Let me tell you a story

There was a Grandfather who had a Grandson who came to him with anger at a schoolmate that had done him an injustice.

"Let me tell you a story," said the Grandfather.

"I too at times have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. I've struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "it is as if there are two wolves inside me.

One is good and he does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended.

But the other wolf, ah. He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper.

It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me. Both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The Grandson turned to his Grandfather and said, "But Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The Grandfather replied: "The one I feed."


Story by Loretta Todd - Cree/Métis Filmaker, transcribed from Telling Stories on Definitely Not the Opera. Listen here.
Image from Totoro Forest Project by Jackson Sze. 

The Shadow by William Carlos Williams

Soft as the bed in the earth
Where a stone has lain—
So soft, so smooth and so cool,
Spring closes me in
With her arms and her hands.

Rich as the smell
Of new earth on a stone,
That has lain, breathing
The damp through its pores—
Spring closes me in
With her blossomy hair;
Brings dark to my eyes.

Tip on the Tightrope

There's a lot to love about this video: the bouncy tune, the free form dancing, the colour palette, everyone in tuxedos. I wish dance parties like that were a reality. Oh well, for now here's more Janelle Monae on Myspace. Let's have a virtual sock hop :)

Turban!

I love the balance of a neutral beige coat with all that colour and the way the berry flows from head to toe. These gorgeous pictures are from Hanneli Mustaparta.

I've been wondering for a while why it is that turbans aren't seen more often. There was potential for them to become more mainstream with introduction of the jewel toned Prada turbans of 2007 but they didn't manage the usual runway-to-mallrat trickle down effect. Susie of Style Bubble does her own approximation here.

I only wear a scarf wrapped around my head once in a while, and never out on the town. But really, it seems the sort of thing that might do well on the street. Bad hair day? Who cares? Hack your favourite scarf and wear it as a turban. Problem solved.

P.S.: How to at vogue.com

GingerLillyTea's Photography

I'm loving the soft light of gingerlillytea's images.

Prints of her photos are available in her etsy shop: gingerlillytea.

Life and Love

While listening to Mo speak with an Italian client, I realized that his accent is only really audible when speaking to a non-native english speaker. He stops using articles and his words take on a farsi flair.

I think that means he'll never lose it completely no matter how great his mastery or how Canadian his tongue becomes. It reminds me of our early days together, he was so cute!
Clearly he still is.

Both of these images are from a project that featured young photographers photographing their favourite people. At least, I think they are. Of course, I can't find the link in my bazillions of bookmarks and tineye.com gave me nothing. Note to self: be better organized!

Forever ever, forever ever?

A Forever Thing has seen a bit of a design overhaul this week. I've been messing around, attempting to marry my own design style with the constraints of blogger and mostly just playing.

I design websites and other things by day, well, mostly by night if I'm honest. Playing with blogging platforms and doing multiple redesigns is a bit of a hobby and a bit of a habit for me. I tend to get bored quickly with blogs and want to move on the a new project. That's why I've called this space a forever thing. Hopefully the name will remind me that it's about the journey, the process and not the finished product.

What do you think of the changes? What is your favourite thing to do at night when you can't sleep? What's your favourite colour? Your favourite website strictly because of its lovely design?

Most of my favourite websites are simple, minimal, all white and fairly quiet. This new design here is muted but it has colour. Colour is going out on a limb for me! Mostly because I get sick of it too quickly.

Hey future self, let's see how long it takes you to redesign again!

Image credit: Sam Winston

Adora Svitak at Ted

I watched Adora's talk without knowing who she was or what she has accomplished in her young life and I was surprised at how commanding she was in front of such a large and intimidating audience. Then I googled her and realized that this sort of thing is old hat for her. She's a published author, a teacher and a consultant for educators. The fact that she has experience, however, doesn't make her commanding confidence any less impressive. I love that a child is advocating for children, for the worth of imagination and idealistic belief. Watching her speak took me back to when I was younger and genuinely believed that world peace and saving the planet were possible if only we tried hard enough or all worked together. It made me miss the idealistic little kid who didn't believe in limits. Thinking like her might be a good plan for my present. If all things are possible, all things are possible.

Sewing, sorta

I loved sewing in middle school. Coming up with strange little projects, sewing stuffed animals, pillows, head bands, whatever I could think of was a fun way to be creative. Unfortunately the sewing machine was always a little too cumbersome for me, the bobbin and I were not friends, so I gave up and moved on to other pursuits. Last week I saw an ad on craigslist for a vintage singer sewing machine. Mo wanted it immediately. So did I, despite the fact that neither of us really knew if we'd be able to get it working.

So, after picking up the monster from its former home, we are the proud owners of a very heavy piece of machinery that we have yet to figure out.

I may have found my first project, if I can unravel the inner workings of my lovely beast:

I recently stumbled across the lovely blog Between the Lines on Design*Sponge and was happy to find a tutorial for a lovely shopping bag made out of a recycled tshirt. It seems easy enough and if I can manage to sew a few relatively straight lines I will consider my new purchase a very good one.

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