Sunday Stealing: Shop On The Corner

What kind of job did your mom have when you were growing up? 

Teacher, Chef, Housemaid... also known as a stay at home mom who homeschooled us six kids

 Have you ever known anyone that’s been on tv, including you?

Little Sister has been in the background of a couple news specials, and a girl's group I used to be a part of was once interviewed for a Thanksgiving dinner they provided for the community, as well as my old pastor. Basically, my old church had several short news specials about different events going on that caused several people I know to be on TV. More recently, a couple of my friends were on a basketball team that went to state. Although I was personally at the game, I also know that it was on TV as well. Wow, that begins to add up to a lot of people that I know!

 What was the most interesting animal you have seen in the wild?

A family of racoons raiding a campsite. That's about as interesting as it gets

 What holiday do you enjoy the most? 

Thanksgiving, because it's all about focusing on what you're thankful for and eating good food with family

 What was the first video game you ever played? 

That's a hard one, I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember. Probably Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario or Donkey Kong

 What is the one thing you own, that if it got lost, you would be bummed?

The ring on my left ring finger. It represents my promise to God to live a single life. This is the third one I've had, the other two tarnished and broke. Besides being higher quality, this one finally fits my tiny finger perfectly, so it would be pretty frustrating to lose it.

 Do you have a favorite breakfast item? 

Probably spinach with ranch. It's one of the most refreshing and satisfying things to start the day off with!

 What do you find yourself buying all the time? 

No, because I don't have the money, and I'm always working at being content with what I already have

 When was the last time you got a real letter in the mail?

Just a couple weeks ago

 Do you have a most prized piece of jewelry?

Refer back to the question about losing an item

 Do you own any board games? 

Tons

 What chore seems the most daunting right now?

Putting up all the Christmas decorations with very little energy in my bones

 Were you born in the state you live in? 

Yup

 Have you ever lived in a house that has been broken into? 

... If you don't count your own brother breaking in while you're on vacation then no

 What is your favorite cheese? 

Cheese (everything but that fake sliced American stuff that is!)

 Who do you know that watches the most sports? 

 Oldest Brother and almost all my closest friends

Bio Bit: Bruce Davidson

Novelistic Ambition

"If I am looking for a story at all, it is in my relationship to the subject - the story that tells me, rather than that I tell." - Bruce Davidson

Throughout his photographic career, Bruce Davidson has attempted to show life in its many layers of complexity. From photos of the civil rights conflicts to showing gang members and circus outcasts, his passion had been to go into uncharted and uncared for places and share those stories with others. In the 1960s he was one of the first among a small group of other photographers who desired to show the ugly and the socially unwanted of the world (1). Unlike Diane Arbus, another such photographer of the time, his work does not glorify the dark and evil, only attempts to show it in an honest, unjudging light. In one of his pictures a young girl stands amid bustling London streets, unnoticed by the rest of the world. Her hair is cut short, pack slung over her shoulder and a fixed determined look in her face seems to say that she’s the only one she can trust in the world. In her hands, however, she holds a small, wriggling kitten, almost as if she’s hanging onto innocence itself amid her hard life. With many photos like this one, Bruce Davidson searches out the untold and forgotten of the world and gives voice to their stories through a picture. Ever since he was ten he has been on the hunt for the perfect circumstances that will line up to produce perfect images, as he says of his process, “I always felt that my best way with the camera was to stay longer, to get to know things, not for a picture story, per se, but for a series of images that are kind of like charcoals that catch fire and burn into each other” (1). 

Magnum Photos

Even as Davidson’s photographs became popular and accepted in the art world, he still had trouble meeting his monthly bills. To be able to provide for himself he would take photographic jobs for annual reports and various business publications. He preferred this work over fashion photography, which he had tried for some time with Vogue. Fashion was never able to hold his interest. He said that at least with business shoots, it allowed him to be out in the world and experience life. For him, he says, “All I cared about was ‘can I make enough money here to pay for my livelihood, so I can get back out on the streets and shoot what I want?’” (1) In his work, as well as in how he deals with his personal life, Bruce Davidson shows an innate understanding of what’s important and has value while still not downplaying the hard truths. As the critic Michael Brenson once said of his work in 1982, his type of realism shown in his photos is “almost novelistic in its multilayered ambition” (1). 

The New York Times

Bibliography

                (1.) Kennedy, Randy. "Like a Plant, His Roots Are Showing." The New York Times. The  New York Times, 07 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2014. 

Sunday Stealing: Music

1. Which bands/artist do you own the most albums by? 

I only own 1 Owl City, 1 Tenth Ave. North, and 1 Anberlin CD, so it's even. But of the CDs my family owns, it would probably be Switchfoot.

2. What was the last song you listened to?

We Are by Kari Jobe
 
3. What’s in your CD player right now?

An audio book of The Horse and His Boy

4. What was the last show you attended?

Lifelight music festival. I really only sat through one concert, which was Coltin Dixion.

5. What was the greatest show you’ve ever been to?

Switchfoot's concert, although it's been just about the only one I've been to.

6. What’s the worst show you’ve ever been to?

I wouldn't know. Probably any of the ones that were so loud at Lifelight that I just got up and looked through the merchandise tent.

7. What’s the most musically involved you have ever been?

The only thing I've done on stage for anyone was with a group and we played Jingle Bells by letting air out of balloons, if you want to call that musical.

8. What show are you looking forward to?

None. I think I just want to leave my concerts at that Switchfoot one and call it good.

9. What is your favorite band shirt?

I don't actually own any, but I designed a really cool one on Owl City's website, but didn't order it because it was too much money.

10. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?

Adam Young

11. Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?

I don't know

12. Who is one band/artist you’ve never seen live but always wanted to?

Royal Tailor I guess

13. What was your last musical “phase” before you wisened up?

ummm... none?

14. How many music related videos/DVDs do you own?

I don't own any

15. How many concerts/shows have you been to, total?

2

16. What’s your “guilty pleasure” that you hate to admit to liking?

None. If I felt guilty listening to it, I wouldn't like it

17. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?

Lord of the Rings hands down