Bitty Blog

I spent Monday writing. Thank goodness! I thought for sure that I was never ever going to know the “what next” of this story. To be candid, I still don’t quite know yet but I plodded through a couple of more pages. My brain wants me to make changes and edits NOW but I need to finish out the story arc before I start going back to add/delete/change what I’ve written so far. Otherwise, I’m just going to get stuck into a loop of the same three or four chapters without a coherent sense of either the climax or the ending. I thought for sure my disposition/mood would lift instantaneously with a few more pages under my belt. But that doesn’t seem to be the case and I continue to grumble my way through this icy rainy day.

My day job has been very busy of late. Year-end reports and a new batch of candidates / recruits are working their way through this office and I seem to be playing the role of traffic cop. I don’t mind busy…it keeps my brain from spinning out of control. However, I find myself dreaming about white sandy beaches and clear blue water. It might be the winter blues…yes, it could be that. And day dreaming about beaches really doesn’t help matters…in fact, it makes me grumpier. Hehehe. Yes…I giggled because even I know how pathetic I sound at the moment.

I do have to say that my little African violet has a handful of purple blossoms open at the moment. It’s a lovely burst of color in this very beige office. And the color helps me deal with the people in this office who throw hissy fits when things don’t go their way. Yes, apparently adults can be toddlers too. Is it wrong to openly laugh at them? Hmmm?


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 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.

Room

I spent last night and early morning reading Emma Donoghue’s novel, Room. The protagonist is a 5-year old boy and it’s written from his point of view. I thought if I couldn’t do much in the way of writing, I may as well read/research for my novel. Since I have some young characters in my story, I thought this book would help give me ideas on how language is used in the mouth of a young child. But this novel doesn’t seem to work for me for that purpose. Wait, that’s not quite right. On the one hand, the fact that this child has a limited world view works really well. So there is some leeway in the way words and language are manipulated. However, this heavy-handed version of child’s point of view is difficult on this reader. I found myself trying to skim through parts to get past the very young introverted portion of the character. It’s a difficult balance. At times, the language is ballooned but those are the times that I am pulled out of the story.

I am a big fan of Emma Donoghue and this is not a review of her book…I am looking at the craft of this particular novel in relationship to the science fiction story that I am trying to write. My mind is circling around the “what next?” of my story and the answer right now is “I don’t know.” At times, I really want to give it up and just move on to work on some poetry or a short story just to get me writing again. In fact, this blog entry is helpful to understand the way I’m thinking about this story that I’m trying to develop.

This week, I worked on some loose sketches for some painting projects down the line. Playing with some color helped to chill out this frustrated mood I’ve been in. It’s not completely gone but the bad mood is not the only thing I see now. The last couple of days have been bittery cold here in New York City. The wind burns the edges of my face but the cold feels good. It reminds me that I am alive and awake and I can move forward with my novel. 


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 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.

The Piano Teacher

So over the weekend in my quest for rest and recovery time I watched a french movie called The Piano Teacher.  This was a dark twisted movie and in my current state of mind appropriate.

There is a moment when the protagonist Erika begins to crack open to let another human being in and I was rooting for her to find love and get her happily ever after but it went terribly terribly wrong. (I should have know, it is a french film after all.) And the moment it goes wrong it was heartbreaking to watch.  She is this broken creature too damaged to let love in.  And when the young love interest tries to fulfill her desires, he in turn is tainted with the damage he causes.  It's absolutely devastating.  The story has stayed with me for the past couple of days now.  It hasn't let go, there are scenes that replay in my head and I want her to make another choice.  It's a long film, close to three hours, and at the very end...I still wanted her to be well enough to reach for what she craved most.  The ending is brutal for a hopeless romantic like myself.

The movie made such a deep impression that I wanted to share it.

Lily~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 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.