Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Teaser Tuesday/ Wednesday, Blog Blitz and A-Z Challenge



* I know it is Wednesday but I am not really here.  :P  *


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. I found this great weekly event via C. M. Brown.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Here is my Teaser for today:

Jem heard me.  He thrust his head around the connecting door.  As he came to my bed Atticus's light flashed on.  We stayed where we were until it went off; we heard him turn over, and we waited until he was still again.

Jem took me to his room and put me in bed beside him.  "Try to go to sleep," he said.  "It'll all be over after tomorrow, maybe."

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, p. 177.







Join the Blog Blitz hosted by D. L. Hammons.  Excerpted from his blog:


Everyone knows I like to try new and different things, so today I present to you the BLOG BLITZ.  Here’s how I see it working. Sign up on the linky list below, making sure to record your email address, and you’ll instantly become a member of the Blog Blitz Team.  Then from time to time, I will select a deserving blog (that must be part of the Blitz Team) and a specific date.  I will then email the team members that information and on that date we all will go out of our way to visit that blog and leave an encouraging comment on their most recent post.  I'm talking about hopefully a 100+ comments appearing out of the blue in one day!

At first I'll pick who gets blitzed, but then I'll start taking recommendations from other members for deserving targets. My only restriction about who joins the Blog Blitz Team is that your blog cannot be primarily for commercial gain.

This will only be successful if everyone reading this spreads the word and gets as many bloggers as we can to join the team.  Once your signed up, display the banner above proudly on your own blog.  
 Blog about the Blitz.  Tweet about the Blitz.  Facebook the Blitz.  Then sit back and wonder...


 Just click the Linky here.  

Also, there is the April 2013 A-Z Challenge.  We will be blogging the alphabet in April.  To join click here.   Have fun!  Can't wait to read the entries!



This will be my last post for this week since I am actually in Washington DC with my students.  We are touring colleges, memorial sites, Smithsonian museums and the National Mall for three glorious days!  

Here are photos from last year's trip to DC (with students).  :D




The Washington Monument from the steps of Lincoln Memorial.


The Korean War Memorial 
(The statues scared me, they were so life-like.)


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
(It was lovely with the cherry blossoms blowing in the wind.)

Monday, March 18, 2013

Ninja Captain Alex's Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest






March 18, 2013


This is a bloghop hosted by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh.  This is a list of my top 10 movies.  Here we go . . . 



The Long Kiss Goodnight- This is my favorite movie of all time.  Gina Davis and Samuel L. Jackson have awesome chemistry.  The story is well-developed and action packed.  If you love a movie about a spy turned teacher, turned spy again, this is the one for you.



Big Trouble in Little China- Yes, it is a cheesy karate movie with Kurt Russel and Kim Cattrall.  But I love this movie, down to the tacky and the horrible special effects.  This movie reminds me of the times I spent babysitting my little cousins in the Bronx.  I was 15 years old and my cousins were extremely hyperactive.    Good times!  So go catch it on Netflix.






The Matrix- What is real and how far the rabbit hole are you willing to go?  One of the best science fiction movies ever made.  Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne give an excellent performance.  This movie questions the human experience.  Concrete Reality vs. Surreal Virtuality.  


The Last Dragon- Another corny martial arts film that is awesome.  This is another film that I watched with my little cousins.  They loved all the martial arts films.  To this day, my cousins joke about this fim and they say "Sho-nuff!"


Independence Day- Most have seen this film.  This is film has excellent storyline and character development.  This is one of my favorite Will Smith movies (I, Robot comes a close second but not on this list because I can go on forever about all my favorites).  Many different perspectives are exhibited throughout the film and the imminent alien invasion literally hovers over their heads.




Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- Yep, I am a Potter fan/ geek and all around know it all.  I suppose that is why I identify so strongly with Hermione Granger!  I even own a timeturner.  I suppose I love all the films with time travel.  With each book, I mean film, the overall tone becomes more dark and menacing.  Harry is developing as an adolescent and becoming a powerful wizard, with the help of his friends.  It is good against evil.  Bring it on!


The Sound of Music- Okay, don't kill me.  I know this is probably the most annoying film for my family . . . but I LOVE THIS MUSICAL!  I know every song and and all the characters and most of the dialogue.  I have loved this film since I saw for the first time at six years of age.  



The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- Aragorn is so hot!  He kills it in this epic saga.  Need I say more.



The Chronicles of Riddick-  This is another favorite film.  While I did not like Pitch Black, because it gave me the heebie jeebies, I loved this film.  It also has great sentiment.  My husband took me to see this film on my 31st birthday.  He even had a cake in the movie theater.  I don't know where he hid it but it was a rich, chocolate mousse cake.  Good times!



Toy Story- Hands down, the best Pixar 3-D computer graphics animated film.  This was my son's favorite when he was 3 years old.  We played it every day sometimes two or three times per day.  I love the characters, the themes, and of course the sophistication of the drawings.  Love, love, love!

Well, that is all folks!  Leave a comment and go visit the other participants on the bloghop.





Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Teaser Tuesday: The Walking Dead Volume 4





Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. I found this great weekly event via C. M. Brown.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Here is my Teaser for today:


From The Walking Dead, Volume 4 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn.  Enjoy!


And don't forget Alex J. Cavanaugh's Blogfest:




Monday, March 11, 2013

On the D Train


I wrote this three years ago. Please stand clear of the closing doors and enjoy your ride!


Today was the first time, in many years, that I rode the subway. My journey began in Greenwich Village, West 4th Street, where I boarded the D train northbound to the Bronx. I began thinking about the times I rode this same train, but in reverse, to my grandmother's house on 96th Street and Central Park West or to the Museum of Natural History on 81st Street with my 5th grade class. These memories were very positive and brought that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when reminiscing of good times.

The train moved on 
from 59th Street and went express to 125th Street in Harlem. I remembered the crowded platforms of yesterday. There were also the blaring radios that crooned smooth R & B music or poetically profound Rap songs. Girls wore "door knocker" earrings in those days with bright red lipstick, stone or acid washed jeans and asymmetrical hairstyles. Those who were into techno, grunge and alternative music were ensconced in black. Some individuals danced on the train platforms to the tunes of Stevie B, Noel, Cynthia and Johnny O. Free-style dance music was all the rage.

The train then by-passed 135th Street. This is where A. Philip Randolph Campus High School is located. I call it "my castle on the hill." Years ago, and I will not mention how many, this was my home. My friends and this school were my safe haven from my hellish home-life. I had stopped getting off at this stop because one had to walk through a very dark park with a never ending staircase. I had my necklace snatched by a crackhead and decided that I would no longer place myself in that type of danger ever again.

The D train pulled into 145th Street. I remember walking ten blocks to my high scho
ol every morning. My friends and I would all meet up, with precise timing, and accompany one another on our long arduous journey through the streets of Harlem. We walked from St. Nicholas to Convent Ave and then on to 135th Street. It didn't matter if it rained or snowed, we trekked through the urban jungle all in the name of education. Okay, maybe not education but definitely for social interactions. I no longer keep in contact with many of my friends. The only regret I have is not keeping in contact with Rodney Robinson. He is that friend that had your back in good times and bad. He moved to California about 18 years ago. I have not heard from him since.


When the D train pulled into 167th Street, my stomach began to knot. This is where my story begins. This is my birthplace, my roots and my "hood." This is where as a child and a teenager I dealt with my father's alcoholism, family drug abuse, child abuse, my mother's schizophrenia, the parental neglect of my siblings and suicide watches. I was the observer, care-taker and the only one with any ambition. There were good times also but these were overshadowed by my family's flaws.

The train moved out of the station and I immediately began to breathe easier. Is it any wonder why I can't go back to the Bronx? To any other person, it's just a train ride. However, for me, it was an emotional roller coaster of memories.



Happy Birthday to my role model in this short brief life- Aunt Kathy Santana!!!!!
Love ya much,
Chary

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Weaving Dreams and Bloghops



I am over at the Burrow today.  Please join me by clicking here.   


Don't forget to join is a bloghop hosted by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh



March 18, 2013


All you do is go to Alex's blog, sign up on the Linky thing and then write a post that lists your top ten movies.  That was easy!

Also, there is the April 2013's Blogging From A-Z Challenge.




 Come and join the fun!  For more information, please click here, A-Z Challenge..

Take care,
Chary


Friday, March 1, 2013

Back From the Future: Time Capsule



This is my entry for  M. Pax bloghop.


Premise:


You're up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven't brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you ... from you.

You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox -- sent from ten years in the future -- and it's filled with items you have sent yourself.

What's in it?


I carry the package to the kitchen with trepidation.  How can this be- a package from me, to me?  Am I going mad?  What could possibly be inside this compact parcel from the future?  These thoughts race across my mind at light speed.  The magnitude and incomprehensibly implausible situation is a bit more than my limited human intellectual capabilities can process.  Gingerly, and with hesitation, I untie the twine that secures the package.  I begin to wonder if the box will contain spoilers.  Once I look at the contents, if events are revealed, they will be set and irrevocably become etched in time. I will be forced to experience these events and never be able to change my future.

My hand shakes uncontrollably as I give in to curiosity and extract the first article. It is a book, unfamiliar and quite beautiful.  It is bound in navy blue leather with silver lettering and has an intricate pattern like a wrought iron gate.  The pages, from the profile of the book, were brown with age and have a brittle appearance.  I wonder if the book is an antique.  The title is indecipherable as it is in another language, none that I am familiar with.

I place the book to the side and reach in for the next item.  It is a photograph of a black sand beach.  Turning the picture to the back, the destination is clearly labeled, "Punalu'u Beach, Hawaii."  I search the photograph for a face or shadow but none is forthcoming.  There is a turquoise blue lagoon caressing the obsidian shores of the beach.  The location gives off a feeling of tranquility and reflective calm.  I yearn to be in the photograph.

Finally, there is a note.  It is in my neat, printed handwriting.  The notepad paper states just five words, "Never give up your dreams, -C."  I smile, a big Cheshire grin and place the contents of the time capsule back into their container.  Today is the day that I begin my journey and live my dreams.




This is a Blog Hop!
35.