F. Scott Fitzgerald Giveaway
A few months ago I found these brilliant art prints on Etsy that paired striking illustrations with an impressive list of eloquent quotes and now I get to offer one of Obvious State‘s creations as a giveaway in honour of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
What is Included in the Giveaway:
One participant will win one unframed F. Scott Fitzgerald Quote Art Print. The winner gets to choose between two Fitzgerald prints created by Obvious State.
Wear the Gold Hat
In keeping with Great Gatsby week, here’s a Gatsby-inspired travel moment.
The Lingering Power of Poetry
Back in May of 2007, I went to Europe for a month to visit a few friends. Starting in Spain, I spent a week with Kate & André and then, randomly decided to spend 36 hours in Basel, Switzerland before heading to Germany to see Taryn.
Poems of Spring
oh spring! | Kansas City, MO 2010
Poetry lends itself to nature — its subtlety, simplicity, and attention to detail exemplify the visual it describes — so, it’s not surprising to find that many spring quotes come from poems of spring or that poets can’t help but put their pen to paper in homage to spring.
Oh to experience what Langston Hughes captured so well: I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.
Spring Again
spring begins to show her face | Lawrence, KS 2008
As Rilke so aptly wrote:
It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.
Spring is Coming
crocus & hyacinth in my garden | Kansas City, KS 2013
crocus & hyacinth in my garden | Kansas City, KS 2013
In the Midwest, spring rarely lines up with the calendar. I was thrilled when my crocus came up this year and weren’t thwarted even after their tender buds were buried twice under a pile of snow. My hyacinths and tulips started their upward climb through the dirt and have thus far survived the temperatures dropping back down to winter-levels. Even though the forecast of snow this week makes me grumble a bit, just seeing their green leaves sticking out reminds me that winter will not last forever – spring is coming.
To gird up my outlook, I went in search of spring quotes and thought I’d share a few that seem fitting for this early stage of the season — the barely hinted at spring.
Quotes from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
out of the rock, a tree | Estes Park, CO 2008
I know this is not a tree growing in Brooklyn, nor is it even Francie’s Tree of Heaven variety, but when searching through my Flickr images for the right photograph I found this little gal, (yes, I personify trees) and she has the same gumption as the tree on page one of Francie’s story. Out of a rock, she grows. Towered over by others, but not afraid. Green and growing despite her meager starting place. I imagine Francie as an old woman, visiting Colorado as part of her life’s goal to see everything, and stopping at this spot, because of this little tree. She sits on the stone and rests her hand gently near the little green branches. And she smiles as she remembers.
If you needed more than three reasons to read Betty Smith’s classic coming-of-age story, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, or you just want to reminisce why you also love it, here are a few of my favourite quotes.
Quotes on Hope
together in the dreary cold | Kansas City 2009
Been thinking about hope the past few days, so wanted to share a few quotes on hope from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and George Iles, that I found in my quote archives. (Seeing the quote from Lamott’s book reminded me that I definitely need to get back to reading it — and finally finishing!)
Happy hope-filled Friday everyone! Just think how much closer we are to Spring!
Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes about Love
In honour of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and in response to today’s {monday melodies} post, I wanted to share a few of my favourite quotes about love, from MLK himself.
We all know his famous “I have a dream speech” but he was a man of more than one speech. I haven’t yet read through his other speeches or his autobiography, but I will add them to my list, because every time I come across a quote of his, I am impressed by his wisdom and kindness. I see a person to whom words matter because communication among people matters; and that is always a person worth reading.
Quotes from Shaw and Woolf
Photograph of George Bernard Shaw taken 1914. | Portrait of Virginia Woolf, painted by Roger Fry circa 1917.
Photograph of George Bernard Shaw (1914) | Portrait of Virginia Woolf by Roger Fry (1917)
After writing about George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf in this week’s {tuesday travels}, I wanted to salute their writings by sharing a few quotes.
I love looking for quotes, and find it especially pleasing when I come across one I’ve often heard, but didn’t know its source. My search for Shaw and Woolf quotes taught me that Shaw is often quoted, but not always attributed (seriously, how many times have you heard “Youth is wasted on the young”?); and, Woolf’s writing doesn’t lend itself as easily to quotes (her list of quotes was significantly shorter and less generally applicable than Shaw’s).
A New Year
A Year with Rilke translated & edited by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows | HarperCollins © 2009
Ah. 2013 stretches out so fresh and clean. As I begin the new year in England (for just a few days more), I am reminded of the first post I wrote on my other blog, everyday poetry, last June.
…and so it begins. And beginnings aren’t often beautiful or dramatic or clear-cut. Often, they overlap with endings or middles, all of them muddled together into a minty mess that is sometimes tasty and sometimes overpowering.