Georgia On My Mind

March 22, 2011

Went to Georgia over the weekend. It was very relaxing and quite picturesque....

(Credit is given to Ray Charles for the title of this post.)

Image by Siobhan Watts

There is a wilderness inside of me.
This space is the documentation of my humble attempt at it's navigation.
Sometimes through words.
Sometimes through images.

Alright Blue Moon, we did it once, we can do it again.

Compost Is Pretty —The name of my upcoming non-existent punk band.
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((Also just a thing I think on a regular basis.))
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((Also it’s nice finding beauty in silly mundane things.))
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((Notice the beauty in something mundane today.))
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Being an adult is buying yourself new matching underwear for your Birthday.
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But really cool matching underwear.... amirite?
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@shoparq is one of my absolute favorite brands (if you don’t get their newsletter ‘Posy’—do it. One of my favorites to open and I always learn something).
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I really do my best to practice what I preach with living more sustainably in all areas of my life. I’m *not* perfect or even that great at it much of the time by any means. But when there are brands out there doing really wonderful things and creating ways for me to do that more readily as well as enjoyably? Yea, I absolutely get behind that.
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I want to legitimately live in these because they are the softest and most comfortable underwear ever ever ever AND they have an amazing range of sizes for ALL BODY SHAPES. Which cannot be said of all sustainable underwear brands. I’ve tried a handful of others and none are as great as Arq.
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Also this is not an ad. I just really love this underwear.
Like a lot.
Can you tell?
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Also anyone who would like to give me more matching underwear for my birthday is definitely free to do so.
I’m a size M bottom and size L top.
Just, you know, in case you’re feeling generous.
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Ok I’m done talking about underwear.
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#sustainableliving
#shopslow
#shoparq

I believe in creating a space, no matter where I am or how long I’m there, that reflects the beauty I am drawn to in the world.
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For me that involves pieces that tell stories.
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My old vintage suitcases tell stories.
My hat, my sheepskins, where I got the books I read and the clothes I choose to wear.
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Artifacts from other cultures that lead me down a path of curiosity and learning. Things made from natural materials and not plastic.
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Imperfections rarely brother me as they too tell stories in and of themselves.
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Unconventional items that, when chosen to be displayed as such, reflect an element of simplicity and convention in their artistry.
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This beautiful Tibetan yak bell represents all of that to me. Available on the online @folkling Vintage shop if you’re looking for a special piece of art for your space.
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#folklinglifestyle
#myvintagehome
#vintageshopowner
#portlandvintage ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The internet is a funny place.
But often it brings people into my life that turn into real life friends. And pretty good ones at that.
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I think that’s really the only reason I keep getting on here when it comes right down to it... I mean what is life about if not largely the people you encounter during it?
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Glad this guy’s one of them.
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Go buy his book.
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He writes pretty good stuff (he paid me to say that. Jk he didn’t.) and you know what?
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Spending a little extra money supporting artists who are doing their best to challenge the norm and push us to be better people by being vulnerable with the journey in which they themselves are attempting to do that is much more worthwhile than... well, whatever else you’d spend your money on probably.
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Besides, chances are you should probably read more.
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Thanks for coming to visit me and Portland @j.cade.m. And for making me think about things differently. And for feeding jukeboxes (and me too). And for asking good questions. And mostly just being patient while I ramble on about the moon for an hour and am vulnerable about my own journey while we walk in the woods.
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“And hey there, Mrs. Lovely Moon, you're lonely and you're blue
It's kinda' strange, the way you change
But then again, we all do too”

Always
always
always — remember this feeling.
This feeling of revelation in the cold contrasted shadows cast onto the walls of the place you are right-now calling home.
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Of waking up to a sound you first think is rain, and then, realization dawning with the dawn recognize it as the sound of fallen rustling leaves.
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Of pride. Immense pride. The good kind. The kind that does not elevate your attitude or being over others, but of seeing a body of work, your work, that places a kind of joy and dignity inside of you at creating things of substance and story and saturation.
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Of gut laughter at virtual messages of knowing. The small daily connections to the people who are your people. Your band of brothers and blood. Knowing that despite the miles, and in most cases the entire country, that separate your physical bodies, there is matter inside of your souls that will defy time and space and make you a permanent kind of close.
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Of wide-eyed-wonder at the beauty to be found in the tiniest unnoticed and mundane specks of sentience.
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Of knowing you have freedom.
Choice.
And independence.
Not from shirking responsibilities and laws and rules. But rather by abiding by them.
The laws of love.
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Of
C o n t e n t m e n t.
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Of the grounded anchoring acceptance amidst the motion of traveled existence— You were made to be exactly this.
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And sometimes I fall in love with the silliest things...
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Like 1970s handmade vests from denim scraps.
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Heartbroken that this gem is too small for me but that didn’t stop me from at least documenting its beauty in 35mm film.
And hanging it on the wall like the piece of art that it is until it finds its new home.
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⋒ ⋒ ⋒ This piece and more vintage from my adventures on The Road will be available during the @folkling ONLINE SHOP opening on Friday November 1st! ⋒ ⋒ ⋒
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Real talk— Sometimes when you’ve been on The Road for a while and it’s the height of Summer and there are no camping options because you accidentally drove through Sturgis North Dakota DURING Sturgis the motorcycle rally and so everything is booked, you have to get a motel and wash your underwear in the sink.
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Just tryin to keep it fresh around here.
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35mm film in South Dakota 2018
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(Another love letter to @motel6)
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(Also this was the day I realized I wanted a motorcycle. Don’t tell my Dad.)
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I am opening an ONLINE SHOP for some of my very best and extra special @folkling vintage finds!
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Mark your Christmas shopping calendars for NOVEMBER 1st for the official opening.
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(Mentioning Christmas before it’s even Halloween? Always guilty...)
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There will be lots of denim, a few cool men’s jackets, unique homewares for your space, a few finds from the 1970s (of course), some special books and maybe even a sheepskin or two...
For starters.
😉
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(Also never not annoyed by Instagrams cropping... where did my feet go...?)
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Also also thanks to my girl Anna aka @experimentalvintage for finding me this vintage copper vest.
She kind of gets me.
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xo
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———⋒———
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A sweet little unfiltered morning moon.
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Because the untouched things are sometimes the most beautiful and needed reminders for the goodness in life.
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———☽ ———

Still out here with my “let ‘er buck” attitude.
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Image of Jesse Stahl, only the second African American cowboy to be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame but arguably one of the greatest saddle bronc riders of his time.
Photo by R. W. Heck
(though this particular rendition is my iPhone snap of a print at a dark Portland Oregon bar)

I love this car with my whole heart.
Shes transported me across the country from Virginia to the West Coast twice now and damn I think she deserves a medal for that. Every time I tell someone the miles I’ve put on her in two years their jaws drop.
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It’s amazing to me the things Blue Moon 🚙 and I have been through together. I know it’s a bit silly to personify a car, but it’s truly been a constant and anchor for me and when it comes right down to it—my home.
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It’s insane to me that I’m ten months into living on The Road now.
But I really can’t imagine having done it in any other vehicle.
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Just feeling wholly in awe of how good it’s all been. Messy, hard, painful bits and all. I truly am overwhelmed with how much I have to be thankful for.
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This year has changed my life in a way no other has.
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And this silly car made it all possible.
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✺ ✺ This is a 35mm photo taken last Summer in Utah right before Blue Moon overheated and I thought we were gonna die in the desert. ✺ ✺
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(We didn’t)
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Honored to have one of my photographs inspire the legendary @dani_verges. If you’re not following his captivating work—you need to.
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And while you’re at it, go find the @stetsonusa story on him that @samraetz did. It’s always one of my favorite things to learn more about the artist behind the creation.
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This portrait is of a cowboy named Nolan. I met him on a cattle drive I was documenting this past summer and I think he’s who that whole True Grit thing about.
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I have a bull horn he handed me, after one took a dislike to me and looked like he wanted to gut me... “Here’s a souvenir” he said laughing.
He also introduced me to mountain oysters.
(I’m gonna let you google that one)
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Portland’s been really wonderful but I have to admit...
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I miss hanging out with cowboys and the rough rowdy days of the Wild Wild West.
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