Posted on January 30, 2016 by sydneymandt
Star Wars VII! The Force Awakens! (Spoiler Alert!)
Doug and I just went to the above-mentioned movie for his birthday. I definitely enjoyed it, but it resembled the first one, Star Wars IV, so much that I found it distracting.
I remember seeing Star Wars in the theater when it first came out. Actually, I saw it at the Montana Theater in the 8000-or-so-person town of Miles City Montana, so I most likely saw it several weeks after it first came out, even if I was at the first showing. Much of popular culture was old news by the time it hit Miles City.
That movie made such a huge impression on me. I couldn’t say why I loved it so much, but it hit me in scene after scene. Luke’s underground home with his Aunt and Uncle – wow! Cute, beeping robot – awww! The mysterious man in the robe who turns out to be a jedi – brilliant! The saloon filled with so many varieties of creatures, and very few humans – amazing! A kick-ass princess! A lowly hero! Scary bad guy! The magic Force! Space battles! Action! Suspense! IN SPACE! BOOOOM!!! (That was the sound of my eight-year-old head exploding.)
I never developed into a Star Wars geek who could name all the planets in the story or who knew the names of the different creatures. I think it even took me awhile to figure out that the white-armored soldiers were called stormtroopers. But I knew the heart of the story, and I loved it. I had more boys as friends than I did girls, so I spent my share of recess time playing the role of princess Leia, running around with rebel forces and imagining my hair in big twisty buns on the sides of my head.
I’ve heard that other people have noticed that this movie followed the 1977 movie almost to the beat. But I wonder how they felt about it. How did I feel?
I felt a mix of comfortable familiarity, entertainment, and disappointment. I found myself looking at the same characters represented with an outward twist: same hero, only female; the lady is rescued from Darth Vader’s death star, but this time by a black man; the death star is actually not that, but an exact copy that’s 10 times bigger, and Darth Vader is someone else, of course, but he still wears all black, including a voice-distorting mask, and he’s in the middle of father/son issues. Etc.
Perhaps my disappointment stems from remembering how the first movie gave me such a sense of newness and wonder. But I suspect no true Star Wars movie, however original, could do that for me. For one thing, I’m not eight years old. Back then, I don’t think I had ever seen a movie set in space before. Also, I hadn’t seen many movies at all. This was in the days before the wonder of VHS tapes. (Movies in your home? Without commercials? On that 13-inch TV screen? Ridiculous.)
Also, Star Wars may have been the first time I had seen such an archetypal hero story onscreen that wasn’t Disney. It was like a fairytale, but told with phasers and hover cars!
Now, close to 40 years later, I’ve seen many more movies, enough to recognize common patterns and to know what will probably happen next. Instead of having the total surprise and newness of an 8-year-old watching Star Wars, this time I had a double dose of predictability: extreme similarity combined with decades of movie-watching experience.
Anyway, it was nice to be out on a date with my husband, and to see a very entertaining movie in which good is stronger than evil.
I’m looking forward to the next Star Wars movie. Will the similarties continue? Or will the next film chart a new, unique course that still keeps true to the story’s heart?
I’m hoping for the latter.
Posted on January 28, 2016
I don’t know the origin of the tradition of TBT – possible radio programs? An excuse to play older songs? Maybe it started on Facebook as a chance to show pictures that show how much people have changed over the years. However it started, I have decided to continue the tradition.
In my cleaning and reorganizing, I have found many of my old short stories, poems, and essays. Some of them are only available on one hard copy, so putting them on Word Fertilizer will create a backup version. Also, in true TBT fashion, these earlier writings show how I have changed over the years – in attitude, writing style, etc. Of course, these TBT’s will not count as one of my 52 weekly writings over this year.
“Something old, something new.” Welcome to a new aspect of my commitment to writing.
Posted on January 27, 2016
I’ve tried to post my story, but the way to do it escapes me. I try everything I can think of, and it’s not working. It’s a little humiliating. I keep meaning to ask Doug for help, but I don’t seem to remember when it’s a good time for both of us. At this point, though, I need to start working on my next story. I’ve danced with a few ideas, but I’m going to have to focus a little more to get an actual story out of one of them. Or I’ll come up with a new idea.
On the feng shui tip (look at me! using a colloquialism!), my living room is the mess that my bedroom currently is not. I took everything out of my closet yesterday – it was filled with very unorganized miscellany – and today I removed the layer of long-accumulated stuff from my bedroom floor. The living room is my reconnoitering and mobilizing zone. Tomorrow I will engage my enemy (Chaos) in a Herculean battle. May Order emerge victorious!
I’m feeling good that I’ve been able to address some clutter issues these last couple of days, thanks to my Mom caring for the MIL in my absence. Mom will be leaving in less than a week now, so I’m trying to get as much done as possible. I believe that having my stuff more in order will help me use my time more wisely and that I will be better able to write regularly.
Hasta manana. (Funny, I’ve never seen that spelled “manyana”, but what are you supposed to do if you don’t have computer access to a tilde? Just use a regular “n” and risk people reading it as if it rhymes with “banana”?)
Posted on January 26, 2016
I have the Week 3 Story ready to go, but I’m having trouble getting it to show up on Word Fertilizer.
I decided to make the story almost completely in a monologue format. It’s just one man talking, with no action or setting descriptions. I don’t know if this makes for the most effective telling of this story, but I’ll put it out there (when my hubby can help me figure out how) and see how people respond to it.
I haven’t had a “grand opening” of the blog yet. I’ve been waiting until I figure out how to post pages and posts and get drop-downs to work and such. Maybe by February I will officially invite Facebook friends and others to my website.
In fact, that sounds like a new, achievable goal. Grand Opening in February!
Posted on January 25, 2016
It’s too late (or too early) to blog.
It’s midnight on the dot, and I’m tired. I will blog and post the week 3 story tomorrow.
Posted on January 23, 2016 by sydneymandt
Bad words and good stories, even if they’re bad
The upcoming Week 3 story contains vulgar language. It fits the character who speaks it.
I guess a part of me feels like i should apologize for saying offensive things in a story. But offensive things do happen in the world. And sometimes those things can make for useful stories. By “useful” I mean informative, entertaining, enlightening – or something along those lines. I’m not sure if the Week 3 story will be any of those things to whoever reads it. But I want it to be real, a “lie that tells the truth”. (Where did I first hear that phrase?)
Mostly, though, I want it to be written. The idea that I could produce 52 stories by the end of the year excites me. Even if they are mediocre or bad, they are practice. And I’m a firm believer in looking at everything I write as a potential work in progress. Even if I consider something a final draft, I reserve the right to demote it down to rough draft status if I see room for improvement. With that philosophy, I can’t really say that something I’ve written is bad, since it may just be in one of its earlier stages, an awkward phase through which it just needs to grow into its more complete self.
So I won’t be apologizing for bad language if I feel it’s justified, and I won’t apologize for bad stories. Because maybe they’re just not done yet.
Posted on January 22, 2016
I’ve been working on the next short story. It expands on the concept of “potential” or “the potential” introduced in the last short story. In fact, I’ve thought of many story ideas based on people who have “potential”. Maybe it’s spelled with a capital “P”. Or maybe it is described by a different word or words altogether. But in this family, whose ancestral tree I have roughly outlined, it is usually called the same thing because it roughly manifests in the same way.
Around 50 short stories, each focusing on one ancestor at a time, could add up to a whole book. That would be cool. But I’m not counting any unhatched chickens yet. This is only week 3 after all. But I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Posted on January 20, 2016
Come on immune system! (Exclaimed as a cheer)
I’ve been low-energy, sneezing, and feeling the rawness of my drippy nasal passages and sore throat, but I resist saying “I have a cold.” I guess stating it outright feels like giving in, dwelling on the negative. I surmise that if I emphasize the health that’s present within me it will feel encouraged and get stronger.
Then again, this philosophy makes me think of the statement attributed to President Reagan that there are no homeless people in the United States. Ignoring something does not negate it’s existence. There are people who live under blue tarp tents in the trees and brush next to I-5 in Seattle. And there is a population of cold virus clones trying to wreak havoc in my body.
And that’s where the analogy breaks down.
Posted on January 17, 2016
I’ve written a very short story which feels more like the first chapter in a larger story. It brings up more questions than I have the answer to right now, but maybe I’ll answer some of the questions in stories to come.
Posted on January 16, 2016
This morning I continued my book purging begun the day before. My main goal was not exactly to get rid of books, but rather to keep the ones that I really want and to arrange them in a way more suitable to my needs. My writing books used to be covered up, and are now more prominently displayed on a shelf in my bedroom. The books that I like to read at night are now reachable from where I lie in bed. I’ve let go a few books that I have already read or have little interest in or can easily get on Kindle. The books I have kept are now casually stretched out on bookshelves instead of gasping for breath, sometimes at the bottom of a pile pushed behind other books.
I’m hoping that some good feng shui will increase my writing productivity. So far, though, this organizing stuff has been cutting into my blogging and story-writing time. I might be able to finish a story by Saturday, but I might have to extend the deadline.
Posted on January 14, 2016 by sydneymandt
I took a precious half hour of morning time blogging, in part justifying my non-blogging of yesterday with the “time is an illusion” excuse. Then I thought I clicked on the “Publish” button, not even bothering to click “Save Draft”. Then I wandered around the web a bit, looking at a few articles about time, and when I came back to Word Fertilizer, my post was not there!
Disappointing. Lesson learned. Moving on.
(“Save draft”.)
Posted on January 12, 2016 by sydneymandt
Busy days are happening as we take advantage of my Mom’s presence by scheduling appointments for our younger kid (Jo) that Doug and I otherwise would not both be able to go to. Jo’s still recovering from whatever knocked her down Sunday, so when we got home Monday (yesterday), Johanna went straight to bed and slept. This morning she told me that she slept from 2pm to 11pm, when she woke up and changed into pajamas, then she fell asleep again. Now it’s 6am, and I’ve been trying to cajole her into wakefulness for about an hour now. We have another appointment this morning, and we need to leave at 6:30 to get there in time.
Short story update: I finally have something, though I’m not super happy with it. But I’m not super happy with much these days anyway – part of my winter condition. And the point of writing a story every week is to get practice. So that has been accomplished, just in time to get started on another week’s story. You’ll find “last week’s” product in the “Story” Section of this site under Week One Story.
Posted on January 11, 2016
Part of this is due to procrastination and not just “not having time”, but I have not finalized my short story, and I’m nodding off egregiously at the early hour of 8pm. I want to go to sleep and start over in the morning. Maybe I can even work on the story while in the car tomorrow going to and from an appointment for Johanna. But right now I want to put my yawning self to bed and check out for the evening. I hope that eventually I’ll get a system going, and be used to the routine of having a story done every Sameday of the week.
Posted on January 9, 2016
I need to decide how I am going to implement my goal of writing one short story or poem every week. I suppose I could add “song” to that list, and then I would have accomplished my goal already. But my original goal was to write a short story every week, and I added “or poem” as a sort of way out, an easier substitute for story writing in case I don’t get one written on a certain week. I’m clearly trying to get out of the work I want to do.
So here’s the deal. My goals are to blog every day, and to write a new story every week. Songs and poems will be bonus material. The story will have no minimum number of words, but it needs to have a full story to it. (This may lead to a future blog entry about what makes a story.)
When during the week will the story be due for posting? I’m going to say Saturday, since it is now Friday night, and I have not started writing a story, and I’m very tired and need to wake up at 5am tomorrow so I can wake up a kiddo and get her to the carpool meetup spot for robotics.
Good night!
Posted on January 5, 2016 by sydneymandt
Name an insect conscience from the Arabian peninsula
Yemeni Cricket!
Posted on January 5, 2016 by sydneymandt
I’ve been loving the “Bedtime Stories” anthology. So far I’ve read:
The Thing in the Forest by A.S. Byatt
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman
The Poacher by Ursula K. Leguin
The Sailor-Boy’s Tale by Isak Dinesen
The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Industrious Tailor by William Maxwell
The Dragon by Vladimir Nabokov
And I’m in the middle of Night by Guy de Maupassant.
I would like to write something insightful here about each story, but given the late hour (I’m tired) and how quickly I’ve been reading them, all I can come up with right now is “They’re great!” Not a very penetrating comment.
I seem to be greedily consuming these stories like chocolate. Maybe I need to slow it down a little, savor the subtle flavors, letting them melt on my tongue slowly and deliciously. Maybe I eat so much at once that it doesn’t really digest properly, devouring stories with a tummy-rubbing “Yummy!” while other, more cultured folk are still chewing the flavorful first few sentences.
I think my reading became faster when I had kids, and especially during the time I was writing my thesis. I became fairly good at plowing through research papers efficiently, gleaning what I needed. But in that case I knew specifically what I was looking for. With these short stories, I’m trying to learn what makes a good story, but I’m not sure I know how to look for that. I suppose some of it is learned unconsciously, but I would like to be conscious of the knowledge, also.
Mentioning my thesis brings to mind how my Mom came out to take care of my toddler and baby daughters during my final push to get done. I couldn’t have completed it without her.
Tomorrow my Mom will once again come to the rescue! She’ll stay at my mom-in-law’s house, in my now college-age daughter’s room, and she’ll help care for MOL during this very busy month. We have 4 birthdays to celebrate in January. We also will go to 4 longer-than-two-hour health appointments for Johanna. AND it’s build season in FIRST robotics. That means Johanna’s robotics team, the Hi-tekkers, beginning this Saturday, will meet every day except Sunday for the next 6 weeks, 4 to 8 hours each day. Plus I have Baha’i meetings to go to. And blog/story-writing goals. So I’m grateful that my Mom will be here to help. Yay Mom!
Posted on January 3, 2016 by sydneymandt
I wrote a song today.
New songs don’t come to me often, but when they do, they demand my mental attention, and require that I sing them out loud multiple times, trying out different lyrics and tunes as needed. They are usually silly or sarcastic and sometimes fall into the category of children’s songs. Serious songs don’t seem to be my thing. I’m kind of a really amateur, female, non-accordian-or-any-other-instrument-playing Weird Al Yankovich. (No insult to Mr. Yankovich intended.)
Today’s song is to the tune of “Staying Alive”, by the Bee Gees. I’ve been tweaking the lyrics all day, trying to set the right tone and not offend anybody. I don’t know if it has the same impact just reading the lyrics – I have to wiggle some syllables around to make it work. For that reason and others, I would rather reveal the song through singing, but I lack the technological and musical know-how to get that to happen satisfactorily before this day is over, and if I procrastinate, I fear it will not get done.
So please check out Stayin’ Alive under stories.
Posted on January 3, 2016
Yesterday my hubby took me out for Thai food for my birthday. Before that, we went to the Half-Price Books just a couple stores down from the restaurant. There he bought me some blank journals and several anthologies of short stories. The book I’m reading first is called Bedtime Stories, which features “great writers of the past two centuries” exploring what others might call “magical realism”, though the blurb doesn’t use that term.
I would like to tell myself I need to read at least one short story every day, but I hesitate, given my experiences with setting unrealistic goals. It doesn’t seem like a big task to undertake, but added up with all the little goals that fill my day, many of them listed only diffusely in a shadow of my mind, I could be overwhelmed . Recently I gave myself the reasonable tasks of exercising and praying every morning. But Christmas preparations disrupted my routine (which I’d stuck with for maybe a week and a half), and that was enough to kick in the all-or-nothing part of my brain that tells me I blew it, and I might as well sleep in.
So I need to rally myself back into beneficial routines. I need exercise. I need my morning prayer. And I need to read short stories if I am going to write them. Maybe I don’t need to make specific reading goals, since that’s something I enjoy doing to the point of ignoring other responsibilities. Many of my self-appointed half-hour reading times have resulted in binge-reading for hours. “Just one more paragraph”, “I’ll just read until the next chapter”, and eventually, “Well, I’m almost done with the book anyway” are frequent justifications I use to ignore the clock.
Speaking of clocks, it’s 10:30pm, and I need to go to bed. Especially if I’m going to wake up early to exercise and pray. And/or read.
Posted on January 2, 2016
This is the first day of the new year, both mine and the Gregorian calendar’s. I also share my birthday with many immigrants to the U.S. who have this birth date chosen for them in lieu of the unknown actual day. On behalf of us all I’d like to point out that the days are getting longer, despite the continued cold, and that vegetation and animal life that has paused or slowed its growth is stirring once again. I count myself in both the vegetable and animal categories.
I love that I have two New Year’s days to commemorate. My non-Gregorian, non-birthday New Year is Naw Ruz, celebrated on March 21 by Baha’is and countries influenced by the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. This New Year marks the increasing momentum toward summer and the sprouting up of new possibilities,
It helps me to know that my personal, birthday anniversary of self-beginning is the VERY beginning, and a slow start is to be expected. I am an infant blogger, still learning the technology and fairly new to what makes a website/blog enjoyable, readable, informative, etc. and whether or not those are things I strive toward.
Here are the things I do want my blog (plus) to be:
- Writing practice: through writing a blog entry every day and writing a poem or short story every week.
- Sharing practice. I rarely share what I write, and what is the point of writing something if not to share it somehow?
- Practice receiving feedback. It’s not always easy to take (speaking for myself), but it’s a writing-related skill as much as the actual writing and sharing of writing are.
Thus the adventure begins! May 2016 bring wonderful things to us all!
Posted on January 1, 2016 by sydneymandt — Leave a comment