Simon and Garfunkel's song "The sound of silence" makes a beautiful comparison to our ever eroding culture. The song depicts a dream in which a man watches ten thousand people worship "the neon god they made", referencing our societies obsession with money and fame as well as the corruption of values. The song describes the power we give to the media, and the the silent power the media has over us, "people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening". The rest is pretty self explanatory.

I often wonder how much I make a religion out of consumerism without even realizing it. How much I am actually saying, and who I am supporting without ever opening my mouth. Sadly, it is not always enough even when I do realize- 

" And no one dared disturb the sound of silence"

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
Beneath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools," said I, "you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed 
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the signs said the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence 

(This one is for you Madi)

This is a rendition of Edgar Allan Poe's literature, The Raven, done by the 1980's Allan Parsons Project- Needless to say, Poe's dark ideas are Halloween worthy. 
Enjoy:)

Right now I am in love with the work of an artist named Brian Kershisnik. I love the expression, movement, and color in his paintings and most of all the subtle things he paints about. I was in Brown Stone Gallery the other day, where I am getting a painting, done by my good friend Dallas framed (check her out HERE she is amazing!) and I saw a painting by him called "Dancing on a Very Small Island"

                                                   (This small picture doesn't do it justice)
I instantly knew that I HAD TO HAVE this picture in my house- I just love it so much and to my luck, they even have layaway set up- which I figured would make the whole idea much more appealing to Chris. Lastly I brought Chris in to get his approval, and so you don't get the wrong idea about him- I'm going to preface this next part by saying that Chris is very art savvy- and much more creative than I am. 


First thing he said: "The guy on the far right looks like something out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre". 


After that remark, I decided it was time to leave the gallery.

(SIGH) I just haven't been able to look at it the same way since.


Setting my sights on some of his other amazing work, Enjoy:

There is no better way to bring on Halloween than with the Danse Macabre by St. Saens. Danse Macabre basically means the "Dance of Death" or to dance with the dead. The song is about the one night the dead are allowed to come out and dance in the darkness among the graves and the music is marvelous. I actually first heard this piece when I was tutoring first graders a couple years ago. Their music instructor roughly choreographed a little dance for them which demonstrated the interpretation of the piece perfectly and if you listen closely, you can hear the skeletons and then the ghosts and lastly the beckon at dawn for the sleep awaiting them in the graveyard. 


Basically, you're going to need to plug this in to your speakers and blast it for the full effect.
Happy Halloween!

When I was little, I used to build little sanctuaries in the bushes for fairies and elves. I went into great detail, structuring the homes with twigs and string, and then, filling in the holes with mud, which was very clay like where we lived. The roofs were moss, and if it was a good home, I would try to make a little stone walk way for the entry. I remember trying really hard to think of what a fairy or elf might want to eat, and left welcoming gifts like berries and really small morsels of random foods inside the little houses. At recess, I even did this on the school ground, if I could find a special spot where elves and fairies might want to live (the sprinklers ruined this plan). My mom, who since I can remember, would collect moss, and bird eggs, four leaf clovers, and even planted a little fairy ring in the middle of our lawn one year, was pretty much the only who thought it was cool (besides small rodents and birds). She even loves to find random mushrooms growing in the lawn, or anywhere. Cirac doesn't mind my fairy seeking habits, he even puts up with my little orange garden gnome (love him). Luckily he has the greenest of thumbs and can build ANYTHING so we can live in a magical little place like this- someday.....

So about 6 months ago Chris and I bought a T.V. (finally). At first the plan was just to watch dvd's, but Cirac of course found a way around THAT one and somehow connected our cable to the neighbors. That lasted for a good month- Cable company wasn't down with our fiendish ways I guess, and since I just can't justify paying for cable, it was back to Red Box, and I have to say: those were some good times.
Here's the Thing:
Red Box didn't sustain us for long (lets be honest, there's like the same 10 movies to pick from every week and all the new ones are always checked out) so pretty soon, it was just Chris, Molly, And I. Nothing else to fill up that small and precious gap that we have after working for the man from 9-5, except each other. And as contrived as this whole thing might sound, without the noise filling up the small moments we rarely have in this OUT OF CONTROL fast paced world we have to survive in, I started feeling like I was in some sort of...60's  sitcom like the Wonder Years or something, except it was AWESOME. I'm talking: HOMEMADE dinner (yes folks, I cook now), evening walks, playing fetch with Molly at the park, among other things...all the good stuff that MTV's "16 and pregnant" was taking away. 
For the record, I don't miss T.V. one bit (not even DAWG the Bounty Hunter).
 3 1/2 months so far!!!! 


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