A to Z Challenge: No Reservations

No Reservations at IMDB

Ok, I needed a break, some space, some Margin (last post), and my family and I watched a movie on Friday night that stayed with me through the weekend. No Reservations is a sweet romantic dramedy about a control freak chef who finds her world turned around by her niece and her new sous-chef. I can't say this is a movie that will make it into the classics, but I loved it. It was the perfect blend of drama, comedy and romance that I needed for a "margin" moment with my family.

So what does this have to do with my theme, Creativity Toolbox?

I want to focus on two things from the movie.

First, the title:

 "No Reservations: Life isn't always made to order"

Isn't that true of our creative lives?

Our projects don't always fit the order we intended.

Sometimes we stray from our outlines, and our carefully ordered plans to find new life in a story that's gone stale.

And second, the slowly changing attitude of the head chef played by Catherine Zeta Jones:

 She starts by saying she "Never" does a number of things like she "Never drinks wine at work," she "Never eats in the afternoons", and she "Never dates guys who sing opera." Her "Nevers" have locked her into a box. It's a safe box, but a lonely one.

What Nevers do you have in your life?

Are they healthy "nevers" or are they keeping you from your creative potential?

I'm not saying we shouldn't have standards to live by, just that we need to be thoughtful about those standards. "Never" is a pretty strong word when it starts keeping people out, and keeping our creativity in a box.

A to Z Challenge - Just keep writing those posts!

Creativity Toolbox Exercise: Write a list of 10 things you've Never done, but want to do, then pick one and write a story about it, or create a song, a poem, etc.

Or, take a look at the core of your current project and give yourself a moment of "unplanned" creativity.

Sick Day Reviews

The last few days I've had that stuffy head, sore throat, coughy, dizzy feeling which has been awful. My house is a mess. However, I allowed myself some reading time yesterday . . . actually several hours worth of reading time, in between sleeping on the couch moments. I still have a pile of books I want to read, but I had a bunch of uninterrupted reading time yesterday. Here are my reviews for some  of those books, plus one movie.

Rising Book 1: Resistance by Larua JosephsenLaura Josephsen made my day yesterday. I stumbled across a recommendation for this at Alex. J. Cavanaugh's blog, and out of idle curiosity and interest I went to take a look at the sample chapters at amazon.com. Hooked from the beginning, I decided to splurge and buy it for my Kindle. I finished it last night. I loved this book, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. The main character, Alphonse, is a scholar on vacation when he is thrown into intrigue and chased by enemies of his country disguised as soldiers. I'm afraid to say more, because I would probably ruin the plotline. I highly suggest checking out those sample chapters at amazon.com.

Cassafire by Alex J. Cavanaugh is out! I thought I had to wait until the 28th, but I found it yesterday and purchased the Kindle edition. I'm only 40% into this book, and since I am back to health I don't have a good excuse for sitting and reading all day . . .but I am hooked by Alex's imagination, and the relationships of his characters. Byron may attempt to be aloof and alone, but he is drawn into relationship with a challenging female pilot and a very young linguist who needs his brotherly friendship. Alex's joy-filled descriptions of flight are awesome. Since the Catch Fire celebration of CassaFire is coming on the 28th, I suggest being prepared by getting this book today. I know I sound like a bad advertisement on TV, but seriously, it's a good book and Alex is one of the nicest bloggers I know. Here's the link to Cassafire at amazon.com.

"On her seventeenth birthday, Cassia meets her Match. Society dictates he is her perfect partner for life. Except he's not. In Cassia's society, Officials decide who people love. How many children they have. Where they work. When they die. But, as Cassia finds herself falling in love with another boy, she is determined to make some choices of her own. And that's when her whole world begins to unravel..." - Blurb and pic by amazon.com
Matched by Ally Condie is a dystopian romance adventure that my oldest daughter picked up at the library on Tuesday. Romance is usually not the main genre in our household - everyone prefers adventure, scifi and fantasy, but this book caught her eye and now there are three of us reading it at the same time . . .well, there are three bookmarks in it anyway. I haven't had my hands on this book since Tuesday (when we picked it up) and we are all vying for turns with it. Well-written and intense, the part that truly drives the story forward is Cassia, the intelligent, determined protaganist in love with words and saddened by her Grandfather's death.


In movies . . . well, I actually went to see Journey 2 The Mysterious Island with my family.

And we liked it . . . because we were prepared for a departure from reality, for some fun, and for some laughter. I still noticed that the helicopter scenes lacked realism (my dad used to have a pilot's license and trained me to look for details in movies) and the part with the flying bees made my husband groan a little (how did they "pilot" the bees exactly?) but we still enjoyed this romp through Verne book on film, Hollywood style. My daughters mainly noticed that the directors didn't do much to segue from this movie from the first one . . .we would have liked a line or two about his uncle, or something to tie into the first movie. What happened to all those diamonds? Why is his stepdad footing the bill? Anyway, apart from that it was a fun ride 2 The Mysterious Island. BTW, the best actor in this movie is . . .Josh Hutcherson, just like in the first one even with Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson making quips at each other. One reason my family is looking forward to The Hunger Games movie is that we know at least the actor playing Peeta can act well, so we are hopeful that the movie will be good. 

(photo from IMDB)

So, I know I'm off schedule this week - posting on M, T, and Th instead of M,W,F. I'm not sure what my schedule looks like tomorrow - I may be skiing and going to see Brandon Heath in concert at a local church, or I might be driving to Portland to visit our neice and the biggest bookstore in the world (not that I need any more reading material).

Next week: Evil Genius, and Catch Fire!!!

365 Days of Blessings, Day 146

Giving thanks for all of these amazing blessings and more:

1. Free Family Move Night!!! It's an event my church hosts, and I get to help out. We have a movie on the big sanctuary screens, free popcorn, free candy and free water, and it's really fun.

2. How to Tame Your Dragon for Free Movie Night! I know the movie isn't like the book, but I like both.

3. Feathers everywhere . . . Halloween costumes are still in progress. My daughters are both making fanciful costumes that involve fantastical fairy tale creatures of their own making . . . half peacock, half butterfly, and half peacock, half leopard. This all started with masks purchased inexpensively at a Shakespeare Festival.

4. New, non-leaking skylights, ceiling paint, and new toilet all installed in the upstairs bathroom!!! Now we are waiting for the cabinet (had to be custom for our odd sized bathroom), countertop and shower "surround". My hubby and I have plans for more towel racks, and I'm just excited to see the pieces all coming together.

5. Wonderful friends who are willing to talk out any miscommunications or differences of opinion. I love forgiveness and forgiving attitudes . . . people who are willing to work with others and move forward.

6. The truth sets us free, and there is freedom in knowing that the truth will come out eventually in a particular situation that I've been bathing in prayer on a daily basis. In tough times, God gives me strength. When faced with lies and slander, I have to pray for guidance, for patience, and for the truth to become clear and evident.

7. Art projects with my mom, and my daughters. I'm not an artist, but I like to relax with paints, stickers, glue and messiness.

8. Cardboard houses, painted, and decorated for Halloween.

9. 210 people at movie night from age 4 weeks to age 93. Laughter in the sanctuary. Big smiles on kids faces.

10. The Lord is our greatest treasure.

Scripture Blessings:"The earth is the Lord's and
everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it."
Psalm 24:1

365 Days of Blessings, Day 125

365 Days of Blessings, 125
Random Thankfulness

1. God gives us eyes to see.

2. The blind cat I know, is always determined to be in constant contact with the people she likes. If she hears you, she reaches out her paw, jumps into your arms expecting you to hold her, and burrows her head under your chin.

3. I've heard that scientists have proven that we dream in black and white, and yet I know my dreams are in colors brighter than the ones I normally see.

4. My youngest went to a pickle party - a pickle birthday party, and came home with a jar of yummy treats to be served up on Thanksgiving!

5. My oldest went to a movie with a friend, and her friend's mom.

6. Water is on for the weekend . . . plumbing mainly is done, except the washer and dryer aren't hooked up yet and the upstairs bath is still in progress. Still, one functioning bathroom is better than none.

6. I made pizza, cupcakes, did a little homeschooling, had a meeting with the Pastor of our church to choose stewardship curriculum for Sunday School, dropped both of my kids off for special events, went to a bookstore and only bought a pen, a postcard and a cup of tea after perusing bookshelves for a half hour, oh and went to the store, brought all of our homeschool stuff back home from my parents' house, played super Mario Kart with my kids and lost repeatedly, and somewhere in there had time to write a bit, do a little plotting, and now finish this post.

7. Husband played softball, and that always makes him happy.

8. We have plans to get a new cell-phone soon, very soon.

9. Hershey kisses.

10. Nerf guns . . . they aren't just for the kids.

Scripture Blessings:

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
Psalm 34:8

Currently Reading: The Cry of the Icemark, The Red Pyramid, A Writer's Book of Days, The Bible, and Amazing Grace, along with assorted homeschool books . . . too many to name.