Miss Wisabus

Books to come home to – Claire Marvel

Posted on 13 January 2012 | 6 responses

Are there books that you read over and over? Some that for whatever reason comfort you or bring back feelings that you like to relive? I was thinking about it yesterday and I have a few that are in my “go to” pile for this sort of thing. When I just want to be still and remember why I loved those books so much in the first place.

Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz – This is a story about how woman touched a man’s life. The brief period they had together and how it changed him. Then toward the end when they have the chance to be together again. It’s heartbreaking, close to perfect, and very relatable for me.

There is before her and now there is after her, and that is the difference in my life.

She made an impact, that’s for sure.

I’ll be honest and say that this book was a “right place, right time” read for me and I haven’t read it through in years, other than random highlighted passages, so I’m not sure as a whole how it would hold up for me. My hopes are high and I would like to say the same as before. The bits I have highlighted and underlined are surely just as beautiful. This is one of the few that I pull off the shelf over and over again, to remember where I was and why certain lines touched me as they did.

After dinner she was the first to go upstairs. I remained by the fire, poking the gnarled, slow-burning logs with a stick. Soon I heard her running a bath, the old pipes filling the house with their crotchety deliberations. I thought about the meal we’d just eaten and how afterward — contented, exhausted, quiet — we’d stood together at the stained white sink and washed the dishes. There were all the mundane aspects of her life about which I realized I knew little — how she put on lipstick, rode a bicycle, took a bath, opened a present, folded a shirt — and which appeared suddenly illumined now that we were here alone, living together: a series of prosaic firsts that felt like love letters and that I wanted to catalogue for myself as though they belonged to me.

I sat down on the landing, my back against the outer wall of my room, unable now to see any part of her. the floor was cold. The house was still. There were just her occasional liquid movements coming through the door like a private language.

I tried simply to be. To listen to the sounds of her.

*sigh*

There is so much here. Pick it up. Tell me what you think.

I was planning on including a list of books today, but this got a bit long. Instead I’ll be doing a series of installments. I’ve never been able to do a list of my “favorite” books because I always feel like I’m leaving something out or I change my mind. But these fit this particular category — the ones I return to. Take a look. You might like them, too.

Honey, Honey

Posted on 12 January 2012 | 9 responses

Yesterday afternoon on the way home from work I decided to go ahead and swing by somewhere and pick up some local honey for the elderberry syrup I plan on making (thanks, LeAnna!). Native Roots Market is on my route home from work, so I found a parking spot on busy 5 o’clock Main Street and walked in.

It was my first time in Native Roots and I was very impressed. They have a great selection of local offerings and I can’t wait to go back when I have more time to browse.

I picked up 48 ounces of honey from George’s Apiary in Noble, Oklahoma. It. is. divine. (Yes, I had a spoonful as soon as I got home.)

While I was there I also picked up my first ever (because I don’t get out much) Keep It Local OK card. I am so excited to use this thing! When it was applied to my purchase yesterday I saved almost $2. How cool is that? Very, for this frugal girl.

One last note about Native Roots — when they asked me if I’d like a bag I said “no” (that’s in Saving the Planet 101, right?) and just put my honey in the ginormous bag that I use for a purse. Well, any time you don’t ask for a bag/bring your own at Native Roots they give you a little token. You take this token over to a window where they feature various charities and organizations you can support. Choose one, place your token in it’s little tube, and they’ll donate 10 cents (I believe it was) to that particular organization. I love this idea! What made me even happier was seeing that OATH was one of the non-profits I had to choose from. The plight of human trafficking victims around this state and the world has been tugging on my heart for some years now so I was glad to be able to choose them.

And all that just because I wanted some honey.

This is not a paid advertisement. I really like the businesses and groups that I listed and felt like shouting it from the rooftops. They don’t know me

Wordless Wednesday – The Old Barn Doors

Posted on 11 January 2012 | 2 responses

50 of My Favorite Films — 10-6

Posted on 10 January 2012 | 7 responses

10. il Mare (Siworae)
Must we say goodbye?

When The Lake House starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock was released I was one of the first in line to see that business. A love story with time travel? I am all over that. (See #24 on this list) But there were a few things I didn’t like about The Lake House. Namely, Keanu Reeves. When I found out that it was a remake of a Korean film then I had to track down the original.

Here we have il Mare (Italian for “the sea”). It’s everything I wanted The Lake House to be. You know the premise — girl moves into house, boy used to live in house, there’s a mail box with a wormhole or something in it, and a cute little dog. If you like romances of any sort, go find this one. Just trust me.

9. Sling Blade
I learned to read some. I read the Bible quite a bit. I can’t understand all of it, but I reckon I understand a good deal of it. Them stories you and Mama told me ain’t in there. You ought not done that to your boy. I studied on killing you. Studied on it quite a bit. But I reckon there ain’t no need for it if all you’re gonna do is sit there in that chair. You’ll be dead soon enough and the world ‘ll be shut of ya. You ought not killed my little brother, he should’ve had a chance to grow up. He woulda had fun some time.

When people ask me what genre I prefer to write, if they won’t accept me saying “literary fiction,” then I say “Southern Gothic” and if they don’t know what that is I ask, “Have you ever seen Sling Blade?” And that usually clears things up.

I love the setting of this film, the characters, the language and the accents. I think it captures a place and a people group that we don’t see depicted in film enough — the impoverished American south.

This story is rich. It makes me want to be a better writer. And when people say they think the plot is a little far fetched or out there, well, I say sit down ’cause I could tell you a thing or two.

8. Rear Window
Lisa: The last thing Mrs. Thorwald would leave behind would be her wedding ring. Stella, do you ever leave yours at home?
Stella: The only way somebody would get that would be to chop off my – finger. Let’s go down to the garden and find out what’s buried there.
Lisa: Why not? I always wanted to meet Mrs. Thorwald.

My granny introduced me to this film when I was 8 or 9 and I have enjoyed a steady diet of Alfred Hitchcock films ever since. I purchased the movie poster (above) when I was in college, but I’ve never hung it in my house. It’s a little scary (look at the creepy guy in the lower right hand window) and it doesn’t go with my current framed art — original soundtrack recordings of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals.

The setting for this film is very appealing to me and the slow burn toward a terrifying discovery is second to none. Most people know the plot, so I won’t waste your time, but if you haven’t seen it then you are missing out on one of cinema’s BEST. Let’s just say that Dexter should be glad that L.B. Jeffries isn’t alive and kickin’ it down in Miami.

7. Anne of Green Gables / Anne of Avonlea
Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.

These two films are in my DNA now. There’s no way around it. I’ve told the story behind my love for them before and if you’re interested, it’s here.

6. les Parapluies de Cherbourg
Guy Foucher: What did you name her?
Geneviève Emery: Francoise. She’s a lot like you. Do you want to see her?
Guy Foucher: I think you can go.

This I watched on a lark one evening in early 2005 and fell madly in love with the French gem. Yeah, it’s a French musical, meaning I only know one person who will watch it with me (Heather). And since I weep uncontrollably in the train scene it’s really embarrassing.

A girl and her mother work in an umbrella shop. Girl is in love, boy goes to war, girl is forced into marriage because of her situation…it’s downhill from there. The final scene is absolutely heartbreaking with the snow and the gas station and her all dressed up in her pretty fur with her hair up and him…a mechanic. But they would have been so happy together! Gah. I just ruined the movie for you, but still, the songs are beautiful and it’s a timeless story.

Monday Morning Cuppa

Posted on 9 January 2012 | 5 responses

Raspberry leaf tea. Mmm.

Flying Wild Alaska is my new obsession. Alaska has forever been an interest of mine and I’ve always gobbled up books about the state, but now I have a half dozen TV shows about the place at my fingertips. Gotta love it! Anyone else watch this show?
Speaking of TV obsessions — fangirl moment. A former EastEnders actress (Kylie Babbington, “Jodie Gold”) responded to me on Twitter. It’s the little things, y’all.
Wait, none of you watch EastEnders? Here’s a clip of Jodie and Poppy, one of history’s greatest comedy duos (ha).
South Beach Diet Phase One Recipe Round-Up from Kalyn’s Kitchen (if you try to stay low-carb and are not following this blog you are missing out!)
Slow & Steady, a post about homesteading from Quinn
A recipe for rosemary sea salt from Dreadlock Girl
A spoon in the persimmon seed this year, but I’m still waiting on my snow! via Territory Mom
Leanna makes elderberry syrup — I cannot wait to try this myself!
And because it’s Monday, like me you may need something to kind of start the day off right. I heard this in the mall on Saturday (I love how, for the most part, mall soundtracks haven’t changed since I was about 6 years old) and it’s been in my head ever since. Enjoy your Monday!