fanciful devices: Grrr and Ugh but also Yay.

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

5/31/13

Grrr and Ugh but also Yay.

What I forgot to tell you last post was that I'm presently combining the laugh-riot that is da pims with the particular experience of caffeine withdrawal. I am basically allergic to coffee but I've been drinking it anyways for quite a while and yeah, I gotta stop. The constant parched feeling is such that I can't even sleep for mouth pain. I'm also constantly having to get up to wiz from all the liquids consumed because of said mouth pain. I won't even get into my bowels. You don't want to go on that dark journey. I can actually feel my skin contract with the dehydration. So I'm being as productive as a sullen teenager but meanwhile I discovered a new-for-me band I've become obsessed with.
Now, many in the youtube comments section have expressed regret at finding out their vocals aren't just sounds but actual, even brilliant, lyrics. I'm going to ruin it for you by only including the vids that show the lyrics cuz I find the videos distracting. I'm having an impossible time trying to decide which to put 1st. Hopefully this one will keep your around for more:

The story behind this next one: Gerda Taro was a war photojournalist in Spanish Civil War. She died at age 26 in 1937 when a tank collided into the side of a car she was riding on. The other important name in this song was Gerda's romantic interest and colleague, Robert Capa. In '54, during the First Indochina War, Capa retreated from his Jeep in a hostile war zone to take pictures. He stepped on a land mine which blew apart his leg. He died with his camera in his hand.

Sweet, infectious and a touch folksy, but with some dark-assed lyrics, inspired by the movie Where the Wild Things Are:

Surprisingly hard and almost dubstep, my original favorite:

I know you're thinking I'm putting their whole CD here.
I'm having to restrain myself to not add Bloodflood and Tessalate and Matilda. OK, OK I'll stop.

1 comment:

Rebecca S. said...: This music is remarkable....thanks for sharing it. The song about Taro and Capa is so moving. I am going to send the link to a friend teaching History of Photo on line this summer so she can pass it along to students...; 6/3/13, 4:02 PM