Wet Ginko Leafness

Wet Ginko Leafness
Originally uploaded by Zanalee
And the leaves of the ginko tree that can be seen from my window had been beaten down from their branches into the sidewalks and the gutters and their green and yellow colors were soaked and vibrant. They mingled together in the rain, flat and wet and looking like layered theatrical fans. They fell together like rain

A Wedding In Lansford PA

Fonz's Wedding
Originally uploaded by Zanalee

In the last seven years of my relationship, we have been to several weddings, baby showers, an engagement party or two? They usual come in groups, never one at a time. We have not yet been married. We do not yet have any children. I have just been watching and documenting this tradition, sometimes with fascination, sometimes with judgment but rarely with envy. Always I observe with interest.

Last week we attended the wedding of my sweetheart's best friend in Lansford PA, a coal mining town. The weekend before that we attended an engagement party for another friend of his in the Bronx. It was a sweet little backyard party with string lights, a DJ and bubbles which I love. I turn five years old when there are bubbles around. You know like the kind you blow with a wand. There were bubbles at the wedding as well in the place of rice which I highly approved of. So yes, there will be bubbles at my wedding. Check. That's something I will not be moved on. Rice is just not me. And although I do tend towards a contrary nature, I'm not one of these people who want to buck tradition just for the sake of it. I do want to question it though.

Sometimes we embrace tradition because we claim to like and or respect it. And sometimes we just so shit because it's always been done. I hate the latter. Doing shit because it's always been done just doesn't fly. But still, I get it. It's hard to be original or true to yourself in a society that thrives on drawing you as far from your "self" as possible. So if you don't know who you are, how do you know what you really want? You'll have to accept that fact after a while that a disturbingly large percentage of what you claim to want or like is just shit you've been programmed or designed for. Fine. I guess.

I was with the grooms party for the majority of time leading up to the actual wedding and for the most part at the reception as well. He was incredibly nervous, chain smoking, shaking and just having the usual jitters. I told him it was probably because of all the people involved and he agreed. I get the genuine feeling that he and his wife to be really love each other and apart for from all the wedding hoopla, they are already "joined" in all the places where it counts.

I sat on his sofa and played "Word with Friends" while he, and his stepson and my fiancee helped one another with cuff links and vests while music played. I snapped shots of them, talked and laughed with them but I didn't consider myself to be much more than a tag along. The more weddings I attend the more I see the beauty and presentation less and the stress more. It's like opening night on Broadway or something As a girl I only saw the show, the performance but now as an adult, I'm starting to see all that happens behind the scenes. Sometimes it appears to be worth it. Other times, not so much. But that's not really for me to say. I haven't done it yet, although I have though about it. I've though about music, the locations, bubbles, I definitely will not be getting married in anybody's church, but it's not a "real" state yet. It's just out there in the fantasy realm along with pregnancy and winning the lotto. And I'm still not in any hurry. Although acquaintances and friends are often in a hurry for me. I don't know what to say to them. We're working on it? LOL!

Ok not really, we're actually working on taking another vacation! YEAH!! LOL!!!

Graffiti 6

I don't watch music videos anymore. They all kinda suck to me. But I like this one. I like everything about it. Right up my alley. Heheh!

Hipstamatic 170 Cometh

The update for the Hipstamatic app for iPhone is hitting iTunes tomorrow!!! Some of the new features available that I'm aware of will be the ability to order high quality prints of your beautiful pictures directly from your phone. I'm really excited to see what those look since the look of a Hipstamatic print seems to lose it's resilience and inner glow when I have printed them at home. They look great on the computer screen and I would love to see some of that light duplicated and sustained in a print.

The other big deal is a new lens, the Bettie XL lens. Below is an example of a picture taken with the Bettie XL lens. This was taken by one of my newest flickr contacts, zinkwazi.

Much credit is due to zinkwazi's compositional skill but I'm also knocked out but the triple tone spectral light leaks around the edges and the brilliantly filmy colors. It's almost like looking at something through a soap bubble. I cannot wait to try it out! I'm really praying that this is not the only new lens and that perhaps there will also be one or two new film paks. WEE!!!

Four Things That made me Happy Today

-Looking in the mirror at the subtle shade of purple eyeshadow I applied this morning.
-Buying an engagement card for friends, whose engagement party we will attend next Saturday.
-Buying an Anniversary card for Fran for our 7 year Anniversary in December. 
-Meeting my co-workers cousins. (They had great accents!)

Knit 1 Purl 1 Row 1...

One summer, years ago, I did an internship at Harper Collins. In their basement they had this great big bookshelf with a bunch of books you could take for free and I would be there browsing and stocking up every week. I remember finding and reading a small book called "The Knitting Sutra," which was about one woman's passion for and study of knitting in different cultures. The idea of knitting as a Sutra or prayer and meditation really appealed to me. I imagine that because of the repetitive nature of knitting, it has been interpreted in many cultures as sort of a silent chant. For myself, it is often a way to center and focus my mind away from troubling thoughts, from a cycle of disturbed contemplation spinning out of control, seemingly with no end. To me knitting is a prayer that manifests itself in my hands immediately. Knit and purl are the only building blocks for knitting and hundreds of combinations result in as many patterns. To make something functional with your own hands is to truly feel some measure of control over what you produce, something which our society has rapidly lost all touch which. We would sooner pay hundreds of dollars for something handmade than make it ourselves. And I'm not judging. I consume way more than I create no matter how much I wish it was otherwise.

 I usually start knitting  for the purpose gaining some much needed equilibrium than that I need one more scarf. Although this fall, I fully intend to commit myself to learning how to crotchet and to make something seamless or knit in the round.  I deeply admire people who make things with their hands that we use in everyday life whether functional, ornamental or both. Even if it takes me a while to complete, I want to at least know that I have the ability to complete a hat or sweater or a pair of mittens, something to wear or give a a gift to keep someone warm with intentions and well wishes as well as wool.

Godric Returns?

Ep. 36: Evil Is Going On - Preview

"True Blood" haters, close thine eyes. Or just don't read this entry. I've been very good I think about not writing and tiresome opinion entries about my favorite HBO show, "True Blood." I may have written about when it first came out but honestly I think it's kind of tacky to write stuff like, "oh, I love it so much" if that's all one has to say.

Ummm, does anyone remember how Godric, the oldest, most powerful vampire died in the last season, Season 2? He died willingly on a roof, exposing himself to the sun to meet the "true death" as his progeny Eric begged on his knees and in tears that he spare himself while Sookie watched on from behind.He had had enough of what to him had become the pointless war between vampires and humans.  It was a jaw dropping scene. It really raised the bar of performance on the show and honestly I don't think any other episode since has been as equally compelling. And now it seems he is is making a somewhat celestial comeback in the finale.

I have to admit that my initial excitement over the show has sharply vacillated since last season and finally waned. I like just about every characters but sometimes all their performances are a bit lame and over the top. I do find it interesting to watch Anna Paquin and Malloy in their Sookie and Bill dance considering that they are not only just married in real life but seem to have an uncommonly genuine love for each other or at least that's what I pick up from reading about them an seeing them together. It's nice to feel that coming from the screen in their scenes together.Because ultimately, my own personal fascination with vampires has always been about two things primarily: the fact that they get to live forever (if they avoid staking and the sun) because imagine all the shit you get to see living that long (depending on when you were turned) history, human nature, food, sex etc. The other thing I love, which remains tied to the lore of Count Vladimir Dracula is that long deep search for one's true love over "oceans of time." I'm a sucker for that. Alan Ball has put a perverse and humorous twist of both these themes and more but at this point, without Godric in the picture to sort of elevate it's meaning it does often seem to be little more than a soap opera which is not what I expected. But then again, I'm not sure I ever really know what to expect from Alan Ball. Maybe that's why I keep watching anyway.