List it Tuesday: One-handed

As I'm currently traveling, today's list is typed. I present to you:

Tasks you need 2 hands to do
(or: things I haven't been able to do with only 1 hand just this past week)

• Open a jar, bottle, bag... or any package really
• Push and steer a grocery cart
• Eat with a fork and knife
• Handle a suitcase
• Put on a bra
• Cut/peel fruits or vegetables for cooking
• Effectively type
• Hold open a paperback book and read it
• Shave
• Hold a cup of ice cream and eat it with a spoon

Only being able to use one hand has made me quite aware of the dexterity I'm missing. Thankfully I'm right-handed and it's the left that's out of commission, but there are still so many activities that require both. Thank the heavens for opposable thumbs... I'm so looking forward to being healed!

Unknown

From the following prompt in Monica Wood's Pocket Muse on page 1... as good a place to start as any...

What are you waiting for? If not now, when?

Easter came a bit early for my nieces when we visited this weekend. We stuffed plastic eggs with candy, snapped them shut, and concealed them in bushes and tall grasses around the yard so that the treasures inside were doubly hidden. It was really no big mystery what they would find inside the eggs - one shake would reveal the ones with jelly beans, and after about the third peppermint patty it really just came down to process of elimination between two possibilities. Still, each new egg held the possibility of unknown.

The unknown can intrigue us, tempt us, or frighten us. It is the contents of the iconic "box of chocolates," the unseen future, and the missed opportunity. It is always a gamble whether or not to reveal the secret or stay oblivious. It sometimes seems safer to stay unmoving in our comfort zone rather than venture out into the new.

Sometimes, change is forced upon us. My best friend found out she was pregnant around Christmastime ("the best Christmas present ever," she said) and whether she wants it or not, the unknown is stretched out before her. She will know pain and worry, joy and happiness, smells and sounds like she's never experienced before. Fortunately, I find that she is embracing the whole idea - this week she finds out the baby's gender. Armed with this small piece of knowledge, she will go forth and face what is coming.

I'm ready for change, but it seems it's not ready for me. I'm tired of waiting. I'm ready now. I want to be healed, hired, and heard. Right now, these things are beyond my control, so I have to live with the unknown wrapped around me like a shell. The best I can do is wait with giddy anticipation for the mystery that will be revealed when the egg hatches.

one small step

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

- Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher

Even the most monumental tasks begin with just one small step forward.

I've decided I will try to tackle the ideas & inspirations in the Pocket Muse by Monica Wood as a source of inspiration for weekly writing.

 I think this guide would fit in nicely with Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge, as both seek to kick the stagnant writer in the butt and get the creative juices flowing.

Indisposed

Hiatus!

Why?

Broke my left thumb when I fell and hurt my left hand. Not too bad for writing, but makes typing difficult.

Ouch!

Girl Power at its Glammiest

warning: this post is about kicking ass! if you can't handle this colorful language, do not read on.

Saw Sucker Punch in theaters. Pretty girls all dolled up in pin-up style make up and sexy outfits kicking ass against fantastical monsters. Not much in the way of plot, but very artistic in melding of costume, music, and choreography in the fight scenes.

And O the music...

Like any movie, I guess I took away from it what I brought in. A little bit of girl power - but not enough.

I realized it a couple years ago when looking for inspiration for writing. I went to our (extensive) DVD collection looking for femme fatales and bad-ass female role models... only to discover my favorite movies were severely lacking.

On the internet, I found several lists of favorite powerful babes in movies. All these lists were so short, only 10 or 15 girls, most of whom, in my humble opinion, are not worthy of the title.

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out in the 90's, followed by James Cameron's Dark Angel, I thought we were entering a revolution in girl power and strong female role models, but the new millennium has disappointed me by not adding more women to the list.

I'm not really a feminist in the elite sense. The girl power I like to see is a balance. Yes, she may be trained in martial arts, cool and collected under pressure, and kick ass, but that doesn't mean she can't also have a fashion sense, style, beauty, know how to cook, or otherwise fall into her "traditional" gender role. Don't most Moms in real life embody both these sides every day?

It's these women that I miss in the current media. Yes, we have the 'pretty girl who can actually fight' part covered, but even Buffy and Leeloo have their 'damsel in distress' moments when a man must step in and save them. Don't get me wrong; I'd be nothing without my man and I think we save each other all the time. But I do think our girls onscreen could be a little stronger. A little more like the real life women who battle challenges more badass than any vampire or ninja. Because if our ideal female isn't strong, confident, smart, and sexy, how can we ever expect to be?

health:exhausted - mood:impatient - weather:gray

music:pretty girl -sugarcult

"she's beautiful as usual with bruises on her ego"

References/Inspiration

Top 10 badass women in movies

Miss Representation

MFIF

List it Tuesday: what I want to cook

Today's list is meals I want to make:

Mac n' Cheeseburger
Quiche Lorraine
Hard Cider Glazed Porkchops
Beans on Toast
Spicy Roasted Potatoes
Spaghetti Carbonara Frittata

Probably not in one week... that would be a lot of eggs and cheese.

Conditional

Nothing is absolute.

It makes me mad when people judge a situation in absolutes


The bullies are picking on her so she must have done something to provoke them.
He doesn't have a job so he must be lazy.
This product is inexpensive so there must be something wrong with it.

We have a serious problem abusing the word and concept of "therefore." Saying it doesn't always make it so. An alleged cause does not always lead to a supposed effect.

I'm a huge believer in possibilities. There is never just one motivation for an action, or only one solution to a problem. That's what makes creativity and flexibility so important. Thinking inside the box is closing your off your mind from the world. A wise person knows that even at her most observant, she is ignorant of many things. Because in our myriad universe, there are tens of thousands of things that are too small to see, too intangible to feel, or too complicated to comprehend.

Todays stats:

health:poor - mood:panicked - weather:stormy

music:in it for life -sick puppies

"some people talk like they can't hear, some people walk but get nowhere"

a little study I may or may not commit to... curious to see how my current situation affects my writing. i miss those cute little livejournal emoticons that correspond to your moods- hehe