Friday, June 29, 2007

my favorite literary heroines

Wow, this is a tough one. It's like trying to name a favorite flavor of ice cream. They're all delicious in their own way. But here are some that have stuck in my mind.

There's Scarlett O'Hara, of course, who's wily, wild, and stunningly beautiful. How can you compare her in-your-face presence to the quiet strength of Jane Austen's Elinor Dashwood (so wonderfully played by Emma Thompson in the movie)?

And speaking of Jane Austen and Emmas, Emma Woodhouse is also one of my favorite female literary characters.

There's the mystery set: Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone, Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. And let's not forget Millie Benson's Nancy Drew!

Then there's the mystery-suspense/comedy heroines, including Lori Avocato's Pauline Sokol, Stevi Mittman's Teddi Gallo, and of course, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.

On the romance side, Joy Nash's heroines are always strong and intelligent. My favorite was Rhiannon in Celtic Fire.

I loved Amy Tan's LuLing in The Bonesetter's Daughter, and Alice Walker's Celie in The Color Purple.

There are dozens--maybe hundreds--more. But as Dorothy Parker once said, "Brevity is the soul of lingerie."

DLW

posted by Donna Birdsell at 7:39 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

My favorite movies

I am a hard core movie junkie. There are many movies I've seen multiple times. Many, many, multiple times.

Gone With the Wind? At least thirty times. Casablanca, twenty or so. Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson and Doris Day, just about once a week when I worked the graveyard shift, and it was regularly the early morning movie on TBS. Grease? I lost count somewhere around fifty. And in high school and college, I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show at least a hundred times.

I love the Merchant Ivory films, Remains of the Day, Howard's End, A Room With a View; and the Jane Austen adaptations, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Pride and Prejudice. Amadeus and Dangerous Liasons are two of the best costume dramas I've ever seen.

The Color Purple, Terms of Endearment and Schindler's List are my seven-hankie movies. Matchpoint and Thank You for Smoking are two recent favorites.

On the lighter end, I loved Raising Arizona, Groundhog Day, Harold and Maude, This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, National Lampoon's Vacation, Pirates of the Caribbean, There's Something About Mary, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Pierce Brosnan was brilliant in the underrated The Matador. That was a wonderful dark comedy and a really fascinating character study. I

I will watch anything with Johnny Depp or Mark Ruffalo. I would, in fact, watch them sit in a chair for two hours.

Since becoming a Mom, I've watched lots of kids' movies. Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast are two of my favorites, but Finding Nemo and Shrek come close. (I am looking forward to seeing more first-run grown-up movies, though!)

Dirty Dancing holds a special place in my heart, and so does the corny but hilarious Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell (which I consider my guiltiest guilty-pleasure movie.) I will also watch anything with John Travolta, even the unbelievably bad B movie (C movie?) The Experts. Never heard of it? You're not alone! (Disclaimer: Even I couldn't make it through the horrible Battlefield Earth.

But if I had to choose, I would say that Jaws is my all-time favorite. I know it backward and forward, inside and out. I love everything about it. The pacing is perfect, the dialogue fantastic. I loved the book, which I read numerous times as well, but in my opinion, the movie outshines it, which I rarely think is the case when it comes to adaptations.

When I give writing classes at my local library, I use Jaws to illustrate motivation and conflict, as well as the three-act structure. I literally can't watch anything else when I know it is on, even though I own two versions of the movie that I can play anytime. Is there anything better than hearing that music? Da dun. Da dun. Da dun da dun da dun dunnnnnnn!!!
Even after all this time, the special effects hold up pretty well.

Hmmm. I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll think of a dozen more I wish I would have included...

posted by Donna Birdsell at 1:21 PM 0 comments

Saturday, June 02, 2007

10 things I love

Ten things I love, in no particular order:
1) Captain Crunch cereal (The peanut butter kind, not the regular. The regular hurts my mouth. Too pointy.)
2) Sleeping in
3) Watching sit-coms
4) Chubby Hubby ice cream
5) The beach in the fall, when it's cold and windy
6) New shoes
7) Bare trees silhouetted against a sunset (always makes me wish I knew how to paint)
8) A full moon
9) Fog
10) Things that ingeniously fold up very small (maybe I should try origami)

posted by Donna Birdsell at 3:17 PM 0 comments