After my two weeks with Lack of Internet, I have found that I am really a habitual blogger. And I like it. I like that I set aside time and energy to get my thoughts together and form them into something people read. I have never been the best at keeping a journal, but for some reason blogging has some quality that has kept me going for nearly two years and two blogs now.
This isn't a farewell, by the way. I'm not going anywhere!
The following are excerpts from books, movies, or things I have come across that have inspired me, made me laugh, think or otherwise impacted me in the past week:
I remember receiving a letter from the American publisher Harper Collins that said that: "reading The Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise while the rest of the world still slept." I went outside, looked up at the sky, and thought to myself: "So, the book is going to be published in English!" At the same time, I was struggling to establish myself as a writer and to follow my path despite all the voices telling me it was impossible.
-Introduction to The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
^ Side-note: One of my old professors taught me to always read introductions, dedication pages and the like, instead of skipping over them to get to page one. So much is explained or can be inferred from these pages.
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
-Acts 2:28
The next morning I awaken to the sight of Zoe in her lavender polka-dot nightgown, standing on her tiptoes with her nose and palms pressed against my bedroom window. I study her earnest profile and the way a patch of her hair is spiked with static electricity.
I finally break her concentration and say, "What's so interesting out there, Zoe?"
She turns, runs over to the bed, and says, "It's snowing, Aunt Claudia!"
"Really?" I say.
"Yeah! Come look," she says.
I follow her over to the window, remembering how thrilling snowfalls were as a child. Now snow simply signals inconvenience, particularly in a city that quickly turns into a dirty, slushy, slow-moving mess. But I forget all of this as I look outside with my niece. I even feel a twinge of disappointment when I see only a few scattered flurries and no accumulation on the ground.
"It doesn't look like it's going to stick," I say. "Just your standard November tease."
...
"If it sticks, can we go sledding in the park?" Zoe asks.
"Sure," I say, as I think of how emotions seem so magnified when you're a child. Joy is more all-encompassing, disappointments more crushing, hope more palpable.
-Baby Proof, by Emily Giffen
Rebecca: (thinking to herself) Rebecca, you just got a credit card bill of $900, you do not need a scarf.
Mannequin: Then again, who needs a scarf? Wrap some old jeans around your neck, that'll keep you warm. That's what your mother would do.
Rebecca: You're right! She would!
Mannequin: The point about this scarf is that it would become part of a definition of your- of your psyche. Do you see what I mean?
Rebecca: No no no I do, keep talking!
Mannequin: I would make your eyes look bigger.
Rebecca: It would make my haircut look more expensive.
Mannequin: You would wear it with everything.
Rebecca: It would be an investment.
Mannequin: You would walk into that Allette interview confident...
Rebecca: Confident!
Mannequin: And poised...
Rebecca: Poised!
Mannequin: The Girl in the Green Scarf.
-Confessions of a Shopaholic, the movie
In summer, the song sings itself.
-William Carlos Williams
This isn't a farewell, by the way. I'm not going anywhere!
The following are excerpts from books, movies, or things I have come across that have inspired me, made me laugh, think or otherwise impacted me in the past week:
I remember receiving a letter from the American publisher Harper Collins that said that: "reading The Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise while the rest of the world still slept." I went outside, looked up at the sky, and thought to myself: "So, the book is going to be published in English!" At the same time, I was struggling to establish myself as a writer and to follow my path despite all the voices telling me it was impossible.
-Introduction to The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
^ Side-note: One of my old professors taught me to always read introductions, dedication pages and the like, instead of skipping over them to get to page one. So much is explained or can be inferred from these pages.
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
-Acts 2:28
The next morning I awaken to the sight of Zoe in her lavender polka-dot nightgown, standing on her tiptoes with her nose and palms pressed against my bedroom window. I study her earnest profile and the way a patch of her hair is spiked with static electricity.
I finally break her concentration and say, "What's so interesting out there, Zoe?"
She turns, runs over to the bed, and says, "It's snowing, Aunt Claudia!"
"Really?" I say.
"Yeah! Come look," she says.
I follow her over to the window, remembering how thrilling snowfalls were as a child. Now snow simply signals inconvenience, particularly in a city that quickly turns into a dirty, slushy, slow-moving mess. But I forget all of this as I look outside with my niece. I even feel a twinge of disappointment when I see only a few scattered flurries and no accumulation on the ground.
"It doesn't look like it's going to stick," I say. "Just your standard November tease."
...
"If it sticks, can we go sledding in the park?" Zoe asks.
"Sure," I say, as I think of how emotions seem so magnified when you're a child. Joy is more all-encompassing, disappointments more crushing, hope more palpable.
-Baby Proof, by Emily Giffen
Rebecca: (thinking to herself) Rebecca, you just got a credit card bill of $900, you do not need a scarf.
Mannequin: Then again, who needs a scarf? Wrap some old jeans around your neck, that'll keep you warm. That's what your mother would do.
Rebecca: You're right! She would!
Mannequin: The point about this scarf is that it would become part of a definition of your- of your psyche. Do you see what I mean?
Rebecca: No no no I do, keep talking!
Mannequin: I would make your eyes look bigger.
Rebecca: It would make my haircut look more expensive.
Mannequin: You would wear it with everything.
Rebecca: It would be an investment.
Mannequin: You would walk into that Allette interview confident...
Rebecca: Confident!
Mannequin: And poised...
Rebecca: Poised!
Mannequin: The Girl in the Green Scarf.
-Confessions of a Shopaholic, the movie
In summer, the song sings itself.
-William Carlos Williams
1 comment:
I like that you put on Confession Of A Shopaholic dialogues, what a self justification. I love that part, I'm like that when I shop unnecessary things.
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