In Which I Drown You In My Indifferent Graphics

You all probably know that I enjoy making graphics and that I'm not specially good at them.  Well, I've been making a ton, especially since school ended, and I do believe I've gotten a little bit better.  I thought you might like to see some of what I've done -- I know I always like to see others' graphics.  I can always learn something from them.
Oh yes -- feel free to use them, they're mostly not watermarked so credit if you like, if not I don't really care.  I never really understood the whole DON'T STEAL MY WORK thing that much.... as long as you're not selling it, why fuss?  It's just a digital image.

All my images are made with one of three photo-editors: iPiccy, PicMonkey, and Pixlr.  (Why do they always have to have rather silly names?)  They're each good for different things, so sometimes I'll use all three in one image.

First come the ones that can be used as desktop backgrounds.  I tire of desktops quickly, and so make a lot of new ones. If you use one, be aware that sometimes I don't measure the ratios right and then they're a bit too long or too short - also, mine are made for a 16:9 screen.

This was my first try-out of iPiccy, and I was quite proud of it, though I have since decided that it's not as wonderful as I at first thought.  The battle-cry of the Cristeros has always inspired me - I used to write it on the inside covers of my school notebooks, and it would make me feel very brave and ready for battle - a sentiment often necessary for the completion of math exercises -- or English essays -- or French exams. 

Despite my love of quotes, I always draw a blank when I go to make a graphic, hence the generally famous quotes I use.  I would much prefer obscure quotes, as I prefer most anything obscure, but when the time comes I never remember what I wanted to use.  I rather like this particular image, and surprisingly it took very little time.

I think a desktop for purity, strictly speaking, ought to contain more light and brightness than this does, and I couldn't find an image of a lily (symbol of purity) that worked, but other than that I am rather fond of this one.

If you couldn't tell, this image was the result of my love-affair with The Ballad of the White Horse.  The watermark is there because I posted it on Tumblr, and didn't save a non-watermarked version.
I know the stanza I chose sounds depressing, but I just love it because Our Lady gives Alfred no comfort and tells him that things are just gonna get worse, and yet he still gains strength to fight back that he didn't have before.  I haven't explained it well, but it's just such a delicious oxymoron to me, and before I read the poem, I had never thought of Christianity as journeying "gaily in the dark."  It's just a beautiful idea, and this little snippet reminds me of it when I'd rather "spell the stars/And times and triumphs mark" than be going gaily in the dark.
Perhaps I should not talk about my love-affair with this poem in the past tense.

The rest of these are not strictly desktops, though they can be used as such if you don't mind the not fitting.

 

This was the result of studying "Elegy in a Country Courtyard" and reflecting on how much wailing and keening and rolling in melancholy poets do.  "Fell in love with melancholy" indeed.  I don't know if you can even read all the quotes.  It was an exercise in trying out a slightly different style, and I'm still not sure what I think about it.

My mom wrote out this quote for me instead of giving me a lecture -- and it worked.

These words are from a poem by a Catholic author named Joseph Mary Plunkett about how everything in nature reminds him of Our Lord.  It's a beautiful poem, and this line especially caught my fancy.  One of the many pictures I have taken of the ocean from Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks worked perfectly as the backdrop.

The background in this graphic is a photo taken by me at Round Top, NY, when I visited the convent there. The quote is from the Regina Spektor song "The Call."  Another instance of me trying out a different style.

Well, I do believe that's enough for now.  If you made it to the end of this post without skimming and skipping...thank you.  If not, I totally don't blame you.

Tell me, do you have any tips for me? Questions?  General comments?  You know I'd love to hear them.

"Do you have joy without a cause, yea, faith without a hope?"

Once again, this is a post which I began some time ago and never finished.  I am no longer writing the essay in question - it has long since been graded, and I got an A, so you should listen to me when I talk about it.

The eponymous White Horse. (via google images)

 
I am continuing my time-honored tradition of procrastinating on English essays by writing about the subject of the essay here on my blog.  (See here, here, here, and here.)  It's like a passive-aggressive reaction or something.  I dunno.

This time the essay - and thus the blog post - is about my favorite epic poem in the history of ever - namely, The Ballad of the White Horse.  What's so great about it, you ask? Well, first and foremost, IT'S CHESTERTON.  I have about as much respect for him as I do for Tolkien, though in rather different ways.  Chesterton's intellect is intimidating, but that doesn't mean he's difficult and boring.  Au contraire.  His writing is the most hilarious, colorful, gorgeous thing that you can imagine.  But anyway, back to the the Ballad.  Just in case you don't really know or "get" what it's about, I'll give you a bit of a synopsis. 

The Ballad of the White Horse is the tale of King Alfred the Great of England and his battle against the Danish invaders in the ninth century.  On a greater scale, however, it is the endless story of the struggle betwixt good and evil, Christian and pagan.  Religion, history, legend, and myth blend seamlessly into an epic poem deserving of the name.

There.  Publishers should totally employ me to write their blurbs.

Really, I hardly know what else to say.  Does that every happen to you, where you like something so much that you don't know what to say about it? Maybe not.

I suppose the best thing is to let it speak for itself.  Here's my favorite part, which also happens to be the most famous, thanks in part to a certain Regina Doman, whose novel The Shadow of the Bear included the first stanza about the Men of the East.  That was actually the way I was introduced to the poem, and as it is quite lovely, it sparked my interest, so thank you, Mrs. Doman.

To give you some background, this is Our Lady speaking to King Alfred in a vision.

"The gates of heaven are lightly locked,

We do not guard our gold,

Men may uproot where worlds begin,

Or read the name of the nameless sin;

But if he fail or if he win

To no good man is told.

"The men of the East may spell the stars,

And times and triumphs mark,

But the men signed of the cross of Christ

Go gaily in the dark.

"The men of the East may search the scrolls

For sure fates and fame,

But the men that drink the blood of God

Go singing to their shame.

"The wise men know what wicked things

Are written on the sky,

They trim sad lamps, they touch sad strings,

Hearing the heavy purple wings,

Where the forgotten seraph kings

Still plot how God shall die.

"The wise men know all evil things

Under the twisted trees,

Where the perverse in pleasure pine

And men are weary of green wine

And sick of crimson seas.

"But you and all the kind of Christ

Are ignorant and brave,

And you have wars you hardly win

And souls you hardly save.

"I tell you naught for your comfort,

Yea, naught for your desire,

Save that the sky grows darker yet

And the sea rises higher.

"Night shall be thrice night over you,

And heaven an iron cope.

Do you have joy without a cause,

Yea, faith without a hope?"

Isn't it just lovely?  Maybe it's just me, but I think it makes you feel very strong and fearless, like you could withstand anything in the strength of the Faith .  I don't know why.  Paradoxes (like "joy without a cause" and "faith without a hope") just really appeal to me.

Now to make this a proper book review.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars, suitable for....erm, anyone who can understand it, really.  In general, I'd say highschool level.

Have you read The Ballad of the White Horse? (If you haven't, go get it now.  You can read it on Project Gutenberg here, if you like.) What did you think of it, if you did read it?  And have you read any of Regina Doman's books?