Sunday, June 14, 2020

OMG! It's been too long...

First thing....my latest song obsession GHOST by Kylie Rothfield, produced by Ester Dean. Love Kylie Rothfield's tone, love the lyrics, love this song. It has so much ache and pain that I can't stop listening to it over and over again. You need to put the close captions on because the words are gorgeous. Before I even put it up on this blog, it was making me well up. So good!!  

Gosh, it's been 6 month since I last wrote on this blog. Nothing much has been going on. Pandemic, protests, looting, fires, working from home...you know, same old, same old. Not! 

This blog was always supposed to be about the creative work, my process and even a bit of whinging. However, my day job has basically hijacked my brain for the past year and a half. That's the very short answer to the very complicated question of, "where have you been hiding?" 

I've been working and reading. That's a fair assessment of the past six months.  I've been binge reading on books because I've been out of pace with my writing. I'd rather navel gaze than pick a pen up to write. My sister Ces is (right now) writing a story that she's so excited about that she's trying to finish it, so she can bring over a draft for me to read. Seriously?!  Ugh, I have no excuses. * head hung low in proverbial shame * 

My friend J gave me a couple of cheesy romance novels to read, very niche, very quirky...I won't even bother with the title but the writer in me was appalled at the simple story. The writer's inability to keep to the story arc. The climax of the story was 10 pages from the end of the book. Terrible! So disappointing and formulaic. I won't get back the couple of hours that this 200 page novel took from me. I'm sure you're asking, "well why didn't you just stop reading after the first 10 pages?" The quirkiness of the language kept me engaged and it had some funny literary references that made me laugh out loud. I admit it, I'm a literary geek and once I'm engaged in some way, I need to see it to the end. 

I digress, my point is that reading this book reminds me I am quite capable of writing my own novel/play/story. Seriously!!!  I can't stop saying that word...even in my own head. 

Next week, I'm taking a couple of days off just to give myself a break from work. I am going to spend those three extra days painting my living room (FINALLY!!!) Can't wait. I love painting, it takes me out of my head and the task itself is almost meditative. I've already taken all the books and DVDs out of the bookshelf and piled them on my dining table. If I can tackle moving the furniture out of the way, then painting on my own won't be quite so overwhelming. I was going to reach out to a friend to see if she has time to help but I have a hard time asking for help. There is a part of me that thinks..."I can do this on my own" and only when I'm in my 6th hour of trying to paint edges will I kick myself for not having reached out to friends or family. Stubborn. Like Mule <said in a Russian accent>  The other part is that it's a small space and once I move furniture, there won't be much room to navigate. Better to do it on my own so no one gets hurt.  Ha!

The last bit that I wanted to share is that I tried out for a playwriting residency with a NYC theater. I received my rejection letter at the beginning of this month. What a bummer! My creative life has taken a dramatic turn AWAY from where I had hoped to have been with produced and published work. Does that last sentence even make sense?  I've read it several times and I still don't know if it's grammatically correct. I'm losing my touch. Where is my Modern English Usage book?  Oh, that's right at the bottom of a pile on my dining room table.

That's all I for today. I don't know if I'm going to keep this blog going but at least for today, just one more entry into the ether.  

-Lily


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 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.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Happy New Year

First, let me say out loud that I'm NOT in a mood...it's just my resting bitch face. It can't be helped. I want to complain about my day job but I'm not really allowed to post specifics...insert black-out text here.

Have you ever woken up in a really good mood; the sun is just starting to rise, there is an excellent mug of caffeine in hand and things just feel promising? You enter the office and someone's lack of organizational skills and foresight is in direct conflict with your own. And their lack of skills has their work summarily dumped into your lap. After you've cleared the proverbial dust from old files, you are thinking Hell No! But somehow that work is now YOURS. And it's now priority because it is material that should have been handled years ago. Hmm!

Perhaps, just perhaps, this situation has left me feeling a bit perturbed...pissed off...pitching a fit inside my head...so here's my Serenity Prayer on this Thursday night...


 me.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 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.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

I went to see this French film by CĂ©line Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It was a moody film that moved in slow panning shots.  It was quite beautiful. It won best screenplay at Cannes. The story peeled back layer after layer until it got to the beating heart underneath. It was a tortured romantic story so, of course, I loved it. The final scene had me in tears. No need to explain...it was heart-wrenching and it was exactly what I needed on a cold December day.  Voila!


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2019 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.