Remember the Time…We Played My Little Ponies?

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by storytellergirlgrace

This post is inspired by the current theme of The Waiting Blog – it’s a celebration of back-in-the-day nostalgia.

My love of fantasy manifested early in my life, and some of my favorite toys that I first remember (outside of my babydolls) were My Little Ponies. (Side note – I am glad that I don’t have a young daughter, because I’d be embarrassed and a little scared to buy her the new so-called My Little Ponies. Of course I mean no offense to you if you like the new look. To each their own).

My sister and my best friend also both loved Ponies, so if the three of us got together, we had a wonderful herd of at least a gajillion Ponies, give or take a few. True to my storytelling nature, I loved the complex games we played, the Pony characters that developed, the worlds we built.

I had two of the Moondancer Ponies. One I’d bought, then got the other as a birthday gift; but instead of returning it, I kept it. And thusly, the twin sisters Moony and Dancer were born. I kept the tail of one of them braided and the other loose to tell them apart.

When the My Little Pony babies were introduced, and later the Pony Big Brothers line, I was thrilled, because now at last I could have a nuclear family. Even at a tender age, I somehow understood that in a society of nothing but girl Ponies, there could be no babies. So I set up for myself a blue mommy Pony, a pink baby Pony, and a white boy Pony wearing a fireman’s hat. All was now right with the world. And the fireman’s hat was especially cool.

I had a physically challenged Pony, just to add another dose of realism to this make-believe world. She was one of those fuzzy Ponies, and she was in a rearing position and came with a clear stand. Because of the fuzz inside the holes in her feet, she wouldn’t stay upright on the stand properly, so I played with her down on all fours. Well, that didn’t work so well either, because all of her legs were arranged for a fancy prancing rear. So consequently, she either had to have a block stuck under one front leg so she could balance, or she had to perpetually lean against a wall. The wall was usually easier (for me), so that Pony often got left out of the grand across-the-room-and-down-the-hall adventures.

Then my Pony herd grew again when my friend and I started collecting Breyer horses, and we sometimes played with the Breyers and the Ponies together. Because a pink Pony with green balloons on its rump goes perfectly with a life-like maquette of Secretariat. Good times.

My Little Ponies were just one of my childhood fancies that shaped me into the writer I am today. Never underestimate the power of childhood magic and playing pretend!

Yep, I still have one of my Ponies out on display. Who could say no to that face?

24Jul2013

Music to Write By – My Current Playlist

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by storytellergirlgrace

Right now I’m more in editing (and rewriting) mode in my work than I am first-draft writing. But no matter what I’m writing, music is my tool for getting me out of daily life mode and into composing and storytelling mode.

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been listening to lately:

AOMusic – Edge Walkers

Nothing like soothing instrumental music when I just want to let my mind relax. To properly brainstorm, I find that I need to be relaxed–or, at least, not all mentally involved in or stressed about something. The music of AO never fails to pull my mind into the music, and, by extension, pull me into the worlds I’m creating.

Gjallarhorn – Suvetar

Since I’m writing a story that’s loosely inspired by the legends of Finland, it’s almost necessary that I listen to Finnish folk music and/or songs about their mythology. Besides, it’s a cool music video.

Ulla Pirttijärvi – Mattharaku askai

The Sami people of arctic Finland are important players in my story, so I use their music for both research and for inspiration. Ulla’s songs are some of my favorites.

The Two Towers – The Riders of Rohan

High fantasy, dramatic battles, and the Viking-like people of Rohan – what’s not inspirational about this track from Lord of the Rings? Specifically, though, Howard Shore’s amazing score (all of it – not just this track) plain gets me excited about storytelling.

Eivør – Min Modir (My Mother)

Besides the fact that Eivør makes it onto almost any “music favorites” or “currently playing” list, the tribal arrangement of this song is powerful and empowering. Eivør’s voice is otherworldly, and always puts me in a writing frame of mind.

Valravn – Marsk

More instrumental music, this time with a primitive and folk-ish sound. Perfect for conjuring up images of people and places in my fantasy world.

What’s on your current writing playlist?

10Jul2013

Remember the Time – A Summer Vacation Tale

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by storytellergirlgrace

Once upon a time, not so long ago (before the days of ipods and blogging, but after cars and air conditioning were invented), two sisters went on a trip with their parents.

They went on a trip every summer, but this summer was different. This summer, instead of going to the tropical heat of small-town North Carolina, they would be traveling to the shady cool woodlands of small-town upper New York state. To visit a mansion.

In the mansion lived a man named A. No other letters, not even a noun after it. Just A. He was a distant cousin of the girls’ mother, and one of the last living relatives on that side of the family. A was delighted to see his cousin again, and especially the two little girls, and was a gracious host—but even so, he seemed a bit peculiar in the head, as one might expect from a man who lived alone in a great old mansion.

The two sisters explored the mansion, and found oddities and marvels at every turn. Every room was so full of furniture they could hardly walk. Heavy tables and faded armchairs and dark wooden bookshelves—the sort of furniture one might see in a museum, all huge and old and carved with elaborate designs. Books everywhere, producing dust from their crumbling leather bindings, overflowed the bookshelves and sat in stacks on the tables, the armchairs, the floor.

The sisters found a box of doilies and little knitted things. There were some tiny mittens and hats that might just fit their dolls. On a shelf in a musty closet were toys—toys too dusty and old to play with. Wooden pull-toys missing their wheels, rickety metal cars with the paint peeling off. Who made children’s toys out of sharp-edged metal and paint that peeled? The sisters had heard something about lead paint and how poisonous it was—maybe that was why A was so odd.

There was a marble chess set, in green and white and black. The chess board alone felt as heavy as one of those great carved tables covered in books. The sisters wanted to play a game, but one piece was missing. Their mother explained: one Christmas, her mother had mailed the marble pawn to A’s mother, just for fun. The next Christmas she mailed it back. The tradition went on for years, mailing the chess piece back and forth across the country. The girls thought it an impractical thing to do, at least with a chess piece—it made the game playable only every other year. The two old mothers were now dead, and no one remembered who’d last had the pawn. The sisters looked at the empty cradle in the black velvet case and didn’t play chess.

When the sisters and their parents went back home, they had a car full of stuff and memories. Their parents took some furniture (small things—no museum tables), and books and fragile dishes with fancy patterns. The two sisters had mittens for their dolls, and books, and funny little plastic and metal figurines that A said he got from a gumball machine. All the sisters had ever gotten from gumball machines was stickers and jelly bracelets and gum that lost its flavor too fast.

On the long drive home, the sisters talked about dotty old A, the mansion full of treasures and dust, and the marble chess set missing its pawn. The older sister thought she might like to write a story one day about the old house, and what might have happened to the green marble chess piece.

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Even though I came late to this blog-hop, I wrote this post as inspired by Emily of The Waiting blog. It’s well worth a read!

26Jun2013

The ABCs of My Awesome Life

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses, Writings about Writing by storytellergirlgrace

I totally stole this idea from The Magic Violinist. She has a great blog, so pop on over there (after you’re done reading my blog, of course!) So in this post, I reveal many deep secrets (or not) about myself, in alphabetical order.

Ambition: My ambition is to be a successful author. What makes a successful author? Having ten loyal fans? A hundred? A bazillion? Dunno. But I’ll start my journey of success by getting published first (hopefully by the end of this year/early next year).

Bad Habits: Sleeping late. Personally, I don’t consider this a bad habit unto itself—except that the world is run by morning people, so I wind up looking lazy by trying to sleep in till a decent hour.

Celebrity Crushes: That guy who played Hawkeye in Avengers. And the guy who played Thor. I don’t keep up with celebrities, and I’m too lazy to go look up the actors’ names. But who doesn’t like hunky superheroes?

Drink: XS Energy drink. I’m not an energy drink fan, really, but since XS is more of a nutritional drink than a standard “energy” drink, I’m all about it. Lots of flavors to chose from, too. Which is good, because I like variety.

Education: Always. I have a college degree, but I don’t think that education should be defined by the number of schools attended or the certificates on your wall. If you read, or connect with new people, or basically live life with your eyes open, you’re learning (or you should be). My education is increasing every day.

Food: Chocolate. Peanut butter. Chocolate and peanut butter. I also like fresh fruits and veggies, and hotdogs that have been cooked over an open fire and are all crispy and burnt on the outside.

Guilty Pleasures: I’ve never been quite sure what this is supposed to mean. I try not to do things that I will feel guilty about later. With the possible exception of eating cheese or ice cream. I’m lactose intolerant, but man, I love dairy. Sigh.

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Ice Cream: Love it. Except, as I just mentioned, I can’t have diary. Sigh.

Jonesing for: Ice cream, since I’ve been writing about it. Sigh.

Kryptonite: Bunny rabbits. And music. If I’m out in public and a song I like is on the muzak, then I’m pretty much ignoring my shopping or my lunch partner till it’s over.

Lookalike: Periodically, I’m informed by random strangers that I look like Meg Ryan. And a friend recently said that I look like Eivør, which I find flattering beyond words. When I grow up, I want to be as pretty and talented and famous as Eivør is…

Movies: Lord of the Rings (all of Peter Jackson’s thus far to date). Star Wars (all of them, but mostly the original trilogy). Miss Potter. Clue (y’know, that 80s movie based on the board game). August Rush. Most anything starring Will Smith.

Nickname: Don’t really have one. Some people call me “Gracie,” which is fine.

Obsessions: Music. Writing fantasy stories. And those forbidden dairy products. Sigh.

Perfume: I don’t use it.

Quirk: Which one? I’m rather quirky (aren’t all writers, really?) I’d be happy to live every day and go everywhere in sock feet. I’m borderline neurotic about checking my notifications on my phone, Facebook, etc. It bugs me to have a bunch of little icons or red flags in my notification bar.

Regret: I don’t do regrets. Sure, there are some things in the past that I wish I’d done or hadn’t done. But since I can’t change the past, I’d rather devote my mental energy to making sure that I don’t do or neglect to do something in the future.

Starbucks: Nope. I don’t like coffee. And there are cheaper places to get tea or giant cookies.

The Last Book You Read: I’m always reading 2-4 books at once. Some recent reads I enjoyed: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Wisdom by Bonnie Watson. You can always stalk me on Goodreads if you really want to know what I’m currently reading.

Vacation: I went to England and Norway a couple of years ago, and I’m hoping to go to Iceland later this year.

Wine: Don’t drink it much—maybe one glass a month. I prefer red over white.

X: X-Men. I spent my college years and most of my 20s reading nearly every X-Men comic in existence.

Years: I’ve lived a few, and I intend to live many many more.

Zen: I guess this means what brings me bliss or peace? Music. Long walks in the woods. Scratching my rabbits’ ears.

29May2013

Music Review: “Hokulea,” AOMusic

Posted in Music Reviews, Music, Movies, and other Muses by storytellergirlgrace

Hokulea is the latest album by the world music fusion group AOMusic. “World music” is truly the best term—sounds from India, Ireland, North Carolina, and every place in between are heard on this album. Happy, energetic, full of color and imagination—these are some of the words I could use to describe the theme of Hokulea.

South African-born Miriam Stockley leads the vocals on almost every track, accompanied by children’s choirs from several nations. Miriam is most well-known for her work with Adiemus in the 1990s, and also has many collaborations and solo albums to her name.

Her voice is at once both youthful and mature. Shouting African singing, the floating waves of New Age ambience, the happy rhythms of children’s games—Miriam Stockley can sing it all. She could carry this album all by herself, but the choirs of Ireland and Nepal and America only add to the sound, like adding delicious layers onto a cake.

Like the sounds of the music, AO’s lyrics are timeless and come from all over the world. Hindi, Japanese, and Swahili words are sprinkled throughout their songs. The title song “Hokulea” means “Star of Gladness” in Polynesian.

“Irie Grá Medley” dances the listener through the jigs and reels of Ireland. “Yaka Matai” shouts praise songs from the Xhosa of southern Africa. And every song sings of joy and life.

Altogether, Hokulea is a celebration of sound that you don’t want to miss!

AO Music on YouTube

AO Music’s website

Miriam Stockley’s website

“Kuimba”