Labor Day weekend was busy, with Saturday spent out doing the weekly food shopping and other errands. I managed to find a relatively cheap point and shoot digital camera in a brand recommended by several friends or acquaintances, two of whom are avid photographers. Sunday I had a Hebrew lesson and then had plans in the evening.
A rainy Monday was spent at the movies with two friends where we were treated to some funny antics courtesy of Nick Nolte and Robert Redford in an adaptation of Bill Bryson's book, A Walk in the Woods. Apart from its comedic moments, this film is really rather a touching memoir about two boyhood friends, now nearing old age, and the choices each has made in his life.
Three recent reads bear mentioning. Wild by Cheryl Strayed is an autobiographical account of the author's adventures along the Pacific Crest Trail some twenty years ago. This book was also made into a film by the same name and both are worth your time. Tell Me Where it Hurts by Nick Trout recounts the daily working life of an experienced veterinary surgeon and the zany pets and owners he must deal with. A first novel by blogger Karen Jasper was received in yesterday's mail and read last night. Entitled, The Light Stays On, it is a love story with a few twists.
The writing from my online class continues for me since I got a bit behind. It has been challenging both in terms of time and emotion as the prompts tend to throw me back into a dark or very sad or sometimes angry place. Someone asked if I thought this a helpful process and from where I'm sitting at the moment, I think so, though the extent will probably be seen more over time than in the present.
At this point, I am looking forward to some cooler weather, although when that will occur is anyone's guess.
Wishing you all a good night.
11 comments:
I loved the Cheryl Strayed book. I read it after my own mom died and it helped me to feel less alone. At the time I was really struggling and it was nice to know my feelings were normal. I saw the movie on Netflix and had decided not to watch it because some of the reviewers complained about the swearing and sex scenes. I don't have a problem with that at all but I was concerned it would taint the deep meaning for me that the book had had. Do you think the movie brought out the emotion that she was struggling with after the death of her mom or was it more focused on her hiking?
I try not to equate movies and books because they can differ and some people like the visual over the written word. The movie was panned as poor by some critics who appreciated neither Reese Witherspoon nor Strayed's book as "self indulgent." I liked the book a bit more than the movie but do not feel the movie completely strayed from the book.
See http://gawker.com/wild-is-a-bad-movie-and-reese-witherspoon-is-bad-in-it-1671296641/ for a scathing review if you want or watch it and let me know what you think...
Wild is on my very long to be read list. Memoirs/autobiographies/biographies/diaries often are. Thank you for the heads up - and I hope you got some sleep.
I loved "Wild," though I wasn't sure I liked the narrator much!
Thanks for the film and book recommendations. I find that when I have not processed an emotion in writing, it stays stuck inside me, unconsciously provoking all sorts of reactivity. I do hope writing through the past hurts will be therapeutic, as well as fodder for creation! Writers are gifted with a surfeit of emotion, I think. Of course, it is a double edged sword, so one has to learn to wield it! I'm trying my best to manage that big boy. I hope, despite the emotions its brings up, your writing class continues to fulfill.
Not very much sleep, but that isn't unusual for me these days. Thanks for your concern.
I agree.
Well, the class is over but the writing remains. I made it through the first eighteen days. I've twelve more and the prompts are killers. I am struggling but I think that is normal and I am also finding myself less willing to stay in the space or emotion required of me. I am not sure why though it does not feel like avoidance.
Ya'll make me wanna take a writing class! The emotional stuff sounds intimidating but potentially very helpful. I hope you get to the helpful space soon :)
e, trust yourself. if it doesn't feel like a good place to be, then you are free to step out of it. your call. xo
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