Monday, February 25, 2013

OUT OF AFRICA

"If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song for me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?" - Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa (Karen Blixen)
The women I admire the most are those who despite convention, the times, and restrictions placed upon their sex still managed to defy society and carve out a life on their own terms, passions, and secret longings... lives filled with adventure, exploration, and self-expression. 

Women like Danish author Karen von Blixen who published her account of living in Kenya in the book, Out of Africa, published under the pen name Isak Dinesen in 1937. The book is a recollection of Blixen's life on her beloved coffee plantation in the Ngong Hills, as well as a tribute to  those who touched her life there. After she lost her plantation in 1931, Blixen returned to Denmark and embarked on a writing career that lasted until her death in 1962.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

OBSTACLE

ph via flickr, arieth lin
"When I look at the large green iron gate from my window it takes on the air of a prison gate. An unjust feeling, since I know I can leave the place whenever I want to, and since I know that human beings place upon an object, or a person, this responsibility of being the obstacle when the obstacle lies always within one's self." - Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volume One 1931-1934

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

THE AVENUE

ph: craig fordham
"Long afterwards, she was to remember the moment when her life changed its direction. It was not predestined; she had a choice. Or it seemed she had. To accept or refuse. To take one turning down the crossroads to the future or another." - Evelyn Anthony, The Avenue of the Dead

Sunday, February 10, 2013

A CHALET WITH A VIEW

I'm in the French Alps on a snowboarding trip. We rented a chalet in Méribel Mottaret. Amazing. There's a fantastic view from every angle. Like the one above.