Blog Archives

BACK TO THE MANIFESTO: Rule # 5

5/31/2013

In case you're tuning in late...
I've been drafting A MANIFESTO of my TOP 10 WAYS TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY & JOY.

To recap, my first 4 were:
[click on the number to link to original blog for each rule]

Number 1 - Pic says it all!

Source: www.tripadvisor.com.au

Number 2: Drifting (aka 'Il dolce far niente')

Source: www.adventuresauce.com

Number 3: Experiment

Number 4: READ!!!

And today, is rule # 5....drum roll please, it's a good one....it's terribly significant in upping my joy & getting my creative mojo pumping:

NUMBER 5: COFFEE!!!!!

As I've said before:

Given the temperature & humidity expected, I may be switching to ice cold white wine for the next few days...

Do not fret coffee bean: you will always be my first choice in the morning.

Here's wishing one & all a fabulous weekend!!

Dina
(aka TartanFrog)

0 Comments

We interrupt this Manifesto to report on Random Acts of Kindness

5/28/2013

3 Comments

This week I'm taking part in a:
Random Acts of Kindness Blogfest

Source: schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca -

Once in awhile we come face to face with an act of kindness that changes our life forever.

And although I spent my entire life watching my parents bestowing this very sort of kindness on complete strangers, I'd never been the recipient of such selfless & overwhelming compassion...

Until one very cold December night.

That night our family was struck with a tragedy that changed us all. My sister's 30-year old husband was killed in a horrific & senseless accident.

Now, my sister & I had fought like cats & dogs as kids, I mean really fought, as in my father insisted at one point that we take turns sharing in family meals so he wouldn't have a coronary.

My brother delivered the news to me in person and I screamed at him.
Sorry!

My brother offered me a lift, but he was leaving to go in the morning and I needed to get to my sister NOW.

It was early evening, she was a 5-hour drive away and my boyfriend of the time and I had no car. But we had friends.

When Andre, the boyfriend, realized how crazed I was to get there, he called Kathy & Greg (who had a car). They rushed over to our apartment, but due to the extreme cold outside, their car was not working properly. Andre suggested that if we could only make it to his brother's house an hour away, we could then borrow his Jeep.

Turns out, Kathy & Greg had a friend who lived in our building.

His name was Mark.

Mark worked at the airport which was about halfway to Andre's brother's place. They made the call & Mark who was supposed to work the midnight shift agreed to drive us to Andre's brother's place.

You'd think that was kind enough--driving an extra hour for complete strangers. But Mark was about to take a trip he never expected.

When we arrived at the brother's garage, the Jeep would not start either. Seriously!

And so, we began the drive back toward the highway where a right turn would bring us back in the direction of the airport where Mark worked and Halifax where Andre & I lived.

And, here's where things (and by things, I mean me) got a little crazy.

Quite calmly, I announced to Andre & Mark that when we got to the highway, Mark could drop me off.

Andre looked at me, and then exchanged a look with Mark (good grief, the look said, she's lost her mind).

"Look, I'm one hour closer to my sister & there's no way I'm backtracking. I'll hitchhike. [It was -18 degrees celsius]

We kept driving until we got to the highway, at which point I said: "This is good - you can drop me off here."

Mark & Andre exchanged another look & Mark turned his signal light....

...going left...going in the direction of my sister, not toward the airport where he was scheduled to work in less than an hour.

We stopped once in a town called Truro so that Mark could call his boss to let him know he had a mad woman in his car that needed to get to Cape Breton. He would therefore be missing his shift.

This complete stranger, Mark, drove us to Cape Breton so that I could reach my sister.

It was both the saddest & most beautiful thing that's happened to me in my life.

Mark, wherever you are, I hope you know that your kindness will never be forgotten.

Thank you, thank you, a million times:
THANK YOU!!!

Sincerely,
Dina Desveaux

3 Comments

Rule # 4 of my Manifesto on Creativity & Joy

5/27/2013

0 Comments

For anyone who hasn't been following: I'm trying to come up with

THE MANIFESTO! Top 10 EASY Ways to Stimulate Creativity & Increase Joy

RULE # 4: READ!!!

Source: feelingfitwithdana.blogspot.com

As a writer, it likely won't come as any great shock that one of my passions is reading.

I love navigating the tightrope, that delicious edge that seesaws between escape and the more realistic journey back to my most authentic self.

When I started this blog I used to post my reviews here, but more recently, I've begun posting them on Goodreads. My latest review:

Source: saltyink.com

Why oh why won't Goodreads give us 1/2 stars?

This is definitely 4.5 stars. I can't quite bring myself to rank it alongside Marquez or Murakami, but damn it's a fine novel. And, if I were ranking on its ability to make me laugh out loud and cringe simultaneously, there it ranks at 5 stars, no contest.

The Antagonist:

“Do you remember that asshole from high school? The one who strutted tall in the halls, walking with a such a wide swagger you’d think he had a dick the size of a Volkswagen between his thighs?”
(from Andrew Wilmot's review)

Meet Gordon Rankin Jr., aka Rank, the refreshing protagonist, self-loathing misfit and hockey enforcer (goon) who tries to resist the roles thrust upon him by society's stereotypes of appearance and class. We all recognize in Rank the antagonists of our youth, and many of us recognize in his nemesis, Adam, that same antagonists of our university years. I believe fewer readers recognize or resonate with the specific roles thrust upon Rank due to the combination of undesirable class & the kind of atypical appearance that begs pigeonholing. I am one of those readers.

Coady's epistolary novel fuses comedy and pathos seamlessly.

Premise: Rank has just read a novel written by his old university pal, Adam, and he's infuriated to find himself further pigeonholed and misrepresented as “a dangerously unbalanced thug with an innate criminality”. The entire novel is one long rant (via email) from Rank to Adam.

I loved this book. The writing is deliciously sarcastic.

I’ll admit, as some reviewers pointed out, that the book sagged in the middle. However, just when I started feeling a little dragged down, two of the best scenes pulled me back in—the Heraclitus scene that ends with Wade asking, “Is it the same foot?” and the scene explaining how Catholicism soaks into your skin like vitamin D—both of these scenes had me laughing so hard, my cat stared at me in disbelief.

My feeling is that readers will either love this novel or they won't connect with Rank at all.

I can't imagine anyone not recognizing the skill of a masterful storyteller and writer in Coady.

0 Comments

Rule # 3 Drifting for Joy & Creativity. . . Happy Birthday Bob Dylan!!!

5/24/2013

0 Comments

Mau says:
Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

Source: www.tripadvisor.com.au

Ahhh drifting...not something I'm good at, I'm afraid - probably why I love 'the idea' of hot air balloons (bucket list).

Looks like I didn't stay in Italy long enough to capture the drifting motto of 'Il dolce far niente' (the sweetness of doing nothing).

Remember Eat Pray Love?
(yes, I confess I read the book & saw the movie)

There's a scene in an Italian barber shop - in the movie, Julia Roberts feels guilty because all she's done in the past few weeks is “learn a few Italian words and eat.”

In this 1-minute clip the men in the barber shop explain Dolce Far Niente - the sweetness of doing nada.

Sadly, I have more in common with my neighbours in the US than I do with my Italian amigos.

As Melissa Gilbert wrote:

"I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the 'monkey mind'—the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl. The problem with all this swinging through the vines of thoughts is that you are never where you are."

That's where music comes in (& weeding):

Source: janedh.blogspot.com

I think we all need to find what helps us drift and bliss out? For me, most of the time it means an active meditation like weeding (I can feel productive while blissing out at the same time).

On the best days, it's music.

On Saturday nights, for example, I love to experiment with cooking while I listen to A Propos, a CBC radio music show on World Francophone Music

Here's one of my favourite drifting songs from A Propos
Dédé Fortin Les Colocs Tassez Vous De D'là

On writing days, I stick to instrumental music only, like Yo-Yo Ma - Bach, Cello Suites

And today, being Dylan's birthday is a perfect day to listen to one of my all-time favourite drifting songs
Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

When do you drift? Is achieving Dolce Far Niente easy or hard for you?

Here's to drifting,
Have a great weekend all!

Dina
(aka TartanFrog)

0 Comments

THE MANIFESTO! Entry # 2: Top 10 EASY Ways to Stimulate Creativity & Increase Joy

5/23/2013

0 Comments

Source: www.adventuresauce.com

I warned you that I'd likely steal some of Mau's Manifesto. And yes, this is #2:

"Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Explicit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day."

This is pretty much a requirement for every writer, shitty first drafts & all...

PS It's the Wired Monk Writers Group tonight!!!!!!

Cheers,
Dina
(aks TartanFrog)

0 Comments

THE MANIFESTO! Top 10 EASY Ways to Stimulate Creativity & Increase Joy

5/20/2013

0 Comments

Numero Uno:

OK, so I don't quite know what my MANIFESTO IS. . . yet.

I might need some help on this one.

Ever since my community design prof introduced me to Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto to Growth I've periodically contemplated coming up with my own shorter version.

I have a feeling many of Mau's principles will creep into mine, possibly tweaked slightly.

However, I thought I'd start with one that I try to incorporate every day.

If anyone out there has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Till then:

Here's wishing one & all a joyful & creative week,

Dina
(aka TartanFrog)

0 Comments

15 Minutes of Fame? Mother's Day? 6 Degrees of Separation. . .

5/11/2013

2 Comments

Have you ever wondered:
When you'd get your 15 minutes of fame?

Maybe a better question to ask is:
Why Do We Want To Be Famous in the first place?

Here's the problem with fame:
It's a status that divides somebodies and nobodies.

According to Robert Fuller, Ph.D.:

"a wish for fame belies the existence of a crippling, undiagnosed malady, one rather like malnutrition..."

In keeping with the malnutrition metaphor, the malady of fame-seeking is like overeating to protect against malnutrition.

He writes about our culture's clamouring for fame as an attempt to preempt indignity.

(I am getting to Mother's Day, btw)

Indignity. Dignity.

I think losing dignity is like gaining an ingrown toenail. It's always there; a constant and painful reminder that something's wrong, diseased. . .

read conclusion about Mother's Day

2 Comments

Here's to Flying Creatures of Beauty

5/6/2013

0 Comments

Today was a tough day.
Then, a dear friend reminded me of a favourite quote. The first time I read it, I was reminded of my love of reading.

Today as I read it, I was reminded of the flying creatures of beauty in my life. I love and am grateful for all of you more and more with each passing year:

"Sometimes I recognize myself in others.
I recognize myself in those who will endure, friends who will shelter me, beautiful holy fools of justice and flying creatures of beauty and other bums and vagrants who walk the earth and will continue walking, just as the stars will continue in the night and the waves in the sea. Then, when I recognize myself in them, I am the air, coming to know myself as part of the wind." --Eduardo Galeano

I definitely plan on giving one special flying creature all of my love & attention as soon as he steps off the plane Wednesday...

To all of you who called, posted on Facebook and left messages of love and concern: Thank you!

-Dina♥

0 Comments

Welcome to my Blog!

My name is Dina
(aka TartanFrog)
I'm a writer & educator.

More about me

More about the book I just finished

Why blog? Why write?
My dream: To see all children grow up with dignity, self-esteem and a passion for their dreams.

I've met many children and adults whose dreams and innocence were stolen.

I write for them; I write as one of them.

I try to blog weekly.
Blog topics:
Writing & publishing-related tips for my writerly friends; social justice issues that touch children, adults, trees or threaten our world of future wholesome communities; my experiences navigating the process of living & writing.

Spoiler Alert:
Some days, these may be rants:)

Why TartanFrog?
TartanFrog--a celebratory tip of the hat to the interweaving of my French Acadian roots with the Celtic culture of Cape Breton.

Comments Policy

Tweets by @TartanFrog13

RSS Feed

Search through the categories below:

RSS Feed