C.B. Calsing's Blog, page 28





















Review of Mike Klaassen's "Hansel and Gretel"

I love the message and meaning behind fairy tales, and of course kids love them because they are short and generally feature protagonists with whom they can identify. Unfortunately, the genre teaches very little about good writing, and as a result we teachers are often subjugated to students' stories which starts "Once upon a time..." regardless of genre.

Mike Klaassen's adaptations of fairy tales take the meat of the original source material and actually turn it into something fuller and more satisfying. The kernel is still there, but the point of view is expanded and becomes deeper, the details are more lush, and the tale, as a result, reads more like a well-structured short story.

Hansel and Gretel is told from a third person limited point of view, in Hansel's head. We experience in greater depth his fear and determination. I agree with the author that comparing this novella to the original Grimm text could help writing students get a better grasp on deepening point of view, exposition versus scene, and pacing.

The author does not shy away from the gruesomeness of the original story, so, parents and teachers, read it through before deciding whether it is appropriate for your children.

Spoiler alert!

My one complaint would be the alterations in the story which marginalize Gretel. In the source material, it is she who pushes the witch into the oven. In Mr. Klaassen's version, Hansel does. In addition, at the end of the source material, Gretel calls a duck to help her and her brother cross a stream. That part is cut form Mr. Klaassen's version. Gretel is stripped of her strengths and is left relying entirely on her brother. Yes, the witch supposedly teaches her how to trap game, fish, and tend the homestead, but none of that happens on screen, so those contributions are largely meaningless. I do wonder what the author's motivation was in those changes.

Fabulous?

I've been using this all, Fabulous, for almost a month now. I actually find it very helpful. What it does is allow you to set up daily rituals for different times. For instance, my morning rituals -- things I must do -- are drink a glass of water, walk the dog, eat a good breakfast, and write "morning pages." It gives me an alarm and a checklist on my phone to keep track. It also keeps track of how many days in a row I've succeeded in completing my rituals.

It also has a few fun features, like some yoga routines, a seven-minute workout, and various timers for focused writing, power naps, etc.

It does have a couple of downsides. First, the sound effects that go with some of the activities are...over the top, let's say. The sound that goes with the exercise reminder is actually sort of gross, like you've gotten a phone call from a creeper who's breathing heavily on the other end. Luckily, you can turn those off.

The other downside is you have to pay a subscription if you want to unlock all of the features, but I've found it highly useful in the free mode.

Check it out here. I can honestly say I've been getting more writing done and feeling better in the mornings since I started using it.

Also, right now it's only available for Android. They're working on Apple.

https://www.thefabulous.co/index.html

Story behind my favorite Christmas song

For my throwback Thursday post this week, a documentary about my favorite Christmas song, "Fairy Tale of New York," via YouTube.

Throwback Thursday

I want to talk about this photo, because a lot of my coworkers had a laugh about it not long ago.

The reason I pulled it out originally was because, in that basket, is a Pound Puppy, and we'd been talking about toys from our childhood.

There's a lot more to this picture, though, which appeared in the Telegram-Tribune many, many years ago.

I'm standing next to a painting I did. The one against my right arm, sort of stretching from neck to waist. It looks like a horse with a beard and cloven hooves and stars floating right above it? See there? Underneath that compelling portrait of a boy turned toward the artist?

I was never a good artist, but this does show that, even back then, I told stories. You see, on the ground in front of that unicorn with wings (fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic would call it an alicorn), there is a dead stag. Dripping from the unicorn's horn in the stag's blood. They'd fought, you see, and the unicorn won. You can see the stag's horns. In retrospect, now it looks more like a dead chicken with its feet in the air.

How old am I? Eight? Nine? Old enough that I clearly picked out my own clothes (do you see how dirty those sneakers are?) but still thought it was okay to take a stuffed animal to an art show. But my art told a story. I'm thankful now I have the words to tell those stories rather than relying on my hideous artwork. Which, by the way, has not improved in the thirty years since this art show.

The Day After

Wednesday, my husband and I headed down to Ahalanui County Beach Park in the afternoon. The night before, November 8, had been a little stressful, a little depressing, and those feelings had trickled into the next morning. By midafternoon, we needed a break from our respective jobs around the house.

The warm pool -- closed off from the ocean by a seawall -- is filled with a mix of volcanically heated water and fresh seawater. It's lovely to just float on one's back, look up through the trees, and relax.

I was given a little hope visiting on Wednesday. There's a mix of tourists, locals, and recent relocators to the island. But I heard several different accents, languages, and points of view. There were the sort of crusty people selling fruit in the parking lot, visitors to the many eco-resorts around here, retirees from up the road. Asians, Hawaiians, African-American, white. Australian, French, Moldovan, American... Some here for the long-term, some not, but coming together, relaxing, enjoying life.

The pool was the most crowded we'd ever seen it on Wednesday afternoon. I think a lot of us, in a district which overwhelmingly re-elected our representative who resigned from the DNC after their treatment of Bernie Sanders, needed to reconnect and relax on Wednesday, and the warm pool was the place to do it.

I hope other people find a place in their community to reconnect, regroup, and take a breath. On both sides.

Anyway, if you are ever on the east side of the Island of Hawaii, you can't miss a visit to Ahalanui County Beach Park.