What I love about literature

A quick jaunt into my mind.

You know what I love about literature? For the most part when you read something, you don’t personally know the author. Whether it be an article in the newspaper, a restaurant review online or a fiction novel, most of the time you start reading with a completely clean slate regarding the author (unless of course you’ve read other books of theirs).

What I mean by “clean slate” is that the written word creates a sort of even playing field. By it’s nature, it takes away the normal biases and stigmas we conjure up about someone when we are first introduced. Think about the last time you read an article in The Stranger or any similar alternative publication. Most likely the article was something sarcastic and you no doubt chuckled and admired the wit of the author and maybe even felt a little jealous of them for their ability to write so well.

Meeting someone through their writing takes away preconceived notions which tend to unintentionally find their way into our judgements when we meet people face to face. That’s the great thing about literature: it eliminates the barriers we put up and the judgments people have of each other just based on physical first impressions and societal statuses.

Writing creates this sort of perfect world where anyone can express themselves to an audience that otherwise might not have taken the time to listen.

Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.

-Helen Keller

Settling In

Well the last few weeks have been a whirlwind and I couldn't be more upset with myself for again being horrible about keeping up with this blog. I swear I think about it at least five times a day when I'm out and about and jot down something I want to post but I just never seem to have the time to do it whenever I'm thinking about it. I am starting a couple new social projects soon though that will involve interviewing strangers to hear their stories etc and I'm going to create a new blog for each of these. I'm hoping to get that started very soon and I'll post updates and links to the new blog(s) once I get my act together.

For now, here are a few peaks at my new life in Ballard! Ballard has turned out to be a really fun and eclectic place to call home and I am in love with our new apartment. Even though it's so close to the city, it is very residential, really laid back and full of funky small businesses, coffee shops, bookstores and some really great places to get dinner and happy hour.

So here are some before-and-after shots of our new place...

Before - living room/peak of the kitchen. Notice the built in shelving...so cool!

Before - living room and big wood burning fireplace!

Before - bedroom

After - living room with our new couches!

After - living room and kitchen

Kitchen in progress

We finally have our own laundry room!! This is such a blessing

Our big walk in closet!

After - bedroom - and it even comes complete with a cute boy singing and playing the guitar!

We're going to find a tall cocktail style table and tall chairs (and hopefully a round rug) for this corner and make it into a casual dining area

We started a bunch of vegetables and some flowers in the utility sink in the laundry room. I can't wait to see them start to sprout and then move them outside to the garden next month! We have a huge raised bed garden in the back yard that's been overgrown and we have free reign to bring it back to life!

So it's been a long process moving in, finding new things for the apartment (mostly from the Goodwill which rocks) and looking for work but it's been a lot of fun. I'm so happy to be home and I can't wait to see what the next few weeks hold for us. Stay tuned!