On November 19, I received the following request from my friend Judy, on Facebook: The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets included) who have influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes, and they don't have to be listed in order of relevance to you.
Now even though I don't fulfill every request I receive on Facebook; this one sounded interesting to me; but up until now, I couldn't find the time. However; tonight, faced with nothing particular to write about, I remembered Judy's "Authors" request, and thought I'd take a stab at it. Now Judy's request just called for me to list the authors; but I just wouldn't be me if I didn't add my two sense as well. So as the instructions state; in no particular order; here's my list:
1. Meg Cabot - "The Queen of Babble" series is my favorite; but I've read all of her adult works as well. She is also quite well known for "The Princess Diaries."
2. Jennifer Weiner - I would have to say that of all of her books, I enjoyed "Good In Bed" the most; and her sequel "Certain Girls," moved me to tears. I've read almost everything that she's written, and you'd probably know her best, for "In Her Shoes," which was made into a movie with Shirley MacLaine, Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette.
3. Dr. Seuss - Need I say more? But If I must... "Oh The Places You'll Go."
4. Judy Blume - I was a total addict as a kid; and I must have read ALL of her books; including "Forever" which was quite controversial at the time; (at least in my house.)
5. Wally Lamb - "She's Come Undone" is still one of my all time favorites. I read it 14 years ago and it has a special place in my heart. I was so impressed that a man could write a woman character as well as Mr. Lamb did; and I could honestly say that I would read this book again.
6. Maeve Binchy - I read "Circle of Friends" AFTER seeing the movie; and immediately fell in love with Maeve Binchy. With the exception of her most recent book; I have read all of her works and I am always so excited to see that she's come out with something new.
7. A.A. Milne - Author of my beloved "Winnie The Pooh."
8. Helen Keller - Although I've only recently become acquainted with Ms. Keller's work; I find her words to be profound and true to my heart.
9. Louis May Alcott - I adored "Little Women" when I was growing up, and even though I own the DVD, I can never pass up watching it when it's on TV. The story is timeless. I love the setting, the time period, the characters; and I can't wait until my girls are old enough to be introduced to this wonderful book.
10. Candace Bushnell - I hadn't read one of her books until "The Carrie Diaries;" which I tore through. Oh how can we ever thank her enough for the joy that is "Sex And The City."
11. Sophie Kinsella - While waiting for "Confessions Of A Shopaholic" to become available at the library, I read "Undomestic Goddess," which was a delightful romp. Once I finally had the opportunity to read "Shopaholic," I thought that it was well worth the wait. I'm STILL waiting to read the remainder of the series; so if anyone local has them on hand; PLEASE loan them my way.
12. Frances Hodgson Burnett - How I cherished "A Little Princess." I read it multiple times; and in the summer of 88' I was DELIGHTED to have the attic room of our bayside rental, because it reminded me of Sarah's room at Ms. Minchin's.
13. Jane Austen - Now I won't lie, and pretend that I read "Emma," or "Sense And Sensibility;" but I did love both movies; and both stories are on my list of books to read.
14. Erma Bombeck - Her wit and intelligence are what I aspire to.
15. Cathy Kelly - Now I already told you how much I enjoy Maeve Binchy, and my pursuit to read all that she'd written, lead me to "Irish Girls about Town," which is a collection of short stories by female, Irish authors. My favorite story was by Cathy Kelly, and so I went on to read another of her books; and will continue to do so.
I can only hope that one day, my name will appear on someone's list of 15 authors that have influenced them.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
This past Thanksgiving, I wanted to post something in my Facebook status, that was a little more profound than a mere "Happy Thanksgiving;" so I looked for a quote that I could share and chose the following, by John Fitzgerald Kennedy; "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." I was very happy with the response to this quote; so the next time that I considered updating my status, I decided to look for a quote; rather than just state what I was thinking about or had done that day. I wanted to share ideas and thoughts that meant something to me, and might inspire others; because after all, I'm always looking out for (say it with me,) "The GREATER GOOD." I didn't have a particular quote in mind when I got started. I just Googled happiness, or strength or change; or whatever I was thinking about at the moment; and then chose a quote that I felt adequately represented what I was thinking and what I believed.
My next quote was by Helen Keller and it really spoke to me; so I shared "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." At the same time, I also found a quote by Ms. Keller that I haven't posted yet; but I haven't been able to get off my mind. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." I thought of this quote several times today in particular, because I was worrying about a number of things having to do with Nicky. I actually told myself (in my mind, not out loud;) that by worrying I was wasting time looking at a closed door; and I could be missing out on something wonderful. And this philosophy allowed me to relax and have faith."He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
I'll tell you honestly that I don't know who Epictetus is; and of course I could look it up and find out; but for the sake of this post, it's not quite necessary at the moment; because whoever he was; I adored his quote
I quoted Henrik Ibsen "A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed." And an unexpected source (at least at the time; to me," Reba McEntire. "To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone." Well at least according to Reba; I'll be a success.
I took a bold leap and quoted Confucius, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do." Only to have my friend Thom comment "He who goes through turnstile sideways, is going to Bangkok." And what does one say to that? I replied only; "Oy Thom! LOL! xoxo"
I quoted Mahatma Gandhi, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Only to receive the following comment "Happiness is when I look in my wallet and there is still money in there."---Thom the Brilliant Now although Thom is absolutely right; I don't think that he and Mahatma Gandhi were referring to the SAME type of happiness. I responded to Thom by writing "I've got one word for you Thom the brilliant and it ain't accolade. LOL" I said this, because one time in college, I used the word accolade when speaking to Thom and he has reminded me of it, EVERY chance he has gotten. He wrote back "but I'll bet it starts with an A!" Which in my opinion, WAS a brilliant statement. It wasn't the letter that I'd been thinking; because all I was going to say was "OY!" But his response was just SO much better. Nonetheless, given the nature of my quote; I chose not to banter back and forth about his comment because in doing so I would totally contradict the quote.
So last night I began looking at quotes again. I wanted to find something about the importance of being yourself and loving who you are. I never wound up posting anything; but if I had, it would have been this beauty by Dr. Seuss. "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." And I mean that in the VERY best way!!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
