Love is...

And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for, cause it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment it lasts forever.

-The Beach

Truly this is a weekend of love, and what do I love?

~

Sunlight pouring through, kissing your face and bathing its glow throughout the entire room

Erin Fetherston

Dior and Chanel's Haute Couture SS 2010

Garden-inspired dresses

An American in Paris film

Balloons in the sky

Sitting under a big willow tree with a book in your lap... my grandmother used to have these two great willow trees in the front yard with a big swing underneath in her previous home and a small forest in the backyard... it was my escape to my own little world. I'll never forget those summer days I spent when I was a child there.

Jane Austen's works - i remember from somewhere that mentions how in her own life, she was not able to find her own happy ending, but that her characters in her novels she would give them that love and such beautiful endings that would make up her own.

Lace

Jasmine tea

Treehouses. My grandmother's neighbor had a huge one with a latch in the bottom of the room and slides, a bridge, and on the wooden front door, we painted "Our Club" on it. Adventures never ceased there.

Beautiful big open windows with white curtains being lifted from the breeze and the scent of lavender surrounds you on a summer's day

Bright Star

Going on a hot air balloon and having a picnic there

White chocolate

The English countryside

By the seaside in a white cottage

Painting with watercolors

Paris...

The sound of a cello against the melodic keys of the piano

Flowers in beautiful vases

When a guy has an accent...(it melts my heart, and I don't think I'm the only one who agrees)

Delicate perfume bottles (i've kept all of the ones I had)

Beautiful old journals

Old- fashioned feather pens with ink bottles

Walking along the boardwalk near the Harbourfront on a bright and clear day and watch ships sail by.

Letters.

Dancing badly (on my part). I get so blissfully giddy when I do that with someone I love.

Midnight chats with friends

Beautiful ballet-inspired dresses

Seashells and hanging them up with satin ribbons

Going to the art gallery and stand among the greats and their proof of the extraordinary.

So here you go, a glimpse of what I love, what are yours? I'd love to know!

Take care and that's all for now, ciao!

(Fashion pictures courtesy from style.com, remainder pictures from Tumblr)

Ode to Literature

Life is like a library owned by the author.

In it are a few books which he wrote himself,
but most of them were written for him.
Harry Emerson Fosdick

Bonjour all!

Never the one to miss a chance to pick up a good read, I know that being a bookworm, it means searching for books that can really be riveting and leaving you hanging in thoughts about it long after you've put it down.

Speaking of which, these are early days and there are longer days ahead for such a project, but lately, I've been itching to start writing, collecting all these thoughts I have written down on my journals, waiting for these thoughts to turn into action. I've gathered an idea for what to write on, and who knows (early days!) i would hopefully wish to get it published maybe...? haha, now that would be my dream if that ever happens!

It's called "Memories of an Evening" and it intertwines in capturing the stories of certain characters and their lives owing up to either a tragic event or something riveting and inspiring as first-struck love, in which its conclusions and endings all fall symbolically under the depths of Evening.

Right now, i just have certain essence of what these characters are shaping into and the bigger picture of their lives.

I was thinking probably once in a while upon completion, I would then extract it to here and ask for thoughts on it. It would be a great support. I'm very much excited for this, an eagerness that I have not felt for quite sometime.

Personally, I am very much a book collector. Sometimes being in my favorite bookshop, there's so many to choose from, let alone great authors and poets, I feel I want to grab them by the handful. I've been quite picky in terms of what I prefer, such as wanting titles to be hardcover or rare/first editions, if possible.

Also, I never leave home without a book in my hand. Go through all of my bags and you'll bound to see either : a Moleskine/ notebook I jot my thoughts in as well as writings, and a book.

Lately I've been reading some interesting reads, so here are some I would like to share with you.

Currently, I'm reading "Art As Experience" by John Dewey for my Issues in Aesthetics class. I didn't think much about this book, but given that I had to pick it up, I glanced through its pages, read a couple of chapters and I was really taken away.

Some interesting lines I've found had an impact:

"In order to understand the meaning of artistic products, we have to forget them of a time, to turn aside from them and have recourse to the ordinary forces and conditions of experience that we do not usually regard as esthetic."

"In order to understand the esthetic in its ultimate and approved forms, one must begin with it in the raw; in the events and scenes that hold the attentive eye and ear of man, arousing his interest and affording him enjoyment as he looks and listens: the sights that hold the crowd; the fire-engine rushing by..."

"Ultimately there are but two philosophies. One of them accepts life and experience in all its uncertainty, mystery, doubt, and half-knowledge and turns that experience upon itself to deepen and intensify its own qualities- to imagination and art."

Bright Star- The Complete Poems & Selected Letters of John Keats, was my first book I purchased in 2010. I shall never forget that. I am in a complete Keatsian phase where truth is beauty becomes valid in my reawakening of how I view life now where poets, writers, and others have come before us and spoke of such aspects during Romanticism.

Sometimes I would drift off , ravine walks to nowhere, alongside beautiful music as Ludovico Einaudi or Arvo Pärt, especially his Für Alina.

Für Alina struck a chord with me somehow. As I dug a bit into the story behind such a beautiful simple piece, it turns out that this piece was dedicated to a family friend's daughter who set out to study in London. Within its piece, there was a rendering of the feeling that one was off to explore the world.

I played this piece over and over again, the first time brought slight tears to my eyes in a bit of sadness for recollecting memories in my head. The second time came to a conclusion that this piece was to be what i call my "centrepiece" that I would listen to when I start writing.

There are some books that in one's lifetime, leaves you spellbound. This was one of them. It's incredibly cinematic, very provoking and deep. I could not put this book down.

There was an instance where taking the train, I arrived at the beginning of the "U" that is the main train line, and I began to read it. The next time I looked up, I was on the other side of the "U".

And that's all for now, ciao!

I then whispered to him, "Never let me go."

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately.

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the the marrow of life!
To put to rest all that was not life
And not, when I came to die, discover that i had not loved...

-H.D.T

Bonjour all!
Snow has finally hit the ground and left me with a chill... literally.
So far in the life of academia, I have completed 1/3 examinations... the next one is that of Cubism and Modern Architecture, although I must get started on the book review for European Politics.

Lately I realized more than usual how grand life is and how unexpected it can be. It can be the most smallest things to the ones that just utterly take your breath away.

It doesn't help that I've been crushing on Keat's works and letters he wrote to Fanny Brawne. It's heartbreaking I tell you. His words are the only words that have actually made tears fall from my face unconsciously.

Commit this to memory: Must take a trip down to Nicholas Hoare (only one of my favorite bookstores down by the St. Lawrence) so that I may have a personal collection of Keat's works to add to my personal library.

Not to mention that I'm dying to see Bright Star. I've already had the soundtrack put into my itunes, but I have not watched yet, shame on me! The clips i've watched however just simply melts my heart. I already know it'll be an instant classic for me.
There is this one scene which made my heart drip and I would love to share this with all of my fellow bloggers and chums!



In a sense, I can relate that wrap-around feeling in my life. Sometimes it could be for the most obvious reasons, others in all sorts of ways for all sorts of people and moments in life.

And that's all for now my luvelies! Ciao!

P.S. Due to the craziness of spending my time studying examinations the next week, I may not update for a bit. Toodles!