The Planet Sleeps

When I was a baby, I fell asleep listening to the faraway soundtrack of The Planet Sleeps, an album of lullabies from all corners of the world.  It was the late 1990s, and the world was a far more complicated place than I could've ever imagined from the security of a wicker bassinet.  War, poverty, and pain scarred the planet, but the lullabies of The Planet Sleeps connected the world in peace and love and calm.  That CD somehow made everything feel blue and starry, even if it wasn't, and I can't help but to think that its songs could save the world.  How could horror continue in the face of something so beautiful?

The cover art of The Planet Sleeps is magical realism-meets-indie (thank you, 1990s alternative scene!), and the album itself is/was a fundraiser for UNICEF. Inside, though, is when things get exciting.  Tucked into the album cover is a little booklet of the songs, their translations, and anecdotes about their origins.  Each anecdote is as poetic and special as the song it accompanies.  I learned, for instance, that "Oj Talasi," a lullaby from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was performed by The Trebevic Choir during a tumultuous time of war and strife.  Choir members met with each other to perform the song during a difficult winter despite cultural boundaries and wartime bombardment, and many of them later disappeared.  It's heartbreaking, and "Oj Talasi" is a poignant reminder of the need for peace and love for and between everyone.  Some of my other favorites from The Planet Sleeps are "Fais Do Do, Colin Mon Petite Frere" (France), "Schlafe Mein Prinzchen, Schlaf Ein" (Germany), and "Phnom Penh Lullaby" (Cambodia). But there are also songs from places like North America, Ireland, and New Zealand.

"Oj Talasi"

"Fais Do Do, Colin Mon Petite Frer"

No one is too old for lullabies.  The Planet Sleeps (available at Amazon) is a compilation of some of the best, and it's particularly important now in this time of so much unrest.  The world needs to be reminded that it is whole. We need to remember that, no matter where we come from, we all sleep under the same stars, and we need love now more than ever. 

<3 Frances







Braces and More Music

After wearing a corrective retainer for most of seventh grade, I thought that my tiny, oddly-shaped teeth would stay somewhat straight.  Several years and a bit of time off from my night guard (I couldn't wear it after my wisdom teeth were removed), my teeth decided to rotate back into their original state of crookedness, and, as of today, I have braces.  Yay! (Apparently, the pain won't start until later, so for now I'm in the clear...)
Today has very much been a work day, and I've been doing summer assignments and organizing a classroom library, but I have some music to share that'll hopefully help you get through to the weekend. 

Violent Femmes: "Blister in the Sun"

 

Coldplay: "Up&Up"

 

Foals: "Mountain At My Gates"

 

 

 



<3 Frances

All the People...

Imagine all the people, living life in peace...

John Lennon: "Imagine"

<3 Frances

Stories in Everything and Vintage Stamps

My mum and I could talk about history forever. It's one big compilation of stories (which, as any bibliophile can agree, are essentially life-blood), and we have the tendency to become incredibly attached to its characters.  Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are both very admirable pieces of literature, but my interest in them is largely fueled by the true stories about the Bronte Sisters (which are tragic and heartbreaking and full of illness and death, by the way), and I could get totally lost in the library's historical literature section. I was also best friends with my sophomore AP European History textbook and still get emotional over having parted with it....
All this in mind, it's pretty clear why I am so very excited to be sharing these vintage stamps!! My mum found them in a giveaway room at work, and I just took a break from working and went through them this morning. They are so diverse and so clearly used that I can hardly contain my geeky awe, lol. Our favorite discoveries include Christmas stamps from Grenada in 1970, a 1929 stamp from London, stamps from Argentina (the Spanish language-lover in me is super happy about these ones), and a Beethoven stamp that says "Republique Rwandaise." What's really cool is that some of the stamps have black ink residue on them from when they were cancelled at the post office. I keep wondering who bought them and used them and what they were sending. Wartime love letters? Birthday cards? Oh, the possibilities! I'll let you know if anything is haunted.

<3 Frances

Body Image

Before we start, let's take a page from the Positive Bunny notebook:

During the summer, it can be easy to get swept up in the wave of aesthetic pressures and expectations enforced by the media.  I'm noticing more and more now just how much of the media is driven by advertisements and the need to "sell" things, and while I do admittedly enjoy movies and magazines and even some television shows, I always have to make a point of it to remember that most of what is shown in the media is highly edited. Advertisements and photo shoots, etc., don't show us reality--they show us an artistic interpretation of it, and they often intend to sell us something.  I keep thinking of an episode of Mad Men when Don and Peggy are trying to develop an ad for a so-so product and someone realizes that the best way to market it is to make consumers feel like there's something "wrong" for them that the product can "fix."  By nature, we are generally unsatisfied with ourselves, and our insecurities enable media messages to swoop in and convince us that a) our flaws are unacceptable and b) they can be cured (for a price, of course).  I'm not trying to point fingers or be a hater (I enjoy finding the right shade of concealer just as much as the next person does), but it's really very sad when media messages and advertising get so stuck in our heads that we lose sight of what's really important and develop completely distorted perceptions of what's "normal" and "real." Our standards become skewed--all of a sudden, we think that anything other than a toned physique and unblemished skin is unacceptably imperfect, and sometimes we even become so obsessed with achieving the "ideal" that we let go of everything that used to be important to us, our physical and mental health included.  Happiness becomes less and less attainable the more addicted we become to "perfection," and what's really crazy is that the idealistic image we're striving for isn't even real. It's the result of a lot of editing and fine-tuning, and it's pretend, but we let it control our lives and make us feel guilty over normal little things like pores and wrinkles.  This needs to be the summer that we free our minds and free our lives so that we can actually enjoy them and do meaningful things with them. No, photo editing software, you are not in charge of what we think is beautiful, and we will appreciate our bodies and our lives no matter how much you want us to believe we need to look a certain way or buy a certain brand to be happy.  Image doesn't equal happiness.  Experience equals happiness.  Love equals happiness.  And a magazine ad is never going to love us. 

<3 Frances

Lunes

I decided to title this post in Spanish because today's a big work day and one of the things I need to do this summer is read Introducción a la literatura Latinoamericana (in addition to several other books).  As a book-lover, I don't think of reading as an assignment but rather as an opportunity, so I'm excited, but I also need to prep for other classes that are a bit more daunting (AP Bio, cough cough).  But that's okay! It's summer, right?  And we have good music:

Birdy: "Wings"

 

Vampire Weekend: "Hannah Hunt"



Jack Garratt: "Worry"

 

 

Something else that I've been thinking about a lot lately is purpose/all that stuff. I have a stack of cards on my desk from Doctors Without Borders, and I was reading the first-person anecdotes of some of the volunteers, which are so incredibly moving and inspiring (even when they're tragic).  One of the anecdotes was about the Ebola epidemic, and I wanted to share it here.  It got me thinking a lot about the meaning of love, etc., and how, in the end, all that really matters is that we showed love for those around us and were positive. The material stuff is just material stuff in the end, and it's memories and moments that count.  I know all this has been said before, but it helps to hear it again, I think...especially at the beginning of the week :). 

"Another time, a 15-year-old girl was inside the isolation ward for over a week, along with her seven-year-old sister and her mother, who was very unwell at first. But then they all started to get better When, finally, the girl's Ebola test came back negative, she had a shower in chlorine to disinfect herself, changed into new clothes, and was discharged.  That was a wonderful moment--to see that and to know her mother and sister would soon be well enough to join her." -MSF Doctor Hannah Spencer

Sending love for your Monday.

<3 Frances

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Moon

I'm working at a camp all week and am completely exhausted after yesterday, but fatigue didn't stop me from getting excited about the Strawberry Moon.  The June full moon happened on the Summer Solstice this year (yesterday), and that hasn't happened since 1948, the year my grandmum was born.  It's truly amazing to have gotten to see a rare astronomical event like that (even if through a fog of clouds) because, for all I know, I may not even be here the next time it happens. And "Strawberry Moon" is an adorable name for an astrological occurrence, isn't it?  Native Americans used the moon cycles as a reference for farming, and the "Strawberry Moon" meant berries were ripe.  #funfact
I'm sending love for everyone's day today!

http://northendwaterfront.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Strawberry-Moon-June-2016-59.jpg

<3 Frances