Kirsty Mitchell’s late mother Maureen was an English teacher who spent her life inspiring generations of children with imaginative stories and plays. Following Maureen’s death from a brain tumour in 2008, Kirsty channelled her grief into her passion for photography.
She retreated behind the lens of her camera and created Wonderland, an ethereal fantasy world. The photographic series began as a small summer project but grew into an inspirational creative journey.
‘Real life became a difficult place to deal with, and I found myself retreating further into an alternative existence through the portal of my camera,’ said the artist. (read the rest here).
And there are millions of teens who read because they are sad and lonely and enraged. They read because they live in an often-terrible world. They read because they believe, despite the callow protestations of certain adults, that books-especially the dark and dangerous ones-will save them.
As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.
And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
— Sherman Alexie, Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood (via thefirstgentleman)
“There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone’s spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that’s beautiful to me.”
Liv Tyler
Yes, I like girls. Yes, I like boys. Yes, I like boys who like boys; I like girls who wear toys and girls who don’t; girls who don’t call themselves girls; crew cuts or curls and that really bad hair phase in between. (x)
Once Upon a Time 1x08, Desperate Souls
Bobby’s performance in this episode, going so full circle from the Mr Gold and Rumpelstiltskin we have seen to date, was perfect.
And what makes it more poignant is knowing that his performance as Rumpelstiltskin is inspired by the hardships he and his own father suffered when he was a child.
He was raised by his father, on the very, very bottom of the barrel. There were points of homelessness. Of living on stuff out of skips and bins. Of stealing. Of doing whatever was necessary to survive.
This role is his tribute to everything his father did to keep him alive and safe and loved. Remember that when you watch it. It hits hard.
sometimes I cry because this quote.
welcome to the club
