Leather Shoes

_____This is the very first thing I wrote on my "Leather Boots" project last year in creative writing. I didn't find it until now when I was going through a notebook that I've been doing another project in...

The desert is where it is soft and familiar.
Out among the trees and chill, the desert is tough and unyielding.
I walk through the rocks and I trudge through the mud. The desert is thirsty,
but through all of the cracks of wear, the water runs too quickly.
I was thankful I had found the desert again before I left.
For a long time, it had lain hidden beneath canvas.
Beneath plastic and rubber, and beneath dark cotton and polyester.
I found it in a cardboard box wrapped in thin woven strings.
The desert warmed as it sat in the sunny warmth by a blue and red fire.
Light flickers a hazy hot orange around the edges, and brown shadows hide cool air.
Singing raises and lowers the moon. The desert's land laughs, softly trembling with the strings of a late-night guitar.
The player looks up to the stars, and the voice from deep inside fades with time.
Canvas zippers close. The moon lowers.
The desert is left outside while the world sleeps.
When the birds come back again, the desert will see the world.

_____Now that I've finished the class, I can see many things that if I were to completely re-do it again, I would change, especially the blatant describing of things - "Light flickers a hazy hot orange..." But even though this is one of the first projects I did in that class, I'm actually quite happy with it. I like the ideas put in this more than my final "Leather Boots", even if my writing is... odd.

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." Victor Hugo

_____As I begin typing this, it is almost midnight, and Mom told me to go to bed half an hour ago... but I've been listening to beautiful music. It's been a while since I listened to any of this, but... it's just lovely, so I thought I'd share.
_____"Follow the Map" Mono
_____"If I Could See You Again" Yiruma
_____"Lunar Voyage" Jeremiah Pena
_____"When the Love Falls" Yiruma
_____"Exurgency" Zoe Keating
_____"Wonderful" Jeremiah Pena
_____"Basic Endeavor" Jeremiah Pena
_____ "Wagon Wheel" Tyler Herrin (Old Crow Medicine Show cover) - For me, this song means a lot. It's my whole growing up listening to people play this and everyone joining in to sing around the campfire.
_____The sound of rain
_____"Scarborough Fair" Celtic Lady

On Concepts and Shots

_____I've really been wanting to start a new project for a little while now. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do, but I've been finding things in my basement, and my dad's been giving me stuff he finds cleaning out the garage to work with. A 1975 National Geographic book, Song and Garden Birds of North America, and some maps of northern Utah that my dad must have gotten at Deseret Industries years ago. I don't really have a clear concept in my mind of what I want to do with these things... but I know that I want to do something, so I'd say that I have my start!
_____Also, I've been obsessed with Flickr for the past while, and can spend hours looking through photo streams. My favorites have been Karrah Kobus and Alex Stoddard, who both have photos that are unbelievably beautiful to me. It's always interesting to just go through them and read what the person thinks about their own work, because many believe that they're not filling their potential, but they still produce something that can truly be appreciated. It's fun to watch as people grow.
_____Over this summer I want to work out how to take even decent photos. I'm hoping I'll find myself dedicating some of my time to that! I also want to learn how to use my dad's old 80's film camera, and that should be some fun. Until then, I'll always be looking at Flickr! The Library of Congress's photos are always fantastic to look at just to see a glimpse of the past!