My apartment building in the early morning light.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
3sixty5:1
I've decided to chronicle my first year living in NYC by participating in 365...a daily photo project. The idea is simple--one picture a day for a year. I'll take more, and I might even post more. But I do plan to post my 365 project photos here.
My apartment building in the early morning light.
My apartment building in the early morning light.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Big Yellow
It could be a play, one where the script changes every night, but the themes and lessons remain the same.
The Setting: The living room of a big, yellow, Victorian house in a quintessential New England college town. There are comfortable couches and wooden rocking chairs, family pictures and well-loved instruments tucked in the corners. Snacks are waiting on the table and tea is in the cupboard. It feels like home from the moment you arrive.
The Soundtrack: The tapping of laptop keys, the heavy thud of small feet, joyful squeals of delight, and the occasional wail...the hum of acoustic guitars bouncing off the bathroom walls, the stomp of a foot keeping time, the scratch of the pen against paper...the stroke of the hour, the occasional siren...lots of laughter and a few tears.
The Characters: A rotating cast of poets, songwriters, memoirists, and bloggers...all storytellers who create worlds and bring them to life.
The Story: There is a refrain in the great baseball movie Field of Dreams.
The Setting: The living room of a big, yellow, Victorian house in a quintessential New England college town. There are comfortable couches and wooden rocking chairs, family pictures and well-loved instruments tucked in the corners. Snacks are waiting on the table and tea is in the cupboard. It feels like home from the moment you arrive.
The Soundtrack: The tapping of laptop keys, the heavy thud of small feet, joyful squeals of delight, and the occasional wail...the hum of acoustic guitars bouncing off the bathroom walls, the stomp of a foot keeping time, the scratch of the pen against paper...the stroke of the hour, the occasional siren...lots of laughter and a few tears.
The Characters: A rotating cast of poets, songwriters, memoirists, and bloggers...all storytellers who create worlds and bring them to life.
The Story: There is a refrain in the great baseball movie Field of Dreams.
If you build it, he will come.
It started with the house and a vision. And so the house's residents (first only one, then two--plus dog, then three, and finally four--plus dog again) created the space. She built it and they came--the writers. The house fills up on various weeknights, and sometimes for whole weekends full of time. Time for the people to tell stories and share pieces of themselves. Time to build and maintain friendships and community. Time to heal deep wounds. There are stories of love and of loss, of the struggle to find oneself and of losing everything. Stories about coming of age, and stories of dragons and vampires.
Some of these storytellers come season after season, while others come and go. But each of them join the whispers in the walls and the muses in the shadows. They provide the inspiration and the encouragement for those who come next.
It started with the house and a vision. And so the house's residents (first only one, then two--plus dog, then three, and finally four--plus dog again) created the space. She built it and they came--the writers. The house fills up on various weeknights, and sometimes for whole weekends full of time. Time for the people to tell stories and share pieces of themselves. Time to build and maintain friendships and community. Time to heal deep wounds. There are stories of love and of loss, of the struggle to find oneself and of losing everything. Stories about coming of age, and stories of dragons and vampires.
Some of these storytellers come season after season, while others come and go. But each of them join the whispers in the walls and the muses in the shadows. They provide the inspiration and the encouragement for those who come next.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
3-0
I know I'm a few days behind on Look Up, but tonight, I want to Look Out and Look Around. Tomorrow, I turn 30. Age is really just a number to me, so 30 isn't causing the earth to shift beneath my feet or my inner equilibrium to tremble. 30 doesn't sound all that different from 29 and I suspect it won't feel much different either. Something about the "milestone" is causing me to look back though.
My 20s are almost over--and while I stand here looking back at them as a whole and happy person, there were times when that didn't seem possible. I don't remember turning 20--even then, "milestones" must not have meant much. I know I was in college. I know I was happy. I know I trusted in where I was. I moved to California shortly after I turned 22 and all of that change. Sometimes, those years feel like a blur--and I know that I suffered the quintessential quarter-life crisis. I didn't like where I was and I didn't trust where I was going.
***
This weekend, I spent time in one of my favorite towns, in one of my favorite houses, with some of my favorite people--two of whom are under 3 feet tall. For the last year, my most frequent question for the almost-3 year old is, "Lila, who's my favorite two year old in the whole world?" She grins, balls her hand into a thumbs-up position, and jabs her thumb into her chest. We were in the kitchen on Saturday when she said, "Hey Kris! Who's my favorite two year old in the whole world?"
"I don't know. Who?"
She grinned at me, scrunched up her face and pointed at me.
The next morning, I sat on the front porch with her little brother, wrapped in a fleece blanket against the cool April breeze. We watched the cars, waved to the people and dogs who walked by, and sang endless verses of Peter Paul and Mary's "Car-Car." I soaked in the moment, grateful for and aware of the happiness and peace that I took for granted when I entered my 20s. My years in California were hard, but they gave me such a gift. I'm more present for the good things in life, and for the people who fill my life.
***
I'm not sure what my 30s will bring, but I enter them more comfortable (OK, more comfortable-ish) with the uncertainty and more confident that I can handle whatever comes my way. And I still say age is just a number. After all, I'm somebody's favorite 2 year old in the whole world.
My 20s are almost over--and while I stand here looking back at them as a whole and happy person, there were times when that didn't seem possible. I don't remember turning 20--even then, "milestones" must not have meant much. I know I was in college. I know I was happy. I know I trusted in where I was. I moved to California shortly after I turned 22 and all of that change. Sometimes, those years feel like a blur--and I know that I suffered the quintessential quarter-life crisis. I didn't like where I was and I didn't trust where I was going.
***
This weekend, I spent time in one of my favorite towns, in one of my favorite houses, with some of my favorite people--two of whom are under 3 feet tall. For the last year, my most frequent question for the almost-3 year old is, "Lila, who's my favorite two year old in the whole world?" She grins, balls her hand into a thumbs-up position, and jabs her thumb into her chest. We were in the kitchen on Saturday when she said, "Hey Kris! Who's my favorite two year old in the whole world?"
"I don't know. Who?"
She grinned at me, scrunched up her face and pointed at me.
The next morning, I sat on the front porch with her little brother, wrapped in a fleece blanket against the cool April breeze. We watched the cars, waved to the people and dogs who walked by, and sang endless verses of Peter Paul and Mary's "Car-Car." I soaked in the moment, grateful for and aware of the happiness and peace that I took for granted when I entered my 20s. My years in California were hard, but they gave me such a gift. I'm more present for the good things in life, and for the people who fill my life.
***
I'm not sure what my 30s will bring, but I enter them more comfortable (OK, more comfortable-ish) with the uncertainty and more confident that I can handle whatever comes my way. And I still say age is just a number. After all, I'm somebody's favorite 2 year old in the whole world.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Look Up Series
I had my wisdom teeth out last Thursday, then went home for Easter. So here are the "make-up" photos.
Look Up 4/9--Springing
Look Up 4/10--O'Kane Hall
Look Up 4/11 (Princeton, NJ)
Look Up 4/12 (OK, this is cheating, a little. But *he* is looking up! This is my brother's best friend, just home from almost a year in Chile.)
Look Up 4/13--Atop the Hotel Northampton
Look Up 4/9--Springing
Look Up 4/10--O'Kane Hall
Look Up 4/11 (Princeton, NJ)
Look Up 4/12 (OK, this is cheating, a little. But *he* is looking up! This is my brother's best friend, just home from almost a year in Chile.)
Look Up 4/13--Atop the Hotel Northampton
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