Into the Woods

Hello my dears,

True to my word here I am to tell you about an awesome movie- Into The Woods.

O.k. I haven't even finished it... Ive barely started it... and I wish to tell you a little bit about myself first.


O.k. When I started this blog, I didn't know I was an artist.. I didn't know who or what I was.. other than lost and alone. I just spent my days remembering and pining away... for what?... lost love, wanted love... happiness... lost in melancholy.  

How much I've changed since then.

And I go from watching Spongebob to Into the Woods... In that aspect I haven't changed. I can be a child one moment, a woman the next.

And I am happy to say I am watching Into the Woods, a musical based off some fairy tales all entwined together..... My most powerful impression- Meryl Streep. The woman is a bonafide genius.

So, excuse me, I am going back to finish this amazing awesomeness.

Sincerely, apologetically,

Read Riding Hood

Christmas and The Interview

Hello my dears,

It is a new year! A whole year to fill with blog posts, or at least the whole year full of opportunity to fill it with posts. ... I digress... per the norm.

I hope all of your holidays were enjoyable; mine actually were. This Christmas was one of the best I've ever had. Usually I spend my holidays lost between wanting to love and loathe them. The holidays usually are just a reminder to me of how "un-picture-perfect" my life has always been. The holidays always just pointed out to me just how different I have celebrated them compared to others.

And looking at them now, I see that has been my ingratitude for all that I have.

I have never spent a Thanksgiving or Christmas without food. I have never gone without presents.

Maybe I have had some weird family moments, but honestly, who hasn't?

Maybe I didn't grow up with Santa Claus, or Rudolph, or magic......

But that's o.k.

Because I did grow up with love. And I am grateful for that. Love is everything. Truly it is. I wish love for you all.

I meant to get on here and talk to you about this recent debacle over the movie The Interview, and per the norm got distracted talking about something corny.

Well, I finally watched The Interview in its' entirety. I must say, it had some funny moments. It definitely had some stupid moments. It is just another Seth Rogen, James Franco comedy/drame/bromance movie. I read some people thought this movie actually shed a positive light on Kim Jong un, but I think those people probably fell asleep about an hour and twenty minutes into the movie right before Mr. un showed his true colors... Because [SPOILER ALERT] YES, they portrayed him as an evil dictator in the end.
And I couldn't help but also feel as if Seth Rogen and James Franco were trying to make their own personal statement about the news media and propaganda and giving the people "what they want."

That all being said. I can see how this film is controversial- but I do believe in freedom of speech. And this is just a movie. If people are going to begin saying we should not publicate movies like this, I have to ask why they still allow the book Mein Kampf to be published? That book is voiced by one of the most evil men in history, Adolf Hiltler. We still publish his book, but we debate whether to release a satire comedy, because it is controversial?......I think priorities need to be set. Seriously.

Now...  from a movie goers perspective, this movie was funny, slow at times... I thought the Lord of the Rings comparisons were very dry and only saved by the over eccentric acting of James Franco and the sincere acting of Seth Rogen. [SPOILER ALERT] The Lord of the Rings humor finally did come together somewhat at the end when Seth Rogen loses his fingers at the end like Frodo.... But if Seth was Samwise.. Then shouldn't have James lost his fingers... not Seth?.... lol just saying.....  Anyway....

It was weird, controversial (see how I keep using that politically correct word there) and comical and stupid... and just a movie. I would not recommend this for everyone. If you want to support the "freedom of speech" I would suggest renting it off youtube etc. It is not for children. It is not a "family" movie. It does have graphic violence. But if you enjoy Seth Rogen and/or James Franco, you will probably get some entertainment out of watching this. I did.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I hope you all have a beautiful rest of you weekend. I am going to try to.. and I plan to watch something less controversial, something more light hearted... like the Muppets or something.

much love my dears,

Read Riding Hood

Penelope

Good Sunday afternoon everyone! It is a pleasant enough day, and I am just bursting to tell you about this movie I watched yesterday. It is a glorious and wonderful and sweet and .... odd... and of course cheesy.
 It is called Penelope.

It is about a girl born into a family that is cursed. Any girl born into the family will be born with a pig nose until the curse can be broken by marrying into high society.
For many generations, only male heirs were born... But down the line just about the time everyone has forgotten about the curse, Penelope arrives.. and of course, with the pig snout. Her mother does everything in her power to protect her from the paparazzi and keeps her locked away from any nosy reporters. By the time Penelope is of age, her mother arranges for suitable male suitors to be interviewed to be engaged with Penelope in hopes to end the curse. The boys are not allowed to see Penelope right away, until they have been briefed on how much they will inherit upon becoming engaged. But... "unfortunately" upon seeing Penelope's snout, they all run as far from her as they can. ....

Until one day, due to circumstances, one suitor does not run away.

So begins the venturing out into the world for Penelope.
and brace yourself, I am about to supply spoilers.

She asks the suitor who doesn't run away to marry her and break the curse.... But you see,  unbeknownst to Penelope, he knows he isn't of suitable lineage to break the curse and tells her he can't... "marry her," is the assumption. So, Penelope heartbroken runs away from home to explore the world, and in turn, when he realizes she is chasing her dreams, he is inspired himself to find his place in the world, as well.

They end up finding their places in the world, and they find their ways back to each other.

And I love it most because she realizes, she doesn't need someone to marry her to break the curse, she likes herself just the way she is.

*sigh*  I love that. I wish every girl, every woman to realize, they don't need a man to "save" them.

Every person is capable of finding their place in the world, finding themselves. And also finding love. Because, as everyone knows, finding themselves and finding love are two different things. Sometimes the timing of love is off... and has to be put on the back burner while busy getting oneself in order.... but true love finds its' way, in it's own time.

So have faith my darlings.  Love will find its' way. I know it. I promise it will. I would never promise something I don't believe in. Everything will be ok. I know it.

Have a good night my dears.

Sincerely,
Read Riding Hood

The Princess and the Frog

Good afternoon my dears, I have been so overwhelmed the last week... weeks... I have lost track of the days. I always seem to feel one day ahead too many, and by the time I land on the right day, I start second guessing myself. I'm exhausted; but I will say there is satisfaction in hard work. The satisfaction for me comes from working a hard day, and the following day learning from my mistakes and doing it better the next time. It truly is a luxury to go to work and know that if you make a mistake once, you are given the chance to learn from it. Life is not s
o forgiving. *sigh* But I digress.

I hope you all are having a much more relaxed and enjoyable afternoon. I am now, plopped on my bed, lying like broccoli........ vegged out to my hearts content. Lately I have been zoning out to the children's Disney movie The Princess and the Frog (which I will commence after chatting briefly with you lovies.)

The title says the summary of the classic fairy tale of the prince turned into a frog and only the kiss of a princess can change him back into a human. Disney chose the setting of New Orleans, and the prince is a playboy visiting to marry a rich daughter of a millionaire because his wealthy parents cut him off for being a leach. So, he either marries into wealth or finds a job.... He decides to marry into wealth... Unfortunately for him he runs into a voodoo charlatan who in seeking his own riches, turns the prince into a frog....
Meanwhile! There is a waitress, who loves cooking ever since she was a girl. She has worked two jobs her whole life saving to buy a restaurant, and one night while catering a masquerade ball put on for the visiting prince, she dresses in a princess gown and happens to meet a frog who happens to be the prince.... The prince mistakes her for a princess and makes a deal to help her buy her restaurant if she will kiss him and turn him back human..... So, she kisses him, but instead of turning him human, it just turns her into a frog too.... and so the mayhem begins.

It is a cute movie with catchy tunes and something I am totally too old to be watching, but do I look like I care?... Well, no... I do not. It is a sweet and funny movie with a firefly in love with a star he mistakes for another firefly who he "only sees at night, and she don't say much..."

I know I am like the waitress, I am used to working so much, but I don't know how to have fun, to go out and be social. The people that know the waitress, her name is Tiana, tell her, "girl, all you do is work!".....I feel like that's me. But that's just how I am, I have a goal and I know what I want. And it really is true that when you know what you want, everything is just bumps in the road.

And I wish the same for you all. I hope that you know what makes you happy, and you go for it... And even if you find out later, it isn't what you thought it'd be or maybe your dream just needs a little tweaking, don't be afraid to go with the flow of it. Find what makes you happy, I hope you do. Have a beautiful rest of your day darlings

Sincerely,
Read Riding Hood

BeetleJuice

Hello my dear fellow peepsters, it has been a delightful day of exploration for me. Do you ever decide to try to re-create yourself? Do you ever decide to try to clear out all the old baggage and/or negative debris that clings to you like all that junk that was clinging onto Sarah in The Labyrinth? Do you ever decide to ruthlessly cut away and discard the useless junk and only carry the most important things (which usually end up not being "concrete-things" anyway...)?

I am Constantly trying to do that. It is hard at times, because I am naturally born and raised to be frugal. So, discarding items is a fine line between wasting and just being reasonable; on the other hand, not discarding is a fine line between being frugal and a pack rat.

 An old pair of pants that "could" be altered.....
A wood plaque that "could" be stripped and sanded down for a new art project....

 But am I ever going to take the time to do that?..
Would it Really be saving me time and money?....
Have I So Far taken the time to do any of those things? ...

 Answer:    no.


So, I am clearing away the debris and starting fresh.
And in doing so, I have made room for new things. I read in my Happiness Project journal to clear off a shelf and leave it empty and clean: making empty space can be uplifting because it has clean open potential. Always give yourself room for potential growth, we become hemmed in with all of life's trappings, but try to leave room for your mind to breath, in leaving some open air for your mind, you also are freeing your body.

So, I cleared off a shelf of my own and made room for something new: BeetleJuice. First off, I had never seen this "BeetleJuice" till yesterday. I decided to try it out on that clean shelf and see if I liked it. I do like it, but let me just say... Pre-tty wild. It was not what I imagined for some reason. What did I imagine?.... I don't know... I guess I didn't imagine BeetleJuice being the sort of "savior/villian" he turned out to be. I REALLY wasn't expecting the fabulous adult humor tossed through this either! I had no idea the movie would be more about the deceased married couple and their becoming acclimated to the compromised way of life, well, after-life, they found themselves in. However, despite all of the unexpectedness, I enjoyed it.

Suicide seems to be an underlying topic in this film too. You find out suicide cases become these fairy looking civil servants for all afterlife cases.... hmmmm....  Anyway, I also had a moment realizing, that Wow, I had never really seen Alec Baldwin so young. He's still good looking as an older man, but now I can see why they called him a stud in Red October ( a film I watched vaguely as a kid and have no real memory of it at all.) ANYWAY.

I enjoyed the odd spelling of his name in the movie "BeetleGuese." Michael Keaton is just flipping nuts, man. He's really cool. Think about this for a moment. The man played BatMan. The man played BeetleJuice. He was in The Other Guys. He has played the full spectrum, and is just amazing. Imagine being that open minded. I want to be like that.


So, I am totally being spacey and jumping all over random subjects, so I will shut up and hope you take care my dears, and try something new, trust yourself to do something different and break out of the daily grind. Be safe and have a happy weekend!!

From Up On Poppy Hill: true love is always young love

 Good early afternoon all my dears, it is a cloudy day here, and the threat of rain is hanging over us all.  I am actually off of work and just arrived home from the river. I enjoyed quiet time at the river and I ate my early lunch before coming home and tucking myself up to maybe write, watch some movies, and thumb through some books.








I had the pleasure of watching the latest Ghibli film, From Up On Poppy Hill. I first found out about it a while ago from a trailer on YouTube. Since the poppy is my favorite flower, the title alone drew me in. It is about two school kids in post World War II Japan that fall in love with each other.

I think Studio Ghibli enjoys sharing stories about love, and more specifically, about young love, or love found by people young in heart, people new and fresh to finding true love. Like Howl's Moving Castle, the characters aren't necessarily young, but upon falling in love with each other, the love they share isn't messy, it is pure and adulterated, it is a love that children often find and lose and that adults are lucky to ever find again. The love I am talking about is a love that doesn't stem from lust or loneliness, but a love that sparks between two individuals over a connection. Two people can be a perfect match for each other, but if they don't have that "love" for each other, it's like that saying, "who cares for all the crinkling of a pie, if at the bottom some sweetness doth not lie?." It basically is saying even if a pie looks perfect, if it doesn't taste sweet, no one will care  for it. And just like two people, even if they look "picture perfect" together, if there is no love, what's the point?


As we become adults, we go through experiences that jade us and we begin to look at all our childhood dreams as "childish notions" that should be set aside to "grow up." As little girls we want our prince charming, and as little boys we want our princess, but sometimes growing up, life and circumstance gets in the way and over time we convince ourself that the notion of finding "prince charming" and finding "our princess" is ridiculous and foolish. This is where we are wrong. It is not wrong to hope for our prince, or our princess's, we just have to grow smarter about seeing things for what they are. It is not wrong to love, but it is wrong to stay with someone just because you love them, when all they do is hurt you and never give back the same love you gave them. As young people too often we fall in love with someone that we "see" as our prince/princess, when really love has blinded us and what we mistake as royalty is really just the opposite.
So, what am I trying to say?....
Never stop believing in love.
Never stop hoping for your fairy tale.
Women, We should want a prince charming!
Men, You should want a princess!
But don't go looking for a princess in a slut
and don't go looking for a prince in a player.
And if you want a prince, don't present yourself as anything less than a princess.
And if you want a princess, don't present yourself as anything less than a prince.
AND never settle for less than Exactly what makes you happy.
Learn to recognize what's in front of you, and don't beat yourself up for loving people, you can't help who you love. But you can help what you do and who you get involved with.

Watching From Up On Poppy Hill, I enjoy the belief that true love is always young love, no matter what age it finds us; whether it is like the little children in Ponyo, or these young adults in Poppy Hill.







  ...........