.


6. If I could have any job in the world I'd be a filmmaker.

7. I learnt to read when I was 2 years old but couldn't tell the time till I was 17!


Now for my seven fabulous Kreativ bloggers:








Love ya all!

p.s. I love the fact that this award logo looks like it's been stitched together from pretty scraps of fabric!

Saturday 7 November 2009

distances



It's my dear friend L's birthday on Monday, her 30th no less! Of course I made her a little collage badge with her name on a strange ghostie background with pink hearts, and a Vanessa Paradis-type mouth holding a pendant.

I wish I could be with L for her birthday, but she's in Paris, and I'm across the channel, and however hard I tried to work it all out in my head, I couldn't arrange things so I could be there. She was with me for my exuberant 30th celebrations in March this year, so I wish I could be with her for her quiet evening with close friends on Monday.

The great thing about friendships however is the way they cross distances of all kinds. She knows I'll be thinking of her, and we're spending Christmas in Paris this year, so hopefully I'll see her then.

Sunday 1 November 2009

button candy


Look what I received in the post! Sweet Jo of Button Candy sent me a consolation prize for entering her 'guessing is fun' competition in September. She's so nice that everyone was a winner in her competition, even though my guess at the number of buttons in her photo was way off.


Isn't it amazing receiving things in the post? I'm such a fan of snail mail. I love opening packages and finding the surprises they hold inside. Knowing that these pretty blue, yellow and pink buttons and hair slides came all the way from South Africa is really special.



This gorgeous card of buttons looks so pretty I'm not sure I'll ever bring myself to use them. I love the hidden story here: these buttons were made in England, somehow found themselves in South Africa (in the 1940s, 1950s?) and then in the 21st Century made their way back to England again. What a journey!

I wish just by looking at objects you could tell exactly where they'd been and who they'd seen. Just think of all those amazing stories.

Anyway, many thanks Jo: button love!

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