Tonight I go to the theatre to see some friends in [act]ion. Hooray!
As August draws near, I get closer to my big move and my excitement about my own acting career is starting to build!
A client at my work recommended some teachers and workshops to me and I started googling away.
Some of the women she mentioned had books out so one thing led to another and I ended up splurging on a mini "Amazon" binge, ordering quite a few plays and books about acting in LA.
Some of it's pretty funny and induces little giggle-fits or major eye rolling but I'm determined to put snobbery aside and try to focus on the potentially helpful bits.
Never judge a book by its...
Yeah, yeah.
Another book I was incredibly skeptical about at first is turning out to have a few cool tidbits too.
But shhhhhh... it's a ______.
Nothing you haven't heard before if you've ever read about any "creative visualization" techniques but it's always cool to be reminded to think positively, I guess.
I will say that I hate the way it's marketed, don't approve of the materialistic overtones and could do without the ridiculous Da Vinci Code-esque look of the thing.
But all that said, I do believe that thoughts can create your reality in the sense that the things on your mind color your mood and affect those around you. I dig it. Why dwell on what sucks?
So in that spirit: I feel great today! I've made it out for my morning jogs every day this week and I have the comfiest bed EVER and cool friends AND I got to eat yummy fruit from Bi-Rite last night AND it's almost the weekend! Life is good, no?
*The next few months are going to be a little hectic for me so I don't think I'll be posting much but there will probably be at least one more before I move. Then, when I make it down south it'll be a change-of-address and a change-of-blog-address too! You will be able to find me here and I think I'm going to be posting lot's and lot's of pictures now that I have a camera again. Follow my Adventures and watch me sink or swim!
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Big Kid Now
You may not have or even teach a child but you were one and whether it was to a parent, friend or teacher you probably used to say:
"When I grow up I'm gonna be a _____!"
For me, the "blank" was everything from spy to pilot to writer! (Of course no kid's gonna say "struggling actor/painter/front desk receptionist"... but uh, I'm workin' on it.) When I thought of being a writer back then, what I had in mind was based on what I was reading at the time and that, of course, meant Children's Literature. Kid's are known for being innocent and pure but a child's mind is not all love and light. Just like the "big people" we become, a kid's mind has its dark corners too and even as a little girl, I got my thrills from poking around in the dark.
I've never taken a course on Children's Literature; however, due to the fact that both of my parents teach elementary school I've read my fair share of children's books. The books we read as kids can be anything from classic fairy tales to instructional stories and everything in between. There are talking animals, great adventures, morals and even warnings. I don't know about all kids but I was often drawn to the darker stories. Rather than the mouse-ballerina-type stuff I was into stories with an element of danger.
Looking back on some of my old favorites I recognize different interpretations and levels of meaning. Some are seemingly inappropriate for a young mind but how much was I really absorbing back then? We learn to analyze literature and poetry and we read into everything more but we don't often revisit the books we read before we thought critically. When it comes to Children's Literature how much do the darker themed stories affect the subconscious? It'd be interesting to take a class on this in relationship to early childhood development studies.
I recently stumbled upon this NY Times Sunday Book Review about some new children's books that seem edgier than most, it's an interesting article... Below is a list of a few of my childhood favorites and if you've ever studied Children's Literature or just have an opinion about any of this I'd love to hear what you think!
The Night Flight by Joanne Ryder
This little girl escapes in the night by flying out her window and embarks on an adventure in the park that puts her on the back of a wild lion statue come-to-life. The image of the roaring lion at a roaring waterfall makes me wonder if she ended up with a little more than she'd set out for.
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
The illustrations are haunting and the tale of caution is a familiar one involving a big bad, you know.
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak
Goblins kidnap Ida's sibling and replace it with a changeling. Creepy? Yeah... but beautiful illustrations and the simple, poetic writing leaves you wondering about more than just why these kids were left alone.
Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood
Don't talk to strangers... especially if they want to turn you into food and eat you! Once again it's the illustrations that make this one so stunning, even now.
"When I grow up I'm gonna be a _____!"
For me, the "blank" was everything from spy to pilot to writer! (Of course no kid's gonna say "struggling actor/painter/front desk receptionist"... but uh, I'm workin' on it.) When I thought of being a writer back then, what I had in mind was based on what I was reading at the time and that, of course, meant Children's Literature. Kid's are known for being innocent and pure but a child's mind is not all love and light. Just like the "big people" we become, a kid's mind has its dark corners too and even as a little girl, I got my thrills from poking around in the dark.
I've never taken a course on Children's Literature; however, due to the fact that both of my parents teach elementary school I've read my fair share of children's books. The books we read as kids can be anything from classic fairy tales to instructional stories and everything in between. There are talking animals, great adventures, morals and even warnings. I don't know about all kids but I was often drawn to the darker stories. Rather than the mouse-ballerina-type stuff I was into stories with an element of danger.
Looking back on some of my old favorites I recognize different interpretations and levels of meaning. Some are seemingly inappropriate for a young mind but how much was I really absorbing back then? We learn to analyze literature and poetry and we read into everything more but we don't often revisit the books we read before we thought critically. When it comes to Children's Literature how much do the darker themed stories affect the subconscious? It'd be interesting to take a class on this in relationship to early childhood development studies.
I recently stumbled upon this NY Times Sunday Book Review about some new children's books that seem edgier than most, it's an interesting article... Below is a list of a few of my childhood favorites and if you've ever studied Children's Literature or just have an opinion about any of this I'd love to hear what you think!
The Night Flight by Joanne Ryder
This little girl escapes in the night by flying out her window and embarks on an adventure in the park that puts her on the back of a wild lion statue come-to-life. The image of the roaring lion at a roaring waterfall makes me wonder if she ended up with a little more than she'd set out for.
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
The illustrations are haunting and the tale of caution is a familiar one involving a big bad, you know.
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak
Goblins kidnap Ida's sibling and replace it with a changeling. Creepy? Yeah... but beautiful illustrations and the simple, poetic writing leaves you wondering about more than just why these kids were left alone.
Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood
Don't talk to strangers... especially if they want to turn you into food and eat you! Once again it's the illustrations that make this one so stunning, even now.
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