The Web Site is Complete!

http://jilnic9.tripod.com/wonsaponatime/

Here's the link to my finished website. It required about 48 hours of layout, editing and publishing. I would have had it finished yesterday, but we lost power because of the snow storm!
Enjoy!

This may look familiar to "some" of you. This is one of the beautiful churches in my hometown of Central Square, New York. My husband and I moved in May 2004 after I graduated from Onondaga Community College and we were engaged. It has been quite a journey from NY, to Yellowstone, to Bozeman. But each feels like home when I'm away. How strange to be pulled in so many directions at once! (said Alice)

I Finally Remembered A Dream I Had

I finally remember a dream I had, I just forgot that I knew it. Actually it's a reoccurring dream and more of a feeling, really, than a dream. I wrote about it for a portion of my memoir in my creative non-fiction class.

I dream of Amsterdam recurrently, constantly. I can smell the sweet, buttery scents of the bakeries waft through the narrow, brick-lined streets. I can hear the canals softly flowing under bridges and lapping at the stone walls. I can see the little shops and cafe's merge into the same place on the horizon, far beyond my morning gaze. The picture is so vivid, so alive, so solid in its reality that it confuses me. How did we get here? I don't remember the flight. It was cold and raining, now its warm and sunny. I wake up with a longing that defies description, except I know my heart aches and I am short of breath. I feel strangely empty, displaced, so disappointed to be back to my ordinary life and world. The German word for this feeling is Femweh, which literally means “an ache for the distance.” Perhaps I long to go back to Amsterdam because it is the closest I've been to my ancestor's home in Luxembourg. Perhaps it's the very essence of the city, the feeling of the sublime that gives life to my ache to return.

Final Post

I thought I knew what to expect from this class. I was wrong and it feels good to admit it. Even though I already knew everything about children's literature (but I some how forgot it) this class was enlightening, uplifting, entertaining, informative and, in the words of the poet John Lennon,"Fantabulous!" The material was thought provoking and interest peaking. And I enjoyed the open and inquisitive atmosphere that my fellow students (big bow) created, fostered by Dr. Sexson's personality and guidance. Now when I read to my (future children) at night, a story will never be just a story, a tale never just a tale and nothing is original- except for you!

As Promised- My Bliss!

Sorry, all photos property of J. Scarson Photography
With all the discussion of portals, I began to think about the ones in my life. My camera is a portal through which I am able to pass through the "looking glass" and enter my photographs, unseen and unheard. It is how I see and record my reality, my little fairy tales. I posted just a few of my favorite pieces.
Here's to finding your bliss!

My Term Paper is now a Website!

Here is the link to my critical website. Wonsaponatime: John Lennon's Writings as Children's Literature, as influenced by Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. It is still under construction and will be finished... yesterday! I just need to upload the content and I'm finished!

http://jilnic9.tripod.com/wonsaponatime

The Surreal World

Here's the script from our presentation so that you may peruse it and find out what you may have missed!

Maria Tatar MT:
Hello I'm Maria Tatar and this is "The Surreal World". Welcome to the Wizard of Oz reunion show. Let's have our first guests Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man. Come out onto the stage. Hello guys. Now its been eight months since we've seen you so remind us in your own words what was your first encounter with Dorothy Gail like?

Scarecrow SC: Dorothy came skipping along and I was hoping she'd be afraid of me, but nope. She just started to walk right by but didn't know which fork of the road to take: so I decided to teas her pointing one way then the other. Dorothy was nice. She consoled me about my inability to scare crows or her I guess nice guys really do finish last. But she was kind enough to exploit me from the pole I'd never lost. Whew, what a relief that was! At first i could barely walk, which she helped me with too; and then we skipped off down that yellow trail.

Tin Man TM:

Lion L: When I first met Dorothy she was already with that twit scarecrow and the man of metal. I was hanging out in the forest when I heard them coming. They were talking about the need to protect some little creature I later learned to be Dorothy's dog Toto. I figured it would be pretty fun to give them a scare. See at the time I had a real inferiority complex, and scaring other creatures, especially humans, gave me a false sense of manliness. Being the King of Beasts, I had an act to put on, you know a reputation to uphold. Anyway, I jumped out of the trees, hit scarecrow, sending him flying off the road, knocked Tin Man over, he was pretty light on his feet for a man made of tin, if you know what I mean, and then went for Toto. This is the point in the story when mighty Dorothy decided she wanted to be the courageous one. She jumped in and with one cheap shot, slapped me across the nose, ruining all my fun. After Dorothy laid the quilt trip on me , like all women do, I broke down like the coward I was and told them my dilemma. They then told me they were on their way to see the wizard, I figured I should do the same. I figured if this wizard could give someone a heart or brain transplant he could surly get me off the liquid courage and on some real courage And so began my journey with Braids, Tin and SC.

MT: Ok now that we have the story started lets hear from our next two quests, some know her as Elphaba, from her role in "Wicked" were she plays a younger version of herself, but most know her from her time in Oz the Wicked Witch of the West, and the man himself the Wizard. So lets get right to it. Wicked Witch I think we'd all like to know, what is your issue with Dorothy, and is there anyway you and her could have a better relationship.?

Wicked Witch WW: Well from the moment she arrived she was a nuisance, stealing peoples stuff and killing their relatives. I mean my relatives are always getting screwed. Like my cousin, Powerful Enchantress, her neighbor 's stupid wife just had to have some rapunzel from my cousins garden. Does he ask, no just take, take, take, they think they can take advantage of my kind, and this little hoodlum just parks her house right on my sister, and steals her ruby slippers. (You here that back there,) they are ruby not silver, I mean come on my sister had better taste then to buy silver shoes, that little hussy just wants to mislead everyone, so she doesn't have to account for my property. She did throw water on me, an alleged accident, but I did start her friend on fire. And I guess I did over react a little bit, trying to kill her and all. But all that aside, Id say were even if she returns my beloved sisters shoes.

MT: Now wizard What was your first encounter with all these guys like?

WO: I don't know what the hell everyone was on, but I remember our first meeting quite clearly. I was sitting in my throne room, minding my own business, when the green guard tells me that a little girl, a lion and a scarecrow, a tin man, and a rat-like beast are waiting to see me. Now I hate being told when to see people, I much prefer to admit them at my own leisure, if I admit them at all. It had been years since anyone had requested an audience with me. So I let the intruders stew for a few days, waiting without word as to when I would let them in. Finally I decided that they had waited long enough and I let them enter. I had finished the Emerald city Times crossword puzzle, so I really had nothing better to do anyways. It took them forever to walk the thirty-three feet down the hall to my throne: It was like they were walking in slow motion. They were holding hands and looking behind them every step, I think they were having a freak-out. When they saw the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz, and heard me say, "I am every where, " the lion had a major breakdown and ran screaming through on of my glass windows. Do you have any idea how much it costs to replace a fifty foot glass pane in this market? The window was back-ordered for six months and it took another month just to install it when your labor force is munchkin! And did I ever get reimbursed by the Lion or any of Dorothy's friends? Not on your life, cheap bastards! Well, yeah, so my first encounter was rather frustrating.

MT: And now let's bring out the woman of the hour. Dorothy Gail. Well, hello Dorothy, I see you've gained some weight since the last time we saw you. This might be a redundant question, but can you describe for us how your adventure to Oz has changed you life.

Dorothy DG: In the morning I was trying to save Toto form my nasty witch of a neighbor and by the afternoon I was spinning through a tornado portal which transported me to another realm of existence. Talk about a life change. When I got there, after my house landed on an ugly broad, and I met a woman named Glenda. She was so beautiful. I was thinking I was on like Top Model or something, but then she told me she was a witch and that the munchkins thought I was one too. (Munchkins, what the hell are munchkins) That's when I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Anyway I had always thought witches were ugly...

WW: Hey, I resent that remark.

DG: Don't you mean resemble? Anyhoo- Glenda explained that only bad witches were ugly, I'm thinking I must be the best damn witch around, because I'm hot. Then UGLY over there showed up and I knew she was obviously bad cause she was like super ugly.

WW: Hey I'm right here. You wanna go.

DG: I'm just answering the question settle down over there witch. So, she starts harassing me about my silver slippers. Silver1 Damn movies. I was thinking who do I talk to, to get of this wackadoo show, and Glenda sends me down this weird yellow road, that's when I ran into straw brains. Trust me when I say EVERYTHING was made of straw. He was like supper stupid too!

SC: Hey

DG: Who would have thought one day he would prove Steve Hawkings wrong? Then I met this beast of a man. I find hairy men very sexy, it's a fetish. Let me tell you with my help he hound more than his courage! As you can see. I think Ill name him sphinx

CL: Worra worra, you don't have any proof.

DG: Anyway, after that I met metal man over there. He was handy with more than his axe, but what a crybaby, I don't really go for the sensitive guys.
TM: (crying) I thought you love me.

DG: I got totally high off opium, got tortured , killed the ugly witch , at least I thought I did, awkward, met the wizard, who was a total perv, and a fraud, and then clicked my heals and ended up back home. All was good till they made that damn movie. After the surreal world and that movie no one would leave me alone. It's Oz this and wizard that! So I changed my name to Alice and took what I thought was a morning sickness pill and ended up down a rabbit whole, but that's a different story.

MT: Now let's address our missing character. Wicked Witch, why do you think Glenda decided not to make an appearance on our show today?

WW: Well, her and I are like second cousins twice removed or something, she just doesn't like to admit it cause she's a "good witch" and doesn't want to be associated with me, but I know for a fact that she's not that "good." Cause she slept with the wizard just to get on this show, and she can't even do any magic. It was my sister's ruby shoes that took Dorothy home after all, and any hack with half a brain can transport around in Oz. I mean look what I did with the water thing. (Thought I was dead, stupid twit.) So, basically she didn't show up cause she's been embarrassed ever since the show, when she claimed to be a "Good witch." Plus she's kind of laying low due to the fact that the rest of our witch relatives are pretty pissed about her disowning the family. She thinks that just because she doesn't carry the green gene she can claim to be a "good witch"

MT: Now that we have addressed the missing witch. Lets dig a little deeper. Scarecrow. What would you say was your favorite part of the journey with Dorothy?

SC: Well, I really only enjoyed the first part of the trip, when Dorothy and I were alone. Since I met her first we got to spend some intimate time together. She's a different person when we're alone. She makes me feel smart. In fact she showed me things I'd never seen or experienced before. I'll admit it, she was my first, and she certainly rocked my straw!!

TM: (Crying again) You said I was your only one.

SC: It was the same afternoon we met, a little farther down the yellow high way of love. She suggested we take a break in the corn fields. As we frolicked through the corn we grew tired and found a shady spot, near some apple trees, all of the sudden Dorothy threw me down and proceeded to expose my most intimate piece of straw. Of course a minute later after we were done, it was a little awkward. But Dorothy that damsel with red slippers, reminded me we must keep going an so we returned to the road. Then we found the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion and Dorothy completely forgot about me. (begins to cry)

MT: Well that was explicit. Lion same question. What was your favorite part of the adventure?

CL:

MT: Wizard. How do you explain your exploitation of a young girl into doing your dirty work?

WO: Well, what was I supposed to do? After the Wicked Witch of the West and her fleet of flying monkeys defeated ma and took control of Winkie Country, I had a real problem on my hands. Half blinding the witch, by poking out one of her eyes, did nothing to deter her and I couldn't ask my people for help because I was the Great and terrible OZ, and everyone was terrified of me. When I heard through the Munchkin vine (they love to gossip) that a girl and her strange beast had dropped a house on the Wicked Witch of the East, I knew I had to have her help. How was I to know she was so young and beautiful, if a bit slow on the uptake? Who else was I going to find that could be manipulated into risking their lives to kill a witch they had never even met? When opportunity knocks, the bastard inside!

MT: Lion, do you think the horse of a different color had anything to do with the after effects of the opium you consumed earlier in the day?

CL: I'll admit my perceptions were off that day. I mean there's no way I'd jump across a gulf carrying all those guys on my back. And I definitely wouldn't mount a tramp like Dorothy over there without using a condom. And for a while there I really thought the wizard had a ball of fire for a head, so yeah I'm sure it had to be the opium, or some other psychedelic drug. I was really bad off in those days due to that fact that I used drugs and alcohol to compensate for my lack of courage.

MT: In the book you're described as a feminist and in the movie your a twit, and on our show you seem to be some what of a slut. Which is your real personality?

DG: Well, I'm all three I guess, I got my degree in feminist studies with a focus on Matilda Jocelyn Gage, so that accounts for my ________(Strong feminist term to describe his/her promiscuity). But I must be a twit to have slept with these losers.

MT: How did you feel about the gang revealing your true Identity?

WO: I told them to get lost after they had killed the Wicked Witch. I knew I couldn't keep my promise to reward them with a brain, hear courage, or home. I was, after all, only "making believe" as a wizard, a big ol' Humbug. But instead of them listening to Oz, the lion began to protest. Like he had any right to demand something of me after he destroyed my window! The little rat beast was so frightened by the lions nagging, that he knocked over the screen that so cleverly hid me from sight. There goes thirty years of careful publicity and image propaganda! My publicist was pissed, and so was I too say the least,. But I suppose it had to happen some time or other.

MT: Lets open up the floor to all of our audience.

Audience Member 1: Lion, How was your family life growing up? Lions are infamous for their rage. Was your family pretty mellow and passive?

CL: (neglect)

AM2: Scarecrow, how hard is it to fend off birds? Do you really think a degree is necessary for your line of work?

SC:

D:

AM4: Were you a bit frightened when you were completely surrounded by munchkins? I certainly would have been!

MT: How has Oz changed since Dorothy, the Wicked Witch, and the Wizard left?

CL: Since our adventure to see the wizard I have realized that I have always been courageous and now I rule the forest like a real king of Beasts should. And I might add I'm a damn good king.

SC: That broad left me alone and miserable , with no explanation why she wouldn't talk to me again. So what was i to do? You guessed it , drink.

TM: That's no way to solve your problems.

SC: I've been hitting the bottle ever since she clicked her beautiful heals together. It's really quite amazing how much you can drink when your made of straw, but the hangovers are vicious, plus your much more flammable. But, I have also earned a degree in ________________. But you never get over your first love.

MT: How have you changed since leaving Oz?

WO: After I made sure the balloon would leave without Dorothy and her mutt, I set my course for Florida, instead of Kansas or Nebraska. Why the hell would a former-ruler of an Emerald City ever go back to entertain those corn shuckers? I had heard about a wonderful city, where there were lots of little munchkins just waiting and hoping to be conquered by a Great and Terrible Wizard. So I let my balloon drift over the desert and into a wondrous place called , by the local Munchkins, Disney World. There I watch over all the little Munchkins in the Magic Kingdom, from a secret room in Cinderella's castle. And I'm used to going incognito, so it's no problem dressing up like a giant rat, if that's what they're into.

MT: What are your plans now?

DG: After I give birth to little sphinx here. I'm gonna have a sex change, exchange my name for a Brandon, don't you think that sounds like a strong name, and Attend MSU Bozeman to continue my education. I heard about this dreamy professor Sexson. I'm like totally excited!

My Daemon

I designed my own daemon after the suggestion was made in class. I entered all the pertinent information and I was given, Nithreus, a snow leopard. The picture they showed was a large white and gray spotted cat; beautiful, intelligent and deadly. Just like me- Ha! Actually it sounded more like my real life daemon, Tigger. She is eighteen years old and hasn't aged a day since five. She managed to mangle my father's enormous hands when he tried to pick her up and bring her inside when he was visiting last May. See, it is forbidden to touch someone else's daemon! But for some reason we don't mind it when my husband touches Tigger...hmmm!

Universal Trees

The picture of the universal tree reminded me of Mary's tree in The Subtle Spyglass. That is exactly how I pictured it, but from the perspective of the Mulafa's. From here she could see everything she needed to see to save the trees and save Dust. It was a universal point of observation and when it was no longer needed to help save Dust, it passed on becoming Dust in itself. Its arms stretch out mirroring the currents of Dust spreading out over the world and the many universes that touch it.
Image from the Joseph Campbell Foundation

Dreams

Typically I dream every night and I can usually remember them when I wake up. But since Dr. Sexson demanded, assigned even, us to each have a dream we could remember I haven't had one that didn't disappear upon waking up. How's that for the power of suggestion? As a child I had recurring nightmares where I could hear someone walking up the stairs to my room and when he opened the door I saw that it was none other than... Michael Jackson??? Now remember, I was born in 1981, I LOVED Michael and in 1985 Thriller was huge and scary. Especially Vincent Price's laughing...I would hear it in my dreams.

Could I have known something that everyone else didn't; that he was a pedophile or at the very least had a bizarre attachment to children. This may have been Alice's feelings towards Dodgson as she grew older. His books were huge and scary, and Alice must have felt a little uncomfortable as she grew older being one of his special "child friends." This could be why she stopped seeing him and never answered his letters, because after the novelty of his attention wore off she could see his true intentions? Maybe her dreams got the best of her too, I know I stopped listening to Jackson when he started showing up in my dreams!

The City of Ur

I was thinking about the term "Ur Text" and why it sounded so familiar to me at the time Dr. Sexson mentioned it. It didn't hit me until tonight, as I was sitting in my creative non-fiction class, listening to a classmate read his essay of place. The city of Ur in ancient Babyon, now modern day Iraq is the site of one of the oldest civilizations in recorded history. Therefore it is considered a birthplace of civilization and knowledge, and that all we know has sprung forth from this ancient city. This is why the term "Ur Text" means a source text, a text from which all others have sprung forth. Just like Dionysis sprung forth from Zeus' thigh and Momotaro sprang forth from the peach, each was created from essentially nothing. All that has been uncovered from the city of Ur is the Great Ziggurat and the royal tombs. These structures remain only as foundations. The Great Ziggurat seems to me to be the foundation of the Egyptian pyramids, a mere stepping stone in human history. Just as Ur texts are the foundation, the source of our myths, fairy tales, and children's literature.

My Japanese Fairy Tale

Like my blog about Dutch fairy tales, here's one on Japanese fairy tales. When I was 13, I went to stay with my aunt and uncle (he was working for DuPont in Tokyo)for over three weeks. It was the scariest, most exciting, most stressful, most fantastic (sublime really) experience I had ever had up until that point. Exactly like a fairy tale!

I was on a plane for over sixteen hours (that's a hell of a long portal), and we arrived in Japan before we had left the U.S. (because of the time change). The food was different, but delicious. I ate everything I was given to try (chocolate covered ants, dried sardines, sashimi- real raw fish that they killed in front of us)and drank everything put in front of me (Cal-Pis,its like gatorade, milk from a vending machine in 90 degree weather, real loose leaf green tea, saki of course- there's no drinking age in Japan).I was exactly like Alice going through the portal and into Wonderland, eating and drinking everything in sight. Unfortunately I never grew or shrank, but I did pick up and expensive taste for sashimi and saki and that only shrinks my husbands wallet!

My aunt took me to a flea market surrounded by Buddist and Shinto shrines and there I found one of my favorite books as a child/adult. It was a picture book of different Japanese fairy tales. Most of them were traditionally performed in Karibuki theater to the accompaniment of the shamisen (a stringed instrument that is plucked to make the sound most recognizable from Japanese music). But these adult myths were displaced and re-told to children with beautiful illustrations, of course.

Japanese Fairy Tales

My favorite is Momotaro, the Little Peach Boy. His mother desperately wanted a child, so she wished for one. And what do you know, one day she found a peach floating in the river and inside it was a little boy.

When he felt he was smart enough and strong enough he went to fight the devils on Devil's Island. On the way he ran into a dog, a monkey and a pheasant who helped him defeat the devil in a great act of bravery.

You'll have to read the tale to find out how it ends. Does he get married, or rich, powerful, or become a prince?

Test Your Fairy Tale Knowledge

I was doing some research and I found this fun little site,
It has trivia questions from the Brother's Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales and I thought it might be a fun way to brush up on our fairy tales to review for the final. So here it is, good luck!

http://www.brownielocks.com/fairytaletrivia.html

Blissful Bliss

On the Joseph Campbell Foundation website there is an artist archive where I found these images. Each month, the column features the works of artists whose life or art have been influenced in some way by the ideas of Joseph Campbell - especially that of following your bliss. When I get home, I will upload some of my photos that illustrate my pursuit of bliss. Whatever you do, make sure you love it! If Campbell says it- you know it's true.

"Follow Your Bliss"

While skimming over Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, I found a great quote. Especially for those of us with graduation and 'real life' on our horizons.

"If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are -- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."

"Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: sat-chit-ananda. The word 'Sat' means being. 'Chit' means consciousness. 'Ananda' means bliss or rapture. I thought, 'I don't know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don't know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being.' I think it worked."

--Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, pages 113, 120

When I dropped Pre-Med Microbiology, and then Psychology as my majors, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue in college. I started to examine the path that I was on and found that it did not stretch far enough for me. That is, I knew I would quickly tire of sciences and mathematics and I would be left without a path to follow to my own personal bliss. Then I realized the path to bliss that was there for me was so obvious I never noticed it until the path I was on ran out. I love to read! I will read anything and everything, losing myself and my reality for hours (or days if I had the time) blocking out people and events until I have finished what I'm reading or I can't keep my eyes open anymore. One day I realized that I would be happy for the rest of my life if I could have a profession that was my life's passion. And for me, reading, writing and photography are those passions. I was already on my path to bliss, and I barely noticed it. So to those who have not figured out what they want to do... "Follow Your Bliss!"

Campbell's Archetypes in the Modern Movie Epic

"Star Wars resonates out of the best of our classics: Beowulf...Homer...the Bible."
---Dan Rather

Archetypes are primitive modes of thought and tend to personify natural processes in mythological concepts, such as good and evil, fairies, witches and dragons.
Several archetypes are represented in the Star Wars story:

The Hero (Luke Skywalker)
The Sage (Yoda/Obi-Wan)
The Comedians (R2-D2/C-3PO)
The Shadow (Darth Vader/Darth Maul)
The Virgin (Princess Lea)
The Renegade (Han Solo)

But do we really think that George Lucas consciously based Star Wars on Joseph Campbell's mythological archetypes? It would be impossible to write a "epic" without subconsciously using these "stock characters." These archetypes are the basis for every piece of literature ever written, ever conceived of, even by the most ingenious of people. It can not be escaped, nor does it need to be, in order to write or think as an "original." As Danell Jones, my creative non-fiction professor, has told us time and time again, "Stealing is good. Everyone steals from everyone else." Nothing is original, even as originally planned!

Alfred Hitchcock's Movies as Fairy Tales?

Film scholars have cited Notorious as a fairy tale form and the use of other fairy tale forms in the works of Alfred Hitchcock. I don't think it's one particular fairy tale, but that you could argue there are fairy tale elements embedded in it. There's an element of Bluebeard in the fuss over the wine cellar key--the key to a forbidden room that the heroine must enter in order to discover her husband's secret...well, one of them anyway. And I suppose her husband's domineering mother choosing to poison the heroine can probably be attached to at least half a dozen fairy tales with venomous, jealous queen/stepmothers. For example, Snow White is poisoned by the comb and apple. I find myself a little reluctant to attach those things to the extent of claiming Hitchcock "used" fairy tale forms, as the story contexts aren't necessarily fairy tale structures, it just seems to me that they parallel some elements rather than consciously utilizing them. Hitchcock's unconscious osmosis is another example of how ingrained fairy tales, and all children's literature, are within the human psyche.

Treatment for the Final Paper

I became interested in John Lennon's association with portmanteau and neologism after reading that he was very much influenced by James Joyce, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Ronald Searle. I am looking to write my paper on the influence of these writers on John Lennon's two major works of fiction, "A Spaniard in the Works" and "In His Own Write," and how they should also be considered works of children's literature. I will also be researching his music and illustrations and how they also contribute to his "unique" style of writing children's literature.

Wonsaponatime- Lennon's Neologism

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" - John Lennon of the Beatles

As a Lennon afficianado, I knew he was extreamly influenced by the fairy tales and nursery rhymes he grew up listening to and reading. One of his recent collections was a compilation of his previously unreleased studio recordings entitled "Wonsaponatime." The title was a part of a new language Lennon created while he was writing his two books, "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works." In 1968, Lennon and Producer/Actor Victor Spinetti compiled his works and adapted them for "The John Lennon Play: In His Own Write" I found this extreamly insightful interview with Lennon and Spinetti that explains Lennon's influences for his unique style of writing.

Interviewer: There’s another thing about this boy [in the play] and that is - he won’t talk plain English. He invents his own language. Which is what you did when your books started coming out.

John: Well yeah, that was just a hangover from School, I used to make the lads laugh, with that scene, talking like that, and writing poetry - I used to write them and just give them to friends to laugh at, and that was the end of it. So when they all go down in a book, when it turns into a book or a play etc. etc. It’s just my style of humour.

Interviewer: Instead of saying, for example as I was going to, say “forsample”.

Victor: “Forsample”! yes, and “He was ASTOUNDAGHAST”!

John: Well, some of them ‘cus I was never any good at spelling, all me life, I never quite got the idea of spelling. English and writing, fine, but actually spelling the words. And also, I typed a lot of the book, and I can only do it very slowly with a finger, so the stories would be very short ‘cus I couldn’t be bothered going on. And also I’d spell it as you say it like Latin really, or just try and do it the simplest way to get it over with, ‘cus all I’m trying to do is tell a story, and what the words is spelt like is irrelevant really. But if they make you laugh because the word used to be spelt like that, that’s great. But the thing is - the story and the sound of the word.

Interviewer: A lot of people wrote about your book and said “Oh James Joyce, Edward Lear” and so on, what did you think when they said that?

John: Well, when they said James Joyce I hadn’t, I must of come across him at school but we hadn’t done him like I remember doing Shakespeare and I remember doing so and so. I remember doing Chaucer a bit, or somebody like him doing funny words, but I don’t remember Joyce. The first thing they say “Oh he’s read James Joyce”, so I hadn’t, so the first thing I do is buy Finnigan’s wake and read a chapter and it’s great and I dug it and I felt like - here’s an old friend, but I couldn’t make right through the book, and so I read a chapter of Finnigan’s wake and that was the end of it, so now I know what they’re talking about. But he just went, he just didn’t stop, yeah.

Interviewer: What actually though, had you read - that you know was important to you when you were young?

John: Only kids books, Alice in Wonderland. The poems are all from Jabberwocky [which] started me into that kick. And drawing I started trying to draw like Ronald Searle when I was about Eight. So there was Jabberwocky and Ronald Serle I was turning into by the time I was Thirteen. I was determined to be Lewis Carol with a hint of Ronald Searle.

Lennon uses this neologism to create his own unique portmanteau words; forsample (for example) wonsaponatime. Had he lived longer, I think Lennon would have been one of the greatest children's literature writers of all time, quickly moving into the realm of Hans Christian Andersen and Maurice Sendak. Here is the link to the interview if you're interested: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob17.html

Real Life Rapunzel- Rasta Style

I was reading the Bozeman Comical (ooops, I mean Chronicle) Sunday afternoon, when a little article caught my attention. A Florida woman believes that she holds the record for World's Longest Dreadlocks. At eight feet, nine inches, her dreads may be strong enough to lift a tiny prince into a tower, but they're not nearly long enough to reach him on the ground.

Too bad, because taking care of such a head of hair isn't easy. Her locks require a bottle of shampoo and conditioner each and every time she washes her hair, which isn't often. "I used to wash it three times a week. Now I do it once a week. It's very tiring," Asha Mandela says, "Sometimes I don't have the energy." When she does wash her hair, it's an all-day affair. She wrings out her eight feet of hair and must wait hours, sometimes days, for it to dry completely. "I try not to have any errands that day," she laughs. With that much hair, Mandela must find creative uses for her hair like cradling it in her arms like a baby, or using it as a neck scarf. I bet her prince could use it as a pillow or a blanket when she steals his covers in bed!

There is even a "revisionist" (as if there is such a thing as revising a fairytale) production of Rapunzel playing in the New Victory Theater in Manhattan. In this version, the heroine sports long, dark dreadlocks after being locked away by an herbalist Mother Goethel. At one point the modern Rapunzel yells at her Prince, “Don’t pull my hair!” in an nod to the misplaced concreteness that often creeps into modernized fairy tales.

My Real Fairy Tale!

I was researching my family lineage for a paper I was writing in my American Literature I class when I found an interesting story about one of my paternal grandmother's Kilburg ancestor. Castle Vianden in Luxembourg was built atop Roman ruins in the Ardennes forest. Before the Roman's came, this land was owned by my ancestor's. They controlled all the land from the River Kyll to the Kyll forest and founded one of the oldest villages in Europe, Kyllburg. In the eleventh century, the Counts of von Viaden took control of Kyllburg and the original castle was destroyed in the fierce battle. The von Viandens, who intermarried with the Kyllburgs, then rebuilt the present castle on top of the old foundation over the course of three centuries. The photograph above is of Castle Vianden in Luxembourg. Please note the tower on the left side of the photograph.

Now to the tale~
In the year 1337, Count Heinrich II von Vianden was killed while fighing for the vatican in the Christian Crusades. Upon his death, his beautiful daughter, Marie von Vianden, inherited the title of Countess from her father, as he had no living sons. As it was the custom fo the day, the young Countess was appointed an evil Guardian. When she refused to marry her supposed protector, she was left to starve, locked in the tower of Castle Vianden. Her faithful dog managed to keep her alive for months by stealing scraps of food from the kitchen and carrying them to the tower. Eventually the Countess' fiancee, Simon von Sponhein, was led to the tower by her dog. He immediately killed the evil Guardian and rescued his betrothed. They were soon married and lived (as you might guess) happily ever after. Marie von Vianden Sponheim is buried in Cistercian Abbey, under an image of her beloved dog.

Another Tale of an Ugly Man and his Beautiful Wife

This story comes from the famous 1001 Arabian Nights. According to tradition, one tale is told each night, for 1001 nights, by King Shah Bakht's Vizier al-Rahwan in an effort to ward off the king's wrath. The Tale of the Ugly Man and His Beautiful Wife is number three hundred fifteen out of one thousand one stories.

An Arab man is roaming the desert when he comes across a very ugly man who is married to a very beautiful woman. When he asks about this "strange coincidence," the husband tells their story. A man was looking for his camel when he wandered into the beautiful woman's camp. As he tried to relieve himself, he was chased by the dogs and fell into a pit. The woman heard the noise and tried to rescue him, but she too fell into the pit. At first the village thought that the two had dissappeared together to elope, but after four days the couple was found in the pit and saved. Since the young man had no evil intentions with the beautiful woman, the only solution to save their honor was to marry the couple, quickly.

Because the man was virtuous, if ugly, he is rewarded with his new and beautiful wife. To me it seems as though the wife is being punished for being too curious when she hears a noise and comes out, alone, to inspect the situation. He departure from her cultural and sexual role, just like Bluebeard's many wives, and her curiosity combine to force this poor woman into a marriage with an ugly man.

Women are fascinated by 'Beauty and The Beast Syndrome'

I found this article in Britian's Daily Express Newspaper. I have condensed it here for your consideration.

Ugly men, according to research published this week, are a safe bet when it comes to love.

Marry an ugly man and he will never tell you your bum looks big or turn his head to gawp at prettier women. Why? Because he is so grateful that you even look in his direction.

Or so the experts tell us. According to scientists at the University of Tennessee, if you choose a facially challenged male then you are going to have a happy life. The study suggests that most ugly men who married attractive women were happy to bask in the glory of their partner’s beauty and enjoyed the prestige of having a beautiful wife.

Women have always been fascinated by The Beauty and The Beast syndrome. How else did the likes of the balding author Salman Rushdie manage to ensnare the stunning model Padma Lakshmi or “lived in” singer Lyle Lovett get gorgeous actress Julia Roberts briefly down the aisle?

I have always wondered how sane, pretty women manage to kiss a man who looks like a pig. Yet for some reason we girls insist on believing that if he is a beast there is bound to be some kind of wonderful beauty lurking beneath his pockmarked face.

Dating an ugly man is often a survivalist choice. Women don’t trust handsome guys. We think they will cheat on us as soon as our back is turned.

Simply put, ugly men try harder. They have learnt to adapt their dating skills since they were the spotty-bespectled-fat-boy in the playground. Just like a blind man learns to develop his other senses, the ugly man relies less on his looks and heightens his other traits.

As far as I am concerned, should you date an ugly man you do so at your peril. An ugly man is far more dangerous than his handsome counterpart when it comes to love.

While your cheating antenna are up when you date a gorgeous man, the ugly one charms his way under your defences. I know of one ugly man who could smell a recent divorcée/infidelity victim from miles away. He was there at the ready with his hankies, all kindness and attention.

To begin with, you feel great and ugly man is grateful. Which not only makes for better sex but also means he treats you like a princess. But gradually the power shifts.

Imagine you are both at a party – you look gorgeous, he looks, well, most definitely not gorgeous. But hang on a minute, he is with you and other women are intrigued: he must have something special, they think. When an ugly man steps out with a decent looking woman, it greatly increases his value. Suddenly other women are looking at him as if he were a hot prospect.

The point is, if a man is going to cheat on you, it makes no difference if he looks like the Elephant Man or George Clooney. Playing away is more about the ability and desire to deceive you. When it comes to getting an illicit leg-over, it is a matter of personality not looks.

Here is the link for the entire article: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/39373/Beware-the-ugly-male

Displaced Moral from Perrault's Cinderella

Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng

The Moral

A woman's fine face,
Assure her high place,
In any man's court,
Whether he be fat or be short.

But what of the prince?
Does a sweet woman wince,
After seeing his bald head,
Or upon climbing into bed?

Is his face any less fair,
Because he has a back full of hair?
To a real beauty's eye.
She would have to ask why,
Princesses never marry a stud,
But always get stuck with a dud.

The Original (and still the best) Little Mermaid

Growing up, the only version of "The Little Mermaid" that I knew was Hans Christian Andersen's. I was given this exact book when I was eight, and it was one of my very favorites. The illustrations by Katie Treherne mesmerized me, and I saw myself as the curious, brave and virtuous mermaid. I always cried when she dies, but I loved her transformation into sea foam after receiving her immortal soul. If you are interested in seeing "The Little Mermaid" performed as a ballet on stage, watch the movie "Hans Christian Andersen." The performance, though shortened in the movie, is spectacular and could inspire a movie based on his ballet alone. If you have children, especially little girls, this is one of the best gifts you could give them. I still have mine, almost twenty years and ten moves later!

Hans Christian Andersen, The Movie

After watching the notoriously creepy, "The Storyteller," I remembered one of my favorite movies as a child. "Hans Christian Andersen," with Danny Kaye in the title role, is a fabulous introduction into his timeless fairytales, interwoven with songs and a stage performance of "The Little Mermaid." This feature was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1952, including a nod for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Song. I remember begging my grandmother to put in the tape, so I could sing "Thumbellina" and "Wonderful Copenhagen" again and again. Whether you have children, or still feel like a kid at heart, I urge you to see this movie. Here is the link to the original movie trailer and other info: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/21437/Hans-Christian-Andersen/trailers

Explication of my Displaced Fairy Tale

I recently read-over my displaced fairy tale, and found even more connections than I had previously recognized. So here is my complete explication, and if my readers find any I missed, please let me know!

Ernie Davis did live happily ever-after, excepting that his ever-after was only a few short years. But all fairy tale character's die, eventually, right? Davis was born in the coal-belt, Cinderella lived among the cinders. His father died in a car accident when he was very young, like Cinderella's mother. Davis' mother remarried and he went to live with his step-father. This is a negative of Cinderella's parents, her father died and she had to live with her step-mother. I don't know whether Davis' step-father was wicked or not. He plays 3 sports in high school; baseball, basketball and football. He chooses to "try-on" football in college, which recalls Cinderella's glass slipper trial. Even though Davis should be able to receive his MVP award at the National Title awards ceremony, he is refused the privilege of attending. Cinderella, too, is refused permission to attend the Prince's ball, even though she is an available bachelorette. Davis is taunted by the Texas' team and many of the spectators at the National Title game because of his race. Cinderella is taunted by her wicked step-sisters and step-mother because she is not of the correct social class. After Davis accepted his MVP award he was forced to leave the ceremony, just like Cinderella was forced to flee the ball when the clock struck midnight. His S.U. teammates support Davis by refusing to attend the awards ceremony while Cinderella is supported by her cast of animals, the mice, the rat and the lizard. Davis finds his true destiny when he is awarded the first Heisman Trophy given to an African-American athlete; the trophy is his princess. Cinderella finds her true destiny by winning the "shoe fitting contest"; she receives her prince as her reward. The moral of the story is Davis' quote, given to the Saturday Evening Post before he died at age twenty-three. It really was a fairy tale come true for this exceptional young man.

P.S.- Go see the movie "The Express"! It's wonderful, uplifting, and reminds us all that there is a monumental difference between doing the acceptable thing and doing the right thing! The link to the movie's website is: http://www.theexpressmovie.com/

Reading into Things

This painting is called Dutch Proverbs by artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1559. It contains pleasant peasants, showing over 100 proverbs. It is located in Staatliche Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, Germany. A few of the proverbs are "The die is cast," It depends on how the cards fall," and "The big fish eat small." But I think I can find evidence of fairy tales in this painting. I can see Cinderella carrying out her daily chores, or the wicked step-mother preparing her step-son for her husband's stew. The three little pigs are there with their mother as the Little Mermaid's Prince sails out to sea. How many others can you find?
http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=Internal#http://www.pieter-bruegel.com/proverbe/explication3.htm

Dutch Fairy Tales

The link to these tales and others is: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/books/dutch/griffis/santaklaas.html



The Boy Who Wanted More Cheese is very similar to Andersen's Red Shoes. In both, the children get much more than they asked for. Klaas Van Bommel loves cheese, his family is rich and they have plenty off other foods, but all he wants is cheese. Fairies carry him into a dreamland where he gets all the cheese he can stand. I think we've all been there... Just when he thinks he's going to explode, he wakes up from his dairy driven dream. I can see how overindulgence in cheese would be a real problem for Dutch parents and children. I was there on my honeymoon and it was a real problem for us (I love cheese and chocolate- Heaven!).

I also read the Dutch version of the Santa Claus tale, it makes for interesting reading. My husband and I happened to be honeymooning in Amsterdam the week before Dutch Christmas which is celebrated on Dec. 6. We were shopping at a various street markets when we wandered onto the BIG Christmas parade of the season. Sinter Klaas arrives on a white horse on a canal boat by way of the Amstel River. He is handed the key to the city, so he can deliver the toys the the children (no chimneys for this Santa). He then rides his horse off the boat and through St. Nicholas Square where his helpers, the black peters, throw cookies and treats to the children. The black peters, De Zwete Zwaren, are literally white people in black face and they wear black gloves to cover their hands (this would be unthinkable in the US!) It was a little weird, but a lot of fun!

Children, Books and Nature

When I was a child, my whole world revolved around nature and books. We lived on a lot of undeveloped land and I was free to explore and learn, hands on, about my world. When I couldn't get outdoors, or when I was traveling, I would read instead. It fulfilled the same purpose, I read to explore and learn about life. And in some ways, books resemble nature. Both can be wild, raw, soothing and enlightening. Each removed me from my ordinary world and transported me into my imagination. I find no irony in the fact that I am an English lit major or that I am also a nature photographer ( I spent two years in Yellowstone with nothing but a camera and a trunk full of books). Books and nature were portals to something much larger than myself, and they remain so. The good ones, anyway!

Displaced Fairy Tale

Ernie Davis, All-American Half Back, Dies at 23

Ernie Davis, as a senior for Syracuse University, was the first African-American to win the coveted Heisman Trophy Award. He was a three-sport standout in high school and a two-time All-American halfback at Syracuse who lead them to their only national championship title in football. He died of complications resulting from leukemia. He was just 23 years old.

Davis was born on Dec. 14, 1939, in New Salem, Pa. and grew up in the deep poverty of Pennsylvania’s coal-belt. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and after his father died in a terrible car accident, he was raised by his mother and step-father in Elmira, New York. He played basketball, baseball and football and he excelled in all three, earning 11 letters from Elmira Free Academy. He chose to try on football, making it his focus when he attended Syracuse University in 1958.

In the National Title game, Syracuse beat Texas 23-14,and Davis scored two touchdowns and had a Cotton Bowl record breaking 87-yard reception. He was selected the game’s Most Valuable Player despite having played the entire game with a pulled hamstring. Davis was supposed to receive his Most Valuable Player award at the awards banquet that night, but bowl officials told him that only white players were invited to the ball. He would have to leave after picking up his trophy, and consequently the Syracuse team refused to go to the banquet.

Despite the events at the Cotton Bowl, Davis became the nation's third-leading rusher, running for 877 yards and a school-record 7.8 yards per carry as he was voted a two-time All-American. In 1961 he became the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy award. Davis remarked on the occasion, “Winning the Heisman Trophy is something you just dream about, you never think it could happen to you.”

Before he passed away on May 18, 1963, Ernie wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post in which he remarked, “Some people say I am unlucky. I don't believe it. And I don't want to sound as if I am particularly brave or unusual. Sometimes I still get down, and sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Nobody is just one thing all the time. But when I look back I can't call myself unlucky. My 23rd birthday was December 14. In these years I have had more than most people get in a lifetime.”

Family and friends are invited to visit Faith Temple Community C.O.G.I.C, Harper St., Elmira on Friday, May 22nd from 6 to 9 pm. His funeral service will be held there on Saturday, May 23rd at 10 am. Rev. James E. Jones, her Pastor, will officiate. Committal prayers and interment will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, those wishing may remember Ernie through donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Central NY Chapter, 401 N. Salina St., Learbury Centre, Suite 304, Syracuse, NY 13203.

My First Time...Blogging!

It took me a little while to get the hang of this, but I think we're off and running now! So far I have been devouring fairy tales like they're going out of style. But I have found, through my eclectic reading habits, that most novels and short stories I have read are founded on a myth or fairy tale. For example, read Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick or Lonely No More and try NOT to think about Hansel and Gretel. Or try Galapagos and DON'T refer to Adam and Eve's temptation and fall. It's impossible to do so and whether Vonnegut intended to allude to myths and fairy tales is unknown, but it makes for some interesting close readings of his many influential novels.