Memo for the Day
6
Photo Caption CONTEST
Take a peek at the photograph below and join our contest to see who can come up with the most creative caption for this image. The winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card along with serious bragging rights for being crowned “Most Creative.”
To enter, simply leave your caption in the comment box below by Wednesday, November 7th and check back Thursday morning to see who is crowned the winner. Good luck!
The Story That Was Told
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the story below being inspired by this photograph of a woman walking along an allee of trees in France, but this is what swirled together during a “progressive story” project I posted on my blog last week. Each person added a new line or idea to the narrative, and voila, this is what it turned into…
I never imagined I’d be here at this moment in my life, but…
Grandfather told me in his last letter that he wanted me to always be honest with myself and others. I’ve chosen today to tell my family about my partner.
I never thought I’d choose the weekend of his funeral, but here I am in the very place I swore I’d never come back to, as beautiful as I remember, and still haunted with the very things time and distance would not let me forget.
I spotted Aunt Nadine first, who always had a soft spot for me, and touched her shoulder. For a second she didn’t recognize me and I braced for the familiar pang in my gut as my eyes searched hers expectantly. But then she smiled, and I felt the moment expand with relief and gratitude.
“How are you?” I whispered quietly. Without answering me, she asked, “You are looking restless and nervous; it seems like something is hurting you from deep inside.” I stepped back, shocked that my inner turmoil was visible to others, others I haven’t seen in so many years.
Favorite Five Friday: Reasons to Celebrate the End of This Presidential Election
In the voting both, everybody is equal. That is why no matter how nutty our political process gets, I will always be grateful for the privilege of casting my ballot. Having said that, I will be one happy chiquita when this election is finally over! What about you?
What’s on your mind this final Friday before voting? Nervous? Excited? Irritated? Drop me a comment. I’d love to hear your perspective on the process…and of course, your Favorite Five!
The SCAR Project: Breast Cancer is Not a Pink Ribbon
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—a month awash in pink; pink ribbons, races, rallies; pink lights illuminating landmark buildings; pink shoes worn by NFL players. This sugary color is everywhere to remind us about a hideous disease that ravages 1 in 8 women and more than 2,100 men each year. It is there to implore us to get screenings and inspire us to raise funds for research so we can put an end to it.
While this is all good, it has its limits. To me there’s no better way to understand the reality of breast cancer than to experience The SCAR Project. This book and photographic exhibition goes far beyond the pink and grabs us by the throat, forcing us to come face to face with the human dimension of this disease, reminding us that under no uncertain terms is breast cancer a pink ribbon.
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
Australian-based fashion photographer, David Jay, created this project to pay tribute to young breast cancer survivors under age 40, a group least often associated with the disease even though it’s the leading cause of deaths in young women ages 15 to 40. Ten thousand women in this age group will be diagnosed this year alone.
His raw portraits may be difficult to look at, but even harder to to forget because these courageous and beautiful women represent breast cancer stripped down to the bare truth.
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
Image courtesy of The SCAR Project/David Jay
Image courtesy of The SCAR Project/David Jay
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
Speaking about the project in Digital Photo Pro, Jay says, “For these young women, having their portrait taken seems to represent their personal victory over this terrifying disease. It helps them reclaim their femininity, their sexuality, identity and power after having been robbed of such an important part of it. Through these simple pictures, they seem to gain some acceptance of what has happened to them and the strength to move forward with pride.”
Image courtesy The SCAR Project/David Jay
To see more images and find additional information, please go to The SCAR Project: http://www.thescarproject.org.
or check out the book on Amazon.
Here’s a synopsis:
The SCAR Project: Breast cancer Is Not a Pink ribbon. Volume I is 126 pages and contains 50 portraits of young breast cancer survivors, as well as an autobiographical sketch by each woman, describing her experience with breast cancer. The SCAR Project is an exhibition of large-scale portraits of young breast cancer survivors shot by fashion photographer David Jay. The SCAR Project puts a raw, unflinching face on early onset breast cancer while paying tribute to the courage and spirit of so many brave young women. Dedicated to the more than 10,000 women under the age of 40 who will be diagnosed this year alone The SCAR Project is an exercise in awareness, hope, reflection and healing. The mission is three-fold: to raise public awareness of early-onset breast cancer, to raise funds for breast cancer research/outreach programs and to help young survivors see their scars, faces, figures and experiences through a new, honest and ultimately, empowering lens.
A Story to Be Told…
Last year I was so inspired by my blogging friend, Monica Medina, and the clever progressive story project she created on her blog, Monica’s Tangled Web, I thought I’d give it a whirl myself. Monica simply posted a photograph and wrote the opening sentence to the story. Her readers then took the story and ran with it, adding new plot elements or emotional twists by leaving their contributions in her blog’s comment box. The story ended up being wildly creative and memorable.
So here it goes…based on the photograph below and my opening sentence, please join the fun and help create a story with me.
It’s important that you number your comment so that each person’s new sentence or idea flows in the correct order. For example, if you write the next sentence following my opener, you’d simply write 2. blah blah blah…. The next person would write 3. blah blah blah…. Simple, huh?
From time to time I may throw in a line or two along the way to keep the story going. When it feels like the story has come to its natural conclusion, I will post it in its entirety so you can marvel at your creativity.
Here’s the opener:
I never imagined I’d be here at this moment in my life, but…
Favorite Five Friday: Reasons I Love Books
Why do you love books? Drop me a comment and share your Favorite Five reasons. Happy Friday everyone! I hope your weekend is filled with fun autumn antics and of course, a delicious book…and why not throw in a pumpkin latte to go with it!
Paying It Forward One Flit at a Time
Okay, I admit it: I’m a Flitter.
I’m not just your average Flitter either; my golden crown proclaims me “Queen of the Flitters.” Technically, that makes me a Flitter Queen.
“What’s a Flitter Queen?” you ask.
A Flitter Queen is simply somebody who delights in all of life’s possibilities and flits from one thing to the next. A Flitter Queen gets deeply and passionately involved in an idea or project, then zippity doo, when she feels that magical spell of inspiration and opportunity swirl around her, she gleefully dons her glittery, flittery crown and zooms into action.
The core problem of a Flitter Queen, if you choose to think of it as a problem, is that she finds life so damn interesting that it’s impossible for her to stay anchored to only one project for any length of time.
For years this Flitter Queen fought her instincts and forced herself to stick to the plan, stay focused, not veer from the path, but then one day she had an epiphany: life is way too short to waste precious moments of inspiration.
Why not roll with it and see what happens? she thought to herself. You can always go back to what you were doing, but you may never know what is possible if I don’t follow your heart and your gut.
A Flitter Queen, as you might imagine, is often an all-or-nothing person. If this FQ is working on a project that stirs her imagination, there’s no stopping her. No detail is left unturned while other mundane responsibilities get left in the dust–often literally (dear Lord, don’t come by her house to do the “white glove” test when she’s on a roll).
“Sorry other projects,” the Flitter Queen says breathlessly, “You’ll just have to wait until this new project comes to fruition. I’m too inspired right now NOT to make it happen. The rest of you will get done eventually…maybe just not in the order you had planned or at the speed you had expected, but you will get done. Be patient.”
This flittery little tale brings me to the reason my blog has been quiet for so long.
Repost: Memories of 9/11 and a Wish for Dreams
As I sit here grappling with how to explain the horrors of 9/11 to my 8-year old today, I can’t help but recall that gut-wrenching day like it was yesterday. I doubt there’s one among us who doesn’t feel the same.
Last year, on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, I wrote an insanely long blog post recalling the events of that day. I had only just begun blogging and didn’t know that most people don’t have the time or inclination to read such lengthy pieces. I was also trying out a THEN and NOW format, in which I recalled memories from THEN and addressed current issues NOW. Much has changed in my blogging since then, but I thought I’d share this piece again in case you have the time or inclination to read it. Click here to take a peek.
Indelible Denim
In honor of back-to-school time, I thought I’d post this story I wrote a few years ago about my dear friend, Janet. I was trying to find a home for it in a magazine, but perhaps this is where it is meant to be. You tell me.
• • •
When Janet breezed into our dorm room that first day our freshman year of college, I immediately knew what she was all about. She didn’t even have to open her mouth; her jacket said it all.
The denim, faded to a perfectly distressed milky blue, the collar frayed into strings of fringe, the buttons worn to a coppery patina—all swirled together into the epitome of everything a college girl wanted to be: hip, smart and carefree.
Her jean jacket was the real deal, and so was she.
During that first year of school, Janet and I became best friends: inseparable and incorrigible. We studied together, laughed together, drank beer together, played lacrosse together, drank more beer together, gained 15 pounds together, and pulled all-nighters together. All along the way, Janet’s Levi jacket was there.
In fact, her jacket seemed to gain a personality all of its own as it absorbed every ounce of college fun laid in its path. It also soaked up everything from our bad hairdos and purple eyeshadow to eccentric professors and weird boyfriends, weaving them deeply into its soft fabric.
At the end of our freshman year, life shipped Janet and me off into different directions for the summer. My dad had died of cancer earlier that year so I immediately began working several jobs to pay my way through our very expensive private college, while Janet sailed to Tahiti with her family on their boat. I couldn’t afford envy, so I celebrated her adventure, and made her promise to send postcards so I could live vicariously.
With hugs and tears, promises of letters, and plans to regroup in the fall, we parted ways. But not before she unceremoniously tossed a bag at me. “Here, I think it’s time for you to have this,” she laughed.