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August 31, 2004
my sister...
Lizzy, Canon 300D
she is beautiful
she is free
she is perceptive
she is magical
she is sensitive
she is helpful
she is trustworthy
she is brave
she is the one who can read my mind
she is mysterious
she laughs hard
she is soft
she loves the earth and all its critters
she is strong
she is brilliant
she is genuine
she is lovely
she is my sister.
happy birthday Lizzy....
Posted by jen at 10:29 AM | link | Comments (2675)
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August 30, 2004
tuesday...
cowboy boots at Corn Fest, Canon 300D
my computer seems to be going through a rough time.
i am ready to take a hammer to it, but my ridiculous
compassion for inanimate objects is preventing me
from doing so.
instead, i am waiting patiently for the tech guy to come
over and expel the creepy virus which has taken hold.
in the mean time, please know i am not ignoring your e-mails,
i just cant get to them right now ~ i promise to do so
as soon as we get this thing figured out ....
Posted by jen at 05:08 PM | link | Comments (152)
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August 26, 2004
wild precious life...
garden flowers, Canon 300D
When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
~ Mary Oliver
Posted by jen at 04:20 PM | link | Comments (907)
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August 21, 2004
questions...
palm reader, Canon 300D
Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day...
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Posted by jen at 11:36 AM | link | Comments (424)
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August 20, 2004
the company we keep...
lily's paws, Canon300D
She reached across the table and grabbed my hand.
Her hand looked so tiny and old and pale.
She whispered, "I'll let you in on a little secret....I
get so lonely sometimes that I call
these repair men to come and fix things,
even when they don't need fixing.
They usually don't care to talk to an old
woman like me, but just having some
company in the house is nice."
I felt so sad. I couldn't remember the last
time I felt lonely.
Sometimes when I am curled up on the couch
with Gary and our cats, I can look across the yard
and see into her living room. I see her sitting
there alone, reading. Maybe she is looking through the
yellow pages trying to find a repair man.
Makes me feel a bit sick inside.
I am going to stop by her house today. There just might
be a time in my life when I could feel that lonely. And if I
do, I hope someone would make the effort to take a little
time for me...
One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul,
and yet no one ever comes to sit by it ~ vincent van gogh
Posted by jen at 08:41 AM | link | Comments (446)
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August 19, 2004
dreamer...
lushy mum, Canon 300D
she said "oh jen, you are always chasing
after one dream or another, why cant you
settle on just one thing?"
i know its true.
so much excites and interests me.
but i dont care.
one thing i will be able to say at the end of my life,
is that i was
never
ever
bored.
Posted by jen at 12:32 PM | link | Comments (625)
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August 18, 2004
celebrating...
andrea, Canon 300D
....the beginning of Superhero Photo ~ now you can
finally purchase those yummy prints and hire the
wonderfully talented Andrea Scher for your next gig!
...the engagement of Keri and Jeff whose
love story should be made into a movie.
...the birthday of the brilliant and beautiful
Moe Ross.
...the amazing Linda Barrett and how she turns
the ordinary into stunning pieces of art.
...Sabrina's big apple in new york city!
Posted by jen at 03:19 PM | link | Comments (1028)
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August 17, 2004
good friends...
horse buddies, Canon 300D
the friend who remembers the details of my life...
the friend who lets me purge all the negative chatter that's built up in my head...
the friend who makes me laugh so hard i spit out my drink. on her. by accident...
the friend who dares to ask how i really am...
the friend who calls me from every concert she
goes to so i can have a little listen...
the friend who cooks me delicious dinners...
the friend who understands completely without me having to explain...
the friend who sends me hand written cards...
the friend who feels like a sister ~ and the friend who is my sister.
the friend who reminds me not to take things so seriously...
the friend who shares my music addiction...
the friend who believes in me even when i think i completely suck...
the friend who painted me the beautiful portrait
which hangs in our living room...
the friend who would drop everything if i needed her...
the friend who reminds me i am enough...
the friend who gave me my first photography job...
the friend who cries at the drop of a hat.
the friend who makes it seem like i am never, ever, alone.
**today i am especially grateful to have a life
filled with such dear, sweet, beautiful friends....
Posted by jen at 10:12 AM | link | Comments (166)
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August 16, 2004
going...
Chris, Canon 300D
i hate saying good-bye.
my brother moved to Alaska this weekend...
and i hate saying good-bye.
what makes it difficult, is knowing he is so far away.
what makes it difficult, is knowing we can't call or stop
by to see him whenever we wish.
what makes it easier, is knowing he is so excited about
this new adventure.
what makes this easier, is knowing he is following the nudging
of his soul's voice.
please Alaska,
be good to Chris.
feed his spirit,
keep him safe,
and surround
him with kind people.
this is the magic of travel.
you leave your home secure in your own knowledge and identity. but as you travel, the world in all its richness intervenes. you meet people you could not invent; you see scenes you could not imagine. your own world, which was so large as to consume your whole life, becomes smaller and smaller until it is only one tiny dot in time and space.
you return a different person.
all you need to do is give yourself over to the unknown.....what matters is that you leave the comfort of the familiar and open yourself to a world totally apart from your own.
~kent nerburn, letters to my son
Posted by jen at 10:21 AM | link | Comments (1213)
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August 13, 2004
tranquility...
sleeping baby, Canon 300D
Photo Friday's challenge this week is "tranquility."
Posted by jen at 07:53 AM | link | Comments (344)
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August 12, 2004
stylin'...
70's dawn doll, Canon 300D
chillin' to : crosby and nash
page turning with: mark haddon
enjoying: other photo junkies at flickr
not believing: my brother is moving here in 2 more days
wishing safety to: friends and family in florida
digging: his photos
considering: this
Posted by jen at 12:11 PM | link | Comments (757)
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August 11, 2004
did i happen to mention?...
it's your kindness that clears my skies...
~david wilcox
Posted by jen at 09:37 AM | link | Comments (653)
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August 09, 2004
"so, why don't you have any children?"...
baby feet, Canon300D
you assume its because i do not like children. yeah, that's why i dedicated half of my life to working with those beautiful kids.
you assume i am completely career driven and am caught
in the race for the mighty dollar. did i mention i worked as a preschool teacher, and do you know how much i got paid?!
you assume that as a couple we are wild partiers and not willing to give up our late nights and crazy lifestyle. i can hear those of you who know me laughing as you know not to call me after 9:00pm because im already asleep.
some of you even have the balls to tell me that my "time is running out".
and the most obnoxious statement was the one who said "you know, your life is going to be empty and lacking in meaning for not having children."
then, there was the famous " i think you are being selfish for not having kids."
and the classic, "who is going to take care of you when you are old?"
i could go on and on about these comments....
the question is a normal question, "do you have any children?" and i expect to be asked it again and again. but it would be helpful if those asking the question could be a bit more polished in their responses when they hear that we dont. you dont know our hearts, you do not know our history~ so try to be aware of your reactions and shocked expressions.
we see them and they are felt.
there is an entire world inside of me that exists even though i do not have a child of my own. and until you know my story, our story, hold off on your assumptions and judgments.
and i will try to do the same with you.
Posted by jen at 10:03 AM | link | Comments (72)
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August 06, 2004
the bigger picture...
two trees ~ elbow cay, Canon 300D
when you are in the thick of it,
its hard to see the bigger picture.
its difficult to interpret events as
having any significant meaning.
when you are in the thick of it,
its hard to pray, and to "chose love
over fear."
when you are in the thick of it,
its hard to muster up the energy
to be friendly, to concentrate,
to accomplish doing even the smallest
of tasks.
and then the day finally comes,
after months of trying to be brave ....
and things seem to fall into place.
and meaning makes it way to the surface.
and the kindness that unfolds is just too
uncanny to be written off as normal.
and your mouth hangs open in surprise.
and you begin to remember what it is like
to feel hopeful again.
this one deserves repeating:
"Rest yourself...and know
that there are plans deeper,
there is consciousness wiser,
loving hearts far more powerful,
than any that walk your earth.
I bless you with the awareness
of your eternal safety.
It is not a matter of destroying fear
but of knowing its nature
and of seeing it as a less powerful force
than the power of love."
pat rodegast
Posted by jen at 07:40 AM | link | Comments (708)
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August 03, 2004
attention...
sea holly, Canon 300D
the moment one gives close attention
to any thing, even a blade of grass
it becomes a mysterious,
awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.
~henry miller
Posted by jen at 07:08 PM | link | Comments (1652)
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believing...
train yard, Canon 300D
this past year i went into business on my own.
i had the questions come into my head
over and over again,
"can i really do this?"
"am i good enough?"
quite honestly, most of the time i
have doubted my abilities. i suppose
that is natural when trying something new
for the first time. i didn't have it in me to
"think positively". i couldn't pull off the
"believe in yourself" mindset.
it has been the support of others that
has gotten me through to this point.
it has been the encouragement of my friends
and family that has given me the courage.
it has been the few voices of the dear ones
in my life whispering in my ear,
"you can ..... you can."
i am grateful for all of you.
thank you for reminding me
how important believing in one another
is, especially when the belief in one's self
is a little on the empty side...
Posted by jen at 11:45 AM | link | Comments (1782)
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August 02, 2004
inanimate...
flea market dolls, Canon 300D
i was one of those kids....
at halloween, picking the pumpkin with the dent in it because i felt
sorry for it, and knew no one was going to choose "him."
using the ugly colored crayons that nobody else wanted
to color with, so they could feel just as important
as violet and sky blue.
tucking every single stuffed animal and doll into my bed
so no one would feel excluded ~ taking extra care when
placing mrs. beasely, the doll whose head i accidentally
ripped off.... a guilt that followed me for months.
i remember one day in particular ~ the tornado siren
had gone off and i went frantically running around the yard,
throwing sticks, leaves, and rocks into the ditch
(the designated outdoor safety zone) so they would be
secure and not whisked away by the strong winds.
i can still see my mother looking at me
from the garage wondering
what the hell i was doing...
after awhile, i began to think the same thing.
"I pity inanimate objects
Because they can't move
From specks of dust to paperweights
Or a pound note sealed in resin
Plastic Santas in perpetual underwater snowstorms
Sculptures that appear to be moving
But aren't
I feel sorry for them all
What are they thinking
When they arrive at a place
Do they sigh with disappointment
And when they leave
Do they have regrets?
Is a sofa as happy in one corner
As it is in another
And how does the room feel about it?
I pity inanimate objects
I pity inanimate objects
I pity inanimate objects
I pity them all " ~ Godley & Creme
Posted by jen at 09:59 AM | link | Comments (548)
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August 01, 2004
leo...
Leo, Canon 300D
Expose yourself to your deepest fear;
After that, fear has no power,
And the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes.
You are free. ~ jim morrison
Posted by jen at 10:08 AM | link | Comments (378)
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