and so it begins...

anywhere you stand in this city there is an incredible view that requires pinching yourself.
it's unbelievably beautiful, and unbelievably old and preserved. history. tradition.
point your camera almost anywhere and you end up with a moody, yet charming image.
academic pedigree meets the cotswolds.

we've had our first week of introductions and classes.
we know what's expected of us: dive deep into the pages of the bodleian library. ask questions that you never knew could be asked. chase the rabbit down the rabbit hole (we are in alice's wonderland after all).  we've been given permission to explore what we've always wanted to explore--because we're at an institution that is almost 800 years old, and we study at a library that is almost 400 years old and receives a thousand books a day to add to its stacks. pick a book. any book. they've got it.

happily overwhelmed.


{p.s. the last two photos are the view i have out my window. just wait until i show you a picture of that tower lit up at night...hogwarts anyone?}

in oxford : pondering "the ephemeral world of sound and echo" via Shakespeare's First Folio

hello, dear readers.

feels like i was here just yesterday. the streets are the same. the library is definitely the same.
the food in the dining hall is the same. the grass in the quad is the same. this place has been
the same for hundreds of years. sort of love that about this town. really love it.

there are a couple of new coffee houses with an eye towards fresh and local which is brilliant.
and i, already feeling confident about navigating the library, have more time to explore
the town's gems and the surrounding area. getting excited about riding bikes to blenheim palace
tomorrow, and visiting the botanic gardens often.

the best news: i get to take a weekly printing class at the bodleian library learning how shakespeare's first folio was printed, and we will create a printing project of our own. and my professor is kind of a big deal. and i could talk with my professor all day about nerd-ilicious details like margins, stage directions, the visibility of text, the sound of theater, and reading as performance.

dreamy indeed.


...now, if only ceej were here. paradise indeed.



[p.s. follow me on instagram to see what i'm up to throughout the day]

exploring england | a voyage magazine journey

marte, britt, and i have been in england since wednesday, and we've seen some amazing places.
more importantly, we've met some amazing people.
we started in london, and are now in the magical seaside town of st ives, and tomorrow we'll be
on our way to the farmland of dorset...feeling lucky indeed.

if you'd like, you can follow me on instagram here, and follow all three of us #voyagemagazine

thank you for stopping by. i do love your company.

Voyage Magazine Announcement : here we go...

everything is just about ready for our next voyage magazine adventure...

we're off to england next month, and i'm just starting to feel the reality and excitement of it all.
truly, britt and marte are the ideal travel companions, and this is one of my favorite
regions on the entire globe {granted there's many places i still haven't been}.

last year we explored norway and italy, and i'm still pinching myself that we had the opportunity to do it.

here's links to our travel issue and our food issue.
and a link to our website...come for a visit to see more images.

adventure ho!

{beautiful illustration by our very own britt...seriously talented artist in every way}

how the humanities have made me human

i'm not quite sure my brain has had a moment of quiet for the past couple of weeks...
the ideas have been continuous, and i have been trying to keep up.
so i'm taking a moment to empty some of my thoughts here in this space.

i have often had to defend my humanities pursuits in academia to those of a more "practical" nature--
recently, i have had to revisit my defense in light of my more "practical" change of direction.
i only briefly contemplated foregoing finishing this graduate degree in english literature and creative writing. very briefly. because i immediately called to mind and heart everything that the written word
has taught me about humanity. it has taught me that every word counts. it has taught me how to look
into a soul to realize how complex, how very different, how very much the same humans are. it has taught me that fiction is often closer to the truth than simple fact-telling. reading and writing literary criticism has taught me how to ask questions--my own questions and how to find answers, though they are not always so clear and precise. it has taught me that no matter how original we try to be, we always come back to the same essential truths.

i feel a deep sense of gratitude that i have learned how to dig deep into a poem, a novel, a play
and find what moves a human to be human. in addition to pursuing a more "practical" route, i am also
carrying with me my creativity. creativity + real life skills = dreams. i feel that bringing this balance into my life will ignite a fire not necessarily grand, but full of a light that will show me the way.

thank you, shakespeare. thank you, keats. thank you, donne.


{these are some photos from oxford last summer}

the lake district :: film

the lovely thing about film is that i don't usually develop it for moths,

which makes for a lovely surprise when i finally do.

i took these images while on a little hike in the lake district last summer.

i could really go for some fog and green pastures about now.

we're off for a little spring break trip down south to the desert,

not exactly a place of green pastures and fog,

but beautiful and healing nonetheless.

do you have any plans for the weekend? celebrating st. patrick's day?

i think we might write some limericks.

happy weekend.

{more photos of england here}

another day, another lake...last summer in england and what my today looks like

i had a lot of ambition this morning: the plan was to read a dense article and read a 120-page book...

doesn't look like that's going to happen now--something i can't put my finger on is distracting me.

do you ever have those kinds of days? like day-dreaming mixed with goal-setting mixed with anxiety.

it's one of those days where i'm trying to reach down into the depths of myself and figure out

what's really going on in there...what does a heart really want, and how does one get it.

day-dreaming: ceej is in italy today enjoying snow in the dolomites. i see photographs of such a magical landscape and want to be there, not here with my ambition. i want to be there with my dreams: a book store, writing, and workshops. these photographs here are of our last evening in the lake district last summer. what an incredible land. no wonder romantics such as william wordsworth lived there. inspiring in a sort of way that makes it necessary to write, to question, and to live.

goal-setting: finish school...and another degree. actually write dreams/goals on paper. find that confidence, that bravery. talk with your professor, and admit fears because somehow once that is done the fears dissipate. remind myself that school is something i enjoy...it's not something for me to prove how smart i am, because really i'm there because i'm in love--in love with history and literature.

anxiety: there's always a to-do list with ambition. ugh. am trying to remind myself that it truly is all about baby steps. i'm trying to cover up all of the steps except for the one immediately in front of me. i can do that one. i can read an article and a book in a day...still.

so, i'm off. to do step number one (read, read, read); to day-dream of living in a land with a pulse; and to give my anxiety a dose of deep breaths and a peppermint chocolate.

determined to stay on this road...because i have seen the end of it, and it is magnificent

i've been watching my thoughts, considering all of your kind words,

listening to this, this, this, and this....

all of this has brought me to a place of determination. a place of acceptance that

the road ahead will be challenging and will test my soul because, let's face it,

i am facing my biggest fears. what are my fears? 

i'm afraid that my head may actually be empty and void of any intellect;

i'm afraid of being misunderstood;

i'm afraid of not being able to contribute to essential life conversations;

i'm afraid of missing beauty that is perhaps hidden from me.

somehow school enables me to face all of these fears.

perhaps this is why i love it so much: it takes my entire being--head, heart, soul.

in the end i find i have nothing to fear. 

there is indeed a brain inside this skull, and a heart too.

i understand more than i think i do, and others delight in hearing my point of view.

i contribute my honest heart.

and i always find beauty beyond what i could have ever imagined.

i'm on this academic road...it's a long and ambitious road.

i feel like closing my eyes tight every time i walk out the door

and enter a classroom filled with "experts." at times all i can do is hold tight:

my books are never far from me. my calendar is filled with deadlines and goals.

i reach out to more books than required to help me on this journey.

i remind myself that this experience is for me, and no one else.

i only have to prove myself to myself. write what i want to write.

and, yes, i have seen the end of this road.

i can imagine it as i drive away from campus...

the end of this road is filled with joyous tears and the sensation

that i can continue on as many roads as i desire.

because i am determined. and that's enough.

{photos from our walk in derbyshire, england this summer}

film : a summer's walk outside oxford

hello lovely readers. how was the weekend? we had such a great, relaxing weekend

spending time with good friends and revisiting our favorite epic story...which is to be continued.

i recently made a long overdue trip to the photo lab to get some of my images

processed from my time in england last summer. 

after looking at these images (and more that i will post later) i think i finally know

how i want to use a camera like this little graflex.

my favorite images are, as always, images where i used a shallow depth of field.

it was tricky as i was usually in need of a small aperture, meaning i didn't get my desired effect all that often. but i am learning how to use such a great little camera, and i hope

i have just a little more time with it before i return it to its owner.

and in other news, i start classes today (hip, hip hooray!)

i'm taking a couple supplemental courses to expedite my graduation date,

and i couldn't be more happy to be on my way to buy textbooks and blank notebooks.

happy monday!

re-visiting new forest national park & other places

i've been re-visiting photos from my time in england last summer,

and have started posting some old & new photos on my little tumblr site.

would love to see you over there too.

europe on the brain : a summer eve's walk in derbyshire {part one}

it feels like everyone (well, maybe just two or three people) i know is

either in europe at the moment, or has just returned from visiting.

ceej has been hopping around from germany to switzerland to norway, and now back to germany.

this lovely lady is creating beautiful things in her home near oslo,

and another good friend made a spontaneous decision to visit london for thanksgiving.

i'm feeling like europe is in my near future--at least i feel i'm going to try my best to get there

within the next few months. switzerland, germany, and norway sound lovely right now.

i think europe in the winter would be absolutely breathtaking.

these photos are from our visit to derbyshire this past summer.

what a lovely bit of earth this place is. 

i could see how the land has inspired such wonderful literature.

it is a place that demands you walk in it. every day.

ceej returns home on sunday, and i can hardly wait to 

share in all this holiday cheer that's going round with him.

are you feeling any wanderlust lately? what land is pulling on your heart strings?

have a happy, dreamy weekend!