‘Zine scene
When I came back from the US, two beautiful packages were waiting for me. (The world is shrinking…)
First were two ‘zines by Joanna Tagada, a French artist, based in Berlin. She shares paintings, drawings, sewing, photographs and poems. The mood is subtle, graceful and deep. She takes us on a tour of her private studio, through photos recording a place that no longer exists. I love the idea of permanently recording a temporary space, so romantic. What are your creative spaces, now or in the past?
The other ‘zine, The Way Home by Sewon, is about her move to and from New York City this last year. It makes me think about the moving process–the moves I’ve made and plan to make… It reminds me so much of my friend Katie, who will be moving to New York soon.
I feel like a gallery exhibit was delivered to me in the mail… I think I’m officially addicted. I’m so fascinated now by alternative publishing. Doesn’t it make you want to create your own ‘zine? What would yours look like?
Prairie church
The First Christian Church in Phoenix is a posthumous work of Frank Lloyd Wright. So magical.
These low ceilings leading to the sanctuary represent humility; in the sanctuary, soaring stained glass.
A building in the shape of a triangle was a building in the attitude of prayer. Twenty-three triangular pillars of concrete and steel. Wright saw them as desert trees.
The bell tower is 120-feet tall and has four sides, each of which is unequal to the other three. 304 tons of concrete, stone and steel, with no inward supporting structure. The cross on top is twenty-two feet long.
My sisters were horsing around the whole time. They crack me up so much!
I can’t get over this lovely palm-treeish church. FLW originally designed a whole seminary campus, but only this building was built… I so wish someone would build the rest.
Even as we drove away, I was still trying to take photos.
“We do not want to be known just for our famous building. A church is not a building, but rather the people who happen to meet there. We want to be known for the lives that are changed because of this special place.” -FFC, Phoenix, AZ
PS I took lots of photos while I was home… but somehow these are the only ones I felt were really for the blog. Just in case you were wondering… 
Fire up the barbie
Marija fell in love with the fuzzy dog, while we were not impressed. (Goca led him away with a sausage.) We spent all day by the river and went home happy.
Football: metaphor for life
I wandered into the National Gallery in Sarajevo the other day–and happened to see a documentary / video installation that I made with Robi, on exhibit! It’s part of a documentary archive about football fans in Mostar in 2009. The football clubs are ethnically divided; thus, games sometimes end in riots. I filmed interviews with two soccer fans from opposing teams and footage from a match, including the riot police standing guard. The game in Mostar ended peacefully that day, but someone was shot and killed at a soccer game in the next town over.
The documentary archive also featured texts, photos and a second video installation. Marija burned a pile of soccer balls as her protest against violence by soccer hooligans.
A rose by any other
Families dropped roses into the river, one for every body thrown over the bridge after the massacre.
Soon the river was full of roses.
Doppelganger
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known. (1 Cor 13:12)
Lilies of the field
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matt. 6: 28-29
These daisies were so pretty today in the sunshine. I need to remember them when I start to worry… The important things are already taken care of.
Better is one day
The days go by so fast now… Each one passes in a blink. “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet 3:8)
(The poster on the wall says “Prodigal son” / Izgubljeni Sin. Just noticed as I was uploading the photo…)
Summertime
I’m going home for two weeks to see family and friends, so will take a break from blogging.
See you in June!
Why you need a mentor (or five)
Being a super inexperienced tv talk show host, I was eager to learn from those who were willing to teach. During my ten weeks at the tv station, there were five people who taught me about the tv business, but so much more. Here are my thoughts on how to be mentored.
Don’t be shy to ask for more help
One of my favorite things about working for FTV was my elocution lessons. Bosnian elocution lessons… The instructor, Jasminka, is a grand dame who had been a famous news anchorwoman in her day. (Apparently BBC journalists who worked with her during the war in the early 1990s gave her the nickname “the dead queen”– she is still so regal, but truly a force to be reckoned back in the day.) I tried to emulate her beautiful diction and posture, making some improvement. We also talked a bit about what it means to be a tv show host. At the pilot season was coming to an end, she suggested that she could coach me on hosting and interviewing–I kicked myself for not asking for her help earlier! I had desperately needed help from an experienced tv show host, but it would never have occurred to me to ask if she might have time to coach me. Had I done so, my time at FTV might have been totally different.
Anyone creative can be a mentor
Aziz taught me a lot about video editing. Somehow he always knew how to add music, cut a few seconds here and there, and turn raw footage into something entertaining. I watched him while he edited and asked him for tips on how to improve the videos I was editing. Good editing is magic.
Make it a priority to follow up with past mentors
Dzanko helped me a lot during the filming of “Readers’ Club”. He was always encouraging and sympathetic. He invited me to do a short interview for one of his documentary shorts and then he wrote the voiceover, giving me advice and coaching me all along the way. When I asked for advice, he always told me that I was capable and smart and would be able to figure it out on my own. Even when I felt like a flop, he always told me that he saw how hard I was trying; he was also the only one who was concerned that I wasn’t getting paid.
I talked with Djuro and Dzanko occasionally after leaving the tv station. I was mostly occupied with trying to find a job and stay afloat financially. Later I heard Dzanko was sick and I didn’t want to bother him… Still, I had “Call Dzanko” on my to-do list for months. I was waiting for the perfect moment. I ran into Elma during a work event (I was filming the opening of an environmental center that my organization was opening and she was the FTV journalist covering the same event)– we reminisced and talked about Dzanko; she mentioned that she was planning on visiting him in the hospital. The next time I saw Elma, a short time later, was at Dzanko’s funeral.
He was known as a versatile journalist, able to speak with the mayor of Sarajevo or a man with a fighting rooster with equal composure, intelligence and respect. He was a geography teacher turned tv star, very well known and universally beloved.
He always wore a flannel jacket.
