May 13, 2013 |
I’m always surprised (although it’s obvious that I shouldn’t be) that the storylines I’m most attracted to are those with writers as the protagonist. Whether it’s a book, television show or movie… if there’s a writer involved, it holds a certain magic that I can’t find anywhere else.
John-Boy Walton was my first love. The episode “The Achievement” is still an all-time favorite. Richard Thomas, the actor, later portrayed another writer in one of my guilty pleasure films, Stephen King’s IT.
Jo March of Little Women lives my life. An awkward tomboy, dreaming of something beyond her home, she left… only to return to the family she loves and write about them.
Julie Powell wrote about Julia Child who wrote a cookbook. And not just any cookbook. Mastering the Art of French Cooking is still on my Wishlist. For those of you new to Frankly, My Dear… the movie Julie & Julia inspired me to start blogging.
Eat, Pray, Love is another wonderful story about a writer trying to find herself.
But it’s Under the Tuscan Sun that grabbed my attention this weekend.
Although I’ve had the DVD for several years, it’s been quite a while since I last watched it. For Mother’s Day, I did just that. Dot treated me to a Starbuck’s Apple Pie Frappuccino [Note to Self: Get more of this. Often. It’s the coffee-law!] and I settled into my Writer’s Corner (chair. It’s a chair.) and was instantly romanticized by the story of Katherine. Oh, you thought the movie was about Frances, the writer? It is. But my story is about Frances and Katherine, her new Italian friend.
During her season of finding herself, Frances confides in Katherine. Katherine takes her under her wing and encourages Frances to lose her fear of, well, everything. Katherine enthralled me, and the characters around her, with her zest for life. She drew Frances out of her shell. She commanded attention wherever she went. And she almost always wore hats. The big brimmed, feminine kind of hats that Audrey Hepburn would have adorned. If Katherine were real and you were lost in a crowd, you’d need only to look above the heads for her hat, and you’d be lost no more.
I don’t want to ruin the movie for you if you’ve not yet seen it. So I’ll skip any spoilers. But I must mention the dress. The white dress. It’s not a wedding dress. It’s simple yet elegant. Cinched with a simple yet elegant black belt. And Frances, after consulting with Katherine, wears it confidently.
I saw that dress. I saw a writer, who on a whim moved to Italy, and bought a white dress. I saw confidence and adventure and romance and life and courage…
I want that dress!
Not because I want the characteristics it portrays. But because I am finding myself already full of those characteristics and I can think of no better way to show it than to wear such a dress.
A year ago I wouldn’t have thought to wear a dress. Unemployed and feeling less than accomplished, a leg riddled with eczema patches… a dress most certainly wasn’t in the cards.
Oh, but it’s so much more than just about wearing a dress. It’s about grasping life with both hands and yet letting go. It’s eating the ice cream cones in the hot sun. Drinking wine in the backyard. It’s celebrating the failures and acknowledging the successes that come with every day of just waking up and being alive.
That dress is about being alive.
I. Want. That. Dress.
It is definitely worth saving my pennies for. If I have any extras, I’ll just toss them into the Fountain when I finally get to Italy.
And believe me. I’m getting there.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
Mojo Movie Review of the Week: “Eat, Pray, Love”
Mojo Movie Review of the Week: “Julie & Julia”
Building a Better Me: Making (Better) Memories
Where are you, Paul Varjak?
Mojo Movie Review of the Week: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
When I Get To New York
If I Could, I Would…
My Personal History of Coffee (and a Keurig Review)
May 3, 2013 |
If you follow me on Facebook, you already have an Inkling what this post is about. On Tuesday, I posted the following status:
“Netflix offers us the opportunity to see all our shows from the very beginning. Dot and I are working through Grey’s Anatomy. At times cute, endearing, vulgar and heartpounding. Tonight we saw an older episode that suggested it’s harder to ignore someone if you know Five Things about them. My Five Things are in the first comment. What are yours?”
There weren’t too many comments on that post, but I did get a few messages that it started a few people thinking. Is it harder for you to ignore someone if you know more about them?
As a writer, I love learning more about people. I love hearing what they have to say, knowing what makes them tick, discovering personality traits… all of it. Knowledge of people inspires me, creates characters, provides background. It’s wonderful. I just love stories.
That is, of course, the subject of today’s post. Stories. But what kind of stories? Well, that’s as unique as the person telling it. Give me the same story told by five different people, and I’ll have five different stories!
I have a plethora of family stories: The chipmunk in the dryer vent. Dad’s bear rug. The turned-over potato truck and more deer than we could count. Mom asking for a Second Hand in the Kitchen. The snake under the stairs that was actually just a box of fishing bait rattling around. Moving cross-country, then back again, in one week.
And an assortment of personal experiences. Most of these are being compiled for my writing project: Broken Girl and Other Tales of Redemption: A Collection of Parables, Poetry and Prose.
Broken Girl cover
I love well-told stories. A gifted writer can hold your interest on subjects you’d rather not study. A well-written resource paper is far less mundane than a bulleted checklist, don’t you think?
In keeping with today’s theme, here are my Friday Five: Stories.
1. Jo March, the narrator of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is a character I fell deeply in love with because she resonated my young life. “Settled into a temporary poverty”, this tomboy is more comfortable with a pen than most people. She feels more deeply, loves more intensely, and lives more rambunctiously than I have… yet! She inspires me. I used to tell people I was named after her (my middle name is Jo!).
2. Award-winning Stephen J. Cannell, the magnificent writer-creator-producer of many television shows. I used to watch so many. The Rockford Files was my dad’s favorite. I was enamored with shows from the 80s: 21 Jump Street, The A-Team, Riptide. I used to tell my family, someday he’s going to know who I am. They laughed. In 2007, I sent him an email, never ever ever thinking I’d get any sort of response. Boy, was I wrong! Not only did I get a response, but he turned it into a video response for his international website [you can see his advice to me about writing here. It’s still the first video that shows on this page!] He was the first writer/mentor to call me by both my first and middle name. So for three years we had a quasi-mentor friendship online. Facebook and twitter interactions, mostly. And then in 2010 the planets aligned and I was able to meet him in person for a book signing! It was the day after my birthday, which made it that much better. And six months later he died. I saw the post on Facebook and it took me fifteen minutes of online searching to verify his page hadn’t been hacked. I couldn’t believe he was gone. My heart broke. I remember calling my mother, crying, and blurting out, “Stephen’s dead! Stephen’s dead!” As if he would somehow remember me, remember how important he’s been to my writing career. And then there was the email incident. If it hadn’t happened to me, I’d be very skeptical. But it was me. It did happen. And so I try to write. Every day.
Me & SJC
3. Louie L’Amour has such a style of writing that leaves me breathless. I wish I could read fast, quick, without blurring the words, without forgetting what was on the previous page. I wish I could swallow up every story of the Sacketts and all other characters he’s created in one afternoon, and then start over again. I’m still currently reading his Collected Short Stories. I’m a slow reader, lately. But when I do read, I love it! I even named my 2011 annual Christmas Nutcracker after him!
Louis & Louis
4. I have a hard time writing fantasy. I’m very much a logical, linear thinking; which is quite oxymoronic for being a creative writer. Still, I try. My desire is to be read. To be a quality, best-selling, recognized writer. And still be able to go to Disneyland without getting mobbed.
5. I have many Cookbooks that I like to read and study. But rarely do I cook from them. I’m too afraid of spending money on groceries for a recipe we may not like, and then it’s money down the drain. Someday I’d love to write a series about a Chef who solves mysteries. Sort of a “Murder, She Wrote…” with a Julia Child-type protagonist. Well, now. I’ve written the idea. I guess I better start working on it.
*Bonus Story* When I was 9 years old, I read a short story in Cricket Magazine. Rosemary for Remembrance. To this day, I remember that story, but have been unable to find it. It was the story of a lonely girl who found a playmate in her grandmother’s backyard… with a surprise ending. Oh, how I wish I could find that story! It inspired me, at the age of 9, to write well. It showed me how to build suspense and deliver a twist. That little short story that I can’t find anywhere continues to inspire me to this day.
And now it’s your turn. Leave me a comment with Five Things about Stories. They can be your favorite authors, your favorite memories, your favorite books. Anything related to stories. You don’t have to be a blogger. There’s no link-up. Just share your Friday Five Things. Be sure to check back frequently as others leave their FFTs as well!
As always, Happy Reading (and Writing)!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
Falling in Love With Louis
Self / Public / ation
Why I Don’t Go To Carnivals in October
A Good Name
I Want to Write in That Style
Amara’s Light: Book One of the Grenalia Chronicles
