Timelessness

23 October 2011 | 9 Comments

I’ve just seen a time-lapse video made by photographer Dustin Farrell so beautiful that I cannot bear to embed it here and make it small. So instead I will send you to Vimeo where you can see it in HD and full screen, which I highly recommend.

It will take Far Too Long to load in Vimeo. Please embrace the delay. Go out for coffee, or something. It’ll be worth it.

Just magnificent. All the things I love about the west, how it makes me feel so big inside… and the time-lapse gives it a sense of timelessness that I can’t articulate but really respond to. Must think about this.

Enjoy your day.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog

To life

11 September 2011 | 5 Comments

I was utterly determined not to blog about the 9/11 anniversary, especially since I’ve been so long absent from my own blog that returning to talk of other people’s pain seemed…. Well. It seemed unseemly. And so I will talk instead of how deeply touched I am by the National September 11 Memorial that was unveiled today at the site of the World Trade Towers.

Click the photo to see the entire slideshow.

The thing about these photos that makes me weep is not the images of the families, although they are powerful and evocative. No, it’s the captions and what they taught me about the design of the memorial. It’s so thoughtful. It’s all about human things. The sound of ever-flowing water is designed to be a comfort to visitors. The names of the dead are arranged in affinity groups — co-workers, friends, remembered together. The pools are deep and wide, like life. There is room for everyone.

I don’t particularly want a grave. I don’t need there to be a place where the last of me lies, where people can visit. But when Nicola and I go to the park, we sit on a bench that someone paid for in memory of a loved one. We look out at the water and the sky, and we talk about life. That bench gives us comfort, and perspective, and a place to acknowledge the beauty of the world. And around the bench, life goes on.

Here’s to life.

Nicola took this photo from the bench.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog

CW 29: Wings

17 July 2011 | 2 Comments

I wrote this today as part of my commitment to the Clarion West Write-a-thon. A dedication means that person sponsored it by donating to CW, and then provided me a writing prompt that sparked the piece. If you would like something written especially for you, please consider sponsoring me.

Here’s all the work of the 41 days. You’ll also find these pieces cross-posted at Sterling Editing as incentive for writers to practice their editing and story-building skills.

Enjoy.

Wings

For Anne Sneideris, with love.

Another bad day at school. Bruises under Nora’s clothes, and a heavy sodden panic in her chest that made it hard to lift her head or think, or even breathe. Like when Mrs. Morrison erased the board before Nora understood something, and then it showed up on a quiz. Maybe that’s what happened. Maybe one day Mrs. Morrison put on the board what kids were supposed to do to make their parents not hurt them, and Nora missed it, and now she couldn’t pass the test.

Today she gave the wrong answers the first two times Mrs. Morrison called on her. The third time, she just stared at her desk. All the other girls giggled, until Mrs. Morrison said in a sharp voice, “Very well, Laura Lipton, when you’re quite done tittering, you have a go.” And Laura didn’t know the answer either.

Out in the corridor after class, Laura said in a vicious whisper, “You’re stupid,” and pinched Nora hard through her shirt. Another sore place. Another bruise. The panic in Nora’s chest was heavier now, choking, like yesterday… she didn’t want to think about that. She kept her head down and went to her history class.

At recess, she stood pressed against the iron fence that kept kids from wandering off the bluff and down to the rooftops below. She liked to come here these last few weeks, even in the rain. She liked to watch the blackbirds swoop over the bracken and then fly away. It made her chest feel lighter for a minute or two.

“Hello, Nora,” said a voice, and Mrs. Morrison stepped up beside her, hugging a cardigan around her shoulders. “Birdwatching?”

Nora nodded without turning her head.

“Birds are lovely,” the teacher said.

“Yes,” Nora said, and couldn’t hold back the single tear that spilled from her eye down her cheek.

“Do you know, when I was about your age, birds taught me to fly?” Mrs. Morrison said. Now Nora looked at her, and the weight in her chest was the worst ever, because if Mrs. Morrison was making fun of her it would break Nora’s heart. It would be even worse than the pinching, or whatever might be waiting for her at home.

“I was very sad,” the teacher said, “about something that happened. And I came out to this very fence and watched the birds, just like you. Then I picked one special bird, and I imagined what it was like to be right inside of it, flying up in the sky. Can you do that?”

Nora chewed on her lip. And then, because it was Mrs. Morrison, she tried. She imagined herself in the air, her arms spread like wings. But that would never work. She was too heavy to fly.

She began to shake her head, but Mrs. Morrison said, “Imagine, Nora. There we are, you and me, blackbirds up in the sky looking down on these two peculiar creatures on the ground. Can you see us?”

And then, “Oh!” Nora said, because now she understood. It was like yesterday being held down in the bathtub until she felt wet and heavy all through, and then she wasn’t in her body any longer, she was up on the ceiling watching and it didn’t hurt anymore. Oh….

And spang! there she was, up in the sky looking down at her own tear-smudged face lit up with wonder, watching Mrs. Morrison crouch and put an arm around her, hearing as if from far away the teacher saying, Well done, Nora, well done. Now, would you like to tell me what’s making you so sad? And Nora would try in a minute, she would try, but right now she was stretching her wings, she was wheeling away, she was heading for the open sky.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog, cw, writing

Here’s to standing up

25 May 2011 | 2 Comments

A while back, I posted a video of the ABC special show What Would You Do? staging a scene of discrimination against a Muslim woman to see how people would react. It made me cry and I wanted to share it, and it made me hope aloud (in internet terms, and over beer with Nicola) that I would do the right thing and stand up for others.

The same show went to Texas to see whether folks there would react to a gay family experiencing discrimination in a restaurant. This one made me cry too, and it gives me hope that if I need it, other people might stand up for me. Especially, it turns out, people in Texas. Texas may be one of 26 states where LGBT people can be refused service (which I did not know and makes me want to shriek!), but the people in this restaurant are not some faceless homophobic state statute, and I hereby apologize for every offhand dismissive generalization I have made about their state. I should know better, honestly, and it is just too fucking easy to paint in broad strokes. When I see things like this video, I remember to get out my finer brushes.

Enjoy your day.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, life

So much for deadlines!

17 May 2011 | 12 Comments

Deadlines? A thing of the past. Unless you are packing for the Rapture, in which case you had best get your skates on. Because apparently the Rapture is coming this Saturday!

Potential offense warning to readers: I support your right to worship any way you choose, but this is my little corner of the internet and I think the Rapture is a deeply silly concept.

For those of you who are still here: do go read the article and give a psychic hug through the ether to the Seattle Atheists who are collecting Rapture Relief Funds for those of us who will be left behind in the “horror and chaos” that will precede the official End of the World (on October 21). And look what they are going to do with the funds if the Rapture doesn’t happen…. is that the Best Idea Evah or what?

Sometimes I just love people.

Enjoy your day.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog

Another one of those great videos…

1 December 2010 | 2 Comments

I’ve posted these before — the fantastic public-space songfests that T-Mobile sponsors around the world (and yep, they deserve that plug from me, I’ve had a lot of pleasure from these videos). Here’s the latest, from Heathrow airport. The really cool thing is realizing that no instruments are used: humans are the orchestra as well as the voice.

And, if you want a peek behind the curtain, here’s a lovely “Making Of” video that makes me feel even better about people and the things we do for each other sometimes…

Enjoy your day.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog

The creative tango

15 November 2010 | 1 Comment

In September, Slate Magazine ran a fascinating series of articles by Joshua Wolf Shenk examining the dynamics of creative relationships. I’ve been reading them over and over: they speak to me very deeply of my own experience with both Nicola and my screenwriting work. I have been having conversations in my head with Shenk and planning blog posts, but you know, I keep finding more internal paths to follow, more thinking to do, and so this is a long way of telling you I got nothin’ (big smile to everyone on the internet).

Or perhaps it’s better to say that I’ve got so much, so deep, that I am not sure what to share or where to start. There’s something in these ideas that feels so essential to me, so defining…. I have been, at times, one of the most solitary people I know. I value my singularity, my individuality, my autonomy, the particularity of my vision, all that precious me me me stuff that artists get to acknowledge publicly to an extent that other people aren’t always allowed. But I know that my writing — my core identity — would not be what it is without my creative relationships. Me you me you me me me…

If you’re interested, go take a look. Start here, and then follow the links through to Shenk’s analysis of the Lennon/McCartney relationship (both parts). Let me know what you think.

And enjoy your day. In spite of rain and the vagaries of life, I’m enjoying mine.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog, screenwriting, writing

What would you do?

27 August 2010 | 6 Comments

This made me cry today.

The context is that ABC Primetime set up an experiment in how Americans are responding to prejudice. Do watch it all the way through; there are some amazing moments.

(click though here if the embedded link doesn’t work; YouTube’s being unpredictable).

Of all my many fears, one of the greatest is that my courage will fail me when I need it, or when someone else does.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog, life

In defense of raccoons

3 March 2010 | 5 Comments

Hi!

I respectfully disagree with the posts here about the raccoons. They can be nice and sweet and they are obviously cute. The lady in Florida who was attacked by a family of raccoons “attacked” first… She went outside with a broom and started to hit them, I think any animal, specially one with babies with them would have done the same, just to protect themselves.

I have been feeding a small female in my backyard. She is the sweetest thing, 4 nights ago she brought 3 babies for me to meet, the cutest thing. She lets me get near her, she has never showed any aggression.

Respectful disagreement is never a problem here. Thanks for taking the time to write.

There is a reason the Park Service says Don’t feed the bears. But I sincerely hope it all works out for you, and am glad you are enjoying it.

Posted by Kelley | Filed Under being human, blog

The view from here

4 January 2010 | 1 Comment

Happy new year. I for one am deeply relieved to see the back of 2009, and am feeling many good things about 2010 — excited, determined, engaged, and something that’s about… hmm, about being lined up inside. About moving towards myself instead of away.

Personal perspective is a good thing. But sometimes I like to get a little bit outside myself. And so here’s a look at life from a place that’s a little bigger than me. Or maybe it’s not: maybe being human is the possibility of being as vast and beautiful inside ourselves as the infinite space where we live.