Joyful thesis writing

I was on a roll with thesis writing so plowed through the weekend, pretty much without stopping. Today I hit a wall... and this seems like the best way to describe how writing is going right now. 

I'm hoping that this too, shall quickly pass. Sigh.

Creativity with VHS tape

Until my thesis is done, I'm not doing any sewing, pysanka, quilting, home decorating etc. Once I'm done school, I have promised Jeff I will take some time before going back to work- during that time, I want to do some creative things. I'll share them here when they actually happen. 

In the meantime, my creative side needs to live vicariously through others. I read an article a while back about how crafts made with old VHS tape are growing in popularity. We have the: 

VHS tape gift wrap

Woven VHS tape clutch purse

VHS tape Halloween wreath with silk flowers

VHS tape flowers on a beach bag

VHS tape and button bracelet

VHS tape woven book cover

While these are all interesting, I'm not sure I can say the same of this VHS tape dress, made by Parisienne artist Caroline Sciancalepore

The only thing I really like is the clutch purse (big surprise!) although the gift ribbon is fun. What about you?

Introducing a new composer

I am so thrilled to introduce a new choral composer here, one I learned about while putting together our recent 36 Days of Christmas Music.  One of the pieces, The First Noel received a lot of very positive comments and several people emailed me to find out more about the composer, a young American named Dan Forrest. Over Christmas holidays, I did some more digging about Forrest (see his bio here). Those in the know are calling him the best choral writer in the United States today and to be honest, I have been absolutely blown away by what I have heard so far. 

In some ways, I am drawn to Forrest's work for the same reasons I am drawn to that of John Rutter.  Both composers write incredibly beautiful choral harmonies and have a way of making text come so alive through the music. There are a few reasons however, why I am growing to love Dan Forrest's work even more.  Forrest is a very fine pianist and accompanist and this comes through so strongly in his music- his piano accompaniments are just stunning and are marvellously woven together with the choral score. I think Forrest also creates music with an underlying sensitivity that is unique and deeply personal; it is music that personally resonates and is very moving. Most importantly, Forrest is very clear about his Christian faith and openly believes what he writes. This has always been my difficulty with Rutter, who openly loves church tradition and institution (and writes mostly religious music) but whose faith is not clear. I think the personal element of believing what one writes shines through in Forrest's music and makes a visible difference.

Over the coming months, I will certainly feature lots of Forrest arrangements and compositions here. Because the compositions are so new, there are very few videos available but I have found audio recordings. Here are two pieces that Jeff and I find particularly beautiful. Just click on the song title below to hear it. 

Beautiful In His Time

Lyrics from Ecclesiastes 3:11

Lord of the Small

Lyrics by Johanna Anderson

                                        Praise to the Lord of the small, broken things,
                                        Who sees the poor sparrow that cannot take wing,
                                        Who loves the lame child, and the wretch in the street,
                                        Who comforts their sorrows and washes their feet.

                                        Praise to the Lord of the faint and afraid,
                                        Who girds them with courage and lends them His aid;
                                        He pours out His Spirit on vessels so weak
                                        That the timid can serve and the silent can speak.

                        

                                        Praise to the Lord of the frail and the ill,
                                        Who heals their afflictions, or carries them till
                                        They leave this tired frame and to paradise fly,
                                        To never be sick, never to die.

                                        Praise Him, O praise Him, all ye who yet live,
                                        Who’ve been given so much and can so little give.
                                        Our frail, lisping praise God will never despise;
                                        He sees His dear children through mercy-filled eyes.

More Blue

Jeff and I have long wanted to paint the living room... so that's what we did to celebrate our 4th anniversary in mid December. Romantic, huh?! His parents helped us and it certainly would not have gone as smoothly as it did without them. Here are some photos from before- the walls were a warm caramel/taupe/beige. The colour wasn't so much bad as it was a little monotonous, with our beige sofas and carpet.

We chose Benjamin Moore Smoky Green (mixed by General Paint). It's difficult to capture but you'll see from the photos (all taken within about 3 minutes) that the colour does read quite different. Most of the time, it looks like a bluey green with a lot of grey undertones (if that makes any sense whatsoever). Descriptions aside, we're quite pleased with the results. 

I was amazed how much better the wood furniture looked against blue walls than beige ones. It seems that contrast is a good thing. The photos are not great... I'll take better ones in the spring when the lighting is better and I'm not focused on writing.

Hand Soap

Three years ago, a friend introduced me to the idea of natural cleaning products. I was skeptical- could vinegar really clean anything? It took a bit of reading and research to give it a try. I'm now hooked. There is nothing better than cleaning my wood floors and NOT getting a migraine they way I usually did when I used chemical cleaners.

For the most part, we've gone green (floors, windows, kitchen surfaces, everything in the bathroom) but I still use "regular" laundry and dishwasher soap.  Until December last year, I also continued using the deliciously scented antibacterial hand soap pumps from Bath & Body Works.

Last fall, we did some research on the antibacterial soap movement and concluded  it was no longer for us. (Cue the sad face). Because I like the convenience (and lovely scents) of liquid hand soap, I was determined to come up with a greener  alternative that also smelled great. My favourite Canadian online pharmacy put a super sale on Method products in November... so with a few stacked coupons and free shipping, I gave them a try.

The verdict?  I still prefer the scents of the Bath & Body Works soap. However, I'm very happy that Method tetra-pack refills are available with low-waste packaging and that on sale (with coupons), I've cut the cost by more than 80%. In all honesty, I don't feel any more or less clean when I wash my hands... which confirms my hunch that antibacterial soap wasn't necessary for us. In an ideal world, I should probably try to make my own hand soap. Since that's not likely to happen, this seems like a good alternative.

My View Wednesday

Since I'm still spending most days at the computer in my office, today's view is not that much different than the one seen last week. Here's #2 in the series of marine-themed origami art pieces (made for me by my nephew) that sit on the window ledge, right above my desk.

Thesis update

With less than a month to go, a good friend emailed me to see how things were progressing with my thesis.  I am about 35 pages from being finished, but they are the toughest 35 pages of all. I spent most of last week working on the dreaded Chapter 4, the longest (and most challenging) chapter. It's a review of all of my research data (200+ pages of data summarized down to 20) and no matter how you look at it, is just really tough to organize, analyse and write.

Last week, I realized that my approach (and result) looked something like this:

Far Side Cartoon by Gary Larson

So I started over. Hopefully, this week will be better.

Sewing room creativity

Can you guess what these sculptures are made from?

BUTTONS!!! I cannot imagine where Miami Artisit Augusto Esquivel gets all of these buttons but I find myself both fascinated and impressed. How many thousands of strings it must take for these creations. 

It will come as no surprise that we really love the musical instruments.

I cannot imagine the logistics involved in setting up and transporting these sculptures. They are unique and wonderful, aren't they?                                                                                 
                                                                                                                             * all images courtesy of Augusto Esquivel

Leading from the piano

Most readers here know that I grew up playing piano in church. While I took lessons formally and became a fairly proficient classical pianist, I am really a church accompanist at heart. I was so fortunate to grow up in a church with some fantastic pianists, all of who modelled the importance of leading (and not performing) worship from the piano. That difference between leading and performing might seem subtle, but I think it is certainly there. As I look at the general approach to music worship in the "contemporary" Christian church, it seems that less church musicians are aware of the gift and responsibility of leading worship through music and more caught up in the performance. I hope I'm wrong about this assessment as it makes me so very sad.

Until I moved to Nanaimo, I have always gone to churches where there was a musical offertory, often played by the pianist. That quiet few moments of music to pray or think about the text of the song being played has always been a piece of worship that I really love, both as a listener and as a pianist myself. I miss that, very much. Pianist Greg Howlett's music brings that experience of worship back for me. Based in Georgia, Greg composes and plays piano arrangements of traditional hymns, often with orchestration. They are well done and a great example of what it means to lead from the piano.

While there are many great new hymns being written, I do think that many churches are really missing out by not including older, more traditional hymns in regular Sunday worship. And while I love a mix of styles, I think that often, simpler is better. This arrangement of God Leads Us Along, sung by May Leporacci and accompanied by Greg Howlett carries such a powerful message that I think would be completely lost with drums, guitars and the usual trimmings of a praise band. In church music, I think we sometimes need to be quiet enough to actually let the text speak to us. 

Inspiration

This actually applies more to writing a thesis than one might expect...

Around here...

Yesterday, I took a photo on our front step. I was planning to post a cheeky comment today about how our annual snowfall arrived this week.

But this morning I awoke to this.

I know- it's really not that bad. It's just a bit unusual for us islanders. A part of me wants to wrap up these magnolia blooms and keep them warm until spring.

My View Wednesday

Today's view is right in front of me as I write- an incredible piece of origami art made by my uber talented nephew (an Origami Master) and given to me as a gift last Christmas.

It's on the window ledge right above my desk- every time I look up, I see more and more parallels between me and the grey fish. It certainly motivates me to keep going and keeps me from getting too frustrated (the way I might have been when I realized last week that I have to completely rewrite all three of my literature review topics because they aren't as relevant to my thesis research findings as I anticipated they would be when I wrote them last summer). With only 7 weeks to go until my thesis deadline, I really am that little grey fish.

Breakfast of champions

With a very busy December behind us and both of us fighting colds these days, it was clear Jeff and I needed a quiet weekend. I love quiet weekend mornings- ones without an agenda or schedule of things that need to be done- when we share a pot of tea and a stack of apple or blueberry pancakes.  Some of our best conversations happen over these quiet weekend breakfasts and after eating thousands of breakfasts all by myself, it's nice to have company and conversation. Jeff says that the world simply looks better over pancakes.

Because most pancake mixes contain milk powder (along with a variety of other mystery ingredients), I make mine from scratch. The recipe is so simple I was not intending to share it here but for anyone looking for a non-dairy pancake, here's our favourite.

Blueberry pancakes

serves 2-3

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons white sugar

1 cup soy or almond milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 apple, cored and finely grated OR

1 cup frozen blueberries

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix the vanilla soy milk, egg, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Pour the soy milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture, and whisk together until smooth. If making apple pancakes, fold in grated apple.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour ¼ cupfuls of batter into the skillet.  If making blueberry pancakes, sprinkle berries over each pancake. Cook until bubbles form and burst on the surface. Flip and cook until golden brown on the second side.

Serve warm with your pancake topping of choice. I love them with Waterloo County maple syrup and fresh fruit.

Painting with boys

Before Christmas, Jeff and I did a whirlwind few painting projects. While Jeff is a meticulous painter and we do have fun doing projects together, I've decided this is how men and women see paint colours.

Ubi Caritas

In recent years, it seems that more and more prizes at international choral competitions have been won by Filipino choirs. One of the choirs I have been following is the University of Philippines Madrigal Singers. Known affectionately in choral circles as the "Madz", they are the first choir in the world to win the European Grand Prix for Choral singing twice, in 1997 and 2007. They are fantastic- another one of those choirs that has a perfect blend of musical virtuosity, technical proficiency and down right soulful singing. You will also see in the first video that this choir sings in an unusual seated semicircle with their conductor as part of the circle leading only by facial expression- that's their trademark. 

I want to share two of their pieces today- the first,Ubi Caritas et Amor by Z. Randall Stroope. Here is a translation of the text:

Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est. Alleluia Domine. Gaudium immensum est! Secula infinita!  Alleluia! Ubi caritas et amor. Amen.

Where charity and love are, God is there. Alleluia to God. Joy is immense! Through unending ages of ages.  Alleluia! Where charity and love are. Amen.

The second is I Will Sing Forever written by Bukas Palad.  

Basement stairs reveal

With a ton of traffic expected to move up and down our basement stairs over Christmas (including a tiny newborn), Jeff and I decided we need to replace the old steep and scary stairs before the holidays. I gave a hint about this project in this post. We probably should have tackled this project years ago because it really was long overdue.

Last summer, Jeff's dad helped us with the first phase of the makeover, closing in the previously completely open banister. The first step for us then, was to take off the old stair treads and risers.

From there, Jeff made stair treads with noses on two sides, adding two inches to the width and one inch to the depth on each tread from the previous ones. You'll notice he also created a custom notch on the bottom stair to allow for the basement door to open... with about a quarter inch of clearance!

Everything then got a pristine coat of white primer.

I would have loved to keep the stairs white but in reality, that was a recipe for disaster (since I alone go up and down these stairs at least a dozen times each day). We went with a much more durable charcoal grey... with a surprise.

Yes- it's blue!! Benjamin Moore Surf Blue (mixed by General Paint), to be exact. Each time I go up the stairs, the colour a makes me smile. You'll note that Jeff also did a considerably better job on finishing the stairs than the last mystery DIY-wannabe did.

We also gave the rest of the laundry room a coat of my favourite Benjamin Moore Cloud White (also mixed by General Paint) to freshen it up.

While I'm really happy with the overall look of the new stairs, I'm over the moon ecstatically thrilled by how much better they feel. One inch on a stair's depth doesn't sound like much, but makes a world of difference under your feet. These stairs used to feel very steep and scary, but now they are comfortable and just right.  Before, I needed to clutch onto railings on both sides of the stairs when I went down - now I zip up and down without holding onto anything. You'll notice from the before and after photos below that we didn't even need to put up the second railing.

Jeff and my dad spent two days before Christmas hanging a new door at the top of the stairs. Two days, you ask? Yes, it was two days. It seems that the doofus who built the old stairs also neglected to use a measuring tape when framing that door. As a result, it was not rectangular (as one expects doors to be) but a polygon. I don't know exactly what they did to fix it but I know it took lots and lots of trips back and forth out to the workshop. Now that the door is hung (Hallelujah!) we just have to paint it and we are DONE!

I think the difference is amazing... and that Jeff did an absolutely incredible job.