I am a Children’s Librarian living in the Portland, Oregon area. When I am not Children’s Librianing I like to play with cameras and film. I also like playing the ukulele, knitting, sketching, and hiking.
Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday for me. Two years ago my step-dad died of cancer Thanksgiving weekend. Last year when Thanksgiving rolled around I was filled with sadness and grief at the last memory I had of him when he was in final stages of death. This year I am also sad but I’m a little bit stronger, and for that I am thankful.
I am not going to do Thanksgiving dinner with family today. This year I wanted to do something completely different so I am going to go for a long hike on the Gorge. And if I think about Doug and I feel like crying I won’t be in an awkward situation (around a family dinner table where we are all supposed to be happy and thankful). Today I am going to just get outside and enjoy nature.
I do remember my dreams. In fact, I started a dream journal last year because I like to think about them and figure out what they mean. It’s fun, like figuring out a puzzle.
I often have water dreams. A recurring nightmare that I have involves being overtaken by a giant wave. For example (and this is weird), the night before my birthday I had a dream where I was driving along a highway next to the ocean and the road was overtaken by a wave. The car was engulfed by the wave and floated out to sea. It was really frightening. Eventually, the car drifted back to land, and safety. However, the weird thing about the dream was that the Tsunami in Japan was happening at around the time I was asleep!
Sometimes the departed appear to me in my dreams. When I was really sick two summers ago this happened. Specifically, my stepbrother, who committed suicide a few years ago, appeared. He was young and vibrant and very happy. He thanked me for being sad when he died, for grieving for him. It was very odd and made me wonder if I wasn’t dying myself (I was soooo sick).
I would LOVE to have a flying dream. I’ve never had one and am so sad about it. Everyone I know has had them and it is not fair that I haven’t. So, Universe, just throwing out there.
This is a fun Plinky prompt! And a hard one to answer. Here are a few that pop into my head:
1. Vertigo. One of the best films ever made. Seriously.
2. Rear Window. Another one of the best films ever made. Actually anything by Hitchcock is the best film ever made.
3. Smoke. This one might not appeal to everyone. I watched it in a Literature class at UCSC and there was one scene that completely blew me away. It is the main character telling a story. And that’s it. But it is incredibly compelling. Then during the credits that story is played out to music and it’s just so fantastic. Here is some of the scene (you really do need to see the whole thing though):
and this
4. Last Night. A really great Canadian film about the last night on earth and how the main characters choose to spend it.
7. Wavelength. You might think I’m nuts for choosing this one and this isn’t for everyone. I saw it in a film class I took in college. Many of the people in class hated it. But I thought it was brilliant. It is 45 minutes of a camera panning to a picture on the wall of a NYC loft. Yep.
8. Gray Gardens. You MUST see this if you have never seen it. Seriously.
9. Cast Away. I love this film and think about it all the time. The scene in which the plane crashes is harrowing.
10. The Red Violin. One of the best films ever made and I never tire of watching it. It is the story of a violin through the centuries.
I felt moved to donate books to the OWS library. So I perused my shelves, looking for the right ones. These jumped out at me immediately. What could be more subversive than art, poetry, and writing? And I had to include the ukulele book because it has been established that it is the instrument of peace. May they find themselves in the hands of those who will enjoy them and not in the dumpsters of NYC.
Information on where to donate can be found on this post.
