A Poem for Saturday: Ezra Pound - "In a Station of the Metro"

The apparition          of these faces          in the crowd      :

Petals          on a wet, black          bough      .

Voy a reir, voy a bailar

So I've started my 6:00 am (!) workout routine, and one of my favorite classes to go to is Zumba. Without fail, EVERY TIME we do our cool-down to this song, I start to tear up. How embarrassing. Hopefully everyone just thinks it's sweat dripping out of my eyes or something. It's just such a great song, and I'm such a sap these days. Give it a listen:

Great, right? For those of you who don't speak Spanish, it's a seize-the-day sort of song. Here it is with English subtitles if you're into that sort of thing.

I've gone through a lot of emotions since my dad passed away. Pretty much every emotion possible. The one that has been hardest to explain, is JOY. Joy that I'm still here. That my mom, and Christian, and Jeremy are still here. Joy that I can make changes and progress. Joy that my dad is in a better place, doing what he loves, without any pain. Joy that I have a job, an education, my health, and the ability to do what I want.

I knew 2013 was going to be a big year, I just didn't know why. I spent New Years Eve by myself, reflecting on the edge of darkness at the Great Salt Lake. I knew I would need to make some changes. And after our world turned upside down in June, I knew I had to start NOW. So I'm starting to get my finances in order and build a career. Trying to break down assumptions I've lived by. Trying to be pro-active and find more ways to serve others.

You guys are a great help. You keep me in check.

Thank you for that.

Music for Your Midweek: Airhead

 Sunday was the vernal equinox, so it is officially fall!
Here's a song to kick it off. 

Dreamy.

AmeriCorps turns 20!

Here's a little video celebrating 20 years of AmeriCorps. It's pretty great! I'm so lucky I've gotten a chance to serve with this organization. It's dramatically changed the way I think about poverty, community outreach, and public policy. If you're interested in AmeriCorps, (especially AmeriCorps VISTA) shoot me an email, and I can tell you about it.

Your old people video of the day

Can't get over it.



And remember my favorite Young @ Heart Chorus? THEY HAVE A MOVIE!!!



I need to watch this yesterday.

Something for Sunday: "...burst into a Song"

After an unintentional summer hiatus, I joined again with the Sacred Harp singing group a few weeks ago. They meet at the Provo Episcopal church once a month to see, and I had forgotten how much I missed it. Here's a rendition of one my favorite songs. Singing to this feels like the purest form of praise:

If you're unfamiliar with Sacred Harp music, you sing through the song the first time with solfegge. That's why it may seem like they're singing nonsense :) Here are the lyrics.

Now shall my inward joys arise,

And burst into a Song;

Almighty Love inspires my Heart,

And Pleasure tunes my Tongue.

God on his thirsty Sion-Hill

Some Mercy-Drops has thrown,

And solemn Oaths have bound his Love

To show'r Salvation down.

Why do we then indulge our Fears,

Suspicions and Complaints?

Is he a God, and shall his Grace

Grow weary of his saints?

Can a kind Woman e'er forget

The Infant of her Womb,

And 'mongst a thousand tender Thoughts

Her Suckling have no Room?

Yet, saith the Lord, should Nature change,

And Mothers Monsters prove,

Sion still dwells upon the Heart

Of everlasting Love.

Deep on the Palms of both my Hands

I have engrav'd her Name;

My Hands shal raise her ruin'd Walls,

And build her broken Frame.

We usually just sing the first three verses, so I had no idea that the rest of the song referenced once of my favorite scriptures:

Isaiah 49:13-16 

13. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Wishing you a happy Sunday.

A Poem for Saturday: Kay Ryan - "Shark's Teeth"

Everything contains some
silence. Noise gets
its zest from the
small shark's-tooth
shaped fragments
of rest angled
in it. An hour
of city holds maybe
a minute of these
remnants of a time
when silence reigned,
compact and dangerous
as a shark. Sometimes
a bit of a tail
or fin can still
be sensed in parks.

September Mix: Carryin' this torch

I almost posted a cop-out mix, but I got my act together just in time.

Here ya go!

1. Ambre - Nils Frahm




2. The CN Tower can work it out (Final Fantasy f. Q-Tip) - Tor


3. Property Lines - Dusted




4. Lets Win! - Alexander




5. Saffron - Jake Bugg


6. Towers (Stop The Car Remix) - Bon Iver




7. Think I Wanna Die - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin




8. My Hands Are Shaking - Sondre Lerche


9. Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix) - Ms Mr


10. She Ain't Speakin' Now - Of Montreal


11. High Low Middle - My Brightest Diamond




12. I Won't Be Long - Beck


13. Evie - Cub Scouts




14. Like A Gun ft. Luna Lune - Hurris & Gig


15. Adventure.Exe - Final Fantasy



NOTES:
1. Feelin' fall-y
4. Well looky here, it's Salt Lake.
Let's Win! from Alexander on Vimeo.
5. This kid is coming next week guys. At The Depot. My leastest favoritest venue. But my dad talked to me about Jake Bugg, and really wanted to see him. So I'm thinking of going in his honor.
6. Beaut.
7. These guys are coming to Salt Lake in November!
10. New, yeah yeah yeah. And they're coming to Salt Lake in November too!
14. Local yokels. They go by a different name now. I like the Lana del Rey sample!
15. mmmhmmm

A collection of 7 things

Here are some some things:

1. I've been feeling old

I'll do things for you 

If you were born in the 80s, 

I've got hugs for you 

If you were born in the 80s

There are girls in my ward who were born in 1995... 0_0

2. Reading a lot of Relevant articles

3. Trying to find meaning in my life from quotes I find on Tumblr

“The truth is that the more intimately you know someone, the more clearly you’ll see their flaws. That’s just the way it is. This is why marriages fail, why children are abandoned, why friendships don’t last. You might think you love someone until you see the way they act when they’re out of money or under pressure or hungry, for goodness’ sake. Love is something different. Love is choosing to serve someone and be with someone in spite of their filthy heart. Love is patient and kind, love is deliberate. Love is hard. Love is pain and sacrifice, it’s seeing the darkness in another person and defying the impulse to jump ship. 
— The Great Kamryn

4. My love for Owen Pallett has come back with avengeance as it seems to do every fall.

5. Have you guys heard of this musical of Randy Newman's Faust? With James Taylor, Don Henley, Elton John, Linda Rondstat, and Bonnie Rait??? One of these days, I'll give it a listen on Spotify.

6. The Weezer cruise? THIS IS A REAL THING. OMG if I only had a few extra thousand dollars.

7. Here's something you didn't know you needed to watch:

Music for your Midweek: Josh Weathers and Whitney Houston

Thanks to this post for leading me to this cover.
Also, the video will make you sort of fall in love with this Josh Weathers guy.
Break my heart already. 

A Poem for Saturday: "A World of Dew" - Kobayashi Issa

露の世は露の世ながらさりながら

Tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sari nagara

                                                               The world of dew --

                                                               A world of dew it is indeed,

                                                               And yet, and yet . . .

Read more here.

Music for Your Midweek: Bastille

I couldn't find a more perfect song this day.

Here's the original version if you're curious.

And some of the lyrics cause they're great:

I was left to my own devices

Many days fell away with nothing to show

And the walls kept tumbling down

In the city that we love

Grey clouds roll over the hills

Bringing darkness from above...

We were caught up and lost in all of our vices

In your pose as the dust settled around us...

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

You've been here before?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

Recap attack: The Tetons, Jacob Lake, and random stuff my dad left behind

Here some more of those photos all y'all like so much.

First off, going through my day's belongings, we've found some pretty random things, like these wipes:

I could see them coming in handy, I guess?

And this questionable supplement:

Not quite sure what it does, but I'm taking it. I'll let you know when I start seeing some muscles. 

Oh! We went camping!

We just happened to have this tent in our basement. Lucky.

We drank sarsaparilla.

And made a fire...that was quickly overcome by summer showers.

And then made a mad dash tithe car with the mallows we had been roasting in hand.

The next morning was misty and beautiful.

Home sweet home.

After a good breakfast at Jackson Lodge, we headed to the trailhead for Hermitage Point. It was beautiful!

So many lily pads!

The sweetest tiniest babiest tree.

There were a couple trees covered in this bizarre furry stuff... Any of you guys know what it is? So eerie...

Great view

Ingrid and Julie taught me how to take panoramic photos, but now I've forgotten haha

We took a wrong turn and ended up in this field. It was worth it though, obvy. 

Then we found this weird creature! I wish I could have taken it home, but it probably wouldn't have lasted the journey.

Everywhere was beauty. This was from part of the drive to our campground. Do you see the Bison?!

On our way out, I got a picture at "Mormon Row".

The next weekend, I went to Jacob Lake with Katie, Melinda, and Hannah. We had a grand old time, so much so, I hardly too k any photos. Here are some shots from the reservoir:

Sand and sky.

They made and impressive sand castle with a moat.

Jacob Lake in passing.

Sometime when you're single, it feels like even your food is mocking you.

MGMT

My mom and I lucked out and got last minute James Taylor tickets. It was incredible. I was weepy the whole time!

Downtown Salt Lake was insane this weekend! With comicon, there were a ton of people walking around in costume.

I tried to get some shots, but it was too hard to from the car. This was an attempt at catching some Adeventure time kids. 

We went through a bunch of prints that my parents have kept through their travels through Europe and across the country. The one shows the world's "prevailing religions".

And last but not least, by brother moved into his own place, and hung his sweet poster he got from some band. I kind of want to steal it.

That's it!

A Poem for Saturday: Thomas Sayers Ellis "Or,"

Or Oreo, or
worse, Or ordinary.
Or your choice
of category


            or
            Color

or any color
other than Colored
or Colored Only.
Or  "Of Color"


            or
            Other


or theory or discourse
or oral territory.
Oregon or Georgia
or Florida Zora


            or
            Opportunity


or born poor
or Corporate, Or Moor,
Or a Noir Orpheus
or Senghor


            or
            Diaspora


or a horrendous
and tore-up journey,
Or performance, Or allegory's armor
or ignorant comfort


            or
            Worship


or reform or a sore chorus,
Or Electoral Corruption
or important ports
of Yoruba or worry


            or
            Neighbor


or fear of...
of terror or border.
Or all organized,
minorities.

Music for your Midweek: Pheonix

Another brilliant video from La Blogothèque.
Read about it here.

Let's leave the country.

SOCCCCCEEEERRR

OMG I LOVE OUR TEAAAAAMMMM

Also, this is hilar:

Soccer is the world's greatest sport

It's Labor Day!

So get off your computer/smartphone/tablet and 

PLAY OUTSIDE

Oh. It's too hot outside? Here's a funny video then.

I'minheredogI'minheredogI'minheredog

Something for Sunday: Un-plug

I may be relatively new to this smart phone world, but I already feel myself turning into its slave. Nobody told me these phones need to be charged EVERYDAY and sometimes MULTIPLE times a day. And it's SO fragile. And temperamental. It's practically like having a baby. I've seen it infiltrate all parts of my life (mostly for the better), but sometimes in not-so-positive ways. One of my friends posted this on her wall last week, and it struck a chord:

Too real. 

It reminds me of Sister Wixom's talk in General Conference:

"“Dad … started reading phone messages while the toddler struggled to get his attention by throwing bits of pizza crust. Then the dad re-engaged, facing his child and playing with him. Soon, though, he substituted watching a video on his phone with the toddler until his wife returned.
“… [Dr.] Halfon observed a dimming of the child’s internal light, a lessening of the connection between parent and child.”
...Precious moments of opportunity to interact and converse with our children dissolve when we are occupied with distractions. Why not choose a time each day to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other? Simply turn everything off. When you do this, your home may seem quiet at first; you may even feel at a loss as to what to do or say. Then, as you give full attention to your children, a conversation will begin, and you can enjoy listening to each other."

I found this article about observant jewish people trying to negotiate between technology and their spiritual life. Click here to give it a read.

"There's real value in embracing technology. It's just about knowing when to turn it off."

Amen.