Still at school

So, I'm almost through a second term at university. It's my third year, and I'm looking forward to graduating next year. I had no time to write on my blog, but I have a short interim between projects. My main subjects are Novel, Novella writing (doing a Fantasy novel) and Stage Play scripting. I'm also doing Poetry, Liberal Studies, Non-Creative Writing, Astronomy, and a whole bunch more. Busy, busy, busy.

Here's a poem I wrote last year:

Burden of a Shadow
Snow, carries the shadows of
trees without leaves,
draws lines like scratches on blank pages,
up and over the white hills,
weaving patterns of crazy designs.

The movement of little
birds left behind through the winter,
flutter to and 'fro, they
speckle the landscape with
grey darts of fragmented haze.

Through the clouds, the
sun spotlights the pristine ground,
throws blue and purple, shifting
like sand dunes, as it
arcs westwards through
the northern sky.

What burden are these shadows? Though
painted across the frosty fields, and
sketched along the edge of
the icy forest, like an
ever-changing mural, it

doesn't carry the weight of a butterfly.

Summer in all it's Glory

I haven't posted in a long time ... I think it was still spring. So much has happened in my life since, that I could write a book about it. Well, maybe a short story.

The summer started with the report that I am now three years cancer free. As you can imagine, that made for a very relaxed holiday period. Calgary was my choice to spend the summer ... three of my grandchildren live there with my daughter. I have other family, and friends there too.

My son and I took the two grand-daughters (figured grandson, at 20 months was too young) to the Stampede Parade, which happened on a hot, sunny day. We had to put the kids onto our shoulders for them to see anything, but I think the atmosphere was exciting enough for them. The crowd, the yelling of "ya hoo", the music, summery day was a thrill for any young kid, although some were a little overwhelmed. But not my grandkids. No, they shouted along with the crowd. Walking back to our newly bought condo, I could see they were pretty tired. We quickly hopped into Starbucks for coffee and juice, and were home soon after. It didn't take them long to revive.

The summer felt like it just shot past me like a bullet. Our condo is near the Bow River, and all the pathways and bridges criss-crossing it. I had a lovely time visiting with my daughter, niece and friends. We had lunches, dinners, movies and attended the Turkish Festival down the road, at the Eau Clair Market mall. The smell of the roasting lamb, and sweet baklava floated me to the market where I met some friends for the day. I shopped at Market Mall, Northill Mall, and Northlands Mall. All, old haunts from when we lived there years before, much changed. I bought our new furniture for the condo at Ikea, where I meandered along the pathways of the store. Can you beat their breakfast or lunch, in value and taste? I think not.

My son went home ten days after. He attended the Stampede several times, catching some of the bands highlighted there. I was alone (but, not lonely) until my husband arrived a few weeks later.

Now, I'm back home, with the first week of school behind me.

The Avengers movie

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

I've gone to see this movie twice now - in 3D and 2D, within the same week ... not my norm at all.  Hunger Games?  What's that? Kidding ..... :D

So, here's my opinion:

I feel the interaction between the hero/ine characters (and even the anti-hero character, Loki) had some fantastic lines, and they made a dynamic team although their coming together was tense at first.  I see many sequels in the future. 

When I was waiting in line with my daughter and friends, we discussed who our favourite character was.  I liked Thor, but also Ironman. After watching The Avengers, however, The Incredible Hulk moved to the top. I never did like the The Incredible Hulk comics, but in the movie he had some real issues, both good and bad (I loved how he had that split personality thang going), and the best line, "puny god", spat out after thrashing poor Loki like a ragdoll, was classic.

There was so much action, and comedy, and drama, that there was very little pause in the movie.

Actor/Character Specifics:

I loved that Robin (Cobie Smulders as agent Maria Hill) from How I met your Mother tv fame, was cast as a strong leader. And, Scarlett Johanssen, Black Widow (or Natasha Romanoff) kicked ass. Two very strong female protagonists.

I've always been a huge fan of Robert Downey Jnr. ... Sherlock Holmes immediately comes to mind. To me, he's on a par with Johnny Depp. 

Chris Hemsworth as Thor ... what can I say?  Um ... yum!  I love his voice, and ... well, everything.

Chris Evans, as Captain America, was slow to start off, but once he jumped out of that jet .... wow. I enjoyed how he took charge during the battle. I guess he's the only true soldier out of all the heroes. Black Widow and Hawkeye are agents ... a very different thing to being a leader in a battle.  Thor is a god of Asgard, the hulk is a battering ram in his greenlike fury, and Ironman is a genius, dry humoured "trillionaire", used to getting his own way.  They all played their parts very well.

I like Mark Ruffalo as an actor, although some of his movies have been a little weird, for instance, The Kids are Alright.  He rocked as the hulk.

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, played an intense character, first being a slave of Loki, then changed back, by Black Widow.  To me he was very much a foil to the rest of the heroes.

I have tried to think of something that drew my one eyebrow up:  

1. A flying aircraft carrier seemed unbelievable at first, but once the action started, my belief was definitely suspended. In 3D it was awesome, but also in 2D.
2. Nick Stark's patch with the weird squiggles emanating from it, was a little off-putting. It looked painted on.  But, Samuel L. Jackson took to part well, as he does with everything he does.
3. It sucked when Agent Coulson died (or, did he?), but at least he went with drama and humour. I still wonder if he'll be back.
4. I think it would be a good idea to watch the Ironman, and Thor movies, to have an idea about the characters, although not imperative.

Overall, this movie was beyond brilliant.  One of those that you could watch over and over, like Lord of the Rings, or Starwars, or Star Trek, or The Pirates of the Caribbean, or Indiana Jones, or ..... y'all get my drift, I'm sure.

Mother's Day - A Poem

Today is Mother's Day, and I wrote a poem to memorialize it:

A Mother Forevermore

Some mothers have their children

for their lifetime

some, just a space on this earth,

and then they are called home,

never needing to grow old

their missions soon completed

in the physical world.

Then there are babies

who had their sweet little bodies

for just a short time

in their mom's wombs.

We think of them,

even though others may forget

their brief spark of life,

before shooting like a shooting star

home to heavenly heights,

always loved, always remembered,

always in our mother hearts

Memoir - April 2012

The transformation in process

April was a busy month.

Beginning of the month I saw The Hunger Games with my husband.  It was fantastic.

5: I attended the launch of our university's literary magazine, The Portal.  I have a short story published in the magazine ... my first published literary work.  Yay!

21-22: I went to my first fan expo with my daughter and her friend; this one was in Vancouver, Canada.  It was fun, despite the long line-ups.  The costumes some people wore were so creative.  All genres of sci-fi and fantasy were represented, i.e. Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, Stargate, and so on.  Artists, actors, and voice actors were there signing their autographs.  There were lots of t-shirts, artwork, comics, trinkets of every kind to buy.  Even the batmobile was there.  I will certainly go next year again.

23-29: Went to Calgary to search for an apartment/condo.  We found one, and hope we get the mortgage in time to meet the waiver ... next Tuesday.

30: Got home in time to see my son off to Cadiz in Spain where he will be working for the next three weeks. 

About Writing - April 2012

I discovered this blog that I found interesting where writing is concerned - The Writer's Studio

Memoir: Catching Up

I haven't blogged since November 2011.  Time for some catchin' up.  

November 2011 - studying.  I was having a difficult time with Geography, but I passed, not well, but that's okay.

December 2011 - we went to visit my daughter in Calgary between Christmas and New Year.

January 2012 - back to studying:  Poetry and Liberal Studies.  Having fun with those and managed to write quite a lot of poems.

February 2012 - Pretty much the same as January.

I don't seem to be living a very exciting life at the moment, but I do live in my mind and on my computer a lot.  So, in those domains, I'm living it up!

Movies I've watched quite recently:

Adventures of Tin Tin - Awesome.  I grew up on the comics.

The Help - I really enjoyed this movie.  I'm glad it won so many oscars.