State Of the Nation

"Now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight.
The kids are all standing with their arms folded tight.
Now some things are pure and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight.
I said, some things are pure and some things are right
But the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight.

So young, so young
So much pain for someone so young, well
I know it's heavy, I know it ain't light
But how you gonna lift it with your
arms
folded
tight?"

Arcade Fire, "Month of May"

Fire

When I bought my home, there was one thing and one thing only that I insisted on having. That thing was fire. A space to burn, embers to heat, and flames to cook. Who needs diamonds? It's fire that's a girl's best friend.

Nothing to Lose

"Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs' last words were, "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." You have to wonder what he saw.

Life on Earth

Tiny tendrils curl and wind
Shoots of love
Play hard to find
Caught between predestined cracks
Flirtatious altruistic black

Light on shadow so doth lean
Dark as night against coy green
Angelic trees embrace the soul
Each twig a branch yet to unfold

Phthalo floral meadows sprout
Whispering what it's all about
Naples yellow in between
A liquid bejeweled illusory dream

Prose Andrea Hanson Kelley. Image "Tree Of Life" Gustav Klimt

Happy Birthday Granny

My beloved Grandmother was one of the most influential people in my life. She had style and grace to beat the band, a kind generous nature, and an even, unpretentious, grounded personality. She was brilliantly self educated, devouring more books in her lifetime than anyone else I know. She was an amazing cook, had a gifted green thumb, and was devoted to those she loved. I miss her terribly and think about her most every day. She lives on in my thoughts, through that which I value, and in how I parent my son. I love you Granny! You were my best friend. Via con dios!

Thouroughly Modern Millie

My beautiful hip Grandmother and her two sweet kids. Love and think of you always. Thanks for passing your gifts on to me.

Happy 99th Birthday Grandpa!!

My Grandfather, born in 1912, shown here in 1938. A career sax and clarinet player, lover of Artie Shaw, wine maker, gardener, electrician, world traveler, wood carver and forever a ham for the camera and an audience; here's to you Stan! Long live those tenacious Norwegian genes. Hope I have a good helping of them!

Hope

"There is no precedent to what we're doing. It is about possibilities. It is about solutions. Human kind knows what to do." Paul Hawken








Peace of mind is born of hope. Click it.

"All Things Grow..."

Sufjan Stevens, "Chicago", live in San Francisco

Thank you for your artistry. You are an angel.

Image: mural detail by Andrea Hanson Kelley

Roadtrip

Raindrops
Migrate accross my windshield
Like lemmings.
Grey.



By Andrea Hanson Kelley

A Boy and His Dog

Nothing but sweetness and lots of fur.

Glorious Disasters

"Every lover on a mission shift your known position into the light
Every diamond elemental you are instrumental to the light
Every sonic evolution make your contribution to the light
Every lover on a mission shift your known position to the light

Every lover on a mission shift your known position into the light
Every diamond elemental you are instrumental to the light
Every sonic evolution make your contribution to the light
Every glorious disaster, every bond is gonna bring you faster out into the light"

TV On the Radio,"Second Song". It's in the link. Click it.

"Talking, only me and you..."

..."If you knew my story word for word, had all of my history, would you go along with someone like me?"


"Young Folks", by Peter, Bjorn and John



Click on the title....

"She's making it all come true this time...."

"Got to find a brightness in the soul,
not look outside to find out where we are,
or we wont be satisfied,
'til we make possessions of the stars."

"All Come True", by World Party. "North Star", by Alphonse Mucha


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Hep! Hep!

Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers, 1943. My Grandma told me a story shortly before she died about how she and her best friend Jane skipped school, fibbed to their parents about where they would be, and took the trolley into DC to see Cab Calloway. She said they were the only "white girls" (it was 1936) in the joint and that it was one of the most exciting amazing things she ever did. She kept it to herself for all her life because she did not want to "encourage" her children and grand children with her rebellious behavior. Here's to you Granny! Love you always.

No trolley necessary thanks to modern technology; it's all in the title. Click it!

"What's Up Buttercup?"

"Heh heh hellloooo!"













Click on the title for a taste of 1920's jazz remixed, perfect for the modern day Charleston. 90's House was the bomb!

Dance

Earth
Insatiably drinks
Moist breath.
Dancing.
Prancing
Erotically
Spreading
Planting
Ancient
Toes of wisdom
Into the hard oak floor.
Spinning
Hair
Floating gold
Hazel eyes rolling
Energy
Into pure bliss.

Prose by Andrea Hanson Kelley. Illustration by Ludwig Von Zumbusch, cover of Jugend, 1897

"Ah yes, the wasted years...."

"If I could have it back
All the time that we wasted
I'd only waste it again

If I could have it back
You know I'd love to waste it again
Waste it again and again and again..."


"The Suburbs (Continued)", by Arcade Fire. Click it.

Service of a Statesman

A compelling excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's speech "The Drum Major Instinct". Greatness through service and love. Dr. King was a true statesman. Imagine what our nation might look like if he had become our first black president.

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The Drum Major Instinct”
Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, February 4, 1968

An auditory link is found in the title.

"Shine, shine, shine!"

We all struggle with that confounding and at times painful dialogue of life, but is it not those times of trouble that give us opportunity to grow and to better define ourselves as humans; to further embrace that which we value and appreciate? Hardship motivates us to turn the way things ought to be into the way things are. Suffering offers us the blessed gift of choice. Do we choose darkness or do we choose light? The darker the night the brighter the stars shine, or so they say. They also say it is always darkest before the dawn, and so through this nomenclature I am reminded to rejoice in the divine order of our Universe, and to expect only the best.


"I think I see the light, coming to me, shining through me, giving me a second sight; so shine, shine, shine..." Cat Stevens

"Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation." Elizabeth Gilbert

The photo is of Ruth Gordon, a beauty from beginning to end, inside and out. Click on this entries' title for a gem of a YouTube creation.

"Money"

Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.....unsurpassed...what can I say? From "Cabaret"...


Click on the title....