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| The Notebook Doodles |
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| Rainbow Pastels |
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| Homelife |
Cool Comfort - floral shoes and old doors for a bedhead
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Covers
What I find amusing is many of these gifted artists are connected, as if they all live on the same street. It's like a story out of a Mr Men and Little Miss series where neighbourhoods are classified by their unique characteristic, such as Happy Land. For these musicians and singer-song writers it might be Tune Town or La-La Land.
- Boyce Avenue - "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
- Rachael Lampa & Tyler Ward - "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement (featuring Ryan Tedder)
- Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie - "Just a Dream" by Nelly (Kurt Schneider has amazing arrangements)
- Alex G & Adam Stanton - "Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum
[Trivia: Antebellum is a Latin word (ante-bellum), literally meaning "before the war". I just Googled it and was thusly informed by Wikipedia. An intriguing choice for a band name, especially when preceded by the term Lady]
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Blinded? Deceived?
How can something like this take place? It is just insane. I read the article and thought, "There is seriously something wrong with those people." To walk past a devastatingly injured toddler without so much as batting an eyelid.
Were they afraid to get involved? Did they just assume someone else had taken note of the situation and rung for an ambulance or alerted the child's parents? I mean seriously. Where is the rationale behind that degree of, shall we call it, apathy?
On another note, did her brother witness the incident? Did her mother wonder where she had gone? At least there are people providing support for the family now.
On another note, did her brother witness the incident? Did her mother wonder where she had gone? At least there are people providing support for the family now.
Maybe the van and truck drivers were too scared in the moment to stop, for fear of being prosecuted. What were the shopkeepers thinking, though, when they ignored the lady (bless the kindly street cleaner) who did try to help?
There's a passage in the Bible that talks about Satan placing a shroud over people's eyes so they cannot see the truth and respond to it, which could very well be the case here.
Sin. It's wrapped up in deception isn't it? Wonderful, appealing deception.
Sin. It's wrapped up in deception isn't it? Wonderful, appealing deception.
Sometimes it's subtle so we don't really notice. Other times it completely blind sides us and we are left clueless about even being hit. Both are equally dangerous but I think the eventuality of having our conscience discreetly numbed over time can prove far more lethal because, by then, we are so convinced that what is utterly wrong is so alluringly right.
The truth is that little girl was perfectly helpless, being both powerless to do anything and denied assistance. But what was the lie clouding the perspective of the passers-by? If we can answer that, will it tell us why society has fallen to this state? Do we already know why?
The erosion of values springs to mind. Moral and ethical values gone down the drain. The pertinence of nurturing the fundamental unit of society, the family, overlooked. The sense of community; the importance of a culture of honour, disregarded. And why? Because we are by nature bent on self preservation? Because we know no better when that is all we've been taught, either through observation or experience?
But something can be done to change this. On the one hand there is cruelty but on the other hope still exists because this tragedy did spark outrage, and outrage spurs action, and action begets change.
I have asked myself on a number of occasions what I would do if the unexpected scream from the road atop the grassy slope beside my bedroom window turned out to be one of real angst, and not the squeal of some youngster being playfully chased. If the screamer was in fact being genuinely attacked and desperately hoping for a rescuer.
Would I quietly rationalise what I had heard? Would I attempt to still my trembling heart with chants that everything is actually ok and the trouble is only in my imagination, so I ought to just hit the 'stop' button on my over-analytical brain procession and roll over and pull the blanket tight and go to sleep?
If I do, I am no different to a self centred, negligent passer by. Could I live with myself knowing I didn't make the humane choice to help simply because I cared more about my comfort than someone else's life? And what if, to live with myself, I found a way to drown the inner voice until nothing moved me anymore?
I could then just walk past a bleeding toddler without flinching, and that is a more frightening thought than the tiny possibility of getting hurt if I were to help. Besides, wisdom would suggest calling on someone (or a group of someones) who would and could respond to make everything ok.
Right now, I just pray that God will peel off the scales that blur our vision so we can truly see right from wrong, and that we will have the guts and the decency to pursue the former. My prayers are also with the little girl, her family and the community they live in.
The erosion of values springs to mind. Moral and ethical values gone down the drain. The pertinence of nurturing the fundamental unit of society, the family, overlooked. The sense of community; the importance of a culture of honour, disregarded. And why? Because we are by nature bent on self preservation? Because we know no better when that is all we've been taught, either through observation or experience?
But something can be done to change this. On the one hand there is cruelty but on the other hope still exists because this tragedy did spark outrage, and outrage spurs action, and action begets change.
I have asked myself on a number of occasions what I would do if the unexpected scream from the road atop the grassy slope beside my bedroom window turned out to be one of real angst, and not the squeal of some youngster being playfully chased. If the screamer was in fact being genuinely attacked and desperately hoping for a rescuer.
Would I quietly rationalise what I had heard? Would I attempt to still my trembling heart with chants that everything is actually ok and the trouble is only in my imagination, so I ought to just hit the 'stop' button on my over-analytical brain procession and roll over and pull the blanket tight and go to sleep?
If I do, I am no different to a self centred, negligent passer by. Could I live with myself knowing I didn't make the humane choice to help simply because I cared more about my comfort than someone else's life? And what if, to live with myself, I found a way to drown the inner voice until nothing moved me anymore?
I could then just walk past a bleeding toddler without flinching, and that is a more frightening thought than the tiny possibility of getting hurt if I were to help. Besides, wisdom would suggest calling on someone (or a group of someones) who would and could respond to make everything ok.
Right now, I just pray that God will peel off the scales that blur our vision so we can truly see right from wrong, and that we will have the guts and the decency to pursue the former. My prayers are also with the little girl, her family and the community they live in.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Penny for your thoughts
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| The Hope Movement |
Being judgemental is something I still struggle with. This statement is so true. A critical attitude can reflect our character, perspective and level of maturity, which leads me to wonder about the experiences that have shaped them.
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| Via Rainbow Pastels |
I realise I often desire to feel justified or at least understood, and sometimes this desire takes over the importance of the relationship itself. But the other person should be more valuable to me than the acknowledgement that what I thought and said was right or made sense.
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| Via Favim - can someone please help me track the source? So far I've been getting dead links and reposts of this image |
How far will I let my imagination take me? How far will I take my imagination? Sometimes we are afraid to dream but sometimes we are just as afraid to make our dreams reality. Maybe it really isn't too late to start exploring now. It's tiring to live a life that others want us to. Sometimes we need to live the life we want. Their expectations and plans may not be the best thing. And there's no point in getting to the end only to regret choosing that path or resenting the person whom we think made us take it. But is what we want right?
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| The Notebook Doodles |
It's hard to lose someone we love, whether through death or not having contact, be it by choice or circumstance. And when that loved one is out of reach, our heart misses them and tells our head to play memories of beautiful times together, or imagine times that could have been shared.
Two nights ago I dreamt of my grandparents. They were dancing in the distance as I watched from a narrow corridor. A light shone behind them and the image was blurred. I wished for a camera to capture the moment and was saddened by the realisation I had never taken any videos of them. I had somehow let myself believe they would always be around. The dream was brief and I choked back tears as they vanished in a mist. I do believe they are in a better place now so that should make for happy thoughts.
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