Monday, April 30, 2012

The Unsent Letter Project

"Sir, When we thinke of a friend, we do not count that thought a lost thought, though that friend never knew of it.  If we write to a friend, we must not call it a lost Letter, though it never finde him to whom it was addressed: for we owe ourselves that office, to be mindefull of our friends."

~Poet and Preacher John Donne in a letter to a friend (written sometime between 1603 and 1616)

My favorite blogger is girl by the name of Meg Fee.  She writes beautifully and with disarming truth.  It's that truth that I admire so and it's the lack of it in my own blog posts that I dislike.  It's not that I'm incapable of writing the truth-- read my diary sometime-- but I'm loathe to write it here.  In the early days, before friends and my mother knew about this blog, I found writing truthfully to be much easier (and safer).  Nowadays, I stick to posting pretty pictures, mindless fluff, and the odd quote or bit of poetry that hints at what lies beneath.


In my collection are a bunch of letters that I have started to friends but never finished (or finished and never sent).  They're fun for me to look at because they capture for me how I was feeling at that time.  And they're honest.  Sometimes shockingly so.  It scares me a bit to post them here, but in an attempt to be more honest, that's what I intend to do.  This feels like a character-growing activity for me because it lets people in to see some of my sensitive spots (and the ugly blights upon my soul as well), but it feels safe-ish, too, because they paint pictures of a former elise, not the current elise.


With that, I humbly submit the Unsent Letter Project.  My first entry is rather innocuous; the heady ones will come later.  I always was the type to dip my toe in before jumping in completely.  This letter is to a girl named Golnar who I had forgotten ever existed until I found this letter.  It would have been written circa 1993 (I was a seventh grader), and was to a friend I had left behind after my family moved to Delaware.

The letter (transcribed below):


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Dear Golnar,
    So how is science?  Real fun I bet, right?  Well here it is so boring.  Everyone seem to be so stupid (I don't mean to be mean.  I'm serious though)  It's just that well they don't really think.  I'm almost positive I'll either get all A's or all A's and 1 B.  You'd whiz by here.  So would Janet.  So how is it being a lab partner with Janet?  You get to do a lot more things when you do a lab without me (miss fair everyone gets the exact amount of turns) there.  Also I'm no longer blameable (is that a word) for breaking stuff.  Our science class here is... different... The other day we got to disect a earthworm.  How fun!  I just love earthworms don't you?  Well actully I got to disect a gummiworm (yumm) instead.  Some other people chose to too.  Well I gotta go take a shower now (We have to be at the bus stop at 6:55 [that's right 6:55 in the morning]) Please, please, please, please, PLEASE write back.
                                                                       your friend,
                                                                                         Elise



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Each Day You Mean One More

What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can't walk, can't remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover.  They can do anything
you can't blame them 
from doing.  How can you stop
them?  Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.


But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, and army
can meet an army.


Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge.  With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization.  With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no 
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter
ten thousand, power and your own paper
a hundred thousand, your own media
ten million, your own country.


It goes on one at a time,
It starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.

~Marge Piercy, The Low Road


I just came home from my local polling place having voted for the Republican candidate for President of the United States.  As I waited for the red light to change, a car pulled past me in the other lane, and I noticed with a smile that the car had a Ron Paul bumpersticker on it.  The driver had obviously noticed the matching sticker on my Subaru and our eyes met in the reflection of his rearview mirror and he flashed me a peace sign.  It was a moment where one feels the flash of humanity-- we were friends even though we had never met.  It's a powerful feeling to look another human being in the eye and to know you've met an ally.


One cold morning last January, I looked out my window to see a world blanketed in snow.  I rubbed my blurry eyes with my hands and peered between the blinds again.  That morning I had volunteered to petition for signatures to get Ron Paul's name on the ballot here in Delaware.  It was to be my first foray into that campaign world, and I had no idea of what to expect.  The little voice that lies dormant through the week but looks upon lazy Saturday mornings with longing whispered, "You don't have to go.  No one would fault you if you didn't make it out in the snow."  But another voice spoke up with more sternness, "No, you must keep your commitments.  Let your yes be yes and your no be no."


That was how it all began.  I have been blessed beyond measure because I decided to show up that day.  This Saturday I, along with other dear committed souls, will be a delegate to the State Convention.  With any luck we will shape the future.  Along the way I have met so many amazing, passionate people-- dear Eric, Sam and Nicole, Mark, Randy and Taylor, Meredith, Hollie, Tom, the Young Americans for Liberty, and countless others.  It has been a joy to walk beside them.  And so, this is for them.  This is for my friends who are fighting for Liberty.  This is for my friends who are paying attention.  This is for my friends who care to act.  I say "We", and we know who we mean, and each day we mean one more.  Won't you come and join us?


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The Dream Digger

Don't you love me, don't you want to look at me?
Oh, how handsome you are, damn you!
And I can no longer fly,
I who was winged from childhood.
A mist clouds my eyes,
Things and faces merge and flow,
And there is only the red tulip,
The tulip in your buttonhole.


~Anna Akhmatova

Sunday, April 22, 2012

A Few of my Favorite Things

This is a really fun post for me to write.  Some of my favorite people in the world are appearing in commercials right now.  So, I thought I'd share them with you (and, I actually started my blog as a repository for all things I love, so this is as much for mw as it is for you).


First up is my friend, Laura-- or Larry, as I affectionately call her.  Laura was my roommate and BFF in NY.  She and I got into no end of trouble together and I miss her dearly (time and distance have worked their magic so that we don't talk so much anymore, but she still owns a piece of my heart)(She's the dark-haired beauty with blue eyes):



Next up is my other BFF, Corrie, who is currently in a McDonald's commercial (she's the workaholic in glasses).  Corrie is my saving grace, and if you read this blog with any frequency at all, you know her



AND, here's Corrie again, with another one of my favorite gals, Morgan.  Morgan and I went to college together, studied in Paris together, and shared wonderful times together in NY.  She's one of the best people I know.  Morgan is now a stylist in NY (she's super talented), and I'm happy to see things coming together for her.  I introduced her to my friend, Corrie, and now they're in a commercial together.  Also in the commercial are Morgan's boyfriend and sister.  Super cool!



Finally, here's my friend, Heather, in a Samsung commercial.  Heather and I studied together in college (Apparel Design 2002! and we studied in Paris together).  She's amazingly talented (she designs clothing, but can act, too).  You can also catch her in the first ever episode of Madmen.  Hey-hey, I miss you, my love! (She's the teacher here):


Isn't it fun to have such amazingly beautiful and talented friends?  Gals, I love you and miss you so much!  I would love to be in the same city, soaking up each other's light. 

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Song

Pain will cease, do not grieve, do not grieve--
Friends will return, the heart will rest, do not grieve, do not grieve--
The wound will be made whole, do not grieve, do not grieve--
Day will come forth, do not grieve, do not grieve--
The cloud will open, night will decline, do not grieve, do not grieve--
The seasons will change, do not grieve, do not grieve.

~Faiz Ahmed Faiz