Friday Five 04.18.2014

5 things I read this week ending 4.18.14:

• Sweet little article from TeenVogue with popular authors explaining how to become a published writer. Takeaway: It's hard work, and there's no perfect path. Nothing in this article was new to me, but I just love reading things directed at teens telling them how to pursue their dreams--realistically.
  
• Sarah Negovetich on writing a newsletters that is actually interesting to readers. Takeaway: It's not all about you! Also, get a mailing list. I'll get working on that. :)
  
• This really amazing post from YA Love on are teen girls seeing themselves reflected in what they read--for themselves and for school. Read this. Takeaway: The short answer is yes, in what they choose, and NO, a big, fat, glaring no, in school. I accept the limitations, that this is one survey from teens at one school, BUT, having been both a teacher and a teen girl, once upon a time, it all rings true to me.
  
• A really great (old) article from the LA Times on how the musical acting was acheived in The Red Violin. I adore--adore--this movie. I've watched it a billionty times. If you have any interest in music and the interweaving of tragic stories, watch it! Takeaway: "The story is more concerned with the violin itself than any of its transient caretakers, and [the director]'s  challenge was to make his audiences care deeply for an inanimate piece of wood." And you do!
  
• Another stop at Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog for a post by Michele Weber Hurwitz on comparison. For the second time in two weeks, comparison is the thief of ... (a brill little quote from Teddy Roosevelt) caught my eye. Because it is, and I am as guilty of it, while trying not to do it, as anyone. Takeaway: "While glowing reviews and awards are certainly wonderful, I've come to realize that rewards arrive in many forms, and often the best are the most heartfelt, touching, and personal."

What have YOU been reading?

All the thinking thoughts and The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Yesterday, a really great long early summer day, started with an amazing morning—one of those mornings where as a mom of a young kid you wonder when you’ll ever ever get again. But my young kid is getting less young and this particular morning she was content with my presence rather than my undivided attention, so I finished a book. And I loved it, the morning and the book.

Sara Zarr’s The Lucy Variations was an amazing book, but even more that maybe it was an amazing book for me. I got this book, in my heart and in my head. Maybe it helps that I was a musician in my youth. (Not like Lucy, not at all, just a slightly better-than-average high school musician, but I felt that connection.) It was really more than that though. Lucy’s world intrigued me in a very real way, yes, but I loved three things best about this book:

• The beautiful imperfection of every character. I can’t give a higher compliment than to wish I could someday write flawed people half as well.
• The way it’s made me think. Not about the book, though I continue to think about that, but about not the book. About my life and the world and a hundred different things not connected to the prose except by my own brain. I read a lot to not think, and so many books I would read for thinking I can’t anymore, since I’ve come to know too well that though they’ll be wonderful, they’ll be unhealthy for my mood and my psyche for days/weeks/months to come. This book was different. It was not a comfortable book, which is part of (the heart of?) its brilliance, but it was not a dark book. It was hopeful and thoughtful, and for this particular reader, I suppose that’s the perfect storm.
• The way that it is a love story, but NOT a romance.

I gave the book five stars which, in the way of music competitions, may be jumping the gun, because this was my first audition, so to speak. Lucy was my first Zarr, though I’ve got Sweethearts on my Kindle, and seems not her best-received by audiences so far. I recognize why—how the world may not interest everyone and especially how the uncomfortable nature of much of the story would be, well, uncomfortable for a lot of readers—and suppose I admire it even more for its challenges. The ears of the judge matter as much as anything, and this book found its perfect listener.

Even though I read a lot, book reviewing like this isn't usually my thing... But I wanted to gush about this book and had no reason not to! You can always follow what I'm reading on the tab up at the top or on Goodreads.

Thankful Thursday #10

On an overall less than awesome day, today I'm thankful for: my daughter singing


She's small still, so it's only her first attempts at singing, but they're great. She tried out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in the morning, and then at bath time, she tried singing a song from kids' music hour that she didn't seem at all interested in while we were there. Even when it seems like they're not listening, they are. Today it made for a nice surprise!

What are YOU thankful for?

Friday Five #2

Happy Friday! Today's topic:

5 songs that make you cry

1. 100 Years--Five For Fighting
2. The Freshman--The Verve Pipe
3. The Christmas Shoes--NewSong
4. Don't Take the Girl--Tim McGraw (or practically every Tim McGraw song)
5. Steady As We Go--Dave Matthews (It's a good cry though--this was my wedding song)

And Go!

Kreativ Thanks

Last week I was graciously offered a Kreativ Blogger Award. Many thanks to Adam Gaylord, the interesting guy who plays words with ungulates.

Here's the stuff you're supposed to do:

1. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the ten questions below.
3. Share ten random facts/thoughts about yourself.
4. Nominate seven worthy blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

And here's what I'm going to do: 1 & 2. Maybe I'll come back to 3 at some point. The first stuff is like what I used to love about Myspace--all the silly surveys! (Remember when you went on Myspace?!) I'm going to beg off the nominating though, because I really just don't do that stuff. I'm lame, and tagging is just not for me. If you're reading this, please know that I think you're awesomely Kreativ and I offer you the award. Feel free to take the survey!

Without further ado, all the random you ever wanted to know about me...

What's your favorite song?
I don't have one favorite this-is-my-favorite-song-ever song. Here's a current song obsession though:


Hoping to get to see them at the Newport Folk Festival this year.

What's your favorite desert?
Another glass of wine.

What ticks you off?
People who brake for no reason on the highway. And the Westboro Baptist Church.

What do you do when you're upset?
Sleep it off. A new day usually brings a new perspective.

Which is your favorite pet?
I love my pets equally. Here's evidence that they love us too, or at least tolerate our human foolishness for treats:

Which do you prefer, black or white?
I love them both equally. When in doubt, which is pretty much always, I wear one or the other. Much like my wardrobe, my current WIP features the entire grayscale heavily.

What is your biggest fear?
The older I get, the more I fear harm befalling the people I love.

What is your attitude mostly?
Um. I'm an optimistic realist.

What is perfection?
This weekend it was Saturday night, sitting under the Big Dipper with a warm fire, a cold beer, and my husband.

What is your guilty pleasure?
Romance books. Though I don't really feel guilty about that.

Words and Music

I love words and I love music. There's so much power in both of them, how words bring ideas to life, and music brings emotion to words. Together, they're magic, music and words.

 Once upon a time, I was a teacher. Early in my student teaching, my cooperating teacher did the most miraculous thing: The students had all just finished reading (or not) and, for the most part, hating The Scarlet Letter, but nearly all of them rocked the final assignment. Why? Because their task was to find a song--any song, any year, any genre--that personified a character, relationship, or major theme in the story and eloquently explain and defend their rationale. Their choices, and presentations, were amazing, even the kids who barely cared about showing up to class let alone completing homework assignments. Especially those kids, actually. Some of theirs were the best. Given the opportunity to find something they actually cared about and connect it to something in school, they thrived. No, assignments can't always be that fun, but every once in a while it's a beautiful thing. I learned a lot that day and, more importantly, so did the kids.

So what's all this ruminating about? I was just reading Delirium, a poetic book where love is, literally, forbidden. Coincidentally, or maybe it was fatefully, I was also listening to Dashboard Confessional. On came their song, “The Secret’s In the Telling,” and I got lost in how perfectly it seems to encapsulate Delirium. Now, I can’t stop thinking about both of them. Novel and song have a deeper connection in my brain and in my heart. Beautiful.

Words and music. Magic.