Follow the Adventures of Nicki Delone

Hey friends and family!
I just wanted to let you know that I now have a blog devoted solely to writing.
For a myriad of reasons, I have decided to go with a pen name, which is Nicki Delone. I believe that it will be more marketable and I don't have to worry about people misspelling or mispronouncing my name.
I'm not sure how I'm going to juggle yet another thing in my crazy day, but for the sake of promoting myself as a writer, it must be done.
This new blog comes as a recommendation from a local literary agent, who said you start promoting yourself WAY before your book ever comes out. Essentially, WAY before you're ever published to build up your fan base.
I'm excited and nervous. I don't want to have a blog that is poorly written or is just lame. I think that my writing is witty enough hold readers' attention. The biggest trick now is deciding what to write about.
Wish me luck. Please stop by for a visit. I'll make lemonade.
http://nickidelone1.blogspot.com/

Cinderella: The Princess Who Rose From the Ashes

Country of Origin: France as told in Cendrillion by Charles Perrault (1697).

Movie Debuted: 1950

What princess brings to the table: Optimism and undying hope

Age at time of Story (in the movie): 17-19

Major Differences Between original story (OS) and movie (M):
The Disney film is almost a direct adaptation from Perrault's story (P). Since I've been reading a lot of the Bros. Grimm (BG), I thought I'd do a three way comparison.

1) M- Cinderella's parents die, leaving her an orphan, in BG and P the father is a widow who remarries

2) Godmother - both M and P show the appearance and helpfulness of the godmother. In BG, Cinderella goes to her mother's grave and cries, then birds tending the grave shower her with gifts of gown and shoes.

3) The slipper - in M and P the slipper is glass. In BG, the slipper is silk. In the brother's version, when the stepsisters try on the shoe is doesn't fit. In order to make it fit so they can marry the prince, the first cut off part of her toe while the second cuts off part of her heel. When the prince sees the blood, he knows they have deceived him.

4) At the end of P's tale, Cinderella has mercy on her stepsisters and sets them up with noblemen at her wedding. Too generous if you ask me. The BG ending is a bit more traumatic. The birds who gave Cinderella her finery, find the stepsisters wicked and peck out their eyes for their dishonesty. I say they missed a great opportunity to get dear old mom.

Moral of the Story/Social Implications:

Cheaters never prosper

Despite the initial pay off, those who cheat and lie eventually get what is coming to them. And paybacks are everything they should be. I'm sure the stepsister in the Grimm tale didn't see those birds coming to peck out their eyes. Let this be a lesson, stay away from Hitchcock's birds and do your best to be honest.

Stepmothers get a bad rap

Disney had a great way of make an evil villain. Unfortunately for all the stepmothers out there, they now have to deal with the fall out. Snow White's evil queen and Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's stepmother are about as wicked as you can get. Its no wonder that children fear their fathers (divorced or widowed) remarrying. I think the stereotype of the wicked stepmother has changed a bit, but the stigma is still firmly attached.
If you are a stepmother, God bless you. Making a blended family work is hard enough with having an unfavorable, albeit stereotypical, reputation trailing in your wake.

Dad has to step up

In the Grimm and Perrault version of the tale, Cinderella's dad is alive. It really makes you wonder what kind of man would marry a woman who abuses his child? I think Disney did us all a favor by take her dad out of the picture. There would have been problems finding anything to like about a man who would sit around and let his daughter suffer. And in the two stories, he does just that. Pitiful.

Kill them with kindness

Cinderella embraced this with everything she had. Not once did she say an unkind word to her family, which in my opinion, they deserved (and much more). She accepted her role without much complaint and was even cheerful about most of it. What we can learn from Cinderella is that kindness will open so many more doors than filling your heart with hatred and ugly thoughts. The girl was a saint. Putting this philosophy into practice is very hard to do and many of us struggle with it. But can you imagine what this world would look like if we all were able to do this?

Hope is hard to kill

I think this is one of the best messages that came from the movie. Despite the horrible turn Cinderella's life veered into, she never gave up on her dreams. I think for Christians, the underlying message is having faith in God. In the case of faith, there is no darkness deep enough that God's light can't reach, though there are times in our lives when we feel the opposite. Keeping faith during those dark times is what allows God's love to come through. I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer. Armed with a strong faith, there can be nothing in world that God will deny us. While your prayers are answered on God's time and fulfilled in His way, he has our best interest in his hands. Blessings in abundance will be poured over us.

Back to the dreams. Children can reap the most benefit from this. A dream of becoming a world renowned painter may be dashed as people criticize and tell the child that he'll never make it, he isn't good enough. Folks, that's life. And it sucks. But if that child continues to dream and perfect his craft and push the naysayers away, then he might indeed achieve his goal. Just because someone says negative things to you, doesn't mean you need to relinquish your dreams. Stay steadfast, learn from constructive criticism and become better for it. Ugly criticism definitely toss in the trash. When the road is littered with obstacles push through, because there is something wonderful waiting for you just down the road.
Here are the lyrics to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." It's a beautiful message I keep posted next to the computer I write my novels on. It helps keep me focused.

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

Poll Results: Lady Tremaine was voted as having the most wicked heart. Anyone who would lock a girl in a room to keep her from competiting with her daughters, is someone with quite an ugly soul.

Did you know?
There are over 90,000 versions of the Cinderella story around the world.

Final Note: Despite what Cinderella endured at the hands of her stepmother and sisters, she got exactly what she deserved. Her dream of a better life came true and how can you not love a happy ending? Maybe this is why she is a much loved heroine. She rose from the ashes and into a new beginning.

Why?: A Rant

So we went out to celebrate Eric's birthday at a restaurant we rave about. But this time around, there wasn't much nice to say.
The biggest problem was finding food on the menu that Ariel would have eaten. I'll be talking about this restaurant in particular, but it applies to all sit down restaurants in general.
Why, oh why don't these places have options available for little ones (2-5 age range)? It might be a tactic to prevent families with young children from dining or it could be that no one cares. But I'm a mom. I care.
As I perused the menu searching for something to order for Ariel, I was outraged at the lack of anything on the menu. Even a child who was in the target range of the kids' menu (6-12) wouldn't have eaten what they offered. There was no macaroni and cheese for crying out loud!
I quickly searched the side dishes and found nothing that my picky child would eat. Nothing edible in the appetizers either. When the waitress arrived, I asked if there were other options other than what was on the menu (truly, I was looking for a fruit cup/bowl). She proceeded to tell me that I could order a kids' meal and take home what Ariel didn't eat (which would have been everything). Then she pointed out the all-veg side dishes, going on and on about the broccoli casserole they had. Seriously? What child in their right mind is going to eat broccoli, not matter how much cheese is drenched over it?
Albeit to say, until Ariel is like 3, we'll have to bring food from home for her to eat. She did have some fluffy, delicious, honey-butter croissants. So at least someone was happy.

Super Star Birthday!

My honey turned 31 last week! So of course, we had to celebrate.

In October, Eric asked me to make him a Super Mario Bros. cake for his birthday. No prob, I said. Then I saw a picture of the cake (left).

Ummmm....yeah right! So with a little compromising, I made a Red Mushroom cake. It's a classic icon of the video game and with it being on an invincible star board, everyone should know what it is. It's just not the same if you have to explain what it is.

Since I used to watch a lot of Food Network: Challenge, I have been very interested at trying my hand at rolled fondant. Fondant is a type of icing that is commonly used on wedding cakes. It can be molded and handled like clay, but of course, its edible (well, if you can get past the taste anyway).

Some things I would change next time around:

1) in the case of the Red Mushroom, I would use a broader bowl to make a more squat mushroom. The bowl I used made the cake have a bit of an X-rated appearance.

2) use a traditional buttercream for the filling. I made a Swiss meringue buttercream, which tasted great on day one, but when we cut the cake, I think the heat messed with the texture a bit. It was still tasty.

The results of my fondant experiment are below. It wasn't too much hassle to work with and it does give everything a very polished look. If I attempt another fondant cake, I'll definitely cover a sheet cake that way it won't bunch in the back of a spherical form. 

Snow White: The Princess Who Would Lead Them All

Country of Origin: Germany; as told by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm

Movie Debuted: 1937

What Snow White brings to the table: innocence and naivety

Age at time of Story (in the movie): 14 yrs

Major Differences Between original story (OS) and movie (M):

1) OS-Snow White is 7 years old! M-she is 14

2) OS-Evil Queen tries to kill SW three separate times (choking her with corset ribbons, pricking her with a poisoned comb, and finally that fateful apple)

3) M-Huntsman tells SW to run away, but in OS, it was SW who had the idea to go into the woods and never come back4) OS-After SW eats the poisoned apple she "dies." Some time later, a prince hears of the princess and asks the dwarfs for her body and coffin. As they move the coffin, one end is dropped which dislodges the piece of apple from SW's s throat.

Now, in the M version, SW eats the apple and falls into a death-like sleep. The prince comes to pay his respects and kisses her. *Gross alert approaching* The prince doesn't know that love's first kiss will break the spell (he and SW had a love-at-first-sight moment in the castle courtyard), and he kisses her anyway. He just kissed a dead girl! I give you leave to take a hot shower now.5) M-Evil Queen falls to her death. OS-Evil Queen is fairest in the land for a time. The magic mirror tells her that the new queen is now the fairest. Evil Queen goes to the castle for the marriage celebration and check out the new queen. She is obviously horrified to see SW alive and fair. As punishment for attempted murder, the prince order Evil Queen into a pair of red hot iron shoes to dance in until she drops dead. Sucks to be her.

Moral of the Story/Social Implications:

Don't open the door for strangers (they might be a homicidal maniac)

Vanity will be your undoing   
 
Plastic surgery seems to grow more popular every year. Distorted body image not only plagues grown women, but affects girls as young as eight! More women should learn a lesson from the Evil Queen and find a way to love the body/skin/face they already have. I know, easy to say, hard to do. If we didn't feel like we were competing with other women, then perhaps the "mean girl syndrome" wouldn't be as prevalent. Becoming a slave to your vanity may cost you more than money. What is the price of a broken friendship, a mountain of debt, or your life?

Jealousy and the Mean Girl Syndrome  
  
Jealousy drove the Evil Queen to extremes. She tried to kill her stepdaughter several times, so she could be the most beautiful in the land. Unfortunately, not much has changed in society. Girls who feel threatened by other girls take drastic measures to ensure that their rival knows her place. Whatever happened to supporting each other and building meaningful relationships? When did we start beating each other down to get a guy's attention? I don't know either, but we need to tell our daughters/nieces/cousins/god- & granddaughters that jealousy (in small, minuscule amounts) can serve a purpose -- to make you work harder to achieve more.

Quotable Quotes:

"Snow White: There once was a princess and she fell in love
Sneezy: Was it hard to do?
Snow White: (laughs) No, it was very easy"
This made me pause. Yes, teenagers are stereotyped with falling in and out of love at the drop of hat. This quote only serves to support this notion and turns every new boyfriend into prince charming. However, what we can take away from this, is that while falling in love is "very easy," staying in love requires maturity, communication and a lot of hard work.

The dwarfs have just discovered SW and are watching her sleep. They're having a discussion about letting her stay.
Grumpy: She's a female and all females is poison. Females are full o' wicked wiles.

LOL! On some level this is so true. On another level, this is so funny!

Did you know?

Because Snow White was so successful, it gave Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer the green light to film "The Wizard of Oz." You can thank Walt Disney for flying monkeys, thank you.

Poll results: Sleepy and Bashful tied as your favorite dwarf. Excellent choices.

Final Note:

I haven't been able to find much evidence supporting the idea of "love's first kiss." I'm inclined to believe that this is exclusive to the imagination of the man, Walt Disney. It really is his fault that young girls believe their first kiss is supposed to be this wonderful, fireworks-filled event. What kind of first kiss to going to live up to all that hype? 

Liar, Liar

So I promised a princess discovery session in February and failed miserably at reaching my own goals and your expectations.
All I can ask is for a second chance and your forgiveness. Excuses aside, I should have put up or shut up.
Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty all to come in March. Perhaps I'll find some time (ha,ha) for Princess Ariel.

Ariel Update

At last doctor’s visit in December, our little princess was nearly 22 lbs and 31 inches. So that puts her in the 5th percentile for height and weight for age. She’s petite and that makes her perfect for GYMNASTICS! A sport suited for petite-powerhouses that combines strength and grace. The recreation department does offer classes for her age group. I think Ariel would love a gymnastics class. Just gotta get the cash together.

Ariel has always loved music, but the more I watch her, I’m realizing just how innate her musicality is. She finds the beats and the off-beats, she moves in time to the rhythm, which makes her great for MUSIC and DANCE classes! Wee! Yes, I sound like neurotic parent, but why not build on the foundation she is already establishing. And as a daughter of two band geeks, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I mean, she has choreographed her own dance to the 1812 Overture. If that doesn’t scream ballet, or band geek, I don’t know what does. Ariel can’t start any of these other programs until she’s three, so it’ll be gymnastics until then. In the mean time, she enjoys putting puzzles together, dancing, singing, coloring, building, chasing after Pazu, and spending time with Elmo.

On Fridays when I do my long days at Kmart, Eric takes her for storytime at the library and she totally digs it. It gives her and Eric some awesome father-daughter time. I’m not sure how many words she has in her vocabulary bank, but she talks non-stop (gee, I wonder where she gets that from). We’re enjoying everyday with her. The next phase is to find a home daycare for her. I’m hoping I can transition straight from my externship into a job without much lag time. Trusting strangers with your child is such a leap of faith and trust and making a decision apparently is leaving awake at four in the mornings with nightmares. Yeah for me.

I’m working on another music video for Ariel. I have to search and re-download  the programs I was using since our computer crashed a few months ago. Maybe by March I’ll have it up. Until then, enjoy these pictures.



pint-sized Picasso







 

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reclining in a non-recliner