La Belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall!

I am in a situation and this poem comes to mind. Never thought I'd relate to this when I was studying it back in high school and making jokes about the pacing steed. Well, here we go:

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan

I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.

She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.

And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

***

I don't like hurting sensitive people.

Ceramic Adventures

It has been over a month since the challenge with Boogi. Well, we both decided to extend it for another month and meet up on Dec. 2 to share our pieces.

I started going to the Ceramic Art Studio in October, to the hand-building class. October was a particularly hectic and stressful month at work, with me handling some crazy projects, so the ceramics class was a great way to balance that and get my mind off of work.

In total I made 9 pieces last month, but totally in the glazing process. I think it was mainly because of lack of experience, that I had close to no idea of how the final product would look like, how the glazes would react with one another, how thick I should apply it etc. Even with the surface, I was a little hesitant to experiment with decorations and textures. I just wanted to make basic, simple basic shapes.

Alright, enough talking, let's got on with the pictures.

1. Brainstorming (Ideas)

2. Pieces before firing.

3. Pieces after first firing.

4. Final pieces.

 - Free molded cup. My favorite piece, if only the glaze had turned out good.

- Ger jewelry case. I painted the rope parts and the door with acrylic. You little wobbly looking thing. I will work on the upgrade of this piece.

 - Thumbprint mug. Just wanted to try out a basic shape.

 

 - Pentagon base cup, with triangular handle. Loved the shape, but the total mess of a glaze that looks like baby poop.

 - Free molded pot. Professional photography is an amazing thing.

 - My candelabra/jewelry holder/flower vase.

Month one was a good learning experience and now in my second month, I am interested in working with different textures, how the glaze will turn out on them and also sculptures.

Domestic Friday

This little corner here is where the homeless congregate, drunks drink, ferile kittens play and lovers meet. If a few days ago, the trees were swollen with golden leaves, their branches are now getting bare from one side.

I've been having terrible lower back pain since last night and so took today off from work. Despite the pain, it was nice spending a day at home.

For lunch, I decided to have a simple sandwich with eggs, cilantro and cucumber. This is the most perfectly intact omlette I've made in a long while.

Mmm... I want to have a little cilantro plant in my apartment. I would put it in everything.

And even though my lower back pain is probably my kidneys, I decided to have a nice, proper latte after my lunch. I've cut back on my coffee addiction (seriously, I used to drink 3-6 cups a day) and have it about once or twice a week. So this was my indulgence. The Twix and mint chocolate that came after is just something I have almost everyday. Gotta have my chocolate, hello-o?

Since I couldn't just lie on my back all day, I decided to do a bit of "winterization". Bringing out my sweaters and long underwear, and putting away my colorful, summer clothes. Last summer was so cold, I hardly got to wear them! All my winter clothes look so dark, heavy and gloomy. I definitely need to devise a plan on how to make counteract the impending cold and darkness. More on that later.

So, for a start, how is this for cold weather coziness? Aww...

Junk Envy

I have junk envy that is slowly turning into an obsession. This old, rusted metal stool has been sitting on this balcony for ages and I eye it every morning on my walk to work. I think I've been checking it out for the past few months, if not a year already. I know: creeper! So, since I am one, I went ahead and took a photo to document its junky, raw beauty.

Voila! Those long legs, all rusted and old. That tiny little octagon seat. The legs have a detail that I can't really describe... okay, I'll try. It's a three-legged stool, with each leg consisting of two rods that meet at the bottom. I have half-decided to just walk up to their door and ask to buy it. They obviously don't need it; it's been out on that balcony since forever!

Look, here's a similar piece:

(Source: Design Sponge)

Imagine the poor people who live in there, completely unaware that I'm so fixated on their little old stool. But hey, you know what they say, one man's junk is another chick's treasure!

Pretty

A perfectly imperfect flower from an early morning hike, dew intact.

Potatoes wanna potate, Creators wanna create!

My friend Boogi and I both finished the same design school, graduating in Fashion Design and Clothing Construction Design respectively. Now, we both have jobs completely unrelated to any kind of design.

In my case, I have a standard 0830-1700 clerical office job. Monotonous. And dulling. But hey, I have my monthly paycheck and I've been doing this for some time now. It has become a routine.

Yet still, if you have some kind of a background in art and/or design, you cannot suppress your inner need to create for long. Both Boogi and I have been yearning (nay, BURNING!) to create something tangible and hold it in our hands and say, "I made this. This is my work." So today, we finally decided to just start doing things and check back with each other in a month, to see what we have created and share our "products". Yay! Talk less, do more!

I'm digging this, a shout-out to Walt Whitman: Lana Del Rey - Body Electric

The music is beautiful, dark, slightly demented and very sensual. "Body Electric" is Lana del Rey's new album. I have to say, I really feel this girl. I think she is a real artist in that she creates an atmosphere with her work. My idea of perfection is when all (or at least three) of your senses are "assaulted" and they come together in this special, chemically balanced harmony to create a perfect moment.

With Lana del Rey, I think her persona, music and videos come together perfectly. To a point where you can almost smell the music and it picks at something inside, like you're walking down this dark alley you'd never noticed before but which, at the same, feels oddly familiar to you... Know what I mean? Do I sound like I'm tripping? Hey, that might be the effect of her songs.

Anyway, I'm glad I found this song because it brought me back to Walt Whitman, the big man, when honestly, I had pretty much walked away from poetry. An excerpt from "I Sing the Body Electric":

"The expression of the face balks account,

But the expression of a well-made man appears not only in his face,

It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in the joints of his hips and wrists,

It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck, the flex of his waist and knees, dress does not hide him,

The strong sweet quality he has strikes through the cotton and broadcloth,

To see him pass conveys as much as the best poem, perhaps more,

You linger to see his back, and the back of his neck and shoulder-side."