heather, monday, getting ready to enjoy some Sandy's ice cream cones.
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"Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great."

hi hi!
Sorry it's been a while, I have five weeks left until i'm a college graduate, so as you can imagine I've been quite busy. Once school finishes up I'm hoping i'll have more time to update this thing!
I was introduced to the TED videos through a class and was shocked and upset to discover these videos have been available for a few years, all without my knowledge! TED stands for "Television, Entertainment and Design" and it's devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." On TED.com, what once started out as something open to only the smartest and most talented of their fields, is now available to the world for free. I seriously encourage everyone to visit the site--whether it's a moving musical performance, a fascinating new discovery or a humbling talk about the best way to go about political change, you'll end up leaving the site a bit more enlightened. I'm posting a few links to some videos that I was required to watch for a class, as well as a video I stumbled upon that I can't stop thinking about.

-Aimee Mullins talks about growing up without a normal pair of legs and gives an empowering talk. I've always been aware of the power of language and the power each person has to change the way someone else sees themselves. The quote at the top of this post is by Mark Twain and something I strongly believe in. I think it ties well into what Aimee talks about. Check out the video here
-Barry Schwartz (cleverly) points out our society's loss of wisdom, watch it!
-Natalie Merchant stuns me with what she's been working on for the past 5 years: a rich body of work, full of history and stories unheard. She adapts both classic and contemporary poetry into beautiful songs. In this TED clip, she "brings back to life" a collection of 19th century poems. I've never been more inspired or amazed by her talent as from the clip--she is truly a professional at what she does!

-->I posted two poems that Natalie sings that I found really beautiful.
-at 7:35 on video
maggie and milly and molly and may
by E. E. Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
-----
-at 16:20 on video
Spring and Fall: to a Young Child
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Margaret, are you grieving 

Over Goldengrove unleaving? 

Leaves, like the things of man, you 

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you? 

Ah! as the heart grows older 

It will come to such sights colder 

By and by, nor spare a sigh 

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie; 

And yet you will weep and know why. 

Now no matter, child, the name: 

Sorrow's springs are the same. 

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed 

What heart heard of, ghost guessed: 

It is the blight man was born for, 

It is Margaret you mourn for.
----

hope you enjoy!
x

katie, at our house. so beautiful.
--------------
yes:

"I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend."
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

i'm free

finals are done with.
praise the heavens, summer is here.
yesss.

today i added another place onto my road trip wish list. badlands national park in south dakota. check out some photos and you'll understand, i need to go there. i also want to go to yellowstone--i've been twice but its been forever. to see the huge expanse of fields and mountains, and buffalo roaming ....ugh. heaven. and that's without thinking about photography. the potential photos those places hold is daunting. i hardly ever go out to shoot, most of my stuff is just from my life, devoid of open fields and wild animals. but hopefully this summer, that will change.

i discovered nan goldin a month or two ago (i sadly don't own any photo books or know many famous photographers---i hope to change this this summer) and can't wait to start really looking at her photos, especially the relationship ones. amazing.

and here are some more words that i love:
(walk to the water, U2)

She said it wasn't cold
She left her coat unbuttoned
She wore canvas shoes
White canvas shoes
Around her neck
She wore a silver necklace
'It was given to me by my father' she said
'It was given to me'

She took the back way home
Past the lights at Summerhill
Turn left on to the north strand
And on
On towards the sea

He said he was an artist
But he really painted billboards
In large capital letters
In large capital letters
He was telling jokes
Nobody else would listen to him

I saw you that day
Your lips were cherry red
Your legs were crossed your arms wide open
Your hair was coloured gold
And like a field of corn
You were blown by the wind
You were blown by the wind
_
Walk, walk, walk to the water
Walk with me awhile
Walk, walk, walk to the roadside
walk with me in a light

A room in the Royal hotel
With sea facing views
A man with a suitcase
Full of things he doesn't need
I'm looking through your window
I'm walking through your doorway
I'm on the outside
Let me in

Let me love you
Let me love you
Let me

Walk, walk, walk to the water
Walk with me
Walk, walk, walk to the roadside
walk with me a while
_

--->the 4th stanza is my favorite (it starts with "i saw you that day," go back and read it), i especially love:

"And like a field of corn
You were blown by the wind
You were blown by the wind "
...doesn't get much better than that.

i don't sleep too much

anymore. oh well. more life that i'm living.

summer. yes. :

phoenix- too young

the sunset was beautiful the other day. there were clouds in the distance that made a second horizon, so i watched the sun hide its head before it was even through. it almost looked like it was descending into mountains and i love the mountains. it made me a bit giddy, which is nice to feel every once in a while. plus, look at those two lonely clouds. beautiful.

-and some loveliness, via ryan adams:

Took a walk with you
In the shadow of my shoes
Danced around the broken blues
In the dirty summer rain

Moonlight on the cars
Parked in single file at bars
With a thick and rosy smoke
Waving its busted hand

i could read that over and over and never be sick of it. that's all for now. xo

to clarify some things

So before this blog takes off, i thought i would share the song that the blog name came from.

It's "Take it with me" by Tom Waits, a song whose lyrics i really, really love. The blog's title touches on what I think is such a beautiful part of life. All those good things, the feelings, the people, the places, the memories. It never dies. We can take it all with us when we go.




Take it with me

Phone's off the hook
No one knows where we are
It's a long time since I
Drank champagne
The ocean is blue
As blue as your eyes
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go
Old long since gone
Now way back when
We lived in Coney Island
Ain't no good thing
Ever dies
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go
Far far away a train
Whistle blows
Wherever you're goin
Wherever you've been
Waving good bye at the end
Of the day
You're up and you're over
And you're far away
Always for you, and
Forever yours
It felt just like the old days
We fell asleep on Beaula's porch
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go
All broken down by
The side of the road
I was never more alive or
Alone
I've worn the faces off
All the cards
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go
Children are playing
At the end of the day
Strangers are singing
On our lawn
It's got to be more
Than flesh and bone
All that you're loved
Is all you own
In a land there's a town
And in that town there's
A house
And in that house
There's a woman
And in that woman
There's a heart I love
I'm gonna take it
With me when I go
I'm gonna take it
With me when I go.