personal | anya elise

(This photo reminds me of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don’t know. Don’t ask me to explain the strange ruminations of my mind. However, if you would go ahead and read this post with the iconic Space Odyssey music playing in your head, I’d really appreciate. OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming.)

As illustrated here before, I have horrible eye sight. Horrible. Blind as a bat. A bat without the power of echolocation. Lost.

I’ve been wearing contacts since my junior year of high school. But, now and then, one cannot use one’s little plastic bubbles of vision. (For instance, when one has recently blinded oneself with jalapeno juices.) And in those moments, a blinded, batty girl has to instead use glasses. Spectacles. Or, I suppose a monocle would do also. (If you’re OK with favoring one eye over the other that is.)

For the past four years, I have relied on the same pair of glasses. They have worked with moderate success. As my eyes seem determined to worsen with age, their prescription has been null and void for some time. But, I ~~procrastinated~~ waited for the exact right pair to come along before buying new ones.

And at last, I have found them.

Warby Parker glasses.

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November 8, 2011 by Anya Elise

spreading the love || More Love Letters

I was nervous.

Nervous that my words wouldn’t come across like I’d intended. Nervous as I imagined a stranger reading them.

Biting my lip in that nervous way I sometimes do, I dropped the letter into the mailbox. And then I took a deep breath.

Hannah Brencher started writing love letters while on a subway in New York City. With heart and compassion, she wrote some uplifting, lovely words onto a piece of paper, folded it up, and left it anonymously on the seat as she left.

Hundreds of love letters later – left all over New York, in coffee shops, trains, and on tables, all for the purpose of spreading a little joy – Hannah decided to recruit others to join her mission. She started a web site – moreloveletters.com – to coordinate and inspire other writers. She encouraged them to pledge to leave letters in their own towns, and then she started taking calls for specific, monthly Love Letter Missions.

In reading about Hannah’s zeal for pumping love back into the world, I decided to join one such monthly mission. This one called for letters to be sent to a young woman expecting her first child. This woman didn’t have much family support, and needed to know, now more than ever, that people were pulling for her. Even if those people had never even met her.

I wrote one such letter to Briana, sent it off to Hannah’s P.O. box and into her capable hands to bundle up and deliver.

And though I was nervous as I dropped it into that mailbox, I also felt a little twinge of fulfillment. This small action made me feel substantial. Even though it was such a tiny gesture, I felt like I was contributing a piece of myself. The kind of piece that can’t always be conveyed over social media.

Several weeks later, Hannah posted an update about the Briana Love Letter Mission bundle on the More Love Letters blog. And my little letter made a cameo appearance.

And it felt good to know the words I’d poured onto that page could mean something to someone else.

Now, I receive Love Letter Requests in my inbox once a month for bundles similar to that which was sent to Briana. It only takes five minutes to write a piece of yourself full of compassion onto the page. And who knows how that gesture will affect the receiver.

It could make all the difference on those days that seem to conspire against you. It could remind them that they aren’t as isolated as it sometimes feels.

I decided to put the More Love Letters badge Hannah created on my blog here. Over to the right —-> see it up there? Clicking on it will direct you right on over to her site. I definitely encourage you to consider signing up for the monthly Love Letter newsletter and get involved too. As the holidays approach, it’s a great way to give back in a tangible, loving way. Sign up here.

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November 3, 2011 by Anya Elise

laceless shoes || footwear cameo

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good laceless shoe cameo on a.e.photography.

Some facts about the laceless shoes:

They are a key part of my daily ensemble (classy right?).
This is the third pair of this exact shoe that I’ve owned.
When I find shoes I love, I hate giving them up. So I keep buying the same kind. I will rue the day I can no longer purchase this shoe.
I should probably start stocking up before that day comes.
If only I had more closet space…
Winter is arriving and snow is commandeering more and more of our forecast here in Colorado.
I fear I will not be able to wear my favorite footwear as frequently soon, because of said snow.
They are more water absorbent than water resistant.
And then what will I talk about with random people on elevator rides?
These are the thoughts that plague me.
Sometimes, I fear I will accidentally write plaque instead of plague, especially when writing by hand. Those two wildly different words just look so similar.
I would really hate for thoughts to plaque me.
Which reminds me, I really need to go get a dental checkup.
Have you noticed that these facts about the laceless shoes are really just odd nothings about everything?
Me too.
Which probably means I should end this post now.
I’m glad we talked.
OK, bye.
No really. Bye.

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November 2, 2011 by Anya Elise

notables || knick knacks from the web

(I love this video, written and narrated by Stephen Fry, about the absolute wonders contained in language. I won’t summarize it more than that because Mr. Fry will do so far better than myself. Watch it and love it with me.)

I read a lot. Novels, certainly, but also a great slew of articles, online essays, magazine pieces, and blog posts. I love learning new things, taking in information, and getting a taste of all the incredible offerings you all are putting out into the world. It’s inspiring.

Often, I share these findings on my twitter account. However, I decided that, now and then, I’d like to also share a small roundup of these notables with you, my favorite blog readers.

Things like a program that calculates where you fit in with the estimated seven billion people now inhabiting this planet. (Me: 5,014,624,975th)

Or perhaps, this photo essay from Noah Abrams of a small but energetic group of skateboarders in Kabul, Afghanistan. (There are even some girls getting in on the fun; not exactly what you’d expect when you visualize Afghanistan.) As Mr. Abrams says, “It struck me as the most positive image I’d seen in a long time.”

Or, on a historical note, did you know that it’s been 150 years since the transcontinental telegraph was completed, linking the world ever-closer, long before the Internet even existed?

That’s just a small offering of the things that grab my attention on a daily basis. What about you?

Read anything interesting lately?

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November 1, 2011 by Anya Elise

Opera on Tap || art in different places

The quartet sang their harmonies in German.

A member of the cast, planted among the audience, stood up and read her speaking part as The Wealthy Woman.

The quartet responded.

The bartender set down the vodka and tonic he had been crafting, stepped out from behind his counter, and recited his own practiced lines as The Sailor.

I took a sip of my beer.

It wasn’t exactly what you would call a typical Friday night.

I was in a bar, and I was watching a German opera. There’s something about those two sentences that don’t really go together and I don’t think it’s the phrase “German opera.” (Though, you know, I’m no expert.)

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