We are back with another Saturday night post by author Melanie Faith! She has some fun recommendations that will be sure to turn your Saturday night into an evening to remember. If you want to host my next Saturday night post, write me here.
What is your Saturday night reading suggestion?
The weekend is a great time to slow down and simmer with some poetry. A collection I’ve read and reread and where I always find something new to inspire is Pablo Neruda’s Odes to Common Things. Neruda finds the kernels of wonder in just about anything you can imagine, from bread and a pair of socks to a bar of soap, salt, and a table. Most editions also include the original Spanish on the facing pages. Another poet I’d recommend for a Saturday-night read-fest would be anything by Mary Oliver, whose poems also celebrate the extraordinary ordinary in precise, resonant images of nature and the sea.
What is your Saturday night movie suggestion?
During these Covid-19 times of quarantine, I’ve sought comfort in old favorites that include humor. The Princess Bride never fails to leave me smiling, just as it did when I was a kid. This movie, which is based on a book, inspired many classic lines, from: “As you wish” to “Inconceivable!” to those famous words of Inigo Montoya. In addition to zinging one-liners, it’s got a very young Fred Savage and swashbuckling adventure (and how often does one get to swashbuckle on a Saturday night?!), not to mention the Fire Swamp and ROUS (rodents of unusual size). For nerdy fans like me, there’s a nonfiction book with behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the movie’s stars that my sister and I enjoyed reading and discussing on Zoom this spring.
What is your Saturday night wild card suggestion?
Saturday night’s a great time to work on creative projects. I often listen to music while writing or editing photos, but I’ve also discovered ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos on Youtube (basically: relaxing sound-effect mixes) that provide excellent background burble, especially when it’s tough to get out because coffee houses, restaurants, and other businesses are still closed. There are a million ASMR videos with conversation, coffee machines churning, spoon sounds against porcelain, crackling fireplaces, and other soothing sounds. Some clips include a loop of soft classical or jazz music atop the human sounds. My favorite ASMR mimics a café and is called “Coffee Shop Ambience,” complete with rain and thunder, human voices, pages turning, coffee pouring, typing sounds, and (visually) passing cars outside the plate-glass windows. It’s just enough noise to fill a room without intruding on my thought process as I write. Most videos run on a loop from one to four hours, so you can set it and forget it as the muse keeps creating. Check out: Coffee Shop Ambience ☕Cozy Rainy Day [ASMR Study & Relax] keyboard typing + Light Rain + people – YouTube
About the Author, Melanie Faith
Melanie Faith likes to wear many professional hats, including as a poet, photographer, prose writer, professor, editor, and tutor. She’s written books about how to write flash fiction and nonfiction, In a Flash!, and poetry, Poetry Power (Vine Leaves Press). Her latest published book, Photography for Writers, is currently available at Amazon, Vine Leaves Press, and Etsy (for signed copies). Enjoy all 3 craft books in a single e-book at: Flash Writing Series Collection: A Writer’s Companion for Flash Fiction, Poetry and Image-Making – Kindle edition by Faith, Melanie. Reference Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. If the Myers-Briggs/MBTI is your jam: she’s an INFJ.
Learn more about Melanie and her latest projects at: https://www.melaniedfaith.com/
Details about her creativity books and online writing classes at: https://www.melaniedfaith.com/booksandclasses
Check out her blog at: https://www.melaniedfaith.com/blog She posts at Insta: https://www.instagram.com/writepath99/ and Tweets: Melanie Faith Writer (@writer_faith) / Twitter
One can’t go wrong with the Princess Bride.
Totally!