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 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." CHARLIE CHAPLIN  Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte        This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts. |
| Prompt: When you were first beginning writing, who were your literary inspirations? What did you learn from their writing? Are they still as inspiring? ===== In the very beginning when I was far too young, a set of children’s books by Comtesse de Segur were read to me, to teach me how to behave. There were several children in those books, but Sophie was the one I felt a certain kinship to because she always got in trouble although her ways were understandable, at least by me. As soon as I learned to read, The Little Prince was the book to impress me greatly. I am sure it inspired me in some way, but I can’t say which. After I wrote my first poem at eight--- it was about a violet, the wild flower-- other authors and poets began to have an effect on me. Of my middle to high school years, my true inspiration came from Rumi and Dostoevsky, both introduced to me by a lit teacher. Rumi opened my eyes to a feeling, a certain feeling of love for the divine and behavior because of it, something lofty that I hadn’t noticed in religion or in any other superficial spirituality. Since I refrain from talking about belief-related things in this blog, this is as much as I am going to say about Rumi. Coming to Dostoevsky, I adored him, and still do. His work, especially the Idiot, showed me the innocence of a true human being, his ability to forgive, to accept people as they are, and to be as one is. Dostoevsky’s novels point to a world of mystery and wonder. His characters live in a parallel reality with depth of internal dynamics and give-and-take of ideas – not the reality that is around them, although the real world around them exists and they live and survive within it. Then, at the drop of a hat, the author turns, deftly, villains into heroes and vice versa. Even the dialogues in his works have an experimental, introspective quality, with questions and answers reminding one of the Socratic method, and yet, turning the interactions among characters into very lively exchanges. Yes, Dostoevsky and Rumi are still inspirational for me.  Prompt: What are your writing goals for this fall? Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Entering contests? Blogging? -------- I am now doing NaNo Prep. I don’t know how it will come out, but I’ll try for NaNo, as I have been doing almost every year. My blogging may suffer a bit, but I’ll try to write in my blog at least once in a while. I don’t know about contests. Sometimes, an idea strikes and I do, but I am not much of a contest person, in general. Usually, I like to write what I want to write in one of my book items on the site. Above all, my favorite type of writing is free-flow in a notebook with a pen, whenever I fine the extra time. |
| Prompt: "Time unfolds beauty, wonder and mystery to reveal the auspicious tapestry of life." What are your thoughts on this? ----- Life weaves its tapestry by interlacing good and bad threads. The good and the bad has to do with our thinking more so than what the events or actions may be in their absolute realities. As such, something good may evolve from something bad, and there’s always the hint of the bad in what we consider to be good. Consequently, it is possible to face our fears without giving in to them, to keep our focus on what we need to be grateful for, and to recognize the ins and outs of life as parts of our experience on earth. Challenges may not be our destination, but they let us gain personality and character, make our living more interesting, and fill our journeys on this planet with insight. |
| Prompt: "The true painter strives to paint what can only be seen through his world." Andre Malraux Do you think this applies to writers and words as well as painters? Write anything you want about this. ------- That is true. The quote does apply, but it also applies to our imagination’s sight and insight. If I am writing something fictional, I can only write what I can see, feel, and imagine. I think that is why most of us writers have as their main character in a story, a writer or someone who is working in a vocation similar to the day-job they have. Or else an enormous amount of extensive research is waiting for them with dubious results. If I am a writer of realistic fiction, don’t ask me to write about a brain surgeon, and astronomer, or a computer geek. I can still write stories about those people, but I’ll either need help from people in those jobs or I’ll imagine their life and omit a lot of important facts. I can also see in my imagination’s sight other realms, universes, or fantastic beings, but still, into them, I’ll reflect my ideas, feelings, and experiences. |
| Prompt: October is approaching, what are your plans for the month? Writing, personal life, work life? ==== October is the prep month for NaNo. In the earlier years, that is 2009 and on, I used to start thinking about the novel from months earlier, which, I believe gave much better results. Unlike last year and now. Last year and this year, it is nada, zilch. I had and have no character, no genre, no idea, nothing. My only consolation is that last year I did okay with 64906 words at the end of November; although the novel was less than satisfactory. Last year’s novel is faulty mainly because I ended up feeling friendly toward the main character and didn’t let her have a bad time in the end. Here is a writerly advice: Don’t ever like your main character or feel as if she/he is your friend. This advice is mainly for me. Consequently, I’ll think, drink, and eat writing in October. At this point, it isn’t a good idea to even think about November, let alone make the 50K with the word count. While writing this, another idea occurred to me. From the onset, I’ll give to the main character a personality flaw that I hate in real people. How’s that for planning! The work life and the personal life, whatever is there, I’ll have to deal with. When things spring up, I go ahead and deal with them, and make the time for writing in some way. This October I have a whole bunch of appointments, which will be a pain, but I can survive. I just hope I can do this NaNo thing, again. In short, I’m excited about October and at the same time, I’m terrified.   |
| Prompt: We've all watched movies at some point or another. Have you ever studied a movie from a writer’s point of view and broke the movie down? With this in mind, what two aspects make it a film versus a book? What's your favorite movie? Why? Remember we're looking at this discussion from a writer's eye. ------ I neither like nor watch movies all that much anymore. I am foremost a reader, always. There was a time, though, when we went to the movies every week, which I am talking about a few decades ago. Among my favorite movies of long ago are Casablanca and Dr. Zhivago, and if I jiggle my memory more, I may come up with several others. I don’t think I have studied a movie from a writer’s point of view, except for Casablanca, and I am sure what I liked was the direction, filming, and the actors. This is because between the movies and books huge differences exist. If I read any book, I don’t want to see its movie because I expect to be disappointed, for I know how most movie makers mess up perfectly good books. On the other hand, they usually do better if they adapt a short story to a movie. Yentl comes to mind in this category. Then, if I see a movie, I stay away from reading the book as chances are I’ll be upset at how the movie industry messes up perfectly good art. Among the good books I read that they made a movie of is Emma Donoghue’s Room. I have refused to see that movie because I loved the book. Most of the time, in my opinion, when people adore a movie, it is the actors’ perfection they take notice, not the script or the original book. For example, Tender Mercies, Terms of Endearment, and Steel Magnolias were the movies I loved when I first watched them. I will not read them now in book form, after watching them as films, even if some of them were novels first. |
| Prompts: Friends give us the courage to lift the blinds on our hearts, to open up and show what we generally keep hidden from the rest of the world. With this in mind, write something about friends. ---------- I so agree with the prompt. Friendship is one of the strongest interpersonal bonds. It is not easy, however, as it demands time, effort, and being in the same place with the other person. Most friendships bring a support of each other, a lot of joy, and not too often, some strife. Most of us, even loners, depend on our friends to face the life’s ins and outs that spring up on our way. As such, I’ve had several very good friends in my lifetime. Most of them can qualify as a best friend for one time or another. With most of my friends, I am not as in touch as I would like due to life’s demands, time constrictions, and the distances as to place between us. Prompt: "There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves." Joe E. Wheeler Write anything you want about this. ---------- Autumn is the waning of the brightness of summer and therefore is attributed to life in one’s later years. They are nostalgic from that point of view. From a practical point of view, the fallen autumn leaves make good compost for the soil or can be used as mulch for the flower beds. Moreover, they help provide wonderful photos and paintings, plus the famous song, “Autumn Leaves.” leaves sing of decay in lovely lavish colors fluttering from trees |
Prompt: Is it important to provide different points of view, evidence for and against, and/or different possible interpretations of evidence, for an argument, a debate, or essay writing? What could be a good example of a fair argument? ----- I think it is important to provide as many sides to a debate as possible. If preparing for a debate, it is a good idea to list the debate points and the framework and limits of the main theme. Usually, a logical point and an ethical point is there. Sometimes an emotional point is also introduced. Since each speech is timed and each round has a different purpose in a debate, it is imperative to study the matter at hand thoroughly, beforehand. In an argument or essay, however, the writer needs to have a stronghold on a concept or belief and has to stick to it while interpreting the pros and cons for it and may consider offering different ways of looking at the subject. For a fair argument, it works better to set some fair fighting rules beforehand. Without set rules, people usually get emotional and as a result, making sense suffers. For example, a fair argument could be about capital punishment by providing the percentage of people on death row and their backgrounds. Even if capital punishment is justified in some minds, “If the background has had a hand in the crime, do we have the right to put that person to death?” is a good question that can be argued in a debate. |
| Prompt: In your writing, do you use real-life settings (as to place) or made-up settings? What are the positives or negatives of each choice? ------ I do different things with settings. Sometimes a setting, whether it is from real life or made-up, becomes a character for me. If so, I have to be really attentive to it because a character puts a heavier responsibility on the shoulders of the writer. Most of the time, I place my story in a made-up town in a known state or country or a neighborhood in a crowded city. Also, the era/time of the place, especially if a real one, has something to do with its usage. I can’t have a victim call a friend or the police on his cell-phone during the sixties and seventies, for example. We had no cell phones then here in the USA, and if anyone had something similar to it, they probably were with the CIA or they paid millions for one. For me, setting as to place is something to consider seriously. for that reason, I always draw or use a map. Real-life settings are instantly recognizable and can draw the reader in immediately; therefore, even when writing fiction, I have to be perfectly correct. I can’t put a bookstore or a mall where a park stands, for example. Real life settings are recognizable by name and can make the readers conjure up certain associations with the place. For this reason, I sometimes use the name of a state but put in it an imaginary town. Made-up settings, on the other hand, let me off the hook from using the real facts. I can, in fact, alter the entire reality of the place and I may even place my story on another planet or galaxy. If so, I usually draw a map even with more detail because the reader's attention to detail becomes even more precise. What makes a story, in my opinion, is not the place or the setting but the characters and the plot. Still, the setting is usually the frame the picture is shown in, and we know how important frames are to any work of art. |
| Prompt: Mabon-- aka the Autumn Equinox. Happy Mabon, Hello Fall. Of all the food choices typically served in the fall, what's your favorite main meal> Dessert? Tease out palate with delightful descriptions. ------- Oooohhhh! Now you got me! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies… coupled with apple cider. I used to have a large garden in Long Island with seven apple trees in the back and I made our very own apple cider to go with the pumpkin anything. One year, I tried to raise them myself but the season was short for the vines and also, we had lots of trees around. My pumpkins ended up as dwarfs. Creeping vines need lots of sunshine or a very long season. Thus, we bought the pumpkins from a pumpkin farm in the area. John Greenleaf Whittier has a poem titled, The Pumpkin. I like this poem a lot because it refers to the earliest history known to us as: “With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold, Like that which o'er Nineveh's prophet once grew” Then he goes on to mention several different places the pumpkin spread its leaves and then, the pumpkin pie. “What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye? What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?” And he’s so correct because a pumpkin pie is a custard and a pie in one swoop. Now, what can be better tasting than that! ---- Here are the photos of my kids from 40 some years ago.   |
| Prompt by Lyn: "Riches are not from an abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind."~ unknown Your thoughts, agree or disagree? What do you think is a contented mind? ====== I am guessing that when you are young, you are less contented, and when you mature, which doesn’t mean getting old in years necessarily, you understand more and appreciate more and therefore your adjustment to life has more contentment in it. Abundance of worldly goods, what we own, the quality of our abodes, clothing, food, fame etc. counts for nothing compared to the abundance that is freely given to be shared by all of us. I think what we think we own we don’t because after we die, we don’t even own our bodies. Life is full of riches as it is whether you hold ownership to specific things or not. Look at the people around you, the variety of us, isn’t it rich? Look at nature, stars, universe, moonbeams, kittens and other animals, trees, flowers, plants, ocean, waterfalls…Look at people who can love, those who love everybody, those who are generous, forgiving, full of good wishes…If this isn’t abundance, I don’t know what is. Incidentally, this saying is attributed to Prophet Mohammed. It is called a Hadith in Islam. |
| Prompt: "Aflame in color, poets have written, borrowing the language of fire to describe trees in their full glory-fiery-red sweetgums, sugar maples igniting, birches alight in yellow flames. Okay, writers what are your views on this? ====== If this were a movie, it would be called a wide shot, with a poet sitting in the foreground and fiery words flying overhead clapping their red wings. Of all the colors of fall, --gold, bronze, yellow, saffron, and orange--, red seems to stand out in representing fire, but fire has many different colors in it. Just light a match and watch. I always notice more bright yellows and oranges in a flame; then sometimes, even a bright blue color edges it. Depending on the region, autumn can be fiery, icy, cold, warm or hot. We don’t have autumn leaves where I live now, but we did, many years ago, and those leaves and trees were stunning, but truthfully speaking, it was a backbreaking job to rake and bag all those leaves from a two-acre yard with about 200 tall deciduous trees of every kind. Still, I loved that house in the middle of the woods. It was like a bird’s nest. Of every house I ever lived in, that one still stands as my favorite. |
| Prompt: You have to take time to stop and smell the roses. What do you think this phrase means? ---- I think it is a warning which means, slow down before it is too late. We always have too much to do and not enough time to do all we want or need to do. This has nothing to do with the amount of work or the length of the workweek. Those of us who are retired are probably busier than the time when we had careers and children. All this makes us rush, resulting in anxiousness, heart palpitations, distraction, and a few other ills. The demands are there, with no whitewashing that fact either, but we are the ones who burden ourselves with the perfect (in my case, near perfect to faulty) execution of meeting those demands. If we only handled the priorities first and tried not to be so perfect and then took time for ourselves, we would enjoy life more and notice the beautiful sides of it like the roses and other elements of nature. |
| Prompt: In what ways, do you think, animals especially cats show affection to humans? === Most animals, even the wildest ones, understand about affection and can show it in their very special behaviors. The reason we get in trouble with them is because we are not aware of their ways of being. I love all animals, but especially cats. With dogs, you know immediately that the dog loves you. Chances are all dogs love everyone, especially those who are kind to them. I used to have a NewFoundland and despite his large body, he didn’t have an unfriendly cell in it. Granted, not all dogs are NewFoundlands, but most carry a friendly gene, somehow. On the other hand, cats only show affection to the humans they have adopted. I had cats all the time when I was growing up and I still miss having a cat. Like everything else about them, cats can be subtle about their show of affection. A cat may not look at you in the face, but it may turn its back and purr especially if it is taken your lap as its eminent domain and you are in the process of stroking its fur. If a cat looks at you and blinks and shows its belly, it means it trusts you and likes your company. Then, in extreme situations, it licks you either to groom you or to comfort you. When I was a teenager, my mother became very ill but refused to go to the hospital. Not knowing what to do, I was downstairs in the kitchen preparing the concoction her doctor had ordered. While doing that, I lost it and began to cry non-stop. My cat, then, jumped at the table and began licking my face, purring and making sounds at the same time. To this day, I don’t forget it and whenever something goes awry, I feel his touch emotionally and it still comforts me. Cats will do that for us. They are very effective in their own special ways.  Prompt: Jonathan Heimberg says, “Difficulty is the price we pay for everything worth having.” Do you agree that every dream, goal, or thing worth having is designed to be difficult? If so, why? === No, nothing has to be too difficult, and I bet, things weren’t designed to be difficult for us. True, some perspiration is needed to bring a project to its completion, but I wouldn’t call that a difficulty but the price we pay for what we want. I rather think that it is us who make it all so difficult with our unattainable dreams and the lack of willingness to work hard and, at the same time, give up our habitual comforts. Also, it has to do with our modus operandi, which points to most people like me who foster a bit of perfectionism in their expectations. Sometimes, all-or-nothing-at-all idea just doesn’t work, and we’d better face that. |
| Prompt: Deborah Spark was discussing reading Chekhov in an article in Writer's Chronicle. She noted reading differences compared to our age. In the article, she said she hated Chekhov when she was young but loves him now. I did too! For that matter, in high school, I hated Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. I love them both as an adult. What about you were there books you read as a younger person and hated but as an older person now love? ===== I adored Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Balzac during my teens, with Dostoyevsky in the lead. I was totally in love with the Idiot. Well, that didn’t change much, except for Balzac and the existentialists. I am not too keen on them anymore. I was also very much impressed with Montaigne’s Essays, then. Nowadays, there are really good essayists that don’t make me miss Montaigne. As for Jane Austen, she made me sick. I thought she was gross and I avoided her books like the plague. The same with Fitzgerald. Not anymore, though. I appreciate Austen now, although she’ll never rise to Dostoyevski’s stature. Also, in eighth-grade lit, we read the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, which I hated, and just maybe, I still do. During my young years, I was a lot into the Greek and Roman dramas, especially the tragedies of Sophocles. I don’t think I have read a play lately, though. This is because, nowadays, I like to see plays on stage, but unfortunately, we don’t live close to Broadway anymore. Later on, I was really into Paulo Coelho’s works, but not all that much, at this time. I also like the works of the Bronte sisters, all three of them. Then, Joseph Conrad’s, Tolstoy’s, Steinbeck’s, and Dickens’ writings are in my “like” section, too. Of the Contemporaries, at the moment, I am really into the writings of a young Swede, Fredrik Backman who was born in 1981 with books like Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer. So far, I have read A Man Called Ove, The Deal of a Lifetime, and Us Against You. I am working on the rest of his books and will continue to do so, as long as he keeps writing. Before Backman, I went through loving and reading most of the works of Daphne Du Maurier, Pat Conroy, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Jodi Picoult, Alice Sebold, Dean Koontz, John Banville, and Jack London. I also like Faulkner, but I have yet to read everything that he has written. Then, there are books that have singly left a lasting impression on me like Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Emma Donoghue’s Room, Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima, and Weike Wang’s Chemistry. Then, once every two or three books, I read a book written by a newbie writer or some lightweight fun-to-read books like the Outlander Series, Harry Potter books, Stephanie Plum series by Sue Grafton, etc. I am sure there is more I can write about, but these are the names and books I can recall, at the moment. --- Note: You got me to talk about books. I had to push myself to shut up.  |
| Prompt: In postmodern 2018, we live in a culture that is separated psychologically economically, racially, and technologically that it is difficult to sustain our belief in Homeric style metaphors. By this, I mean stories that speak to all of us and in a sense offer e bind us together. So with this in mind, what image or images (metaphorically) depict our soul, you know show us to ourselves and offer us mutual solace. Or have we reached a time when creativity is fallow, flat and useless and we've exhausted our mutual understanding. ----- Within the context that I understand what the prompt means, I don’t think things are that bad. I suggest those with such dark thoughts and beliefs read history, and by history, I mean the earliest of known times. Even though the world’s population was not as numerous as now, the personal safety of everyone and the safety of every town or state in the world were in danger. ALWAYS! In our era, with the exception of World War I and World War II, we are lucky to be alive, let alone the fact that we are prospering and enjoying the finest technological advances. And there is more understanding and cooperation in the world, in spite of those who believe in and foster dark thoughts and lies. We can all travel much faster and easier and we all have friends from all over the world through online friendships, for example. What seems to be a hitch or a boulder on the road is only temporary. If we think right and act correctly using our minds instead of panicking due to our bluish feelings that make us freak out, which by the way, are encouraged and nourished by the lies of the moblike anarchists, we can live through anything. Moreover, we can make things work better and more efficiently for ourselves and for the generations after us. Because I think this way, I don’t need to search for solace. The solace is in our existence and actions. In other words, the sky is not falling. |
| Prompt: "When one is home, he dreams of adventure. When one is on an adventure, he dreams of home." Thorton Wilder Do you agree with this? ===== Not really, if by adventure Wilder means traveling. On the other hand, if he means an exciting experience with potential danger, one can have such an experience while being at home. Those in the hurricane’s way, today and tomorrow, for example; if instead of evacuating, they plan to ride the storm out, they are facing a risky and bold adventure without leaving their homes. I hope everyone will be all right, btw. We went through that hurricane thing a few times, and although I wasn't much affected, the people who were staying with us were frightened and took the whole thing very badly. Coming back to the quote, if Wilder meant traveling, at the time when we were traveling a lot, it was fun and I enjoyed it then, but I wouldn’t call sightseeing or living in a foreign place for some time an adventure, unless it includes stuff like skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting and things like that. Come to think of it, I’ve never dreamed of such extreme sports in the first place. My favorite adventures come from good books. Also, in old age, I became a homebody. So, wherever I am, I dream of home and good books. |
| Prompt: It's creative Saturday, folks. You've got the job of writing for a local newspaper about the soon approaching pumpkin festival. ------ Since it is the season for Fall Festivals, our news crew is now planning its annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We hope you accompany us, the crew of the PSL Gazette, for three days of pumpkin fun. The Festival will be held during October 29, 30, and 31, mainly on the Village Square with all the local churches, schools, and other organizations in attendance. This yearly event will last for three days with games, crafts, and pony rides to the Jerry Johnston Homestead and Farm. The Zombie Prom and the Super Spooky Halloween Dance will also be part of the Festival both to be held inside the Presbyterian Church on consecutive days. Then, our Morningside Library is planning a pumpkin extravaganza, its details hush-hush, on the lawn in front of the library. This year, the Mayor of PSL came up with a surprise addition, which knowing our mayor, is not a surprise as he is in the process of designing a Haunted House at the JZ Museum, where Halloween crafts and pumpkin-carving contests will be held. As you all know, our mayor loves to carve, especially our purses. Just kidding, folks! Don’t let those freaky pumpkins go to waste. See you at the Festival! Prompt: I don't know about you but there are never enough hours in a day. I came across this article. What appeals to you? Or do you have your own secret tricks to make your day longer? https://www.thefactsite.com/2018/06/make-your-day-last-longer.html --- None of the five options appeals to me for dipping in regularly, but they are all good to use when needed. Fact is, I like the length of the days as they are. When a day feels elongated or shortened, I am out of sorts. For that reason alone, I dislike the twice-yearly time change, as in fall back, spring forward, even though it is just one hour. On the other hand, I have some days, however rarely, that I wish would end so I can start the next day afresh. Prompt: "In revisitation and remembrance, we bring back that which is not always fresh in the mind but always familiar to the heart." India Hicks What are your reflections on this? --- I think she means this: When we value a memory, reminiscing it doesn’t quite match the real thing. For example, we may like a certain song, say Hey Jude by the Beatles, and recall it even with all its words, but it is not the same as hearing the Beatles sing it. It is even worse when we don’t remember who the Beatles were.  Prompt: What does it mean to be resourceful? --- Being resourceful is thinking of the best way in a short time to handle a situation or a problem. Then what a person doesn’t have on hand to use for a certain job, he or she can always substitute something else close by or easier to get. Ideas and people are also liable to be changed or substituted. Prompt: Talking about word plays, Albert Einstein said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” In what ways can you decipher this quote? Any additional ideas to it? === What counts or what is important to us counts, but not everything that may be deemed as being important by others can be important for us. For example, seeing well, having a good eyesight, is important to me, but erasing the wrinkles around the eyes, although everyone is making such a racket about it, doesn’t mean a thing to me.   |
| Prompt: Do you like writing or have you ever written poetry? What does poetry do to its poets and readers? And do you think writing poetry is important especially for the writers of prose or fiction: Why? --- I have always loved poetry first for its meaning, then for its play on words. In fact, my first writings were poems when I was very little. Not everyone loves and understands a poem because a poem can be extremely personal and sometimes only its poet may know what he or she is trying to say. Then, sometimes, because of this, a frustrated reader will say, in a polite but passive-aggressive fashion, “I appreciate how you felt the need to write this poem.” Poetry in addition to being therapeutic for its poet and even for its readers, it helps them to understand people, be it from a specific perspective. It also helps to understand and appreciate the significance of the words, to improve ideas and to develop writing skills and the art of creative expression. A prose and fiction writer who also writes poetry tends to become more of an artist with spirit because he or she has explored the boundaries of language and its best usage to describe feelings and has organized the experience the poem is about. When read aloud, poetry is music, sounds, beats, and rhythm, and because of this musical quality, it helps the memory to retain what it is saying. This is why small children like poetry set to music. The best way to appreciate poetry is to let it to wake us up to the poet’s feelings and to new ideas and the art of usage and to let it communicate with the deepest parts of our beings because this is how poetry humanizes us. Prompt: Let's consider this on creation Saturday for discussion. Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde, is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who was impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new mood in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the portrait, rather than he, ages and fade. Dracula, Bram Stoker's character also had the capability of never aging. Have you read both books? Were you aware of the similarity in their two books? Do you think Wilde and Stoker influenced each other's work? ----- I saw the movies of those two books. I didn’t read them. As a genre, horror rarely talks to me, although I’ll read and write horror if I can find some meaning in it. Then, I never read a book if I have seen it in its movie version first because I am partial to books, and also, if I read the book and see the movie later or vice versa, you can be sure I’ll hate the movie. As to these two authors influencing each other’s work, it is definitely possible. In addition to self-expression and presenting one's views and art, literature has to do with becoming influenced by other and usually earlier writings. This is why the fairy tales and the Greek and Roman tragedies and comedies have been used over and over through the centuries while taking a different meaning or form with each use. Then, when all is said and done, human psychology is the hinge that opens or closes all doors, and good role models have always been impressive as they motivate us to do a good work with whatever we set our minds upon. |
| Prompt: Here's a strange question that might get some ideas flowing. Where do spiders and stars overlap? After all, John Donne found inspiration with a flea. Have fun! ==== Spider on the Window Pane Golden lights in the night sky sprinkled, queerly brimming on a huge inch-long spider inside its thick, complicated web living between the glass and screen honeyed sparkles on a brown body on the window pane flickering, wildly strange, both constellations from different worlds like the two of us in our web one whose head reaches the skies the other, the earthbound me. |
| Prompt: "Color affects us emotionally, it evokes different feelings, represents memories and completely changes our spaces: it's a joyful thing we all interpret in unique ways." Louise Townsend Write anything you want about this. --- On this, I’ll have to say, to each his own. I think this idea has to do with Newton. Ever since Newton passed white light through a prism, it has been the honor and duty of all art teachers to teach the color wheel to their students. With all the importance given to the different colors then, isn’t it an expected result that they are considered—or imagined--to have separate and different effects? Let’s take a look at the established psychology of colors: White=-- purity, innocence Black –-- evil, unhappiness (By the way, these top two colors sound racist to me) Red—Love, excitement Blue—Calmness, sadness Green—envy Yellow—warmth, energy Purple—wealth, mystery Brown—reliability, strength Orange---enthusiasm, attention Pink—romance, kindness To tell the truth, I am not sure if any color evokes any such feeling or impact or if a feeling that it evokes is not the result of a national, religious, or tribal conditioning. After all, as humans, we are all suggestible. Although in the distant past of humanity, older civilizations have used color therapy on patients, it is not a given that such therapy works in reality. After all, older civilizations believed in and prayed to false idols and natural things and phenomena. Talking for myself, I love black and I wear it often. I also love blues, purples, and greens. For some things I like some colors, for other things other colors. It depends on where I want to use any color or colors. All colors are beautiful for me, and I believe my mood at the time affects the way I see any color, and not vice versa. |
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