Welcome back to my most recent article I shared for Sally Cronin’s Blog Magazine in my Spiritual Awareness series. In this article, I’m talking about the difference between Soul Mates and Life Partners. x x… More
Sunday Book Review – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
My Sunday Book Review for one of my favorite reads on vacation – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by one of my new favorite authors, Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is a wonderfully written book full of revealing truths, compassion, survival, glamor and heartbreak where Evelyn tells her lifestory of her rise to fame in the 1950s thru 80s Hollywood.
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Blurb:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“If you’re looking for a book to take on holiday this summer, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has got all the glitz and glamour to make it a perfect beach read.” —Bustle
From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six—an entrancing and “wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet” (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
“Heartbreaking, yet beautiful” (Jamie Blynn, Us Weekly), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is “Tinseltown drama at its finest” (Redbook): a mesmerizing journey through the splendor of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means—and what it costs—to face the truth.
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My 5 Star Review:
This book was not on my reading list, but a friend gave it to me at the pool while on vacation, and I was addicted. This book was an addictive, fictional story that read as juicy as though reading a biopic on any famous actress of the golden era. Iconic actress, Evelyn Hugo, begins telling her story of her meager beginnings as an immigrant child from Cuba who lived in Hell’s Kitchen New York as a child with an abusive father and her loving mother who died when Evelyn was a young child. Her mother’s dream was to make it to Hollywood, but she never did, so beautiful and cunning Evelyn vowed that she would get there for her mother.
The book begins by Evelyn handpicking journalist Monique (for reasons we will find out at the end of the book) to write her autobiography. Monique was a young journalist writing for Vivante magazine and jumped at the chance to have the only rights to writing about Evelyn’s life. Monique is told that she may publish it after Evelyn dies – which would be soon after Evelyn tells her story in detail, complete with raw honesty, truths, pain, and her ambitions, which made her become the most iconic movie star of her time. We will learn why she had seven husbands – each of them methodically chosen to both, advance her career, and to protect secrets.
Evelyn’s first husband was a handsome, but not so intelligent young man who lived above her apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Ernie Diaz was going to Hollywood to become a grip on set, so Evelyn, aged 15, befriended and feigned her love for him so she could marry him to get away from her father – and a ride to Hollywood. Evelyn was sexy and smart and learned quickly which lunchbars the studio execs liked to hang out at in hopes of getting discovered. She was eventually discovered by producer Harry Cameron who got her some small roles, and incidentally, eventually became her best friend in life. Evelyn knew that to get the bigger roles she’d have to sleep her way to the top and had no qualms doing so.
In this story, we get to see the other side of Hollywood, what goes on in the backgrounds with producers and top execs calling the shots, fixing up dates with rising stars with big stars to be seen in public to attract buzz, the chauvenism and crap female actresses had to put up with, from leading men and execs. After Evelyn does her first big movie with leading man Don Adler, sparks fly between them, and suddenly, Evelyn is marrying Don, a man she thought she loved until she saw his dark side, but nevertheless, her marriage to him was a huge rung in her ladder to success. Don tries to ruin her career when she leaves him, which has producer friend Harry getting her new roles with a friend at another studio.
In the meantime, Evelyn befriends famous actress, Celia St. James, and it is that relationship that will become the utmost important in Evelyn’s life as she reveals that Celia became the love of her life, introducing secret bi-sexuality topic that was a forbidden thing back in the Hollywood 1950s. To detract the papparazi always on their trail, Evelyn comes up with a plan to marry hearthrob singer Mick Riva, formulating the plan with Celia that she’d make him fall for Evelyn, suggest going to Vegas, getting drunk and married and shortly annulled. Throughout the shenanigans of having to sleep with husbands and other men, Celia, a confirmed lesbian, was often jealous and broke it off with Evelyn several times. Evelyn begins doing movies with sex for French producer Max, and Celia can’t get passed that. Eventually, Evelyn gets a new role as Anna Karenina, playing with hot actor Rex North, who Evelyn marries to further her career. Meanwhile, Ev hears Celia married famous football quarterback John, and when Evelyn and Celia reconnect, they discover the perfect storm.
Evelyn and producer/best friend Harry Cameron formulate a plan to keep the press out of their personal lives and their choice of partners. Harry was in love with John and they’d quietly been together for a long time. Harry and Evelyn decide to marry so she could live with Celia and Harry with John without causing attention to the media. And Harry and Celia decide to have a child together because they both wanted a child – another thing Celia had to digest. The storyline is a clever one and depicts the times well, as in the early 60s, being gay was not even an option to admit to publicly. But once again, paradise is ruined when Celia can’t get past Evelyn’s sex scenes in a new movie produced by Max – starring her ex-husband Don Adler.
After many good years together, tragedy strikes Celia’s husband, and then Evelyn’s husband Harry who is heartbroken and ruined after John’s demise. Since Celia has once again left Evelyn, Ev caves to the advances of old friend producer Max and marries him. As Max’s love in reality was just star struck with Evelyn, she once again leaves him and makes her way back to Celia. They decide to leave the Hollywood world and move to Spain, and once again, to divert attention on them, Celia asks Evelyn if she’ll marry her playboy brother Robert, so the three of them can live happily ever after. But it wasn’t always happiness as Evelyn’s daughter Connor grew up struggling with the crazy Hollywood lifestyle, and Celia develops a serious illness. While married to Robert, Celia and Evelyn decide they must marry, not legally, but to sew up their lifetime love and committment. Robert becomes a great friend to Ev and even a good father figure to Connor.
Evelyn reveals this both enthralling, yet often, heartbreaking story to Monique, admitting her flaws and downfalls, detailed with reasons for doing everything she did in her life with resolve, despite a few regrets, her climb to stardom and whatever it took to get her star to rise, and ultimately, her real desire for privacy because of the greatest love of her life, Celia.
The author has painted a complex picture of characters caught up in the Hollywood glamor and the Hollywood emotional instability and heartache of actors and marriages, and at a time where being gay meant having to hide it from the public. By the time I finished this book, I felt like Evelyn really was a big movie star from the Hollywood glamor era who led a fascinating life. This was one of those ‘hard to put down’ books.
©DGKaye2023
Writer’s Tips May Edition – Copyright Page, Italics, Web Content, Amazon, Canva
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Welcome to May edition of my curated Writer’s Tips. This month I’m sharing some informative articles on, when to use Italics by author/editor, Anneli Purchase, how to create a proper Copyright page by Kindlepreneur, Dave Chesson, as well as info on reducing Amazon Download Fees, how to write Web content by Anne R. Allen, how to Translate Text into another Language in Canva by Natalie Ducey, Word Conversion with Harmony Kent.
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Author/Editor, Anneli Purchase on how and when to use Italics
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Kindlepreneur – Dave Chesson on What Goes into a Book’s Copyright Page
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Dave Chesson shows us how to minimize KDP Download Fees when downloading our books
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Anne R. Allen explains why it’s important for authors to learn how to write Web Content
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Natalie Ducey has another helpful tutorial – How to Translate Text into other Languages using Canva
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Harmony Kent at the Story Empire talking about writing conventions – American, British, English
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©DGKaye2023
Writing Your Life – #Epistolary Writing, Forever Love
Another month or so from now I plan on going back to working on my next book, a monumental task that I feel compelled to write about. I began writing this book about a year before my husband passed. I didn’t know then I was writing a book, but it turns out I was.
I began writing a conversational documentary on moments and conversations that would come up sporadically between me and my husband. I found some haunting, some humorous, but also, some that left me questioning. I kept adding to the conversations and thoughts almost nightly – late at nightly. I didn’t know why I felt compelled to write my questions and feelings about random things between us, I just did. I also didn’t know my husband was dying when I began writing these observations. Almost like a diary of poignant moments and thoughts. By the time my husband’s death was impending, I knew my reason for beginning these writings. I needed to talk about him, to him. I wanted to keep track of our poignant discussions. I needed to share his wit and wisdom. I needed to shine a light on a magnificent man and moments with him so that others could know him too. And most of all, although this is my life, this book will definitely be food for thought for those who will read it. My husband was funny, loving and wise – but mostly, remarkable.
The book I want to write is in a very rough draft of disarray of almost 100,000 words in dire need of revising. I honestly haven’t even began to look at the writing, I merely keep adding to the doc whenever an important memory pops up. I began with three different Word documents with these working titles – Observations and Conversations, Obituary, and Poetry. Not even looking at the pages yet as just thinking about, it gives me shivers to reread. I will have to print out the many pages and lay them on the floor as a mosaic, piecing things in order, to begin the rewriting, adding, substracting, and editing. I have many a working title listed, and hoping this will be my best book, and undeniably, the most difficult to write (with P.S. I Forgive You as a distant second as a heart-wrenching book to write) as I reread and rewrite, many times over. I also plan to write the book in epistolary writing style. See my featured article as guest writer at Wendy Van Camp’s blog, No Wasted Ink, on epistolary writing.
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Writing Our LIfe
When I began writing books, my husband was so proud of me. He used to ask me if I would write a book about him. I asked, what exactly would he like me to write about? I also told him I’m not a ghostwriter, I’m a memoir writer. We laughed. Well, I suppose the joke is on me because it appears that I am now that ghostwriter in the literal sense – writing about the life between me and my beautiful husband, now a ghostly spirit as I remain the one who holds the love for both of us – on this planet.
Below is an example of how I’d like to convey my stories in epistolary style. Using my husband’s asking me if I’d write a book about him as a sample of how I’d write it below:
You asked, “Cubby, will you write a book about me?” I chuckled and asked you, as my eyes caught that sweet boyish grin of yours, what exactly is it you want me to write about? As though there weren’t a thousand and one things I could write about you. You laughed and said you had lots of good and funny stories to share. And certainly you did. But I backed off, telling you I wasn’t a ghostwriter, and memoirs are personal stories belonging to the writer. Remember? I’m a memoir writer. But the universe gets the last laugh on that one. In my life, I never thought I’d ever be writing about grief stories. And especially -that all those stories would be featuring YOU.
Me, the person who would or could not ever for one moment, allow myself to even entertain the thought that I could possibly one day be left, living without you. I’d never let my brain entertain one second of a thought of a life without you, especially with my strong believe in manifestation about – you get what you focus on. And being without you was just something I would never let cross my mind. But here I am, writing about you, sharing both my joy and grief, and questions. So many questions.
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Below, you will find more in this article from Writer Mag on what epistolary writing is:
https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/epistolary-novels/
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©DGKaye2023
Sunday Book Review – The Lilac Notebook by Carol Balawyder
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. I was very much looking forward to Carol Balawyder’s newest release – The Lilac Notebook, and Carol’s books never disappoint. Carol’s story is a delicious mixture of broken and dubious characters. This murder mystery encompasses much more than just murders, always left with a calling card – a post card of Vincent Van Gogh’s, Starry Night.
The author takes on the challenge of early onset Alzheimer’s, as her protagonist Holly is navigating through beginning stages of the horrible disease, and in the process, her incompassionate husband Roy, leaves her, although he agrees to take care of her financially (isn’t that charming?). And once Holly sets up her new life and apartment near McGill University in Montreal, she decides to take a poetry class there to keep her mind sharp. While there, she befriends Kim and Amelia, both victims of childhood abuse, but they’ve digested their horrors in different ways, and so both of them are affected different ways.
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Blurb:
Three university friends. One in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, another out for revenge and a third murdered.
Holly Baranov is in the beginning stages of fast advancing Alzheimer’s at 40. Unwilling to care for her, Holly’s husband leaves her. While frightened to be on her own, Holly is relieved to be freed from the clutches of a controlling husband.
She moves out of her large home in the middle-class west end section of Montreal and into a small apartment near McGill University where she enrols in a poetry course in the hopes of stimulating her brain.
There she meets Kim Harris, a thirty-something beautiful but damaged law student and Amelia Rose, a twenty-year-old pole dancer in a seedy nightclub who wants nothing more than to graduate, teach high school, marry and raise a family. Both Kim and Amelia were victims of incest, though each see her perpetrator differently. Kim chose law so as to right the justice she was denied while Amelia is angry at the justice system for separating her from a flawed father who was nonetheless her whole world.
When Amelia is found strangled in her apartment, Holly becomes involved in the investigation, both as prime suspect and as a means to defend herself.
Detective Alice Vireovich and her rookie partner, Detective Dan Cardoni, currently investigating the murders of two middle aged men, are also tasked with investigating Amelia’s murder: They come to believe all three murders may be linked because of a Van Gogh Starry Night postcard found at the scene of all three crimes.
Holly’s health worsens quickly. She is transferred to a support facility. Along with her fading memory, Holly is also losing her ability to speak and write. She is uncertain whether she killed Amelia as her friend Kim, ex-husband Roy and the police suspect.
A niece (whom Holly doesn’t recognize and whose motives she distrusts for suddenly wanting to help her) visits Holly regularly and reads Holly’s notes about Amelia’s investigation. This eventually leads the investigation away from her as they seem to implicate Kim.
Kim’s law teacher at McGill agrees to take on the case pro bono, motivated by her interest in litigating whether damaging effects of childhood abuse pose the question whether murder can ever be justified in such cases.
The expanding investigation leads to more findings relating to the postcard found next to Amelia’s body, bringing into view a surprising new suspect.
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My 5 Star Review:
Another page turner by Carol Balawyder. The book begins with our introduction to Holly’s life and marriage to Roy. He is a dominating husband who realizes he doesn’t want to take care of his wife when she is newly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, so he asked her for a divorce – charming he is not. Not completely heartless, Roy sets up Holly in a lovely apartment near McGill University. Holly enrolls in a poetry class in efforts to keep her mind intact. She also keeps her Lilac Notebook handy so she can write down things she wants to remember for that proverbial day her memory leaves her for good. But it turns out, Holly keeps more notes in that book than just things to remember in her daily life.
Holly meets two girls in poetry class, who ultimately, will unknowingly, bring Holly into a murder scenario . Kim is beautiful, in her thirties, law student, and damaged from the incestuous abuse of her childhood, and Amelia is a mere twenty years old who pays for her schooling through her pole dancing activities at a dance bar. Amelia has a father complex. Her father touched her in places a father shouldn’t ever, since she was a very young child, and Amelia took that as love and still misses her father after her mother threw him out a few years prior.
One day Holly calls on Amelia, and when she doesn’t answer, Holly discovers her dead body in her apartment when she tried the unlocked door. All we know at that point is that Kim drove Amelia home, and Amelia was supposed to be meeting an online date at a cafe after Kim dropped her off, and Holly’s husband Roy had previously been spotted with Amelia. Yet, there’s also a serial killer out there and one of his Van Gogh postcards was left behind at the murder scene. Could any of these characters be the killer?
With Holly’s inner confusion, she trains herself to make mental notes in her head and in her Lilac Notebook about her own investigation about facts she’d gathered about Amelia’s last moves, before those remembered moments get jumbled in her head. So while she still has her wits about her, Holly keeps notes of all she’s seen and her thoughts on possible suspects.
Holly found a phone number in Amelia’s coat pocket and discovers the meetup time at the cafe. Not yet telling anyone, including the police, Holly ventures out to the cafe to feign accidentally meeting the person who Amelia was to meet to see if she can detect foul play. But when someone decides to implicate Holly as the potential killer, her mixed up mind goes into tailspin when she begins doubting herself and her own memory as people ignorant about Alzheimer’s are whispering that Alzheimer’s patients can get violent. But why would Holly want to kill Amelia? Holly becomes the amateur sleuth in the case on her own until she herself becomes the suspect. Holly now with trouble speaking, although her mind seems clear on what she wants to say, keeps all her thoughts and investigations in that Lilac Notebook.
The story brings in murder, incest, abuse and Alzheimer’s and ties them in all together succinctly, giving us well researched information about the state of Holly’s mind. Balawyder demonstrates the human condition by sharing what goes on in Holly’s head, the lack of compassion from some people, and the sadness of Holly losing her independence through her horrible journey through the mind-stealing disease.
This book was hard to put down as suspects were mounting, and poor Holly who had enough to contend with in her own upside down world, besides the police on her case, because her finger prints were found in Amelia’s apartment, and someone is looking for a scapegoat to hide their crime. I had my idea about who the perp was, but the author knew how to throw in those curveballs that continued to have me change my mind, adding a great twist on a suspect as the killer is ultimately revealed.
The author has done an amazing job informing us with her research, about the dark path that Alzheimer’s takes on one’s life by incorporating the knowledge through Holly’s words, thoughts, and actions. At the same time, Balawyder has taken us on a nail-biting story of a murder among friends with some unscrupulous characters to keep us guessing till the end.
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©DGKaye2023
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Spiritual Awareness – Timing by D. G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
I’m over at Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine with my latest Spiritual Awareness post – Timing. Timing is everything in what we do, where we go, who we meet.
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Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Spiritual Awareness – Timing by D. G. Kaye
Explore the spiritual side of our natures as D.G. Kaye shares her experiences and research into this element of our lives.
You can find part fourteen of the series: Automatic Writing
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Life is All About Timing
Welcome back to my Spiritual Awareness series. In this episode I’m talking about Timing and how significant it is to everything we do in life.
When life feels like it is at a standstill, the universe is giving us a pause. Like anything else we do in life like expending physical endurance, we need to take a minute to recover. The universe takes pauses too.
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The universe will take us to where we need to be when the timing is most appropriate and in the right moment of our life. I’m a firm believer in divine timing.
The right timing is crucial for events to run smoothly. If you’re late for work, you may be in trouble. If you give up on something too early, you may miss a good opportunity. If you keep doing the same thing over in the same way with the same unwanted results, you are wasting your time. If you get to the concert early, you’ll get a good seat; if you’re late, you may be in the back row. I think you catch my drift here.
Just as the examples above state the importance and relevance to timing, divine timing in life is just how the universe works with time and how those timings affect different aspects of our lives. How many times have we heard stories about people missing their planes, getting stranded and meeting someone then who’d they never have got to meet had they caught their flight? The universe decides when it’s time for us to meet someone who is supposed to be in our lives. It makes the circumstances around our lives at a certain moment coincide with where we need to be at that right particular moment to meet someone who may eventually become our life partner, and it may potentially be saving our life in divine timing because it’s not our time yet to leave this earth. An example of this:
My husband, who loved to tell me stories, often repeated pertinent stories that held great significance in his life. He’d told me about a trip he’d taken with a few guys for a hockey tournament they were playing in, about thirty years ago. In those days, my husband was a naughty playboy who was always in for a few drinks. The three men were sitting in the bar waiting for their flight when their names were called and told the flight was overbooked and asked if one of them could wait for the next flight. My husband put up his hand and offered to hang out at the bar and wait for another hour for the next flight. The flight he missed crashed. No survivors. I can only imagine digesting that moment when your plan was changed and you find out if you hadn’t done that, your life was over. Divine timing was responsible for that one. No different than the people who were sick or late for work, or day off from work when their work was in the towers warred down in New York on 9/11.
Timing is akin with reasons and seasons, we meet people for reasons and sometimes only for seasons, and if we don’t allow the time to come to make what needs to happen, we’ll get something else than what was meant for us.
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Famous sayings with my thoughts attached:
There’s a time and a place for everything. Not everything is for now. If you make it so, it’s not going to be as beneficial as if the universe’s plans.
Time to call it a day. The end of the day, the mission, project, visit, etc., has ended.
Time is a healer. Is it? Time heals all wounds. Does it? The idea is that in time a physical wound will heal, an emotional wound will heal, but more like, soften. As the immediate sting dulls itself down, it is part of the healing.
Time to move on. We’ve over-extended our welcome. The project or relationship is finished.
Time is up. You must make that decision. You must stop what you’re doing now. The party is over.
Bad timing. When you meet someone in your life who could possibly be ‘the one’, but circumstances can’t allow it to happen.
Divine timing. Meant to be at that precise moment the universe makes something important, fun or good, happen.
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A prime example of the right timing meant for me in my own life – I was stuck in a bad relationship for seven years before I met my husband. The circles I traveled in were the exact same circles my husband traveled in during that time frame, yet we never crossed paths. . .please continue reading at Sally’s blog
Source: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Spiritual Awareness – Timing by D. G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
©DGKaye2023
Puerto Vallarta Street Art with D.G. Kaye and Resa McConaghy – Graffiti Lux Art & More
I’m excited to be sharing my collaborated post with artist and designer, Resa McConaghy over at Graffitti Lux and Murals. Resa is an artist and gown designer and loves to search out and photograph street art. When I was away in Puerto Vallarta, she emailed me and asked if I could take some interesting photos of street art and come over to her blog and have a discussion about art and Puerto Vallarta, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, adding some photos I took at an Immersive experience of photographs projected on the walls at our AGO exhibit.
My collaboration with Resa McConaghy, artist and gown designer, on artwork in murals in Puerto Vallarta and the Immersive Frida Kahlo
Puerto Vallarta Street Art with D.G. Kaye
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D.G. – You should see all the Frida stuff I have here, from art to books to clothing and a beach bag. Can you tell I’m a huge Frida fan? LOL
Resa – Yes I can tell! So, let’s see what you’ve captured and then spend some time with Frida! In regards to the pic below, that you have titled“Little Boy Lost in Technology”: It looks like it is painted on a crumbling shack.?
D.G. – I didn’t even remember titling it that, lol. My interpretation is because so many are lost in their phones like phone zombies.
D.G. named many of the pics she sent in. I’ll put those in blue italics.
But actually, it’s not a shack, it’s the side of a store downtown. I’m not sure but I would guess it was painted on stucco? I mean the brick is exposed and so is part of the board and stucco?
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Resa – Is this what it is like in parts of Puerto Vallarta?
I mean is poverty and hi-tech living together?
Is this image reflective of real life there?
D.G. – Yes, there is definitely poverty, just not in the tourist areas. Wall art/murals are permitted there as a medium of social messaging. The artist only needs the permission of the building owner and/or local authorities. Funny though, no matter how poor, everyone seems to have a phone.
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D.G. – This intricate mosaic done in mirrored glass is in the Entertainment Park at the malecon (boardwalk), a square where they have entertainment sometimes and the Saturday morning market is held.
Resa – It’s gorgeous!
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Resa – Is this image on the malecon? Or where did you find it?
D.G – The above shot and the next one were taken at the La Cruz market. Above, the artist featured paintings. The next one was a mural painted on a storefront entrance.
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Resa – Is the La Cruz market the main market in Puerto Vallarta? Is it on the Malecon?Does one buy food there as well as art?
D.G. – Yes, there is a whole area like an outdoor foodcourt where merchants sell home made food and baked goods. Delish! There are several little markets throughout all towns, and yes, the Malecon has little markets as well, and a Saturday market. But the La Cruz market is by far the biggest and doesn’t have typical market items. It’s more artisan crafted – clothing, jewelry, hats, collectibles, lotions – you name it.
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Resa – Tell me about “Child Art”!
D.G – The image of the girl is an actual painting, not a mural. I took the shot up in La Cruz outside a booth with an artist doing his art. I didn’t get to speak with him so I don’t know his name. His art was outside his booth on stands. I wasn’t the only one with a camera.
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Resa – You titled the above “Catholic Religious”. Is this image on, or by a church?
D.G. – The girl with the red apron was snapped outside a building on a downtown side street. I’m still trying to figure it out. It looks religious at first, but why would the vegetable be on it? Lol. It’s wall art, but not sure what it represents.
Resa – I get it! The red apron/poncho looks like a “chasuble”, a liturgical vestment worn by Roman Catholic priests and bishops at mass. Seems like there are a lot of murals/street art in Puerto Vallarta.
D.G. – Puerto Vallarta is a growing art scene with so much talent.
Murals are allowed and have been a common way for artists to express themselves in social justice since the Mexican Muralism Movement. It began with wall paintings in the civic buildings after 1910 to educate the illiterate.
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Resa – “Planetary art” Was this found at a trip to the Planetarium, or is it street art that made you think planetarium?
D.G. -As you well know, when you walk along older narrow and/or cobblestone roads, there’s always something to see. This photo was painted on a wall on a narrow downtown street.
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Resa – Where were “Splash of Nature’s Colour” and“Peaceful Art” found?
D.G. – The splash was taken in Punta Mita, another town not far from La Cruz. It was a very short street with a few stores and restaurants and outside the stores you would find art.
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D.G. – Peaceful art grabbed my attention while I was walking downtown around the malecon area. We were looking for the cotton store. I remember being disappointed when I looked at it later. I’d cut some of the top off. I was standing across the street from it, and I was trying to snap the photo in between many cars driving by.
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Resa – Out of the dozen pics of art you sent, 5 are of Frida. It seems to me inasmuch as Mexico inspired Frida, Frida now inspires Mexico. Am I overstating her influence?
D.G. – No, you aren’t overstating the huge influence Frida had and still stands for in the Mexican culture. Frida is loved and admired throughout Mexico. She is admired for her colourful artwork – all expressions of what she was feeling throughout her life as well as many political paintings.
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Resa – I adore this mural of Frida, which you say is on a restaurant. Did you eat there?
D.G. – No I never ate there, so I can’t even tell you what the name is. My bad.
Resa – The important thing is you got the pic!
Resa – I love this pic of Frida and Diego you took when visiting “Immersive Frida Kahlo”, in Toronto. . .
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There are a few more interesting pictures I took at an Immersive Frida Exhibit here in Toronto last year, and more conversation. You will also learn a bit of history on the famed Frida Kahlo, the ‘tumultuous’ relationship she shared with the love of her life – famed Mural Artist, Diego Rivera, and how Frida suffered with the pain from her big bus accident for much of her life, which inspired her to paint many self portraits, depicting her pain.
I hope you’re enjoying this colorful collaboration with me and Resa and will continue reading over at GraffittiLux.
Source: Puerto Vallarta Street Art with D.G. Kaye – Graffiti Lux Art & More
©DGKaye2023
Sunday Book Review – Grief Songs by Elizabeth Gauffreau
My Sunday Book Review is for Elizabeth Gauffreau’s beautiful picture and poetry in memoir- Grief Songs – Poems of Love and Remembrance. The author generously sent me a paperback copy of this beautiful poetic memoir. Inscribed in handwritten words at the front page, Liz writes: “I hope Grief Songs will resonate with you. Living with grief is a very hard road to travel, as you know all too well.”Thank you Liz.
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Blurb:
“Poetry readers willing to walk the road of grief and family connections will find Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance a psychological treasure trove. It’s a very accessible poetic tribute that brings with it something to hold onto–the memories and foundations of past family joys, large and small.”
~Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review
“Grief Songs: Poems of Love & Remembrance is a passionate ode to loved ones lost and an intimate portrayal of one family’s shared grief. It holds the key to solace in home photographs and illustrates just how special our singular moments can be. ~Toni Woodruff, Independent Book Review
“A beautiful, personal collection of family photos and poems that express the author’s most inner feelings. Nostalgic and heartfelt, Gauffreau’s poems are written in the Japanese style of tanka, simple, thoughtful, and full of love. Filled with wonderful memories of the past.” ~Kristi Elizabeth, Manhattan Book Review
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My 5 Star Review:
The author brings us this heartfelt little book of poetic memoirs inspired by snippets of her life with poignant memories wrapped up in poetic telling, accompanied by nostalgic photo imagery. The theme throughout the poems and photos is love, loss and remembrance, shared in vignettes.
This is a short book that packs a punch of life through the pages. A lovely tribute to Gauffreau’s lost loved ones, mother, father, brother, expressed through Tanka poetry. Stories you can read over again and again, leaving us to conjure our own nostalgia about people from our own past lives, depicting moments in time through snapshots of life.
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One of the author’s heartfelt Tanka’s in remembrance of her brother George:
For a Crooked Smile (accompanied by a photo of smiling brother George)
oh, that crooked smile
he was my little brother
teller of tall tales
he smiled for me one last time
around the tube in his throat
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©DGKaye2023
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Spiritual Awareness – Automatic Writing by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
In case you missed my recent post in my Spiritual Awareness series at Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine, I’m sharing my post on Automatic Writing
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Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Spiritual Awareness – Automatic Writing by D.G. Kaye
Explore the spiritual side of our natures as D.G. Kaye shares her experiences and research into this element of our lives.
You can find part thirteen of the series: Meeting People for Reasons and Seasons
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Welcome back to my Spiritual Awareness series. Today I’m going to talk about opening our sub-conscience and experimenting with Automatic Writing.
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Are You Familiar with Automatic Writing?
When I was younger and I’d first heard of Automatic Writing from reading books about metaphysical, angels, and spirit guides, I was intrigued to learn that some people could have the ability to write from the sub-conscience, and/or guided by spirit or a higher power.
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So, what is automatic writing?
The formal name for automatic writing is psychography – the ability to produce writing from the sub-conscience through divine guidance, and spiritual or supernatural source while under a calm, trance-like or alert state. This isn’t to be misconstrued with ‘free writing’. Spirit is invited in with an unconscious mind – a gateway to our higher selves.
When finished writing, you may be left with isolated words and phrases and most likely, no cohesiveness, but that’s when it’s time to reread and ponder. It may be easier if you write down a question on a piece of paper so you can focus on the question. It’s best if you can keep your eyes closed to focus on intent or question, but if you can’t, or if you peek in and out, just remember to keep writing, don’t look back on what you’ve written. No stopping the thought process. Your conscience and/or concentration may get in the way in the beginning of the process, but you must keep writing, no matter what comes out, even if totally off topic, or random and nonsensical words come out.
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How to prepare for automatic writing:
First, we must decide on a medium. Most people prefer freehand writing and most automatic writing is done freehand, but if you can type as fast as you think, feel free to use the computer. Then, clear your minds. Sit in a place free from distraction and focus on your thought or question. You can use meditation to obtain this calm, or whatever method most comfortable to bring yourselves into a calmed mode to enable receiving the messaging. Focus on a topic or question you’d like to write about.
Next, call on an entity, higher power, your spirit guide, or an angel to help you channel whatever it is you are focusing on in your thoughts that you hope to write answers or stories about. You may feel free to ask, “Who is here?” You can acknowledge a higher power in spoken word or by thought. When you are seeking guidance from higher powers it’s always advised to invite them in with a pure heart to also make sure you aren’t inviting in any dark entities.
Close your eyes, breathe deep till you feel relaxed (or meditate to get there) then think about a topic or question you hope to be given divine guidance to write about. Have a notebook in front of you and pen in hand. Focus on your topic, put pen to paper, and let your hand guide the pen – almost in a similar way a Ouija board works.
What do you want to write about? Maybe it’s a problem that’s been on your mind, a recurring dream you’ve been having and wanting to make some sense of, even a story-line idea you may be wanting to write about can be your focused writing intention.
Preparing for the writing:
You should set a timer for this exercise for anywhere from 10 minutes (recommended minimum) to a half an hour. This helps with not being distracted by wondering how long you may have been writing, because with closed eyes to keep from distraction, you won’t be checking your watches.
Closing our eyes helps to keep the focus on our intent so the mind doesn’t get caught up in what is actually being written. This prevents edits or cross-outs from diverting our train of thoughts. Remember, if your mind does drift off topic, keep writing whatever it is that comes to mind – even if it’s whatever thought came to mind that threw off your original thoughts. Our minds entered this state with a clear mind, if jungled thoughts should interrupt the stream of consciousness, then perhaps that’s what was needed to be written.
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After the timer goes off, relax for a few moments. You should close the session with thanking the spirit who guided your writing. Then go ahead and read what you’ve written. What you wrote may not make immediate sense and you can highlight thoughts and words from the writing that may potentially lead to further writing once you’ve spent some time analyzing what you wrote. . . Please continue reading at Sally’s Smorgasbord.
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©DGKaye2023
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