SoCS: Making Notes and a Strangely Beautiful Movie

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “make a note.” Do with it what you will. Have fun!

Making notes tends to become more important with age. It’s something I was good at in school. Even if I didn’t read my notes again, just writing them down on paper reinforced what I was trying to learn. “Is this going to be on the test?” determined if I should write it in my notebook. Now, I can understand how annoying that question might be to a teacher. Thank you, teachers!

Making mental notes is another matter. I don’t know if I was ever good at that and would not want to trust something important to a mental note unless I said it to myself 100 times. There’s only so much room left in my brain.

I made a written note on scrap paper (I have a lot of those) of quotes from a movie I watched earlier this evening on TV. (It’s Friday night.) Don’t know if I’ll share them, because I might use them for a One-Liner Wednesday one of these Wednesdays. The movie is called Wendy, and I’d never heard of it. Or maybe I did and just forgot perhaps after having made a mental note that it looked interesting. Wendy is kind of the Peter Pan story with a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome feel at times. Wendy is the hero and there’s a lot about “Mother,” who lives under the water and lights up in hints of Tinkerbell but looking nothing like Tinkerbell. It’s kind of a gritty, bizarre movie about hope and believing.

They didn’t make notes in Never Land where thinking too much is discouraged. No, wait, they DID make notes – as in singing notes, not really words, but ohs, and oos, to a tune. Singing – making notes – saved the day!

Here’s a trailer for Wendy.

Here are some recent Photos starting with Marley who keeps me young: The first photo is him with his trainer’s dog who showed him how to get into the scary metal bathtub at the pet supply store on Wednesday. Next is the new toy he got for letting me give him a bath there yesterday.

Working on Down-Stay

He loves new toys

Mountain Daylily

Rooster Reflections at the sanctuary

Sunset on the way home

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, rules and such, visit our host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

Taken With The Jungle Book

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “ta.”  As Linda G. Hill, the promptress informed us, “The word, ‘ta,’ is British slang for thank you.” We are to  use it this way, or find any other word that starts with those two letters.

Well, I would like to say, ta, as in thank you, to the makers of the film, The Jungle Book. I’ve never read the entire classic by Rudyard Kipling, but I sure did read the children’s book versions to my kids over and over again when they were little. And of course I saw the Disney cartoon version when I was a child, or maybe I was a teenager. Never mind. I can see from this new movie, why the story is a classic.

I was taken aback, many times while watching the movie yesterday. Hey did you notice I used a word that started with Ta and a phrase with the initials T and A? Well, I was just taken with this movie. There were the exciting jump-out-of-my-seat scenes when the tiger, Shere Khan, came out of nowhere. And there were scenes that made me tear up, like the one with Mowgli’s wolf mother telling him that he would always be her son.

And I was awed by the scenes with the elephants who had a very special role in the movie.

Is it possible for film makers to create a movie that makes you believe that computer generated talking animals are real?

Yes. There were moments. And not only did they feel real, they had/possessed/delivered characters of resonance, honor, and lightheartedness. Bill Murray as the voice of Baloo, the bear, was endearingly clever. I just can’t say enough about how much I liked this movie. Can you tell?

It was perfect for Earth Day, or for Earth Month!

Here’s a trailer I believe you will enjoy.

 

If you’d like to be taken (in a good way) with the Saturday Stream of Consciousness, visit Linda’s blog here:

https://lindaghill.com/2016/04/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-2316/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Inside Out: A Fun Movie About Perseverance….and Faith, and Hope

I don’t go to movies much. But when I saw the trailer for Inside Out, an animated film about feelings, I wanted to go. Then a woman from my support group brought it up and we decided to go see it.

The main character (on the outside) is a young girl named Riley. She has a hard time with her family’s move to California. Having moved at least nine times as the child of a 20 year marine, I could feel Riley’s pain.

The characters on the inside include Riley’s feelings: Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, and the ever popular, Joy. Inside Out shows how all our feelings have important roles to play in our lives.

My favorite part begins somewhere in the middle when Joy and Sadness get sucked out of brain headquarters, where decisions are made, and have to find a way back carrying some really important core memories.

On their adventure they encounter the worlds of imagination, long term memory and the dark pit where forgotten memories go. They meet Riley’s imaginary friend, who’s actions give me a theory about why I have no memory of my imaginary friend, Auntie Jane, who my mother said I blamed for my misdeeds.

The only problem I had with the movie, and it’s a minor one for me, was that the happy ending of the traditional family with mom and dad, might be hard for children who come from  non-traditional or single parent families. But then, the film provides a great framework with which to identify and talk about feelings that might arise. I’m probably activating Fear’s cousin, Worry, about this. I’m sorry, Worry, but you need to go away.

Watching Inside Out, I laughed, and I cried, joyfully forgetting I was watching a cartoon. I found Inside Out  to be entertaining, original, and visually intriguing. It’s a fun movie that teaches about perseverance, teamwork and problem solving. Now that I think about it, it’s also about faith and hope, too.

I might even go see it again.

Remember: Don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides.

Dreaming Big about My Book

Last week’s prompt (yes, I’m a little late) from my Online Writing Community via Andilit, was to imagine and write about what our books will look like: the cover colors, the size, weight, font, etc, and also what the movie version would be like. Following the lead of Coffeesnob, I decided to post my answer here. It couldn’t hurt, and it could activate the law of attraction to bring publication closer. I’ve known that to work! You can find a very short version of the story on my “About Me” page.

The working title is Perfect Timing, Lessons in Love, Faith, and Perseverance.

But I’ve also thought of simply: Love Faith and Perseverance.

An earlier title idea was : God Has A Plan.

Your feedback is welcome on these titles!

For the book cover, I have two options in mind. The first uses a painting I’m working on:

Unfinished Trees, by JoAnne Silvia

(I still need to put some leaves on the trees.)

The other cover option is a 1972 photo of David and me:

I imagine the book as paperback of average size and weight, and E books of course.

For the movie version, I have always imagined Julianne Moore playing me. Maybe not the teenaged version of me, though it’s possible she could pull it off.

But there’s also Laura Prepon, who played Donna, from That 70’s Show. Donna always reminded me of the 70’s me.

Andi asked if we’d like to play a cameo role in our movie. I could play my mother, but that would be weird. As far as who would play my high school sweetheart, all the male actors I know about are old, so that will take some research to find a tall, sometimes brooding, but nice, young man who likes motorcycles.

And the best part about making my memoir into a movie, will be all that music from the 1970’s ! Like Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” and “So Far Away.” And the Beatles “The Long and Winding Road.”

The best way for the movie to end is with photos of our real wedding and this song by America:

I’m still editing the manuscript of 70,000 words and exploring publishing options like agents, small publishers and self publishing, but it’s fun to dream. Dreaming plus work brings the dream into reality.

Somewhere Out There

Yesterday, when I looked at today’s prompt “some/sum,” I had just been talking to my son who is 28 and single. He wonders if he is ever going to find a partner who’s a good fit for him.

I shared his woes, remembering my own questions on this topic a few years ago. I remember trying to be cynical or logical about how much I could do as a single woman, unfettered by a spouse.

But being human, I wanted a spouse, if I could find one who would be a good fit. I told my son about going outside at night and looking up at the stars and believing that there was someone out there for me, working on himself as I was working on myself. Getting ready for the right time.

What I didn’t tell my son, was that not only would I go out and look at the stars, I would sing this corny, sweet song, from the animated movie, An American Tale, about a little mouse who gets separated from his family. I don’t remember much about the movie, which came out around the time my son was a toddler, but I loved the song:
“Somewhere Out There……”

Four years ago, in June of 2011, when the time was right, my some one found me again.

I believe that somewhere out there is someone for my son. Someone who is a good fit, getting ready to meet him, when the time is right.

 

This week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Post was “some/sum” If you’d like to join in the fun, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/06/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2715/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!