Irene Latham's Blog, page 147

Movie Monday: LES MISERABLES & THE IMPOSSIBLE

Thanks to the holidays, I've got two movies to share with you this morning.

The first, LES MISERABLES, which we saw with our youngest son (he turns 13 this month).

I don't know which was more fun: my own enjoyment or watching his enjoyment.

He LOVED it. He said afterward that he wasn't lost at all, he understood everything. He asked me how long it was, and when I told him, he couldn't believe the movie had kept his attention the entire time. (This son has never been one to sit and watch ANYTHING. He must also be drawing or building lego or otherwise fiddling.)

As for me, I cried more than once and have to agree that Anne Hathaway was brilliant as Fantine. We've seen the musical twice on Broadway and once here in Birmingham as part of a Broadway traveling series, so the story and songs are of course familiar to me. The movie made everything clear-er, actually, and aside from missing the magic of the rotating circular stage, I was pretty darn happy with Hollywood's version.

Also: My son said he sure was glad Eponine finally gave Marius the note from Cosette -- he's a romantic, like his mom. :)


Next we saw THE IMPOSSIBLE. We really weren't planning to see this one -- we'd planned to see SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. But it was at the far-away theater at an inconvenient time, so we opted for the tsunami movie instead.

I guess it's kind of hard to get excited about a tsunami movie. You know right away that's going to be some tough viewing. And you know, it was tough. I was cringing at times, crying at others. It was real and horrifying and about as close to a tsunami as I ever want to get.

Yet it was beautifully shot and acted, and oh man, I felt it. Thank goodness for some tiny happy (true story) endings in the midst of so much tragedy. Love is powerful and inspiring always.

CYBILS POETRY BOOKS GIVEAWAY

There were so many great poetry books nominated for this year's CYBILS, and the publishers were great to supply panelists with copies of the ones we did not have library access to. And since I believe poems should be READ and not left lonely on a shelf, I've got some poetry packs to give away to you, my Poetry Friday Friends! Don't forget Matt Forrest has Roundup!
1. History Pack




2. Young Readers Pack 


3. Funny Pack



4. Marilyn Singer Pack


You can't go wrong with any of these! Big thanks to the publishers for putting great work in print. And to the authors and illustrators, congratulations on fine work. I'm so inspired to write more and better!
Please indicate on Rafflecopter which pack you prefer. Enter by midnight, Sunday, January 6 (Downton Abbey season premiere night. Eep!) and I'll contact winners on Monday. Good luck, and happy reading!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ONE LITTLE WORD FOR 2013

Every year I select one little word to be a guiding light for my year. In the past, I have chosen words like CELEBRATE and LISTEN and in 2012, FIERCE.

You probably noticed right away that these are all imperatives and adjectives.

Me, on the other hand -- I never noticed that until I started compiling a list of possible words for 2013. And that's when it struck me: my feelings of failure about "fierce" were related to the expectation and pressure in that word. Because it's an adjective, I felt like all my experiences should somehow measure up to that word. And, well, all my experienced didn't measure up to that word.

So this year I'm trying something different. The word I've chosen is one that suits my poet's soul. It's rich with possibilities and metaphor and is wide-open.

Ahem.

And the word is...........


SKY
Also new this year, I will be sharing sky pics and quotes on a regular basis -- starting with this one, from one of my most favorite musicians:
"Sky sky sky, can't see it all at once"  -- Ben Sollee
Here a video so you can hear Ben sing it:

CYBILS POETRY FINALISTS!

What fun it was to read with Round One judges Carol Wilcox, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Anastasia Suen, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Misti Tidman

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON MY "FIERCE" YEAR

Hello, and happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at Carol's Corner for Roundup.

So what's up in my corner?

Well. I've been thinking about my one little word and the part it played in my 2012.

I mentioned earlier in the year how I'd felt I'd been something of a failure in the fierce department. With your help, I've re-framed that thought: I haven't been a failure at all. I just attached too many grand expectations to my word.

It's a good reminder as I work to select my word for 2013. And I'm thinking perhaps it's the fact of an adjective that threw me off this year?? As if I should BE fierce in new and different ways.

I think maybe I've been fierce in all the SAME ways, which is not a bad thing... and the word "fierce" popped out at me EVERYWHERE. I found it in all sorts of books and poems, often when I was least expecting it. I've certainly been hyper-aware of the word itself. Which is how I found the following poem -- and why I think it's a perfect way to end my "fierce" year.

See for yourself:


FIERCEby Dr. Ian McCallum from his book Wild GiftsI like the word, fierce –the way it aligns itself withnakedness and solitude:a fierce nakedness …a fierce solitude …And I like the way it holdsthe word, fire.
I like the word, fire –the way it ignitesthe cutting edge of poetryrefusing to be nothing less thana fiery edge …a fiery tongue …And I like the way it is linkedto the word, wildness.
I like the word, wild –how it weaves its waybetween yes and no,how it announces itself asa wild anger …a wild joy …And I like the way it nurturesthe word, fierce.
I like the word, fierce -

BOBBY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS

Our older cat Maggie couldn't care less about the Christmas tree, but Bobby... oh, it's a magical new world with baubles to bat and garland to grab!
But it's our dog Ruby who gets the prize: yesterday I noticed her sniffing around the coat I'd left draped over my desk chair. I picked up the coat to investigate, and discovered Ruby had chewed through the lining and the pocket to score a piece of Dove dark chocolate I had stashed there the day before. All that was left was the chocolate smudges and the damp, destroyed fabric. Now I'll never know my Dove promise. Maybe I should ask Ruby...
Of course I commended Ruby for her hard work and right away stitched up the torn places. It's my favorite coat - old and soft fine-wale purple corduroy I bought here in Birmingham at Rich's, a store that no longer exists. It was an impulse buy, and I've never regretted it. When it's right, it's right! 
And I suppose that's exactly what Bobby would say about the ornaments he keeps stealing from the tree.
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

WINTER SOLSTICE POEM

First Day of Winter
“All secrets are witnessed.”- Barbara Kingsolver

Somewhere glaciers that haven’t
moved for hundreds of years
shift ever so slightly, give
birth to currents only lantern fish see.
Somewhere the last leaf drops
unnoticed from the limbs of a dogwood,
lands square on the back of a beetle
who stills at the sudden shade.
At the same time a tropical storm
rises anonymously in the Gulf of Mexico,
geese fly through sheets of ice pellets
that never make it to the ground,
rain floods island lowlands,
mud crawls down a mountainside
swallowing a house whole,
the only witness a lost llama,
teats swollen and weeping milk.

Here the rusty chimes wake me
from dreams of sailing
together across glassy water,
I warm my hands on a coffee mug,
watch thunderclouds roll
across the sky in a pattern I’ve never seen
while your unborn daughter
sends tidal waves up her mother’s spine,
still deciding if conditions are right for travel,
and when you call to tell me,
your voice crackles on the line--
I know there must be lightning
but the clouds are so thick I can’t see it.

- Irene Latham

How 'bout that illustration? A wonderful artist Jeff Faulk (who goes by Monk for his illustrations) penned this one, and both poem and illustrations appear in my book WHAT CAME BEFORE.

I did, in fact, write this poem on an actual first day of winter. It's one of those pieces I'm not sure I completely understand myself, so I am especially interested in how others interpret it.

I do know that I often write poems inspired by science, and this includes the butterfly effect which is about how one tiny happening in one place can cause larger things to happen in other places.

Sometimes a little mystery is the best thing that can happen to a poem.

For more winter solstice poetry guaranteed to light the darkest day, visit Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe!

WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY

1. Finished THE CASUAL VACANCY by J.K. Rowling. I'm on the road so much, I opted for the audio version. It's excellent. And so many lessons there for writers! More on this later.

2. Saw THE HOBBIT. I liked it, but not as much as the old animated version that has the whole journey in one place. My siblings and I must have watched that movie a billion times! My sons were pretty darn happy with it -- which makes me happy.

3. Hit 30 thousand words on the wip. I hope to wrap things up on this first draft by the end of the year.

4. Gingerbread-house party tonight! I'm bringing hot chocolate to share and some of those teeny tiny M&Ms to decorate my house with. Can't wait to see you, girls!

5. Thanks to Doraine, Erik and Linda for posting reviews of DON'T FEED THE BOY! *mwah*

DEAR LIFE by Alice Munro

When I am actively writing, it's often hard for me to sustain the attention a full-length novel requires -- so I break out the poetry and short stories.

This week that's meant DEAR LIFE, the newest collection of short stories by Alice Munro.



Here's a passage from a story titled "Gravel":

"The thing is to be happy," he said. "No matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets easier and easier. It's nothing to do with circumstances. You wouldn't believe how good it is. Accept everything and tragedy disappears. Or tragedy lightens, anyway, and you're just there, going along easy with the world."

MOVIE MONDAY: ANNA KARENINA

A while ago I promised to post on Mondays about noteworthy movies I've had the pleasure of viewing. And I have posted occasionally. But not nearly as much as you'd expect from someone who has a standing Saturday night date with her husband, which very often includes a movie.

We've seen a few lately, some of them I even really enjoyed, like LIFE OF PI and THE TWILIGHT SAGA:BREAKING DAWN PART 2. But none of them made me want to rush home and write about it here -- until Saturday night's ANNA KARENINA.

Confession: I've never read ANNA KARENINA. I've known the basic storyline, but I've never actually read the pages all the way through.

I will now.

The movie is gorgeous, delightful. It' so creative and just magical. All the parts come together in a sensory feast. It's an experience, as movies should be. And yeah, I've seen some reviews that pick it apart.

I don't care.

I love it. And love requires no explanation. In fact: one of my favorite lines from the movie:

Count Vronsky: "I love you!"
Anna Karenina: "Why?"
Count Vronsky: "You can't ask why about love!"

Ha. I just realized those smart marketers also used that as the tagline on the posters. :)

This is one I will happily watch again. Let me know what you think!