Book Notes: “Vanlife Diaries”

Nov 7, 2020 | Musings

BOOK NOTES

“Vanlife Diaries”

Finding Freedom on the Open Road

Book by Kathleen Morton, Jonny Dustow, & Jared Melrose

Written by Sarah Verno

8 NOVEMBER 2020

“Vanlife Diaries” is a celebration of the nomadic lifestyle, the community that forms through it, advice for living on the road, and gorgeous photography.

#Vanlife has become a universal term for anyone living or looking to live an alternative lifestyle in any shaped vehicle. The book lays out the benefits and beauty of vanlife:

  • for family
  • for love
  • for nature
  • for art
  • for play
  • for work
  • for community

Fair Warning: Don’t check out this book if you aren’t prepared to experience extreme wanderlust.

“Adventure comes when you stretch yourself beyond what you ever thought possible, look over to new horizons, and take a little leap of faith.”

Amber & Keenan Badger, Vanlifers

Vanlife leads to intentional living

Life on the road takes equal parts planning and dreaming. Everything you bring, create, and leave behind – you have to pay attention to it all. 

“Vanlife looks like a dream. And in many ways it is. But dreams take time to build and can appear quite messy in their conception.”

Bring others into the dream with you.

Adventure doesn’t have to stop when you get a “real” job, or start having kids, or take on other responsibilities. You can find ways to integrate and share your dreams, and letting others be part of them. 

“Vanlife families don’t let anything stop them from living their dreams and sharing these dreams with their children.”

Vanlife opens the door to new realities and new possibilities

“Living tiny opened up my eyes to time and space for being in nature and pursuing creativity.”

The best dreams propel your life forward

“We are not hiding behind our van; rather we are using it to deliver us to the places where we can encounter our fears and then conquer them by moving forward.”

Hawk Tennis & Kenz Kraut, Vanlifers

“When you live in a van, your backyard is ever-changing.”

Movie Notes: “Stuffed”

Oct 22, 2020 | Musings

MOVIE NOTES
“Stuffed”
A Documentary that Pumps New Life into the World of Taxidermy
Written by Sarah Verno
22 October 2020
It’s more than working with “dead stuff”. It’s artistry. It’s natural history. It’s storytelling. It’s science. It’s protecting, archiving, and honoring species. It’s fashion. It’s passion. It’s taxidermy. 
“Taxidermists don’t do what they do because they see death. They do what they do because they see life.”
Following its outstanding debut at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, “Stuffed” is now available on Hoopla (for FREE if you have a library card). The documentary takes viewers inside the uniquely beautiful and rather engrossing world and subcultures of taxidermists.

From the studios of individual artists to renown museum curations, through the artistic processes and mastery required to win the World Taxidermy Competition, this film was nothing short of fascinating.

Here are a few of my personal takeaways along with my favorite quotes from the documentary.

 

A FEW THINGS TO NOTE.

*Taxidermists love animals. A lot. In fact, many modern taxidermists only work on animals that died of natural causes and/or in captivity. None of the artists featured in Stuffed work with anything that hasn’t died naturally and been acquired ethically.

*All of the pictures and quotations are property of the documentary film.  

the heart of taxidermy is deeply rooted in respect for & admiration of nature.

“It’s not about just identifying something, but when you start to know what things are and identify them, you start to care about them.”

Allis Markham, Prey Taxidermy

Details make all the difference.

“The art of taxidermy is recreating the animal precisely… breathing life into it. Because if you just take all the measurements, the casting, all that references you get from the specimen and assemble it, you got a dead animal. You’ve gotta know the animal. You’ve gotta know nature. You’ve gotta know how they behave, what they eat, where they live…”

Taxidermy is not for the faint of heart.

“We get so involved in these pieces. It’s this pouring out of everything. Every fiber of your being. You’re feeling the highs, the lows, the anxiety, every emotion you could possibly go through as an artist being poured into this piece and hopefully this euphoric moment at the end.”

George Dante, Taxidermist

artistic expression + scientific preservation.

“Maybe you [a taxidermist] do end up like Van Gogh, a tortured artist cutting off an ear. But if we cut off an ear, at least we’d make something from it.”

Allis Markham, Prey Taxidermy

The Right to Bleed

Jun 10, 2020 | Faith

LIFE & FAITH

The Right to Bleed

Written by Sarah Verno

10 JUNE 2020

“Wherever there are hurting people, that’s where God’s heart is.” – T.D. Jakes

This time is different. I’m still processing all the reasons and ways George Floyd’s death has become the catalyst our nation needed – specifically, for white people like myself – to wake up and respond to the systemic problems that are crippling our country. It shouldn’t have taken this long. It shouldn’t still be this way. Yet, here we are again. 

What strikes me about this time, though, is we’re seeing an outpouring of emotions – compassion, grief, anger, embarrassment, humility, and desire toward action – from a large amount of white people on all sides of the political and socio-economic spectrums. We are seeing white pastors step up and ask hard questions of themselves and of their congregations. And in the center of many of these conversations has been the steady, sound voice of T.D. Jakes.

Bishop T.D. Jakes is the founder and Senior Pastor of The Potter’s House, a large non-denominational church based out of Dallas, TX. During this horrific time in America, he has created a safe space for white Christians and pastors to ask uncomfortable questions, express sadness and frustration, seek to better understand racism, and come together to actually do something about it.

“The church has had a very difficult history when it comes to racial issues for 100’s of years. We’ve been complicit. We’ve been participants. And now we’ve just been silent. And I don’t know which one is worse.” 

T.D. Jakes

In an effort to better understand my own white privilege and listen more attentively to the voices of black people in our country, I came across two video interviews with T.D. Jakes that really shed new light on racism and the Church’s role (for better and for worse). Below are the videos along with some key points that really stuck with me.

Interview 1

A Discussion on Racism | Carl Lentz & Bishop T.D. Jakes 

Interview 2

T.D. Jakes Presents: The Church & Race Ft. Leading Voices of the Church

Lessons I’m Learning Through These Conversations

Unity is not achieved through silence.

“By speaking, we legitimize the fact that people of color have a right to bleed.” 

T.D. Jakes

Ref: Interview 1

People (Black and white) need to See White People standing in solidarity with the black community.

“We need to see your outrage, your indignation, your frustration, and your tears. Because if you don’t get anything done at all but you just show us we matter, then you’ll kill our prejudices. And you will empower other white people like you to dare to speak.” 

T.D. Jakes

Ref: Interview 2

Speaking up and speaking out keeps the narrative from falling into abusive hands.

"Break the Silence" by @fuzzedupbear

“When reasonable people grow silent, unreasonable people takeover.”

T.D. Jakes

Ref: Interview 2

Racism strikes at the heart of who we are as Christians.

“To me, racisim is such a no-brainer offront to the Gospel that we shouldn’t be where we are. Our culture shouldn’t look like it looks… and if we can’t get this right, who are we kidding? What world are we going to reach?”

Carl Lentz, interview with T.D. Jakes

Ref: Interview 1

We don't have to be color blind to show people love and dignity

“God is not color blind. He made us intentionally the colors we are. He doesn’t need to look past our colors to love us, and we shouldn’t have to go blind to be love.”

T.D. Jakes

Ref: Interview 1

Book Notes: “Oh Joy!”

Apr 18, 2020 | Musings

BOOK NOTES

“Oh Joy!”

60 ways to create and give joy

Written by Sarah Verno

18 APRIL 2020

Well-designed book covers urge you to pick up a book – this one hollars at you with a bright, fun, and captivating cover. It’s why I picked it up at the library, and it did not dissapoint.

“Make someone happy! A colorful, inspired guide to help anyone bring joy and whimsy into their lives, ‘Oh Joy!’ is filled with quick, fun, and stylish projects… I want to help you make your world a happier, prettier place, and give you inspiration to make beautiful and joyful things for others as well.”

Joy Cho, author of “Oh Joy!”

In this beautiful curation from Joy Cho’s design business, “Oh Joy! 60 Ways to Create and Give Joy” translates beautiful interor design and crafts into tangible, doable concepts that inspire even the most un-creative people to consider what they can make that will bring joy for someone else.

This book is bursting with pro tips and creative (but fairly simple) craft ideas. I especially appreciated the design know-how Joy included to help give readers a basis for how to think about creating “happy” design around them.

Below are a few of the design tips I found to be really helpful (thanks, Joy!):

Analogous Colors Are Your Friend

“I love using analogous colors (those that are next to each other on the color wheel). Using varying shades of blue, green, and yellow offers a fun array of colors that naturally work well together.”

Joy Cho, author of “Oh Joy!”

Keep it interesting by adding a Pop of color

“After putting together the base palette, I always like to add an unexpected pop of color… whether it’s a super bright color, a metallic (shiny gold is my fave), or a hint of something sparkly.”

Joy Cho, author of “Oh Joy!”

Be Bold with mixing patterns

“When you mix two patterns, one should be a little more simple, so you are not creating an optical illusion…Using two patterns with an overlapping color helps tie them together while giving the eyes room to breathe.”

Joy Cho, author of “Oh Joy!”

Embrace Whimsy

whim•sy

noun, plural whim·sies

/ˈ(h)wimzē/

  1. playfully quaint or fanciful behavior or humor.
  2. capricious humor or disposition;
  3. extravagant, fanciful, or excessively playful expression

“Art prints and interesting vessels can give that extra wink to any room. If it makes you smile, it will make others smile, too.”

Joy Cho, author of “Oh Joy!”