Sunday Sundries

Reference materials from my decades as a student, writer, and author.

I wonder about other writers. With all the resources at our fingertips 24/7/365 thanks to the Internet, do writers of a certain age hold on to the books that came to them through writing classes and workshops and at the advice of teachers, editors, and other writers? Do writers who got their start in this century know the pleasure of turning the pages of a thesaurus, reference books, manuals of one type or another, and writing guides and exercises? Do they ever use pen and pencil or red pen on paper or only their keyboards or phone notes to catch, record, and alter their words?

I read an article recently about implied (country name redacted: who needs their bots or supporters landing here) threats to the cables that cross our ocean floors and the satellites hovering over us in space. It touched on the catastrophe to shipping, transportation, communications, and financial markets that a hostile nation could wreak on the rest of the world. Imagine your phone, your access to the Internet, your credit card or ATM card, online banking, retailers, airlines, grocers, all rendered useless or severely inefficient at once.

If this is what science fiction and dystopian writers try to capture, what means would they use to compose and edit their work, find a publishing/distribution system, and market and sell to an audience? I mean, Elon Musk will be fine, but what about the rest of us?

My Sunday rewatches made today Kate Hudson Day, and both films I saw were about writers. In 2003’s How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Hudson plays a magazine columnist, Andie Anderson, who writes a “How To” feature in each issue. Inspired by the way a friend messes up potential romantic relationships, she pitches a column to her editor. She’ll start a romance with a stranger, repeat her friend’s dating mistakes, and cause him to break up with her in ten days or less. If the editor, played wonderfully by Bebe Neuwirth, likes the column, she’ll start giving Andie weightier topics than cute “how to guides” for future columns.

A couple of ad executives, at Andie’s magazine to pitch an idea for an ad campaign, learn about Andie’s story idea. When they go back to their agency, a rival agent, Ben Barry, played by Matthew McConaughey, competes with them to take back the ad campaign for a diamond jewelry account on which he’d done all the preliminary work. They disparage his ability to understand how to sell diamonds to women because he doesn’t know how to get or keep a romantic relationship. Ben bets their boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him in ten days. His boss agrees that if Ben is successful, the diamond account will be his.

The rival agents secretly contrive to hook Ben up with Andie at a restaurant/bar, knowing the two will be at cross purposes. When Andie agrees to go out with Ben, she does everything she can to make him break up with her. He tolerates it all and does everything he can to make her fall in love with him. It’s a RomCom–we know how it’ll end. Meanwhile, there are entertaining incidents at Knicks games, a movie date to Sleepless In Seattle, a dog who isn’t house-trained, Ben’s fun family on Staten Island, and Andie’s self-sabotaging friend posing as a couples therapist.

Also released in 2003 (Kate had a good year!), in Alex & Emma, Luke Wilson plays Alex Sheldon, a genius novelist with writer’s block. He borrowed a large sum of money from loan sharks to keep himself afloat, and now he can’t pay them back. The “Cuban Mafia” gives him thirty more days, and he appeals to his publisher, Wirschafter, played by the film’s director Rob Reiner. Wirschafter is good for the money (because this is fiction, and Alex must have had some really successful previous novels!), payable only when Alex gives him the completed novel in thirty days. Alex hires a stenographer (with a promise to pay her in thirty days), Emma Dinsmore, played by Kate Hudson, to make the writing process go faster.

Emma not only takes dictation all day and transcribes the manuscript at night (without pay! And with one terrible incident in which she falls into a puddle of water while catching a bus, losing almost twenty pages in her flooded bag; LOSING PAGES is a common and horrible ordeal most writers experience at one time or another, including ME, but at least I didn’t owe money to the Cuban Mafia).

While taking dictation, Emma’s reactions to what Alex narrates help him make improvements to his novel. Unbeknownst to Emma, as the two of them begin to fall in love, it isn’t only the manuscript’s loan sharks who mirror Alex’s life. The love story in the novel is based on his real-life relationship with a former lover who returns just as the thirty days ends.

Rob Reiner also directed When Harry Met Sally, and he includes a nod to that movie in this film. Emma says she never buys a book without reading the end first. If she doesn’t like the ending, she returns the book to the shelf. Billy Crystal’s character Harry also reads book endings first, because as he says, if he dies before finishing a book, he’ll at least know how it ended.

Alex & Emma didn’t make back its production costs and was not a favorite of the critics. However, as a writer, I’ve enjoyed it both times I watched it. I only wonder where I can find a publisher who’ll front me the money to hire a stenographer or at least a researcher, because research is the most labor-intensive thing I do, whether it’s via my shelf of reference books or online.

Sunday Sundries

Back when I was still working and going to transport two to three times a week, one of the things I did to make arriving to work between 6 and 6:30 AM more bearable was to wear a lot of bracelets. In those days (not really THAT long ago), stacking bracelets was called an “arm party.” I looked up the term; it’s still used, and people still do it, although bracelet styles have been added.

None of my bracelets was expensive, which was part of the appeal for me (I often made my own; plus if a dog was going to jump on me in a friendly way and a bracelet broke, it wouldn’t be a big loss). Almost all of my bracelets hang on a stand on my dresser, and some of them were gifts.

I never wore this bracelet, however, because the string seemed fragile. I’m not absolutely certain of its origin. It either came from Tom after he went on a barefoot cruise with his family in 1992, or it could have come from someone in his family after a trip to Hawaii.

A heap o’bracelets.

Here’s a photo of a couple of my favorites, a guitar set in a leather strap (in honor of the Neverending Saga’s musician), and one of wraparound beads, both of which I purchased as a treat to myself in 2020, when no one was going shopping, and so many stores were closed. I think both of them were advertised on my Instagram feed.

Then, OOPS! As I returned the wraparound bracelet to the stand, the elastic band broke. Beads were bouncing around on my laptop keyboard and all over the tile floor in the sanctuary. It took Tom and me using the mini-vacuum, a broom and dustpan, and a phone flashlight to find them all (hopefully). Maybe I’ll build another bracelet or a necklace with the loose beads. Who knows.

Meanwhile, I proceeded with the remaining two of my Bridget Jones movie rewatches, 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby. I like all the movies, but The Edge of Reason is my least favorite because I often want to scream at Bridget for the way her insecurities cause her to make dumb choices. I understand it; after all, there could have been no second film if the hopefully-ever-after of the first movie hadn’t gone south for some reason in the intervening years.

I remember after Timothy James Beck’s first novel, It Had To Be You, which tells the story of Daniel and Blaine, came out, so many readers wrote to ask us for a continuation of their story. They even wanted the same story but from Blaine’s point of view. Those are things best left to readers’ imaginations. It’s not much fun for a writer to retell a story just because it’s from a different point of view. If multiple POVs are necessary to tell the same story, it’s best to use an omniscient narrator in a single novel. Our second TJB novel introduced an entirely new character and narrator. When we continued to get requests for more Daniel and Blaine, I said to my writing partners, “Be careful what you wish for!” We then proceeded to break up the characters for the third novel–but at least it was told from Blaine’s perspective!

Back to Bridget: I like the third movie and the baby storyline much better, mostly because by now, Bridget has learned to be more independent, to forge a more successful career for herself, and to work hard to get herself healthier. She still sometimes tends to react to things that look suspect without simply confronting other characters and demanding explanations. This trait does add conflict and push the plot along, but it makes me doubt that she’s maturing.

The last surprise at the end of the movie adds to the fun. Now that I know there’s a fourth movie planned, I look forward to seeing how the various characters are juggled in Bridget’s future. Bonuses: Bridget’s group of friends are still around and still fun, even if their lives are changing. And her parents, played by Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent, always make me laugh (her mother) or happy (her father).

Sunday Sundries

Little boxes. Their value is in who gave them or that they contain small gifts of nature from loved ones. Not all boxes are square, right?¹

Here were today’s RomCom rewatches from 2005 and 1991. As with many of these movies, the number of years since their release dates often stuns me.

¹From The Polymer Arts, 2013, “Today’s thought on boxes is pretty simple: a box does not have to be square. It doesn’t even have to have straight sides or be flat on the bottom. A box is basically a container used to hold or store things and has a lid. That’s a pretty wide open definition, which is great for an artist.”

Sunday Sundries

The plan for today is to keep working on Book 7 of the Neverending Saga. For some reason, I’m in the mood to listen to Holland, a classic Beach Boys album among Beach Boys fans and collectors.

Thinking of Holland in general, I decided to show this assortment of items from the dresser in the master bedroom. From left to right, that’s a ginger jar that belonged to my mother and still has potpourri that she put in it. (I don’t think it has a lot of scent anymore.) On the bottom, she wrote “Lola, 2001,” so possibly it was a gift to her from Aunt Lola. Next to that is a blue and white candle bowl which may have come from Bombay Company. If so, it was likely a gift from my mother to me (she liked to shop there for me, and I liked their merchandise). The three in the middle: a small ashtray, a windmill, and two Dutch boys sharing a kiss, were all gifts from our friend Steve C after he went to The Netherlands one year. On the far right is a vintage vase that Tom’s parents gave us from his grandmother’s house after she died. She was the only one of his grandparents that I got to meet, and I just adored her mischievous humor.

Behind these items is the Holland doll from the Arco Gasoline Dolls of the World collection. I had several of those when I was a child, and somehow they were donated or discarded. A few years ago, I replaced the ones I’d had thanks to the magic of eBay!

I rewatched 1998’s Hope Floats this morning. It’s categorized as a RomCom, and I do really like it, but I’d forgotten how sad it is, too. I’d also forgotten how uncomfortable the beginning is, because it hits a little too close to home related to an incident from my past. Thankfully, my humiliation wasn’t televised in every time zone. That part will go well with what I’m currently writing.

The main reason I picked the film was to honor the late Gena Rowlands, who plays Sandra Bullock’s mother and is a longtime favorite of mine. In mid-August, I edited a post from July 25 to note that Gena Rowlands had died on August 14. I’ve appreciated seeing so many tributes to her on Instagram. She truly was a gifted actor with a long career.

ETA: Couldn’t resist some of these photos that have shown up on Instagram of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Their longevity as a couple seems like an uncommon thing in their business.

Sunday Sundries

The Democratic National Convention this week is contributing to my website posts each day in some way or another. I’m posting this late, but for this date, I decided to show political buttons from my own collection. Buttons do not indicate how I voted in any of these elections–they indicate that I was given buttons by people I knew or at events I went to. Some of them pre-date when I reached voting age. I don’t hesitate for a moment to identify as a Democrat, never have, but though it’s been a long–very long–time (more often in local or state races), I’ve been known to vote across party lines.

Sunday Sundries

August 11 is the anniversary of the birthdate of someone I watched many movies with: Craig, good and funny memories with him, Lynne, and Tom. I couldn’t count the number of times Lynne would suddenly say, “Oh, yeah, I remember this movie now; I have seen it before.”

Craig in his movie-watching, napping, gift-opening chair.

We were watching those movies on such small TVs in those days! Jess and Greta with the TV/VCR tucked in the corner.

It’s also the anniversary of Marika’s birthday, someone with whom I agreed on very few movies. I never saw any with her, but the one she sent a DVD of so Tom, Tim, and I could watch it with Mark G Harris and Nurse Lisa while they were visiting was a complete bomb with the rest of us. Marika was disappointed, but even if we didn’t like the movie, we had fun. And popcorn.

As I shared yesterday, going forward this will be my RomCom Summer. I’ve had a couple of conversations recently about romantic comedies, and yesterday I jotted down a quick list of modern-era movies I’ve seen multiple times that can fall into the category, even if they have other elements like suspense, action, or drama.

After I made the list, I checked the shelves to see if I own the movies. That’s a sure sign that I either have watched or intended to watch them multiple times. There are more on the shelves missing from the group below, but as I said, these were the first titles I wrote down without a lot of thought, and I do indeed own all of the DVDs. They’re arranged alphabetically.

I’m eliminating Sliding Doors, Doc Hollywood, Desperately Seeking Susan, and The Truth About Cats and Dogs from the summer watch list since I’ve seen all of them within the last one to three years. I own others not shown here farther back in the queue if I run out of movies to watch (doubtful). I’ve seen those four so many times and they click the right boxes for me: couple chemistry, quirkiness and/or humor, good writing, the endings I hoped for, and settings I enjoyed.

Crossing Delancey is a quiet, warmhearted movie with a woman learning to trust herself, a pompous author (bring it on!), and a humble but not humbled possible love interest. It’s been a long time, so definitely a good opportunity for a rewatch. Layered characters are always a plus for me. I remember it as feeling like “smart” writing.

Foul Play is one of those movies that makes me laugh a lot. The love story is not as key as the comedy and suspense, but even in her more problematic movies (Overboard), Goldie Hawn never misses with me. Writing is not the first thing that comes to mind with this one–it’s the slapstick. Will watch again this season.

Love Actually: I regret that so many people dislike this movie. It’s not a simple romantic comedy, and it holds a lot of heartbreak, but I like its big cast, multiple plot lines, and the love stories, regardless of how improbable, sad, or silly some of them may be. One of my favorite things is the battle that repeats over this movie (“It’s not a feel-good holiday movie!”) and Die Hard (“It’s not a Christmas movie!”) every December on social media. The ultimate triumph is the first person who said, (paraphrased) If you hate how Alan Rickman’s character behaves toward his wife in Love Actually, you can celebrate the fate of another character he plays in Die Hard! True enough. I’m happy to rewatch Love Actually and I think I’ve seen Die Hard in its entirety once, possibly twice. (Also, I usually enjoy movies that have any kind of writer in them just to see how they’re written–it’s all very meta.)

Vying for the top spot in my personal RomCom category are Moonstruck and Notting Hill. FAMILY is key to both of them: the families we’re born into (Moonstruck) and the families we create (Notting Hill). Nothing about either movie misses with me; I love them both unconditionally, and not only are their leads shiny, but the supporting casts are full of gems. Will always rewatch both films. I think Notting Hill is one of two on this list that have bookstores in them. Always like a movie with a bookstore.

Kudos to Julia Roberts for making it on here twice thanks to Notting Hill and My Best Friend’s Wedding. Of course, she has many more romantic comedies, and I’ve probably seen them all, but My Best Friend’s Wedding made this list before the others because it offers more to me about the value of friendship than romance thanks to both of the men in her character’s life. Cameron Diaz shines in her role. Will definitely be part of my summer rewatches.

Sleepless In Seattle is a movie lover’s film: its writing, its homage to other movies, its directing, casting, and music. I think that’s why it edged out the other Meg Ryan possibilities that I know are on my shelf (You’ve Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally). I really, really want these two characters to get together. I’ll have to watch it again to make sure they do. =)

Saved Only You last for this discussion, though it’ll be the first I watch. I’ve seen it the fewest times and remember its details the least (and I often mix it up with a different romantic comedy). Still, as I wrote those titles down yesterday, this one insisted on making the cut, and I know there has to be a reason for that (is it Marisa Tomei’s charm? The way I always pull for Robert Downey Jr. to thrive?). I’ll probably do an ETA after I’ve watched it later today.

The promised ETA: Only You: completely worth the rewatch. This movie is 30 years old. How’s that possible? Favorite things I’d forgotten: Contrasting scenes at the airports at the beginning of the movie and the end in the way American and Italian airport workers responded to, “The man I love is on that plane!” Also, the Italian location shots: Posto molto bello! When I was putting the DVD back on the shelf, I pulled out another not on the list in this post.

Do you have favorite romantic comedies? I wonder if I own them.

Sunday Sundries

Posting this kind of late on Sunday night. Tom and I spent most of yesterday at the ER because I’ve been having some issues with diagnoses and treatments for a couple of things, and yesterday I’d had enough, was tired of feeling bad, and hoped for some answers. I got a few, and hopefully other things will resolve over the next eight days.

Today I was very tired and drained and mostly stayed in bed and rested or did things that wouldn’t be mentally, physically, or emotionally taxing. I really hope I feel better soon, because it’s been…a summer.

In July, I shared this lovely deck, The Spirit Animal Oracle. I said that if there were any animals you wanted to see, I’d be happy to share them. BlueSkyBoy named a few and also suggested I include some favorite animals of our friends from the old LiveJournal days. The deck didn’t deliver all of them, but did offer up these beautiful eleven. I have a character, Melissa–I’d like to say “in my drafts,” but I think drafts of started/unfinished projects died with some computers. Melissa comes from a family who over generations has been endowed with various “gifts.” It turns out hers is being able to see animals who “aren’t there.” At least not to anyone else’s eyes, but she sees them clearly and tries to intuit the reason they’ve come to see her. When I get decks that are focused on animals, I always think of her.

Cat Spirit: Claim your independence.
Dog Spirit: Be loyal to what you love.
Dove Spirit: Be peace.
Cow Spirit: The miracles are endless.
Coyote Spirit: Trust in divine detours.
Fox Spirit: Think on your feet.
Hummingbird Spirit: Be here now.
Mouse Spirit: Tend to the small things.
Rabbit Spirit: Now is a lucky time.
Seahorse Spirit: Watch and wait.
White Raven Spirit: Trust in the magic.

Sunday Sundries, the Nostalgia Version

Because of comments on this website, I decided that today’s topic is Blog Nostalgia. Here are blasts from the past.

“From September of 2014 to July of 2016, I, Snoopy, used to be a big deal around these parts on Saturdays!”

“Hi, it’s me, Katnip. For over a year, I tried to decipher clues that sent me and my sidekicks John Riley and Cuddle on 58 adventures to find something called ‘Lil Eddy.’ Finally, on March 10, 2014, as pictured here, I was about to meet my destiny. And the story and posts just…stopped. It was fun while it lasted.”

“Bon jour, remember us? We were the LiveJournal blog’s original Runway Monday models. We kicked off twelve seasons and helped add ~~dolls~~ models to someone’s collection–more than anyone wants to count. Then our designer decided to put away her scissors and needles or she stopped watching “Project Runway” or something. JUST LIKE THAT, we were mostly out of jobs except for occasional cameos. These days, a few of us pose as doll models for a writer’s characters. The writer looks a lot like our designer–except ten years older.”

“EXCUSE us! Some of us ALSO appeared on seasons of Runway Monday, three of them in fact. Same designer, same sad relocation to bins after the flood destroyed the bottom of our display cabinet. Don’t ignore our contributions just because we’re monsters.”

“At least all you dolls came through the flood okay. We were part of the Magnetic Poetry 365 project in 2011. Some of us didn’t make it out of the Harvey flood. It’s okay. Magnets may vanish, but words and poetry are forever.”

“We’re the Legacy Writing banner from 2012. Yep, an entire year of nostalgia featuring photos representing memories, family, and friends. The best part is… We STILL make frequent appearances here. Sorry to the dolls and action figures who were ‘retired.'”

“It’s me. Roxanne. NO NEED TO SING THAT SONG, please. I kicked off a series called “Pet Prose” in January 0f 2017. It featured rescued dogs and cats who are writers. You’d never guess we weren’t written by a human because we chose to tell regular stories, not be ‘talking animals’ writing about ‘animal things.’ By December, 56 of us had a chance to be creative and use our voices, even as we found new and safe homes to live in. We think it may have been the thing the content creator enjoyed the most, but DON’T TELL THE OTHERS.”

“This little happy book series goes waaaay back, a chance to be interactive with readers on Wednesdays from 2008 into 2010, and later guest appearances on special posts. You picked the numbers, the book gave you answers. And sometimes, the content creator gave you photos with your answers.”

Hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip down memory lane.

Sunday Sundries

On the first Sunday Sundries post, when I asked for suggestions for future entries, this, from A Blue Sky Boy: Open your box of Crayola crayons and pick a colour at random (without replacement so you can’t repeat it). Discuss the color!

First, I want to share the joy of a 1991 Crayola™ tin which “features some of the most famous colors in crayon history.”

The moment you open the tin, you’re greeted by that waxy smell that’ll take you right back to your first days holding your first fat crayon in your little kid fingers.

This tin has a bonus box of eight crayons.

The back of the box explains how colors in this box were retired to make way for new colors.

(The new colors were dandelion, wild strawberry, vivid tangerine, fuchsia, teal blue, royal purple, jungle green, and cerulean.)

Here is the full array of the 64 colors in the 1991 box.

This is the crayon I chose from them all.

Green is, always has been, my favorite color. The color of mountain hillsides. The color of the woods I walked in as a child. Green was the grass beneath my bare feet when I ran through the sprinkler. Green was Mr. Green Jeans, Dino the dinosaur, and Kermit. Green was the color of my first love’s eyes. Green is ocean water. Green is new, fresh, rebirth, spring. Green is limes and sour apples and many of my favorite vegetables. Green is a last name. A movement. Green is so many of my favorite stones and crystals. Green is grasshoppers, caterpillars, toads and frogs, nearly transparent insect wings. Green is my first two cars that came to me through my first marriage. Green put the initial in the rainbow’s name, Roy G. Biv.

Green is life.

Sunday Sundries

The wind didn’t turn our patio table over. Tom removed the umbrella and put it in the Lean To, then turned over the patio so Beryl wouldn’t flip and possibly break it. We’ll be spending time cleaning up all the different patios and sidewalks over the next week or so. Tom’s work schedule should get back to normal. Houston will hopefully start also being more normal, and OH HOW I HOPE EVERYONE SOON HAS POWER. The temps will be higher in the coming week than they have been.

As for me, I’m still working to manage my anxiety, and along with hopefully getting back to my own characters and world of the imagination, I intend to continue reading Mary Stewart, though not one or more a day as I have been. I’ll try to savor them. I might even finish up with my two absolute favorites (not pictured here) that were in my original Coping Skills Toolbox, meaning I’ve already reread them once since 2020. But they are my favorites, so…