I was framed! And slightly more organized.

Ah, kicking back to some Parov Stelar and organizing parts of my space. Primarily framing things and putting up art that I like. I decided to take this opportunity to show off some of my favourite things in my room, and parts of my bulletin board. Well, more like inspiration board. Today's photos are in...sepia! Mostly because it seemed fitting. Somehow. Ish. 

I have a great deal of neat things on my bulletin board, all things being interesting images, inspirational items and ideas, notes, even things I've made. You'd think that with my room, where there are inspiring things everywhere, the everything else would be enough. Still, having a place to just tack things up is quite nice. It collects all these small things into one place. Especially those small things that mean a lot, but are too small and I want them up now, but I can't put them up anywhere else.

Small part of my curiosities/oddities shelf. At some point I really want to document everything and give a full description about the contents. This is one of my favourite parts of my shelf, with things that mean something to me, or that I just like. This collection of items includes a Civil War Minie bullet, a tintype photograph, a jar (long story), a triple strand of pearls (I like pearls... they're so pretty and simple), a Crystal fox face, antlers, a pottery vase from Montana, and in the distance, some framed items!

 

I framed some Old West postcards, and shelved my large reference books (Oh, I adore surrounding myself with books. The bigger or the older the better).

I even framed my signed Elvira photo! Finally. Now I just need to get a frame for my Doug Bradley (Pinhead). In general, I'm planning to start hoarding and painting frames so that when I'm in a place where I can put holes in the walls, I can hang loads of frames with cool art. Salon style!

The Parting

Here it is! The performance piece for my Civil War jacket. The story is about a war widow, coming to terms with losing her husband, a union soldier. I'll post actual photos of the jacket when I can, but for now... Here is the work that I will be performing... Live... Tomorrow. Eep. I've never just sung in front of people before, so I'm a little nervous and terrified. Story of my life regarding every piece I'll be showing for my class and having critiqued. A lot of death related works (i.e. All of them). 

For those curious, the song I'm singing is The Parting Glass. I heard it because of The Walking Dead, and decided to research it. It is a traditional Irish folk song, sung at the parting of ways (for example, the end of a night when friends are going home). I changed the lyrics a little bit, to add more weight. The lyrics are normally as such:

Oh of all the money that e'er I had

I spent it in good company

And of all the harm that e'er I've done

Alas it was to none but me

And I've done for want of wit

To mem'ry now I can't recall

So fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy to be to you all

Of all the comrade e'er I had

They are sorry for my going away

And of all the sweethearts e'er I had

They would wish me just one day to stay

So when it came upon my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and I'll softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

The lyrics vary from place to place, depending on where you find them. In my version that I sang, I changed it to

Of all the comrades e'er you  had

They are sorry for your going away

And of all the sweethearts e'er you had

They would wish you just one day to stay

I figured that a dead soldier would have sad comrades, and even if he only had one sweetheart, that would be all the sweethearts he ever had. Towards the end, I fade off and don't end the last line, so it becomes Good night and joy be to you... 

Fun fact: In this video, I actually did start crying, or at least tearing up. I might cry tomorrow. I just have a lot of weight planted in this piece, and shockingly,  if you place yourself in the boots of a war bride, only imagine that your significant other is the dead soldier... That is a sure way of making yourself tear up. Even without that, I just become really emotional thinking about the dead soldiers of the Civil War. Especially since a great deal would never make it home upon death. I feel like I have this odd connection to the Civil War, and connections constantly crop up, which adds weight to how I feel when I'm directly involved with putting myself in the place of a mourning widow. Or anything or anyone from that time. I'm very likely to cry completely tomorrow. I suppose that I'll see how it goes!

To This Day Project

"Shane Koyczan was bullied a lot when he was a kid. So he took that pain and made this stunning video with the help of some amazingly talented people. It's kind of breathtaking and powerful, just a warning. Also, it has a happy ending." - Adam Mordecai, Upworthy.com

I don't know how many people reading this have been bullied at any point in their life. Many people have never been bullies, or they have been bullies, and those people often have no idea what the victims have been put through, and are still going through. The words and  names you're called as a child stick with you for life. We would like to hope that those words can bounce off, but most are not strong enough. I know that I never was. Words sink in, and grow uglier and uglier the more you think about it. Words echo in your mind, forming a nest of pain and hurt deep inside your heart and soul. It damages you. It wears you down, until you believe it. The people saying those words often have no idea, but they know that it hurts you. It is impossible to defend yourself when you have no other option but to think "Maybe they're right". To anyone who has been bullied, who has been hurt, who still hurts because of it... My heart goes to you. 

When I watched this poignant video and listened to the heart-wrenching spoken word poem, I wept. My heart burst and constricted, as every second of the film I related. Either I related on a personal level, or thought of people I knew, people I care about. Year after year, there are videos and stories and articles about victims. Victims who have killed themselves, teenagers who have brought guns to school, hurt youth who could not take it any longer. It is painful how many stories are brushed aside. How many stories are answered with some excuse or reasoning that blames the teen instead of something else. The last anti-bullying day or month, the main article was of a pretty young girl who went through naked photographs of herself getting spread on the internet, and she responded to cruel words by committing suicide. At the same time, a young boy, who would not be considered handsome by most, had been bullied for years, ended his own life, and no one heard about his story. We respond to the anguish of the beautiful, regardless of what they may have done to others. This is how we respond to bullying. 

Every time anti-bullying is mentioned, I cringe. I think of my own experience as a young child or pre-teen, in a new school. My mother asked the principal about bullying, and what the tolerance or action towards it was. The response was that there was no bullying in that school. Later, I was called freak, implied that I was abnormal because I didn't want to date boys as a 12 year, and more. Why is it that bullying is overlooked? To attempt change on one day of the year... it's hurtful to those who experience pain and doubt every day of the week. 

I often worry that bullying will never be solved. I worry that if I ever have children, that bullying will be the same issue for them as it was for me. That they will grow up to have depression and anxiety, and not know what to do because they believe that no one will listen. I was fortunate to be able to talk to my mum, but the fact that the rest of the world will not listen is terrifying. I worry that the issue of bullying will not end. However, I worry less when I see artistic creations like this video, the To This Day Project. If bullying ends, it will not be because of one story. It will be because of artists like Shane, who were once victims, and have chosen to rise up, but not hate the world because of it, but rather attempt to change the world. This video made me weep, and not many things do. Change needs to occur, and I believe that it could start with To This Day.