This past week, has been a DEEP CLEANING kind of week and, unless you are a full-blown psychopath, you need to have music playing while you clean!
To quote Snow White, “Just Whistle While You Work!”, or Giselle “Our Happy Little Working Song!”, or Mary Poppins, “And Snap! The Job’s a Game!” – those ladies weren’t crazy! They knew wassup.
Here are the top 5 playlists that we played during our work.
#1: Loki & Sylvie inspired music – nothing like some good old angst to get the dusting done!
#2: Gentle Jazz for Cooking – honestly this list is one of my new favorites! ❤
#3: Some Hallmark-y Christmas music (gotta start the season early or it’ll be over before you know it!)
#4: This show is so heartbreaking and chilling 😢 – but this playlist is FIRE!
#5: If you’re not imagining yourself in a battle respite scene while listening to this – then are you even ON an elevator??
Aren’t they great?
This is your wake-up call to go and scrub your ceiling.
Wait, don’t click away yet! This is a really good genuine tip, I promise! Without this tip you won’t be able to accomplish the #1 writing rule.
I’m not saying ‘limit yourself’ as in ‘limit your imagination’ or ‘limit how good your are/can be’.
No.
I mean – Limit Yourself.
Give yourself a SET TIME.
A certain amount of pages.
A minimum (and maximum!) daily word count.
Set. A. Limit. (you can make it the sky if you want!)
Trust me, with this tip you will be able to achieve the #1 writing rule of WRITE EVERY DAY.
Cause, let’s face it – writing every day sounds easy enough (you know, even getting a few words down on the page is good work), but what about when we’re reeeeeally tired? Or, we’ve got too much laundry to do? Or the ideas just aren’t coming?
Well, if you LIMIT YOURSELF – telling yourself that you’ll only write for 20 minutes a day, or 1 page a day, or 500 words a day – then suddenly, that daunting task of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) becomes a doable feat.
Even is you only write for 5 minutes, or a single sentence, that’s something and it keeps the momentum going so that when the muse strikes – it will strike a lot sooner and more often if you’ve kept up the daily habit.
Also though – limit yourself on stopping after reaching your maximum word count, page number, time limit. You’ll get a lot more done if you write a little something every day then if you burn out in one intense night (just like with working out, eating right, praying daily or any other habit).
So – let’s make it a HABIT and remember – WRITE DAILY – LIMIT YO’ SELF! 😉
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien is a well-known cult classic, about a group of unlikely heroes that band together to defeat an evil tyrant, but here’s why you should read The Fellowship of the Ring specifically.
Reason #1: It’s a classic epic quest story, with a clear objective – destroy the one ring.
If you’re a fan of D&D, Oblivion, gardening, or just epic military tales in general, then you’d appreciate The Fellowship of the Ring.
It follows the life of Frodo Baggins as his world is turned upside down by the revelation that his dear Uncle’s most prized possession is actually an evil object of extraordinary power. Thus confronted in the middle of his ordinary life with this extraordinary twist, Frodo accepts the responsibility of delivering the ring to those much stronger and wiser than himself, so that they may properly deal with it.
Of course, however, once he reaches them he discovers that things are much worse then he’d originally feared, and the strong allies much weaker than he’d hoped. Thus again, Frodo makes the decision to responsibly deal with the destruction of the deadly device on his own, when he is happily joined by 9 others. Together these 9 elves, men, dwarves, hobbits and a wizard make up the Fellowship of the Ring.
From there (now you’re at the halfway point of the book, and you’ve made it through the Council of Elrond chapter, which was the looooongest one, so good job!), the Fellowship sets out, journeying across the land, fighting goblins, balrogs, and orcs, suffering hunger, cold, and loss, before ultimately winding up shattered and broken at the Falls of Rauros.
Reason B: It’s got Boromir!
If you’re like me, then you are a fan of Sean Bean aka Boromir aka the King of Death Scenes!
Boromir in the books, unlike Sean Bean in the movies, is a lot more respectful towards Aragorn. He recognizes Aragorn’s right to the Gondorian throne, and Aragorn wants the throne, as he has been preparing himself for it for nearly ninety years. Boromir is hotheaded, just like in the movies, but a little less angrily so. He really gives off the vibe of being a true jock, not a tortured would-be prince.
Regardless, whether you’re watching the movie or reading the book, Boromir is a huge + on why you should pick The Fellowship.
And lastly: It’s the starting point.
Unless you’re a person who likes to know the ending of a story before you start it, or if you’re someone who just enjoys being confused, then you’re going to want to start at the beginning of the story. You could start with The Two Towers or The Return of the King, but I guarantee that if you do that that you’ll be more than a little confused by everything.
So, plain and simple, just start at the start.
(If you really, reeeeeally want to start at the start – then you should read The Hobbit first. But, that one is more of a one-off fun adventure story, and not the beginning of the epic quest. So, again, if you want to start the epic quest at the start of the quest, then you should read The Fellowship first.)
Bonus Reason: Bonus content.
There are a lot of parts from the beginning part of the quest that are cut out of the movie. So, if you’ve only seen the movies, then The Fellowship book will have the most surprises and easter eggs, as it was the one that was the most shaved down for film. And, if you’ve never seen the movies, then you’ll enjoy all of the fun, frightening, and fantastical twists and turns that the beginning of the journey has.
So, there you have it!
If you’ve been sitting around, thinking about diving into the LOTR trilogy, but you’ve been unsure of just exactly where to start, then these are your reasons as to why you should start with The Fellowship of the Ring.
Masterfully crafted by the master craftsman Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese genius behind anime classic hits such as Spirited Away, Ponyo, and Castle in the Sky, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, is a 2011 PS BANDAI videogame.
It follows the adventures of young boy Oliver, affectionately dubbed Ollie, who after losing his mother in a tragic accident finds himself transported to another world. A magical world, full of faeries, talking cats, as well as scary villains that are going around breaking peoples hearts. Drippy, Oliver’s doll turned faerie, informs Oliver that his mother’s Soulmate, a person with the same soul in this parallel magical world as in Oliver’s home world, the great sage Alicia, is alive and in danger from the evil heart-breaking sage Shadar.
With the help of new friends that are the Soulmates of his old friends, Oliver sets out to become a great sage powerful enough to defeat Shadar and save his mothers Soulmate Alicia, in the hope that that will save his mother back home in his home world.
This game is so beautiful, and I wish that it was a TV show or full movie because it is genuinely my favorite Miyazaki story hands down!!
It is very beautiful and tragic, dealing with grief and coping – and that is what I’m going to be talking about today. (There will be spoilers in the rest of this post, so if you don’t want to be spoiled – then just hit subscribe now, and enjoy another blogpost. 😀 )
I believe that the case can be made that the magical world in this game is all made up – it’s all in Ollie’s head. He never actually traveled anywhere, he didn’t learn any magic, he just played around town, letting his imagination run wild while coming to terms with the death of his mother and the reality of his future.
To start off, in the very beginning when Oliver is first mourning the loss of his mother Drippy, a doll that was a gift from his mother, comes to life and starts telling Ollie-boy to stop crying. Because, Oliver knows that his mother would want him to be a big boy, and big boys don’t cry. Big boys are brave, kind and strong.
From there, Oliver and Drippy travel to the magical world – choosing to do SOMETHING as opposed to staying home alone and wallowing in grief. Oliver and Drippy embark on a courageous mission.
In the magical world he encounters all manner of people with broken hearts, that have Soulmates in his own hometown. Drippy informs Oliver that it his job to heal the broken-arted. Because, Oliver himself is broken-hearted and he needs to do something to heal himself. Sometimes, the best way to heal ourselves is to heal others. In order to heal the broken-hearted people in the magical world Oliver needs to help the people in his own hometown.
There are these “Nightmares” that he has to battle, Nightmare monsters that drain people of all enthusiasm, kindness, courage, restraint, belief, confidence, love, and ambition. He helps the neighbor girl, who’s been made to stay inside by her father, who’s been overcome by fear, and in the magical world that little girl becomes his companion and fierce friend. And on and on and on…
Ultimately, he faces off against Shadar and discovers that Shadar, the evil villainous sage that has been spreading darkness and despair, is HIS soulmate. Which shows that Oliver’s worst enemy is himself – it’s his anger, his bitterness, his despair, his grief that has poisoned everything. His mission to defeat Shadar can just be viewed as his mission to defeat his own Nightmare.
But, it’s not just defeating – it’s healing. Shadar needs to be healed. Oliver needed to see what he was capable of becoming and then to get himself, Shadar, to realize his wrongdoing – which he does.
Once Shadar has been defeated, Oliver moves on to facing off against the titular villain, The White Witch, another little girl who lost her father at a young age and then made mistakes so grievous that she felt as if the only solution left to her was to destroy everything, so that “a new world could begin.”
To which Oliver responds “You can’t just tear it up and start over. It may not be perfect, but nothing is. So, you make the best of what you’ve got. When things go wrong, you have to try and make them right. And you have to keep on trying, no matter how hard it gets. That’s what life is all about. Even when you’re all alone, you can’t give up. Sooner or later, someone’s sure to come along… You take things as they come, and you keep on going.”
Ultimately, it’s a story about healing grief – healing the grief in ourselves and others, and allowing others to heal the grief in us and teaching them how to heal the grief in themselves.
After all of the magic – Oliver returns home saying, “Mom, I’m going to get on with my life. And I know you’ll always be watching over me.” You see him pass all of the people in his homeworld, that were the people that he’d helped in the magical world, and you realize – he never went to any other place. He just met and helped the people in his own life, using his imagination to help him cope with his own grief, healing the grief of others to heal himself.
It’s such a good story!
I hope I explained things well! It’s such a long, complex game, with so many storylines and layers, that I hope that I explained what I wanted to explain clearly.
I’m not a gamer, but I loved this game so much and would highly recommend it to people of every age and sex.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed todays blogpost!
I’m so sorry that I haven’t blogged in a while. In fact, I don’t know if this kind of a post is really any good at all, but I wanted to make sure to post something.
Life has been crazy busy!!
Crazy busy and then I had so many ideas for so many different things that I got a bit stuck haha. I guess then, this is me trying to get unstuck. Writing up a blogpost and posting it even if it’s just about nothing.
So, that will be my writing advice for the day – just write!
Sometimes things will feel too dry and sometimes the creative well will feel so full that, in both scenarios, putting words down just becomes impossible. I don’t know what it is, if someone has figured out what exactly it is about that blank page that is so daunting, then please tell me! I’d really love to know haha!
But anyways, back off of that tangent, and back to my point – just write. Write a poem, write a journal entry, write a short story, write a sentence, write a product description, write the back of a cereal box, write nonsense words, scribble on the page, punch the keyboard – write a rambling blogpost about writing. 😉
Hopefully, that will unstick the glue in your finger bones and crack off the rust on your brain cogs and the words will start to flow.
Young Lady and Gentleman is a weekly Korean drama that is currently airing on KBS on Saturdays and Sundays. American fans, like me, can catch the episodes on Viki.com, with English subtitles complete by Monday or Tuesday.
It stars Ji Hyun Woo as the widower and father of 3 Lee Young Kook, and Lee Se Hee as the bright young tutor who’s down on her luck Park Dan Dan.
It’s a classic Korean tale of interwoven familial relationships.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Park Dan Dan & her father & her brother get tangled up into both personal and professional relationships with different members of Lee Young Kook’s family. Once Park Dan Dan starts working as a tutor she discovers that her father has been recently hired as the driver, and then later they discover that her brother has begun a romantic relationship with Lee Young Kook’s sister.
It turned into a Parasite situation real quick!
The only difference being – Park Dan Dan’s family is really, really nice!
They’re all good people, with strong moral conviction (so far at least!) and have had no intention of taking advantage of this rich family. That’s why it’s Positive Parasite! 🙂
What’s really fun is that the show knows that it’s being similar to Parasite and says so a couple of times. That’s why things kind of do blow up when their familial relations are revealed.
I am thoroughly enjoying this show and terribly excited by the fact that it is going to have 50 episodes!!! You heard me right! 50 episodes! It’s really tough waiting every week for new episodes though!
The one thing I’ve noticed about Ji Hyun Woo’s shows is that they always have really good cliffhangers. Seriously, in every show every episode ends on a major cliffhanger! Which is great 😀 and horrible (cause of the waiting!!).
The only thing so far that has been not my favorite has been the soundtrack. I don’t dislike it, but it’s been more funny then breathtaking. Love in Sadness for example had an awesome soundtrack. The music was it’s own character. The music in this show is a character too, just more of a silly clown than anything else.
But even so, I can promise you that I am going to watch every one of those 50 episodes!:)
If you want to watch it too, then just head on over to Viki.com.
Crown of Coral and Pearl is a young adult novel about twin sisters and their tangled destinies. There’s Zadie, the twin who wants nothing more then to stay in her hometown and marry the boy that she loves, but whose beauty has predestined her as the bride of the mother kingdoms crown prince. Then there’s Nor, the twin who has dreamed her whole life about something more then just working and settling down, who’s unfortunate scar has shackled her to her hometown for good.
Desperate times call for desperate measure and the twins hatch a plan to Parent Trap the whole thing – and swap places!
Unfortunately, the tale is far from smooth sailing. Zadie’s actions have caused the parents of the boy she loves to deem her unsuitable for him. And Nor has discovered that not only is the crown prince’s brother far more lovable, but the crown prince himself is downright murderous!
With the tides turned against them, will these two sisters ever have a happy ending?
I had such a fun time with this book!!
And I’m about to give out some SPOILERS, so if you want to avoid those – then just scroll to the end, subscribe to my blog and then get yo’self to a bookstore to buy your own copy of Crown of Coral and Pearl!
First off, I loved the concept of an ocean city. Like, a literal, on the ocean, in the middle of the water, floating city! As a desperate ocean girl myself it had me going, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Secondly, I am such a huge fan of anything knights and ladies and castles – so all in all, the setting was a total *chef’s kiss*!
I am so excited to read the sequel, but before I do, I’ve got to share my thoughts.
So, here’s what I wanted to happen, what I thought was going to happen, and what I’m sure is going to happen.
Firstly, what I wanted to happen – I wanted there to be MORE TALIN!!! There were plenty of swoonworthy moments between Talin and Nor, and I just wanted there to be a liiiiiitle bit more. For example, I wished that Talin would’ve physically fought Ceren (multiple times) over Nor. I know, I know, there was the whole diplomatic situation going on and he was trying to avoid execution, of either himself or Nor, but still I would’ve liked to see a bit more chivalry out of him.
Secondly, I was so sure for a hot minute there that Ebb’s brother, the one that she was so hush hush about, was going to turn out to be Ceren. It would’ve made sense! And then, that would’ve meant that Ceren’s spy was Ebb. That the one person that Nor felt pretty confident was innocent, simple, and on her side was actually the worst one of the bunch. Ultimately, I’m glad that Ebb wasn’t a traitor, but it would’ve been such a ‘duh, duh, dun!’ moment!
And lastly, Ceren is most DEFINITELY alive!! There’s no way that he’s dead. He had just told us how Nor’s blood had finally made him healthy, and over the course of the whole book, we’d gotten to learn about how it was the exposure to the blood coral that had given Nor her own extraordinary healing abilities, so, there was no way that the blood coral would kill him. That, and she left before confirming that he was dead. It’s the classic murder rule – no body, no death, that b’ is still alive. Only one chapter later it is revealed that another character who was presumed dead, with no body, is in fact alive. So yeah, Ceren is totally alive!
Ranking systems are hard for me because, I want to give everybody and everything 10 out of 10 every time! But, I’m going to try to be accurate and serious for a moment, so… All in all I give this book 4.7 pearls out of 5!
Good job @mararaewrites! I can’t wait to read more of your work! 🙂
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “No, it’s not.” “What’s Tale of the Nine Tailed?” “Is Inuyasha one of those cartoon thingys?” The answers to all of those questions are – yes, a brilliant kdrama, and basically.
Tale of the Nine Tailed is a TvN Korean drama airing during the fall months of 2020. If you’re like me, an American, than you can catch it on Viki.com. I first drafted this post when the show was first airing back in 2020 – but I took a break from the show (I still haven’t finished it!). So, now that seasons 2 and 3 have just been announced it felt like the fitting time to finish the show and share this post!
It stars Lee Dong Wook as the titular “Nine Tailed” Fox, or Gumiho. Anime fans would refer to him as a Kitsune. Sonic fans would say “Oh, like Tails?” all of which would be correct. He’s a mystical fox. “But, wait?” you’re now saying, “Isn’t Lee Dong Wook human?” and you would be right. He is human. Gumiho’s or Kitsune’s can and usually do take on human form. So, don’t worry. You’ll be able to see Lee Dong Wook in all of his sharp-jawed, newly-dyed red-brown hair perfection.
Staring alongside Lee Dong Wook are the beautiful Jo Bo Ah as the leading lady and primary human, and the talented Kim Bum (who, incidentally, was one of the first Korean actors I ever saw, but I digress) as the mischievous little brother.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where the similarities begin.
As we all know (and if we don’t all know then please, just pretend), Inuyasha is a Japanese anime series about a half demon dog and his human friends (and girlfriends) who work hard to defeat big baddie Naraku by collecting all of the Shikon Jewel shards before he can. Inuyasha, as I’ve said, is a half demon dog, but one of his traveling companions, little Shippo, is a fox. Yes, a nine tailed fox! A Kitsune. A Gumiho. All of the things.
An interesting fact – but a little bit of a further digression.
Basically, I feel like someone in the writer’s room wanted to know “what would happen if we combined Inuyasha, Shippo and John Wick?” and they came up with Kim Bum’s character.
Let’s get into the nitty gritty details.
Why is Tale of the Nine Tailed Inuyasha, huh? Explain it to us!
I will!
#1: Red
As we all know, Inuyasha wears red:
Here, we see Kim Bum also wearing red:
A lot!
See what I’m saying? But wait, there’s more!
#2: Antagonistic half brothers
In Inuyasha we have Sesshomaru:
Who is a full dog demon and brother to Inuyasha:
A half dog demon or, as they like to call him, a half-breed. The brothers hate each other! At least, they’re always fighting and trying to kill each other.
In Tale of the Nine Tailed we have Lee Dong Wook:
The full fox, and Kim Bum:
A half fox, who are constantly fighting and trying to kill each other.
Still not convinced? Well what if I told you…
#3: Swords & Claws
Both sets of Brothers use swords as their preferred weapon of choice, although in both Inuyasha and TotNT, the little brother makes good use of his claws.
#4: First Meetings
They first met, both in the past and the present, when she was a little girl. In the past he was literally resting against the base of a large tree, just like Sesshomaru.
In the present, in episode 4, he goes to the underworld to pay for saving her life – and in Inuyasha Sesshomaru went to the underworld to rescue Rin.
#5: Kim Bum is Inuyasha
The obnoxious half demon that’s wears red and is constantly trying to fight his older brother.
#6: Lee Dong Wook is Sesshomaru
The powerful fox demon that is stoic but falls in love with a human.
#7: Jo Bo Ah is Rin
The innocent young human who falls in love with the protective fox demon.
In conclusion – it’s Inuyasha but Inuyasha if Sesshomaru was the protagonist. In Inuyasha he’s the one with the human lover that dies and is then reincarnated. In Tale of the Nine Tailed it is the Sesshomaru characters’ human lover that dies and is reincarnated.
Now that it’s fall again I’m really excited to re-watch and finally finish this show!
It’s a great book to read at any age, whether you’re 7 or 77.
It follows the lives of siblings Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy and their adventures in the magical world on the other side of a dusty old wardrobe.
The world of Narnia – where there are fauns and talking beavers and terrifying witches. It’s a place where, when the children first arrive in it, it is always winter but never Christmas.
The arrival of the 2 sons of Adam and 2 daughters of Eve is the sign that the return of Christmas, spring and Aslan and then end of the White Witch’s reign is near.
CS Lewis is such a good writer!!
Each chapter is only about 10 pages long and, though he’s writing for children, there is no condescending going on. He respects the intelligence of the reader and delivers a story that is – simply put, a classic.
Everybody should read The Chronicles of Narnia.
Everybody.
100/10!
Also, if you’re only prior exposure to Narnia was the live action disney movies then please – FORGET THOSE!!
The books are a thousand times better AND there’s a cartoon movie from 1979 that is PHENOMENAL!! Go find and watch that – PLEASE!
I recently re-watched Thor: The Dark World (because, who wasn’t re-watching those recently?) and I couldn’t help but notice certain similarities between it’s storyline and that from the Doctor in Doctor Who and his accounts of the Time War.
First things first I need you to know – The Dark Elves are the Timelords and The Asgardians are the Daleks. You with me so far? Alright, let’s go.
We hear the tale of how The Dark Elves attacked and how their leader, who was cruel and terrible, killed his own people to end the war (and disappear, saving himself).
Just like how the Timelords were at war with the Daleks (who started what is irrelevant here) and the Doctor “killed” the Timelords, his own people, to end the Time War against the Daleks. And then, he disappeared in his Tardis, saving himself.
So, the Daleks then were the Asgardians trying to save the world from the Timelords, excuse me Dark Elves, and their dark matter world transporty machines. Sounds like tardis’s to me.
All I’m saying is that, in the Dalek’s eyes, they’re the good guys, the benevolent rulers, the beautiful gods that are keeping the peace in the realms. And the Timelords are the evil dark elves that are trying to destroy everything.
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