Sunday, August 28, 2016

Florida Bound!!

In a little less than a month I will be making my first trip to Disneyworld, and I could not be more excited!  My roommate Laura and I are going to a 45th Anniversary screening of Bedknobs and Broomsticks exclusively for D23 Members (of which my roomie is one).  We'll be there for  a relatively short time, so rather than try and shove everything into two days, we have decided to focus on The Magic Kingdom which is both of our main interests.

My major fascination with DisneyLand (which I've been to several times) is the ability to step into these films that have meant so much to the formation of my imagination, and my love of story.  Cinderella, Snow White, Pinnochio... these stories dictated how I learned about dreams and overcoming obstacles and becoming a good person.  And being in those parks allows you to feel like a child again, to indulge in the purest part of yourself.

Fantasyland was always my favorite part of the Disneyland experience, so I am most excited to see the reimagined Fantasyland in Florida with Gaston's Pub, and the Beast's "Be Our Guest" Restaurant, The Little Mermaid Ride, and The Dwarfs Mine Train.  Those things alone would probably be enough for me, but add to that the experience of seeing the attractions I love with a slight twist.

I remember my Dad taking my mom and myself to Disneyland when I was eight (he was the only one of us who had been) and how he prepared me by telling me each detail of the rides he loved. He rhapsodized about the hitchhiking ghosts from The Haunted Mansion  and each detail of The Peter Pan ride.  When I finally got there, I loved getting to see the things I'd imagined through his stories as they really were.  It was such a bonding experience for us, and the days of my first trip to Disneyland are some of the clearest and happiest of my young life.  Every time I go back I build upon those memories, and I am so excited to go to this new park and experience it for the first time.

Going with someone who loves Disney as unabashedly as I do (and who has been to the park before so is loaded with bits of info and glowing memories) is pretty exciting, and I can't wait to report to you all our adventures when we return.

PS:  Cross your fingers that we are able to get a walk-in seat to the "Be Our Guest" Restaurant, as the reservations were booked up two months in advance, and I am aching to eat the "grey stuff" in The West Wing!!!

Artist Rendering of the "Be Our Guest Restaurant"



Monday, August 22, 2016

Book Recommendation: Use Your Words!

Quite simply put, I've had difficulties getting myself to the writing desk, or the kitchen table, or the coffee shop--- wherever it is I am planning to be to make the act of committing words to screen--- and Cathy Deveny's book has been truly helpful in combating my procrastination.  If you are a writer of any kind, I could not recommend it more highly.

I'd not heard of Cathy Deveny until reading an emphatic review stating quite plainly that this book does what it is intended to do: help anyone who wants to write more to do that.  Cathy is a successful Australian comedian with a very straightforward and refreshing approach, and her book is easily available for e-readers at the bargain price of  $7.99 Amazon.com.  People who insist on paper will have to pay around $25, as the book hasn't made it to American publishers as of yet.

It's full title is  Use Your Words: A Myth Busting, No Fear Approach To Writing, and while she makes no claims that the book will make you a better writer, if the act of writing more,  and gaining experience through that process makes one a better writer, then this book will make those who stay open and receptive to it better writers.  But please understand, the only point of this book is to help its reader get over the issues that keep him or her from the act of writing, and get on with it.  The fact that Deveny achieves this in such a readable and humorous way just makes it all the more enticing.


I will make one suggestion which I don't believe Cathy does.  When you finish reading it (aside from the obvious "get to writing") at your earliest convenience, go back to page one and re-read it.  Even if it's just to skim it the second time. Even if you just flip open to a random page and read a paragraph or two.  Because as helpful as these words are, the glow of them will only last so long, and you will need to re-engage with it in order to keep the good vibes and the words flowing.  






Sunday, August 21, 2016

On the Streets of New York

New York City contains some of the most unique and memorable sites in America, and I'm not merely talking about designated "sites".  On my way into Mid-town every weekday morning, I encounter people shouting tirades to fellow subway goers, one man bands, and folks wearing brilliant and unusual fashions worn for no reason at all.  I walk by sculpted works of art that I appreciated on the first encounter, but that have since become just part of the background.  I am the first to admit what a shame that is.  These are the things that make New York "New York", and to truly appreciate the city, one has to pay attention to these details.

One such detail that I had noticed in passing, but hadn't really paid all that much attention to as I passed it each day on my way to lunch, was this...


a pair of liquid nitrogen tanks just sitting in the street with yellow tape around them.  I'd passed them several times, and never really paused to wonder what they were doing there, or if they posed any kind of threat or hazard. And then one day I stopped.  And took notice (and a couple of photos)




What do they do?  Well there's a hose coming from the canisters that goes down a grate or manhole and the liquid nitrogen changes to a gas and expands, keeping copper wiring dry underneath the streets.  It belongs to Verizon and helps to keep their phone service and internet running smoothly.  In spite of the fact that there is a protective covering over the wires, there is some damage due to the elements and steam from heating, so the nitrogen assists.  

As for the tanks, they've apparently never leaked or exploded (and there are many of them around the city) in spite of occasionally being tipped over by cars hitting them.  

I find it kind of funny that they can't fund a better way of doing this, but I'm hardly a scientist, and this is just another interesting feature that is part of living in New York City.  

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

On the Way to the Fountain

A couple of weeks ago I went to Central Park to see Bethesda Fountain, and the statue of the angel so prominently featured in Angels in America. I've been re-reading the piece in honor of its 25th anniversary, and it felt important to see it in person.  To really experience it.  What I didn't expect was all the joy I would encounter on the way there...
















Stultifying

Stultifying.  The summer heat in New York City is stultifying.  It beats on you from above in the walk to and from work, it bounces off from the concrete towers all around, it radiates in stinking waves from the grates in the street.  It leaves you, after ten minutes of walking with strange and oddly placed splotches on your withered business shirt, and you smell as if you just mowed the lawn without the fresh grass aroma to cut the sweat.  And humid!!!  Like a floating soup.

About a month ago I gave up and put the window unit in.  There was really no reason not to other than my "Old Man Johnson" attitude of thinking I could beat the heat, be stronger willed than a fucking force of nature.  And if I could?  Where's the real victory?  The fifty dollars a month it saves me in electrical bills?  I'll pay.  You win heat.  You fucking win.

The good thing about the heat is that when it's this hot, nothing refreshes like a nice Mint Julep, which makes me imagine myself as a gracious lady in a floppy yellow sun hat as I sit on the porch and fan myself idly.  Or lemonade!  Or Strawberry Iced Tea.  Cold drinks, while not worth the trade off that is this... STULTIFYING heat (did I mention it is stultifying?) are a nice diversion, and one way to make the season of summer feel fully lived.

Cursive

  Last week I returned to doing my  morning pages , a practice I was committed to for years, and then abandoned, at least partially in the d...