be AUDacious

the hunger games: the movie and the soundtrack

Cass and I went to see The Hunger Games the weekend before last. We waited and went to a Saturday afternoon matinee; the midnight opening was just out of the question on a school night. Cass was really excited to see it; she'd read the book in her 8th grade English class (and then quickly devoured the remaining two books in the series), and I was interested to see how well the adaptation to the big screen worked.

There was a pretty even mix of people in the audience -- several adults and teens, naturally, but I was suprised at the number of younger kids (average age=10) that I saw. Cami is 10, and two of her classmates were sitting right in front of us. Cami wanted to go, too, but I told her that I thought it was too violent and wouldn't let her. When we got home, I told her I'd seen some of her friends and she fussed because I didn't let her go. Again, I brought up the violence, specifically talking about kids killing kids and Chris (who hasn't read the books nor seen the movie) mentioned that it doesn't sound much different than Harry Potter, and we'd let her see all of those movies. I just sat there with my mouth open for a minute (mostly because I never expected him to make that counterargument) and then explained that, in my eyes, the violence in THG is different -- there's an immediacy to breaking someone's neck with your bare hands or stabbing them in the gut with a knife that I think is absent with the magical dueling that takes place in HP. Plus, the glee that the Careers expressed as they hunted the other players is just chilling. I think there's a difference between HP and THG as well because Cami views HP as fantasy -- she knows magic isn't real; that doesn't make some of the scary scenes any less scary, but she at least watched at home with us, on a smaller screen, and where we could answer questions, explain what was happening, and discuss all the issues. It's possible I'll let her watch THG when it comes out, but it will be a while before she reads the books. (If you are interested, my friend Amy wrote a great post about the violence in THG and expresses things much more eloquently than I ever could.)

Anyway, on to my opinion of the movie:
First of all, Elizabeth Banks rocked Effie Trinket -- which is funny on its own, because Effie Trinket annoyed the living heck out of me in the books, but I thought she was hilarious in the movie (although not many people did? judging by the lack of laughter, at least). I thought Jennifer Lawrence was excellent, and Lenny Kravitz was surprisingly good as Cinna. I LOVED Stanley Tucci (but I'm a fan of him in just about anything -- he's still one of my most favorite Pucks); I'm a little ambivalent about Sutherland as Snow -- I think what's lacking there is the view of him through Katniss's eyes and that interaction between them that develops as the series progresses. I'm still not sure what I thought about Woody Harrelson as Haymitch though...I think there was something lacking in his performance but I can't put my finger on it. I don't think we get to see his character change and develop as intently as what happens in the book, and to me, that was one of the most engaging aspects of the novel. With Haymitch, we see what The Hunger Games has the potential to do to any of the tributes if they make it out of the arena, and those consequences are almost as chilling as considering what could happen inside the arena. The tributes were all cast appropriately, I thought, though if you hadn't read the book, you might have trouble keeping them straight. I wish more had been done to play up the relationship that develops between Rue and Katniss; that felt rushed. (And I can't believe the drama that has resulted in the casting of Rue and Thresh -- words just can't express my thoughts on this issue. All I can do is just shake my head at the idiocy that abounds.) Peeta and Gale -- eh. I can't really go either way with them. I've seen and liked Josh Hutcherson in a couple of movies when he was younger; he at least is a better actor than Hemsworth, but since Gale is rarely onscreen, that doesn't make much of a difference.

I thought the movie was good, but it wasn't GOOD. It hit the plot points and almost everything was there, but I wasn't emotionally invested in it like I was the books. It just lacked the urgency and immediacy of the books, and I don't think that was because I knew what was going to happen from reading the books. I just think there was a distance to all of the characters. Mostly, I think it's because in the books we're inside Katniss's head the whole time, but in the movie we don't get that benefit (although they could have easily taken care of that by voice overs, especially in scenes where it's just her in the woods and it's all action and little interaction with the other characters). Visually, I thought the movie was stunning; I could've done without so much shaky camera work. A little bit is effective -- particularly when Katniss steps into the dining car on the train and her eyes are jumping from object to object. That's accurate; that helped to feel how overwhelmed she was by all the richness, how she just didn't know where to look first. But there were times when I was glad that we were sitting almost at the back of the theater, because had I been up front and the camera was spazzing all over like that, I probably would've tossed my popcorn.

We bought the soundtrack on iTunes just a week or so ago; it's a collection of songs inspired by the movie, meaning they are not actually in the movie (it's an orchestral score you hear in the film) but they wonderfully capture the mood of the movie. Some of my favorite artists are included: The Civil Wars, Arcade Fire, Neko Case, The Decemberists, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers, and more. The album has a definite alt-country/folk/bluegrass feel, which is PERFECTLY fitting, since the songs are supposed to be inspired by District 12's Appalachian setting. I've been listening to it almost non-stop since buying it.

So...have you seen the movie? Listened to the soundtrack? What did you think?

10 on Tuesday: the "what I'm listening to" edition

Do you have music that you listen to at particular times of the year? I'm not talking about holiday music; rather, I'm talking about certain songs or albums that you only play in the summer or in the evenings or when the house is completely quiet... Maybe I'm the only person who does this, but I don't think so. I think it all comes down to the fact that music is such an emotional memory trigger for me. So much of the things I remember are tied to the music that was playing at the time, or the mood that the song creates. For example, the acoustic version of "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters is the perfect song for driving by yourself at night. There's something about the guitar and the yellow lines on the highway in the beam of the headlights rushing past...It's totally a mood thing. Anyway, here are the songs and CDs that I play most often in the fall.

1. Middle Cyclone -- Neko Case

2. Winter Birds -- Ray Lamontagne

3. The Reckoning -- needtobreathe

4. I and Love and You -- Avett Brothers

5. Deluxe -- Better than Ezra

 6. Wake Up -- Arcade Fire (live at Glastonbury 2007)

7. Into the Wild -- Eddie Vedder

 8. Change of Time -- Josh Ritter

9. The King is Dead -- The Decemberists

 10. Barton Hollow -- The Civil Wars

 

 

 

10 on Tuesday: the Lovett Live edition

This is coming in a bit late today, but it's been one of those "run-around-do-lots-of-things-before-leaving-town" kind of days. Cass is running in the high school track meet today (YAY!) and I'm going to watch her race before leaving to go to a conference for work (BOO! to a five-hour drive). Here's a recap of how I spent last Thursday, though. Enjoy.

1. Lovett Live is a concert series that is held on Murray State University's campus in historic Lovett Auditorium. While some bands have filled the auditorium proper (Damien Rice and Ben Folds are the two I've seen since moving to Murray), most of the shows are much smaller and more intimate. That's because the floor plan actually allows the audience members to sit up onstage with the band, in comfy chairs, couches, and at tables.

2. The photo above gives you a pretty good look at the stage layout. The photo below gives you a little bit of an idea how this looks in the context of the entire auditorium.  It was taken from my seat in the front row.

3. Andy Davis was the opening act -- or in this case, the supporting act, as he was billed. Apparently, he's been to campus and performed (maybe at the BSU?) but I'd never heard of him before.

4. He put on a good show, alternating between keyboard and guitar. There were some really funky numbers, with a crowd sing-along at one point (which I ALWAYS enjoy), as well as a few little snippets of Beyonce to lighten the mood.

5. I definitely recommend checking out the song Laugh So You Don't Cry. Brown Eyes is another good one.

6. After a couple of minutes for Andy and friend to clear his equipment from the stage (it was really strange sitting right there at the stage, watching -- I felt like I should volunteer to help?), Will Hoge and band took the stage. I get such a Bob Dylan/Tom Petty/alt country vibe from him -- really into his music lately. He commented on the call he'd gotten to come play this show. He told them that he didn't sell out auditoriums very often, and they explained the stage setup. He said he thought that it would either be the worst idea he'd ever heard or the best. Luckily, he thought it was the latter.

7. At one point, his guitarist switched instruments -- to a dobro, in fact. Immediately reminded me of the old Lynyrd Skynyrd song, The Ballad of Curtis Lowe. I'd never seen a dobro before, so it was neat to actually check it out.

8. The drummer cracked me up -- the dude came out in this great vest/pants combo with a tie and button-down shirt and dress shoes, though those came off right away. I was a fan of Mr. Hoge's boots and bellbottom jeans, as well as the vest, shirt, and tie combo.

9. The best song of the night was the piano version (completely unrehearsed? at least according to Hoge) of "Too Late, Too Soon." I got video of it, and I'll link it up here once I finish uploading it. Definitely worth listening to, in any version.

10. I'm looking forward to school starting again in August, so I can see what the upcoming year's lineup will be. I've been told to look for a Neko Case show sooner rather than later. I think I might just fall over from excitement if that's the case.

10 on Tuesday: another music edition

I seem to take my music in fits and starts, much as I do anything, I guess. Anyway, I've been listening to music a lot more here recently, and these songs seem to be the ones I'm coming back to again and again.

1. This Tornado Loves You -- Neko Case
I don't think Neko Case can write a bad song, but this one -- it's just sheer genius. Add to that the fact that the lyrics are meant to be taken quite literally, and well...I love it even more. You must watch her live performance on Letterman; in this age of Autotune and other electronic tinkering, her voice is a true talent.

 

2. Just Breathe -- Pearl Jam
Eddie Vedder's voice is just one of those voices that will always immediately transport me back to a time and place -- it's the voice of my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. Pearl Jam is one of those bands that was a significant marker in my own musical history -- one of the first bands that was MY music, not my parents' music, you know? And the lyrics to this song...incredible.
 

3. With You (cover) -- Ingram Hill
I've seen these guys a couple of times now; they are a young band from Memphis. The thing is, I really don't like this Chris Brown song at all (I change the station every time it comes on), but when Justin sings it, it's just...different. Must be the Memphis accent? ;)

4. With Arms Outstretched -- Rilo Kiley
Jenny Lewis (and Rilo Kiley) is one of those artists that I kept reading about, in magazines and online, but I never checked out for myself until just recently. Obviously, I'm aware of what I was missing out. This song is one that I find myself singing along to all the time: one of the best indicators of a good song. And this live version -- SO powerful!

5. All is Love -- Karen O & the Kids
"One, two, ready, GO!" This song just makes me smile -- a big goofy silly smile from ear to ear. Cami likes to listen to this one with me, especially when we are in the car and we've got the windows all rolled down.

6. Bowl of Oranges -- Bright Eyes
Some of the best song lyrics ever. EVER. "...And every time you feel like crying,I'm gonna try and make you laugh. And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad,then we will wait for it to pass..."

7. Washed by the Water -- Will Hoge
I've been listening to him quite a bit, since he'll be performing here on campus on Thursday night, and this is one of the songs I've been drawn to most. I know my dad would've loved this guy. I can't seem to find a clean version -- all the videos are live versions, but this one is pretty good. (The "whooo!" girls do get a little annoying toward the end, but it's not too bad). Give him a listen on lastfm.com otherwise.

8. Peace Train -- Cat Stevens
And proof that I really am my father's daughter....and perhaps that I was born twenty years too late, as my mom has always joked. We caught "We Are Marshall" on cable the other night, and this was part of a medley in the middle of the movie, and it's been in my head since then.

 

9. Belly of June -- Horsefeathers
This group was one of the featured artists on World Cafe tonight (which I don't get to listen to frequently enough), and I was just entranced with both songs. Definitely going to be listening to them more often.

10. I Don't Know -- Lisa Hannigan
I've been in love with Lisa Hannigan since I first heard her perform with Damien Rice -- I kept trying to figure out if the vocals she did on Volcano belonged to Fiona Apple. I quickly learned the truth and became a huge fan of her haunting voice. Once they split and she released her own CD, I grabbed it quickly. I love the live video of this song -- it's just so fun, in a way that only live music can be. Plus, isn't she gorgeous? There's a part of me that thinks this might be what Cass looks like as she gets older. Am I crazy or do any of you see it too?

Lesson 6: Paper Empire

A few weeks ago, Ali Edwards had a great post on her blog that included tips about writing a letter to yourself, which I thought was terrific. Cathy Zielske has done a couple of layouts that she's shared on her blog that use a similar approach. This idea of moving through time, in the form of photos and words, is really at the core of what we do as scrapbookers, and it can be very powerful when put into those two forms. Music is another form as well.

Today's lesson, and the final lesson of this free class, is to find a song that speaks to the future you.

A NOTE ABOUT FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
When I taught middle school English, we spent a lot of time listening to music and looking at song lyrics during our poetry units. Songs, at the most basic level, are essentially poems set to music. And good music, just like good poems, needs a set of symbols at the center of the message to work most effectively. That's why songwriters rely on the same toolbox as poets -- and one of the real workhorses in that toolbox is figurative language.

Figurative language is defined as any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of a word or phrase.

• Simile: A simile makes a comparison by using the words like or as.
• Metaphor: A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike things, without using like or as.
• Personfication: Personification is when you give something non-human the characteristics of a human.
• Hyperbole: Hyperbole is the use of over-exaggeration to make a point about a particular feature or detail.
• Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of a noun or image to represent something else, usually an idea or a concept. 

Finding ways to use figurative language in your writing is another way to pay attention to small details that can really have a big impact. Figurative language, especially the use of symbolism, can also provide a controlling metaphor that provides structure and focus to your journaling and helps you extend the ideas you are developing in your writing.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next step -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that conveys a message you would like your future self to remember and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you write a letter to yourself in the future. I suggest taking at look at the Ali Edwards post I linked in the introduction; there are some great sites with plenty of information included there.

WRITING:
As you develop your journaling, you want to look for ways to integrate both the design of your page and the words in your journaling. Symbolism can be a key element in both words and images, and you can easily let the images in the song you've chosen lead the way. Here are a few other things to think about in terms of symbolism and design:

• Color. The use of color can signify many things, as most colors have a number of feelings and meanings associated with them.
• Texture. Texture is another way to create additional layers of meanings. Think about the items you use on your pages in terms of hardness or softness, material, and weight.
• Shape. Just as different colors have different meanings associated with them, so do different shapes. The repetition and variation of shapes on your page can help draw the eye and emphasize a point.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the SYMBOLISM used on the album cover.

MY LAYOUT:
I'm behind again today. I have the lesson ready but no layout to show. I'm on my way to Louisville for a work trip, but I'll have it finished up once I finish a conference presentation that is due soon. Again, I'll do a quick edit and include it here when I'm caught up.

Lesson 5: Deluxe

On Tuesday, I talked about how I associate certain genres or periods of music with certain events in my life. For example, I noted that "grunge" will forever define the first few years of college for me. But within that larger period of time, certain bands or albums take on additional significance and, rather than representing events, they seem more representative of the stages of my life.

Today's lesson asks you to use a song that evokes a certain age or stage of your life: college, childhood, newlywed, new parent, empty nester, etc.

GENERAL WRITING TIPS:
I have a number of small tips to share with you today. Although there are many things you can do during the prewriting and organizing stages to make your writing more effective, there are a number of easy techniques you can implement during the actual writing process as well that can really make your writing shine.

• Use strong verbs and nouns. The verbs are the action words -- they do all the work in a sentence and put things in motion. Nouns are persons, places, things, and ideas. The English language consists of multiple words that mean the same thing. By choosing the most specific noun you can, you create additional layers of meaning without adding additional words. For example, write "The pine bent in the wind" instead of "The tree bent in the wind". Simple changes like this add a level of detail that's easy to achieve.
• Don't overuse adverbs and adjectives. If you are using strong verbs and nouns, you don't need additional descriptive words (adverbs modify verbs and usually end in -ly, while adjectives modify nouns and pronouns). Instead of saying "The tall, tanned boy ran quickly to the store", replace it with something like "The surfer raced to the store." The noun "surfer" conjures up an image of a tall tan boy, while "raced" implies running quickly but adds a level of haste and possibly danger to the meaning.
• Use active voice. With active voice, the action is being done BY someone or something, rather than TO someone or something. That can be confusing until you look at these examples. If I say "The boy kicked the ball," then the main focus of the sentence -- the boy -- is shown IN ACTION. He's making something happen. But if I say "The ball was kicked by the boy," then the action is happening to someone or something and the reader feels less involved. Active voice is stronger and moves the action along, while passive voice just sits back and lets things happen.
• Use parallel structure. Putting the details of your writing in a series that follows a certain pattern helps your reader make better sense of what you're saying. Parallelism is where the items in a series all follow the same grammatical format. For example, if you are listing three activities that you are doing, you want the verb forms to all look the same: running, jumping, laughing, playing, singing. Notice how they all end with -ing? But if I were to write "My daughter loves running, jumping, and to play" that last item really throws you off. It's jarring and confusing.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that takes you back to a particular place and time in your life and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you make connections among the details you use to set the scene and the lessons you can take away from that age. This is one of those instances where you'll want to choose your details carefully and build them in a way that moves you from a general depiction of a particular age or stage in your life to how that stage/age helped form you into the person you are today. We're digging deeper with this prompt, using lots of specific details to encourage more self-reflection.

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, you'll again want to think about how you are going to organize this information. We've discussed a number of organizational styles over the past couple of days, but with the focus of today's journaling lesson, it makes the most sense for the last paragraph or part of your journaling to be the one that packs the most emotional punch. When you organize in this manner, then  you build toward a climax, which keeps your reader engaged and wanting to find out more.

One of the key components of building climax is conflict. Conflict is defined as a struggle arising from two opposing forces. In simple terms, a conflict occurs when you have two things that you want, but you can only get one. Overcoming conflict is what brings fiction stories to a resolution; in real life, overcoming conflict is how we learn lessons and grow as individuals. As you work on your journaling for this lesson, try to identify the forces (there may be more than two) that are creating conflict for you. What have you learned from the decisions you had to make?

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the COLORS used on the album cover.


credits: sweet + tart collab by Paislee Press and Leora Sanford Designs, Winterberry by Audacious Designs (journal strips), A New Leaf collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs (leaves)

MY LAYOUT:
I chose to combine lyrics from two different songs: "This Time of Year" and "Cry in the Sun" from the Deluxe album by Better Than Ezra. I was in college the first time I heard this album, and for me it's come to symbolize not just the freedom and endless possibility that seemed to exist at that time (when I felt like I could "rule the world if I wanted to, yeah") but also the beginning of my relationship with Chris. My life was getting ready to turn upside down in so many ways -- ways that changed me forever as a person -- and those late summer and early fall evenings seem to hold on both my innocence and my growing up in equal measure.

Lesson 4: Closer

Key events in our lives -- big or small -- can ripple down through so many different aspects over a period of time. The more significant the event, the bigger the impact. While these changes may occur gradually over time, it's interesting to trace them back to the turning point.

Today's lesson is to use a song to "frame" an event that has impacted your life. (When I say "frame," I'm thinking in terms of providing a soundtrack or narration for the event).

CHOOSING A POINT-OF-VIEW
All fiction stories have a narrator -- someone who is telling the story. So it makes sense that nonfiction, which is exactly what you're writing when you journal on your layouts, has a narrator too. Just as fiction writers must choose a narrative point-of-view, so must you decide from which perspective to tell your story. There are three main types:

• First person. The journaling is written from the "I" point of view. This is a good choice when you want to focus on your feelings and your memories. This type of writing is less for an audience and may read more like a confessional or a venting session. The "I" pronoun makes this type of writing very intimate and personal.
• Second person. The journaling is written to "you," the intended audience. Scrappers are often advised to write from a second person point of view because having a particular audience in mind helps to focus the story you tell. In this instance, most of the memories and feelings are intended to evoke a particular reaction from the reader. This point of view also helps your reader to feel more involved in what's going on in the story.
• Third person. The journaling tells what "he, she or it" does. The narrator is less involved in the story, and most of the details focus on action. There are two different types of third person narration. A limited point of view means just that -- the narrator's viewpoint is limited to just information about one character's thoughts or feelings. An omniscient point of view means that the narrator knows what everyone is thinking and feeling.

Determining how you tell your story helps you to determine what details are important and how to structure the entire narrative. But there's another benefit to playing with point-of-view: considering a story from someone else's perspective (your parents, your husband, your dog, Abraham Lincoln) can lead you to some interesting truths. It also widens the circle of your story, so that your family members feel more involved.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of an important event and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you narrate this event. Additionally, I'll like to think about writing your journaling from a different point of view, or combining point-of-views in your narration.

Once you've chosen a song that reminds you of your specific event, use the graphic organizer to help organize your ideas.

Download POV graphic organizer

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, you'll also want to think about how you are going to organize this information. Since you are incorporating multiple perspectives, you want to choose an organizational style that will help your reader navigate this information in a way that makes sense and even enhances the telling of the story. Although there are multiple ways of organizing your writing, a comparison-contrast method is most suitable in this situation. There are two ways to organize in this manner:

• Block format. This presents all of the information or details from your first perspective, and then covers the same information from an alternate perspective. In this instance, you would tell your entire story from one point of view, and then tell it from a second (and third and fourth...) point of view.
• Point by point format. This takes a series of details or points and shows them first from one point and view and then from another. In this instance, you would take the first detail of your event and tell it from each point of view, before moving on to the second detail, the third detail, and so on.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the shapes or elements on the album cover.

MY LAYOUT:
My layout for today's lesson is incomplete at the moment. I spent the day flying back to Nashville from Houston (I've been gone since Saturday for a conference) and then driving home from Nashville. Needless to say, it's been a busy day. However, I'll have my layout ready tomorrow or the next day and will edit this post to include it.

Lesson 3: How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm a firm believer that the "nouns" in my life are one of the best ways to capture important stories. By nouns, I'm talking about the literal grammar term: a person, place, thing, or idea. Chances are, you probably scrap about important people and places all the time, but you may not spend as much time on objects.

Today's lesson focuses on using a song title or lyrics to jumpstart a story about an important personal belonging.

USING PREWRITING STRATEGIES
The hard part about journaling -- about any type of writing, in fact -- is that the words don't just spring full-blown into your head. Sure, that happens occasionally, but more often the truth is that you have to work for every word, every sentence, every paragraph. The MOST IMPORTANT writing work you can do is the preparation leading up to that final act of recording your journaling on your layout. In terms of writing stages, this is called prewriting.

Prewriting consists of a variety of techniques that are all designed to help you come up with ideas, make connections, and develop concepts. Here are several that I use most often:

• Freewriting. This is like carrying on a conversation with yourself. It may follow a certain train of thought for a few minutes, but then skip to a variety of other images. There are no rules to freewriting -- no focus on grammar, punctuation, word choice. The point is to sit and write and see where the words take you, what kind of connections can be made.
• Brainstorming. This is just another word for generating ideas. There are many ways to brainstorm, but the most common involves making lists. Begin with a general topic and create a list of specific details or related ideas beneath it. These ideas can reveal connections between topics and help you dig deeper into the heart of your ideas.
• Asking questions. This is a technique I use frequently, because it gives my brain that extra boost to recall additional details that I might have overlooked. Begin with the five W's and continue from there: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• Clustering. If you need to see your ideas in order to make connections among them, then this technique may be the best choice for you. With clustering, you begin with a term in the center of your page and then you create clusters of ideas that branch off from it. I've seen this concept take the form of trees and other objects as well.

You can use each of these strategies as is, or you can combine them; there's no right or wrong way to use them. But taking the time to explore your ideas before you begin writing can be the step that takes your writing from so-so to SO AMAZING!

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of a certain object or personal belonging.  Here are some ideas and activities to help you narrow down the list:

• Read through the titles on the back of the CD case. Do any of them make you think of a certain object?
• Print out the lyrics to a couple of songs. Go through and circle any objects. In the margins, make a list of any details that those objects bring to mind.
• With the CD case in hand (or the album playing on your stereo, computer, or mp3 player), walk through your house and just look at the things that surround you. Do any connections make themselves obvious?

Note: That last technique is what I did. I was looking through a list of song titles and happened to glance at my inspiration board. The picture (below) of my parents was hanging there and the starry background brought this song to mind.

Once you've chosen a song that describes your important place, use one of the prewriting techniques above to brainstorm specific details about this object. Even though your layout will be focusing on a particular object, you still need to generate ideas to help you get at the story represented by that object.

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, many of the tips from yesterday's post about describing a setting can also apply to describing an object. Another thing to think about is how you organize your description, because the order in which you reveal details affects how the reader "sees" this object. There are a few options:

• spatial order: You present readers with a general description of the entire object, and then reveal details in the order in which the eye would naturally perceive them
• thematic order: You divide the object into mental categories, much like classification, and then group details based on how they support this theme rather than how they are literally related
• impressionistic order: You reveal details based on how you think they would catch your reader's eye -- what would they look at first? second? and so on

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the overall design -- be inspired by the arrangement of photos, title, journaling blocks and embellishments. I've found that if I think of them in terms of different colored blocks (red for photos, blue for journaling, yellow for titles, etc), then I can break the design down more easily into its related parts.

credits: A New Leaf collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs, Est. collab by Paislee Press and TaylorMade Designs (date stamp, dot border, and word strips), Photogenic collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs (star)

MY LAYOUT:
I chose the song "At the Stars" from How Does Your Garden Grow? by Better than Ezra. There honestly wasn't much in terms of the lyrics that I was able to include, but sometimes just the title of a song is enough spark to get a layout going. In this case, I focused on a photo of my parents when they were just out of high school and hadn't been married more than a couple of months, if that. I don't have many pictures of them at all, so this is really a treasured object to me.

Lesson 2: Friction Baby

Different genres of music always bring to mind different places. Just as many regions of the country (or the world, on a larger scale) have their own music, so do the individual landmarks that dot our own personal landscapes. The more we associate certain locations with certain songs, the more those songs come to define that place for us. This can be quite general --the "grunge" movement will always symbolize college for me -- but it can also be much more specific -- "Take the Money and Run" will always evoke the basement of the Alpha Gamma Rho house at WKU on Thursday nights.

Today's lesson asks you to use song lyrics to evoke the sense of a location or place.

USING SETTING TO EVOKE MOOD
One of the most important things to remember when it comes to writing is that everything has to take place somewhere. Nothing happens in a void. Even the most basic newspaper article has to answer the question "Where?" at some point. The same applies to your journaling. Whether you are writing about a person, an event, a conversation, a favorite hobby, etc., there has to be some type of physical location involved. The great thing about this is that developing your description of this physical place not only helps orient your reader, but it also helps you to evoke a certain mood and response in your reader. 

Fiction writers do a lot of early development with setting when they begin a short story or novel. Your own journaling can benefit by using some of the same techniques they use, especially if you are focusing on a description of a certain place.

Setting involves a number of components:

• time, which includes the year and the season
• place, which includes city and state, as well as the more general geographic region. You can also include more specific locations, such as the dining room of your first home
• circumstances, which I think of as "what's going on." How do people in this time and place go about their daily activities? Those details are a necessary part of creating and establishing setting.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of a particular place or location. Make sure that the song contains plenty of connections -- you want to be able to use specific lyrics and lines from the song to extend and elaborate the ideas in your journaling. Here are some ideas to help you choose:

• choose a song that brings to mind an important place from your childhood
• pick a song that holds significance in terms of your relationships
• select a song that reminds you of being at some kind of specialized location -- cruising town in your best friends in their car, for example. (Note: In this instance, the focus is not on the event -- driving in the car -- but on the car itself, and particularly the front passenger seat with the window rolled down, music playing, conversation happening, etc)

Once you've chosen a song that describes your important place, use the graphic organizer in the file below to brainstorm specific details about this place. For those of you who are visual learners, it even includes space to sketch out this place. Special songs create an emotional reaction in us, and your goal with this layout is to describe the place you think of when you hear this song in such a way that your reader will feel the same emotions you feel. 

Download SETTING graphic organizer

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, look for ways to create a specific mood or set of emotions. It may be that particular lyrics from the song offer you a way to include certain details, but there are other things to consider as well:

• Suggest rather than explain.You don't have to say that it's winter if you include details that show someone shoveling the sidewalk or the sound of screaming children as they whoosh down a hill on their sleds.
• Keep length in mind when considering the number of details to include. If you want an extensive piece of journaling, then spread your details out so that they build to the point you are making. On the other hand, if you want briefer journaling, then be selective about the number and type of details you include.
• Include all five senses. I know I will sound like a broken record by the end of the week, but when it comes to creating effective writing, the key is truly involving and engaging all five senses.

A note: Many scrappers don't want to hear this, because they think it means extra work. But if you want your journaling to improve, you're going to have to do a couple of things. 1) Stop thinking of journaling as the last thing to add to a page before finishing. 2) Revise, revise, revise. Write out your journaling and then read back through it with a critical eye. Think about the goal you are trying to achieve and honestly evaluate what you've written. Make changes -- learning what to cut is an important skill to hone. And remember, it is much easier to write too much and then delete bits and pieces than it is to not write enough and try to figure out how to plump things up a bit more.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll ask you to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the PHOTOS-- be inspired by the number of photos, placement, color, or texture.

credits: TTV Frames, Sketchy Stamped Alpha, Spring Sing kit (papers, photo corners, music notes), Family Tree elements (tape), Just My Type elements (journal lines and stitches), all by Audacious Designs

MY LAYOUT:
I chose the song "Desperately Wanting" from the album Friction, Baby by Better than Ezra. This song frequently closes a number of their concerts -- at least the ones I've attended -- and to me, it just characterizes what it's like to be there in the audience, jumping up and down and singing along as loud as I can (especially to the la-la-la's). The title also captures my feelings about attending the famous Christmas shows each year, which is where these photos were taken and what sparked the idea for this layout. I mimicked the photo treatment on the album cover by using the Heartland action from Pioneer Woman and topping it with a photo overlay from Emily Powers and the Songbird Avenue Port au Prince kit. The photos were taken at the annual BTE Christmas show several years ago -- my birthday is the 23rd, and my friends made a huge card for me. All my online friends from the BTE message board signed it, and then the guys in the band posed with the card and signed it as well. It was incredible to wake up and find those pictures in my inbox. Definitely a memory to cherish.

something new on the way: r3wind

Music  has always been a HUGE part of my life. In fact, one of my earliest memories involves music and my dad -- two elements of my life that will always be entwined when I think about them.

I couldn't have been more than four or five. I can think of events that happened before this, but they don't arrive with the clarity, the fullness, that this moment carries. It's as though those moments have been dictated to me, and I've constructed the events as I think they've happened. With this moment, though, I'm there; I see it happen, feel it unfolding around me every time I think back to it.

I am in the car with my parents, driving through Fulton, where Highway 45 Y's and becomes Mayfield Road and 703. I am leaning forward between the seats, my hot skin sticky against the burgandy vinyl, the windows down, whipping my long blonde ponytail into my eyes. "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band blasts through the speakers. From my spot between the seats, I can see Daddy's calloused hands on the steering wheel as he turns to look at me, his smile flashing white in his sun-darkened face.

That moment is just one of literally thousands of moments that play through my mind with their own accompanying soundtrack. Music has always been an integral part of the key moments -- significant or trivial -- that define my life. That's where this idea had its genesis.

What if, I thought, I created a FREE class on my blog where scrappers -- traditional, hybrid, digital or anything in-between -- could be led through a series of journaling exercises to help them use their own "personal soundtracks" as a starting point for some really meaningful layouts? As a result, I present to you:

Each day, beginning with an introduction to the project on Sunday, you'll get a new blog post, right here. You'll get sample layouts, journaling tips and exercises, layout sketches, and lots of encouragement and inspiration. We'll examine the songs that bring to mind important people, relationships, places, objects, lessons, and more -- and we'll use song lyrics and titles as jumping off points for telling these deep stories and to spark our page designs too.

There are no requirements for participation, and since the lessons will be posted FREE here on my blog, you don't have to show up at a certain time or pay any kind of class fee. The lessons will be linked to my blog header once the class has finished, so if time is not on your side right now, you'll can always stop in later and check out each lesson. While there are no official participation guidelines, your comments and questions will be welcomed each day in the comments section, and you'll also be encouraged to share a link to your layouts. (I'm considering a FlickR group as well -- would that be something you are interested in for this project?)

I'm so excited about this, as it's just the beginning of many fantastic things planned for this space in the upcoming months! I hope you'll join me and play along. I've included a sidebar ad (currently it's 300x300 but you can resize if needed) as well as blinkie (of the non-blinking variety, I should add). If you'd like to display these on your blog or on your forum signatures, that's great -- please make sure to save to your computer and then upload to your own account before using them.

I welcome your comments and feedback -- let me know if you're planning to participate! Also, if you can help spread the word on your blogs, in your forums, on Facebook and Twitter -- that would be fantastic!