& color me bright

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(C) Collage, MJ Calitz, 2009. (noT me in the picture)

humour me

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It's funny how we have unread books on our shelves for years. And one day we start to read one and within the first chapter we open a pandora's box.
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It's funny how we get things exactly when we need them.
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It's funny how we deal with things and how they pop up again as we reach milestones or prepare for change.
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It's funny how we repeat the mistakes of our mothers. Even just with dogs...and what about children?
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It's funny how honesty brings both pain and healing.
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It's funny how all these thoughts are about one thing. & how a heart can still hope…

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mj, 2009

birds that cannot fly

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the bird bath in my garden is frozen solid...isn't it beautiful?
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"hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that can not fly..."

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- Langson Hughes -
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(C) Photographs, MJ, 2009

he feeds me

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then aLice, curious as a kitten
opened the biG wooden door
& found the moSt delightful thing
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a birdcage in the middLe of the room
fiLLed with kisses in miniature sPoons
(82 to be preciSe)
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how odd, she thoughT
& hoW delicious
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now if she can only fiNd the key
to set them fRee
what a luCky girl she would bE
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(C) Copyright & Collage MJ Calitz, 2009

catching the sun

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what's a girl from africa supposed to do on a chilly ohio winters morning? dress up, take a walk on the farm behind her house and snap a couple of pictures of course...

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they say the early bird catches the worm...or in my case, the sun...

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& the frosted leaves snuggling in little nests of frosted grass...

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i am brave & beautiful

i am exactly where i need to be
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(C) Copyright MJ Calitz. All photographs & edits, MJ, 2009

these clown lips

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"one day you will take my heart completely and make it more fiery than a dragon. your eyelashes will write on my heart the poem that could never come from the pen of a poet"

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- RUMI -

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what if i told you that somewhere
in a parallel universe
two people exactly like us
were in love,
made different choices,
followed their hearts,
lived their dream…
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if you thought it could be possible
would that change your next action?
would you choose me this time?
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lover,
one day you will kiss me on my red clown lips
& candy hearts will rain from my eyelashes
painting love letters on your soul…
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one day it will be real. & these clown lips
will be yours
i will never stop kissing you
and you will think it was always like this
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i
Y
you
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(C) Copyright MJ Calitz, 2009. photographs & photo edit, mj, 2009

reflected in you

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i am yoU reflected in tRuth
touch my souL, my skiN
i daNce for you
wHat you adore in me
is what you wiSh to be
& what you wish i was noT,
is what you feaR you already
are. deeP, deep iNside...
you see, i am a mirroR for
you. we are aLL mirrors
hoW can we noT be, born
from the saMe souL
we aRe. you & me, i aM
& thAt is why i see me iN
you. but i can oNLy see
if i open my eyes to
what is hEre & not close
them with what i feAr...
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(C) Copyright MJ Calitz, 2009. collage, mj 2009

week of loVe

no nO! that simply won't do. not on this Week oF Love leading up to valentines day. i have deleted my original post of the day...the sunny miss "rooftop route66". we will see her again later...maybe...but for this week i give you, the very blonde, very long leggy miss "vicky secret"...happy day dreaming boys ;-)

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now, first off, you have to understand this. i do not worship days like this. it has become too commercial. too victoria secret and diamond necklace. but it has a place in this world where people has forgotten how to love. or simply, TO love. it is a little reminder that romance isn't dead...yet. it can be found in the simple things too...like a poem. a cup of tea at sunrise. a lace curtain. an antique tin full of ribbons. a hand written letter. a beautiful bouquet of flowers, un-plucked.

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and this day is certainly not just for couples. no. because even if you are single, you are worthy of love. so, treat yourself. in fact, spoil yourself...LOVE YOURSELF. this day will only be a disappointment if we expect of someone else to make it magical for us. so, write yourself a love note...
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stand on a chair and read a poem to a loved one. make yourself a hearty breakfast. plant a flower (or a treasure box) in the earth. release a pink balloon for someone else to find. get a manicure (or a haircut). take yourself to the movies (don't forget to buy a big box of popcorn & laugh out loud if you want to). hug a child. eat a super indulgent ice cream. visit someone who is lonely. drink a glass of wine at sunset. remember all the special people in your life. remember who you are and how far you've come...

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i don't care what you do, just hoW you do it (with love. for yourself and others) and that you do soMething that makes you feel awesome. make this valentines day, or any & all other days you choose, the day that you will remember to celebrate love, your way.

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bE LOVED

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(C) Photographs, MJ Calitz, 2008.

fresh & fuN

they say a change is as good as a holiday. so i decided to get a haircut. trust me, it was time. after years of same old same old, i wanted something fresh & fun. i LOVE my new hair. it's just ridiculous how sexy it makes me feel...here, see for yourself.

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doN't speak. juSt kiss

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shh! doN't speak
just kiss me
like you've wanted to
for sO long
your tongue will be
my waTer
your liPs, my oXygen
& i will be
a droWning aNgel
haNging on your whiM
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(C) Copyright MJ Calitz, 2009. photo edit, 2009

make a footprint

do you remember the journal i talked about?...the one i kept on our cross country trip last year. i felt like sharing this page with you today. it was written the day before we departed. it's the very first page of the journal and probably the oNLy page that is 100% black & white... (oh, you can click on the pic to enlarge, if you wish.)

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i made this footprint on the beach in san francisco last year. it's not perfect, but it's mine & it reminds me that i was there. because soMe days, i wake up, busy ironing the laundry or doing something equally uneventful, and i wonder what i am doing here...what is my life supposed to be & what if i am wasting time hanging around in the mundane...and then photographs like this remind me that i'm not just an empty shell waiting for tomorrow and the next day and the next to come and go and be lost. i am not a waste of time. i made my footprint on a beach in san francisco. who'd have ever thought i'd walk there? but i did. and that is noT nothing.

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so remember to make your footprint wherever you go and take a picture of it, so that one day, when you are wondering about your life, you can look at it and say...i was there. and tHat is nOt nothing.
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(C) MJ Calitz, 2008 & 2009

gypsy guitar

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reMembEr that tiMe when we danced baRefoot uNdeR the stars in the mid*dLe of the rOad? my dress was piNk and yoU wore a gRin and a gyPsy gUitaR

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(C)Copyright MJ Calitz, 2009. collage, mj, 2009