The Sorrow Estate was covered by a paper in my hometown, Your Clifton Park! You can read it here. One thing I really like about this article is the inclusion of interview questions at the bottom. I know how frustrating it is as a journalist when you have to cut interview answers due to space constraints. I am appreciative that Cady asked such great questions and gave the replies room to breathe. |
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Lit midnight trespass moonspun laughter the two or three or four of us adjusting shutter speeds and listening to wolves howl in the distance we shiver like dark mirages the tripods wait with us for that -click- image on a glowing screen see what had not been seen, stillness lit rarely do we comprehend the things we leave behind
There's a road in western New York that rises and falls with the rolling land. We drove up and down pavement divots to the highest spot- the tippity top. pulled the car into a harvested field and left it there. Cold fingers, blue hands to match the turning sky, warm with breath and the shutter clicks. Stand atop the car, watch the whole world chalky, bird egg blue tO cotton candy pink to savannah orange. Moments measured in color. Color reseeded softly and left us alone with a new hue- flecks of eternity glinting like smirking angels.
We drove home and went to bed. Seeing Dustin Kensrue in Indy this summer reignited my passion for his music- particular his solo, folk/rock songs. For the past two months I have sung Blood and Wine every time I picked up a guitar. Every. Single. Time. If I do a show I will play this song. Regardless of the projected reaction of the audience (I often introduce it as "The Song that Wasn't Written by Johnny Cash but Could've Been"). It's a problem.
On my way back to Albany from Indianapolis I played Blood and Wine in a nearly deserted airport. The cathedral-high airport ceiling echoed my voice back to me in holy canon as I hurled the tune at the opposing wall. I finished in a roar, breaking a string and stomping my foot. Only two people were in the terminal. One was a lone McDonald's worker who gave me a standing ovation and then ran out from behind the counter to meet me and hand me a water bottle (I don't know why he did this. I just know that it made us both happy). And the other person, a policeman with a very large German shepherd, ushered me away from the McDonald's worker, escorted me out to the baggage claim area, and asked if I was homeless (to which I responded, "No, officer. just a musician"). Methinks he might not have appreciate the heroin reference in the second verse. Or the gunpoint robbery in the fourth. Count on Dustin Kensrue to get you personally admired and thrown out of a public building in the same night. In honor of the super moon tonight I STAR-ted learning about night photography (heh heh). It was SKY-prisingly difficult. You have to think about composure and exposure, struggle with the lens and the tripod, tittle with little buttons and knobs. It's all very COMET-plecated (okay, i'm done I swear).
Dr. Richard J. Mouw Speaks on Christian Convicted Civility
This year’s Christian Life Emphasis Week (CLEW) was graced with the teachings of key speaker and public intellectual, Doctor Richard J. Mouw. In settings such as chapel, lunch discussions, night sessions, and a coffeehouse Q and A, the theologian and philosopher exhibited the wisdom, grace, and humility he taught. Engaging and bright, Mouw spoke to the heart of Christian engagement with culture, pushing students to more deeply consider how their faith interacts with the world around them and how they can express love to those they disagree with. The celebration of CLEW during the first week of classes is a long standing tradition at Houghton College. It originated as a two week revival which invigorated the campus at the beginning of the new semester. My love of photography started with thievery. In middle school I would sneak my older brother's camcorder out of his room to shoot videos with my friends that I would later edit and upload to YouTube. My parents, motivated by my brother's complaints, bought me a camera for my birthday. However, they accidentally purchased a camera made for photography instead of videography. I was crushed. The new Nikon D3100 didn't focus on moving objects well, had no external mic in, and could only record 10 minutes of footage at a time. Making the best of their honest mistake, I started saving money for a camcorder and, in the meantime, began experimenting with photography. The result has been a six year love affair with both mediums. Pictures, still or moving, fascinate me. I love how a single moment of time can be suspended and saved. I enjoy discovering new perspectives and expressing the human experience through visual images. Here is a short photo gallery of some people and places I love, some moments captured. Enjoy! Livelihood | Iringa, Tanzania
To celebrate starting my Junior year at Houghton College I have composed a list of goals and desires for the coming year. It is imperative to note that goals and desires are different things. This I learned from my dad's road-trip-lecture last week. He is a smart man.
Goals can be achieved without the participation of anyone else. Desires require the co-operation of others. For example, say I want to spend more time with my brother. That requires both his and my participation. He may not want to spend time with me even if I want to spend time with him. Saying that he and I will hang out once a week is not a feasible goal; it's a desire. However, a good goal would be to ask him to coffee twice a week. This way I honor his choice and give myself an achievable goal. He may choose to say no, but I have been intentional about extending an invitation. Some other important qualities of good goals is that they are measurable. Saying "I want to read my Bible more." is a great starting point for a goal. To take that a step further you might say, "I will read one Psalm and one chapter of the Gospels every day." This way you can measure your success and hold yourself accountable. My list of goals and desires (yes, there's a mix) is centered around my commitment to do more of what makes me happy and causes me to progress. It is easy for me to become so preoccupied with homework, insecurities, and feelings of anxiety or depression that I either forget to [or avoid participating in] things that invigorate me. And so, this year I am prioritizing relationships and activities that engage me in Joy -- places where I can truly be myself; growing as a person and encouraging others to grow. August 8, 2015 marks the day that Daniel Gibson Bellerose and Rachel Hope Brunea vowed to love and cherish one another for the entirety of eternity. Sunflowers swayed gently in the mountain breeze as the promise was made and sealed with a kiss. There was much rejoicing. Fooding, dancing, and badmintoning then commenced; the frantic joys of such activities seen in gleaming fruit-and-cheese heaped plates, bare-footed-hand-held prancing, and some particularly well-aimed birdy driving. Along with this came the mingling of friends and meeting of sisters, mothers, fathers, and brothers so many of us had heard so much about. A highlight of my experience was swinging on a swing set with a certain absolutely delightful freckled redhead and watching the couples dance in their bumbly, blissful fashion:)
rocked their hour long set. Playing hits such as This Disorder and Good Old Days, The Features executed their psychedelic, grunge sound with style. The band's foot tapping tunes echoed around the raddest venue in the Capital Region- the Plaza. The Empire State Plaza; which connects the EGG Center for the Performing Arts, the Corning Tower, the New York State Museum, the Capital Building, and several war and emergency service memorials, is decorated by artwork and gardens. Concert go-ers enjoyed not only the sounds of the night, but also the sights. the plaza across the water
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November 2015
AuthorLaura Johnson is a junior writing major at Houghton College. Laura writes for The Houghton Star, Mousailink, and One Mission Society. This virtual space is a journal of things that matter to her; tales, musings, wanderings. |