Tag Archives: Inspiration

A Year in Books/Day 207: Romancing the Ordinary

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  • Title: Romancing the Ordinary A Year of Simple Splendor
  • Author: Sarah Ban Breathnach
  • Year Published: 2002 (The Simple Abundance Press/Scribner)
  • Year Purchased: 2002
  • Source: It was a Christmas gift from my mom.
  • About: There is something a bit stale about most inspirational books that are directed at women, or maybe I don’t have the proper constitution for that type of thing. Either way, I was surprised to discover that Romancing the Ordinary, although a trifle flowery in spots, is actually inspiring. I know, I know. Hear me out. These are the reasons I love this book: 1) It’s easy to use. Twelve months=a dozen chapters. In other words, I can take an entire month to read a chapter. It’s such a slight commitment that it does not take serious time away from my other reading. 2) It’s guilt-free. Romancing the Ordinary isn’t a self-help program, but a reminder to slow down for three seconds and attend to your own needs. It’s a how-to guide in relaxation, if you will. 3) It doesn’t try to make you a better person. If it did, I would have pitched it years ago. 4) It is full of quotes, and we all know I love quotes. 5) Most of the books quoted from are fabulous. Anything that turns me on to books I’ve never read, especially intriguing ones, is a winner. 6) It has recipes. The Rice Pudding is delectable. 7) Even though I haven’t tried 85% of her ideas, I don’t feel inadequate. Who needs that from a book, anyway? I take what I want, dismiss the rest, and go on my merry way. 8) The underlying message. Perhaps it is an elaborate way of saying something very basic-“Hey there! Always remember that alone time is great. Don’t let yourself get lost in the demands of the every day.”-but it is a reminder we all need on occasion.
  • Motivation: My mom bought a copy for someone else. After they raved about it, she decided that I would find it enjoyable, too.
  • Times Read: 3 or 4
  • Random Excerpt/Page 208: “I am now an orderly woman. By this I mean, I am a woman who reveres order. But I am not the neatest person. I have always been a messy girl, and not so long ago, in an effort to embrace my imperfection, I came to the awareness that I will probably always be a messy girl.” (Ed. note: Ahem. My husband would say that this reminds him, quite powerfully, of me.)
  • Happiness Scale: 8 1/2

Daily Diversion #37: Card House Kafka

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It lives on a shelf above my desk. I look at it when I need to loosen my thoughts, daydream.

House of card

House of card

The card was made in Nepal and purchased in Montreal, but it reminds me of Kafka, Prague, and my artist friend Jack. I wonder, do the windows creak when they open? I’ve never been dreamy nor drunk enough to find out. Pity.

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 22nd-24th August

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  • Dorothy Parker was born on 8/22/1893. “Take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves.”
  • Kate Chopin died on 8/22/1904. “To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts-absolute gifts-which have not been acquired by one’s own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul.”
  • Ray Bradbury was born on 8/22/1920. “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.”
  • Edgar Lee Masters was born on 8/23/1869. “To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness, But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire-It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.”
  • Jean Rhys was born on 8/24/1890. “A room is, after all, a place where you hide from the wolves. That’s all any room is.”
  • Malcolm Cowley was born on 8/24/1898. “Be kind and considerate with your criticism….It’s just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book.”
  • Jorge Luis Borges was born on 8/24/1899. “Art always opts for the individual, the concrete; art is not Platonic.”

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[All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and are in the Public Domain]

 

Daily Diversion #36: Then You Realise That You Got to Have a Purpose*

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I came across this whilst wandering around Half Price Books last night. It called my name to the scream of a punk beat. “I’m yours, yours, YOURS, Maeeedezzzzzzzzzzz!”

Route 19 Revisited

Route 19 Revisited

How could I resist, especially on the eve of Joe’s birthday?

Route 19 Revisited, The Clash and London Calling

Route 19 Revisited, The Clash and London Calling

He would have been 60 years old today.

*From Clash City Rockers by The Clash

Voices from the Grave-Joe Strummer Birthday Edition #1

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For one day only, I’m switching from literature to punk, from the imagination to concrete humanity. Today is dedicated to Joe, on what would have been his 60th birthday. He had a heart bigger than the world, and lyrical ability to match. With compassion, clarity, and righteous anger, he, along with George Bernard Shaw*, pointed me in the only direction I am meant to face.

One of my favourite songs by The Clash.

My wedding song.

I still cry when I watch this video.

*If you think they are an odd pair to be so heavily influenced by, in equal and often parallel  measure, please check out the Pinterest board I have dedicated to them: As Far as Thought Can Reach. It might not offer an intellectual explanation, but it is fun to see them side by side.

[19 August 2012] This Week’s Lessons in Reading and Writing

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What I’ve (re)learned in the last week.

  • The rush that comes with writing fiction is like nothing else in the world. It feels entirely different from writing reviews or essays; not better, just different.
  • Liking writers, artists or performers is one thing. Enjoying fictionalized accounts of their lives is another. Some of these books are wonderful; others are boring or just plain bad. I am currently reading one of the former and one of the middle. The disparity in levels of enjoyment is huge.
  • Outlining an entire story and writing the opening 3 paragraphs in your head whilst still in bed is the best way to start a day.
  • I feel sexiest while tapping away at my keyboard, trying to bang out everything that is in my head before it dissolves into nothingness. Even though I am usually wearing yoga pants, a tee, too much moisturizer and a baker’s dozen of hairpins.
  • Taking five books and three magazines (and my Nook) on a road trip lasting 60 hours, start to finish, somehow does not seem excessive.
  • The WordPress community is just that: a community of supportive, wonderful, mostly awesome people. Some of them even allow you to write short stories based on their photographs. Thank you, lovelies.
  • Even when crazy shit happens (like this), reading a book makes it better.

[15th August Inspiration Board] Visually Inclined

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My writer’s brain requires a lot of different stimuli to keep on churning fast enough to function. A slowed down thought process is detrimental to my creativity. If you jumped out on the obvious limb and guessed that I probably have a hard time meditating, you were correct. Although I relish being alone, I do not handle quiet well. I need noise: a slightly too-loud television, a wide-faced Labrador crunching on a bone, a cat scratching on a door frame, low but audible music (The Clash or Patti Smith) pulsing from my laptop, discordantly lovely street noise breaking in through a few open windows, dogs racing and barking down the halls. Sirens. Car alarms. Screaming, skittering children. The sound of my bare feet beating against a table leg. A bus breaking to a stop. I could write with a baby squawking in my face. Noise. It’s beautiful. Continue reading →