30 Day Writing Challenge: 30 Random Facts

Day 18's writing challenge is to post thirty facts about yourself. I have to say, I kind of like making all these lists. It makes me feel so organized.

1. I am a student attending Community College.
2. I have strong opinions about what people say regarding Community College; it's not a place for slackers. You can receive just as good an education there as you can anywhere else. Don't mess with us college peeps.
3. My wardrobe is comprised mostly of blue and black, with a healthy smattering of geek-oriented stuff.
4. As far as fandoms go, I would say I am in a good many. However, I'm probably most invested in Harry Potter. I find myself referencing that the most, although Disney, Sherlock, and any classic literature fall in close behind.
5. I have my own box shaped like the Monster Book of Monsters from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, although I have not found anything worthy enough to put in it. Suggestions?
6. When I was little, I wanted to be a fairy when I grew up. Not much has changed, except when I die, I hope I'll be surrounded by Heavenly angels instead of fairies.
7. Wherever I am going, I always have either a book(s), a notebook and pen(s), or all of the above on hand. The reason I don't have one of those pretty clutch purses for weddings and stuff is because I can't fit all that into one.
8. One of my absolute favorite topics to study is mythology. It doesn't matter which part of the world it originates, I want to study it.
9. When I was a kid, a brick fell on my head. This was partly my fault. As I was climbing the tree in our backyard one day, I wished there were a shelf to keep my books on so when I was reading in the tree and had to go in for lunch, I could just leave the book on the shelf and come back out when I was finished. I started to work shortly after constructing a shelf out of blue rope woven from silk threads. Well, of course I needed to test it, and there happened to be a brick laying nearby. I tested my shelf with the brick, and it worked beautifully. Unfortunately, I forgot about it. A couple of days later while I was playing under the tree, the brick fell on my head and actually bounced off of it. I don't think I ever screamed that much. Mostly I remember my parents carefully pulling away bloody strands of hair to see if I needed stitches. Apparently I was just shy of needing stitches, but what I took away from that was my experiment succeeded! My shelf was functional! And so was gravity.
10. My favorite food is Taco Dip. It is a delicious layered concoction where you spread refried beans on the bottom of a pan, then taco meat, salsa, and finally Velveeta and chopped chili peppers. You cook it in the oven for about forty-five minutes to an hour and eat it with tortilla chips. There is absolutely nothing healthy about it, but it is so good!
11. Baking is one of my favorite hobbies. Cookies are probably my special-ity, although I've been getting into making my own versions of popular candy bars. My homemade Almond Joys? To die for.
12. I love spoiling my nieces and nephew! I will slap down an obscene amount of money for a stuffed animal or a nightgown if I know they will love it.
13. I was enjoying this whole list-making thing, but now it's getting kind of hard. Thirty facts? What is this, speed dating?
14. I love the TV show Sherlock, though one of my favorite Disney movies remains The Little Mermaid. Beauty and the Beast follows at a close second. I also miss the usage of choirs in movies like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. If you listen to those songs, you'll know exactly the sound I'm talking about.
15. I've read The Screwtape Letters at least three times.
16. In one year of high school, I read the Twilight Saga more than thought. (Shut up, I was fifteen, single, and hormonal.)
17. I loved the first season of Once Upon A Time on ABC, but now I feel like it's getting really weird. They brought in the Wicked Witch of the West, then they jumped on the Frozen wagon, then they brought in Cruella DeVil, and I know they've thrown in some Greek mythology in there. Stick with a realm, Kitsis and Horowitz. Disney was good, Grimm's was a really good move, but now you seem to be going on a Lost sort of path. But I will admit, Captain Hook is one of my favorite characters. Also, Belle cries, like, a lot. Is her weeping face a selling point? Miss the old Belle and Rumple.
18. Sorry, back on track. Random fact number eighteen, if I keep on the same track I've been going, I should be able to finish my degree in three years. Yay!
19. If I could have superpowers, which powers would I want? I think I would want the ability to control water, turn invisible, and fly.
20. If I had to choose one? I don't know why, but I think I would want to control water. Although being able to heal came to mind, if I had that ability, and just healed my family whenever they needed it, I wonder if I would become less faith-dependent. I've seen a lot of family members on hospital beds. Let me tell you, having faith during those times, when there are tubes down there throats, in their arms, and when they writhe in pain but you can't do anything but hold them, those are some of the moments where your faith is tested, and in some cases strengthened.
21. If I could go back in time and do something different, I think I would spend more time with my Pap Pap. He knew so much and spoke so little, his wisdom was sometimes in what he didn't say, or just the look he gave you.
22. I was homeschooled my entire life until I graduated high school. I loved being homeschooled, but I wish I had spent more being involved in theater productions. Not that I was social repressed, but I just didn't know they existed. I thought all actors were professionals, even the kids.
23. When the time comes that I am on an extreme budget and can only afford a few groceries, I have narrowed down what I personally would want for essentials, food-wise. If I had only $30 to spend on food, my entire pantry would consist of coffee, sugar, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, apples, and chocolate chips. Not including the coffee maker and filters, I can go without creamer in my coffee, so long as there's sugar. So my breakfast would be coffee with an apple or coffee with toast and peanut butter. Lunch would consist of a peanut butter sandwich or an apple cut into wedges with a side of melted peanut butter dip. For dinner, any combination thereof, except I would add chocolate chips for a treat. And that is my entire meal plan for when I inevitably will need to budget my food. There was actually a time not long ago where this pretty much was all that I ate, and I wasn't even buying the food. But I know that I can survive on these things. For a time.
24. I would LOVE to work on a movie set. Whether it's building sets, making costumes, doing interviews, working in make-up, making props, being the designated coffee-runner, or just being someone's personal assistant, just to be in that environment and seeing all of that stuff being created would be totally awesome!
25. When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a fairy.
26. At the same time, I was convinced I was half-mermaid.
27. My favorite directors are Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson, and Andrew Adamson.
28. I have read The Screwtape Letters at least three times.
29. I am a YouTube and Pinterest junkie!
30. It took me a good two weeks to come up with this list.

I hope you enjoyed this because it took me forever to write. I started writing it two days after my last post and it has taken me this long to finish it. Coming up with thirty facts about yourself is hard. Anyway, I'm trying to cluster the rest of the writing challenges to at least fit them in before the official end of the year. We'll see how it goes.

-Grace

-Grace

Journal Entry #8

I just love the relationship between Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.
Although throughout most of the movie (and I am referring to the 1953 Disney animated version) Peter seems to take Tink for granted, when she saves him from the bomb and she's trapped in the rubble, you can really see and hear how much he cares for her, how devastated he would be if anything were to happen to her. I would like to strive for a relationship like that between two characters, where their love and loyalty to each other (especially as friends) is unmistakable.
That's all I wanted to say.

-Grace

Jounral Entry #3

(Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks)

 
How many Nicholas Sparks books have been adapted into movies? And of that number, how many have at least one person who dies in it?
I rewatched the trailer for The Longest Ride yesterday, and apart from a serious flashback to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, the movie actually looks really good. But I couldn't help asking myself, "Who's gonna die in this one?"
If you don't see my point, let's take a moment to look at Nicholas Sparks's novels-turned-movies:

• The Notebook -They both die in the end.
• The Lucky One -The husband dies.
• Safe Haven -The ex-husband dies.
• The Last Song -The dad dies.

Suffice to say that while I still do want to see The Longest Ride, I'm hesitant because I know someone's going to be offed by the end of it.
But as I was thinking about all of this, I couldn't help comparing it to other books-turned movies, or either entertainment medium in general.
Let's have another look, shall we?


(The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling)

• The Fault in Our Stars -Gus dies.
• Jurassic Park (the novel) -John Hammond dies.
• The Little Mermaid (the book) -She dies.
• The Hunger Games -EVERYONE dies.
• The Lunar Chronicles -Garrett, Grandmere, and Dr. Erland die.
• Dracula -Dead-ish.
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -Jadis dies.
• Pretty Little Liars (the first book) -Toby dies.
• Little Women -Beth dies.
• The Jungle Book -the one wolf dies.
• 80% of Grimm's Fairy Tales -People be dead. Very, very dead.
• 90% of Disney films -Someone (usually one or both parents) dies.

I guess this is a long-standing a tradition in storytelling: someone has to die. From oral cautionary tales to Big Hero 6. Even I'm guilty of offing people in my stories. I wonder if it's supposed to be more of an art-imitating-life kind of thing. It may be that the character or characters represented a symbol or a specific person to the writer, like Hedwig from Harry Potter representing Harry's innocence. It could very well be that the death of each character tries to show how the protagonist deals with death, and how they try and recover from it.
What do you think? When you read about a death, or see it in a movie, how does it effect you/the character/the story/the environment?

-Grace

Disney Animal Sidekicks

(Disney Prince, courtesy of DisneyWiki)

So my brother and I were having a conversation a while ago about Disney princesses and their obsession with animal sidekicks.
"And they're always stuck in the woods!" he added. "I mean Snow White, she runs into the woods and befriends all these little woodland vermin. Cinderella, she's got mice and that dog. Sleeping Beauty goes into the woods, again, and has all those animal friends. Seriously, why can't they have normal, human friends?" He went on to add Ariel, Jasmine, and Rapunzel to the list. "Guys never have animal friends," he said.
I almost laughed this whole conversation off until I realized something. "Hang on a second," I said. "Disney princes don't get off so easily. Almost all of them had animal sidekicks."
"No they didn't!"
"Prince Eric had his dog Max, Prince Phillip had his horse, Snow White's prince had a horse, Shang had a horse..."
"Horses don't count, they're too general."
"Naveen turned into a frog..."
"That was not his fault."
"And Aladdin had Abu!"
Here the argument came to a bit of a standstill.
"And not all Disney princesses have animal sidekicks," I said. "Princess Leia didn't."
My brother rolled his eyes. "Star Wars is not Disney."
"Star Wars is owned by Disney, therefore Leia is a Disney Princess."

I think we came to the mutual conclusion that Disney loves animals as much as humans, and people should take better care of their pets.

"De Vil May Care"

(Photo of actress Anna Popplewell)

“Where’re my cigarettes?” barked the Staff Sargent. The two Sargents outside his tent straightened automatically, but he caught their weary glances. “Boys, what is wrong with this picture?” Staff Sargent Lenore held up his empty hand. “Well?”

Sargent Phillips did not hesitate. “No cigarette, sir.”

“No cigarette!” he yelled. “Do you know why?”

“No sir.”

Staff Sargent Lenore turned to Sargent McCall. “You know why?”

“No sir,” responded McCall.

“Because it takes six guys twelve weeks to approve my orders to go to New York, meanwhile I’m stuck camping out in the middle of…” He looked around at the trees surrounding the campsite, the white-grey rocks and mossy ground. “Phillips, where are we again?”

“Lithuania, sir. About ten miles east of the Russian border.”

“Eh, figures. We’re probably camped over some holy relics, is that right, Sargent?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir.”

“Well while I’m here disturbing the mojo or whatever you want to call it, Base still ain’t processing my orders for home.”

Phillips frowned, confused. “And that’s why you don’t have a cigarette?”

“Sure don’t. McCall, you’re not doing anything. Go find me a cigarette. It’s about time we moved out of here anyway.”

“Yes, sir.” The Sargent walked away, clearly happy to be relieved of standing outside Lenore’s tent all day.

Lenore took a swig from his canteen and then offered some to Phillips. “You heard from Andrews?” he asked.

Phillips took a quick gulp and handed the canteen back. “No sir. Not since yesterday.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Should we send someone to make contact?”

Lenore paused. “If we don’t hear by the end of the day, we’re moving out.”

Just then Corporal Dean waved from his look-out point at the cleft of a rock.

Lenore rushed to the base of it. “Dean?”

“Movement ahead, sir. One person, looks like a kid.”

“How far?”

“Six meters, maybe less.”

“Bomber?” Lenore wondered.

Dean peered through his binoculars. “I don’t think so, but won’t know for sure till they get closer.”

“Yeah, or we do.” Lenore grabbed Phillips, who had followed him. “I want you and Thumper on that. If it’s a friendly, bring him back here.”

Phillips nodded. He didn’t need to be told what to do if the trespasser wasn’t a friendly.

Lenore waited at the base of the rock, watching Phillips and Thumper’s retreating backs. He even saw the rabbit’s foot Thumper carried –hence the nickname- swinging from his pocket. Eight men had been stationed at this campsite, including Staff Sargent Lenore. Phillips and McCall had graduated BOOT Camp together, and had somehow managed to stay buddies through their careers. McCall had been working at a desk, though he was good at what he did. Dean was a small arms expert. Trayl –or Thumper, as they called him- a typical soldier. Clovis, Bunnerman, Lipinski, all of them had worked well together. All of them had been deployed before. Only Lenore had seen action. And of the six soldiers who stayed behind while their brothers ventured into Lithuanian territory, none of them spoke. Silence rose from the moss like vapor, seeping into their skin and chilling their bones. Lenore swept his gaze through the wooded area that was visible, searching for any signs of movement. His ears strained for any signs of… anything.

Dean, focused through his binoculars, waved his hand down at Lenore. “Three approaching,” he said. “Phillips’s in front. The kid’s behind him. There’s Thumper, too.”

A sigh of relief rushed from Staff Sargent Lenore. No matter how long he was in the field, no matter how trite the orders, he didn’t think he would ever accept that they were truly safe, that they were good enough to be safe. All it took was one moment to not be safe. One hour or moment could always be your last. Lenore was just glad he had survived this one. “Good work, Dean.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Lenore stepped around the rock just as Phillips that the others came into view. “You bring me back my cigarettes?” he called.

Phillips laughed. “I thought that was McCall’s job.”

“Hey!” called McCall with a mocking glare.

Phillips pushed the newcomer into their camp perimeter. “Lackey for Andrews,” he said. He was grinning, and in a moment, Lenore understood why.

The lackey was a girl.

Lenore coughed down his laughter before it could erupt from his chest. He cleared his throat. “Staff Sargent Lenore,” he said, extending his hand.

“De Vil,” she answered, but then blushed, as if she’d spoken too soon.

“Miss De Vil. Why is Andrews making his secretary send messages to active soldiers in the field?”

“I’m not his secretary!” she exclaimed. Huh. British. A long way from home, he thought. Then again, so were the rest of them.

“Oh, sorry,” said Lenore. “Are you his, um… personal assistant?”

McCall and Bunnerman erupted in laughter this time, but Miss De Vil only glared as if she’d heard it all before.

“I’m not Andrews’s personal anything, but I will gladly report back to him and let him know that you and your band of idiots are wasting his resources. Do you think those orders for New York would go through then, Staff Sargent?”

Lenore went silent for a few moments. De Vil indeed. “Step inside my office.” He gestured to the tent and Miss De Vil entered first.

“I don’t suppose these will help lick your wounds?” From her pocket she produced a box of cigarettes and tossed them to Lenore.

He caught them reflexively, glanced at her, and then popped one out of the box. He offered it to her.

“No thank you. I don’t smoke.”

“Your loss. So what does Andrews say?”

“The Master Sargent said to prepare your men to move in tomorrow morning at first light. That means you should leave well before daybreak and use the tree line as your camouflage. It’s going to be cloudy tomorrow, an added bonus. His men will be waiting for you just outside the gate. He can take over from there.”

Lenore surveyed De Vil with a mixture of trepidation and… well, no, mostly trepidation. “Is that all he said?”

“And also to bring back his cigarettes.”

Lenore laughed around the item in question. “Sorry, sweetheart, but these babies aren’t going anywhere.” He slid them into his breast pocket and gave a hearty puff.

De Vil barely flinched. “Shall I tell Master Sargent Andrews that you will meet his men tomorrow at dawn?”

“Sure. Why not?”

The girl nodded and then froze. She listened. “Get down!” Diving for Lenore, they hit the ground just as shots rang through the air and through the tent. Lenore heard McCall and Bunnerman outside, as well as the clean shots Dean was taking. One –two –three –fourfive –sixeseveneight…

De Vil rolled off Lenore and grabbed his sidearm. Crawling to the front of the tent, Lenore watched as the girl took careful aim –five whole seconds- and fired eight rounds. Three, two, then four. Foreign voices sounded outside the camp, but Lenore recognized Dean’s sharp bullets as they were practically magnetized to their targets.

The whole thing had lasted less than two minutes.

When all was quiet again, Lenore carefully turned onto his stomach and crawled next to the girl, peered out at the camp.

He saw no bodies, and none of his men appeared injured. Looking up, he caught sight of Dean, still on his perch. The man pulled something from his pocket and tossed it into the woods.

Silence.

Cautiously, Staff Sargent Lenore emerged from his tent. His men gathered around, their eyes alert and guns poised.

“Dean,” he said. “What happened?”

“Sorry, sir. They were behind me. Didn’t see ‘em comin’.”

Lenore turned to the girl, who was carefully picking herself up. She gazed out at the woods as if seeing them for the first time. She looked like a child in a grown man’s uniform, dropped into the woods with only stories of snakes and mountain lions as her guide.

“Miss De Vil,” he said.

Her sharp grey eyes focused on him, and it seemed to take that action for her to find her bearings again. “Staff Sargent,” she said, her voice possessing a slight tremor. “Are you all right?”

“Thanks to you.” He extended a hand out. “What did you say your name was?”

The girl smiled. “Cruella. At your service.”

 

 

-And there you have it. Another short story via picture prompt.

Darker Human Nature: Red Riding Hood

Have you ever wondered if iconic characters of books and television had a hidden side to them? What if Princess Aurora was a rebel? If she were depicted in modern times, would she be that bad girl who always went against her parent (or legal guardians, in Aurora's case)? What if Daisy Duck had a secret online shopping addiction? Was Ursula once a mermaid? Bits of a person's character that have only been touched on or never explored. In short, the darker human nature. My friend Mark Venturini loves to explore the darker side of human nature with his characters. For more on that, see my last post where we had a very interesting discussion about The Hobbit. But Mark inspired me to take a look at a few characters and explore their darker side -or hidden side, depending on which character we're looking at.

(Little Red Riding Hood by Isabel Oakley Naftel, 1862)

(Meghan Ory as Ruby/Red in ABC's Once Upon a Time www.pixgood.com )

(Little Red Riding Hood by Evanira http://evanira.deviantart.com )

I want to start with someone a lot of people are fairly familiar with: Little Red Riding Hood. In the tale by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, Red is depicted as a young girl, quite innocent, venturing into the mysterious forest to do a good deed: bring goodies for sick, old Granny. She ends up being swallowed whole by the wolf, but then saved by the Huntsman before she can be digested.... Charming. (The version by Charles Perrault, which came before Grimm's, is similar, except the Huntsman slays the wolf before he can eat the grandmother and Little Red.) In another version, while the wolf is threatening Red and her grandmother, Red pulls a gun from somewhere and handles the villain Old Western style. ABC's Once Upon a Time (which I'm terribly behind in) depicts Red as... wait, too much of a spoiler. But in Scarlet, a book by Melissa Meyer, the main character who is a depiction of Red Riding Hood is a streetwise farmer who is trying to find her missing grandmere. So you have lots of different perspectives on this one character, although a few details stay the same, like the red theme, the wolf, and the grandmother.
It's interesting that in each of the tales, Red has to go on some kind of journey. It's also interesting how from the Grimm's version to now, there is a perceptible decrease in Red as being purely innocent. It's as if the tale by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm were the very start of Red's adventures, when she was a child, and as the story has evolved, the character has grown up and matured, becoming bolder and less predictable.
I like to think characters learn from their mistakes, even if they are make-believe. What did Red learn from all her experiences? Is the wolf merely metaphorical? Is the grandmother supposed to be the goal we are always trying to achieve, and the wolf the obstacles we must overcome? And what of Red's nature as a person? How did she change? Did she become more pessimistic or worrisome? Did the experiences make her braver? Did she crave danger? I think she would have made a good cop or PI. I don't know why, but for some reason those two just stick out to me.
Hopefully in a couple of days I'll have another character for you. Which would you prefer: heroes, villains, or secondary characters? Let me know in the comments. :-)

-Grace

Disney Parents

What does Disney have against parents? If you’re in a Disney movie and you’re a parent, more than likely you are either single or dead. Why is that? There are a few exceptions, of course: Rapunzel’s parents in Tangled (though Rapunzel was separated from them most of her life); Aurora’s parents in Sleeping Beauty (same situation as Tangled); Prince Naveen’s parents in The Princess and the Frog; Mr. and Mrs. Darling from Peter Pan; King Fergus and Queen Elinor of Brave; and Fa Zhou and Fa Li of Mulan. This is not a complete list, but you get the idea. Compared to how many Disney movies have parents who are either single or deceased, the scale is remarkably unbalanced.

While this strategy may be handy in removing unneeded characters from the plot and giving some depth to the protagonists, the reasoning must go deeper.

Children are raised with stories of brave knights and dastardly villains, rescuing the princess or saving the village. In tales like those from Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, kings or parents in general usually play a significant role in the story. But as fairytales have evolved, the role of the parent seems to have diminished to that of a prop in the background. No longer are fathers the voice of wisdom and reason. Mothers are so rarely ideal role models (take Mother Gothel from Tangled for example). While many other Disney themes are wonderfully imaginative and otherwise agreeable, their regard for parents has dwindled to something nearly nonexistent.

My dad works as a flight medic. One day he came home and was telling us about his interesting patients. He said a middle-aged man was moving a very heavy dresser in his bedroom and the dresser somehow fell on top of him. The drawers and knobs pinned his limbs in place, and the only things not being crushed by the very sturdy piece of furniture were the man’s head and one of his arms. His Mac computer happened to be sitting on the desk with the power cord running down the side. The man had gotten hold of the power cord and very carefully tugged the computer off the desk so he could type an e-mail to his mother telling her that he was trapped under a dresser and couldn’t reach the phone to dial 9-1-1. It was the man’s mother who had called for help for her son, but not until she read the e-mail… two days later. The medics stormed the man’s house and strategically removed the dresser while keeping pressure on certain body parts so the blood wouldn’t rush to his heart and give him a heart attack. The man was fine after a lot of medical treatment, but as my dad was relating this story to us at the dinner table, it struck us that the man would still be under that dresser if he hadn’t e-mailed his mother. And it made me realize that no matter how old you are or where you settle down, you will always need your parents.

I don’t think this theme is expressed enough in Disney films. The value of parents throughout our lives is not something that can be measured in dollars or pounds. And I don’t mean calling them when you need a recipe or you’re trapped under a dresser. My parents are people I want to be more like. People that others can depend on and look to for encouragement. I hope someday to have gained my father’s wisdom and my mother’s compassion. I hope one day I can understand what it means to be a good parent.

And while I still love Disney films and am all about strong female characters, it would be refreshing to see a more family-oriented tale from my favorite storytellers.

Stirring the Fires of Imagination

I love Young Adult fiction! I don't know why, but some of these books just come up with the craziest concepts, or put a totally new spin on them. I just finished reading Cinder by Melissa Meyer and I am still buzzing with adrenaline. I love it. I'll post a formal review of it later but I think I finished in, like, a day? After work tomorrow I am planning on stopping by Walmart and oh so casually being like, "Oh, yeah, Dad, I need to run into Stuff-Mart real quick and pick up something... No just something. Do we need lemons while we're here?" I will probably have to pick up the next two books if they all end the same way Cinder did... not that that's a bad thing. ;-)
My brain feels on fire now. If I didn't have to get up early I would totally right into the wee hours of the night. How far away is the weekend? Curses. I guess I will just have to go without TV for a while. Hahaha.
But, seriously.
Going back to my opening statement, I do love Young Adult fiction, although some of it I'll relent can get tedious and predictable. But then there are those times when you pick up a book, read the book jacket, glance at a few pages... and abracadabra, you've got yourself a new summer obsession. I think I gravitate toward the YA genre because it offers a really colorful perspective for me. Hmm... let me see if I can word that better. When you pick up a book that you know has been written for adults, your brain enters into this mindset. You become really serious and any humor is dry, forced, or inappropriate. But with YA, I feel like there're no limits, no constraints. I've found myself trying to incorporate more and more of the real world and just logistics and things like that into my fantasy stories, and I truly believe they have suffered for it. Then I look at something like Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and... have you ever read the original Little Mermaid? Yeah, it's ending is not Disney-approved, but the way he writes about the under-sea kingdom is magnetic. That's the word I would use. Magnetic. And mesmerizing. And beautiful. I love that YA novels have the capacity to be beautiful, funny, imaginative, captivating and new. Although certain criteria are usually met, I find the stories themselves wonderfully engrossing. And when they are spins on classis, like Cinder, it piques my interest even more. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the classics, and even more so for Disney, and this book just hit all the right markers.

-Grace

The Movies. The Books.

Don't you just love watching those movies you grew up with? I just watched the 1953 version of Disney's Peter Pan with my niece, and it was funny how I recalled sitting in front of the TV in my nightgown, totally and completely engrossed in the movie. I'm glad my girl got to watch it. I thought it would maybe stimulate the imagination in her that hopefully never goes away. Because really, who didn't wish they could fly when they were a kid? I hope movies like these, the ones that shaped my childhood and made me dream in color, never go out of style.
Last night I watched The Phantom of the Opera with my mom and dad. Yeah, there's a reason it's one of the most fantastic musicals ever! When he hits that last note in Music of the Night, doesn't it just make you hold your breath? But I think if I had the chance to play any of the characters, it would be Carlotta. She's just hilarious and dramatic. Those always seem like the funniest characters to play.
Have you ever had someone ask if you've read the book of a recent movie adaption? Which do you prefer, reading the book before seeing the movie, or, well, the other way around? I know some parents want their kids to read the books first, books like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's a kind of strategy, I suppose, to get them off the computer, but it also seems like an opportunity to dive into a completely different world.... Like Kansas! Paradise, Ohio. Tucson, Smicksburg, Rosewood, San Diego. Middle-Earth, Palancar Valley, Persephone, Sharon (the latter is a place of my own creation ;-) ). Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, France.
That's one thing I want to do with my stories. I don't just want to take the reader on an adventure; I want to take them on a journey.

-Grace

"Brave"

My mom and I were able to take my dad to see the Disney/Pixar movie Brave the other day. It was my second time seeing it, and I must say I'm liking it more and more. Firstly, hats off to the entire animation team. They did a wonderful job making an animated movie seem very real. As I understand it, Merida's hair was no small task, and I've actually found myself wishing I had her wild red locks. Anyway, this movie was amazing for so many reasons, besides the aforementioned animation. But I particularly like how they made it not a love story (like in Tangled though I like that one, too) but focused on the mother/daughter relationship between the elegant queen and headstrong princess. I don't want to give too much away, but I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially those of Scottish ancestry. The music is phenomenal, the characters beautifully sketched, and the scenery and landscaping are beyond captivating.
So in short, go screen this movie and see where it takes you.

-Grace

"Jirka's Blog"

One of my favorite sites to visit when I'm looking for inspiration or just a new spin on things is "Jirka's Blog" at www.jirkavinse.wordpress.com . (And by the by, it's pronounced Yirka, not Jerk-a.) He's an incredibly talented photographer who has done some amazing depictions of what Disney princesses would look like in real life. I have to say, they are very impressive! He has an amazing eye for light and effects and I hope to see more, particularly in the Disney department. I'm kind of a sucker for Disney. :-)

-Grace