Sunday Synopsis: ‘The Color Purple,’ People who brought me back from the Dead

"I remember when I was in the store with Miss Millie…I was feeling real down, I was feeling mighty bad…and when I saw you, I know there is a god and one day I was gon’ get to come home” – Sofia in “The Color Purple”

Of all my favorite movie quotes that I’ve featured on this blog (and in guest posts) time and time again, I never thought that a line from Steven Spielberg’s 80s drama “The Color Purple” -- starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey – would be among them. It wasn’t until a moment of sulking this past weekend, over a few seemingly huge mountains I need to climb (figuratively speaking) that I thought of the infamous dinner scene where Sofia (played by Winfrey) – as her father-in-law would describe -- rises from the dead.

For those of you who haven’t watched “The Color Purple,” please understand that I have paraphrased this quote as well as shortened it to include only the bit that spoke to me. There is a scene in this movie where Sofia must go grocery shopping to fulfill her duties as a maid for the wife of her town’s mayor and Celie (played by Goldberg) provides a helping hand by gathering the necessary groceries on Sofia’s list. Sofia later thanked Celie during dinner, after finally being released from jail and subsequently granted freedom from working for Miss Millie.

I love this particular movie quote because it isn’t about a higher power (to me, anyway), but rather, a glimpse of light at the end of what seems like a very long, dark tunnel that we’ll never get out of – until someone shows us some hope that there is another way -- that we’re not alone and somewhere, somehow – we can make it.

So today, I’m professing my love and devotion to not one – but two blogger friends – each of whom I dedicate the above movie quote:

Alana Garrigues who offers up fun writing exercises at Writercize is someone I think has a form of ESP when it comes to her interactions with me online. Aside from giving her readers cool ways to flex our mental muscles so that our brains don’t get dull, she also (unknowingly) resuscitated my energy and attempts to keep it moving – twice.

On one of my many sleepless nights, I was going through a major downturn even though a friend who I’ve known for some time gave me some pieces of clarity.

For some odd and almost unexplainable reason, several messages from Alana ignited something that removed me from the downward spiral that I found myself in at that time. Another incident occurred when I was no longer as active online as I would be, including on Twitter – around a time when my tweets would come regularly. New posts were only going up on Mondays for the Movie Meme that I host; I was lost and stressed out. It was then that Alana sent some sunshine my way – and so, I’m grateful for having met her.

I owe tremendous allegiance and gratitude to Herman Turnip, a devoted husband, father and IT genius who delves into a variety of goodies for the senses -- from the championing movie trailers of anxiously kick-ass releases to jumping out of airplanes, to five-minute stories and everything in between at Terrible Analogies.

Herman is a true blogging friend who’s been around since the early days of my blog – I’m talking back when my posts were so sporadic that you wouldn’t even know if I was going to put something up next week or next month. I’m talking back when even I wasn’t sure what the direction of this blog was going in, where I wanted to focus my attention with regards to topics and when my writing could’ve used much editing and several drafts before pushing the “publish” button. Since then, he is the one who comes to mind sometimes when I have writer’s block or am feeling sluggish or indecisive about my next move on the blogging front.

At times when I’m stuck for a voice or perspective to aim for, I just imagine that I’m writing directly to Herman; experts suggest that you writers should write to an audience – he is my audience. At times when I’m not in the mood to get up and write another post, I know I better damn well snap out of it and have something live sooner than later because I want to make sure that I’m accountable for keeping fresh posts on deck here.

There are nearly a dozen or so very specific people who I continue to be thankful to for reading my blog because they make it what it is and make my hours of research, last-minute trips and interviews worth doing; it is because of Herman, however, that I have continued (or try) to remain consistent in my blogging activities.

He tops the list of all my blogging friends who I am grateful to know due to his ongoing support, which keeps me aware that somebody is reading, so I need to make sure that there is something up for him (or her -- Hey Tina, this one’s for you!) to check out and discuss.

In addition to making some of the oddest discoveries that I’ve ever learned about, Herman has also been a dear friend in the non-blogging realm of things, sharing insight on some of the challenges and/or perspectives that I’ve pondered with regards to life/work matters. To speak of a blogger who I think is great and not name him would be a crime.

FYI & Other Stuff....

• As the first full week of May approaches, I have a long day planned for tomorrow, so the Monday Movie Meme will be posted in the evening this week (Monday, May 6th), as opposed to the morning – consider this a heads up! 

• Also, I'm still working on my 2013 A to Z Reflections and expect to post it on Wednesday.

• I was approved to be a presenter for the 2013 LAMMYS and will be announcing the winner in the category of Best Running Feature. The LAMMYS will begin on May 6th with announcements on YouTube and continues through May 16th when an official list of all winners will be published by The LAMB.

What is one of YOUR favorite movie quotes and why do you love it?

Is there any particular blogging friend that YOU want to profess your love and devotion to? If so, what makes him or her great?

Today’s Sunday Synopsis is a mash-up of two prompts from Jenni’s Blog Everyday in May Challenge. She asked participants to share their favorite quote and why they love it. She also wants participants to publicly profess their love and devotion to a fellow blogger friend while also explaining what makes them so great. The title and style of this post is inspired by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out, who’s Sunday Summaries in 2012 highlighted people who mentioned the A to Z Challenge to their online network.

Cassmob at Tropical Territory also convinced me that I could switch-out “Summary” for a word that better matches the subject matter of this blog.

The Nutty Professor Meets Cats and Ving Rhames #uncomfortable

Today, Jenni at Story of My Life wants to know what makes you uncomfortable. The list of things that fit this bill for me is long, far and wide; so, here are a few things that come to mind….

Watching cats groom makes me uncomfortable, especially when they lift their leg up in the air and start licking their crevices like they’re searching for a cure or something. It’s a grotesque act that my cat seems to be comfortable performing at anytime, anywhere – in the middle of the floor, on the windowsill, etc. wherever they are situated at the time and I just don’t care for the view.

In a perfect world, cats would complete their grooming in the privacy of the bathroom or their pet beds – you know, like civilized animals! Still, I’d probably be more willing to tolerate the open grooming policy that felines practice than I would the dinner scenes in those Nutty Professor movies starring Eddie Murphy and Jada Pinkett (or Janet Jackson, depending on which one you watch). Yikes! – That’s what I also think about the group bathroom scene in the comedy “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Jessica Biel.

I mean, after watching Ving Rhames pull of the role of a badass hero in John Singleton’s drama “Rosewood,” there is something about him signing Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman” song while dancing in the shower with other men that just doesn’t sit right with me. Don’t get me wrong – I like the movie as well as his acting – I just can’t stomach that particular scene. His beefy man-build doesn’t lend well to the thought of a gay firefighter singing Whitney Houston songs in the shower.

What makes YOU uncomfortable?

Throwback Thursday - A 2012 A to Z Reflections Comment... #atozchallenge

On Monday, May 14, 2012, Tina Downey at Life is Good left on my A to Z Reflections Post but it got eaten by the Squarespace cyber wizards – a technical glitch that just didn’t let this one comment go through. Aren’t you all annoyed when that happens? I know I am, for sure.

Thankfully, Tina was kind and understanding enough to bring it to my attention and emailed her comment to me.

As I gear up to do my Reflections for this year’s A to Z Challenge, join me in taking a moment to highlight one of the comments of 2012 that made me smile and grateful to elicit such a response from one of the boldest people I’ve ever come to know -- all because of a typo on my end:

"This was one of the best reflections posts I've read so far. Your pain and passion and feelings rang loud and clear and true.  You persevered through quite a bit of challenges, and I admire you for that.  I'm really glad our paths have crossed and that you'll be a regular poster at the A-Z now.

It cracked me up that you called me Tiny instead of Tina.  There's kinda a history to that...used to be tiny, as in eating disorder.  Am now healthy, but a sturdy size 14, not a vanish-when-turned-sideways...but thanks for the mention.

I hear your frustration with visiting as encouraged and not having that returned.  I don't know if it was a pattern for all of us, my visitors certainly thinned out as well there at the end.  A month is a long time, and not everyone has the stamina.

Hugs,

Tina"

Stay tuned for the 2013 A to Z Challenge Reflections; Coming this weekend to a blog near you!