I Can Relate

Last week, my family followed the horror story of the plane crash in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The media here has forgotten it, of course, but in Brazil they are still playing it up.

My heart goes out to all of those people who lost loved ones in this accident. The incident strikes close to home, for me, in many ways. I grew up in Sao Paulo, and in fact lived practically next door to that very airport for awhile. Every time the planes took off or came in, they would cause interference with our TV. I flew in and out of that airport many times with my parents. Picked up friends and family at that airport.

Then my husband tells the story of one of the victims. Heart wrenching as all of these stories would be, this one really got to me. The interview was done with a father, 41 years old (DH just turned 41 on the 18th) who lost his 14 year old daughter on that plane. (Our oldest daughter is 14.) An over protective father (like my DH), he finally consented to letting the girl take this trip on her own. While she was waiting to get on the plane, she called him on his cell phone and said something to the effect of, "Daddy, thank you so much for letting me do this. I love you so much and I'll never forget it." Or something like that.

Those were the last words he would ever hear from her mouth. And I broke into tears immediately, because I pictured the girl with my daughter's face, and the dad with my husband's face. He is one of those "overprotective" dads and he would have had a very hard time letting his 14 year old fly anywhere on her own. I couldn't help but think of that poor man and the remorse he must be feeling right about now. If only he'd held out just a little longer...

But we can't spend our life thinking what if, can we?

I pray that God will bring grace and comfort to all of those grieving at this time. And to the family of the pilot who was, at least at first, taking most of the heat for the accident.

Real Life or Entertainment?

Yesterday my husband brought home a newspaper article that he wanted me to read. I just looked it up and, yippee! The article is online as well. Click here. So if you haven't read the article yet, maybe you'd like to do so first. Or maybe not. Either way, I have a few things to say about this article in the Daily Iowan, written by Mr. Paul Sorenson.

While I do agree with him that, speaking of youngsters, it's "hard to list all the crap they consume these days..." I cannot completely agree with him in his attack on Disney. I've seen alot of Disney movies where I've rolled my eyes, shaken my head and cried, "Why???" Ok, melodrama aside, I have been pleased with some of what I've been seeing on Disney. Hey, each person has a right to his own opinion, and I understand what Mr. Sorenson is saying. But I think he has missed one vital point. Entertainment. We live in a world where kids deal with harsh reality every day. But for half an hour at least, young people can get away from that and enjoy a good, clean show that will make them laugh a little.

See, I'm looking at this from the side of the entertainer. I write fiction. There's this terrible (IMHO) trend these days, that says fiction has to be true to life. You know, tragedy and sad endings, because that's how life is. We read books and say, "Oh come on, that would never happen." Well duh! It's fiction! Entertainment is meant to be, well, entertaining. And entertainment should serve as a coffee break, a little recess to take us away from the realities we deal with all the time.

Should entertainment teach lessons? Well, sure. It should. Even fairy tales had morals to them, but who really wants to be preached at in their entertainment? I'm not suggesting that Mr. Sorenson is advocating such a thing, but I do maintain that I think he missed the whole point of entertainment.

Writer's Woes

Have you ever been working fast and furious on a WIP (work in progress) and suddenly you lost your inspiration? Or then maybe you just lost your enthusiam for it?

That happened to me recently. Getting words on the page was like pulling teeth. I was happy if I got 200 words written. Then suddenly, in one single afternoon, I got over 6000 words done. I was thrilled. You know, doing the Snoopy Dance and all that. So the next day, I sat down at my computer. Cracked my knuckles over the keyboard. Rolled my shoulders. Sat back in my chair. Placed my fingers on the keyboard...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I forced it. Got maybe 250 words written, hoping the creativity would start to flow. But it didn't, and I finally gave up and read a book instead.

So I have no answers, only questions. If you're a writer, has this ever happened to you? Do you know how to get out of this floundering in a pool of unenthusiasm? I've heard "just write." It didn't work for me. Maybe I didn't try hard enough? Tips and advice welcome. :)

I've Been Tagged

So I've been tagged. :) What fun! I know this post should have gone up last Friday, or even Monday. Well, yesterday...um...and then today my computer's electrical cord bit the dust. So I'm only now getting to it.

I'm supposed to list eight fabulous things about my husband and me. Ok, so here goes.

1. We're both July babies. His birthday is 12 days after mine. Same year. (So for 12 days he tortures me because I'm so much OLDER.)

2. He plays the piano. I sing. We do well together. :)

3. We may be from the same month and year, but we are like day and night. Even out tastes in some things (like music, for example) are directly opposite to each other. But it doesn't bring about much conflict. It's like the saying, opposites attract. That's us. :)

4. We were both born in Brazil, making us both Brazilian citizens, but we are both American citizens as well.

5. I'm a natural born American, because my parents are both American. DH is a naturalized American.

6. We have been happily married for 17 years.

7. We were married on April 7, the day after my parents' wedding anniversary.

8. We both believe we have gypsie blood in our veins. We have moved around alot, and it seems to suite us fine. As we age, that will probably change, but the thrill of a new place still fills us with excitement.

So there you have it. I'm not sure how "Fabulous" those 8 things are, but they are interesting little tidbits about us. :)

Books That Grab

I thought I'd switch gears today and discuss something that I originally intended this blog for. Books and writing.

I've been reading a series that has gripped me so thoroughly, that even though I'm into the third book and I'm hating it, I can't stop reading. I LOVED the first two books, but this one--it--I--grr! I was so angry the other day because of the things that happened in the book, that my family asked ME what was wrong. I guess it showed. :)


Without going in to why I was angry--I'm not here to do a review of this particular book--I wanted to explore another thought, one more meaningful to me as an author. Yes, I said up above that I'm hating the book. I really am. I don't at all like what is happening to the characters, but I'm still reading. I couldn't fall asleep the other night, I was so angry, and kept telling myself, it's just a book, for crying out loud! But my extreme anger tells me something else. Any book that would evoke that kind of passion in a reader must have something to it. So I asked myself why I got so angry. Well, because I didn't want those things to happen to the characters. Why? They're just fictional characters. It's not like they're me, or my friends and family.


Well hold on. I do feel like I know these people, and I am as defensive about them as I would be of a best friend or even of myself. Aha! So there's the key. I care about the characters. I know fiction has to have conflict. Conflict is great and moves the story forward and keeps readers turning pages. But the stuff in this book hurt! I mean, really hurt. And that can only mean that the author did a really good job in creating these characters and making them real for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't care.


So tell me, what kinds of books grab you, and why?

Movie Review -- Ratatouille

On the 4th of July holiday, my husband and I took our kids to see Ratatouille. What a perfectly good way to spend our money and our time. The movie is a must see. My husband doesn't usually like cartoons, and he was a little skeptical about going to see this one. But we ALL enjoyed it and hope that when it comes out on DVD that we'll be able to purchase it. It really is a keeper.

The graphics are good, and the storyline is cute. I won't go into alot of explaining about the story line for I'm sure most people have seen the trailers for it. But it's about a rat who has a talent for cooking, who ends up in Paris with a young man who wants to cook but has no talent whatsoever. Together, they make quite a pair, finding success, but also getting into alot of trouble along the way.

The one thing that really stood out for me was the rat's attitude toward humans. One of my complaints about alot of recent movies, especially movies made for children, is the fact they put down humans. The conservationists with their messages of the noble animals vs. the evil humans. That kind of thing that sends confusing messages to kids. I won't go on about this here, (you can read my review of Happy Feet on my MySpace blog if you like...see link below) because that's not the purpose of this post. But I really was pleased with the rat's high opinion of humans. He is warned away from the human world by his dad, who tries to tell him how things are. A good dad, for he's only looking out for the welfare of his son. But the rat sees something special in humans. They are always exploring, creating, discovering new things. And he wants to be a part of that.

That was a refreshingly new approach to the animal vs man portrayals in movies. And that's the kind of thing that kids need to see. They need to have their good qualities reinforced a whole lot more than being hit over the head with "Humans are bad" messages. I think when a child is brought up to be proud of who he is, he will become a much more well balanced adult who will also be more able to see his faults and try to work to be better. Now don't get me wrong. There is always room for pointing out what needs to be corrected. The key is balance.

All in all, I recommend this movie as good, wholesome fun for the whole family. Adults and children, alike, will very likely enjoy it.

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Link to Lianne's Myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=84035422

Go to the View all blog entries then scroll down to Happy Feet. It's older, from April 3, 2007.

Your Parents are Married?

A couple days ago my kids were telling my husband and me about some neighbor children they were playing basketball with. They were asking all the usual questions...and then some not so usual ones. These two neighbor kids live with their mother, who lives with her boyfriend who is not the kid's father. So ok, that's not at all uncommon in this day and age. Sad, but it's actually pretty common. What really freaked me out was the question these two kids asked my girls.

"So your parents are married?"

My kids automatically and emphatically nodded and said "Uh-huh!"

But then I really freaked out at the reaction to that answer. The other two children looked at each other, their features creased with surprise, and said, "That's really weird."

HUH? What is weird about a family where Mom and Dad are married?

So I asked my kids, "Did you tell them that your parents are married, and have been for over 17 years? And that they were both (gasp) VIRGINS (gasp) when they got married?"

My husband gave a humorless chuckle and said, "We wouldn't want to kill those poor kids with that kind of a scare, now would we?"

So what is wrong with this picture? It's bad enough that I must conceed that it's very common to have broken homes, to have a mom living with a man who is neither her husband nor the father of her kids. But when children find it odd that someone's parents actually ARE married? That's just too sad for words.

We are worried about the sanctity of marriage because gays want to be legally married. Well, that's another sad statement, when those who cannot marry are fighting for the right, and those who have nothing hindering them from tying the knot, fight not to. And fight to get out of it when they have taken that step. We've got it all wrong. (Before anyone thinks I'm supporting gay marriage, I'm not. I believe in the Bible's view of marriage--between one man and one woman. It was just a comparison.)

I get so irritated at the way marriage is viewed in our society. Of course, I blame the media (ooo...my favorite villain to pick on! **grin**) for its negative portrayal of marriage. But I don't blame the media alone. Hollywood only keeps spitting out what it thinks America wants to see.

Maybe we should tell those pudding heads that we're tired of their liberal agenda that's brainwashing our children so they can't seem to know what's up and what's down. What's good and what's bad. Ah well...I do miss Mayberry.

America the Buytiful

So happy Fourth of July. :) We had a nice enough day. But I couldn't help but feel a little sad at what I saw on this Independence Day. For the past eight Fourths I was living in a foreign country. There were no fireworks. Everything was open as usual. No families in the park cooking hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. Just an ordinary day. I woke with a bit of excitement today, thinking of this my first Fourth back in the USA.

I am reminded of a song by Rascal Flatts called Mayberry. Maybe you know it. It's one of my favorites. "I miss Mayberry..." it says. And one line in particular, "Where Sunday was a day of rest. Now it's one more day for progress." Well, today was a Wednesday, not a Sunday, but I had the same feeling. Oh sure. The post office was closed. The library. Certain other places that would otherwise be open. But the mall was in full gear as were other places of commerce. What a disappointment. Used to be the Fourth of July was sacred. And it wasn't that long ago.

So what's happened to American patriotism? It's one of the things that used to make me so proud to be an American. That bond that united me with people I didn't even know. We were all Americans, and proud of it.

Yeah, ok, I realize that just because someone opens their store on Independence Day doesn't mean they aren't patriotic. But for me, it just doesn't feel right. We're so caught up in buying and selling. Making money. Acquiring things. I guess this post goes hand in hand with yesterday's, because we're just too busy. How much will it hurt business to close down for one day to honor our great country? I'm not a business owner, so maybe I'm asking that because I'm naive. But I think it's a sad commentary on our society when we are that bogged down by work that we aren't willing to give up one day of our time to spend with family and friends. And let employees be outside in the middle of summer, enjoying some freedom! Isn't that what the Fourth is about? Freedom?

I say we aren't free. Not as long as we are bound to our new sovereign, King Dollar.

Stop and Smell the–er–Take the Pictures

A few weeks ago we took a little trip to Kentucky. A rushed trip, because we rented a car and had to have it back at a certain time or pay an extra day. We passed through some beautiful country, worthy of being photographed. I even had the camera, just no time to stop. As each would-be photograph zoomed by outside my window, I couldn’t help but think of all the missed opportunities.

Life is a lot like that. We get so caught up in our busy lives and don’t make time to stop and take advantage of opportunities. They may be seemingly small, such as keeping our mouths shut to maintain peace. Or then to speak up for a good cause. Or maybe it’s the opportunity to help someone out, even if just with an encouraging word or a friendly smile. Then there are the big opportunities. Like taking time with family and friends to have a little wholesome fun. We never know how long we have on this earth. Or going that extra mile that could win a promotion at work. Most people, myself included, probably don’t even see the things we’ve missed along the way. And maybe that’s best, for how miserable would we be if we were aware? Yet maybe not, for if we knew, then we might pay closer attention for the next one that comes our way.

Are you rushing through life? Slow down and take a few pictures. Don’t miss the opportunities that would make your life more meaningful.