Let the Nerdiness Begin!

Tonight brother-in-law Dan and I are starting our long-expected Lord of the Rings Extended Edition watching party! Tonight we start off with Fellowship of the Ring. I'm expecting it to be just as amazing as ever, possibly even better as I haven't watched these in years.

Love,

An Excited Nerd

currently listening

i thank you God for most this amazing day

This past week I've been in Graham at my grandparents for Thanksgiving! Our whole branch of the Pyles family was there (except my sister, wah. MISSUMS!) and it was loud and crazy.

The cousins have a weird tradition of playing charades (we call it "transmography" actually. think calvin and hobbes) Thanksgiving night - and I say it's weird because our charades cards are just... crazy.

Some of my favorite things that were (unsuccessfully) acted out over the weekend:

Man Sitting Down On Meatloaf

Minnesota Forests

Woman Drinking Tea While Running A Marathon

Oz Tries To Catch A Moose

and my favorite, which I tried very very hard to get them to guess...

Sarah Palin Assembles A Bookcase While Eating Cake

That one was super interesting.

Also, while we were out at the farm I attempted to learn how to drive stick, in my grandad's 1975 pickup, and let me tell you it is SCARY! Way scarier than it looks! I killed the engine so many times. By the end I was doing a little better, I think, but I think I'll stick with automatic for now.

Ooooh also, I was down at Fireman's park and a goose tried to bite my face! It was scary, and I felt tiny and completely unintimidating, so... maybe, just maybe I pulled over on my way back to the farm to scare a herd of cows. And maybe it was thoroughly satisfying to see a herd of big animals running en masse Because Of Me.

Sunday after church, on our way out of town, we met the Lunsfords for lunch, which was super fancy!

It really bugs me when I forget to take pictures when I'm out of town or with cool people, because afterwards I want to throw pies at my feet. So... I need to work on that, because I can't imagine pie between the toes would feel... oh yuck that's ... really gross.

Sorry this is so rambly. I don't like big conglomoratory posts like this, but hadn't posted in a while!

A lesson from your friends, No. III

Cecil and Percy recieved another letter from our dear friend Emily, requesting Gnomely aid and council.

My Dearest Cecil and Percy (Cecil, though you may protest and snarl and snap, I do find you to be quite dear indeed),
As of late I have been particularly singular in my musical philanthropies (most of my contributions have gone toward, well, alternative pop -- horrors). I feel that this behavior must change immediately, oh I may be in grave danger of adapting to the mainstream culture.
Any recommendation of anything even vaguely counter-culture would be most gratefully received and appreciated.
Kindest regards,
Me

and their response:

Greetings, dear child,

You are come to the right place. Human opinion of Gnomes has been made rather... askew... and you silly people have somehow got the notion that Gnomes are rather sedentary and unartistic. This rather awfully ignores a huge part of our culture! I (Cecil) amn't a singer or dancer myself (though I am rather gifted with the lute), it's too horridly silly for my taste, but Percival tells such goosey stories about Gnome dances and musical evenings!

Gnomes believe that there is a soul to music... that in the air there float many thousands of musical ideas, and that those ideas fly through seas and forests and far off lands, and each place they go shapes them. These musical ideas are like people, in this way. When finally they light on someone to give them form, the artist must show his talent in expressing the character and experience of that idea. It may sound like just the sort of silliness I would customarily scorn, but there you are wrong. There are subtleties in the field of spunk that I fear others often miss.

Percival and I have created a list of musicians we find evocative of the Gnomeish music spirit.

1 - Lisa Hannigan's album, "Sea Sew"
2 - H.E.M. - really any of theirs... start with "Rabbit Songs"
3 - Emiliana Torrini - start with "Fisherman's Woman"
4 - Landon Pigg's album, "The Boy Who Never"
5 - Feist's albums, "Let It Die" and "The Reminder"

We hope this helps you to break away from mainstream culture and explore new realms of art and beauty!

Sincere affection,

Cecil Alexander Beatley and Percival Eugene "Percy" Worthington

(Post Script: Emily, you are indeed a silly thing. I think perhaps your definition of dear is... askew. Humans. That being said, you seem to be rather an endearing one and so I shall let this lapse in propriety slip. Respectfully, C.A.B.)

thanksgiving week

May 20 : Very Early Morning

-

all the field praises him/all

dandelions are his glory/gold

and silver all trilliums unfold

white flames above their trinities

of leaves all wild strawberries

and massed wood violets reflect his skies'

clean blue and white

all brambles/all oxeyes

all stalks and stems lift to his light

all young windflower bells

tremble on hair

springs for his air's

carillon touch/last year's yarrow(raising

brittle star skeletons) tells

age is not past praising

all small low unknown

unnamed weeds show his impossible greens

all grasses sing

tone on clear tone

all mosses spread a spring-

soft velvet for his feet

and by all means

all leaves/buds/all flowers cup

jewels of fire and ice

holding up

to his kind morning heat

a silver sacrifice

now

make of our hearts a field

to raise your praise.

-Luci Shaw

the adventures of a scrapbooking pirate named penguinface

yay. i finally did it... i finally got my photos printed! and now i'm going to spend the afternoon scrapbooking ... not the way you're thinking, though. just trust me on that. i may scan the pages when i'm done, or you can come a'visiting and see them!

so many pictures! i hope the book can hold them all!

(this is so those of you who asked can see the headband i just found... and yes, the light by my desk is that awesome.)

watch out, i'm captain scrappy penguinface jones, the pirate, yarrr!

the invasion of Ukraine.

This is Kseniya Simonova, the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent." She is a performance sand artist, and her work is amazing. This piece tells the story of the German invasion of Ukraine in 1945. The words at the end say "You Are Always Near."

i like: 1

i will be the gladdest thing under the sun!

i will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.

i will look at cliffs and clouds with quiet eyes,

watch the wind bow down the grass, and the grass rise.

and when the lights begin to show up from the town

i will mark which must be mine and then start down.

animal portraits by the amazing

Sharon Montrose

poem by the amazing

Edna St. Vincent Millay

weekend love to you by

me.

ducks can swim and fly at the same time.

i taught my last class for the whole year today. i've taught for 11 weeks. my class is great, i love them, but it is lovely to have a break.

and i feel like things are on break. my world is clean, i've done laundry, and things just feel more able to breathe.

yay! now i can tackle that big art project for my sister and brother-in-law... the project that i see perfectly in my head but am not quite sure if it's actually possible.

Interview time with Elliebird!

Friendly blogger Elliebird interviewed me today for her blog... Enjoy!

The Interview.

(Be sure to check out her blog after reading the interview, it's delightful!)

Feeding the Mental Chickens and the Real Sisters

Yesterday morning, as I was studiously skipping breakfast for lack of time, my sweet brother showed up at the door with a plate full of not 1 but 3 delightful kinds of breakfast, apple juice, and cocoa.

What a sweetie. My mental chickens and I thank you.

(i am currently hobbiting it with a fire, rookmaker's 'modern art', and large socks, and do not plan to stop until the weather gets warmer)

"lyndol, we's outta index cards!"

this is my bulletin board. i'm about to take old stuff down and let it start over... but wanted to record it for posterity. it's full of delightful people and events, recording a wonderful summer.

The Book Group of Wonder

I've recently organized a book group with some wonderful friends I met in a Shakespeare class. We meet once a month, and so far we've read Manalive, by GK Chesterton, and The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. Last night was our third meeting, we had a potluck dinner and cupcakes... and I just want to say...

these girls are incredible. It's not often you meet 8 girls who are all brilliant, eloquent, lively, funny and awesome in the same class. It just amazes me where all our conversation goes...

social annahilization - hamlet - twilight bashing - obama - darth vader - chuck norris - marc chagall - christian artists - edward elgar - creating our own university - gilbert and sullivan - and on and on until late into the evening.

It is wonderful, they are wonderful. I hope you have friends as awesome and brilliant as mine.

(most of us are in the picture, which was taken on the last day of Shakespeare class with the amazing Mrs Lovell.)

siento que vuelvo a empezar

In Spanish class today Mrs. Neve played Julieta Venegas's (my favorite Spanish indie singer!) amazing music video for Limon Y Sol... and I was reminded how much I love it.

So here is the link, please go watch it. You are about to fall in love with a song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF-U8V894RA

I've translated the lyrics... they lose a little bit of their meaning in English, but I've tried to keep as close to the heart of the words as possible. Disfrutar!

---

I must confess, sometimes I do not like the way you are

when you disappear and I do not quite understand why

you say nothing romantic when evening comes

when you have a strange mood with each full moon.

But everything else I win

I feel you near

...I feel reborn

I love you with lemon and salt

I love you as you are

You do not need to change anything

I love you if you come or go

up or down, unsure what you feel.

I must confess, I never believed in happiness

Sometimes things resembling it,

but those were pure coincidence.

Then you find me with your eyes

and give me something more.

I only feel you near.

I am reborn.

---

Like Bookends

Tonight I went out to dinner with my dear friends, Emily (who I've known since I was about 1) and Ally (who is visiting from Belgium... yes, I have friends in Belgium).

We went down to the West End, to Spaghetti Warehouse... yom! And we had pretty much the whole place to ourselves, and were the only ones sitting in the trolley car, so we had some fun.

Including a food battle while our waiter wasn't looking...

And a bit more dancing silliness...

Our waiter gave us free dessert because he thought we were fun!

And after, we found this really weird dinosaur statue outside the restauraunt.

We're not sure what it's supposed to be doing. Pole vaulting?

Hope you had as good a Tuesday night as I did!

Anatidaephobia

The fear that you are being watched

by a duck.

-photo via flickr

Poetry Ceilidh Attempts

I've been asked to participate in The Beehive's Poetry Ceilidh, and as I am feeling poetically inhibited and know that my limited skills will balk at being pushed beyond their capacity, tonight I'm going to re-post a poem I wrote last fall.

If you choose to read this poem, you must participate! If I can, anyone can!

-----

i can see the beauty
people, colours, and tin cans
rusted in a heap
brighter berries than before

only you see something
else - nobody else saw
some small beauty
in me

-----

Be sure to hop over to the Beehive and see the other contributers!

to the carnival with you, away!

Tonight sister and brothers and I went to a street carnival! It was ever so much fun... we rode scaaary rides and ate slightly scaaaary food and had a delightful time!

I love how many things are happening here.

I was scared of this, but rode it anyway and it was amazing! ... so there's another thing off the I'm-scared-of-this list!

Inside the wonderful spinning bears... we spun that thing faster than anyone else, so we WIN!

Sceeered!

The view from the very top of the Ferris Wheel.

Dan took this from the seat in front of us... I love how you can see how tiny the roller coaster is, and yet we're freaking out! We're wimpy wimpersons!

"The Hidden Language of the Soul", Pt. II

So, here is a video of Caitlin's ballet solo... loverly! I unfortunately can't find my own "solo work", but have included one of an interpretive piece I did. Enjoy!

Bizarre Superhero Contest

Today I am taking the accursed SAT. AAAA! Please pray for me. So while I'm away, enjoy these two videos from The Electric Company.

Firstly, here you can judge for yourself who is the better superhero.



Secondly, this video made my day. I love that the Yeti's MO is to sit down on the target. Could they arrest him for... intent to sit?

Jelly Belly,

or, Building a Better Body Image Through 70's Kids TV Shows.

If for some reason you aren't feeling so good about yourself today, watch this. It will make you feel GREAT!



(And yes, that is Morgan Freeman.)

Thankfulness

Well... yesterday was bad, but today I'm thankful. And, oddly enough, after yesterday's stupidity, the one thought that I couldn't get out of my head last night as I forced myself to destress by watching reruns of The Nanny (love, love, love) was .... I Want A Sandwich.

Yes, my gut instincts are not limited to fight or flight.

Fight or Flight or Sandwich.

And it reminded me of this delightful quote:

“Can I share with you my worldview? All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.”

- Tina Fey, 30 Rock

How true.

So tonight I will have a sandwich. And then I'm sure I won't be sick anymore.

Today I am thankful for:

Sandwiches, of course.

Ginger ale.

Friends who send out-of-the-blue messages just because.

The ability to eat cheese.

Backpacks that don't hurt.

Socks.

Puffy blankets.

These things.

BB gun, and step on it!

This is not my negative space. I don’t want to pollute it with things-that-go-into-my-negative-space. But I thought perhaps I’d give you some insight into my day. Actually, my week.

As you know, I got a ticket Sunday night. Still smarting from that. Well, as I was already looking out on the week with a less-than-positive eye, this morning’s hours of studying for the SAT, then realizing I hadn’t finished my Spanish homework and rushing to finish ... this didn’t help with the positivity thing. After a piece of toast (I miss real breakfast), I rushed out the door and hurried to class, feeling bad about the day, the month, the life.

However, on the way I discovered a little cupcake bakery on the way, and made a mental note to stop by on my way home. Suddenly the day went up a few shades in brightness. Then my current happy song came on the radio. And I knew. The worm has turned, being trodden upon. Things were going up. ... or ... so I thought. Oh ho ho ho naive child that I was!

In class we were given an unanticipated test. I ate three lollipops. That was lunch. Then after class and study group, as I was driving home, the car made a loud POWkablang, let out a puff of dark smoke, and shuddered to a halt. When I, in desperation, tried to turn it on again, it shuddered and jumped for about 8 seconds, and then started moving on its own volition (yikes!) and then stopped again.

Hmm.

So I called a tow truck. It took him an hour and 15 minutes to get there. While I waited I realized I hadn’t eaten for real, so I got a donut from a really rude pastry maker. When he finally arrived, I turned my back on the donut for one second and a bird ate it.

Oh. Well. That’s super helpful.

Well, after I finally got home I started feeling sick. Which is impossible, as I’m pretty sure they make you take the SAT even if you’re sick. Throwing up. Fainting in the aisles. You gotta stay in there!

So the thing is... I know this will pass. Things will be better soon. Saturday night, probably. But right now... ugh. Bad. Things can only go up! I hate that my writing and conversation doesn’t involve verbs anymore... lives should have verbs in them! This will pass.

(You know, I think the worst part of the day may have been the donut/bird incident. Really. Is that sad?)

A lesson from your friends, No. II

The right honourable Cecil and Percy recieved a letter from our friend Caitlin, asking for help. Here it is!

Dear Cecil Alexander Beatley and Percival Eugene "Percy" Worthington--
Respected Gnomes, I seek your Gnomley council on a matter of grave import. Namely, socks-- upon which subject you (in the way of your kind) are rumored to be extremely learned (pronounced with two syllables, naturally, Cecil). My dilemma is as follows: since my youth, I have struggled with ambivalent feelings toward socks. Few things trouble me more than the way, after being for a while worn, they sag and bunch up in front of one's toes. Furthermore, one's feet begin to feel inhibited and smothered after a very short while. I wish ever so much to be fond of socks, but alas; I have tried in vain.
What wisdom can you offer me, beloved Gnomes?
Sincerest Regards--
--Caitlin Elizabeth Bruce Beauchamp
ps. I find I can overcome my distaste somewhat if the socks are sufficiently attractive and jolly-- stripes and spots preferred. Do you have any recommendations for particular socks, or manufacturers of socks, that satisfy your excellent taste? Many thanks --cebb

And their response:

Dear Caitlin,
This is indeed a matter of grave import. Thankfully you have come to the right place! Gnomes are famously experts on all things concerning knit-works.
What a sad life, a sockless life! We must fix this. The basis of a good relationship with socks is not the socks themselves, but how you feel about socks - where your heart is in relation to socks. Think of them not as binding, constricting, suffocating... but as hugging, comforting, protecting. A soft little shield around your feet. Also, do not think of the crinkling as sagging, as a sock-failure... think of it as personality! Gnomes believe that socks and other crafted objects have a personality all their own. Perhaps your socks just have the personality to crinkle and fold a bit! 'Tisn't nice to judge!

Now, other than simply adjusting your sock worldview, you may also wish to take a look at the kinds of socks you have. Are they mostly athletic socks? We gnomes do not believe these to be true socks, but indeed humanized versions. The true sock begins with yarn and needles, not a machine and a bolt of premade sock fabric. Some socks we find particularly alluring in both texture and aesthetic appeal:

We have not included many argyle knit socks in this collage, mainly because we believe them to be self-explanitory. They are the basis of all good sock collections. Go out and get your self some fair-isle-knit-esque socks. This will fix quite a lot.

We hope this has helped! Feel free to write again with any further questions!

Sincerely,

Cecil Alexander Beatley and Percival Eugene Worthington

P.S. From Percy: whatever you do, DON'T buy Alpaca fur socks. They are the ugliest most horrendous socks ever. Just don't! You'd regret it!!!!!!

(A note from Beatrice: The gnomes have so enjoyed helping with this problem, they would like to offer their services for future problem solving/question answering. They will answer even the silliest of questions! If you would like to ask the gnomes anything, just leave it in the comments and I'll deliver the message.)

To A Wiggy Spud

This is one of those rarest of posts ... a birthday post.

Happy 20th to Monolog! He's one of the good ones for sure! Once we were driving to Eddings Hill and I mentioned that I had always wanted to go to the delightfully huge cement yard statue lot ... and he did a u-turn and went back!

Also he's been very... tolerant... of elliebird's and my bouts of silliness, even participating in our 6 year old plays (they went on and on for hours) :)

And also incredibly musically talented (don't say shush to me, it's true!) and always pushing me to expand artistically and intellectually.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, thou art WIGGY!

-i got that last pic from facebook

Franklin Trip - Friday

Friday morning we headed off towards Nashville.

The view from my window on the way to Nashville.

A building in Nashville that I liked.

After lunch (at a brewery! it was so fun, I know how beer is made now.) we went to the park in Nashville

Everything was so pretty with the autumn leaves!

There was a big stage, and I couldn't resist the urge to dance on it. And we all know about my dancing skills. ;)

Yeah, so maybe I just told you we were in Nashville. We were really in Rome.

(post-edit: it has been pointed out that the parthenon is in greece. i knew this, in the back of my mind... which doesn't make me feel any less stupid.)

Just kidding, this is the Nashville Parthenon. It was huge, and it was awesome.

There was a huge art exhibit inside, including statues from the real Parthenon.

Oh yeah, and the Elgin Marbles (two horses heads) who I met at Lord Elgin's castle... he told me their names, one was Humphrey and the other I don't remember. It was funny seeing something I'd met and touched before ... in a museum.

Yes, she was that big. HUGE. I kept imagining what would happen if she came to life.

Me and my bro Leo, the winged beast of scariness. Just chillin.

Nice ancient artifact storage system, guys. Seriously.

FAIL.

Getting his hand bitten, a la Roman Holiday.

You can't tell, but we were doing the Wizard of Oz dance.

That evening we went to Franklin and had dinner at this really cool restaurant in a house next to the church. Everyone sits at a table together, and you get to meet people! There was this one very proper southern lady with huge hair who told us about how she worked one day a week at Stein Mart, and "that was socially acceptable."

After, at the film conference, I got to meet Dr. George! who is even more awe inspiring in person. That night's movie was "Dead Poets' Society" ... which I thought I'd seen all of, but apparently I had missed the ending and a lot of important parts in the middle. The theme of the conference was "Epistemology, or how we know what we know", and that was really interesting, seeing the different viewpoints in the movies. Dead Poets' Society was really interesting, because it shows 2 near opposite philosophies - romanticism and rationalism/traditionalism - and cautions that both are extremes.