365 | Peaches Prattlings

{November 20, 2013} The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz: Epics or Mere Coincidence

I think I have told you that I have been a writer for a long time, didn’t always enjoy it, but apparently, I’m a good story teller. The following is a paper I wrote comparing The Wizard of Oz to The Odyssey in my World Literature Class: July 16, 1997. This is a total brag..I got an A. I tried to recreate the magic at least one other time, comparing a classic and something modern, it failed miserably! But I tried. I hope you enjoy it.

An epic is a journey : one that transcends time – it could be Odysseus’ journey home from Troy to Ithaca as told by Homer, or Dorothy’s journey home from Oz to Kansas in the Wizard of Oz. Each hero and heroine must travel a path that would lead them home: for Odysseus it is the seas around the islands and for Dorothy it is the yellow brick road which will lead her straight to The Wizard.

As we join Odysseus, the Trojan war has ended and Odysseus is on his way back home to Ithaca: his ships are hit by a storm raised by Athena and blown to Thrace. Dorothy, and her own epic is returning home after running away when a tornado hits the farm she lives on and subsequently takes her house up into the eye of twister and lands in the Munchkin City. This is the first component of a journey: encountering a new world.

In Thrace, Odysseus sacks the city of Cicones, saving a priest of Apollo, for which he is rewarded with skin of potent wine . When Dorothy landed munchkin city her house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East. She is rewarded for saving the Munchkins in their city, not with potent libations, but with a pair of ruby slippers containing their own magic powers.

The killing of the Wicked Witch of the East angered the Wicked Witch of the West, her sister, much in the same way Odysseus angered Poseidon, god of the seas, for harming his son Polyphemus.

Thus far, we have encountered elements of a journey that make up an epic: beginning a journey in a new world; for Odysseus: Thrace. Dorothy: the Munchkin City. We also encountered mythical and supernatural elements such as gods and goddesses, as in Athena and Poseidon; witches, the likes of Glenda and the Wicked Witch of the West.

As we continue on our journey, Odysseus and his crew are blown by storms to Libya and the Land of the Lotus Eeaters. There, an exploring party accepts from the natives, the Lotus fruit which forces them to lose their memory and they must be awakened by a Odysseys. Similarly Donnatina friends are almost Emerald City when the Wicked Witch of the West puts a spell on a field of poppies, causing them to get sleepy, make it seem as if they will never reach the Emerald City, the Wizard or the answers that they seek.

Odysseus and Dorothy are both quite homesick, but both know there is more to do before they can find the answers they seek to reach home. Circe, the sorceress, tells Odysseys he must go down to Hades to consult Tierses, the seer about appeasing Poseidon and returning home. Although it is not something that he truly wishes to do, it is his fate that he should go, where no man has gone and returned. The Great Wizard tells Dorothy she must go to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West and bring her broomstick back to him to get the answers and favors she and her companions seek.

Throughout their respective stories, Odysseus and Dorothy both have interactions with an interesting array of individuals. Characters in Dorothy’s life in Kansas take shape along the journey as other characters just as the gods would take the shape of others known to Odysseus along his journey.

The first of these characters involved in a Odysseus’ journey is a goddess who is in his corner helping, influencing and encouraging Odysseus to return home and never give up. This goddess is Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom; Dorothy has Glinda, the Good Witch of the North and encourage her to find her way home and not give up.

Another person involved in Odysseus’s adventure is Poseidon, the Lord of the Seas. He’s a wrathful god who could destroy a city with the change of his moods. Unfortunately for Odysseus, Poseidon holds a grudge for what has happened to Polyphemus. He makes Odysseus’ journey a long a difficult one and only after 20 years and great help from other gods, does he allow Odysseus to return home.

As for Dorothy, her Poseidon is the wicked witch of the West. She is all that evil can be and she makes Dorothy’s journey along a difficult one, as well as trying to inflict great harm her way. She holds a grudge, like Poseidon, for killing her sister. When the Wicked Witch is accidentally melted by Dorothy trying to save the Scarecrow, she unwittingly helps Dorothy to get home by following the Wizard’s instructions to bring him her broomstick.

The mentor is a faithful friend to Odysseus – loyal, sober and wise. He is the mirror image of the Scarecrow, the first of Dorothy’s companions on her journey. Although he claims not to have a brain, until he is given a Th.D. [Doctor of Thinkology] by the Wizard the Scarecrow is wise and quite intelligent, getting the foursome out of many uncomfortable situations.

Euryleia is the faithful and devoted nurse to Odysseus, protects and love him unconditionally, while the Tin Man is faithful, devoted and protective of Dorothy, seeing that she gets home while you’re Eurycleia waits at home for Odysseus.

Dorothy meets one final ally in the Cowardly Lion: afraid of his own shadow, pretending to be brave and towards the end of their journey, showing courage and steadfastness – the traits of a king. This characters is not unlike Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, self-conscious about himself and his duty, trying to live up to his father’s image and at the end of Odysseus’ story, shows courage and steadfastness traits of his father, a king.

As Dorothy and her crew are about to enter into the Emerald City, there is singing: voices telling them they are out of the dark, out of the woods and into the light, almost to freedom. This is similar to the muses at the beginning of Odysseus’ story, to tell through song, what is happening.

There are monsters and magic as well as supernatural beings encountered along the way; Poseidon has his sea nymphs and see monsters at his beck and call and the Wicked Witch of the West has her palace guards and flying monkeys to do her bidding.

As I mentioned Polyphemus earlier, he was son to Poseidon and a cyclops, a race of monsters with one eye the middle of their faces. Odysseus and his party feasted on his food and anger Polyphemus and ultimately tricked him. While he was sleeping Odysseus poked out his eye with a large sharpened stick. He and his crew then escaped Polyphemus by cleverly talking his way out of the situation. This was not far from Dorothy’s tale in the forest when she and her party came upon some apple trees. As they began picking apples from the branches, the trees, under a spell from the Wicked Witch, became animated and proceeded to berate the hungry party verbally, while throwing apples at them as well. The Scarecrow thought of a way out of the situation by insulting the trees, to get more apples and as an opportunity to escape. It seems, no matter what time period you are in you, can talk you’re way out of so many things.

Much the way Odysseus might pray to Zeus, the god of gods and goddesses the dispenser justice, at Olympus, in a temple or wherever he was at the time Dorothy and her companions have ventured to the Emerald City to ask favor of the great Wizard of Oz, all-powerful and all-knowing.

Odysseus and Dorothy both find that they have answers within themselves. Odysseus knows he is an adventurer, but there’s still duty at home with his family and country. Dorothy realizes that she is a dreamer; and to find happiness you only need to look within your own self.

Finally I pose this question: was L. Frank Baum inspired by Homer and the Odyssey to create the Wizard of Oz, or is the epic is the common toll from which authors draft their inspiration?

{November 20, 2013} Habits

Some habits are hard to break. Old habits die hard. There are a lot of sayings about habits.

It takes twenty one days to form a habit, that’s what I’ve been told. I think I had mentioned that when I talked about writing my blog, I started writing in the late evening and now, it’s a habit, I can’t seem to write earlier and if I do, I feel weird.

No matter who you are or what you do, we all have habits, good or bad. Someone with OCD might think that some things they do are just habit. And if we deviate, we feel weird, sometimes. There are some people who are thrown completely out of whack if they don’t follow routine or habit.

What is the first thing you do every day when you get home from work? get up in the morning? How many of you check your email?

I have one friend who gets up, checks email, reads my blog, (thank you), gets out of bed and then goes about her daily routine. DCM buys a new deck of cards before each poker game he hosts (two if there are going to be a lot of people).

At first, I was going to talk about traditions, but then I realized I was thinking more about habits, two very different things and elicits different feelings for each. For example, I have a habit of removing certain items while I am in line waiting to go through security, even before I get to the officer checking my ID versus the tradition of stopping at Fellini’s for a slice, salad and soda on my way home from the Atlanta airport. I have to admit, even though it’s a tradition, the last time, I stopped at Moe’s instead, I did feel a little weird!

I believe I told you about participating in the zombie run and asking the nun to tell me her had habits…ha ha, I know..so not the same, I just couldn’t resist! Go ahead and groan, I’m ok with it!

There are good habits and there are bad habits. Admitting them is the first step!
What are some of yours?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit_(psychology)

{November 19, 2013} Time…it’s a funny thing

Isn’t it interesting how time seems to change depending on what you’re doing?

You know the expression “time flies when you’re having fun”? The time elapsed isn’t any different, it’s how we are perceiving it. What does it mean anyway?

When we’re having a good time, we don’t look at the clock and all of a sudden three hours passed and it feels like a moment. When we’re somewhere we don’t want to be or doing something we don’t want to or just plain bored, doesn’t the time seem to drag? Perfect example, when we’re at work and bored or have nothing to do, doesn’t it seem that time has stopped? But be busy, have a deadline? Where did the time go? You start working on something at 11am, the next thing you know, you look up and it’s 3pm!

What about when we were in cash cool? If we weren’t into whatever it was especially on a Friday or right before the holidays, did the clock stop altogether? When we’re on vacation, when you get there, you have all the time in the world, then all of a sudden, you’re going home in two days!

When you’re late for something, time seems to speed up. When we are sad about losing something/someone, time seems to have gotten away from us. when we’re trying to get somewhere on time, does the minutes hand seem to have jumped?

Today, I went out for a run/walk, something I haven’t done since I hurt myself in September. I have gone for walks, but no running, I thought it was time I took a chance. I decided to walk .25 of a mile, run .25 and so on. As I started, I got the first quarter mile, no problem, seemed like I was making good time, then it was time for the next quarter mile, not bad, then walk and that seemed to take forever to get to the next quarter mile, what was going on? .10 to go seemed to go on forever. Then the next quarter mile, is there no end in sight?

I know we have all thought about this and even asked those questions aloud “where did the time go?” (?Although, a lot of times, peope, will use that as an excuse when they’re trying to get away from someone!).

I know there are days I look at the clock and think, I have plenty of time to write my blog post and then all of a sudden, it’s almost midnight!

We also say..where did the time go? Or my favorite, I just don’t have the time or enough hours in the day… To that I say tag I am reminded of a quote that my mom had on the wall in her classroom. “You have the same number of hours in the day as Marie Curie and Albert Einstein”, think about that.

Here are some great quote about time.
http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Time10.htm

All I have to say in conclusion…Thank you for taking the time read my post!”

{November 18, 2013} Facebook Posts

It’s interesting what people decide to post on Facebook.

There are certain things that appear at certain times of the year, what I mean is that for November, a lot of people will do a countdown of what they are thankful for, in honor of Thanksgiving. If you haven’t seen this, every day, people will post what they are thankful for “Day 1, I am thankful for…” and it’s usually incredibly meaningful ‘and deep’, sometimes, it’s just “I’m thankful it’s Friday”. You can get a real insight into what’s in peoples minds and hearts.

Then there are the things that we share; someone posts a photo, image, funny picture and someone shares it or re-posts it. Maybe it’s a quiz: Are you left or right brained? You click on the link and take the quiz. by the way, I’m equally balanced.

Another one that’s going on right now, which has gone around a bunch…___# of things you don’t know about me. We get a number and then tell some things no one or very few people know, it’s a cool way to find out about your friends.

People post photos of themselves, families, pets, vacations, announcements and it seems like sometimes its the only way we find out about things and friends. I wouldn’t have known about my high school [not telling which one!] reunion if it wasn’t for Facebook.

We post goofy stuff that may only be funny to us, but it’s our post, so who cares, right? One of my favorites is when someone posts a quote from a movie and then people start commenting on that post with quotes from the same movie, that is a lot of fun, to see what people come up with.

Sometimes, people post too much, which I’m sure some of you will agree, but for the joyous, funny and informative posts, I say thank you.

{November 16, 2013} Holiday Movies

Newsflash…Guilty pleasure…I love holiday movies.

Let’s face it, most of them are Christmas movies and I’m a sucker for them. Another admission, I have watched them during the year, even in the summer, you can find them online and a bunch are on Netflix. They start playing them beginning November, really? I know I love them, but what about starting them in December, or at least closer to Thanksgiving, wait, did I see them in October?

There seems to be a few different, but common themes…

Boy meets girl just by coincidence…Girl/boy hires boy/girl to pose as boyfriend/fiance to take home to to meet/fool the family into thinking they are in a relationship. As they spend time together, they realize they have feelings for each other. Is this the right person and were they with the wrong person? What should they do? Do they tell the family the truth?

Girl/boy is lost, doesn’t know what they want, they have been hurt, widow/ed, it’s another holiday alone and by chance they meet that someone and now they have a renewed faith in Christmas.

Boy/girl has lost faith in people, the holiday, etc and someone, a magical someone, is sent to set things right and through the miracle of the holidays and love from others, they find the love and renewed faith in people, the holidays and the world.

The two main characters find each other despicable and at odds with each other but by the end of the movies, they solve the worlds problems and…it’s love, sigh.

Some have big names and others, could be independent films. A lot of them are on the Lifetime network. Some of them are great, well written, well acted and fun and some are just plain awful, but what do we do? We watch them anyway. Guilty as charged!

I have a few favorites that I look for every year and sometimes in between.

The Christmas List, 1997, starring Mimi Rogers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136755/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
Borrowed Hearts, 1997 with Roma Downy and Eric McCormick http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132893/?ref_=nm_knf_t2
Recently, A Christmas Kiss, 2011 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790621/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Love Actually, 2003, with, well, everybody! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/?ref_=nv_sr_
White Christmas, 1954, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, need I say more? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047673/?ref_=nv_sr_2

I know there are more, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head! It’s ok, I know I’m a goofball, I’m ok with it!

Yes, I am a sucker for this genre of movies and I will watch them any time of the year, when I can find them, but right now, I guess I’m spoiled having cable again and a DVR, so guess what I’m doing? The cue is filling up!

Warm fuzzies for everyone!

{November 16, 2013} Last Vegas

Go see this movie, that’s all go see it!

Alright, you win, I’ll give you more. GO SEE IT!

This was a laugh riot, feel good movies that leaves you with your face hurting from smiling and laughing so much and warm fuzzies, how can you beat that?

The exact description “Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.” And now for more details.

The four main guys have known each other since they were kids, about 12 years old and then takes us 58 years later to today, the kids are all grown up. You don’t mess with the Flatbush Four “You can’t call us names, only we can!” Their favorite names for each other? A$$hole! Pr%ck!

This movie has an all star A-List phenomenal leading cast. We start with the groom-to-be, Billy, played by Michael Douglas. He is the ‘youngest’ of the group, only because he chooses to be, dyes his hair, capped teeth, spray tan, that sort of thing. He is almost 70 and his wife is almost 33, and proposes to his girlfriend at a funeral, you can see where this is going, right?

Next is Morgan Freeman, who plays Archie, and you realize just how tall he is in this movie, 6’2″ towering over the rest of the cast. As soon as one of the guys calls with news “what is it? your prostate?” he lives with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter and feels like a prisoner, he is well taken care of, but feels lost, like he’s the child now. He sneaks out of the house to go to Las Vegas.

Kevin Kline plays Sam, who’s been with his wife for 40 years and is kind of lost. The movie opens the scene where we meet the guys today in a water aerobics class that Sam is participating in and just keeps looking around, checking the pulse of one guy, realizing that he’s around a bunch of old people and he doesn’t feel it.

Rounding out the merry band of misfits is Paddy, played perfectly by Robert De Niro, he was the one who married their childhood friend, Sophie, the only girl in the bunch. He is lonely and sad, widowed about a year and just doesn’t want to go out, see people, be social, he just wants to be left alone.

Paddy is very angry at Billy and the other two have to trick Paddy to get him to Las Vegas and it does take a while for the two to “kiss and make up”. Completing the group, when they are in Las Vegas, they meet Diana, a singer in one of Binions [remember, mecca for DCM] lounges, played by Mary Steenburgen. She is funny and charming and a fun addition, kind of like a Sophie for today.

The gang is back together and they’re going to raise some cain, it’s a bachelor’s weekend! They start to have fun and realize that they’re still alive; just because they’re older, ‘past their prime’, they still have a lot left in them and they need to get out there, live and enjoy life! And boy do they ever!

There you have it, go see it, you’ll laugh…a lot!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204975/?ref_=nv_sr_1

{November 15, 2013} Leverage

I found one of my favorite shows on Netflix, Leverage.

The description on IMDB.com “A crew of high-tech crooks attempt to steal from wealthy criminals and corrupt businessmen.” Basically, they are a modern day Robin Hood and his band of merry men, they steal from the rich and give back to the poor.

The lead, Nate Ford, played by Timothy Hutton was an investigator for a big insurance company and quit when they denied a claim that would save his son. Now, he leads a group of former criminals, the people he used to chase. He is…’The Brains’.

The group consists of Sophie, ‘The Grifter’, someone who swindles ‘the mark’ through deception and fraud. She is amazing with accents, can come up with ideas on the fly, really quick on her feet.

Elliot Spencer is ‘The Hitter’, one guess what that means, let’s just say, I wouldn’t want to cross him or meet him in a dark alley, but I would want him with me in a dark alley. He doesn’t like guns and can disarm someone in the blink of an eye. As the show progresses, some of his hidden talents come out.

Parker, just Parker, is “The Thief’, she is a master at safes, locks and escaping, she can climb, dive, fly and is socially awkward.

Alec Hardison is ‘The Hacker’, he can crack, manipulate, fix anything you set before him.

People who have been wronged and can’t fight “big business” come to the group for help and as the opening says “We provide…Leverage”. They come up with the best cons to get back what was taken and take down the corporate bad dude.

As they say, “sometimes the best bad guys make the best good guys”

It’s a feel good show. I love it and when an episode is over…I feel good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1103987/?ref_=nv_sr_1

{November 13, 2013} FaceTime with LB and her new sister!

Yesterday, DCM came in and said he had a surprise and then I heard one of my favorite sounds…FaceTime ringing!

The next thing we saw was LB and her mommy and she was so excited to show us her new baby sister, LS! What a doll baby! She was sleeping and jumped a bit when LB said her name and then smiled in her sleep and that was the end of that. We saw her and that’s all that matters. Soon enough she’ll be ready to play with her grandpa and JJ!

We talked to LB for a bit more, tried to follow whatever it was the two and a half year old was saying as she spun in circles, it was pretty funny. We got to talk to her mommy and daddy and found out that she doesn’t play video games because she’s a girl, it was so cute! She thinks that only daddy plays video games and since he’s a boy, only boys play video games. We were all laughing because she doesn’t equate the games she plays with her mommy as games and mommy can’t play video games, why? Because she’s a girl!

After a little while, it was time to go, but we are ready for our next FaceTime and maybe a face to face visit, who’s ready for Vegas, baby?

{November 13, 2013} Stop and smell the roses

Have you ever taken the time to stop and smell the roses? I do, as often as possible.

While I did just that today, I was thinking about where the phrase or quote came from and I discovered a few things. One was that it was a song written by John Lennon and given to Ringo Starr to record and being that the Beatles are my ALL TIME FAVORITE band, how stoked was I?

Another was that no one is positive where the quote originated from, but it seems to date back 100 years. Another “One reference suggests that ‘stop and smell the roses’ was used in conversation between friends, one of whom had a beautiful rose garden. The friend worked so diligently in the rose garden that she did not take the time to enjoy her work. Her friend gently reminded her to stop working and experience the beauty she had created.” (From the link below.)

So, the way we use it in every day life is the way it was referenced in the story above, meaning that you have to slow down and take a moment to enjoy what’s around you, experience life, don’t miss out on things because you were too busy…take a moment to stop and smell the roses.

As I mentioned I try to do that as often as possible. Roses are in my top 4 flowers that I absolutely love, sunflowers, daisies, gerber daisies and roses. I love to see a field of sunflowers and I will stop to smell and admire them, they make me happy and whenever I see a rosebush, I have to stop and smell and admire at least one, there is nothing quite like it. I was inspired for my post today by a wild white rose bush on my walk home today! I stated to think about where the quote comes from.

And then it reminded me of a very good friend, JASC (if I just listed his initials JC, he might be confused with someone else and I have always loved using his full name, it’s a great one!). JASC and I have been friends since kindergarten! Can you believe it? How many people can we say that about?

The reason I bring up a random person in my post is that he has a rose tattoo on his arm and when I asked him about it he said that there was a time that he was working so much his daughter stopped him one day and told him to stop and smell the roses and the tattoo is his reminder to do just that. Can you think of a better tribute?

So, I say to you, my friends, take the time to stop and smell the roses, at least once…you never know how it will make you feel.

http://voices.yahoo.com/popular-phrases-origin-meaning-stop-smell-468395.html?cat=37

{November 11, 2013} Veterans Day…Thank you

Today was Veterans Day, did you thank a veteran?

Like yesterday, for the Marine Corps birthday, on Facebook, there were some amazing posts and photos, thanking all the men and women and animals who have served or are currently serving.

No matter what you think of war and politics, you should respect and and have respect for the men and women who have served and are currently serving in our armed forces today and those that gave their lives to protect our freedoms, that allow us to have opinions that may differ from someone else’s point of view, no matter who they are.

There was a quote on a show I like, Leverage, that I think sums it up. There was a militia group claiming to be fighting for our country “You’d kill to protect your rights, a real soldier would die protecting someone else’s”.

When you see someone who is serving or has served, take the time to thank them for what they do. They are wiling to lay down their lives for your freedom and inalienable rights, what are you wiling to do?

Thank you.

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What was I thinking?