'yellow moon glowed bright till the morning light'

i. love. fleet. foxes. always have. always will. not SIMPLY because they're from seattle (my dream home), and not JUST because they look like mountain men, and that seems to be my musical soft spot.
though i had a good summary of the music they were making from their myspace around the time that i graduated from university (2007), sun giant was my first real intro - i'm not even sure how i stumbled onto it - and that EP made me fall into a unrequited love with the lyrics and music that the band served to me. one can only imagine how ecstatic i was when their first full length album was released (self titled). influenced by bob dylan, hank williams, neil young? perfection.
truly, they will continue to have success. they're signed to subpop - with the likes of postal service, wolf parade, the shins - and bella union - who also represents the acorn, lone wolf, and department of eagles.
anyways. i leave you with one of my faves. perfect harmonies. perfect lyrics. and just overall perfection.

lie down with me, my dear. lie down. under stormy night. tell nobody. my brother, where do you intend to go tonight? i heard that you missed your connecting flight to the Blue Ridge Mountains, over near Tennessee. you're ever welcome with me any time you like, let's drive to the country side, leave behind some green-eyed look-a-likes, so no one gets worried, no. so no one gets worried, no. but sean don't get careless, i'm sure it'll be fine. i love you. I love you, oh brother of mine. in the quivering forest, where the shivering dog rests, our good grandfather built a wooden nest. and the river got frozen, and the home got snowed in. and a yellow moon glowed bright till the morning light. terrible am I, child. even if you don't mind. in the quivering forest, where the shivering dog rests, our good grandfather. built a wooden nest. And the river got frozen, and the hole got snowed in, and a yellow moon glowed bright. till the morning light. terrible am I, child. even if you don't mind, no.

'I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity' - the great gatsby

i just finished reading a TON of books.... all of which i'm going to write about... because i really adored them all.
first up... the great gatsby.
I’ve been meaning to read it for a long long time, but was never forced in school – I think with the stack of books that I have next to me at all times, it never brought itself upon me. So finally, after seeing that Bart Schaneman was reading it again – and raving about it, again, at that – I knew I needed to get it.
I fell in love. I fell in love with love, and the idea of tragedy in love. I fell in love with the 20s, and all that came along with them. mint juleps, extravagant parties, golfing and women basking in their own beauty.

And I fell in love with f. scott fitzgerald’s writing. He’s a stunning man who used stunning language. He managed to make a book into a poem and a picture at the same time.

Gatsby is a beautifully theatrical character… and for him there is no other word to describe. He is posed as someone with a flair in everything he does – so much so, that as I read, I wondered if the ‘tragic end’ the Gatsby comes to (alluded to on the back cover of the book) was a result of his relationships with men. however, in the end, I felt as though he was an invention of himself – an illusion of his own making. His overall innocence, and purity was not expected, but lovely. heartbreaking even. he’s the perfect character to embody what the 20’s was – a decade of grandiose proportions, only to be toppled by the reality of what was going on in the real world, and America.
Two of the other main characters – Tom and Daisy – were infuriating. I could provide my own explanation, but instead, fitzgerald summed it perfectly near the end of the story: ‘they were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made’. Perhaps part of the reason this novel continues to resonate with our culture, almost a century later, is due to the truth in their personas – and that these persons still weave in and out of all of our lives daily.
A few of my favourite quotes from the book….
‘he smiled understandingly – much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced – or seemed to face – the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.’

‘then it was something more. I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity. The bored haughty face that she turned to the world concealed something – most affections conceal something eventually, even though they don’t in the beginning.’

'the track curved and now it was going away from the sun, which, as it sank lower, seemed to spread itself in benediction over the vanishing city where she had drawn her breath. He stretched out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the sport that she had made lovely for him. Be it was all going by too fast now for his blurred eyes and he knew that he had lost that part of it, the freshest and the best, forever.’

‘a new world materials without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about… like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding towards him through the amorphous trees.’

read it. i implore you to bask in it's greatness. it's a wonderful story. and wonderful writing. 

and if nothing else, leo will be in the movie coming out soon, with tobey macguire and carey mulligan. will. be. brilliant.

photos from: ache  //  ache (2) 

my (irish) weekend in summary

This weekend was fantastic – filled with lots of time with friends, and great weather. A little st. paddy’s celebration got the best of me, but all was forgiven with brunch, a good nap, and some good books on Sunday. 

Snacks!; aveda presents and busted brackets; mint julps... amazing; epic brunch of champions prior to st paddy’s celebrations; green shirts, green tights, green beer; greg and one of the most hilariously true and creep things I’ve ever observed, ‘refresh. refresh. refresh. YES! oh wait… never mind. refresh. refresh.’; green beer; more food making; erin and I – we’re so pretty; erin and tara – looking marvelous; the girls; but more importantly, the girls and greg; ombre.

Friday: headed home from work, and stopped along the way for a few things – I had a night of mint juleps, and classic movie watching ahead, and I attempted to procure some mint julep glasses (traditionally, they are drank from metal glasses). Needless to say, I was unsuccessful, and in the process, managed to pick up a $60 parking ticket long the way! Also found out that Missouri, the team I chose to win march madness, lost their first round game against the 15th place team, Norfolk St. unreal. Luckily, I spent the rest of the night without care – watching Dr. No, drinking mint juleps, eating snacks, and listening to music. In my fort. It was a good and much needed Friday night of relaxation and laughter and not going out.
Saturday: woke up fairly early, and cleaned up a bit, and then drove my landlords to the airport, where they were headed off for a vacation. I then did a quick perusal at Joe as a pre-shop for my date with my friend abby this week. Then headed to try to find some more shirts for some upcoming tshirt production with Erin, Nicole and Katie. As I couldn’t find any, and we seemed to have misplaced our image files, we decided to go with ombre tshirts instead… in all shades of green. Then, Katie and I met Nicole and Erin to make an epic breakfast/lunch/brunch, and hang out. The day turned into the eve, including dance parties, green beer, street meat, and all green. We all made our way to sneaky dee’s for drinks, and then danced the night away.
Sunday: woke up LATE. A lot of recovery required. Then spent the day napping, eating a homemade brunch/lunch, daydreaming outside in the sun, and more napping. It was a day of recovery that was much required. I went for a late evening walk, and had dinner in front of the tv, and zoned. Read in bed for a little while, and was wiped (despite all the napping) and in bed/sleeping by very early.
Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, had safe festivities, and took advantage of the beautiful weather!!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh

with the last name shea, it's no surprise that st patrick's day is one of my favourite of the year - march madness is on, everyone turns irish, university days were filled will irresponsible behaviour like doing jello shots out of ziploc bags in the washroom at on campus pubs (though, that was ALL other people. i would never dream of doing something so irresponsible).

so this time of year, i'm just elated. and though i'd love to be back in ireland, celebrating amonst the emerald green there, not this year (though, soon enough, i'm sure). this year i'll be drinking mint juleps (as inspired by my reading of 'the great gatsby'), spending saturday with some of my favourite ladies, wearing green, and dancing the night away, and then relaxing on sunday.

everyone, have a guiness, and enjoy the weekend safely!
(Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh means 'Happy St. Patricks Day!' to everyone, in gaelic)

image from:   j. yepez on pinterest //  pinterest

i can only apologize for the madness, so much.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows anything about me, that I love sports. I grew up in the ultimate sports household – parents who played sports constantly growing up, met because my dad ejected my mom from a basketball game for being too rough (though my mom will deny that to the death), and continued to raise their 3 daughters on sports - and believing they could play with the boys. our childhood movies were less warm and fuzzy, and more ‘league of their own’, ‘little giants’, and ‘sandlot’. a LOT of the sandlot. we all played sports constantly growing up – my sisters focused on their intense hockey team play, as well as lacrosse in the off season, and some dabbling in baseball, soccer, dance, ultimate frisbee etc. I focused on basketball, and also did the whole soccer, baseball, dance, routine. my dad still plays hockey – at almost 60 – and my mom ran marathons and has been active for as long as I can remember. one year, as our family photo, we were dressed in our various sports uniforms, and posed holding our respective props – me in my bball uniform, with a basketball poised on my knee.

we’ve all had injuries – concussions, swelling, etc (my sisters); broken limbs and joints, sprains, strains and knee injuries (me). We’ve cried over loses and celebrated big wins. We’ve hated coaches, and loved teammates. And the other way around. We have stayed up all night to watch games, championships, or even just a sports movie or two (the number of exam procrastination I did with the movie ‘rookie of the year’ is beyond counting). We’ve organized parties, celebrations and important events around important sports moments – postponed birthdays, or other family events due to huge games. We all have team Canada hockey jersey’s with our names on the back – vital for any true Canadian sports family. I have more team jerseys than I have blazers – which, according to my own fashion advice in this article – is a LOT.
This is all to say, my family eats, breathes, and sleeps sports. Super Bowl is our Thanksgiving. Stanley Cup is our Easter. olympics? oh boy…. don’t even try to get through to my parent’s house on the phone. our family events are usually to sporting events like basketball, baseball or lacrosse games.
and for me? March Madness is like the second coming of Christ (wait… third? Anyways…). EVERY. YEAR. As a basketball player throughout high school, and a coach all the way from grade 9 to the end of university, it’s my thing. And when March Madness comes? My life is good.
For 2.5 weeks in March, I am in heaven. Literally. Basketball running almost 24/7. Upsets, Cinderella stories, injuries. It. All. Happens. Here.

this is what my computer screen looks like for the entire tournament. refresh. refresh. refresh.

so first off, to you non-sports fans (or those who are simply not interested): I apologize. I apologize for the tweets, the facebook statuses and chats. I apologize that my entire life is focused on basketball for this moment in time. I promise you, I will attempt to fill some time with fashion, music, thoughts, to distract you from my incessant chirping on twitter (not even a pun I intended for… but I’ll take that one!) about rivalries, bracket busters, etc. I will do my best. And when it’s all done? I PROMISE I will make it up to you. I won’t talk (much) about sports for awhile. Ish.
for those who understand the madness: thank you. please. engage in the trash talking with me. I love every second of it. and I can guarantee you, I am watching the scores CONSTANTLY. we can chat team strengths, predicted winners, 5/12 upsets… and I will emphasize how much I HATE Syracuse (which makes for a difficult household, as my sister is an Orangeman freak).

and for those who want to follow along, but don’t know much about it? here’s my bracket. you can pretend it’s yours. highlight the winners, and follow the games. I promise you this – one game knockout tournaments? the best way to play a sport.

I love this game.

and ps. I have missouri to win. if they win, I will have pulled off one of the biggest shocker brackets, known to mankind. the more likely winner? Ohio State. but what the hell. March Madness comes but once a year.