inklings + insight cookies

i suck at blogging.

franglaispanol — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:41:03 +0000

It’s okay. You can say it.

possibly my new favorite quote

franglaispanol — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:05:11 +0000

“Don’t underestimate the powers inside you that would have you flinch and convince you that you are doing the right thing.”

- Robert Olen Butler, From Where You Dream

from one of my favorite books

franglaispanol — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:16:53 +0000

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”

-Charles Dickens [A Tale of Two Cities]

franglaispanol — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:12:21 +0000

“Stay up late, keep your music loud, and make interesting choices.”

-Heather Sellers, my creative writing professor

[ http://heathersellers.com ]

today’s tidbits

franglaispanol — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:14:09 +0000

“Tell me and I’ll listen; show me and I’ll understand; involve me and I’ll learn.” -Lakota (Sioux) proverb

“You must always keep changing your process! Because there are two of you, one who wants to write and one who doesn’t. The one who wants to write has to keep fooling the one who doesn’t.” -Maria Irene Fornes (playwright)

for 2012

franglaispanol — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:39:53 +0000

I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions. Actually, I’m pretty sure I have never made New Year’s resolutions in my life. But 2012 will be different. I’m going to be graduating from college. I’ll hopefully be living in a new country by the end of the year. Both of those things mean I should probably get my life together. And to be honest, 2011 was pretty freakin’ sweet, so 2012 better bring its A-game if it wants to live up to its predecessor.

Thus the following resolutions:

-Shoot more [photos, that is]. My camera spends far too much time collecting dust and not nearly enough time in use. I did have something of an excuse – my old camera’s autofocus was strangely tempermental – but I’ve recently upgraded cameras, and I’m determined to put the thing to use. I’ll be doing a 365 project – one picture every day in 2012. Follow it here: http://kjh365.wordpress.com/

-Read more. I don’t feel nearly well-read enough for an English major. I’m going to shoot for one new book every month. I’m a fairly speedy reader, and despite what promises to be a hectic final semester of college, I don’t see any legitimate reason why I couldn’t meet that goal. [All I'd really need to do is take an hour of Internet time and devote it to reading instead...ho ho ho...]

-Write more. Again, I feel like a poser English major. Writing won’t be a problem this semester – I’m taking a 400-level creative writing course that will surely keep me busy – but the trick will be to continue writing post-college. Time to invest in some cool notebooks and pens.

-Cook more. I can’t live off of canned soup forever. I’m a major wannabe foodie – it’s time to remove the wannabe status! Realistically, I know that there will probably be days when I’ll hardly have time to eat, let alone cook. I’m going to start with the goal of cooking or baking one new dish per week. I’m basically addicted to trying new restaurants, reading food blogs, etc, so this should be fun!

-Exercise more. I don’t have an athletic bone in my body – I’ve been resigned to this for my whole life. But after hoofing it around Europe all summer, I could feel a big difference when I came home to a college campus that takes all of ten minutes to cross. I’m also inspired by my many running friends. It’s time to load up my iPod with workout music, buy a decent pair of running shoes, and hit the pavement. Goal: run a 5K by the end of the semester. [I think I can convince at least one of my flatmates to join me on this, so hopefully we can hold each other accountable!]

Maybe all of this is a little ambitious. [Not to mention the fact that I'm off to a great start - I slept for most of January 1, and my food intake consisted of toast, Czech chocolate cookies, Swiss chocolate, and potato chips. #leftoversnacksfromapartywithinternationalstudents] But I’m learning more and more that when it comes to, well, life, you’ve just gotta go for it.

Here’s to you, 2012. Show me what you’ve got.

analects

franglaispanol — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:40:59 +0000

“To learn, and at due times to practice what one has learned, is that not also a pleasure? To have friends come from afar, is that not also a joy? To go unrecognized, yet without being embittered, is that not also to be a noble person?”

“To learn without thinking is unavailing; to think without learning is dangerous.”

-Confucius

fight your way through

franglaispanol — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:23:13 +0000

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me … is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

-Ira Glass

^I don’t really know who this guy is, but his name is cool. And this is an interesting point. I find a lot of relevance in it – for my writing, my photography, my artwork [for my graphic novels class]. I agonize over everything and go in circles about how to make my work be great, to make it something of which I’m really super proud. But I don’t know that I’ve ever had a piece of any kind of work turn out beyond “pretty well” or make me feel more than “pretty good” about it. You know how you read or see other people’s work and you just go, “Wow“… I don’t feel like I’ve ever come up with anything worthy of such a reaction. And who doesn’t want that, right?

I’m not claiming to have impeccable taste or blaming my unhappiness with my work on said taste. My point is that agonizing over every piece only to be disappointed/frustrated can often lead to being afraid to even try – for me, at least. But giving up is infinitely worse than cranking out a bunch of “crappy” work…because how will you ever get anywhere if you don’t even try?

I think it’s easy to look at a masterpiece – whether it’s an amazing book, a breathtaking photograph, whatever – and assume that the artist was able to produce it without thinking, without effort. But authors don’t just sit down and automatically write a best-selling book in one draft. Photographers don’t create beautiful images by mindlessly clicking the shutter.

The bottom line here? Practice makes perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect. But better, anyway.

story of my life

franglaispanol — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:29:42 +0000

algo es algo

franglaispanol — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:30:22 +0000

“Algo es algo,” dijo el calvo al encontrar un peine

= “Something is better than nothing,” said the bald man upon finding a comb

I’ve always rather fancied the idea of blogging. I mean, I’m a creative writing major/language nerd/photographer[-ish]/Internet junkie. Blogging ought to be my thang.

I spent this past summer traveling and studying abroad, and I had thought that the venture would be the perfect excuse to start a blog. …Except then I ~~pretty much~~ completely failed at updating the blog regularly. Le oops. [If you care to pick at the bones of that poor, neglected blog, check it out here.]

My epic failure kind of scared me away from the blogosphere. If I couldn’t keep up a blog during my exhilarating summer abroad, how could I ever manage to do so during a regular school year as I plow through my mundanely average college student life of eighteen credits, post-grad applications, and two part-time jobs?

Wait a second. What’s wrong with that picture?

Maybe “everyday life” can’t quite compare to life abroad. But life – even “everyday life” – is anything but mundane. It’s a beautiful world, y’all. Is there really any such thing as “ordinary” life?

Admittedly, it’s quite likely that I won’t be much better at keeping up with this blog than I was with my summer blog. Posts might be few and far between, and the posts that do make it on here might not be the most earth-shattering/entertaining things on the good ol’ world-wide Web.

But something is better than nothing.