Compost Studios

She said something about going home
She said something about needing to spend some time alone
And she wondered out loud what it was she had to find
But she's already made up her mind

All my friends told me she was too young
Well I knew that myself and I tried to run
But the faster I ran the more I fell behind
Because she'd already made up her mind

She's already made up her mind

Now there is nothing so deep as the ocean
And there is nothing so high as the sky
And there is nothing so unwavering as a woman
When she's already made up her mind

So now she's sitting at one end of the kitchen table
And she is staring without an expression
And she is talking to me without moving her eyes
Because she's already made up her mind

She's already made up her mind
She's already made up her mind

And she said something about going home
And she said something about needing to spend some time alone
And she wondered out loud what it was she had to find
But she'd already made up her mind

So my friend carry me down to the water's edge
And then sail with me out to that ocean deep
And let me go easy down over the side
And remember me to her

She's already made up her mind
She's already made up her mind
She's already made up her mind

--Lyle Lovett

Possibly the most hauntingly beautiful video ever. So Southern in its scenes and sensibility. 

See it here-- or here if you're in Europe.

May 2, 2008

Copyright 2008 Compost Studios and Veronica McCabe Deschambault. All rights reserved.

Be on my side, I'll be on your side, baby
There is no reason for you to hide
It's so hard for me staying here all alone
When you could be taking me for a ride.

Neil Young--Down by the River

April 16, 2008

Portsmouth, England. Copyright 2008 Veronica McCabe Deschambault.

I loved Once, a quiet movie about ordinary people that charms and enchants with its simplicity. It is set in Dublin and tells the story of two musicians, a young man who plays guitar on the streets as a busker and an even younger classically trained Czech pianist who cleans houses, sells flowers, and only gets to play music on a store piano.

Boy meets girl and what follows is less a typical movie romance and more like real life--a relationship that's layered and complex and slowly unfolding, with each character carrying a bit of baggage from the past and hopes for the future. Together these two make music together, forging a creative partnership that deepens into something more.

I'm always fascinated with learning about people's creative processes--how an artist,writer, performer, or musician translates inspiration into a finished product. Part of this movie's appeal to me was witnessing how these two worked, how their ideas, emotions, and talents came together. 

The movie was made by an Irish filmmaker with an extremely limited budget. The lead roles were played by musicians, not actors. They wrote and performed the alternative folk songs that are integral to the story line and mood. The music is stunning, and the acting is refreshingly understated and real. I loved the way the movie was filmed using natural lighting and camera angles. The street scenes and indoor settings felt authentic, and I especially loved how the cameraman filmed the cafe scene through a window.

Without drama or sentimentality, Once tells the story of two people looking for love and artistic expression and finding it in unexpected places. In the end, it was the music that made me cry. Falling Slowly, which won an Oscar, has a haunting melody and a chorus I could not forget, words that cut to the very heart of me:

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Glen Hasard--Falling Slowly

April 13, 2008

It was Saturday night.

We were gathered with friends in a Greek restaurant in Brussels.

A family business with each member wearing white shirts and black trousers, and united by their dark curls, olive skin, and warm smiles and greetings for patrons.

The restaurant was teeming with people and good cheer. In the madhouse of the kitchen, voices were raised with urgency and passion and pique. Behind the swinging door, arguments rose and dissipated in the heat, a rhythm of anger and forgiveness that spanned generations.

There were strings of cowbells across the dining room, rung by the servers to punctuate happy moments.

And there was wine and plump olives and good food and pink tablecloths and eight friends gathered round our table.

Halfway through the evening, two of the Greeks began singing and playing guitars. Arms were placed over shoulders, and there was dancing in the small entry way. The gray-haired matriarch of the clan rose and joined hands with a brown-eyed little girl who might one day grow up to shout in the kitchen.

The guitarist looked my way and winked at me as he sang.  I wanted to stand and raise my arms and tip my chin up and sway and step to the music.

Instead I simply smiled and clapped my hands.

I didn't dance-- unwilling to go out on that limb and embarrass my family's sense of propriety.

Silly grrrl.

That moment, that place, that time, that feeling won't come again.

It was worth embracing, worth celebrating, worth making mine.

I should have danced.

March 8, 2008

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions,
Oh lets go back to the start.
Running in circles, Comin' up Tails
Heads on a science apart.

Nobody said it was easy,
It's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard.

Oh take me back to the start.

--Coldplay

Art journal entry #23. Collage images.  "Show yourself some love."

This song by Mary J. Blige arrived on my desktop this morning like a divine message. The timing was perfect.  MJB pulled me right out of my chair and had me going with my hands in the air.  She's so fierce and her message rings true:

Don’t be mean to yourself, remember who you are, and “work your thing out.”

My favorite lyrics:

"Doesn't matter if you go along with their plan

They'll never be happy because they're not happy with themselves

I'm talking about things that I know

It's ok, show yourself some love

Don't worry about who’s saying what

It's gonna be fine

Work what you got."

Don't let anyone or anything take your best self  away from you.

December 19, 2007

You're dangerous because you're honest

You're dangerous, you don't know what you want

Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot

For any spirit to haunt.

You're an accident waiting to happen

You're a piece of glass left there on the beach

Well you tell me things I know you're not supposed to

Then you leave me, just out of reach.

--excerpt from Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses? by U2

November 26, 2007

Eric Clapton's Please Be With Me meets Mandy Moore's version of Umbrella in my art journal.  Do these songs go together? Only on paper--and in my head.

A silly song by a silly looking man, but it's perfect for a Monday, y'all:

 "Kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea."

Lyle Lovett-- "If I had a Boat"

October 22, 2007

Copyright 2007 Veronica McCabe Deschambault and V-Grrrl in the Middle. All rights reserved.

I got half a smile and zero shame

I got a reflection with a different name

Got a brand new blues I can't explain

Who did you think I was

---John Mayer

October 8, 2007