Aug 31, 2012 |
I am so excited. So very excited!
I just discovered that Pergolas originated in Italy. Pergolas with their draping grapevines and tiny lights and patio dining and ambient music. Can’t you just feel the breeze wafting the aroma of a great Merlot in your direction?
And I just discovered that Italy actually has a desert. Deserto di Accona. An arid, white, sandy desert.
Do you have any idea what this means?
It is so very possible for me to combine my love of Italy with my reality of the desert, and make it work! Pergolas, herbs, rockscaping, cacti, skyrockets, and shrubs.
Of course, this opens up so many new wonderful ideas, that I just had to create a new Pinterest Board for it! I’m so thankful to have an immediate place to secure photos of inspiring ideas.
How do you landscape, and where do you get your inspiration from?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
Another Post About Pinterest.
Aug 30, 2012 |
There’s a new page link on Frankly, My Dear…
My Housing Project
Since I have an abundance of home improvement projects on my list and a new penchant for photography, I thought what better way to combine the two than to track it here on my blog?
You’ll see plenty of How To’s, What Not To Do’s, and Mistakes That Will Be Made. But you’ll also see a lot of fun, and I hope, pick up some inspiration of your own.
When I have a Housing Project post, I’ll be sure to link it to the Page. So if you see anything you want to remember, just click on My Housing Project under the sunlight photo at the top of any page.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll add some “before” and “during” photos so you can see the transitions we’ve already made in turning this house into Our Home.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Jun 17, 2012 |
It’s a Wonderful Life.
Yes, I know it’s June.
Yes, I know you’re all shaking your heads and wondering if I’m having a nutty.
But I’ve had this movie in my laptop DVD player since Tuesday night.
And I’ve been watching it.
And I love it.
This has become my favorite Christmas movie. The Christmas movie. The one I have to watch each year. Sure, I have my Top Ten. Those movies that I bring out the Day After Thanksgiving and watch at some point within the next 30 days.
But It’s a Wonderful Life is the one that I watch. I mean, really watch. The one where I make phone calls to tell my family “Don’t call me.” The one where the snack food is on the coffee table and the holiday drink of choice is in the chilled glass. There are no interruptions when I’m watching this movie.
Even Dot knows not to distract me in any manner whatsoever.
Have I said, this is my favorite movie? Because it is.
It’s the well-known original story of a down-on-his-luck man whose life didn’t go at all the way he planned. Filled with anger and regrets, an angel greets him in an effort to prevent his suicide. What follows is the other side of the “What If” coin. George Bailey is consumed with the “What If’s” and “Why Not’s” that he thinks would have made his life better. Angel Clarence shows him the “What If’s”, if George had never been born.
George is filled with a renewing sense of purpose, of gratitude and thanksgiving. His life hasn’t changed. But his perspective has.
And he comes to realize what so many of us fail to grasp:
It’s a Wonderful Life.
As one of my friends says, you can stay on the pity pot or you can share your sunshine.
I could never understand how people are so much nicer and more patient and compassionate from November through January, and the rest of the year go back to acting as if others don’t matter.
If we can find that “Christmas Spirit” then, why not now? Why should it be a shock to be filled with hope in June?
I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately and not liking it. I’ve been feeling like I’m at the end of the proverbial rope. Worst of all, I’d been feeling almost like there’s not much hope.
I hate that feeling!
I dug through the Christmas media and found my movie. And I’ve been watching it every night since.
It’s interesting how you can watch the same thing over and over and then suddenly, realize something new about it. I’ve been so entranced with watching the movie, paying attention to it. Every night I’m catching new glimmers that I’d not noticed before: dialogue, camera angles, scenery. Every ounce of this movie is coming to life for me in a way I’d not experienced before. Not only is the message coming across loud and clear, but it’s reigniting my creative passions.
The writer in me constantly evaluates every word, every action. The person in me finds hope in every scene.
Hope.
From a movie script.
Inspiration.
From a story.
Sure. My situation hasn’t changed since yesterday. But in some ways, that’s okay. Because while things aren’t getting better, they also aren’t getting any worse. And there’s something to be said for that kind of stability. The kind where you know you’re home with family and eating together each day. The kind where creativity overcomes the consumer.
The kind of stability that gives you a comfy bed to rest in and a DVD to watch each night.
Things haven’t gotten any better.
But they haven’t gotten any worse.
It’s a Wonderful Life.
I’ve been watching it every night.
And I’ve been waking up every morning. Ready to face whatever the day brings.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Oct 17, 2011 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
I like watching DVDs with commentaries. I’ll watch a complete season of TV on DVD and then start from the beginning to watch the episodes with commentaries. I love to hear the “behind the scenes”: what the writers wanted, how the directors portrayed the vision, what the actors brought to the table.
I just love the details of who, where, when, what, why, and how.
Sometimes as a creative writer, I feel the need to explain myself: why I wrote what I wrote; point out some cute little insights that the reader might not pick up on. Most of the time, my writing stands on its own but sometimes, I’d like to share my own “behind the scenes”.
I’ve fought against sharing too much, keeping it instead inside me, or in the pages of my journals… just waiting for someone to ask, “What were you thinking/feeling when you wrote that?” But with a limited readership, not too many ask. When I offer, the response is overwhelmingly welcoming and supportive. “Oh! That makes sense!” or “I’ll re-read it now.” So it can’t be all bad to share some background.
As it happened last week, I was glancing at a Louis L’Amour book I don’t yet have (but is definitely on my wishlist!), and saw that he often added Author’s Notes behind his short stories. It was as if the clouds cleared and I could see the mountain I had already half-climbed. If Louis L’Amour, a great, detailed, descriptive writer who brought the wild west into our hearts and homes so easily, felt the need to add notes, then surely, it was okay for me to do the same!
Starting next week, I’ll be posting “Author’s Notes”. Maybe once a month, maybe once a week. But rest assured that shortly after a creative writing post, I’ll delve a little more deeply into the details, the backstory. The commentaries. I’ll also post a tab on the home page, with links to the Notes, and those notes will have the link to the original creative work. It sounds like a rabbit trail, doesn’t it? Don’t worry. I’ll leave a trail of bread crumbs.
It’s as though Louis came into my writing room, turned the light on, and gave me permission to keep doing what I’m doing. Only this time, with a bigger goal: an audience. And that’s incredibly exciting. And intimidating.
I’ve also hesitated in putting too much effort into submitting my “ready works” ~ those short stories and whatnot that are finished and ready to go. What am I so afraid of?! There are about a buzillion excuses, but no good reason.
What is it I’m always telling Dot? “Fear is never a reason to not do something.” Well, yeah, but… we’re talking about entry fees. And red-lines. And rejections. And, not being good enough… I mean, those are legitimate concerns!
Flashback to several years ago when I discovered the beauty of Max Lucado. Actually, my mom discovered him for me. For Easter, 2006, she gave me this great little book: Mocha with Max. It’s a fantastic little collection of short inspirational reads.
Since my writing epiphany two weeks ago (which really was more of a conscious realization of what everyone around me already knew!), I’ve been taken with Max’s writings as well. Page 103, an excerpt from his book, “A Love Worth Giving”. He gives an example of hope, endurance, patience. From a writer’s point of view.
I often think of that story when I feel … afraid. Despondent. Rejected. And I think, if Max can persevere, so can I. If Louis can share a backstory, so can I.
And if they can be published, and accepted…
So can I.
But it won’t be handed to me on a silver platter. I have to work for it. I have to hone my vocabulary; be willing to expose myself to editors and critics. And I have to put myself out there.
But they did it. So guess what.
So. Will. I.
