Crocuses

Crocuses on my front lawn – a sure sign spring is here!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Today – II

More photos from my photo session in the dog park. Blossoms and a train. (images by reflectionsinapuddle)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Today

It’s been a fortunate coincidence that I planned a photo session in a dog park today and this week’s photo challenge is “Today.”  Below are some of the results of the photo shoot. Starring are my beloved pups, Meeshka and Maya. (images by reflectionsinapuddle)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

image by reflectionsinapuddle

Summer is my favourite season, especially because it’s short where I live. It hasn’t fully arrived yet; besides it’s been raining for a few days, and there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for good photos.

As a side note, if you are wondering what’s happening to my blog, why my posts have become sporadic, and why I rarely visit other blogs or leave comments, it’s not because of lack of interest on my part. I am still passionate about blogging and writing, photography and books, and I still enjoy visiting my fellow bloggers, but it seems like my work is taking over my life. Although I don’t foresee any improvement in the near future, I don’t want to close the blog just yet and will be posting from time to time, when time permits, and if I have enough energy to be creative. Cheers! 🙂

Frizztext A – Z Archive: S! Challenge

I took this pic in subway in Kiev.

Learn more about Frizztext A-Z Archive Challenge.

Subway in Kiev, Ukraine, image by reflectionsinapuddle

Creating Memorable & Believable Characters

“Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” ~ Stephen King

This week I did an interesting and useful assignment for my fiction writing course. You take a character from your story idea, and use the following formula: if a character was a car, she/he would be_______. Then substitute “car” with “food,” “drink,” “movie,” etc. After that, write a description of your character using these metaphors (can be a sentence for each category, or an entire scene.) So I applied this to Cassie, a main character in the story that I recently started.

1. if Cassie was a car, she would be a Beetle
2. if Cassie was a food she would be a pomegranate
3. if Cassie was a drink, she would be Silk (organic soy beverage)
4. if Cassie was a movie, she would be Amelie
5. if Cassie was an item of clothing, she would be a silk scarf
6. if Cassie was a style of music she would be classical impressionism (Debussy, Clair de Lune )
7. if Cassie was a musical instrument she would be a flute
8. if Cassie was a flower, she would be a cherry blossom
9. if Cassie was a tree, she would be a birch
10. if Cassie was a style of dance, she would be ballet
11. if Cassie was an animal, she would be a humming bird

The first six categories were given by the instructor, and I added five of my own. Then I wrote descriptions, based on the above statements. Here is one of them:

With the innocence and delicacy of a cherry blossom, Cassie would wrap herself around you like a silk scarf, light as a feather, hardly even there, smooth to the touch, yet firmly in place.

And one more:

He often pictured people as musical instruments or musical pieces. When he met Cassie, he instantly decided she was a flute, and the airy aura about her made him think of silvery moonlight reflected on water and Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. (now you know what inspired my previous post :-))

I enjoyed doing this exercise (while listening to Debussy, of course) and I think it’s a great way to flesh out my characters and bring them to life.

Clair de lune by Claude Debussy

I must be under the influence of full moon: as I’ve been working on my assignment for the fiction writing course, I stumbled upon this beautiful piece by Claude Debussy and couldn’t resist the temptation to share it on my blog. Enjoy!

Related articles

• The Life and Music of Claude Debussy (wqxr.org)
• The new Naxos collection of orchestral Debussy (examiner.com)
• WDBX Opera Overnight – Debussy, Stravinsky (wdbx.wordpress.com)
• The most beautiful You Tube spot (milenanik3.wordpress.com)

Sunday Post: Vehicle

Here is my entry for the Sunday Post challenge: Vehicle. Both photos were taken in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

image by reflectionsinapuddle

image by reflectionsinapuddle

Sunday Post challenge brought to you by Jakesprinter

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused

My entry for the WordPress weekly photo challenge: Unfocused.

image by reflectionsinapuddle

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There is a Stranger in the House or Appreciation of Art?

Surely my previous post about my dog gave you a pretty good idea of Meeshka’s outstanding intelligence (by doggy standards of course.) Today I got another proof that not only is he smart, but can also appreciate art. Well, maybe.

About seven years ago, when I experimented with acrylic paints, I painted a portrait of the Buddha seated in a lotus position, meditating. The painting is nothing to brag about, but I keep it, hoping that some day I’ll be able to turn it into something more spectacular — that is, when I master traditional painting media.

Last week my husband dug out the Buddha painting, along with several of my landscapes and floral themes, and put it in the basement, positioning it so it can be easily viewed by anyone entering the room. My husband also told me that when Meeshka saw the painting the first time, he barked at it, likely alerting him that there was a stranger in the house. My husband thought I should take it as a compliment.

Today, when I was doing laundry, Meeshka followed me downstairs, as he usually does, to make sure all is well in that part of the house. While I was loading the washer, Meeshka kept barking in the room where the paintings are. At first I thought he was barking at the cat, but when I came out of the laundry room, I realized it was actually the Buddha’s portrait that stirred my doggy up. I asked him to shut up, which he did. Then he turned his gaze back to the Buddha painting and stared at it for a good couple of minutes, until he heard me get closer. Then he turned his head toward me with an embarrassed look, as if I caught him stealing socks or underwear from a laundry hamper. This curious occurrence made me wonder, what does my dog see in this painting? By the way, my other dog, Maya, has no interest whatsoever in any of my art pieces. 🙂