Writing, Reading, and Sewing

I’m really sleepy, so this entry might not be as coherent as usual. Last night, I finished the story I was writing for Clean Place’s current “Extra Credit Project”, Adopt-a-Plot. I’m not entirely pleased with the ending, but I like the story overall.

I went to JoAnn on Tuesday and Wal-Mart yesterday and got more fabric at both places. I had a 50% off coupon for JoAnn, so of course I had to use it! I bought 6 yards of dark brown cotton to make a dress. I’ve washed and ironed the fabric, cut the pieces out, and pinned some of them together. I’m not sure how it will turn out, since instead of doing princess seams, I laid some of the pattern pieces next to each other and cut a couple of things out as one piece instead of two. At Wal-Mart, I got some dark blue fabric for a skirt, green with a scroll pattern for a shirt, and some red stuff that reminds me of suede for a tunic. I was just going to get the blue, but the other fabric begged me to take it home.

The weather has been so rainy lately. I like some rain and storms, but I also like to see the sun. I am happy that everything is turning green. I think spring is my favorite season, aside from the humidity. Yesterday, with the sun breaking through the clouds, the light pink petals floating down from the trees, and the green buds everywhere, I was reminded of Narnia.

I’m still reading The Watchers, though not verra frequently. It’s rather odd.

Here’s a picture (it’s my picture of the day. See my Project 365 blog [the link is in the sidebar] for pictures from other days).

Well, that was pretty coherent, I think. Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Nostalgia, Cloth, & Books

I was reading the blog of a Clean Place member, “Anywhere”, who’s staying with some other Clean Place members who live in Texas. Her descriptions remind me of the Moot (the annual gathering of Clean Place members, held in Colorado, to hang out, write, get to know each other, etc.). I’m feeling rather nostalgic now. I miss hanging out with CPeeps. They’re such fun, kind people. I wish I could go to the Moot again this year, but it’s too expensive. I’d need about $800.

Here’s a quote from Anywhere’s blog that I really like and certainly applies to the Moot (a term taken from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books, where it means “a gathering of Ents”): “Measuring things in goodbyes is not a good habit.”

I washed some fabric yesterday to make a new skirt. I think I overdid it. It’s a bit rough now. Oh well. It’ll still work. I need to exercise some discipline and not buy any more fabric for a while after I use my 50% off coupon for JoAnn’s.

I have some dark blue cotton fabric that I’m trying to decide what to use it for. I originally bought it for an Eowyn-inspired dress (inspired by her blue funeral gown, more specifically). I’m not sure if I’ll use it for that, or for a cloak, or for something else. The fabric I buy rarely ends up being made into the item of its original purpose.

I may have mentioned that I started reading “Patrick” by Stephen Lawhead. Now I’m putting it off to read “The Watchers” by Mark Andrew Olsen, because Patrick is not a very engaging read so far. It’s written in first person, and I’ve never much liked reading books in first person.

I think I might change my blog layout/look soon.

Edit: Changed it.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

A Pile of Books, Movies, and Music

Mom rented “The List” and I watched it on Sunday. It’s based on a book. I imagine the book is far better than the movie, though I haven’t read it. The plot was good, but seemed poorly executed by the filmmakers. I understand the gist of it, but there were some confusing and unexplained scenes. I don’t think I’ll watch it again. But it did nicely emphasize the power of prayer.

I also watched the movie “Kidnapped”, the version done by MasterPiece Theatre based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s book by the same name. I really enjoyed it. The main character is an upright young man of high character and morals, which I found a refreshing change from today’s norm. It’s a long movie, but worth the watch, to me, at least. It’s set in Scotland and the music is lovely, which helps

Speaking of Scotland, yesterday and today I read Wings of Morning, one of the books I checked out at the library. I’ll post my review below, as it’s a bit lengthy. I also finished reading Blessed Child, which is very good. The writing isn’t as good as some of Dekker’s other books, but the story is great. I recommend it.

We went to Borders today because their movies and CDs are all 50% right now (at the location near us. I dinna ken if they are at others). I was going to blog about how good I was, not spending any money…but now I can’t, because I did. I bought Josh Groban’s newest CD, “Awake”, and a CD called “The Music of Japan”, which was only $4…I downloaded some free (and legal) Asian music a few weeks ago and burnt it to a CD, but the CD is crazy and doesn’t play them right, so…*innocent look*

Here’s my review of “Wings of Morning”.

I generally avoid books that look like they’re primarily romances (I like some romance in a book, but not as the main focus), but I hoped the fact that this is set in 16th-century Scotland would redeem it, as well as the fact that it’s Christian fiction (I don’t read romances that aren’t, in hopes that I will avoid unpleasant content).

It didn’t start out promising. I skimmed and skipped in the first chapter (more on that later). But it got better from there. The plot is interesting and the main character is believable (I’m not so sure about the man she falls in love with), if a bit aggravating at times (to draw out the suspense). The writing isn’t very good, but that fact faded into the background as the story drew me in, except for the occasional lifting of the suspension of disbelief.

The bad things happening to the main character began to grow wearying after a point where I just wanted things to be settled. But I finally reached the happy ending (“finally” being the day after I started it, because I actually found it hard to put down).

The reason I skipped parts of the first chapter and parts later on in the book is because of suggestive content. I don’t recommend the book for younger readers.

I’m not sure that, all things considered, I really recommend it to anyone, at least not silly girls like me who are prone to let the romance business (the hurt girl and the near-perfect man falling madly in love and living happily ever after…okay, it never says happily ever after and there are plenty of reasons to believe they had trouble in the future due to the plot, but you get the picture) go to our heads, but if you take the book as entertainment and don’t waste your time getting all day-dreamy and distracted about that, it’s okay. Pardon my cynicism in that area.

There are good parts about trusting and loving God and seeking out and submitting to His will for your life, so you if you read it, you can take that from the story.

It’s the second in a series, but I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t seen it on the side cover. It stands alone fine.

Have an amazing rest of your life.
- WM

Catchup

I had a rather busy weekend. A friend turned 18 on Saturday, and I went to her birthday party Friday night and spent the night at her house with some other girls. I wanted to make her a dress she can wear to the Renaissance faire if she ends up going with us, because going in garb is much more fun than going in “mundanes”. I procrastinated and ended up cutting the fabric out Wednesday and sewing it together Thursday and Friday. I had to put the eyelets in while in the car and while I was there, but I got it finished. I’ll probably post pictures on my costume blog (see links in the sidebar) before long. For now, there are some on Facebook.

We went to the creek near her house on Saturday and spent a while playing fetch with Kiwi and enjoying the scenery.

And then on Sunday, it snowed! That’s a rare occurrence in Georgia. The snow didn’t stick much, which is a shame, because we would have had quite a bit on the ground if it did. But it looked pretty, regardless.

There’s a picture of a cardinal in the snow on my Project 365 blog.

Hobby Lobby finally put McCall’s patterns on sale for 99 cents each again, so I went with Mom and Laura yesterday when Mom took Laura to art class. Mother and I went the library while she was in class. I checked out three books. The first is called Wings of Morning and is by Kathleen Morgan. I went over to the computer and typed “Scotland” in the subject box. There were hundreds of results and no descriptions of the content, so I gave up on that. I went over to the bookshelves. The first book I pulled off was Wings of Morning, and happens to be set in Scotland! It does look like it’s primarily a romance, but it mentions God on the back and is set in Scotland, so it will hopefully be interesting. I like some [clean] romance in books, but not when it’s the primary focus. It’s like a casserole – it would be disgusting if salt were the main ingredient, but the right amount of salt makes it taste better.

The second book is called The Watchers and is by Mark Andrew Olsen. I’ve seen it somewhere before, I think in a Christian Book Distributors catalog. From what I read on the back cover, it appears to be about spiritual warfare (but is fiction). The other book is Patrick by Stephen Lawhead. It appears to be a (most likely highly fictionalized) telling of St. Patrick. I /think/ Stephen Lawhead is a Christian author. I also found a couple of movies that look interesting – The Pickwick Papers, based on a Charles Dickens novel, and Kidnapped.

We picked Laura up after her class and went to Petsmart to get gerbil bedding. Then on to Hobby Lobby, where I bought around eight patterns, some cord, and some jewelry-making supplies. Then to Sam’s Club. I sat in the car reading the book I borrowed from a friend, Blessed Child by Ted Dekker (which is very good so far). Laura came out and informed me that the animated Disney version of Robin Hood (where’s a fox) was down to $14 from $20. The movie is my favorite of the old Disney ones and I’d wanted to get it for a while. I was out of money, but Mom ended up buying it for me I’m looking forward to watching it.

We had some time to kill before heading to a Mary Kay party for a friend of ours that started selling their products, so we ate dinner out and headed to Borders. If I had any money when I went in there, I probably wouldn’t have when I left. I mean, who doesn’t need an English-to-Irish dictionary? There are other books there I’m interested in, too, but Borders is one of the more expensive bookstores (though have good prices on some things), so I’ll probably look for them elsewhere.

I had a good time at the Mary Kay party – mostly standing to the side thinking about books while people tested beauty products. I also talked with friends, which I really enjoyed, because I don’t get to hang out with them very often these days.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM