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Category Archives: Writers On A Limb
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Set to Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2…
Type, type, type, look up, repeat…
Take a walk through a mall and look around. Sit in a movie theatre and observe. Go to a restaurant and watch. What do you notice?
A mother multitasking, pushing a screeching baby in a stroller while trying to keep up with her phone.
A frustrated man commands, “Turn off your phone,” to someone yapping away in the peak of a movie.
A couple sitting across from each other at a restaurant, hands extended across the table, but not holding hands – holding their phones.
Is it just me or have we lost touch with life? Continue reading
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The Battle Within
I remember the first time I sat comfortably in my own silence.
It was a short period of silence, I must say, but even so I took breaks occasionally to escape.
Escape myself.
The moments in between those breaks though, those exasperating moments of my own silent presence, were practically eating me alive.
At first.
See, I’m always all over the place. On average, I get about three or four hours of sleep a night (if I’m lucky). No need to mention how unhealthy that is – I’m fully aware. In fact I have a deep concern that my body may physically give up on me and simply collapse but until that is to happen, the chaotic habits would continue.
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Writing Blind …
We asked author Victoria Zigler, to share with us her experiences as a writer and voracious reader. Here is her story.
My name is Victoria Zigler, I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’m a self-published author of children’s books and poetry. I also just happen to be completely blind.
I was born with Glaucoma, which robbed me of the sight in my left eye at some point during my childhood, and later robbed me of the sight in my right eye. I don’t know exactly when my left eye stopped being useful, but I can tell you that I had the eye out shortly before my sixteenth birthday, because by that time all I could see with it was light and the light caused me severe pain. Seven years later there was a drastic change in what I could see in my right eye, and eight months after that, a few months before I turned twenty-four, I had my right eye out for the same reason. My left eye has been artificial since I was sixteen, and my right has been artificial since I was twenty-four, but I know it’s correct to say I still have the eye condition Glaucoma, because I asked the eye specialists.
I learned to read and write when I was young, because my big brothers had homework and I wanted some too. From the moment I learned how to read and write, I’ve been in love with the written word. I was three when I learned to read and write print, and twelve when I learned to read and write Braille. Books have always been my place to escape to when I needed to escape the real world, and writing has always been the easiest way for me to express my thoughts and feelings. Continue reading
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This Used To Be My Playground
By Lora
There are many vivid imprints in my mind from days long gone. These beautiful memories live within me and define my childhood. As I go through my day, fulfilling one obligation after another, running from one commitment to the next, sometimes I wish I could just for a moment close my eyes, travel back in time and instantly be there again – the red slide that spiraled for days, the raised stage that I had to jump really high to see past, the zoo only minutes from my home, the convenience store that catered to my sweet tooth, the sprinkler I skinned my knee on, and on it goes.
Years ago, I had a chance to go back to visit my homeland, a place I left 26 years ago but still consider a home of sorts. Nothing prepares you for the feeling you get when you embark on your journey to the past – the nostalgia, the longing, the reminiscent this used to be my playground.
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All the Colours in the Sky
All the Colours in the Sky
Liam, age 5
All the colours in the sky –
Violet, yellow, red and blue.
All the colours in the sky –
Pink and purple too.All the colours in the sky
Indigo, orange and grey.
All the colours in the sky –
What a spectacular array!
Note: The poem was inspired by Liam’s inquiry-based learning about the sky. His Kindergarten teacher read the book Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds and invited students to take pictures of the sky at various times of the day. We captured a shot at sunset and decided to take it a step further. His teacher liked the poem very much and wrote it up on chart paper to share with the class.
(Mommy only helped a little bit J)
All the colours in the sky by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Pall’s Poem
Pall’s Poem
By Stan Morris
I don’t pretend I know a lot,
about the world in which you slide.
It’s hard to speak to people, you know
I’d rather go spacing and hide.But I see it makes you happy,
to hang out with a group.
And I know you never mind,
when the group becomes a troop.So I stay by your side and wait to see
if your eyes will turn to me.
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A Book’s Journey
Going from an idea to a book, Stan Morris shares how Sarah’s Spaceship Adventure came to be.
A Book’s Journey
By Stan Morris
It is late at night, and I am not asleep. This is not an uncommon occurrence, and neither is what happens next. A vision forms. In this instance, it is of a girl/woman, maybe twenty years old, maybe eighteen. I hope she’s at least seventeen, because she’s not wearing any clothes, and her hands are tied behind her back. Continue reading
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My Dreams Are Valid
“I think I’m failing a course”.
“You?! You’re kidding right? How could you fail a course?”
Well, it’s quite simple. I lost focus because I lost the drive. Other things were happening and instead of worrying about school I went on a journey to figure myself out. I failed because I chose to learn about myself this year, more than ever before.
But mainly, I was able to fail because I am human.
You know that saying, “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room” – I have learned the truth and value in that. This past year I have went to hear people speak at events, read tons of books and works written about and by brilliant people, introduced myself to a whole new world beyond textbooks and stressing over standardized testing. Entrepreneurs, business people, survivors of tragic events, CEO’s, philanthropists and…
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Frozen – Review
Anna: I don’t even know what love is.
Olaf: That’s okay. I do. Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours.
This is one of the lessons that Olaf (the snowman) teaches Anna in the movie Frozen. This Disney juggernaut ran away with the box office raking in a staggering $400 million domestic and another $713 million worldwide for a mind-bending $1.1 billion overall. Not bad for a children’s movie that opened #2 to Hunger Games: Catching Fire with a healthy $67M, and then went on to also pick up a shiny new Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. This all begs the question, what was the appeal?
Well, to begin, it’s a clever musical adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” fairy tale; although you would never notice with all the memorable musical numbers and state of the art animation. It also boast many timeless sequences that will be watched on Blu-ray for years to come, I’m sure. But the true magic, in my opinion, is the enduring sisterhood story that girls of all ages just can’t resist. Even though Disney tried hard to sell it as an action-filled movie, presumably to attract boys as well, they knew that the heart-warming princess fairy tale would win the day. How do I know?
“Kids, you want to watch Frozen?”
David: “No way! That’s a girl movie!”
Dayana: “Yes, yes, please! I love the songs!”
Yet both sat and watched every moment with equal delight. That is the value of skilled story-telling – indeed, a culmination of Disney’s efforts to blend a good fairy tale with modern appeal. One of the main building blocks was the success of another well-known fairy tale turned Disney film – Tangled. I would hazard to guess that the producers of Frozen kept those Tangled production notes very close by. Both are a welcome change from the toy-selling, in-your-face commercialization of the Toy Story franchise.
So what is it about? Once upon a time there were two princess sisters who loved each other growing up. That is until the older one, Elsa discovers she has a knack for freezing things (a classic Disney curse). So as to not hurt her sister, she runs away. Her beloved younger sibling, Anna, spends the rest of the film trying to save that sisterly bond that they both cherished. Along the way, she has to leave her suitor-turned-villian, meets the irresistibly charming snowman, enlists the help of the a hunky mountain man-turned love interest, battles a snow monster – all the ingredients in place for an epic adventure in a spectacular frozen wonderland. Cue the music…
Disney made sure to top off the film with their trademarks: goofy talking animals (in this story, a snowman and a reindeer) who help and teach the protagonist along the way, memorable songs and a lesson learned. Add a pinch of a love story and a villain and there you have it – a Disney Classic straight from the pages of literary masterpieces (see Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Tarzan, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, the aforementioned Tangled, etc,etc.) It is Disney at it’s best.
If you have any reservations about grabbing the Blu-ray for the kids … “Let it go, let it go…”
By Mauricio Bonifaz
For continued reading about the important life lessons in Frozen, look at these great links:
5 moral lessons from Disney’s ‘Frozen’
Top Five Lessons ‘Frozen’ Taught Us
5 Life Lessons Every Collegiette Can Learn From Disney’s “Frozen”
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