Friday, August 28, 2009

like birds to St. Francis's shoulders..


I have the most remarkable story of pure destiny, a serendipity like occurance. It's about meeting someone you were suppose to meet and meeting them half way across the world, in the most unlikely circumstances. It may be unknown why I was suppose to meet this person, but "necessity knows no magic formulae-they are all left to chance. If a love is to be unforgetable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi's shoulders.."


I'm reading "the Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera and it is about this. Here is an except. It's lovely..


After Tomas had returned to Prague from Zurich, he began to feel uneasy at the thought that his acquaintance with Tereza was the result of six improbable fortuities.

But is not an event in fact more significant and noteworthy the greater the number of fortuities necessary to bring it about?

Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us. We read its message much as gypsies read the images left by coffee grounds at the bottom of a cup.

Tomas appeared to Tereza in a hotel restaurant as chance in the absolute. There he sat, poring over an open book, when suddenly he raised his eyes to her, smiled, and said,

"A cognac, please."

At that moment, the radio happened to be playing music. On her way behind the counter to pour the cognac, Tereza turned the volume up. She recognized Beethoven. She had known his music from the time a string quartet from Prague had visited their town. Tereza (who, as we know, yearned for "something higher") went to the concert. The hall was nearly empty. The only other people in the audience were the local pharmacist and his wife. And although the quartet of musicians on stage faced only a trio of spectators down below, they were kind enough not to cancel the concert, and give a private performance of the last three Beethoven quartets.

Then the pharmacist invited the musicians to dinner and asked the girl in the audience to come along with them. From then on, Beethoven came to her image of the world on the other side, the world she yeared for. Rounding the corner with Tomas's cognac, she tried to read chance's message: How was it possible that at the very moment she was taking an order of cognac to a stranger she found attractive, at that very moment to hear Beethoven?

Necessity knows no magic formulae- they are all lef to chance. If a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi's shoulders.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Week in pictures..

Today was my mom's birthday, we celebrated with a family picnic at the park. My grandma made this delicious chocolate cake that resembles a big Simpsons donut. Gotta love sprinkles..



I've been making vinyl wallets lately, mostly from CD inserts and maps. This one with the guns is from a Distillers album, and the back is Bouncing Souls.



Birds the word at Preusses. I totally fell in love with a pair of lovebirds. If I can find the perfect retro birdcage, they may soon be mine..



Breakfast with friends at Golden Harvest. This is my monstrous strawberry waffle, a little ridiculous. The food, service, and atmosphere at this place is eclectic, unique and full of love








Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Finding the gems Lansing, MI

So Lansing isn't nearly as exciting as most places, so we have to cherish the few places that make it somewhat unique. It's been my quest since returning from overseas, and being spoiled by spending a good amount of time in a truly one of a kind city (Tel Aviv) that I find what I can love, or like, about Lansing. So I am beginning to compile a list of cafes/shops/bars/venues/etc that can get us out of the rut of the Applebees/"Biggby"/Malls/Walmarty major corporation cycle and into supporting small and local business. I'll be putting up more as I find them!