gonna go where dreams like rivers flow...

photo-shoots are so much fun...dressing up, posing 'fierce,' and generally making a fool of yourself with people you love: not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

today, with Dad at work, brother occupied completely by SportsCenter, and Mum out for the weekend, meg and i decided to take advantage of the verdant and vacant backyard and have our own photographic adventure.

i think my sister is gorgeous (a little biased, maybe), and had way too much fun taking pictures of her - there are now at least two hundred new photos sitting on the memory card. 

in addition to being a fun use of an afternoon, our little safari proved most interesting for me, presenting a quandary i hadn't planned on confronting just yet: my little sister is growing up. most of the frames from today are of a young woman; she's conscious of her body and knows how to set herself up for the most flattering shots...and yet: she is still a little girl. there's something fresh about her, whether in her bright green eyes or in the curious set of her mouth, or in a quality more intangible than those. she possesses a joie de vivre that i don't often see in kids her age anymore, and i'm so glad she does. it is this big sister's dream and prayer that she retains and enjoys that all her life, and that in it she grows up and sees herself as beautiful.

you're cute. ♥

the black keys are showing me a world i never knew...

mu·sic [myoo-zik] –noun
1. an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. 

 

mmm. myuu-zick. music. a word that is a cacophony of  fantastic all by itself; a word that prompts one to consider the untold worlds of mental and emotional intrigue and sensory tickle, punch, and caress encompassed yet still unrealized by its melodious self.
melody. harmony. accompany. musical words that of themselves, via their own lilts, sweeps, and undertones, express perfectly what they do, simultaneously defying all linguistic definition.

 

how can one put an understanding, a worded explanation, to something that is so intrinsically mental? inherently emotional? certainly, there is logic involved; people have written libraries on the theoretical and technical aspects of music - but the actual music, the effect it has on the soul? the reactions it provokes in the mind? this, the essence of art, is what is so wholly unable to be captured. this is the most lovely and elusive creature on the face of the planet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pretend like it's the weekend...

only there was no sleeping in involved, and nobody made banana pancakes.

As the seven of us sat at two separate tables - four in a booth on the left wall and three in the center of the room at a square table - a high, sweet, clear voice piped up above the early morning chit-chat of Camelot regulars and the muted clank and scrape of dishes from the kitchen.

"Lord, thank you so much...for this fellowship...for all the opportunities to praise you..." she then prayed that we would all live for our Lord, seek to please Him in every aspect of our lives. She prayed from her heart, and it was beautiful. I don't think anyone else in that little restaurant was paying attention to or even heard the group of giggly, college-aged girls with their heads bowed over breakfast; conversations went on around us, and the one waitress in the place continued delivering food to tables with her husky, brusque "more coffee?"

 We lifted our heads after grace and smiled at one another before we bit into our pancakes, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. 

The last full day of the semester was starting off well, grey skies or no; of course, any day can be made good when it's filled with friends, laughter, and hot, sweet coffee.

 

And cows.

if i could look across the country...

i already know i'm wretched at this, but i don't mind all that much - maybe with practice, i'll get better.
pictures are beautiful; they express in an instant so much more than we could ever hope to say by an infinite amount of words. i hope to try to document this summer - 2010 - by taking pictures, and to put those up no matter how horrible i think the shots are, because really, it's not about my shooting technique. it's about the content. it's about the forever beauty in the breath of a petal; it's about the delighted giggle on my sister's face; it's about my brother's look of incredulity when he catches a perfect pass from my dad; it's about all those tiny, timeless moments that remain ingrained in our brains for all our lives. it's about secrets whispered after lights-out, and spontaneous adventures, and stolen kisses. it's about tart lemonade and sweet strawberries and warm pancakes. it's about laughter and tears, absorbing sunshine and allowing rain to pelt your face. it's about seeing life for yourself 

in a way that no one else can 

simply because 

they're not you.