Week 30 - Inspiration: Exit

"Every exit is an entry to somewhere else.” - Tom Stoppard

#dogwoodweek30 #2019dogwood52 #dogwood52

Links I Love • July 2019

“One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Human and Nature shall not be broken.” - Leo Tolstoy

• Local Links:

  • Celebrate Bastille Day in Milwaukee (via Frenchly): “Believe it or not, Bastille Day is all the rage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the largest French-themed festival in North America takes place every summer…” — Of course, I believe it!

  • Few People Know The Center Of The World Is Actually Hiding In This Tiny Wisconsin Town (including me!)

  • The “It Books” of Summers Past — Surprisingly, I’ve read quite a few of them.

  • From Door County to a Magic Tree House - Wisconsin locations featured in ybooks

  • Marquette adopts test-optional policy starting with fall 2020 class - I’m very proud of this! The privilege to matriculate at my alma mater should not be based on a test score, but rather by your potential to “Be the Difference.”

• Vive la France!

  • A Year in Paris that Transformed the Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis — I maintain that even a week in Paris will change your life!

  • A Tour of Literary Paris — Yes, another one, but I can never combining my passions for Paris and books.

  • The 25 Most Beautiful Places in Paris (according to CN Traveler) — I have 4 more to visit!

  • 20 Timeless Photos that Prove Paris Will Never Go Out of Style

  • 11 Things You Should Do Every Time You Travel - I should take more day trips and push outside my comfort zone more.

  • Discover the Words of the Concorde Métro Station — “The very fact that the words from this vital document have been aligned onto the wall of a very busy metro station suggests that the world needs reminding about human rights.”

  • 43 Recipes That are Basically the Same as Hopping on a Plane to Paris

  • Does French Music Have a Place in the United States? — It certainly does chez moi.

  • How to Set a Chic French Table — I love this, but so often my Scandi, minimalist, all-white aesthetic wins.

  • The Williams Sonoma catalogue features all things French this month

  • Beauty Passport: Grasse - The Perfume Capital of the World — I’d love to return to the beautiful, fragrant town in the South of France.

  • Helen Mirren, Pharrell, and MoreCelebs Honor Karl Lagerfeld at Star-studded Memorial Event

  • 11 Over-40 French Women Who Only Get Cooler as They Age — A great read for une femme d’un certain âge.

Week 29 - Composition: Depth of Field

“Stand for something bigger than yourself. Add value to the Earth during your sojourn.” - Marian Wright Edelman

Depth of Field is a great way to isolate your subject. Instead, for the challenge though I want you to use DoF to make a subject appear part of something larger. #dogwoodweek29 #dogwood52 #2019dogwood52 #dof

Nares Moves at Milwaukee Art Museum

“Nares: Moves is the first retrospective on the contemporary New York-based artist James Nares (b. 1953) and reveals a significant career bringing motion into the spotlight. In addition to being the first retrospective for Nares, it is also the first to explore in depth the artist’s films as central to his artistic practice. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue celebrate the key projects of this prolific, perpetual inventor and establish Nares as an important contemporary artist.“ - mam.org

“I do make my own brushes and have done so for many years. I'm constantly refining the designs, trying new materials, re-configuring other brushes - all in my never-ending quest for the perfect brush.” - James Nares

Week 28 - Storytelling: Your Culture

“The role of culture is that it's the form through which we as a society reflect on who we are, where we've been, where we hope to be.” - Wendell Pierce

#dogwoodweek28 #2019dogwoodr52 #dogwood52 #reflection

In reflecting on this week’s prompt, this part of a poem I wrote a few years ago came to mind (You can read the full version here).

For the first year of my life, I didn't have a name: I was Jane Doe. A year later, I was adopted, chosen, given this name: Melinda Marie Larson.

• Melinda: gentle, sweet

• Marie: the French variant of Mary "Star of the Sea," A name for a girl who grew up on the water, for a woman still most content upon it. I was named for my maternal grandmother. I was named for the Blessed Mother.

• Larson: A noble surname, ethnic and geographic, “Son of Lars,” Scandinavian for Lawrence — a laurel, fragrant, ever green, a wreath to adorn the heads of heroes...I am child of noble victors, of Door County Scandinavians.

My name is the gift of my culture.

Week 27 - Inspiration: Gratitude

"Gratitude opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe…" - Stephen Richards

#dogwoodweek27 #2019dogwood52 #dogwood52 #gratitude #limitless