I’m a little bit blown away by these wedding photos (spotted here). In fact they might be some of the loveliest wedding photos I’ve seen... so intimate and classic and completely timeless.
And (not unlike that house from yesterday) these images feel somehow untouched by trends. There is nary a paper flower or paper lantern or photobooth or fake mustache in sight. While I’m not against any of those things in theory (if you've been here before, then you know of my immense love affair with the paper lantern), when it comes to weddings, nothing delights me more than seeing something that feels like it will still look just as beautiful and relevant in 25 years.
all (beautiful) images by blue window creative...Ok now ready for a little tangent?
When I saw these photos (and then read this post), I instantly wanted to shut my computer and well…go sniff a book.
It somehow struck me that the images felt rooted in the real-world -- in travel and museums and books and nature. Despite finding the images online, they felt somehow disconnected to the online world, and all of the sudden I had this burning desire to take a little break from the endless ping of the blackberry and the blogs and the ever-present imagery and rest my brain (and my eyes).
Is it strange that a few wedding photos can do that??
And so with this in mind I wanted to ask you guys, what’s rocking your world from the real-world right now?
What are you reading? What are you listening to? What’s the most fantastic art you’ve laid eyes on, the most inspiring movie you’ve seen of late? (I know movies aren’t exactly the “real-world” but they’re not “online” either.)
I’m feeling an unplug coming on and am in need a good list. Do share…
38 comments:
I just finished the final book in the Hunger Games, Mockingkay. It may be fiction as well but all of the books (and especially this last one) are a poignant reminder of what a fantastic life we have, how much we take for granted, and to me, how important it is to not get caught up in life when there is so much good at home. I also just reread To Kill a Mockingbird and it really re-rocked my world for sure.
Whenever I need a good un-plug I go to the classics. Read Wuthering Heights or watch A Streetcar Named Desire. Something old but good with little to no technology references :)
Oh and you know what else is fun and even tho it involves a computer it feels good? Making fake polaroids out of your favorite pictures! It just gives them that 'real' feeling, like those wedding pictures above. http://www.poladroid.net/
Great post...I feel this urge all the time, so I pull myself away from the computer and the blog and the TV. It really does refresh everything. Reading: "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet" by David Mitchell. Hard, but so worth it. It takes 150 pages, but I am so hooked now. I saw The Town last weekend and was totally entertained by it, but for inspiring and thoughtful, I watched A Single Man the week before. Colin Firth is so much more than Mr. Darcy. Listening to....too much to name - I'm on a real music streak lately. How about Kathryn Calder? I'm enjoying her new one. Trying to pick up my guitar more too, and happy that my fingers are sore. Enjoy your "unplug".
read: 'a trip to the stars' by nicholas christopher
art: the getty center has a documentary photo exhibit right now that floored me. granted, a trip to la would be necessary for you to accomplish this one.
geocaching: yes, this required a gps system so you aren't completely unplugged. but we've started doing this with our two year old and i cannot begin to express how awesome it is to ask her what she wants to do today and hear her say "treasure hunt!"
http://www.geocaching.com/ (i'm a loser and don't know how to embed a proper hyperlink.)
I have so much to say on this topic, but I am going to try to abstain (somewhat).
But I will say that I have (as a newer blogger) lately been feeling the pressure of writing about my "real world" - my children, my family, books that I enjoy, lessons that I have learned, simple pleasures... and my "semi-real world" - nail polishes, coffee mugs, blog crushes, design or style posts. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I simply cannot write a blog that is not authentic. Not that there is anything wrong with fun, simple topics, or internet inspired posts... but I needed to weave in my Real World - which brings me to the answer to your question -
...fall gardening (everything planted!- as a family)...the book called The 19th Wife- an excellent read...Damien Rice- don't know why, but perfect for fall...loved the movie, The Kids are Alright...and am loving the Cooking Channel- It seems like this is what Food Network was originally- before the many "popular" food celebrities/personalities... planning a day to go 'apple picking' (it seems that even this is now a little trendy, but I haven't been since I was a child and cannot wait to experience it with my kids)...
Thank you for your post, as this has also been heavily on my mind. :)
Unplugging sounds good right about now...feeling a bit sapped of late.
If you haven't already read it, I would highly recommend Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. It was on all of the "best" lists a few years ago, but I didn't get around to reading it until last month. Not a typical WWII story at all, there's something very quiet and human about it.
As for music, my most recent "discoveries" are Broken Bells (great for car rides), Florence and the Machine (a good late-afternoon energizer), and Carla Bruni (perfect for quiet mornings at home).
i love this. it is so important to be reminded often of timelessness and stepping back and truly living life. to enjoy a good book, a cup of tea, a refreshing breeze, a new song, a thunderstorm, a garden. for bloggers, we need to remember that life comes first: blog through our lives, not live through our blogs.
Um, yes. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of the internet and blog trends. Even though I love looking at all the pretty and inspiring things I see all over the blog world, lately, I NEED nature. Specifically, the woods and the ocean. There is nothing more "classic" than the quiet of nature. And there is nothing "trendy" about nature. It just feels like the great equalizer.
mm yes, i try to unplug as much as possible on the weekends. this weekend we all watched ponyo (you can find it streaming on netflix) -- we love the hand-drawn animation and such a cute story. lately i'm reading the strange life of nikola tesla, which is amazing to read about his creative process.
but my favorite find is sufjan's tracks he's released from the age of adz. can't wait to hear the entire album when it comes out.
I love sniffing books! My husband always gives me a weird look when I sniff my new book (or cd or album, etc etc). I just recently read "Juliet, Naked" by Nick Hornby. He wrote the novel which inspired the movie High Fidelity which is one of my all-time favorites, and I love Juliet even more. Perfect for somebody that loves music and musicians and English accents. :)
On these beautiful, crisp days..
I grab my cameras and run away..
away from housework,the computer, the telephone..
and take time to truly stop and smell the roses as well as other autumn bloomers..
both literally and figuratively...
our Colorado outdoor world is changing so rapidly..
summer is fading as autumn comes flying in..
soon the weather will simply be too uncomfortable to be out..
the holidays will be here before we know it, creating a flurry of hustle and bustle..
I want to savor these beautiful days..
leisurely..
all the indoor stuff can wait..
until I'M ready..
warm sandy hugs..
Loui♥
I'm reading Wuthering Heights :)
last novel: Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner (love, love),
last non-fiction:Zeitoun - Dave Eggers (great, insightful - and I'm not typically an Eggers fan).
Currently reading: Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury (beautiful).
Looking forward to:Freedom - Jonathon Franzen (my boyfriend is raving about it).
Live Performances/Listening: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. incredible The album is totally listen worthy. (esp. the Sam Cooke inspired "mama don't like my man")
I'm also going to see BB King on Beale St. (the first "B" in BB) on Sunday -- which hasn't happened but I'm certain will rock my socks off.
Lots of dancing and yoga for my body/mind balance.
Best of luck with you "unplugged" activities!
This post is in line with what i have been feeling as of late. I have done some wedding photography but i have always been choosey. Lately i have been asked to to engagement shoots with props that might take days and weddings where i would pull out the groom for two hours away from the wedding??? i have declined all of them, you see for me it is about a moment, a real moment and all the luck that comes with those moments. I am very fortunate to live in a place where i can get lost, disconnect yet for some reason i feels as if i pulled in by blogs, picture stories that did not really happen. today i posted about taking break after i listened to Ingrid betancourt story in her own voice-her own voice there she was living, really living and it inspired me to do the same, to write my own story by action, doing it being in my moment instead of someone else's!
but i am glad i stopped here on the way out!
Oh I also love those photos. I haven't been reading much, I've been working and mothering and that's about it... I need a break... I'll get one soon.
xo
movies... just saw the romantics. i honestly can't decide if the hour and a half was well spent. it's a "dialogue" movie, which i normally love, but the execution of it was not without flaws and left something to be desired... adored "the kids are alright" although it was much heavier than i anticipated. a "real" look at long term marriage with children, in my opinion. reading...in the middle of "in defense of food" and because i can't seem to find a good novel right now, i started re-reading "the red tent." art... by far the most fabulous art i've seen in a long time was the louise bourgeois exhibit at moma this past summer. not sure if it's still there...if i lived nyc i'd visit moma every. single. day. music... i'm sort of moody of late. been listening to a lot of ray lamontagne (made me laugh when it was referenced repeatedly on "parenthood" the other night.)
i often think i should go a day (just one day!) without internet access, but then i'd miss lovely posts like this one. =) i guess it would still be here in the morning though.
love, love your blog-
and as I am in Italy right now, often disconnected from the internet, it is nice to read and see what others are up to. I am feeling lucky, lost , in love and a touch lonely here all at the same time. I bike through the little windy streets every morning thinking about all of these things after I drop my daughter off at preschool. Smelling espresso, hearing people speak in Italian, watching the mopeds and bicycles pass me by. I wonder what she (my daughter) will remember- the smells, a feeling, an Italian phrase, the nuns at her school? I document it a little here and I try to take it all in. I haven't seen any television or obsessively checked my email, Facebook or blog reads since we have been here. But, when I do, it is nice, comforting and definitely real.
so I have been pretty 'unplugged' all summer and I would have to say that my obsession for blogs really shifted to my old obsession of magazines. A lot of Vanity Fair {if I have pull it away from my husband}, a little British Vogue, some Cote Sude, Foam... I wish I could list all the books I read but really I have been catching up on my mags... oh and feeding my Mad Men addiction... if you haven't jumped on that wagon I STRONGLY suggest you get a board.
lots of love your way.
PS. I can not believe you have a sister in Visalia. too funny!!
if you ever go to visit her you MUST drive to Hanford {another small town smaller than 'the big V'} and go to Superior Dairy. Their chocolate ice cream is PERFECTION... we bring it home by the gallon with dry ice. Plus the little Dairy hasn't changed in 50 years. I LOVE going there.
I loved the "Hunger Games" trilogy. Though it's considered YA, it doesn't feel childish, but does lead to that child-like feeling of being lost in another world.
The best movie i've seen in a while, and outside of my usual fare, is Exit Through the Gift Shop, by the street artist Banksy. a must see.
I love this post. I have been trying to unplug as well. It is hard but keeps you in the present.
I too loved the Hunger Games trilogy. Just read Five Quarters of the Orange and American Pastoral. Both great for different reasons. I also think that unplugging is easier if you decide to study something...ie learning about wine, learning a language....just some thoughts.
now that i'm in portland and not doing my regular design job (which keeps me plugged in more often than i would like to admit) i've picked up some side work. i'm making things, things that someone will eventually buy. i'm cutting, sewing, evaluating and doing it again. more than anything, i'm not sitting in front of my computer. and it feels nice. really nice.
i love a good "unplug," too, Joslyn! I've recently read The Greenlanders, The Help, Roman Fever and a book my daughter really wanted me to read, The Capture. All good and undigital. :)
I'm reading Irving Stone's Love Is Eternal. It's a historically based novel about Mary and Abraham Lincoln. The other members of my book club reading along with me claim it's slow and hard to want to pick up again, but I can't put it down! I kind of don't want to find out which parts are history and which are fiction. I love all of them so far.
I just finished (re)reading Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea - stayed up to midnight to finish! Now I've a hankering to sit down and watch the whole 8-hr series on DVD. They're just delightful and I love how Anne is constantly appreciative of the simple things in life.
i recently saw A Single Man by Tom Ford. I was blown away! it's a beautiful film, on every level.
i love weddings, and i'm big on weddings. and i'm often blown away at these "out of the world" wedding shots.
i haven't had the chance to truly focus on something out of the world, but hey do catch the legend of the guardians: owls of ga'hoole. it's a simple animated movie that really brought me out of the world for a bit. though it's just a cartoon, it still has that little factor that does it. :) sometimes we need the simple things to take us away.
I have been spending more time in the kitchen- pickling carrots, making jam, baking. I'm trying to enjoy and preserve the harvest before we enter the long Michigan winter.
reading a good ol' classic - right now it's great expectations. my book club and i have decided to just read classics, and i can't tell you how weirdly comforting that can be. no contemporary drama or trends. another suggestion would be to browse any art or design books - something that helps to take you away from the online world. something more tangible that you can do with your hands like flip through beautiful pages and get inspired. : )
so true! I have become an awful blogger for this reason somewhat. For me its a new love affair with cooking and an old love affair with my children. I just don't want to miss anything with my now. Now i guess I should get off the computer.
Oh, and I lost my blackberry for a day and it was quite exciting.
Joslyn, re the amazing wedding photos -- yes! So poetic and timeless. Happy you shared them.
There are two kind of off-the-beaten path exhibitions that I'm excited about and both would require mini road trips (great time to unplug, at least from the computer). One is the mid-20th-century art of William Halsey at the College of Charleston in South Carolina and the other is the Mickey Smith show at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. Yep, that's right, Milledgeville :) Some great contemporary art is showcased at the school.
P.S.
And speaking of unplugging, I'm also a little obsessed with The Kinks tunes included on the The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack. Realize I'm late to the party with this one but just listening to "This Time Tomorrow" takes me to another place.
unplugggg!! I seem to be able to do this more lately (although it mostly consists in having an excellent relationship with my TV at night instead of browsing the interweb ;) ) feels really good although I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of writing cohesive posts...
read "One Day" - all consuming but totally fluffy!
I just finished a second reading of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, why I don't know because the first time around totally wrecked me. And I have Pink's 'Glitter In The Air' as the soundtrack in my brain. The point is....as a floral designer, I am over all the DIY weddings that are detailed to death. It was a beautiful and refreshing change to see these timeless images that I am sure this couple will look back on and NOT say 'if only we would have.....'
I love reading with a big cup of tea to "unplug and unwind", especially while listening to the rain, as we have lots of rainy fall days in Vancouver, B.C.! My favourite recent reads were "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns".
My son has been asking to read "The Hunger Games" - I see a few people mentioned it... we'll have to curl up and read it together (he's 10 - but an advanced reader).
All -- you guys are amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was inspired just reading what inspired you!
Stephanie -- good to know on the romantics...how were the clothes? ;-)
Sophie -- I loved five quarters of the orange...fantastic book!
Courtney -- ooh that is a fantastic soundtrack + wes anderson's movies are the best visually! maybe i should have a marathon viewing this weekend...
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