Backed into a Corner

It’s a mild wet Thursday morning and the sun is streaming through the clouds. It’s the kind of day that reminds me of spring. A sharp wind. The smell of wet earth. The sound of birds and squirrels chittering in the trees above me. Crows and pigeons fighting over food debris. I’m hoping the natural world helps crack me open a bit. I’m feeling oddly angry and melancholy today. Going introverted and back into a dark corner in my head. Stuck and frustrated with things. I get that I have the power to change my current situation. * head in hands * Things feel a bit more impossible today. Too much self-doubt coloring my perspective. Strange how just the other day I was talking to someone about some of my past experiences, that conversation reminded me of some of my finished projects and just for a moment I felt proud over the things that I have accomplished in my life. Today, I’m having a major backslide in the other direction.

All I see right now is the half dozen unfinished projects…plays yet to be written, my novel still a mangled mess (on hiatus for three weeks), and scraps of poetry littering the bottom of my purse on pieces of scrap paper and post it notes. I need to finish something or I may just lose my damn mind. I just feel static and stagnating from lack of movement (both physically as well as with the creative work). Spring is coming and it’s a good time to have something in a more finished state to put work out to a larger audience. The brain is on fire with impatience with myself. Yesterday I had a crappy day at work, I went home, stared at my ceiling and listened to Pearl and the Beard. I didn’t have anything left to try to put something down on paper.

One of my exes told me once that she was working some admin job, it paid just enough for rent and food and not much more. Anyway, during this time she was invited to perform one of her pieces at Lincoln Center for one of those up-and-coming play festivals. It was a weekend event, so she had three nights of putting her piece up in Lincoln Center. When Monday rolled around, she had to go back to her cubicle and her admin job, she sat at her desk, stared at her grey walls and did absolutely no work. She told me it was so depressing to have a write-up in the NY Times and to get to do her creative work full on at Lincoln Center of all places and then to have to go back to that cubicle. After a week her boss pulled her in and asked her is she was going to do any work. She was too depressed to really answer and she just nodded at her manager and went back to her desk. She took all the manila folders that were stacked on her desk and pushed them into a drawer, collected her things and walked out of that job. She’s gone on to teach theater and filmmaking in various venues much happier at leaving the cubicle behind, married to a woman she crushed on in high school and living her creative life.

My pragmatic side is having a hard time taking that kind of leap of faith. I want some sort of guarantee that it will all work out. Even as I write that last sentence I have to laugh, I’ve been a creative person since I could string a sentence together and I know to live the creative life means living on faith and perseverance. There are just days when the faith is wearing thin and perseverance is something I used to have when I was much younger. I’m going to chalk this up as winter blues and remind myself that spring will be here shortly.

Anyway, on the music front: Tegan and Sara concert was cancelled on Monday due to illness. Blah!! Rescheduled to play in a couple of weeks.

I’m putting up another Ben Howard video – Diamonds …’cause I can’t get enough of his music.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

A Little Place Called Crazy

I’m right smack in the middle of crazy on this Monday morning. I am finally putting the manuscript aside for a couple of weeks. After attempting to write several endings and being thoroughly unhappy with any version, I’ve decided to put it away and clear my head. I spent most of Sunday cleaning my apartment. It’s needed a scrub down. Bathroom, living room and hallways are sparkling clean. Bedroom is still a mess but we’re not discussing that at the moment. I managed to run some errands and buy a much needed laptop battery to replace the warping version that was in my MacBook. Ergh!

I asked the salesperson at the Apple store if they would be able to properly recycle the old warped battery and he said he’d absolutely take it off my hands but he wanted to know if it was leaking contaminants. Without missing a beat and as straight-face as I could manage, I replied, “Probably.” The sales associate took one look at me and burst out laughing. It took him a moment to recover before he went off to look for a compatible battery. It’s always a bit odd at how I amuse complete strangers.

I dashed off to go do some window shopping on Fifth Avenue. There is no point in entering any of these clothing stores because 1) can’t afford it and 2) can’t fit into their very tiny clothing line. Then a visit to Pier 1 to take a look at furniture. My sister announced to me a couple of weeks ago that she’s going to be moving out around mid-summer. * sigh * I’ve had enough time to process that information and not panic (kind-of). Really most of my head space has been occupied over this novel and the news that she was going to move out surprised me enough to bury my head into my story. I sent a few queries out to some friends and I have someone interested in being roommates. So panic has been diverted to looking at the living space and knowing when my sister leaves she’s going to take with her the dining room table and chairs. For the record, I think it’s ridiculous that a dining room table should cost over $1,000. There is no reason why it should cost that much. It’s ridiculous. So I was feeling grumbly over how expensive furniture is, let me revise that, how expensive things are in NYC. And no, I don’t want to buy a table from Ikea. I’m a bit fed up with particle board furniture.

So what’s the alternative? Craigslist? Garage sales? Or maybe, I won’t buy a table. It’s all just “stuff”. Perhaps a bit more bare existence won’t be so bad. This morning, on my way to the train station, one of our neighbors decided to throw out their couch (in the middle of the night) and leave it out on the front lawn of the apartment building. Really? It will snow with freezing rain today and that’s how they decide to dispose of their old couch. People just boggle my mind sometimes.

Tonight I am off to see Tegan and Sara in concert at the Beacon. This duo is a guilty pleasure of mine and I can’t wait to see them live. Yay! Dancing around to live music is exactly what I need to shake off these Monday grumbly blahs. Peace, L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

grumbly

I woke up feeling grumbly this morning. If I was a little kid, I’d be on the side of a road somewhere kicking a tire over and over again. It’s a hiding-under-the-duvet kind of day. But alas, there is much work to be done. The ending to my story is not working, which makes me feel crummy and whingy. It just lies there like a corpse. Ergh! Maybe it’s time to just let it be. Put it in the drawer. Let it rest for the next three weeks and come back to it with fresh eyes to start on the revising process. * sigh *. I’d just really hate to leave it where it is at this point because it’s not working. What to do, what to do, what to do. * rubbing my eyebrows off * It’s a cold rainy Wednesday and I want to scream. I’m just unbelievably frustrated, I feel deadlocked. The story’s run amok again and I don’t know how to fix it yet. I need a new profession because I absolutely suck at this creative writing bit. Now I have to sit in this quiet corporate office with too much time on my hands to twist myself up over this story, which is a special kind of hell made just for writers. I should give it another stab, go back to the place where my protagonist enters the Headquarters, and her plan goes awry. How do I get the others there? I keep leaving her allies behind. She doesn’t trust them. There are all these ulterior motives for each of them but they are necessary in this last confrontation. I need to focus on my day job obligations first…that should take me until noon to finish out then I should have the afternoon free to write. Hope so…let’s see how the day pans out.   Wish me luck
Peace,
L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

What Day Is It?

Hmm, it’s been 10 days since my last entry and I’m trying to collect my thoughts as I write this entry.

I went to see the movie Silver Lining Playbook last week. I thought it was an intense movie in the very beginning so much so that I almost walked out of the theater. Cooper playing the part of Pat reminded me too much of my ex-brother-in-law. I got fidgety and uncomfortable and I really wanted to leave. But I stayed put and kept watching and the movie shifted when Lawrence character Tiffany stalks / jogs Pat. The humor started to emerge and the movie snuck up on me and won me over. DeNiro is fantastic as Pat’s dad. I know Jennifer Lawrence is the new “IT” girl because of the Hunger Games movies and I told someone recently that she struck me as a flat character actress. But I was reminded that she was amazing as Ree in Winter’s Bone. A little indie movie that came out a couple of years ago. Silver Lining Playbook a decent movie and I’m glad people are checking it out now that there’s so much Oscar buzz.

Let’s see my latest music obsession is Pearl and the Beard. Little indie music group from Brooklyn. Their music is on perpetual play on my iPod. I picked up both their albums, Killing Their Darlings (2011) and God Bless Your Weary Soul, Amanda Richardson (2009). I love, love, love this group and I’m attaching Voice in My Throat to this entry. More people need to know about them because they are too fantastic to miss. Lovely music.
Lastly, work on the novel is still moving along. I find myself fighting to go back and make major revisions. I’m just trying to reach the end at this point. I’m closer than I was yesterday.
Best,
Lily~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Make Good Art

Neil Gaiman gave a commencement speech back in May 2012 and I just listened to it in its entirety and I want to share it with all my creative friends out there. I love Gaiman’s writing, graphic novels, children’s books, etc, etc. In fact, I scare my small nieces with his Wolves in the Wall book…they love to be frightened. My sister hates me just a little for it because then she’s dealing with them waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares. Teehee. Auntie Lily is a bit naughty. Anyway, thought it would be a good inspirational piece for anyone who is having doubts about their creative life.  May this light a fire in your belly. 
Peace,
L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Les Misérables

I went to see Les Misérables last night and I bawled my eyes out through 2/3rds of that movie. Anne Hathaway emoted such despair that I could hardly breathe through “I Dreamed a Dream.” Hugh Jackman as Valjean was raw and heartbreaking singing “What Have I Done.” And then Eddie Redmayne as Marius singing “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” left me weeping into my tissue. Those songs were the highlights for me in this film. There were others of course but rather than list all the songs I thought I’d mention my favorites. Russell Crow was decent when he sang his songs on his own but harmonies he could not do…good try but singing opposite Jackman is no easy feat. At the end of the film, I was emotionally wiped out. I woke up with my eyes swollen and red from all the tears I shed during this movie, I looked like a bloated frog. I love being swept up and carried away by a musical in that way. It also shows me that the climax of my book needs to have more emotional investment. Right now it reads too bland. Too “eh.” It’s missing a beating heart and watching that movie last night reminded me of that fact. I think I’m going to buy the soundtrack and write the ending to my book while listening to it. Perhaps it will inspire a more glorious ending. * sigh *

OH MY GOSH-I completely forgot to mention Samantha Barks as Eponine singing "On My Own." I loved, loved, loved her rendition of the song.  :-)
Peace,

L~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Happy New Year!!

Okay so I’m a bit slow on the uptake. I’ve been hyper-focused on the novel these last couple of weeks. Three new chapters, 45 new pages and I’m almost done with my draft. I can see the end…I think I have two and a half more chapters to go and I will have reached completion of the story arc (I hope, eek). The revision process will probably be more intensive around these last five chapters but I’m feeling really good. Today, I managed another 1,775 words without too much drama. I’ve also made plans to meet up with someone to help me with some the technical aspects to give the language a little more authenticity next week. I fake it really well but I’d like just a bit more techie lingo from some computer savvy folks.

It’s funny I started my days trying to think of some new year goals and in procrastinating with the goals list I started working on my novel instead. Hehehe. So on top of my to-do list in 2013 goals.

Hope this New Year brings everyone blessings of health, serenity and abundance.
Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.