Make your ideas happen
Lately, I’ve been surrounded by more and more creative people. Well, I’ve always been surrounded by creative people, but lately more ideas and ventures have popped up than I know what to do with.
I love ideas.
Nothing is more energizing than a new project, fresh for development. The possibilities are endless.
Then, somehow, life gets in the way and things fizzle out.
Don’t let it fizzle. It takes determination, diligence and follow through to make things happen.
Be one of the ones that makes your ideas happen. Don’t be the one ten years down the road saying, “I thought of that first.” You might have thought of it first, but the other person acted on it. You have to step out, recruit a community to hold you accountable and inch forward.
In the spirit of this post, I’m announcing my newest “project.” You all can hold me to it.
Spurringdiscussions.com will be my newest venture. It will be a blog format where I pose a question and spur some discussion – horse-related topics, of course.
Don’t look for that website yet. It is “in development.”
Move forward with your ideas. Make things happen. Sacrifice things that don’t matter and prioritize the things that do. I know, easier said than done. But make a commitment to yourself. Forge ahead!
Confession & My Secret to Everything…
My family and friends generally think I’m a lot more capable than I really am. I get calls regularly – “Oh can you do this?” “Do you know much about this?”
Confession: I usually say yes, even if I have no idea.
My secret? Google.*
I will plug a question straight into the search box, sift through half a dozen answers and pretty much be able to muddle my way through. You can, too. Just don’t be afraid to dive in, stumble, play around with things and try again. It took me three years of tinkering to get my website to a decent point. And I’m still learning—but I determined it was something I wanted to know how to do and control on my own.
So it is up to you. Will you Google* and act?
*Note – I’m not an affiliate or paid by Google. Quite frankly, I think I should be. But any general search engine is perfectly acceptable.
The blessing in the pile of grass clippings
After posting Friday about how guilty I feel for abandoning my horse and only seeing him once a week, I took advantage of the sunshine on Saturday to go see him, clean the stall, brush him out, lunge him and take a bazillion pictures of him to last until my next visit.
Thank God I came up that day.
This is what I found just inside his pasture. My parent’s have a lot of lawn and hire landscapers. My parents happened to be out of town these few days and had no idea the landscapers came for the first-of-the-year lawn trimming.
I understand this isn’t common knowledge, so I don’t necessarily hold it against the landscaper. But GRASS CLIPPINGS CAN BE TOXIC TO HORSES.
Yes, I’m screaming it. TOXIC!
To substantiate my claim, I checked Horse.com and one vet stated this: “…the small particle size enhances the chance of rapid fermentation in the horse’s digestive system, which could potentially lead to colic or laminitis if he rapidly eats large amounts, especially if he is not used to being out on pasture. Also, if the clippings are left in large clumps, as so often happens when the grass is long when cut, and if heat/humidity conditions are just right, the clippings could ferment and mold, which is also potentially detrimental if the horse eats them.”
My horse happily munched away on the clippings when I arrived. I chased him away (not an easy task when there is a pile of green grass actually not on the side of the fence—look at those hungry eyes…) and started scooping up the clippings into the wheelbarrow. Six wheelbarrow dumps later, it was gone.
The blessing in this?
I was there to catch it. I don’t know when the landscaper even dumped the grass clippings – if he had come Friday or Saturday morning. Had I come to see my horse on Sunday, he could have already colicked and died.
If you are a landscaper, or if you live next to horses and think they might like some of your delectable grass clippings, please note: DON’T!
Have you ever had any “close calls” where you know the timing could only be devine intervention?
The History Channel doesn’t quite get it…
This Sunday marks the finale of the first season of “Full Metal Jousting” on the History Channel. (Yes, you may snicker at the name. I certainly did.)
In the continuing drone of “reality” and “competition” shows, consider this the manly man version of “America’s Next Top Model.” The drama is there and played up to the fullest extent. Fine. I understand the need to get decent ratings.
But History Channel has missed the mark.
Who cares about the humans? Show more about the horses, History! In the History Channel website, I searched for more about the horses used on the show. Several horses are used over and over again and the horses play as pivotal a role in each joust as the riders.
But nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
There is an “interactive” diagram about the armor for the horses:
The show has taken great precaution when it comes to the safety of man and beast. As it is with rodeo, racing, jumping, polo and everything in between, the horses are athletes and strive to fill their role as equally as their riders.
The show dealt with one instance of a jouster who slapped his horse when the horse stepped on his foot. The man was immediately dismissed from the competition. Their zero-tolerance policy is admirable and you can see how most of the competitors treasure their horses. They all know how important the 2,000-pound animal is to the sport.
I’ve enjoyed the show immensely. It’s rough, gritty and painful. But they just need to show less of the humans and more of those horses. 
Have you watched Full Metal Jousting? Do you think jousting as a sport could make a comeback? Should it?
Confessions of a city-limits-confined-Equestrienne
Confession #1
I never get to see my horse as often as I like. It is a 40 minute drive to see him (without traffic). There are weekends I can’t make it up there. It’s expensive to board him at a stable that might be closer. Excuses, excuses.
Confession #2
I know he needs a loving, human companion who can dedicate more time, but I’m selfish and don’t want to give him up.
Confession #3
I know that I can’t take advantage of my parent’s care forever. They’re wonderful to keep him and tend to him since I can’t.
Confession #4
I feel if I sell him or lease him out, I’ll lose the “horse” part of my identity entirely.
Confession #5
I love bringing friends and family out to see him. I love showing him off. I love looking forward to seeing him each weekend.
Confession #6
I know something has to give.
Confession #7
Cleaning out his stall is usually the highlight of my week. Even if my back aches afterward.
Confession #8
What horse will I take thousands of pictures of if he’s no longer around? Unthinkable!
Confession #9
He’s lacked the training, experience and benefits of a “real” horse owner. And he’s not getting any younger.
Confession #10
I have no idea what to do. Except sneak away this weekend and escape to the barn.
Mid-Book Book Review: Divergent
Yes, you read that correctly. I’m only half-way through Divergent, but I feel I need to review it so far.
I’ve read a lot of YA Dystopian novels ever since my Barnes&Noble insider turned me on to The Hunger Games in 2009 — Matched, The Maze Runner, Delirium… And of course nothing really compares to The Hunger Games in my mind, but each of these stand alone in their own right.
Since last year, I’ve seen several author friends of mine recommend Divergent and even say it is better than The Hunger Games (gasp!).
Here is the premise of Divergent:
“In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.”
I have to say that Divergent had me hooked from the first chapter. The writing is well-done, the characters are rounded and memorable, the society itself comes to life in this book.
But I’m not even done with the book and need to pause to rave about it. Does that tell you something? I’m addicted to it and struggling to focus on other tasks at hand. Fortunately, I’m listening to it on Audible, so my house chores didn’t suffer this past weekend.
While I’ve yet to see how it ends, I’m confident this will rank in my Top 10 for 2012. Have you ever read a book and known right from the start it would be a favorite?
Spurring Discussions: Posting/Promoting Photos
I found this yesterday on Facebook:
The comment I circled hit me. To me, this is similar to the argument about not posting pictures of people riding bikes without helmets (at the risk of influencing children, etc…) But my other immediate thought is that most newbie riders, getting on a horse, are not going to be in a hurry to rear up and replicate this image. Many first-timers are terrified. Another commenter later on commented also how bad rearing like this is for the horse in general.
I know how I really feel about this, but I thought this could “spur” a great discussion. (Pun intended.)
So…
Should these sorts of photos be spread, promoted and encouraged? Or do we leave it up to the discernment of the viewer?
Tell me your opinion in the comments!
The power of black ink and a red pen
Update #348 on my quest for publication: I’m still working hard at it!
I love family get-togethers, but I hate two questions I always get. #1 – When are you going to have children!? (I’ve only been married for three years. Give me a little more time.) #2 – Do you have that book published yet?
For #2 – if I had my book published, trust me, the world would know. Every family member will definitely know. Rest assured.
But here is the latest:
I’m smack-dab in the middle of editing my book. I’ve gone through the printed manuscript (360 whopping pages, double-spaced) with my beloved red pen and am now applying all those scribbles to the digital document.
I cannot understate the importance for printing out the document, holding it in your hands and reading it on a page (coming from a devout lover of my Kindle.) This is a lengthy step of the process, but essential.
Once I finish editing, I’ll complete a proposal and send it all in to my agent. This summer, I’ll network with more editors and try to sell the project as well as my other completed manuscript, Lillie Among Thorns.
It’s a long process. I’m still paying my dues, so I don’t expect anything right away. But that said, I’m going to keep writing, editing and blogging away!
All for the sake of a pretty picture
I’ve been more camera-happy than normal lately. Perhaps because there are a few signs of springs now and I’m desperate for it!
That said, I’m notoriously scared to death of those slimy creatures known as snakes. There are few things to get between me and a good picture—snakes are one of them.
I was going in to take more pictures of the pretty little swamp (pictured above) and bending down for better angles when my little brother-in-law, who happened to be next to me, screamed, “Nikki, there’s a snake! I’m serious there’s a snake.”
I’ve had every “snake prank” pulled on me over the years. But my theory: just run and get mad later if it was a false alarm. In this case, I didn’t see the snake (thank you, Lord!) but I did jump, scream and run like the dickens.
Why must I wander towards swamps for pictures? I’ll never know.
Here are a few other fun ones from this past weekend (no snake near-encounters with these, however.)
Movie Review: The Hunger Games
“Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” - President Snow
Overall impression -
“The book is always better than the movie.” The old adage holds true, but The Hunger Games movie stands on its own and does the book justice. Yes, there are differences between the book and movie – the book as an audiofile is more than 10 hours long – so to be boiled down to 2.5 hours, there are a lot of elements that have to go.
The music is incredible. The scenery (North Carolina forests for the arena) completely captured me. The attire rang authentic in District 12 and the costumes of the Capitol thrilled. (Check out Capitol Couture if you want to see more!) The dialogue followed the book closely, though there were several lines that I adored in the book that were absent. (Haymitch’s evaluation of Katniss’ charm, for one…)
I thought the movie also did a good job of conveying the variety of messages Suzanne Collins had in the book. The arena scenes with the younger tributes are difficult to stomach, but they are done tastefully.
Perspectives
Perhaps the best part of Hunger Games “the movie” compared to Hunger Games “the book” is the change from Katniss’ point of view to a third-person (omniscent) perspective.
In the movie, we can see the Gamemakers behind the scenes. We see the unrest in the districts. We see Gale’s reaction to the Games. If you’ve read the book, you can appreciate these glimpses. With this perspective, I’m anxious to see books two and three translated onto the big screen. I think this third person perspective adds so much to the story itself, while the books are focused on Katniss (which I wouldn’t change at all!)
The movie moved quickly, which is necessary to cover all that the movie covers, but it made several scenes feel “skimmed” and left several key moments lacking (especially near the end.) I vote for a 4-hour version of the movie for those die-hards (me!) to enjoy.
Side note: I’m interested to talk with someone who hasn’t read the books but seen the movie. (If you’re one of those people – leave a comment, please!) Without having the book to “fill in the blanks” of Katniss’ motivation, I wonder if the movie was as complete. To me, it was the perfect companion to the book.
Katniss
I have to rave about Jennifer Lawrence. While I was skeptical at first (having seen her only in XMen: First Class), she really defines the character and embodies her flaws and growth.
Katniss is real – they show her in unflattering angles, don’t stick makeup in the arena where it doesn’t belong and reveal the deep emotions without making Katniss weak. Jennifer had all the right facial expressions and just the right amount of charm and ruggedness.
Music
Check out the soundtrack to the movie – the songs are all reflective of the book and go so much more deeper than the movie could. Try the sampling on iTunes or listen to the full songs on Spotify (which is free). Strongly. Recommended.
I could go on and go a lot deeper, but who really wants to read a 2,000-word movie review? Now share your thoughts on the movie in the comments, please!
Connect with me
