WANDER: Ancient Trees, by Beth Moon

This year I'll be indulging my insatiable wanderlust here on the blog, starting with these gorgeous, ancient trees. 

 Beth Moon travels the world photographing the oldest living trees and then prints her art with a beautiful process called platinum printing. On her website and in her book Ancient Trees, Portraits of Time, she shares the rich background and history of each tree and where it was photographed. 

Here's to the New Year, and the merciful passing of time.

Read more about Beth Moon here and here.

LITERATURE: Halloween Favorites

I'm an avid reader, but it's been a while since I've written anything here about books!

It's October so I've been thinking about sharing some of my favorite Halloween themed literature.

My favorite spooky story is Dracula, but actually it's one of my favorite books of all time. I read it years ago and was surprised by how much I loved it. It doesn't rely on cheap thrills and explores much deeper and more satisfying themes than a lot of other horror stories. And the format was interesting, with letters and journal entries rather than normal chapters and structuring.

I'm currently reading the Harry Potter series. I put it off for a long, long time, but some friends of mine finally convinced me to read them this fall. I had been reading non-fiction for a long time and started to notice I was feeling a little burned out so I thought a nice young adult series might refresh me. It has been pretty fun to breeze through them and see the differences between the books and movies.

I read Frankenstein years ago and found it moving, but haven't reached for it since. Maybe next year? It's very interesting to see the different impressions I get rereading books after a few years, and I am looking forward to Frankenstein again, since I was barely twenty when I first read it.

What do you read this time of year?

peter and wendy

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

 

 “One could mention many lovable traits in Smee. For instance, after killing, it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon.”

*

“Wendy, Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars.”

*

"Wendy," he continued, in a voice that no woman has ever yet been able to resist, "Wendy, one girl is more use than twenty boys."

*

“To live will be an awfully big adventure.”

 

― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan 

  “Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. ”

read on, dreamers.

love, nico

thank you, mr. sendak.

 

sometimes i wish certain people could live forever.
but who would ever want to?
instead of wishing i'll just say thank you.

Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012

<3

on the road

So yesterday, as I was looking up an image of one of my favorite quotes (which I noticed later was missing one or two adjectives... whatever.), I noticed there will be a film adaptation of On the Road out this year. I was relieved to see that it's in good hands. Francis Ford Copppola bought the rights thirty-three years ago and has finally assembled an experienced cast and crew to pull it off. The director, Walter Salles, has done his research, travelling the same route Jack did, and put the cast through some sort of beatnik boot camp before filming.

Sounds good. Don't screw it up!

~nico

the mad ones

I woke up this morning reciting this quote in my head with my eyes closed, then turned and read it on my wall until I couldn't lay in bed any longer. I keep it on the wall as a reminder - or perhaps a challenge to myself:
Don't forget- you're one of them, and don't lose the good ones, or you'll fade just like your memories of them. And when you can't find any good ones, get up and look. And don't stop til you're there. Burn, burn, burn, and never ever quit.

how to be alone.

This video is really beautiful. (You can find more of Tanya Davis' work here.)
I've just spent a few weeks of some really special alone time and it was really refreshing. I journaled a lot, cleaned and reorganized my house a lot, baked some cookies, listened to some new music, and did a few crafts. Sometimes I'm really uncomfortable with being alone and winter would normally be a really sensitive time for that, but I think the promise of the new year and changes have helped me stay buoyant and positive.

C.S. Lewis talked about putting the most important things first, and explained that once you do that, the other things will not suffer, but thrive. I believe this wholeheartedly, though I don't always follow through. I'm trying and getting better every day, and that's a really good thing.

 

I've found some really great books over the years that inspire and encourage independence and creativity.
I love reading books by Sabrina Ward Harrison (this is her website, but I haven't been able to find any new activity from her during the last couple years, which is sad, because she's amazing. Luckily we have her books - my favorite is Brave On the Rocks.)

SARK is another wonderful author and artist. All of her books are handwritten and illustrated, and super inspiring! She even has a free hotline you can call for bits of inspiration and an email newsletter for encouraging ideas. This is her website: Planet Sark.

(swh)

If you don't go, you don't see.

Here's to truly loving yourself.

<3, nico

so.many.books.

this.... this.... this:

I just found this tumblr, and... well, do I even need to explain? Have we ever met? Well, we might not have, but, I'll tell you now, this is... perfect.

The headline says "Book lovers never go to bed alone." Followed by this quote: "A little library, growing larger every year, is an honorable part of a man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life." --Henry Ward Beecher

I'm in love.

<3 nico

a.k.a. thomas jefferson snodgrass

It's Mark Twain's birthday today! 
(Thanks google.) 

I LOVE Mark Twain. Earlier this year, Tony read Tom Sawyer to me, and I was a fan immediately. Now we're working on Huckleberry Finn, among others though, so it's slow going.

I decided to research him a little today and read that Haley's Comet was visible in the sky both on the night that Mark Twain was born and on the night he passed away. 

I just love these chair photos...

Here are some good quotes from the man of the day:

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." 

"When in doubt, tell the truth." 


"Always do right. That will gratify some of the people, and astonish the rest."

And look! This is the only known video footage of him! According to the uploader, this is "silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Stormfield (CT) at Mark Twain's estate. Twain  is shown walking around his home and playing cards with his daughters Clara and Jean. The flickering is due to film deterioration, but this is the only known footage of the great author."

This is my favorite. Gotta love kittens.

And the last interesting thing I found today, was that his older brother's name was Orion. I like that.

Have a lovely literary day! 


~love, nico

krakatoa

Tonight I'm working on finishing the book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. It's basically a biography of the massive volcano that used to exist off the coast of Java and exploded during the summer or 1883. I love books like this because you learn so much about so many things. I will admit, I put the book down for weeks at a time to explore more fiction and dip into the dozen books I'm reading at any given time, but I keep coming back to Krakatoa. It's fascinating.



This one begins a couple hundred years before the eruption explaining the behavior of the volcano and the culture of the surrounding areas then jumps ahead to the twentieth century sharing the discoveries in science unveiling some mysteries of the plates and faults and magnetite compasses, then moves back again to the dramatic story of the paroxysm(what a great word), then the aftermath, from earthly reactions like tsunamis and shock waves, to cultural reactions like religious uprisings and empirical collapses!

And I'm not even finished reading yet!

I was so excited when I first opened to the prelude and saw that it begins with this quote from A Little Prince:
           "He also had one volcano that was extinct. But, as he said, 'One never knows!' So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too. If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney. On earth we are much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us."

....Okay, now back to the book!

~nico

all is love

i adore karen o.

let the wild rumpus start!

-n