Pedestrian Pictures

The End of the First Session at Seeds of Peace

2010-07-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

Every night, after we’ve turned out the lights, two of the Muslim kids in my bunk take out their mats, place them near the foot of my bed and do their nighttime prayers in silence.

This is one of the things I’ve appreciated the most about this camp: the diversity of people and the diversity of experiences. The cultural and religious differences. The music that I would never normally listen to. The excessive (or maybe appropriate?) amount of dancing. The incredible discussions these kids get into. It’s been an unbelievably rewarding experience.

These guys got here and it was very apparent that they were mistrustful of each other. They were very guarded around people of other delegations or of “the other side.” It’s funny how it was the small things that finally helped them get comfortable with each other: talking about girls late into the night, pulling pranks on each other, being able to complain about the same things together, and dancing.

The events here often break out into large dance parties. When the delegations arrived, all of the campers got off the bus to all the counselors playing music and dancing and they all jumped in and for the first 20 minutes after they arrived we all danced. We also hosted an international night where all the delegations prepared food from their own country, and all the campers were allowed to wear clothes from their ethnic region, and the night culminated in another giant dance party. We'd hold concerts for them, and they performed in talent shows, and somewhere, somehow, dancing was always involved.

One of my campers, a Palestinian, was very proud of the Debka – a traditional Palestinian dance. He would often talk about teaching me how to do it (which we never actually got around to), but he performed it at the talent show with many of the other Palestinian campers. The Indian delegation performed an incredible Bollywood dance (which apparently they had been practicing for for 2 months.) The Afghanis and Pakistanis performed traditional dances from their own countries. Two Israeli girls and a Palestinian girl performed an incredible ballet piece to Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek. These kids were unbelievably talented!

The entire camp culminated in three days of intense competition called Color Games. All the campers were divided into two teams – either green or blue, and for those three days they competed in everything from athletics to cake decorating and everything in between. Once the competitions were over and the winning team was declared, all the campers ran into the lake fully clothed in a very emotional celebration. Everyone was hugging anyone they knew; people were laughing and crying. It was a giant wet love-fest.

A Quaker service was held in the Big Hall the day before the campers left. These services are generally characterized by sitting in silence, and individuals speaking when the feel led to say something to the group. As we all sat quietly, campers slowly began to speak up and talk about their experiences: their growth during camp, the relationships they’d built, their hopes and fear about going home.

On Tuesday we said goodbye to our campers. After having the responsibility of looking out for these kids for three weeks, it was difficult to say goodbye knowing what we were sending them back to. And while I love the vision of Seeds, and I feel that it is incredibly important, I also recognize the burden that we are placing on these kids. We give them three weeks of paradise, where there is no conflict and where there is no enemy, and then we send them back to their home communities where no one will understand their experiences or their perspectives. We are, in sum, isolating these individuals. This is all done with the hope that these experiences will also empower them to pursue change and lead their communities into reconciliation, but it doesn’t dismiss the fact that while we might be freeing them in one sense, we are burdening them in another. And life for them will probably be more difficult when they return home than when they left.

First Week at Seeds of Peace

2010-06-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve finished my first week at Seeds of Peace, and it feels as if time has slowed. I have been so overwhelmed with new experiences, ideas, and people that I feel I have learned more in this past week than this entire past semester.

I have been incredibly impressed and humbled by the caliber of staff and counselors that are here. We have counselors from Afghanastan, Iran, Israel, Palestine; counselors who have been working in Bombay, India and Madrid, Spain; counselors who speak over five languages. To be honest, I’ve found myself somewhat muted since I’ve been here (which is typical as I get comfortable in new situations) but specifically here as a wrestle with whether anything I have to say is significant around such intelligent and experienced people.

In respect to the diversity represented here (just among the counselors), it is the complete opposite of Gordon. Which isn’t to say that I’m targeting Gordon in any way – I love it; Gordon is simply very homogenous. Everyone comes from similar backgrounds, upbringings, beliefs, and ultimately share a similar conception of the world. My experience here at SOP is very similar to the one in which I was raised, surrounded by a plentitude of worldviews and opinions, and the unifying aspect of the community is not its similarity but diversity. It’s been a community I’ve been out of for so long, I’m still trying to figure out what my role is here.

I was very reassured today as other counselors voiced many of the questions that I’ve also been processing. In a mock dialogue session (similar to the ones that the campers participate in, where they discuss the conflict) we counselors discussed our views. The central theme that came up in our dialogue group was about having a stake in the issue. As a person who is not from the region, I have nothing at stake when I formulate opinions of who’s “right” or “wrong,” or who’s entitled to what. The question basically comes down to, who am I to tell someone they’re wrong when I risk nothing with my opinions, yet for them it is their entire life and identity.

We had two speakers provide two narratives for the conflict: the Palestinian narrative and the Israeli narrative. These narratives have the capacity of completely defining the communities that hold them, and subsequently defining the individuals in these communities. These individuals are born into these narratives at no choice of their own, and they typically view their side as the “neutral” or objective side. Yet I (or anyone outside the conflict) have the weighty and daunting opportunity to actually choose between the narratives.

So what is my role in this conflict? What is my right? Do I even have a right or legitimacy to make bold claims about things that do not affect me? I don’t know. Yet we seem to do it every day, about many different things. But in something as weighty as this, I don’t yet know my place. But I see humans and I see suffering. And I believe in the mission of Seeds of Peace, that if we simply provide a setting where these individuals on both sides can encounter the other and recognize the humanity of the other, perhaps they can find a solution. A solution is not mine to provide, but I hope to facilitate in providing a place where one can be found.

All that to say, I’m really looking forward to the campers arriving. It’s gonna be a ballin summer.

Growing Up

2010-03-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

A series I did on growing up.

People

2010-03-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Random pictures of people from random photo assignments this semester

Line and Shape Assignment

2010-03-31T13:28:00.001-07:00

So I'm in a digital photography class right now, and we recently had an assignment on line and shape. These were the final photos I took for it.

A Winter Storm - In and around Gordon and Manchester

2010-02-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Some photos that I took for my digital photography class.

Scotland

2009-12-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sunrise from my window

"The Dead Marshes"

The view from our front door.

Our Cottage

Our cottage again

... and our cottage again

Our barge.

The view from our front yard.

The view from our front door.

The city of Portree.

Scotland - Our Meals

2009-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

Since we had the opportunity to make our own food for over a week, we tried to make really good food - and decided to document all of it.

Stew and Bread.

Roast Chicken with asparagus, naan bread and rice.

Chicken noodle soup with naan bread.

Spinach stuffed tomatoes, raspberry chicken and focaccia.

Breakfast bagels with bacon, hot chocolate, coffee, and orange juice.

Normandy

2009-12-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

It was really surreal being here.

Omaha beach

Versaille

2009-12-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

So you're Louis XVI and you promenade out of your castle.

You overlook your fountains, gardens and vast expanses of forest. A string quartet follows you wherever you go - along with Marie Antoinette.

A servant runs up to inform you your people are starving. Glancing across at your vast amount of wealth you reply "Let them eat cake!"

Your people then revolt in the same manner as the revolution in America which you funded, cut off your head and turn your extravagant palace into a tourist attraction for the proletariat!

Pity.

Paris

2009-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

The Eiffel tower, viewed from the Peace Monument.

Cemetery Pere Lachaise.

I was so thankful my ice-cream was heat treated! I was really worried about my safety.

Barcelona

2009-12-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

I liked this fountain. It danced to music.

Just some other stuff in Barcelona:

Brussels Protest

2009-12-05T12:17:00.001-08:00

We arrived at the Headquarters of the EU when a protest was starting for the dairy farmers of Europe.

(Cowbells!)

Brussels

2009-12-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

Josh Garrel's New Album

2009-10-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

So Josh Garrels has probably been the artist that I have been most consistent with the past few years. I typically go through phases with music - in and out of different albums at different times - but I always return to his music. Recently he released an EP but currently it is only available on his website, and so can't exactly get it ordered to France. So I'm waiting with great anticipation for it to be released on itunes, but who knows when that will happen. In the meantime, I frequent website to listen to the few tracks that he released from the album.

Unlike a lot of music that gets old or loses its appeal after a few times, his is quite the contrary. I feel the more I listen to these new tracks the more I like them. So have a go at his website. I particularly recommend the songs All Creatures, and 107.

Weekend at the Beach

2009-09-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

The past weekend a few friends and I went to the Beaches at Marseille and Cassis

A very classy European in Marseille

The harbor at Cassis

Some of the cliffs at Cassis

Weekend With the Fam

2009-09-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

My Parents came to visit and we stayed in a small coastal town called Bormes. These are some shots from that weekend.

The view from where we were staying

The view at night

The town of Bormes

A room with a view

The market

We visited an incredible beach that had a rocky path that hugged the coast as it weaved its way around coves and over rocky shelves.

The way the path blends into the rock is vaguely reminiscent of the Forbidden Stair from Lord of the Rings

A great place to sunbathe

Sunset

La Vida, Part III, Cult Site

2009-09-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

So while on La Vida, we stumbled on a very strange Tolkienesque/ C.S. Lewisian cult site (Yes - I was trying to make that sound as pretentious as possible). It even had a sacrifice table and all, but when we went back during that day I wasn't able to get over there to take pictures of it. But these are the pictures I was able to get.

La Vida, Part II

2009-09-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

As always, to view them full size, click on them and then click "all sizes"

Gollum feet

La Vida, Part I

2009-09-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Laughing With - Regina Spektor

2009-08-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Laughing With - Regina Spektor

No one laughs at God in a hospital

No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls
After some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
when it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane
Starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love hand in hand
with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say “We’ve got some bad new, sir,”
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us
and they get so red in the head
You think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha, ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
when they’ve lost all they got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head
you think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
(repeat)
No one’s laughing at God in a hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one’s laughing at God
(repeat)
We’re all “laughing with God”

Josh Garrels - Good Friday

2009-06-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

I'm hesitant to say profound statements about songs or any other piece of art that moves me, however I can legitimately say that this song has changed my life. It's a song that I found a little over 2 years ago (in fact, the whole album has been extremely influential), and it has since become the most played track on my itunes. The lyrics are incredible, but the last two minutes of the song are the most powerful part (in my opinion) as he sings "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - One of the last words of Christ on the cross.

I find myself continually returning to this song when I'm in need of solace.

Josh Garrels - Good Friday

Broken wing, forgotten dream, shattered thing
That a mans hands can’t ever truly mend
Shadow land, desert sand, a man searches
For a love that’ll never die
Truth be known, you’re not alone
Your aching bones will find a home
In place where God he sets us free
Wake me up before you go
I will listen for the sound of your voice
Hear the wind in the trees
It goes where it please
Like the breath in me
And all who have breath can sing

When we layed your body down
In earth and in the ground
Oh child, rest your soul.
Will a hope be made good
When a word is understood
In the day, will we see you again?

Gather round, hear the sound
Of a story that’s so old that it’s been told
Before time
He was born in the flesh and the blood
In a world that was dark as hell, and dead in sin
Born of the spirit, and the virgin child
He’s the son of God, son of man
I didn’t recognize that look in his eyes
When they cried
With a sorrow that no man has ever known
Hang him high, watch him die, hear the cry
Crucified up on that God forsaken tree
And all who have breath can sing

When we layed your body down
In the earth and in the ground
Oh Lord, rest your bones
Will a hope be made good
If your words are understood
In the day, will we see you again

Oh Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani?
Oh my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Oh Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani?
Oh my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Tom Rush - Child's Song

2009-05-05T10:03:00.001-07:00

I've always found myself deeply affected by coming of age stories. So needless to say, this song really connected with me.

Tom Rush - Child's Song

Maybe someday soon I'll get back to pictures.

mewithout You

2009-04-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've liked mewithout You for quite sometime now. They are currently in the process of releasing a new album, and this is the first track from that album that they've released. It's got a sound that's very different from anything they've done before (but they seem to do that with all their albums). It took some time to get used to it, and I'm not sure how I'll feel if the whole album has this sound. But I've come to really like this song

Click here, and play the song "Every Thought a Thought of You."

and as always, they have fantastic lyrics. My favorite being "They swear their love is real. They mean "I like the way you make me feel.""

They also have a concert in Boston July 11th! Tickets are only $15. I'm stoked - you should be too. If you want to go, let me know. You can buy tickets here.

More Music

2009-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

This song took a while to grow on me. Now I can't stop listening to it.

Animal Collective - My Girls

They're like a funkier version of the Fleet Foxes. I've heard mixed reviews on the album as a whole, but this is one of the only songs I've heard from it. If the rest of the album is like this, I think it would be great. If I get the album anytime soon, I'll be sure to post whether or not it met my expectations.

Boxers-be-Gone

2009-04-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

I just thought this was funny:

Before Photoshop

After Photoshop

Cello Song

2009-03-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

So I am a big fan of Nick Drake. I also greatly enjoy both the Books and Jose Gonzalez. So what could be better than those two bands covering a Nick Drake song? The answer is nothing.

If you don't like any one of those artists, then you may not like this song - but it's candy to my ears.

So here is Jose Gonzalez and the Books - Cello Song.

branch

2009-03-30T09:35:00.001-07:00

branch, originally uploaded by ddenison1.

And another. (and again - to view the full size photo click on it, then click "all sizes" right above the picture)

Also, here's a song that I've been listening to a good bit lately: Jose Gonzalez - Crosses.

trees

2009-03-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

boringpic, originally uploaded by ddenison1.

I haven't had time recently to take any pictures. So here's a few old ones from earlier this winter.

They're rather boring. I know.

Matt and Kim

2009-03-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

So the music blog that I have linked on the right (the world forgot) recently posted a band that is, seemingly paradoxically, somewhat annoying yet oddly addictive.

Billy, who writes that blog, describes their music saying, "it sounds like eight bit Nintendo soundtracks mashed together with dance beats, happiness, and whatever smiles sound like." I found that to be a satisfyingly accurate description.

So here is Matt and Kim - Daylight

More trees

2009-03-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

DSC_0051-edit, originally uploaded by ddenison1.

I posted this before, but I didn't like the quality. So here it is again.

Also, to view the full size of any of my pictures, click on them, then click "all sizes."

Trees

2009-03-11T15:38:00.001-07:00

DSC_0014-edit, originally uploaded by ddenison1.

More trees.

Flickr

2009-03-11T15:37:00.001-07:00

DSC_0015-edit, originally uploaded by ddenison1.

So I'm now hosting all of my photos on flickr, so they should be a better quality now.

However, now I have to post all the photos in individual posts. But that's not that big of a deal.

Here's a picture of a truck and a tree.

More Music

2009-03-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

I know, I claim to be a photography blog. Whatever.

So I went to the Anathallo concert last night. Phenomenal. I was elevated to a state of euphoria for the entire show. They had a guy open for them who was incredible. His name is Sam Amidon, and he plays a lot of traditional appalachian folk songs. Here's one song of his called Saro. and here's a live song of his, Wild Bill Jones.

Here's a video of Anathallo live. It's their song Kasa No Hone. Now imagine an entire show just like that. craziness I tell you.

I won't go any further into it and let you listen it for yourself. But to experience it, you really had to be there.

The show was life changing.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2009-02-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

it's a fairly trendy movie - yes - but that doesn't make it any less good.

i watched it about a week ago, and a certain song really caught my attention. it was used as he was recollecting his childhood. Maybe it's because I can't help detaching it from the sentiment of the movie, but there's an odd reminiscent quality about it. The movie used it as it was trying to illustrate the wonder of childhood, and a sadness that we'll never have that innocence again. That's still the way I feel when I listen to the song.

So here is the song Peer Pressure by Jon Brion.

And I found this cool remix that I kinda like too.

Ocean and Trees

2009-02-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here's some photos I took this past fall. I was going to post a few more but I'm really noticing that blogger is washing out a lot of the color. I had originally started the blog because that's what facebook was doing (not to mentioned they shrink the size of the photos dramatically). A few of the photos I wanted to post have really strong fall colors, and so would lose their effect if I posted them here. Thus I may begin hosting photos on flickr and then linking to them here just so the pictures stay lookin good.

And here's a song by Anathallo. I'm actually going to see them live next Tuesday! They're great. Really. If you like them, you should definitely check out their album Canopy Glow - it's unreal. Anathallo - Cafetorium.

Panda

2009-02-23T21:39:00.000-08:00

So this isn't a picture I took, just one that I found (which might mean this is copyright infringement). But it's terribly endearing.

I don't know about you - but I've always wanted to hug a panda...

and here's a song I that I'm rather partial to. It's a Belgian electronica band, but they have Ben Gibbard singing vocals - so it's basically a Postal Service song. Styrofoam - Couches in Alleys

Some fun with photoshop

2009-02-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

So I've been messing around on photoshop for a bit. It's kinda fun.

NOTE: Sorry for the massive size of the photos. Having already spent a lot of time on photoshop, I really don't feel like going back to resize the images as well.

I know this one looks really dumb, but it was at least fun to make.

GCSA Campaign Photos

2009-02-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday I took some pictures for my friend Matt Percuoco's GCSA campaign. Paulo Valaci is his running mate.

I also have to give special credit to Erika Diaz who helped me out tremendously with the shoot.

NOTE: After having published the pictures, it looks like blogger has really washed out a lot of the colors. The originals aren't really that bad - just so you know.

Photoshop Experimentation

2009-02-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

So, I recently became the proud owner of photoshop. However, I also have little/no experience with the program. So I've been fiddling around here and there, but never really worked on changing a photo. While looking over my previous photo post, I decided that I really didn't like the one with the chairs - the background just seemed way too overexposed. So using my meager skills, I tried to tweak the photo a bit.

But before we get started, here's a song that I really enjoy. It's odd really - it's a full ten minutes without much variation to the melody, but I love it. It may be the lyrics, but there's also a just certain quality about it. So, here you go: Iron and Wine - the Trapeze Swinger.

This is the before picture:

This is the after picture. The changes are meant to be subtle - but the sky is slightly bluer, and the colors of the forest aren't quite as washed out. Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do for the buildings in the background; they were so blown out there was nothing to salvage.

So you have all been witness to my first (and rather boring) photoshop project. It may not seem like I accomplished much, but that literally took me a couple hours of work. Hopefully soon I can be a bit more expedient with my photo edits, and post some more dramatic and interesting projects.

Hymn - O God Beyond all Praising

2009-02-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a hymn that I can't stop listening to. Christ Church played it during their All Soul's service, and it was phenomenal. Ok, so it's not a picture, i know, but it's my blog - I do what I want!

mishmash of this and that.

2009-02-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

So there's really no cohesiveness to this post - just a bunch of random pictures at random times in random places.

And to tantalize your ears, here's a song by the vines that I'm rather partial to. While not a huge fan of the band, I think I like it just because I really like acoustic covers.

Lobstah!

Chairs.

If you look closely, the lady on the right is staring right at me. - awkward.

Niagara Falls. To me it looks like they're reaching the end of the world - just a silly blue hooded cult committing mass suicide. (and in my mind I hear tiny little screams as they plummet over the edge)

If you weren't already aware, I'm actually a voyeur. These ladies had no idea (nor do they know they are now internet celebrities).

Rockport Winter

2009-02-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

So there was another snowstorm this past week, thus I decided to venture through the tumultuous weather to Rockport, a coastal town just north of my school, to take some pictures.

I'm not going to post a whole series (to be honest, most of it sucked - I'll blame it on the lighting) but here's a few shots from it. If you didn't notice, I was really into circles that day.

And for your musical pleasure, here's Damien Rice - Prague. The song just seemed to fit in my opinion. And sorry for the awkward video - I'm just trying to get you good free music to listen to.

Snowstorm

2009-01-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

So after (and a little during) a recent snowstorm, I went out to Singing Beach and the cliffs at Magnolia to get some shots.

Since I love music too, here is a song I feel fits well with these photos.

The Lonely Pine

Their branches look like webs.

All the couples walking on the beach. - A nice reminder when you're alone.

dog.

These two pictures are of the same cliffs, however, I took the first one this fall, and the second one after this recent snow storm. Maybe later I'll put up the whole series from the fall, but for now, I think the comparison of the two photos will suffice.