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Jasper Roberts - Blog

Snow Days...

I feel like January has been kind of a wash for me. We have had FOUR cold days so far, I got sick right when we got back from break, and winter has kind of just started...I'm not gonna lie, I worry that this is going to become like the book Life as We Knew It!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time off, and when we have had school it's been business as usual, despite all of the beginning of the semester testing and what not. It's been amazing having four day weekends, because I find myself really looking forward to going to work, and getting things done around the house!

See how serene, organized, and put together this looks? That's how I always want to feel, which is why I think we should just always work Wednesday through Friday and go to school year round, with a few vacations sprinkled in at winter, spring, and summertime. Who's with me!?

Speaking of the house, my purges have been going pretty well! I cleaned out 3 HUGE bags of clothes to send to a friend, a ton of shoes that are going to my mom, and the hubster also cleaned out a bunch of bags of clothes to go to goodwill. We have the closet looking great, and my husband actually said our bedroom and bathroom looked like a hotel room when he got home today :)

Please ignore our ironing board. If it isn't in the bedroom, it just doesn't happen.

Loving all the Teal!! I got this little drawer at Target a few days ago.

All my summer clothes are in the two teal bins on the top shelf since most of my clothing is interchangeable.

Loving my TIEKS! I swear they are still the most comfortable shoes EVER. Hubster got me a navy pair for Christmas, so now I have an even number :)

No...I don't own that much tiffany, but the box tops and bottoms make great dividers!

Scarves and belts

I installed tap lights on the side so I could see my clothing options better!

I actually took the time to photograph EVERY item of clothing and shoes I own to put into Closet +, and it's like I'm living Clueless now. This has been an obsession for a long time. Now I have my iPad in my closet, and I can create outfits. It's a dream!

This was me before:

Me now!

Here's the link to the app I use!

This quarter we are focusing on the following in my classes, and I'm excited to post some pictures and information on the activities we do as we go along...

8th Grade Language Arts 1: Making Inferences using Flowers for Algernon, and then Argumentative Writing

7th Grade Language Arts 1 (Reading): Drawing Conclusions using Poetry and Fact and Opinion using Non-Fiction

7th Grade Language Arts 2 (Writing): Writing Poetry (aka my favorite writing unit EVER!) Check out my unit on TpT!

So I really want to gather my thoughts on the Writer's Workshop before I shared it with you, and get some of the data from the survey the students took to share as well. That will need to wait :)

There are 98 pictures uploading to share with you all, but here are a few from WAY back in December, just so you can see what happened before break. I have A LOT of catching up to do, and I am making it my mission to share more with you all, even though the musical auditions (Guys and Dolls, Jr!) are starting next week and things are about to get cray-cray!

Before break ended, I did my annual Hot Chocolate Challenge, where students have to have good behavior the two weeks prior to break and then I bring in hot chocolate for their silent reading day. I write Hot Chocolate for each period and erase a letter if they are too loud, off task, homework isn't done, etc... Sometimes even walking over to the words stops them in their tracks. Works like a charm. Every time. :) (Though a few groups got close to not getting it this year.)

To start, I rearranged my classroom for groups. I don't usually do this, but it's been working out, and I feel like there is a lot of room now to move between the students!

Here is my nook :)

I angled my desk out. I thought I wouldn't use my desk this year, but with all of the papers and everything it just wasn't feasible.

Bookshelves were moved to create more of a reading "nook"

These two areas haven't changed much, they work!

Other side of the room. I like the open space created by moving the bookshelves away from the garage door.

Here's my lunch from In n' Out in Dallas. I'm still dreaming about it...I'm so jealous of all you west coasters. :)

And...I leave you with this. I'm sorry I put this up in December. This is all my fault.

  1. Your Clueless closet cracks me up. I was in love with that idea back in the 90s! I love the hot chocolate idea. I've seen if on a few blogs, and someone gave her kiddos mini marshmallows based on the number of AR points they earned or number of books they read. I want find a way to add in that component so they are working for something on an individual level too!

  2. I really enjoyed reading. Thanks for sharing. This message is outstanding.
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Thanks for stopping by! JW


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 Gareth Southgate has admitted he | Thai Livestock | วัว

Gareth Southgate has admitted he

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Gareth Southgate has admitted he
Has “serious decisions” to make over his starting lineup for England’s opening group game at the World Cup, against Tunisia in 10 days’ time, after a much changed team impressed in the dismissal of Costa Rica.

Marcus Rashford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek caught the eye in the 2-0 success in Leeds to offer the manager food for thought before the squad’s departure for the tournament on Tuesday.“It’s more difficult, no question,” Southgate said. “There are some serious decisions to take, but in a really good way. If I was thinking I have no one to play in this position or in that position, it would be a very different situation. We asked the players to give us competition for places, and they’ve done that. We http://www.officialwarriorsproshop.com/mitch_richmond_jersey.html needed options.
“Rashford played with a real swagger tonight. For me, at the end of the season, he http://www.pittsburghpenguinsofficialonline.com/Adidas-Joe-Mullen-Jersey cares so much you can see he was trying too hard [at Manchester United]. I said to all the team before the game, I expect to see mistakes tonight and, Cory James Authentic Jersey if I don’t, there might be a problem because we wouldn’t be being as attack-minded as we want to be. They are going to make errors, but by taking Trent Brown Authentic Jersey risks they show the glimpses of quality like Marcus’s opening goal. That was world-class, but he was also teasing defenders by the touchline.
“His performance wasn’t perfect, but he was enjoying his football and that was good to see. I have 11 or 12 who are going to be difficult to leave out. There is genuine competition for places. It wasn’t the first-team versus Nigeria and a second-team tonight: we have quality across the two lineups.
“Ruben is another super talent. It’s still early for him. He’s still learning the game really, even as an England international, as he has so few league appearances under his belt and is incredibly raw. But we believe in him.“We know the talent he has. You can see the ability he has to hold people off, his speed of feet and the strength when he is running with the ball. A super talent, and different to the other players we have.”
England’s three stand-by players – Brad Hand Authentic Jersey Adam Lallana, Jake Livermore and Tom Heaton – will now depart the squad with the national team’s medical team confident the slight twinges felt by Harry Maguire and Kieran Trippier are not serious. “They’ve all said they’re there if needed, they’re ready, and wished everyone luck,” said Southgate, who will give his squad a few days off before their return to St George’s Park on Sunday.
There was something heartening about seeing him play with such freedom so soon after the scolding he received on FA Cup final day. Gareth Southgate has been a significant positive influence. Say what you like about Southgate’s lack of what the great José will always refer to as “titles”. But he does know how to get the best out of Rashford. He was helped by the poverty of the opposition. Costa Rica were muscular and dogged here. That was about it. At the back Kendall Waston moved with all the limber athleticism of the cast‑bronze Don Revie statue outside Elland Road.
But England will still move on with a little hope. There is a refreshing energy to the team and plenty of speed across the ground. The challenge, as ever, is to play above rather than below their capacities when the pressure bites. And to provide, as Rashford did here, just a little touch of beauty after those recent tournament scars. wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys from china wholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys from china wholesale jerseys

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 making World Cup history in Russia | Thai Livestock | วัว

making World Cup history in Russia

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The World Cup in Russia will be a tournament of firsts. It will be the first held in Ian Thomas Authentic Jersey eastern Europe and the Eurasian landmass. It will be the first for Panama and Iceland. It will be the first to feature video assistant referee technology. And, for the first time in the 88-year history of Fifa’s flagship event, two of the most senior officials – host city general coordinators – will be female.

One is Australian Jo Fernandes, women and girls development manager at Football New South Wales. A charismatic 51-year-old, Fernandes was recently appointed general coordinator for Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave among the Baltics and the western-most of the host cities. The creatively-named Kaliningrad Stadium will play host to four matches during the World Cup, including visits from Spain, Croatia, England and Belgium.

“I am very proud to have been selected,” says Fernandes. “It is not the first time http://www.authenticcanadienshop.com/authentic-19-larry-robinson-jersey.html a woman has had this role at a Fifa tournament – myself and another were general coordinators in India and South Korea last year for the Under-17 World Cup and Under-20 World Cup. But this year they have appointed women for the senior men’s World Cup for the first time. It is ongoing progress from Fifa.”
The general coordinator role http://www.officialseahawksfootball.com/YOUTH+FRANK+CLARK+JERSEY demands versatility, with responsibility for each venue resting on their shoulders. “Everything!” laughs Fernandes when asked to describe what the position entails. General coordinators are the highest ranking Fifa officials in each host city. They are paired with an equivalent from the local organising committee, and together manage a team of Fifa employees and local staff numbering into the hundreds to ensure the tournament is delivered smoothly.
“We run the venue,” she says. “We look James Casey Authentic Jersey after training fields, transport, ensure the teams are getting in and out through the city smoothly, and then most importantly the stadium – making sure everything is ready for match day. Everything from spectator facilities, waste disposal to technical operations for broadcast. We are effectively the CEO of the venue.”
While Fernandes expects her time at the World Cup to be demanding, she credits local organising committee colleagues for the bulk of the hard work. “We come in and assist at the pointy end of the operations,” she says. “We mostly fine tune during the delivery phase – making sure all Fifa operational requirements are met. But the local organisers – with Fifa guidance – have been working on the World Cup for years. They have done a massive job.”
Fernandes leaves for Russia at Enrique Hernandez Authentic Jersey the beginning of June, and will spend several weeks in Kaliningrad preparing before the first match which kicks off on 16 June. She was recently Jonathan Isaac Authentic Jersey in Sochi for a technical briefing, and has been receiving daily updates from her local counterpart. “I am undergoing a crash course,” Fernandes jokes of her Russian language abilities. “It is not my first time in Russia – I was there with the Young Matildas in 2006 – but most of the words I learned are long gone.”
Fernandes’ journey to the pinnacle of football administration was unintended. She studied sports science in Canberra with a view to specialising, but upon graduation accepted a job for the ACT’s female football federation (at the time state and territory federations were split by gender). Fernandes later moved to Football Federation Australia, where she was Matildas team manager for over a decade and headed the W-League for four http://www.jetsfootballofficialshop.com/Authentic-Wayne-Chrebet-Jersey years.
Kaliningrad is not among the host cities to welcome the Socceroos and their fans during the group stage, and will host no knock-out matches. But Fernandes is only mildly disappointed to be missing her national team. “Fifa try to allocate http://www.officialathleticsproshop.com/Jose_Canseco_Jersey us in such a way that people are not in charge of matches played by their own country,” she explains. “It is not a hard and fast rule – I was responsible at Australia’s heart-breaking loss to Brazil at 2016 Rio Olympics – but the preferred position is that we are assigned elsewhere.” Not, she says, that it would matter if she was in charge of Australian matches. “When I am in general coordinator mode I barely notice the colours of the shirts – I am focused on so much more than the match.”

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Robert De Niro joins ‘The Killer Elite’

May 11th, 2010 - 5:38 pm ICT by Sampurn Wire

May 11, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Director Gary McKendry’s action film, The Killer Elite, which is still in pre-production, is making waves for a great cast. The film already has seasoned actors like Jason Statham and Clive Owen on board and now it has further been elevated by Robert De Niro officially joining in. The film also has other familiar faces including Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic Purcell, Ben Mendelsohn, and Lachy Hulme.

Based on the book “The Feather Men’ by Ranulph Fiennes, The Killer Elite deals with the story of SAS officers fighting a hired group of assassins who specialize in killing trained targets, making their deaths look like accidents.

The production of The Killer Elite begins production this week and the filming will take place in the Australia and the England. The official date for the release is yet to be announced.

De Niro will portray the role of “Hunter’, the mentor of Statham’s character in the film. In the film Statham’s character is blackmailed to kill another man to secure the safe release of Hunter, who has been abducted.

De Niro has also, reportedly, signed with ESPN Films to play football coach Vince Lombardi in a feature film to be released in January 2012, portraying Lombardi’s coaching career.

– Sampurn Wire

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Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Ubisoft Stocks Fall 9% After Assassin's Creed Unity Launch

Another milestone: the 2014/5 financial year comes to a close. The DIY Income Investor portfolio closes the year (one day to go) with a total return - capital gains plus rolled-up income - of just over 9%.

My view is that this seems a fairly pedestrian performance compared with previous years. Yes, it's better than cash (even the 6%-plus return you can get from Ratesetter) but nothing extraordinary. So, the question is: how good or bad is this result? And could I have done better?

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Alea Jacta Est! (Portfolio Buy/Sale)

 Alea jacta est.

So said Julius Caesar (reportedly) when he marched his troops across the Rubicon river on to Rome. The die is cast - a decision has been made and it's too late to change.

A couple of times in my life I have taken a fairly large financial gamble. Being naturally cautious, it is usually not a 'bet the farm' type of gamble - but rather one that could gain or lose a substantial amount of money.

So it is today...

Tuesday, 17 March 2015

The World ETF Income Portfolio

As regular readers will be aware, the DIY Income Investor portfolio is steadily increasing its share of income-producing Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs provide ready-made, low-cost and diversified funds but are more targeted than simple market tracker funds - and therefore (in my view) more powerful financial tools.

A reader asked whether it might be possible to identify an ETF-only portfolio. This might be attractive for a new investor or someone who does not want to be too involved in the investment process. This seemed like an interesting challenge; so, here goes...

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Know Your Strategy! (Portfolio Buy)

Contrarian Investing

My long-term strategy for the DIY Income Investor portfolio is to develop an investing style that doesn't require much skill or input. The objective is to pass on investment nest eggs that more-or-less manage themselves.

So, 'DIY' taken almost to an extreme - Do Very Little Yourself!

Monday, 9 March 2015

Sell Your Winners! (Portfolio Sale)

(Andy Rainford/iStockphoto)
Now, what does this button do..?

I've just sold a holding in my DIY Income Investor portfolio and realised a 29% capital gain over less than one year - enough to pay for a family summer holiday. 'Not bad' you might say - but was I 'right' to sell?

The typical advice given to new investors is 'hold your winners and sell your losers'; but presumably that can't be the whole story (or you would never realise your capital gains). I'm afraid that my own approach does not really follow this advice - although it doesn't ignore it completely.

Saturday, 7 March 2015

Me, Britain and Dividends (Portfolio Buy)

Following my long-term strategy of 'automating' the DIY Income Investor portfolio I have been buying some more ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) shares.

As regular readers will be aware, ETFs are collective, diversified investment funds that (usually) follow a specific index more-or-less mechanically; this means that they are diversified and (generally) low-cost. In keeping with the main theme of the portfolio, I specialise in ETFs that produce income - from dividends or from fixed-income securities. In addition, it is possible to invest globally with ETFs that are quoted on my 'home; market (the LSE); by contrast it is a lot more complicated to do that with individual securities on different markets.

The latest purchase takes the ETF share of the portfolio to over 40%.

Monday, 2 March 2015

Housekeeping (Portfolio Sale)

Even the simplest portfolio needs some attention. I have tried to automate the operation of the DIY Income Investor portfolio as much as I can - but the human touch is still needed.

I try to keep up-to-date on a more-or-less monthly cycle (I revise the portfolio totals each month). But with 30-odd different investment securities to keep tabs on, important developments can sometimes pass me by.

And so a bit of remedial action was required...


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Articles Tagged With: continental congress

The cast in its entirety of 1776 at Toby's Dinner Theatre

Review: 1776 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Vote yes! Vote yes! Vote for independency! For God’s sake, theatergoers, sit down! And make sure you do it over at Toby’s Dinner Theatre where history comes to life in one of her most striking productions to date. 1776, a revolutionary tale of how the great nation of America got its start is well underway as spring gets started close to the nation’s capitol. Directed by Jeremy Scott Blaustein and Shawn Kettering,

Read More »

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I love to blog about my make-up, beauty, parenting, and other personal adventures in this site.

To see pictures of some my makeup gigs please visit My Makeup Portfolio website

For bookings, questions, event features or product reviews, contact me at:
0998. 985. 88. 40

Sunday, July 8, 2012

A Quick Flawless Makeup That Stays using Estee Lauder Stay in Place Makeup

I'm quite sad that I've been breaking out a lot lately. See my chin and forehead at the before pic below? The pimples on my chin are like forming a diagonal dotted line :( Thanks to the help of Celeteque Dermoscience Acne Solutions Line which I've started to use since this dilemma started, they're drying out already and so far nothing new is popping up.

This is the reason why I love putting on makeup. I can hide my flaws whenever I need and want to appear like I have a good skin.

I really like my after photo. Simple and clean daytime look. My peg for everyday day makeup up to night haha (except when I'm attending events in which I try to put a little more effort with eye my makeup and contouring). And for the past weeks I've been using a foundation and some makeups from Estee Lauder which I really really like.

See what products I use for my everyday 5 minute (or less) makeup below:

Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place Foundation 01 - I've been using the other type of Estee Lauder Stay-In-Place makeup before this. I like both of them in terms of coverage and staying power but if you ask me to choose one, I prefer this because it feels lighter on the face. Coverage is buildable to medium.

Estee Lauder Disappear Smoothing Cream Concealer - The shade that I got is medium which is slightly darker than my skin tone. It's a bit salmony in color so I use it as a corrector for my undereye discoloration (it's just mild to this and a foundation is enough to conceal it). I also use it to lighten the darkness of my pimple scars on the chin.

After the corrector and foundation, I felt like brightening up my undereye area a bit and my chin needs more concealing. So I used the Garnier Light BB eye cream (I love this too!) and Etude House Surprise Concealer.

Then I set my makeup with Revlon New Complexion Loose Face Powder Translucent #02. I've been using this for years now ( I think this is my 3rd purchase already). I like that it makes my face matte but silky after setting my makeup with this.

For my eyemakeup: Paul and Joe Eye Primer 01, Estee Lauder Metallics Black Eyeshadow, Estee Lauder Double Wear Eye Liner in Black and Maybelline Cat Eyes Mascara (not in the Photo)

For my lips: Maybelline Peachy Scene

So far, I'm really impressed with Estee Lauder makeup. The Stay-In-Place makeup is a pricey for P1900 per tube but it you want a foundation that's easy to apply, feels light on the skin and doesn't smear even on a humid weather, it's worth it. I'm planning to purchase the darker shades for my clients  as well.

Belle said...

love how flawless your after phot is sis. i know how i hate it when im breaking out. maybe you're sleeping less? or maybe just stress. whatever, just hoping it will be over soon. though you're lucky coz you're talented with makeup.. your look is just so fresh.. love love..

Askmewhats said...

bagay sayo yung foundation! :)

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Cardinal Basketball

Chris Mack Isn’t Running From High Expectations In Year Number Two

Now that the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline has passed we have nearly 100% clarity on what each college basketball team will be working with next season.

With Louisville returning 76% of points and 80% of rebounds from a season ago and bringing in a top 10 recruiting class, it’s not shocking to see the Cards as a consensus top ten team.

Chris Mack isn’t running from the high expectations.

Jon Rothstein (S.I.)– Louisville ranked 2nd

CBS Sports Louisville ranked 4th

Jeff Goodman (Stadium) – Louisville ranked 3rd

Athlon Sports – Louisville ranked 4th

NBC Sports – Louisville ranked 5th

Andy Katz ( – Louisville ranked 10th

SB Nation – Louisville ranked 6th

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Friday, January 31, 2014

No Exterior Hindrance

What a find.  In only three minutes, we can see "The Cloistered Heart" in living, moving color.. and right where we live it.

If you only look at one thing to find out what is meant by a "cloistered heart," I suggest that this video be that one thing.

We do not (usually) sing outwardly as we go through the world.

But what is happening in our hearts?

"No exterior thing hinders my union with God."  (St. Faustina)

"How happy you will be if in the midst of the world you keep Jesus Christ in your heart!"  (St. Francis de Sales)

"Always remember… to retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others.  This mental solitude cannot be violated by the many people who surround you since they are not standing around your heart but only around your body.  Your heart remains alone in the presence of God.” (St. Francis de Sales)

"May nothing distract me from You, neither noise nor diversions. O my Master, I would so love to live with You in silence. But what I love above all is to do Your will, and since You want me still to remain in the world, I submit with all my heart for love of You." (Elizabeth of the Trinity)

Monday, January 27, 2014

My Cell

"Work for souls is accomplished, for the most part, in silence.  Its efficiency does not depend upon occupation, position or popularity.  From a humble cell, hidden away in some cloistered nunnery, there radiates spiritual power which influences thousands of souls scattered over the entire world." (from Sheltering the Divine Outcast by A Religious, Peter Reilly Co., Philadelphia, 1952, p. 56)

St. Catherine of Siena, who did not live in a monastery, “formed a cell in her own heart and there she remained continually united with God even when busiest, contemplating Him and speaking familiarly with Him.  Thus she attained to a stable, uninterrupted union with her Lord.” (Spiritual Diary, Daughters of St. Paul, 1990).

"Whenever you pray, go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private…” (Matthew 6:6)

"Brother Body is our cell, and our soul is the hermit living indoors in the cell, in order to pray to God and meditate on him.” (St. Francis of Assisi)

"I offer You the cell of my heart; may it be Your little Bethany. Come rest there…”  (Elizabeth of the Trinity)

"Our Lord frequently told me that I should keep a secluded place for Him in my heart, where He would teach me to love Him."  (St. Margaret Mary)

"I set up a little cell in my heart, where I always kept company with Jesus."  (St. Faustina)

"Within yourself you have made a room... a secluded place.  You have built it by prayer…. You live in the marketplace and carry the poustinia within you.  That is your vocation… The Lord is calling us to stand still before him while walking with men.” (Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Poustinia, Ave Maria Press, 1975)

"May the God who is all love be your unchanging dwelling place, your cell, and your cloister in the midst of the world.” (Elizabeth of the Trinity)

"Christ is held by the mind knowing Him and the heart loving Him...  what is this room except the inner secret of your own person?  Keep this inner room clean, so that when it is pure, unstained by sin, your spiritual home may stand as a priestly temple with the Holy Spirit dwelling in it.  One who seeks and entreats Christ is never abandoned, but visited by Him frequently, for He stays always with us."  (St. Ambrose)

Painting of nun:  Luigi Busi, In Contemplazione

Painting of woman in bedroom:  Moritz von Schwind, Early Morning

Painting of city street:  Arntzenius Spuistraat

Friday, January 24, 2014

A Devout Life in the World

'Almost all those who have written hitherto about devotion have been concerned with instructing persons wholly withdrawn from the world, or have at least taught a kind of devotion that leads to such complete retirement.

'My purpose is to instruct those who live in town, within families, or at court, and by their state of life are obliged to live an ordinary life as to outward appearances.'

'A strong, resolute soul can live in the world without being affected by any of its moods, find springs of piety amid its salty waves, and fly through the flames of earthly lusts without burning the wings of its holy desires for a devout life.  True, this is a difficult task, and therefore I wish that many souls would strive to accomplish it with greater ardor than has hitherto been shown.'

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Image Books, 1989

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Nor Was My Frame Unknown

'Truly You have formed
my inmost being;
You knit me
in my mother's womb.
I give You thanks
that I am fearfully,
wonderfully made;
wonderful are Your works.
My soul also
You knew full well;
nor was my frame
unknown to You
when I was made
in secret.'

Psalm 139:13-15

Painting:  Alessandro Botticelli

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A Personal Relationship with Christ?

When we are talking about monastic life, the importance of Our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be overstated.  With this in mind, I've been planning a post (using quotes from various saints) on the fact that we can know and love Jesus personally.

"The monk is the man for whom God is a Person," writes Louis Bouyer; "a Person whom he can meet, whom he longs to meet...."  (The Meaning of the Monastic Life, PJ Kenedy, 1950)

I love it when the Holy Spirit inspires more than one individual, at the same time, to do the very same thing.  He was at work in the same way, at the same time, in the heart of Renee Lin.

As she put it so well in one of her comments, it was just a matter of calling the right witnesses. Which she has done, indeed.

Can Catholics have a personal relationship with Christ?

I invite you to click over to Renee's blog Forget the Roads, to see what the witnesses have to say.

Painting:  San Luigi Gonzaga, Love for the Word

Thursday, January 16, 2014

The Centre of Our Hearts

"Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone?  He burns with the desire to come into your heart."  (St. Therese of Lisieux)

"The Tabernacle is a reminder of Christ's life in us and of our surrender to Him.  We, too, are the Living Tabernacle of Jesus, a reminder, also, that our life is not governed by appearances and impressions, but by faith in the invisible Reality.  He is there as the ever-flowing Source of Grace, as our Invisible Director and Helper.  Being the living Centre of our life, He must become the Centre of our hearts and minds, the Centre to Which we are directed and from which we judge all our problems, as well as the world's."  (The Living Pyx of Jesus, Pelligrini, Australia, 1941, p. 19)

What is the hub of a monastic building?  The chapel.  The Tabernacle.  The Blessed Sacrament.

Why?  Because Jesus is the absolute Center of monastic life.

It is simple.  And knowing this simple truth, we begin to understand monasticism.

Pondering it in prayer, we begin to understand monasticism of the heart.

'You know, my loving Jesus, I do want my soul to be spotlessly pure and undefiled, so that it will be for You a most beautiful Home, a Home from which no one will ever dislodge You - Your own living tabernacle, where You will ever dwell, and where I shall live consciously and lovingly with You, and always have a word with You before I speak, act, or make a decision.  I want You to be so happy, so much at home in my soul, that You will take complete possession of it and live Your life in me.'(from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, 1936, p.143)

'To be with God it is not necessary to be always in church.  We may make a chapel of our heart, whereto to escape from time to time to talk with Him quietly, humbly and lovingly.... Begin then; perhaps He is waiting for a single generous resolution.'  (Brother Lawrence)

Painting of woman:  Tarbell, The Bleu Veil, in US public domain due to age

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Amid Storms and Rainbows

I gave given myself to God as much as I could; in effect, I've signed over to Him all that concerns me.

How beautiful is His welcome, His acceptance, His love!  But what happens (I can't help but ask it) when trials come along?

I choose in advance, by a sheer act of my will, to place my trust in Jesus.  I might be swallowing a lump as I do so, but today I make my choice.

I choose to make my own this prayer of St. Faustina...

"I know that I am under Your special gaze, O Lord.  I do not examine with fear Your plans regarding me; my task is to accept everything from Your hand.  I do not fear anything, although the storm is raging, and frightful bolts strike all around me, and I then feel quite alone.  Yet my heart senses You, and my trust grows, and I see all Your omnipotence which upholds me.  With You, Jesus, I go through life, amid storms and rainbows, with a cry of joy, singing the song of Your mercy.  I will not stop singing my song of love until the choir of angels picks it up."

Painting:  Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Gotische Kirche auf einem Felsen am Meer, 1815, detail

Monday, January 13, 2014

A Framework of Gifts

"All things in this world
are created
out of God's love,
and they become
a framework of gifts,
offered to us
so that we can know God
more easily
and make a return
of love
more readily."

St. Ignatius Loyola

Painting:  Jules Cyrille Cave, The Flower Girl, 1897

The Welcome Continues......

His welcome continues.

I have given my heart to my Lord, Jesus Christ.  I've made the decision to step into His will, to seek Him, to live for Him as fully as I can. But I am not the only one in action here.

His welcome continues...

"Ah, you are beautiful, My beloved.  Ah, you are beautiful!  Your eyes are doves...."  (Song of Songs 1:15)

"As a lily among thorns, is My beloved among women.  (Song of Songs

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name; you are Mine."  (Isaiah 43:1)

Paintings are all in US public domain
due to age and copyright expiration

I am Welcomed!

I step over the threshold into God's will and the welcome is immediate.  Perhaps all of heaven bursts forth in celebration.  Whether or not I feel any different, the truth is that I am met with great love.

"Suddenly, when I had consented to the sacrifice with all my heart and all my will, God’s presence pervaded me… I felt that His Majesty was enveloping me…. I saw that God was well pleased with me and, reciprocally, my spirit drowned itself in Him... And the Lord said to me, ‘You are the delight of My Heart; from today on, every one of your acts, even the very smallest, will be a delight to My eyes...'  My earthly body was the same, but my soul was different; God was now living in it with the totality of His delight.  This is not a feeling, but a conscious reality that nothing can obscure.”  (St. Faustina, Diary)

God will not be outdone in generosity.  If I've taken even one step toward Him (no matter how timid the step, no matter how faltering), I can be sure that He is reaching out to receive me.  I am enfolded, encompassed, and totally embraced by Love.

"I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord; plans for your welfare, not for woe!  Plans to give you a future full of hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Sunday, January 12, 2014

One Deciding Step

As has surely become obvious over these last few days, I sometimes imagine myself before a cloister door.

I have pictured this for years, actually, for the mental image of it helps me see the life to which I am called.  In the analogy of the cloistered heart, the will of God is my enclosure... a reality before which (when faced with its possible implications) I am tempted to draw back, waver, second-guess.

I have no reservations when God's will and mine are precisely the same.  But at some point(s), my will and God's are going to conflict.  I know this; in my heart I know this.  What happens then?

“Live in My will,” God tells me.  “Live in My will when you understand it and when you do not.  Trust ME."  In the face of such an invitation, I have a choice to make.

I like to remember that a person entering physically cloistered life does not stick her head in today and leave her arms and legs dangling outside.  She is either in or she’s not.  And yet I can give myself mostly to God and leave parts of my life dangling outside that surrender.

Making the decision to embrace the will of God is not a once-for-all-time-thing, of course.  I re-decide, circumstance by circumstance.  But there is something about at least making my choice of God's will specific.  One deciding step.  I have found that grace comes with making this decision.  I tell God I want to live according to His will… and then in circumstance after circumstance, I find that His grace abounds.

So yes, I imagine myself standing before an enclosure door.  I consider.  I vacillate.  I want a print-out of all that will be asked of me before I give my “yes.”  I’m trembling, halting, looking back, shuffling, straining.  Then, timidly, I stick one toe forward…

…and it’s as if He suddenly, tenderly, picks me up and carries the rest of me inside.  Even those dangling arms and legs.

"Take, Lord, all my liberty.  Receive my memory, my understanding, my entire will.
Whatever I have and possess, you have given me; to You I restore it wholly,
and to Your will I utterly surrender it for my direction.
Give me the love of You only, with Your grace,
and I am rich enough; nor do I ask anything besides."  (St.Ignatius Loyola)

"I am the Gate. Whoever enters through Me WILL BE SAFE.” (Jesus, quoted in John 10:9)

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Farewell to the Follies

I knock at the door.  My hand trembles.  I am afraid no one will answer.

I am afraid someone will.

The walk toward the monastery was longer than I'd expected.  I would love to be welcomed with a cup of tea and a gold-edged plate of chocolates.  I feel entitled to a bit of pampering, a little reward for making it this far.  But here, it will not be that way.

An extern Sister opens the door and ushers me into the foyer.  It is a small room, its floorboards gleaming with a warm patina.  I feel embraced by the hush of it.  Just ahead of me is another door, a tall, unadorned one made of brown wood.  I know that this is the door to the enclosure.

Sister points toward it and asks me, "are you ready?"

"It may turn out that this change in your way of life will cause you many problems.  You have bid a great, general farewell to the world's follies and vanities, and this may bring on a feeling of sadness and discouragement.  If this should be the case, have a little patience, I beg of you, for it will come to nothing.  Things will seem a little strange because they are new, but when such feelings pass you will receive countless blessings."  (St. Francis de Sales)

"Ah, my Lord!  Your help is necessary here; without it, one can do nothing.  In Your mercy do not consent this soul to suffer deception and give up what it has begun."  (St. Teresa of Avila)

Sister smiles at me.  Her face shows no urgency.   She is simply asking.  "Are you ready?"

I do not know.

You are invited to leave comments in The Parlor

Painting:  Alfred Stevens, Hesitation, detail

Friday, January 10, 2014

A Determined Turnabout

Yesterday's mental ramble was, of course, an imaginative exercise.  Having never entered religious life, I haven't experienced a potential nun's journey toward a cloistered world.

But oh, I have daydreamed it.  Not in the sense of dreaming with desire, and not exactly daydreaming with dread, but with a sense of wondering.  How would it feel, I've asked myself, to make a serious, determined decision to leave the world and enter a life where I live totally for Christ.  Not just partly, not mostly, but totally.  Fully embracing His will with no compromise, no watering down what He asks of me; "yes" with no ifs, no ands, no buts.  Entering the world of His will, and turning my back on all that tries to lure me away from Him.

"Most people cannot leave the world in a bodily sense, but every follower of Christ who is serious about genuine growth must leave the spirit of the world."  (Thomas Dubay SM, Fire Within, Ignatius Press, 1989, p. 81)

Am I serious about genuine growth?  I ask it of myself.  Immediately, I know my answer.  The desire to move beyond ho-hum Christianity is what inspires my life as a cloistered heart.

The desire to "move beyond" drives me onward, yet a large part of me wants to dig in my heels and stay right where I am.  I'm not so bad, I tell myself.  I pray and receive the Sacraments and try to be nice.

Thankfully, there is more to a Godly life than that.

"One cannot give Christ a limited place in one's life," writes Louis Bouyer of the Oratory (The Meaning of the Monastic Life, PJ Kenedy and Sons, NY, 1950,  p. x)   And that is the crux of it, for me.  I am not content to be a "just in case" Christian.  I don't want to simply follow the rules and try to avoid mortal sin just in case God is real (by His grace, I'm convinced that He is).   I'm not satisfied to throw some prayers in His direction now and then and call that a life of faith.

The truth is:  I'm engaged in much more than an imaginary exercise.

I AM serious about genuine growth.  I AM on a real, vital, narrow path to union with God. "The main business of the beginner, therefore, is to make a determined turnabout from preoccupation with this worldly world to a life centered in the Trinity."  (Dubay, p. 82)

The world beckons.  I live in it, and I can be joyful as I do so, for this is where God calls me to serve Him.  But preoccupation with the world?  It is from this that I must turn.

I don't turn, however, for the mere sake of turning.  I do not leave the "worldly world" and march forward in pursuit of nothing.  I go along that narrow path - "to a life centered in the Trinity."

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit wait for me.

Painting:  Pietro Fragiacomo, Tristezza

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Toward the Cloister Door

For years I have imagined the scene.  I see myself right in it, firmly planted, almost as if frozen in time.

Here I am, ready to place my foot on a path leading to the monastery.  It's a winding path, quite narrow, and I don't step onto it right away.  I stop.  I consider.  I pause.  The way is open before me, nothing blocks it.  Once I reach the heavy, ancient door, I won't even have to open it.  All I'll have to do is knock.

I hesitate.  I stand.  I am alone, looking at the silent gray building just up the hill.  A chill wind stings my face.

I took one last look at myself before catching the bus here:  one last glance, for I know there are no mirrors in cloisters.  My face looked good (may the saints forgive me), although a bit pinched.  I dabbed concealer over this morning's undereye circles.  My dress is midi-length, modest.  Over it is a long wool coat, its collar turned up.  Just the right touch of sophistication, a concession to my almost-former self.

I had been told what to bring, a few garments I'll need as a postulant.  Now I stand, ready to set foot onto this narrow, unpaved pathway.   Inside, the Sisters await me.  Outside, here I stand.

The stiletto shoes, my highest ever, may not have been a good idea.  I liked their steady click click across pavement, the very sound boosting my confidence.  But here (I realize), there will be no sound.  The ground is damp and soggy on the grassless path ahead.

I step onto the pinstripe of mud.  Immediately, a pencil thin heel stabs into the ground.  I take another step, and shoe number two meets the same fate.  I am suddenly anchored in a place of perpetual indecision.  Forever on the path, ready to make the journey but unable to let go of all that holds me to the earth.

"St. Teresa's starting point," writes Father Thomas Dubay about Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle,  "is the absolutely basic condition for a serious prayer life: an earnest, continuing effort to rid oneself of sins, imperfections and attachments."  (Fire Within, Ignatius, 1989, p. 81)

These shoes were, in my opinion, gorgeous. I paid way too much for them, but oh, they have served me well.  They've carried me into business meetings, boosting my height and self-confidence.  They have taken me dancing, showing off my balance and unexpected grace.  They have served ME well.

I am attached to the shoes; of course I am.  They're a symbol of what I've achieved in the world.  They represent (suddenly) all I'll be giving up if I step onto this narrow, sloppy path.  I stand for just a moment, listening to a train rumbling in the distance.  I could go back now and there would be no shame in the turning.

I step out of first one shoe, then the other.  I lean down and pluck them from the ground.

I make my way, barefoot, toward the cloister door.

You are invited to leave comments in The Parlor

Painting:  Johnson Coombe Abbey

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Life Inside

"The monastery is the house of God... the monk is a witness to God... an athlete, a slave in the service of his divine Master, a soldier fighting for the heavenly King, a pilgrim journeying towards the heavenly Jerusalem" (Daniel Rees, Consider Your Call, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, 1980, p. 100)

Taking another look at what it means to be a cloistered heart, I begin with the monastery.  I always imagine a building tucked away in the woods, perhaps on a hill, just glimpsed (by me) through a little stand of trees....

The life inside is one of prayer and living within the will of God.  People who enter there - and who remain - are dead serious.  They aren't playing games.  They are not settling for halfway commitments and compromised yeses.  They don't dabble in prayer now and then, when they need something or when they feel a touch of consolation, shooting up a Hail Mary between their favorite TV shows and a trip to the mall. They pray throughout the day and in the night.  They eat, sleep, dress, work, play, sing, read, serve, breathe for Christ.

But wait.  What, if anything, does this have to do with me?  My call is to live in the midst of the world.

If I'm serious about living for God, I think this has a lot to do with me.  I believe monastic totality has a great deal to teach all of us as we serve Our Lord in our families, homes, parishes, neighborhoods, workplaces - day after day.

And so, again with the help of writers who have known monastic life from the inside, we begin to take another look....

"It is true that only a few of Christ's followers are called to be monks and nuns, but their way of life is no more and no less than an attempt to live out their Christianity in all its implications.  All Christians are called to holiness.... There are many ways of following this call, but, insofar as we all hear and try to respond to it, we shall find that we have a good deal of experience in common."  (Rees, p. xi)

"Every Christian must seek to follow Christ in obedience to the will of the Father, must pray, exercise faith and hope and love, make use of the sacraments, and live in the Spirit.  Neither in the end nor in these primary means is the monk essentially different from any other Christian.... " (Rees, p. 4)

"'When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.'  These words of Our Lord mean that you must enter yourself and make a sanctuary there; the secret place is the human this level, where man knows how to be silent, there prayer is found.  Here he is mysteriously visited."  (Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Poustinia, Ave Maria Press, 1975, p. 74)

"I am a temple of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  They come to me.  The Lord said that He and His Father would come and make their dwelling with me....  Why should my heart be removed from God
when I am talking with you?  When you are in love with someone, it seems that the face of the Beloved is before you when you drive, when you type, when you are taking out insurance, and so on.  Somehow or other we can encompass these two realities, the face of the Beloved and whatever we happen to be doing.  My friends, prayer is like that."  (Doherty p. 75)

My friends, prayer is like that.

I pray that we will each be "mysteriously visited" by our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 You are invited to leave comments in The Parlor

Monday, January 6, 2014

Surprise Surprise!

What perfect timing.

Just before we begin to seriously embark on "another look," I learn that we've been honored with a lovely new year surprise!  The Cloistered Heart is nominated for a Sunshine Award!  Thank you, Melanie at Joy of Nine9, for a dash of fun and sun on this blustery winter's day.

Here are the "rules" for acceptance of this award:

1.  Use the award logo in the post.
2.  Link to whoever nominated you.
3.  Write 10 pieces of information about yourself.
4.  Nominate fellow bloggers who meet the indicated criteria.
5.  Leave a comment on the nominees’ blogs to tell them of the award.

Number 1:  check.  Number 2: check.

Number 3.  Pieces of information about myself.  (I loved reading Melanie's!).   Hmmm.  Think I'll just throw a potpourri of things out there, in whatever order they flitter across my mind.... wheeee!

1.  God is important to me!  (you're not shocked).

2.  My family is important to me! (you're not shocked and you're getting bored)

3.  Books are important to me (now yawning, you're wondering if this blogger passed fourth grade).  Not only do I love to read, I love to live surrounded by books.  They are my wallpaper of choice.  Two walls of my living room and two walls of my family room are literally lined with them.

4.  I love humor.  My own spontaneous silliness surprises even me at times.  I once told a friend that in this sadly off-track world, we need comic relief.  She said "Nancy, you ARE comic relief."  I took that as a lovely compliment.  I like Shoe comics and Erma Bombeck quotes and old videos from the Carol Burnett show ("Went with the Wind!")

5.  I am a very chattery (okay, okay: too chattery) INtrovert.

6.  I am older than you think.  My goodness.... you think I'm THAT old?!!  O my.  Now add ten years.

7.  I'm crazy about my grandchildren (ages 7, 5 and 3...wanna see my 7,243 pictures?).  Love to play board games with them, do crafts, tell stories, blow bubbles, laugh...)

8.  When my husband and I were dating, we often stopped to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament at our University's student center chapel (his idea) before he walked me home.  This added to his love of fun and his keen intellect made me fall head over heels. And he went in the reverse direction the night he met me, when he tried to impress me by literally standing on his head.  I chose not to hold that against him.  He was only nineteen; he had an excuse.

9.  I find action movies boring.  My mind wanders during battle scenes.

10. I like cool weather, nature, mountains, the ocean, chicken with mushrooms, ticking clocks, Call the Midwife, poetry, and I hate beer.

Nominated bloggers.  I generally don't link to non-cloistered sites on this particular blog, but will make an exception this time.

However, in keeping with the prayer focus of The Cloistered Heart, I am only naming blogs that almost always stick to posts about prayer and growing in holiness.  So, here are a few that fit into the category of "spirituality blogs."

I wonder if a group blog can accept this award?  Just in case it can, I nominate:

Catholic Spirituality Blogs Network

I also nominate the following prayerful blogs:

 I Want to See God

Bell of the Wanderer

Reflections on the Sacred

Imprisoned in My Bones

Thoughts on Grace

A Life Dedicated to Prayer
The Mad-Eyed Monk

Carmel Light

Check.  Check.  Check.  Check.  Check.  This has been a fun change of pace!

Tomorrow (God willing) - a further look at another look......

You are invited to leave comments in The Parlor

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Another Look

The Cloistered Heart is a way of seeing, a way of being, a way of living totally for God in the midst of the world.

"The heart,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “is the dwelling place where I am, where I live... the heart is the place 'to which I withdraw.'  The heart is our hidden center,  beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. (Catechism  #2563)

With this in mind, let's have a quick review.

The Monastery of a Cloistered Heart is the person’s own life.  A monastery is a place consecrated to God, a place of prayer, a place where God is loved and lived for and served.  Our lives can, and should, become every one of these.

The Enclosure of a Cloistered Heart is within the will of God.  As a cloistered nun or monk lives within a specific area known as the cloister, we can make a specific choice to live within the will of God.  We can actively embrace the boundaries of God’s will as these are revealed in Scripture and Church teaching.

The Grille of a Cloistered Heart is the will of God.  As some monasteries have grillwork through which those in the cloister interact with the world outside, we can have spiritual “grillwork.”  We can practice seeing and responding to every person and every situation through God's will as revealed to us in Scripture and the teachings of the Church.

“Always remember," wrote St. Francis de Sales, "to retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others.  This mental solitude cannot be violated by the many people who surround you since they are not standing around your heart but only around your body.  Your heart remains alone in the presence of God.”

The Cloistered Heart (we've said it before) is a multi-faceted analogy.

Perhaps it's time to have another look.

Painting:  Piero di Cosimo, Maddalena

Thursday, January 2, 2014

A Life Apart

                   'Cloister thy mind, thy senses and thy heart,
                   and keep within a silent sanctuary,
                   where thou with Me may live a life apart,
                   a life of love in sweetest intimacy.

                   Speak with Me often through the busy day,
                   Thy joys and sorrows, all, to Me confide.
                   And hearken, child; My every wish obey
                   'til thus thou shalt with Me in Love abide.

                   Why sigh then for the vision that is past.
                   or that from Thabor's Mount thou must depart?
                   For thou has e'er a vision that will last -
                   Come!  Seek Me in the chapel of thy heart!'

 (from Fervorinos from the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, p. 258)

Painting:  Daniel Ridgway Knight, A Moment of Rest

You are invited to leave a comment in the 'Parlor'


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Dolena Thompson

You could say “the arts” are in Dolena’s blood, as the descendent of famed French writer Alexander Dumas, author of the historically significant novels The Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo. Dolena took to the arts in the form of figure skating, sport that took her around the world.  Dolena skated with Holiday on Ice and the Ice Capades as a star attraction, and in 1966 became the Assistant Performance Director of the Ice Capades, sharing not only her talent but her creative vision on the ice.

Dolena studied visual arts at UBC, excelling in their fine arts program. She is known for her mural wall paintings that grace some of the finest residences across Vancouver.

Dolena has been working with The Coliseum Team since 2003, bringing her artistic precision and dexterity to the application of Xtreme Eyelash Extensions. Dolena is the only Xtreme Lash Certified Stylist in Vancouver with advanced training and continuously updates her training keeping her Lash Extensions the very best in the Industry.

Dolena applies full sets, glamour sets and maintenance fills and counts Miss World Canada 2005 amongst her biggest fans.

Thank you… for my beautiful lash extensions. I'm very impressed with the level of professionalism and detailed care that was taken in putting them on. I no longer worry about eye make-up, I get tons of compliments and no one could tell I have them on. They are subtle, sexy and seamless. I absolutely love them! - Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, February 2009

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As seen on screen: Art and Cinema – Reviewed

The EndUntitled series 1996-2000 Mario Rossi

The relationship between art and cinema is as old as the silver screen itself. Ashley McGovern reviews a new exhibition exploring this tradition…

Purveyors of clickbait like to play amateur detectives, luring us to move over our cursor and land on some hyperinflated exposé. On rare occasions, they venture into the arts. BuzzFeed, Ranker et al. at some point will have published an expendable little piece about how world-class filmmakers have lifted their compositions straight out of famous paintings or photographs. Written to be swiped rather than read, a slideshow usually ensues; on one side is Hopper’s House by the Railroad (1925), while on the other is a movie still of Norman Bates’ virtually identical Carpenter Gothic pile from Psycho. Then maybe Alien’s alien compared to one of Francis Bacon’s screaming Popes. And inevitably rounding out the slides you’ll find the sinister twins from The Shining alongside Diane Arbus’ photograph, snapped more than a decade earlier, of painfully plain twin girls in matching dresses. They say no more than ‘here’s some art, here’s some films’. Foreign cinema is typically excluded, though that’s not to say there aren’t plenty of ripe examples. A result of the meme decade, said pieces are designed to be read at pace with little attention, hooking us with a famous movie and adding in populist, time-killing art history; a pop Panofksyan exercise, you might say, in spotting how iconography travels across different media. And this is perfectly fine for ersatz reading.

One might, however, expect more from an exhibition. Especially one that purports to explore the same territory as the BuzzFeeders, though this time in reverse: how cinema has returned the favour and inspired artists. As seen on screen, originated by the Arts Council and now showing at the Walker Art Gallery, must have been devised, approved and curated during a fire drill. The show is incoherent and severely undermines its own exploratory premise at nearly every turn. As seen on screen’s conception of cinema, its technicality, its unique editing, its auteurism, is sorely limited, so fragmentary and taken for granted as to be practically a secret. There are small gestures to film noir, fugitive hat tips to British classics, suppressed nods to old Hollywood. With nothing to guide you, a feeling that cinema is the greatest mass medium, whose status is for artists both enviable and yet aching to be deconstructed, is just about discernable. Its inclusion of cinema is like a Hitchcock cameo minus the rest of the movie, winking, fleeting and devoid of overall unity. The most the curators offer in the way of rigour is a conspicuous truism: cinema has been and still is influential. No attempt is made to define or even complicate what this really means for visual artists; finding a nuanced theme or proposition in all this is trickier that coming up with a gender neutral title for His Girl Friday.

“What is this trying to say?”

Take Venice Kimono (2012), Anthea Hamilton’s digital print of John Travolta’s face (taken from Saturday Night Fever? We’re never told) on the back of a satin kimono. The garment rests on a dainty piece of steel scaffolding, flowing down like a flag or silken stage backdrop. What is this trying to say? It could be about how movies manufacture pinups, or perhaps the wearying process of industry merchandising – for the record, it doesn’t successfully convey anything of the kind. Nevertheless, the silly semi-sculptural installation, the willowy inanity negate any attempt at appreciation. This wouldn’t sell at a Scientology benefit auction and contributes nothing of worth to this show. With a diverse range of artists on display, make a quick mental tally of styles as you’ll find no help from the gallery material. I counted roughly four phases; there’s British Pop, 1960s Conceptual art, neo-Conceptualists of the 1990s and some contemporary video art. Each generation, as one would expect, has their own valuations of cinema. The neo-Conceptualists have a better time deconstructing film, attacking codes and ideologies, while the Pop artists are adoring cinemagoers, their big screen a limitless silver sky of stars and starlets.

Venice Kimono 2012 Anthea Hamilton

Culled from the heyday of British Pop, the simple but subtly dense patterning of Eduardo Paolozzi’s Wittgenstein at the Cinema Admires Betty Grable (1965) at least offers a sense of the spellbound moviegoer. Notes at the base reveal how the great philosopher loved to relax after lectures by watching the latest Hollywood flicks – Betty Grable and her $1 million insured legs being a personal favourite. As a collagist and printer, Paolozzi demonstrates a brilliant ability to suggest shadow and depth by changing the angular grain of his patterns. There’s no real way of identifying familiar shapes, the sinuous outlines resemble cartoons – a mouse’s head, an oversized gun – and yet the effect is entirely serious. The visceral rush of sitting in front of moving images comes across. Nothing else in the exhibition conveys this.

So what other cross currents and themes do we get? Let’s try the all-important photographic element of film. Movies are montage, and transitioning from one still requires the director to be a manipulator. Hard proof of this malevolent magic was discovered over a century ago in a simple experiment later known as the Kuleshov effect. With Milgramesque glee, Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov showed a test audience six shots; the pattern was one of matinee idol Ivan Mosjoukine’s inscrutable face followed by a random scene or object, this sequence being repeated three times. The objects were a plate of soup, a girl in a coffin, a woman on divan. Secretly, Kuleshov used the exact same image of Mosjoukine every time, and yet the audience was convinced that his reactions were related to the stimulus supposedly situated in front of him. In short, proof that directors and editors wield mighty powers of selection.

“The movie itself is no longer with us but the photographs were salvaged and turned into a Dadaist photobook”

This haunts two pieces, one a series of photographs from a lost Polish film called Europa made in 1932 by artists Franciszka and Stefan Thernerson. The movie itself is no longer with us but the photographs were salvaged and turned into a Dadaist photobook, some pages of which appear here. The final one of naked upper waist, loaf of bread and face front lit in darkness in a vertical strip is almost identikit Kuleshov, but as we don’t have any real context the meaning is lost. The montage comes off as a piece of derivative Dadaism, when I’m sure the original movie, apparently about the rise of nationalism in Europe, wasn’t in the slightest.

Another draft of Kuleshov is found in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Red Snow (from Screen portfolio) made up of two photographs, one of an intense bearded man looming, shot from beneath, another of a woman lying dead-eyed in the snow. Numerous possibilities foment in the form of accusations: what has he done, what does he intend to do, etc. Of course the images are unrelated and like Kuleshov’s dogs we rush in to provide an interrelated meaning. The images are not scaled to one another or even positionally related on the canvas, and the deliberate misplacement, the apparent editorial carelessness spotlights the visual masterminding of a director very well; it’s a minor but interesting work.

If some artists wallow in the medium, others are trying to break down the notion of ‘studio’ cinema. Yet only the gallery text revealed to me what Fiona Banner’s The Desert (1994) is attempting to achieve. The work is beyond facile. The Desert consists of a written retelling, all in plodding third person, of the entire plot and dialogue of David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia – that’s the whole 3 hours and 48 minutes. The wall text tells us that she has bravely included the word ‘wog’, a reminder of the residual racism of certain of the movie’s screenwriting and casting choices. It’s puzzling why anyone would stand in front of such an asinine attempt to capture the pace of film. Strangely, our captioner doesn’t blanch at the prospect of telling us that Banner has set up her own press so she can publish her work between covers, one of which is THE NAM, a 1000 page pseudo-transcript of a handful of Vietnam war films. The imprint’s name? The Vanity Press.

House of Women, 2017 (production still), Michelle Williams Gamaker

Disappointments continue in the House of Women, a 16mm film by Michelle Williams Gamaker. British cinema is under scrutiny again, though a little more effectively this time. The film is a series of short interview/auditions with first-generation British Asian women. The premise is that they’re trying out for the role of dancing girl Kanchi in Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus, a part with all the nauseatingly problematic casting of a bygone era. Originally taken up by a white actress, Jean Simmons, Gamaker is out to show how this choice and lines from the script reveal the arrant subservience and colonial arrogance beneath the movie. At first we get a series of brilliant interviews about expat life, the anxieties of acculturation and all the smart, quiet anger of women fighting against misrepresentation. Sadly, this tapers off into a needless experiment with lighting and a read-through oration that does nothing to contrast the living stories of the three actors against the original. You have to search independently to see Simmons’ embarrassing portrayal, and the rich details of recalled heritage fade away as the enterprise exhausts itself.

Elsewhere we get a vaguely amusing slow motion film by famed video artist Bill Viola, a crazed rap animation called A Nightmare of BAME Street, a handful of screenprints. By far the most resonant work is The End/Untitled, series by Mario Rossi. There are five paintings showing the final shot, literally ‘The End’ still, of movies like Psycho, True Grit and Madame X. Lushly painted in the centre of the canvas, the textual cue provides a vivid centre against the backgrounds that are painted in the same fashion as Gerhard Richter’s blurred portraits. Rossi is playing with deep focus cinematography, illustrating how old films ended by literally deteriorating the quality of the image. Part of a series of more than a hundred final still canvases, usually hung by stacking them on top of each other like a multi-screen, more of these would have been welcome.

Emerging from the cutting room of this exhibition are some half-formed ideas, most of them old hat. Examination of montage and seeing how art, especially painting and screenprint, can capture the kinetic field of the cinema screen has been done many times over – the debates are older than old man Kuleshov. At least for clarity of purpose, the clickbait crowd have beaten the galleries this time.

Ashley McGovern

As seen on screen: Art and Cinema continues at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, until 18 August 2019

Images, from top: The End/Untitled series 1996-2000 Mario Rossi, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist; Venice Kimono 2012 Anthea Hamilton, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist; House of Women, 2017 (production still), Michelle Williams Gamaker, Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Courtesy of the artist and Tintype, London

Posted on 27/06/2019 by thedoublenegative


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Forest Choice

Forest Choice: A Review

My pencil blends in with my desk...good photography!

My pencil blends in with my desk...good photography!

The Forest Choice pencil is a fine pencil. Yes it looks a bit drab and there is nothing especially interesting about it, but it writes good.

I had heard about the Forest Choice pencil before but I only came across it from the Palomino Collection Pack I bought at Since buying the collection pack this pencil has been the one I have used the most despite its less than impressive appearance.

So some of the specific boring stuff:

This is a HB pencil (or #2 pencil if you are American). Basically nothing special, this is a standard pencil

This pencil is a Forest Stewardship Council Certified pencil which basically means this pencil is made from natural resources

This pen feels really nice to hold. It has been finished well so you aren't getting any rough feeling from the natural pencil barrel. Its really light too, which is more than likely due to the ferrule and rubber (eraser to my American friends) not being too big.

I really like the splash of green you get on the ferrule. It makes the pencil look a bit more interesting and matches the writing on the pencil barrel.

Green ferrule, green writing and a pink rubber (stop sniggering)

Green ferrule, green writing and a pink rubber (stop sniggering)

Another shot of the pink rubber

Another shot of the pink rubber

Now I am not expert here this is just my honest opinion, but the graphite on this pencil is something that I really like. My pet peeve is a dark line that smudges when you close a notebook or where you end up marking it with your hand. I find with the Forest Choice pencil that you don't need to sharpen it all the time to keep a nice crisp line and a sharp point.  This can be a pain in the arse if you're on the move, I don't want to carry a sharpener if I don't need to.

Pencil design - there is nothing wrong per say, and it's not a reason to discount this pencil....however I do wish it was a bolder colour. Kind of like the Golden Bear pencils. I know this goes against their sustainability ethics but I would like it a bit more.

The pencil includes the Forest Choice website on the barrel which is helpful and naturally makes you want to take a look at their website. I wouldn't bother, their website is utter crap. There is nothing there apart from some basic information about the company. Obviously this does't make any difference to the pencils writing style or my love for it, BUT if you are going to include the website on your pencils at least make it look like it has seen some attention from someone in the last ten years.

My first hand written review

My first hand written review

As a pencil goes, and I am really no expert here, I am a big fan of the Forest Choice pencil.

Rating: 5 / 5 - This is the first 5 / 5 review on my blog and it goes to a pencil. Who would have thought?

If you need a review for people who really know what they are talking about you should read these blogs:

Pencil Revolution


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modern lounge chairs

by | Filed under | Short URL for this post: http://www.thehomespun.com/?p=2414
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modern lounge chairs

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