Idyllic

What does your ideal community look like? How is it organized, and how is community life structured? What values does the community share?

I grew up in Astoria, Queens and we had our small community that revolved around 24th Street. There was a group of boys, the boys on the block and a few girls and we all played together; at different stages of our childhood lives, it was harmonious, contentious, tension filled but rarely combative. We played tag and cops and robbers when we were in elementary school. When we got older we played a team version of tag and pretty soon left the games for hanging out on the various stoops. Eventually cars came into the equation and that meant that the hanging out left the block and moved onto greener pastures as in Astoria Park.

I was often left behind because I had a very strict mother and my universe was still restricted to the block. The boys were a few years older than I, so of course I was jealous of their freedom, so I explored other blocks outside of our little kingdom, off the reservation but not too far. The boys were not happy with my perceived slight whenever they returned. It was such a weird dynamic.

We also had the elders who surveyed the goings on of the block, the nana's, the yaya's, in a word the grandma's, who sat on the stoop and kept an eye on the comings and goings of the "kids" and any strangers who would walk down the block. We had our own neighborhood watch but they weren't the running type, they were the gossiping type.

I have fond memories of my childhood on 24th Street, the tight knit community, the boys on the block and knowing that at all times there was a grandma who was watching over you, making sure that you stayed out of trouble and that everything was fine on their watch.

Exercising some discipline

Tags

challenges, fiction, heroine, historical fiction, novel, postaday2013, protagonist, writing

Today is one more day that I have spent a few hours working on my novel. I think about it every day and you would think that with the amount of time that I spend thinking about the story, the book would be done by now, but for some reason, the typing process and the actual putting thought on “paper” is much more time consuming than simple thought streaming as you walk. As I walk and think, I get whole scenes that seem to transpire in a matter of steps but when I am seated in front of the computer, the flash in my head is many, many words that need to be typed and after a while my brain feels as if it is overheating, believe it or not.

I know where my story is going, the plot is outlined and I know where they are going and how they get there and how it ends. I just need to continue with the discipline of sitting down for several hours at a time to get it down. I don’t do well with sitting down for several hours, so I do get up and walk up and down the stairs several times during the hours and I take Jack for walks and sit back down again and continue typing. I could never have worked in an office because I have never been able to stay in a seat all day long. I need to move and stretch my legs often. Having said all that, it is no wonder that this exercise in novel writing is taking such a longish time. Two solid years and counting, however if I think this way I am probably just shooting myself in the foot and focusing on the wrong thing, putting unnecessary pressure on myself with imagined time constraints, I just need to focus on the positive, writing and continuing to write.

I am very happy that I spent a good deal of time writing my story today. I feel that the end is very near and it feels good. I am aware that I have said this before, every time my characters go out and do anything there is always food involved and those scenes don’t write themselves, but they do seem to have a mind of their own and take forever to get through. I can talk forever about food and that is what is taking so long. What may be taking me so long may just be the thing that distinguishes my novel from others. Only a finished book will tell.

Déjà vu and you

Have you ever truly felt déjà vu, the sensation that you’ve already had the experience you’re currently having?

I have to think for a moment…….. No, I don't think that I have or if I have, I've forgotten about it. Deja vu holds a special place in many science fiction programs and mystery settings. I think that it is mostly associated in those situations with past lives or alternate universes, perfect fodder for a science fiction geek like myself.

I would think that there ought to be some significance to a deja vu moment; "hark pay attention, you missed it the first time, we are showing it to you again, come on now, pay attention" Why else would you experience deja vu if not because you missed the boat the first time around?

Perhaps I missed some deja vu moments because I am really not an observant person; sometimes it takes a knock on the head for me to actually see something and so the whole deja vu thing might just be too subtle. I don't know. Do I feel like I as if I'm missing something having never experienced deja vu or if I did, forgetting about it? No.

Bacon makes everything better

Tags

bacon, comfort food, cooking, dinner, eggs, food, pasta, postaday2013

Yes, I said it, bacon makes everything better. I know that nutritionally it isn’t the best for you, but if you have bacon, say on a once a week basis, how bad can it be? There are many comfort foods that have bacon attached to them in some fashion. One of my family’s favorite comfort foods is pasta carbonara and that is what’s for dinner tonight.

The baby boy and the baby girl discovered their love for this dish at a small restaurant next to our rental apartment in Le Canon, France a few summers ago. There is nothing that beats the comfort level of this pasta dish; eggs, bacon, parmesan cheese, sautéed onions and a little cream plus the pasta. There is nothing not to like here.

Altruistic wishes

You have been grated three wishes. The caveat is that you cannot wish for anything for yourself. What do you wish for?

I wish that the people throughout the world get the chance to pursue their dreams of a better life without big corporations, big religion, oppressive government making all of their decisions for them.

I wish that we as a global community can treat our planet with all of the respect that we would want to be shown ourselves. We only have one planet, if we break it we don't have another one to go to. Our planet isn't like a t.v; we can't exchange it for another one, there isn't a warranty.

I wish that we wouldn't be so afraid of the other. I would wish that all forms of prejudice and racism be eliminated from our psyches and emotional makeup as people completely. We react to each other based on our character and inner selves not on our appearances.

These would be my three wishes for our planet and our people. I really wish that someone would grant me these three wishes because our world might become a really awesome place.

Youtube and cute puppies

Tags

blogging, computers, cute, postaday2013, puppies, videos, wasting time

My hubby and I have spent a rare relaxing Sunday together entirely upstairs, reading and writing. The babies are either away at school or working. Jack has divided his time either wrestling with my iPad trying to inch his way onto my lap or wiggling his way onto my hubby’s lap. Either way Jack got his way, some kind of personal contact and that is all he wants, a leg, an arm or a hand and he is happy.

I was flipping through the Huffington Post and went to see what the Comedy section was offering and there they were, two articles featuring cute animal videos.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/winston-the-tap-dancing-bulldog_n_2924885.html
This is the one that I clicked on and Winston is the cutest bulldog, tap dancing away to his heart’s content. The Youtube website is great because it shows, on the right hand side, clips of similar videos so my hubby clicked on a bulldog puppy video and that completely that grabbed Jack’s attention, the bulldog puppy was barking, growling and then whimpering, just like a baby clamoring for attention and trying out all the sounds to see which one will get him what he wants, attention. Jack kept cocking his head back and forth trying to figure out how to get to the puppy, he even went around the iPad to see where the puppy was lurking. Jack was being just as entertaining as the puppies in those videos.

We watched the marathon of the Viking series that had been produced by the History channel. We both liked it but I was put off by the senseless violence that the Vikings bestowed upon a poor community of pious monks on the English coast when they posed no threat to the Vikings who came to their lands to plunder for gold and other riches. I understood that the Viking culture was one based on raiding other communities, but the other communities were armed and defended themselves, here the monks were defenseless and to see them slaughtered by the Vikings was awful. I am not sure how accurate the producers are with the history but it does make for drama. This is the same channel that has produced The Bible which has been very successful with its viewership, I have watched three episodes and they make for good storytelling.

Later on we are going to watch Once Upon a Time, a modern fairy tale replete with every single Disney character that you can think of, from Snow White to Captain Hook to Pinocchio, this series is one that I really like a lot.

The ultimate superhero

Describe in great detail your ultimate superhero. What is their unique super power? Get creative!

The latest big bang action movie that my hubby, my son, my daughter and I went to see together was the Avengers movie. Here we got to see a variety of heroes and their super powers, giving us the opportunity to see who was more powerful and who had what type of weakness easily exploited, trust me, it makes for interesting conversations. The kids were extremely informative, there are shows and video games devoted to putting super heroes up against each other in battle. Superman, apparently, is almost impossible to beat. He has every power and only one weakness. My son was educating us as to the extent of the variety of mythologies engaged in these face offs. Pokemon heroes and villains, which I hadn't even thought of, were involved, my son did lose me when he was talking about how superman beat this one and that one because it has been years since I had paid any attention to Pokemon. I tell you the realm of heroes and super powers is extremely rich and complex, as intricate as anything in the real world. Do not dismiss the imagination required to build these fantastical universes. It is amazing.

I myself have always liked Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Mythology has always been my thing. However, I think that the Greek gods were too heavily invested in their own drama and their human worshippers to try to be super heroes. Thor seems to be the only one, willing to assume the mantle of super hero.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie Avengers is when Thor and the Hulk are walking side by side and the Hulk just throws a side punch to Thor and Thor goes flying off screen. Another entertaining scene is when the Hulk tries to lift Thor's hammer and finds his own weakness for the first time, he can't lift something made only for a god.

We mere mortals have always looked to the heavens or some fantasy land for something or someone either better or infallible to aspire to and watch over us. It shows that we know that we are smaller than the entirety of our experience in the world. Sometimes, I think that the smallness, can be overwhelming and so superheroes are welcome in our world.

A difficult state of mind

Tags

balance, discipline, emotions, negative, postaday2012, psychology, self esteem

I don’t what is up with me today. I woke up this morning with a fleeting memory of a bad dream connected with my teenage years involving angst and turmoil. I’m unclear what it was about but it hasn’t led to a good feeling about myself. My hubby and I have had quite a few laughs despite my inner sadness which won’t shake off.

As I was walking the dog, I kept feeling these strong cravings, the sort that involve doing what my best friend and I used to do in high school, go to the corner deli and buy all the potato chip flavors they had, bottles of soda, cupcakes, ring dings, brownies and ding dongs and just pig out. These cravings come and I fight them off because I know that the only thing that I will feel after giving in will be complete and utter disgust at myself. So after I talk myself down from these cravings and responsibly waiting them out, they always die away after a good night’s sleep, I feel better. But before that, it isn’t pleasant because I find myself wishing that I were back in control like I used to be in my anorexic days. I always squash that thought because that is just bad, bad, bad. I would never want to go back to those days. I told my ob/gyn the other day that I was too tired to be a true anorexic. It takes a lot of energy and discipline to do it well. I’m just too tired and I have learned that no matter how much weight you lose, I will never be satisfied. I know because I lived it. I wasn’t satisfied at 110 lbs, or at 105 lbs or at 95 lbs or a even 87 lbs, I still thought that just five more pounds and I would be at the perfect weight. At that time I didn’t realize that there was never to be a perfect weight, it was never skinny enough. That realization is one that I came to when I got back to living with recovery and that took about two decades. Knowing that I will not be satisfied at weights that are unsustainable helps me to not engage in dangerous behavior such as restricting caloric intake or going nuts with the exercise. But it does make me infinitely sad that I will never be happy with what I look like, that I look in the mirror and all that I see is a distorted image of someone, who apparently only resides in my mind, and no matter what others say to me, I never believe them.

The good news is that this mood usually only lasts a day, once I sleep, I will wake up to a better mood, all this sadness probably fueled by hormones (I like to blame my hormones) will be forgotten. I am not joking, this will be forgotten and optimism will be at the helm once more.

My room at age ten

Describe in great detail the room that you slept in when you were ten years old. What was the light like? What were the furnishings? Leave out no detail!

I grew up during the school year on 24th Street in Astoria. The summers were spent with my family in France where we played musical bedrooms every summer. In the States, I shared my room with my little sister. It was a rectangular room with her little bed on the right and my bed on the left for the first few years and then we graduated to bunk beds that were on the right side of the room looking in, the far wall had the only window in the room. That window looked out towards Astoria park, the East River and the Triboro Bridge, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. Our view was spectacular at night, with the lights gleaming from the bridge, they made very pretty images on our walls. Directly across from the bunk beds was my dresser and to the left side of the dresser was my bookcase with all of my Nancy Drew books, Agatha Christie books, Art Linkletter's Encyclopedia series, the Black Stallion series and the Kathryn Kurtz' Camber of Culdi series. Our closet was next to my bookcase and at night I used to have to imagine painting all of the horrible images that would crop up in my imagination coming out of that closet with thick white paint so that I could go to sleep. That closet and its inhabitants used to scare me to no end. The white washing of my imagination did work because it took time to paint all of my mind into a pristine white canvas and I would fall asleep doing it.

That was my room until we moved away at the age of seventeen where I finally got my own room and even though I went away to college, I still kept it because I didn't stay away for long, just a year and I came back home to go to a local college. I really didn't like dormitory life.

The Blandford Historical Society had a great night

Tags

events, guests, Peace Corps, postaday2013, presentations, refreshments, speakers

Last night was really interesting, it was so much fun to see three people who I have known for several years as they were in 1968. All three; Bonnie, Chips and Chuck were just out of college in 1968. Bonnie was a newly wed and she embarked in her married life with her new husband off to two years in Tanzania. Her slideshow was devoted to pictures of her students, their school building and the local scenery. She talked about the living conditions, lack of indoor plumbing, excess of insects and the necessary adaptations to the local cuisine.

Chips showed us his pictures of Niger and his time at the village with his students. The poverty level was even more devastating in Niger than in Tanzania. When Bonnie and her husband had been in Tanzania, the British had just left, so their infrastructure was in better shape than in Niger who had been suffering indirectly by the war going on in next door Nigeria. War is devastating no matter how you slice it.

Chuck showed us his travels throughout Chile. He wasn’t a teacher, his specialty was in forestry and his project was to plant trees all around his area. The town that he called home was dirt poor and the surrounding area had been deforested through necessity borne out of poverty. He engaged the local council and the townspeople all the way down to all the children in town to get saplings and planting them along the roads and shanties, not only to beautify the community but also to minimize all the erosion that was plaguing the region.

I have to say that the whole evening was quite enjoyable; I feel that I got to know my fellow Blandfordites a little better (my cookies were a hit) and it is quite nice to see that a program launched by President Kennedy in the spirit of “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” is still doing well.