watched that romantic period film in which john keats falls in love then dies.
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art-- Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round earth's human shores, Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-- No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast, To feel for ever its soft fall and swell, Awake for ever in a sweet unrest, Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, And so live ever--or else swoon to death.
Kate's birthday gift arrived, at last. ...in the form of these images ...of a message that I sent to her via a few palestinian graffiti artists ...written on the wall that divides Palestine from Israel
This is who they are.
Pay 30 Euros (around $45) to Send a Message and a group of Palestinians will spray paint your personal message on the security wall that closes off the West Bank. According to the website, the Palestinians want to show people beyond their cement borders that “We are human beings, just like you, with sense of humor and lust for life.” Most of the funds go to supporting various Palestinian youth projects, with the remainder covering Send a Message's expenses.
Beyond the news stories, the violence, and struggle for home and identity - there are actual human lives obscured on a day to day basis by the complex and ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Nearly 400 miles of fence and wall divide families and destroy the businesses/livelihood of Palestinians. The wall segregates an entire population leaving them without sovereignty, without citizenship and without many rights that you or I would consider basic. As Send a Message explains, "the Wall won't fall just because your text is written on it... But your message reminds Palestinians trapped inside the Wall they have not been forgotten."
While the project, which was developed in a Ramallah workshop by Dutch advertising professionals and Palestinian youths, might appear a bit flimsy or commercial or even exploitational, I think that the levity is message is right on target: Something good can come from this conflict, something that does more than make you throw up your hands in frustration.
I do realize just how complex the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is. I know that all parties involved, including the United States, have made more than their fair share of tragic missteps and mistakes despite even the most righteous of intentions. And I see that at this point justice has become so clouded by distrust, hate and misunderstanding that peace might seem impossible to many people. And I don't want to sound like a jackass speaking knowingly on an issue that I'm relatively new to in terms of reading and research, but, Send a Message is a simple thing. It is a beautiful and creative way to call attention to a global issue, engage young people, and communicate thoughts of peace and encouragement in a time of great difficulty.
So, considering everything I can about something so much bigger and older than myself, I'm down with the simplicity and goodness of this one small thing. Who knows? Maybe it will add up to something big and wonderful one day. Why not hope a little, since that's what this is about.
What about you? Share your thoughts. I'm interested to know how other people feel about the Send a Message project.
Video: A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head, Andrew Bird He's one of my very very favorites. See him tonight at the Variety Playhouse in L5P, Atlanta. It's Kelsey's 18th Birthday!!!
spoiler alert!: (this is what I got her.) from Melabo at Etsy.
It's the end of August - time to start my holiday shopping... Can I call them miX-mas tapes? No? Yeah, that's retarded.
I am actually making a mix tape to send to a friend far away. I kinda love these sleeves on etsy. Nothing to go crazy about, but if you are going to go crazy spending hours perfecting a mix-tape, you might as deliver it in style. sleeve by amatodesgin at Etsy
My far away friend is also getting a hand-made postcard. Ingredients: blank watercolor postcard, wheat paste, embroidery thread, and this... I'll post a picture of the end product, and hopefully promises will lead me out of procrastination.
image from Home and Garden photography archives
MIXT, an art show revolving around the mixtape, features over 25 artists, including my dear friend Margaret Wright opened and auctioned itself off last weekend at the MINT gallery.
A stream of mash-ups from mashuptown.com Rehab (Can't Help Myself) is my fave. I'm a sucker for motown.
an end note on mixtapes, thanks to Germon over at thoughtmarker
"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules." -Rob, High Fidelity
