Adventures in Writings
Shameless Plug
I originally began this blog as a medium for writing down my thoughts and reviews. Since I wanted to be a Theology professor, I thought it would be helpful to start writing. Since that moment it has merged into a theological workbook of collaborative stories, book interests and topic studies. A page I am proud to put my name on and hopefully will reach some sort of status online (hey-one can dream, right?)
Thanks to my husband and my deep desire to create something new and unique, I have finally begun to write my stories down to hopefully reach public consumption.
From now on my writing will be available on my alternative site here. It is called “Words of a Phoenix Spirit.” The name came from my love of the phoenix mythology (rising out of the ashes to live vibrantly again) and how my soul has searched to rise out of the tragedies of my life with color and flare. I’ve been through a lot as a 30-something (more than some who are twice my age) and as a result my imagination has learned to take itself on occasional trips. It has also learned to process my emotions through stories and how to understand my frustrations through a good dream. It was only until recently that I learned writing these down was a way to release stress and help me feel better. Again, my husband Shawn encouraged me to secure my own domain online and start another writing blog. But this blog will be my alter ego. A different side of me that tells stories about love, romance, relationships, maybe about struggle, about pain, about ignorance. They will come from both the light and dark places of my thoughts. They will and will not be from my own life, representing both people I know and people I have never met.
And hopefully, one day, it will be what we called the beginning of creativity 🙂
Story part Two
Last week I mentioned how out church started a new year long study of looking at the book The Story. I mentioned concerns about simplifying the biblical text and how it can lead people in crazy directions. And I mentioned my faith in the family and friends of Messiah Lutheran to bring life to something I may get lost or turn away from. Here is the update:
1) the text: I am still annoyed by the simplification. I get that everyone cannot understand the Bible and I agree to have some guidance. But if the biblical text is not understandable, you need to walk through it and walk through the interpretations. So you can see both, as they are insicidualally and respect the Sacred Text. Our pastor managed to state “it is a companion to the Bible” which helped me digest reading the book. This was beautiful for me because I was about to walk out on the book all together. However, I fully admit that I search through the Biblical text first before picking up the Story. Then again, that’s the point, right?
2) the family: Messiah never ceases to amaze me. I went to the meeting Wednesday in hesitation and left in joy. There were people in our group who gave me a unique perspective, sharing their own personal stories, the interpretation of The Story, and their own interpretation of what it means to follow Christ. And I shared my opinions and understandings. I am going to keep going until it bothers me and I realize that may include a few bad weeks (its reality), so thank God that went well.
On a positive note, my story writing abilities increased this week. Be sure to check out my other page
Wordsofaphoenixspirit.wordpress.com
I am working on transferring it to its own domain (I have it already) and hoping it grows. Here’s to dreams!
Creative Juices following
It has been a while since I have felt creativity. Maybe yes because this week I went back to church choir or maybe it’s because I connected back with my spirit and with God. Who knows.
You see, I used to be a traditionalist. The one who only read original books, original story lines and wanted to buy every original piece of art. To put it in Star Wars terms–I idolized episodes 4-6 while loathing 1-3. But all of that is beginning to gradually change.
First, I have realized how intermingled cosplay and creativity are. It’s not about duplication what has already come out, but building and forming something completely and uniquely new. And this has always been my guide since I was a child–to want to invent or create something completely new. Which is why is started in traditionalist creative arts.
But tonight I read this comic. Yes-_I mean seriously took a moment to read and understand all the pictures. Originally what caught my attention in this series was the tombstone to the left: it shows characters I know to be from other universes. Other stories. At the most 50 years ago. But definitely not 1872. So I decided to indulge a little….and discovered the wonder that is fan fiction/ unique creativity.
Trust me–the names are just coincidental. But it’s not the first comic or storyline. In fact, look at Star Wars, Star Trek, or even Shakespeare. There are themes, repeats, reorganizations and bonds between some of our most beloved characters. And yet we consider them all different, original, unique.
So the next time you see a sequel, prequel, a whatever-quel, dig a little deeper into your mind and explore the world in a new way, maybe with a little more creativity under your belt.
Comic con adventures, day 2
I apologize for the spacing on my travels over the past years. I tried to keep travel journals and such… but when you have limited signal or are just too tired after walking around with almost 100,000 smelly people on a convention floor, typing a blog seems farthest from your minder.
Here are the 2nd day adventures, Comic Con style…
Friday was CRAZY! …but honestly what day isn’t at comic con. We finally managed to get into our favorite panel with the Big Bang Theory writers where we saw Mayim Bialik and Kunal Nayyar! It was great hearing that all is not lost in one of our favorite shows and as always, we get to enjoy the gag wheel from the previous season. And the crowd questions were not rude or too inquisitive to those not caught up this year which made it fun to listen to. Not to much the fan romance scene between Amy & Raj that Mayim and Kunal read. We walked the floor again in hopes to find Adam Savage but failed. It’s fun because he dresses up in a crazy costume and if you find him you get some sort of prize. Sad day. We ended the con with a panel about writing in the industry, held by the same people from last year which had its positives and drawbacks. Positive–people who have worked their way through the industry including some who wrote/acted on Living Color and other popular shows. Even one guy wrote and drew his own comic. However, drawbacks? they were explaining things to do that Shawn and his colleague from school not only had already done, but could argue that it isn’t just about getting those materials. And the struggles of those writers were definitely different and much more complex than the people who have no experience trying to break in. We headed back to the hotel, ordered grub hub (which inlaced poutine from a local college delivery place) and enjoyed relaxing–except for the fact that I was still sick. DayQuil and NyQuil were truly keeping me running. Everything was fun and as always–just with a ton of people.
One of the places we enjoyed at random was a little off the beaten path. It is a BBQ place off seaport village trolley stop. It’s where they filmed “Top Gun” and the food there is amazing. BBQ ribs, mac n’ cheese that tastes amazing and beans with r just the right amount of flavor. Highly recommend stopping here if you need a break from the craziness of Comic Con or of Gas Lamp.
Inside Out Review
********WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS*******
Sorry everyone–buts it’s hard to talk about the wonderful-ness that is this movie without traveling through the whole storyline. Meaning?–GO SEE IT! Then come back to my review 😊
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Inside out is a beautiful movie about the emotions of a 11year old girl named Riley and her experiences of moving from Minnesota to San Francisco. At first you hear from Joy and how most of Riley’s life has consisted of happy moments making joyful memories. There is also anxiety, disguist, anger and sadness. All five work together with Riley but Joy works very hard to keep Sadness out. Make sense, right? To be happy, you can’t be sad. However, Riley begins to go through an emotional shift on her first day of school and after her father becomes slightly distance starting his new job. Her “core memories” take a turn for the worst–destroying her old ways of feeling about her friends, her family, and even what it means to be her “goofy” self.
These experiences cause havoc in Riley’s emotions. Joy (the born leader) and Sadness to fall out of their normal headquarter and into the long term memories. They travel through Riley’s , run into her imaginary friend with the song-powered wagon who end up saving them and helping them get back to Riley’s core mind and emotional center. 
There are several moments that really make you think–especially the ending where all the emotions realize no one memory is controlled by one emotion forever. Sadness and joy realize they need to work together to be a healthy person and to help Riley Get through life. There are also plenty of moments where the emotions have a rational thought despite being controlled by one type of feeling or thought. And there are plenty of moments of laughter because whatever the character just said is the one thing you wish everyone would say out loud but doesn’t.
Inside Out is a new set of movies trying to open people up to talking about feelings–ALL OF THEM. I hope live action and animation take more advantage of a topic that could help millions of people. Keep it up, learn something fun or new and continue to laugh. Thank you Pixar!
Musings of An AfterThought 