This is the New Year

Oh, Deathcab for Cutie, how I love thee.

The New Year is right around the corner.  2010.  A new decade.  I can't believe it.  It seems ridiculous to me that I am already 2 decades (and change) old.  These next 10 years are going to be important ones.  The ones were I, you know, become a "real" adult.  Maybe marriage, maybe babies (!?!), maybe, you know, a stable living situation, not living in my parent's house, a real world job (though having a job in the theatre isn't exactly having a "real world" job).  All of those things are coming up in the next decade.  Turning 30, that'll happen in the next decade.  Becoming a real person.  And you know what?  It freaks me out.  Entering my 20s wasn't as frightening as entering this new decade seems to be to me.  What is that about?

I keep trying to sit down and write resolutions for 2010 and for the next decade but you know what, I hate writing resolutions.  Because odds are two days into the New Year I completely forget that I wrote resolutions at all, even though I've been keeping the list in my pocket and then I, like, wash my pants or something and the resolutions literally desintegrate.  To those of you who say laminate those puppies or something I say...well, actually, first I say "bite me, Sally Sassypants", but then, nicely, I say that making the list impervious to water probably isn't going to require me to follow it.  HOWEVER (yes, that needs to be in all caps because, well, here comes some life ch-ch-changes), I recognize that the beginning of this new decade requires new thoughts, new mindsets, otherwise how can I (we) concievably move forward and evolve as human beings?  So here is a rough sketch of my pledge for this New Decade, this New Year, this New Chapter:

I, Ashleigh, resolve to enter the New Decade and New Year with a positive, open mind.  In this New Decade I chose to live positively and in the moment and to banish as much negativity from my life as I can (though, since I am half Jewish, some of the negativity is genetically engrained in me and therefore impossible to remove.  Anyway, the little negativity that's left is the funny part of negativity so it's not so much a problem).  I chose to, in this New Decade, live to my utmost potential.  To follow my heart and my gut, no matter how frightening the idea may be.  I chose to live artistically, as open and courageously as I can.  In this New Year and Decade I chose to embrace love, to let love into my life in all forms, and to give love when I can.  In this New Decade, I resolve to live healthfully, to remain active, to be kind to the Earth and thankful for all that she gives.  I chose to nurish my soul as often as is possible in as many ways as possible.  I resolve to be grateful everyday and to live balanced.  I resolve to be a reciever and trasmitter of the energy of the Universe.  I chose awesome.

Keep an eye out for exciting new photographs here in the next few days.  My New Years party should yield some fantastic images. 

May the New Year and New Decade bring you peace, happiness, and health, dear reader.  See you in 2010!

To blogosphere, with love.

someone was magical enough to put one of e.e. cummings' poems to music.  

listen here while reading.

I have long been an appreciator, nay, lover of the poet e.e. cummings.  The shear audacity of a man who would publish things without capitalizing them (gasp!  Wh-wh-wh-what?!) fascinated me as a child.  How dare he do such a thing?!  In school we read his poem "anyone lived in a pretty how town."  On first read, the entire poem seems like gibberish ("With up so floating many bells down"?  Ok, dude.  Whateva.)  But once you dive into it, explore it, swim around in it a bit, the most beautiful love story emerges from the confusion.  The story of a boy who loved a girl, and a girl who loved him right back and who lived full, rich lives in love.  It is magical.  With Christmas on the horizon (thank you, by the way, Rach, for the wishes on Christmas Eve Eve), I am feeling more and more in the giving mood and so I've been trying to figure out what I can gift to you, dear reader.  I wish I had a photograph to share with you right now, but alas, due to a recent familial tragedy, there hasn't been much time for photo capturing lately.  Hopefully I'll have images to share in the next week, but for now I give you a gift truly from the heart, the gift of poetry.  I fancy myself a wordsmith at times, but not like my man e.e. and so, in the spirit of Christmas, I gift to thee, oh blogosphere,  the poem "i carry your heart with me" by e. e. cummings.  May it warm your heart as it has warmed mine.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Happy and Safe Holidays, everyone.

Grandpa, we miss you already.  Love you.

Words of Inspiration

If you have known me at all in the last almost 10 years, you know that I am a lover of musician Jason Mraz.  The man is so freaking lyrically gifted it sometimes seems unfair that the rest of the world lacks the ability to turn phrases like him.  No matter what my mood, no matter where I am in life, his music always finds a way to speak to me and soothe me.  It is an old kind-of-friendship that I cherish dearly, even if it seems childish at times (as do lots of things that you started to love when you were a tiny baby person).  I find myself particularly drawn to his musings as the holidays roll around and the new year is on the horizon, as I feel both grounded and aimlessly drifting.  I share some of his words today, stolen shamelessly from his blog, which I am a consistent reader.  May they speak to you as they spoke to me this morning.


"It is important for me--for you--...to know you are sourced. The minute we were conceived we became receivers and transmitters. We are connected to this world, this fantastic universe, and to each other. Our thoughts, speech, beliefs, actions and attitudes are our tools to use to create the ideal life experience inside and out. My life currently, is a blessed one, simply because I choose life to work that way. I take notice of my doings, my wants, my dreams, and my concerns and simply declare a possible future where all is awesome. It’s that easy. Your life from that place onward will grow into the space you’ve created for yourself. If Awesome is what your aiming for, Awesome you will be. "

Why yes, I have been a little posting happy lately

I don't know what is to account for the abundance of blog posts in the past week, but here is yet another one.  Just something really quick (though as important posts go, this is basically a glimpse into my soul).  I want this to be a regular occurrence in my life and in my home (whether it includes James Taylor or not is up to the Universe).  Happy Thursday, blogosphere.  Here's something to make your heart happy, it certainly makes mine smile.

*a big shout to those completing their semesters this week (and next).  You can do it!  And EDTR loves, I miss you guys tons.  Let's have a snuggly iChat date soon please.*

Adventuretime

After months, nay, years, my dear old friend Camilla and I finally got a chance to hang out and it. was. GLORIOUS.  I mean glorious.  As though no time had passed.  We got to go on a little photo adventure in the course of our lovely afternoon, and here are (some of the) fruits of our afternoon:

Knobby Trees

We made some new friends.

        Camilla, photo-adventuring.

Bicycles.

Fall is all around.

With a name sign like that, how could this store not turn a profit?

Apparently my professional baseball career is over...

I wanted to post something fabulous and new, but alas, I am on the mend from bronchitis and haven't been outside of my house in several days. Luckily, after a magical visit to the doctor yesterday, along with some oh-so-delicious steroids, I am on the mend, but until then, here are some things I took last week. Enjoy!

Fall on my street.

Red sky at night, sailors delight...

Sharing is Caring

Yes, it is true, that cliche they taught you in Kindergarten actually has some basis in reality. Sharing is excellent. And when you find something excellent, you should share it. So here you are, dear reader. Consider this the blog equivalent of me handing you the other half of one of those double popsicles. I'd say this one is probably the orange kind.

Yes, the video is a little creepy, but the music is so damn good, we can ignore the creepy masks, yes?

The Sparkly Season is Here

I love Christmas time. I mean a lot. Everything about it is just magical and sparkly (and lord knows I love sparkly things). It is pretty amazing to me that my two West Coast transplant parents (they both grew up in New England), two people who disliked winter so much they moved 3,000 miles away, could raise 3 children who so thoroughly hate the heat. That's right, in a twist of fate straight out of a Shakespeare play (or something), my siblings and I, all California born and raised, hate the stupid California heat. Our love for cold is deep seated (and generally irrational because the coldest it gets in California ever is like 60 degrees). And one of my favorite features of cold weather is that it makes everything sparkly (a special shout out to the frost that showed up randomly 2 days ago). Here are just a few photos from my Christmas preparations. Happy and Merry, everyone!

Frosty California Morning

Happy Christmas Tree

Outside Lights (My mom chose blue ones this year. Weird, I know, but they actually do look awesome).

7 Things...

Camilla over at Champagne Bubbles tagged me in a post called "show me 7 things in your house that really show who you are" and so I say to you, Camilla : CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Here are 7 images from my room (I live with my parents at the moment, so I tried to keep it to just my room) that, I hope, say a little about me... Enjoy!

Number 1: 3 Pencil Drawings by my mother.

My mom is an amazing artist, and I am fortunate enough to have several pieces of her art in my room. These 3 pencil drawings hang next to my bed and are not only beautiful to look at, but also tell beautiful stories.

Number 2: My bedside table.

I read...a lot. Many books and magazines at one time. My bedside table is covered with the things I am reading. I love this bedside table, so much that it is basically held together with duct tape (my brother is industrious). It is a happening part of my room.

Number 3: The Dollhouse

Many years ago my parents bought this dollhouse from the former headmaster of my elementary school and it quickly became one of our prized possessions. 3 stories, fully furnished, working lights. It is AMAZING.

Number 4: The 3 Cows, a painting by my mother.

The beautiful Sabrina Hill painted this for me for Christmas while I was in high school. I have loved cows for a long time and love having these three beauties watching over me.

Number 5: The masks in my closet.

This may sound like the beginning of some strange story, but I happen to have a lot of masks in my room, most of them of my own face. They are an interesting way to map my life and a fun way to see what I sort of mood I was in from one year to the next.

Number 6: Gnomie

Many years ago I was in a bad mood for one reason or another. My mother came home from running errands and called me into her room. "I have something for you," she said. She handed me this gnome. "Why?" I asked. "Because you were sad. I thought this would make you feel better," she told me. I've kept this gnome with me each time I have moved around the country. It always makes me smile, plus this gnome is standing next to a mushroom and holding a shovel so obviously he is awesome.

Number 7: My bed.

This is not only the center of my room but also the place where I spend a good deal of time--I read there, I write there, I play guitar there, I watch movies there. On there you'll see a zebra blanket, which may be the best, most snuggly blanket ever, a tiny stuffed cat, my companion for almost 2 decades (don't make fun, she is awesome), and my computer. All things I love, all things that are important to my every day function.

Hey, this was fun. So let's pass it on! I tag....

Rachel from Rachel Marie

Kyle from Time Passes, People Move

Lisha from Scarlet Begonias and a Touch of the Blues

and Annaleigh from Haply Here.

Go to, my friends. I can't wait to see your 7 things!

"To practice art,

no matter how well or badly,

is a way to make

your soul grow.

So do it."

~Kurt Vonnegut

The Love List

You know when you are in the middle of dealing with a cold and you feel like you will never be well again? You can't even remember what it felt like to breath out of your nose, every part of your body hurts, your hair does some sort of insane thing where it both clings to your head and stands on end. And even though you know that it is just a cold and that everything with be just fine in a couple of days, at the moment it feels like the end of the world. It is at this point, this exact moment, when my brain feels like it is probably going to explode, that I try to think of 10 things that make my heart happy, that cause my soul to stand up and applaud, and then give me a big hug. Here are just a few of those things:

1. The idea of a snowy California winter. I love the snow, I'm going to miss it this winter (even though when I live in New York I tend to hate the snow).

2. Chocolate. Really delicious (preferably milk) chocolate.

3. Leaves changing in the Fall.

4. The aforementioned leaves turning all crunchy. Actually, I love crunchy sounds, especially people walking on crunchy gravel.

5. Cold nights, sweaters and warm drinks.

6. Firelight. Especially on the beach, especially at night, especially when it is chilly.

7. I know it is nerdy, but the Lord of the Rings films. They continue to be a source of inspiration for me, no matter where I am in my life, what I'm doing or where I am doing it.

8. This puppy:

9. Laughing with friends, especially while at The Bank (If you don't know what that is, come and visit me and I will show you its glory).

10. Silly beautiful love stories, especially Little Women and anything featuring James McAvoy.

So next time you feel like your head is stuffed full of cotton, try to think of the 10 things that make your heart smile. And don't forget to drink a lot of liquids.