Here I am

You don't have the right.

You don't know me.
Here I am.
Woman, talented

You don't have the right to treat me that way.

Intelligent
Musical
Planner
Writer

Do you know?

Do you know who I am?

Who gives you that right?
Surely it isn't God given.
Surely it isn't purely because of your DNA.
Surely it isn't what your mother taught you.
Surely it isn't your age.

Do you understand me?

Do you know what I mean?

You don't have the right.

My rights are clear.
I stand for what I believe in.
I stand for respect.
I stand for safety.
I stand for justice.
I stand for peace.
I stand for music.
I stand for love.
I stand for understanding of all people, all situations.

I know.
I have the power.
I have the respect.
I have the abilities, talents and skills.

I know.

Catching up

I am back to work after a wonderful summer, and after catching up on work, now I am catching up on editing and posting some of my favorite memories from the summer. I also found some film from last year, and am sharing some photos from "Rocktober"!

I am also looking forward to compiling some photos for an exhibit, so if you feel like commenting on which are your favorites, that would be great!

Bodega Bay

The field near my house

Intangible Animal CD Release

Moose Mountain XX

Waldron 

"Rocktober" 2011

What I like to call my "Family Reunion"

My family is awesome.

I don't say that lightly. I say that because, when we come together, we don't ever just include our immediate family, we include all of those we consider family as well. Our family grows every year, sometimes with the birth of a new soul into the world, but most often with the birth of a friendship.

New friendships always bring more love into the family. It is amazing to see such a beautiful group of people sharing an experience and basking in its ability to unify new souls and seal tighter old friendships and love. Of course, in our family, music is central to our so called "reunion" and it does not fail to outwardly demonstrate what we all feel about each other. So, in an effort to further demonstrate this beautiful gathering, here are a few visual representations of our musical love.

(Click on the photos to view a slideshow of them all)

The Stage

Frustrations

Communication
lacking, lagging

Frustration
boiling, bleeding

Questions
brewing, breaking

When I ask myself why certain situations cause me pain and anxiety, I am left with no answers, but just more questions.

It is so frustrating to be frustrated...stressful to be stressed.
My mind races, my heart pounds, my ears turn red.

Color

When editing my photos I like playing with color - turning up the hues to make something pop, or to shift the focus. It's not quite summer yet, spring flowers may be fading, and the summer heat may be in full force, but I did get a chance to captures some of the blossoms blooming this spring. Chico State is a great place to take photographs, with the architecture as a backdrop, I had a lot of fun looking for the perfect blooms and found a beautiful blue bike along the way!

Patience

I love it when you ask the world for what you think you need, and it responds with exactly what you actually need.

The City by the Bay

I had a wonderful weekend with friends and family in the bay. I got to celebrate a friend's graduation and Mother's Day. It was absolutely beautiful, and although I didn't take a lot of photos, I did get a couple good shots! I obviously have struggled with the 30 day photo challenge again, but as a good friend pointed out this weekend, the great thing about a 30 day challenge is you can always start the 30 days over again! So, perhaps I will start again this summer when I have more free time to explore my artistic eye.  In the meantime, here are two shots from this weekend!

Day 3: Overcast

So Day 3 of the photography challenge was supposed to be of clouds, but unfortunately it was pretty overcast all day today and this evening.  So I am reposting a photograph I took earlier this year, which also happens to be one of my favorites for the color filter I used.

Day 3: Clouds

Day 2: I call this "Living on a Budget"

Day 2: What I wore today

30 Day Photo Challenge

So, I have started and stopped posting photographs, but this challenge caught my attention and I wanted to get on it right away.

30 different types of photos in 30 days....starting today, April 30th 2012!

Day 1: Self Portrait

Spring Blooms

I love flowers during the spring. Although my allergies tend to arrive with the blooms, so does my artistic eye. I have enjoyed documenting the beauty this spring.

Here are a few of my most recent creative captures...

"Because you have yet to learn this skill", or, "For my students on a Friday afternoon"

Listen

I said, LISTEN

Because, when I speak, you should understand that the words coming out of my mouth may not be perfect, but they will affect your future.

Listen, because even though you think it’s boring right now, in 10 years you will thank me.

Listen, because what I say right now, may never be said again, and what I say 10 minutes from now could determine the rest of our lives.

Listen

To

Each

Word.

Each

Phrase

Each

Inflection

It matters

You think you know

You think, you have all the answers, to all the answers, to all the answers

What you don’t know, is I have a secret

The secret

In fact

To decode those answers

Those questions

You know, the ones you are afraid to ask

Every day

The questions that creep into your dreams, that scare your friends, that your parents don’t want to answer or won’t even entertain.

I have the secret

Do you want to know what it is?

Are you curious?

It is slowly seeping in

Your brain is twirling

Connections

Right, left, forward, back, reverse, no, just a little further.

There it is, you found it.

Listen

Emily Woodall

March 1, 2012

Sway

Before she knew how to dance freely

She used to sway back and forth to the music

only keeping time

but not truly letting her soul soar

When the music swells, her heart jumps keeping time with the drummers feet, hands and breath


It is not the booming beat, but the sound of soft voices coming together to form one
two, three
harmony
long fingers grace the black, in between ivory and glide
slow, slow then race down and back up again to land on that perfect blend
one, two
two and four the hands slap together, feet land and mouths open


she cries, soul singing, voice echoing and arms rising
it is when soft voices come together
to form
one


Before she knew how to dance freely, she used to sway back and forth
but these days, 
her heart opens, into the light, dark and spaces in between, mouth open, song pouring out and feet moving, arms flying
soul singing
soaring
swift, slow, sweet sensation


Emily Woodall
March 5, 2012

Found in translation

Something a little different for the blogosphere tonight...Algo diferente esta para los que leen este blog. noche

Tonight I had the pleasure of hosting a workshop for parents at our school. The workshop was about asset building, a fancy way of saying, "how to get our kids to build the skills they need to be successful". The information was sent out to parents via our newsletter, which is translated into Spanish. Now, given that about 50% of our students are Hispanic, I should have expected that Spanish speaking parents would show up. Little did I know that only Spanish speaking parents would show up. Needless to say, it was an interesting night.

What I didn't expect, however, was that, what could have been an utter fiasco (with no translator), ended up being a great success. Luckily for me, one parent spoke both Spanish and English and was gracious enough to translate some of the information, and I spoke as much as I could in Spanish. The feedback was great! One parent even asked if they could come every Tuesday night! I am very thankful that I was able to connect with these parents and learn to find some common ground within the Spanglish translation. I look forward to working with these parents more and am hoping that they will share some of the information they learned tonight with more parents and members of our community!

Drifting

Another great weekend brought lots of time outside, and three shows! Scott and Ellen played in their newest collaboration, Tumbler, on Friday night, then Evan busted out some comedy and the Perpetual Drifters played on Saturday. It is times like these that I become so incredibly grateful for the friends that I have in Chico. They bring immense joy to my life. I loved the lighting set up at the show saturday because it made for such fun photos. 

Lil rockin' out!

February Sun

To commemorate one of the most beautiful months experienced thus far this year - I know, I know it's only February, but you have to admit it has been pretty damn beautiful - I am sharing these photos from the highways and byways of California. Enjoy!