A jaunt in the park.

Pictures from this past Saturday's jaunt to Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw.  We had an awesome morning and will definitely be back!

Ulay, Oh; Against All Odds

Today, whilst in the midst of social media-ing, I stumbled upon a video of ex-lovers meeting for the first time in 30 years at an art installation.  The artist, Marina Abramovic, held an art performance at the Museum of Modern Art where she would sit across from strangers, staring in silence one-on-one.  The video goes through a few, but then something amazing happens... her old boyfriend (that she hadn't seen in 30 years) was suddenly seated across from her.  The emotions that followed were enough to rock anyone's world.  Marina obviously did not know he was going to be there - the surprise in her eyes says it all -and the people observing the art installation were all overcome by their reactions.  You can watch the clip here.  Be prepared for all the feels.

I watched this once this morning and once just now, but it has been with me all day.  I don't think it will ever leave me actually.  Their emotions are so true, so heartbreaking, and so full of love.  It makes me want to know more of the story.  I would love to hear what happened after he got up and left.  I can't imagine that they were just going to slip back out of each other's lives... slowly ghosting away.  Or at least I hope not.  I hope they found each other again, and that it was more than just a physical finding.

I almost can't handle the urgency.  And I know that I can't even begin to explain the emotions.  But I love this type of stuff.  It feeds me.  I find it in music.  I find it in books.  I find it in movies.  But this is so much more real.  And so beautiful.

On the way home from work, I was trying to think of something that I could compare it to.  Of course, there are the Mr.Darcy's and the Love, Acually's of the world... but the little piece of my mental history that I can equate to having maybe that much urgency, if only to be accompanied by a different emotion, is from the movie "Against All Odds".  We rented it one night and proceeded to watch it.  I remember it was long, and from the 80s, so it left a little something to be desired, but I tell ya... at the very end, when Jeff Bridges is staring into Rachel Ward's eyes from across the room, there is so much emotion that you can hardly deal.  Not to mention, the Phil Collins song (also titled "Against All Odds" (you can watch the music video featuring clips from the movie here)) playing in the background.  I just can't.

"How can you just walk away from me, when all I can do is watch you leave..."

Yea, I pretty sure that that song can be precisely applied to the situation between the artist and her ex-lover, but maybe I'm just projecting.  I doubt it though.

Anyways, further delves into my past led me to my old moleskine journals.  I am currently working on my third.  The first was completed during my semester of Design & Painting I at GSU.  It was the second semester of my freshmen year (Spring 2004), I am was ripe with emotion.  I was dating, and not-dating.  I had my first-ever kiss that February.  I was developing awesome friendships.  I was experiencing college life, and I was feeling a bit angsty.  At one point, I even died my hair black.  It only lasted a day, but it happened.  I was seeing what love felt like, and by the end of this semester, I was convinced that I was in love with my art professor.  That's not too hard to fathom though.  He would wear blazers with blue jeans and chucks, and he played Postal Service during class.  Call me smitten.  lol.  I would put a lot of emotion into my art and found a lot of release in music and writing.  I still do today actually.

These are just a few of my favorites.

Every now and then I'll post some of my more current work on my Instagram account:  @perfancynancy.  Check it out!

two-faced; 2004

a spirit, 2004

bottom: poetry, 2004
top: Oregon itenerary, spirits, 2007

"Ulay, Oh" by How I Became the Bomb.  All the feels.

 

A picture of a pickle.

And that's not metaphorically speaking.

Right now, I am finishing a movie that I started yesterday evening... a little over 22 hours ago.  No, it's not that the movie was that long.  That's just how long it's taken me to get through it.  Mom life, am I right?

The movie was splendid.  "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day."  Seriously, so good.  I love the time frame, the series of events, the actors, the roles, and the intrigues.  There's even a spot of urgency.  So naturally, I'm hooked.  This is one of those movies that I crave and have to watch a few times a year. 
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Interlude.
Others on the crave-able list:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Love, Actually
Pride & Prejudice
The Jane Austen Book Club
(I sense a theme here...)
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My little one is sick.  Not super serious, but a bit worse than we imagined.  She's had a bad cough for a few days and when she spiked a fever yesterday, we knew a trip to the doctor was in order.  And so it was.  She has mucus on her lungs and 2 different rashes.  We're treating with antibiotics, breathing treatments and creams.  At any rate, hubby and I were both here with her, but hubby got to work and I watched her, which obviously means that I didn't watch my movie.  Had you ever entertained a 17 month old?  Ha!  Luckily, despite the sickness, she is acting much like herself.  Very busy, slightly destructive (not on purpose), and incredibly charming.

Anyways, hubby is also going out with a friend tonight to discuss plans for a game they're working on.  So when he announced that he was logged off and asked if he could do anything, I sweetly suggested that he wisk the little miss off to get the last of the meds and any other excursion deemed acceptable for a 17 month old.  He obliged and promised to be out for awhile.  :)

So the first thing I do, besides taking a leisurely jaunt to the restroom, is grab a pickle, take a bite, (take a picture), and sit down to my movie and my blog.
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I shall call it "me time" and it shall be mine!

Bathroom Bottles

 

This is what we wake up for these days.  It's 7am on a Saturday and Penny has been rearranging a bottle of aloe and hair gel all over the bathroom... for the last 20 minutes. 

 

Open the cabinet.
Grab a bottle.
Take it to the toilet.
Go grab the other bottle.
Put it on the bathtub.
Take the other one and put it in the other cabinet.
Go get the other and give it to mommy.
Gather both back.
Stumble back to the cabinet.
Deposit into cabinet.
Shut door.
Clap.
Repeat process.

 

She is so content in the mundane and is such a joy.  Even if we do wake up before 7 every. single. day. 

 

Ha!

 

Happy Saturday!  :)

Rain, Storms & Bokeh

Reflections of headlights through individual raindrops

Today it will rain.  Storm even.  The afternoon sky will be littered with clouds showcasing the truest range of the prettiest blues, and at some point, the sky will open and drops of condensed sky will fall amidst rolls of thunder and flashes of light.  Yes, today it will storm.  

I am so thankful for this rain.  I think I would do well to live in a place like the Pacific Northwest... but that's beside the point and may be a good topic for a later blog.  Summer storms are one of my most favorite things ever.  You simply cannot beat the energy that they bring, or the sense of cleansing, or the prettiest shades of blue.  I hope that Penny grows up loving them as much as I do.  They are so good for the soul!

If this blog would've found me last night, it would have been completely different.  I was not in a good space.  I was moody, missing my husband, listening to all of the wrong songs and spending too much time in the wrong book.  I was dreaming up the past and worrying over opportunities missed and not participating in the present moment.  I tend to do that though.  I am often time way-too-introspective for my own good, but that also makes me "me", so who am I to complain?

The sun coming in through the window across the hall.

At any rate, this morning was better.  Even though we didn't sleep good (I think Penny is going through a growth spurt), sleep still came and so did dreams.  And I love my dreams.  The ground was still wet and there were raindrops on the windows that reflected headlights of passing cars into some of the most fantastical bokehs (love!) ever, and then the sun was shining.  With a fervor that was not to be missed.  Yes, today is better.  And it is going to storm.  And we now know what I feel about storms.