Rounding Third…Creating Logo December 10, 2009

After deciding the Train would be  my “thing,” I had to think long and hard about how trains related to each of my family narratives and entertainment. Back when I thought water would be the image in the center box, I was planning on using my snoopy fishing pole story as an allegory about good and bad always being present. “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together,” was going to be my metaphysics.  I also had my morality all ready. “Live Honorably” is the message I took away from The Little Mermaid. Even though good and bad are always present, one can choose to be good or evil. Living a good life, I believe, can be achieved by being an honorable person. However, by switching to trains, suddenly Snoopy didn’t seem like the best story to use. I was sorry to see Snoopy go.

My No Name Storm story was my most compelling alternative.  I thought about the power of this storm and how the magnitude of this storm is a lot like the power of a train. If a car gets stuck on the train tracks when a train is coming, the car is going to be totaled–without question. Similarly, floods can destroy whole towns: homes, cars, businesses, everything.

So I had my three stories set: The Little Mermaid, The No Name Storm, and David Yulee.  Now, how are they supposed to correlate to one another within my Logo…

When I think about my fifth birthday during the storm of the century, I think about my mom. She handled everything so beautifully. My father was at work, so it was just my mom managing everything: the terrifying weather conditions (although water never got into our house like it had my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s home, there was no way for her to have known that at the time), calling out-of-town birthday guest to inform them of the extreme weather conditions, getting her family from one side of the road to another, bringing what would have been birthday  food to the church for those in need, plus having two small children to entertain and comfort. Just look at that list. My mother is amazing. She never seemed flustered. I can’t say it was effortless, because a list like this demands effort (even from a super-human-puts-Wonder Woman-Bat Girl- and-Super Girl-to-shame kind of woman like my mom). My mom was able to roll with the punches and come out on top. 

The way my mom acted reminded me of a little saying she is always telling me, “Do the best you can with where you are at and with what you have got.” Just like that, my motto was solidified.

I went back to thinking about trains. I have always associated trains with persistence, diligence, and steadfastness. Probably because of my fondness of the Little Engine that Could (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…).  Trains are one of those few man-made objects that could just barrel though anything.

The Little Engine tha t Could reminded me of the Little Mermaid, in an odd way. The Little Mermaid pursued her goal of being with the Prince and gaining a soul without hesitation.  She suffered and sacrificed without complain, because she knew that is what it took to be on land near the Prince. However, the mermaid revealed  her strength of character, on the night of the Prince’s wedding to someone else, the mermaid’s sister told her the only way to  save herself and return to the sea was to take the life of the Prince who had forsaken her. Yet the mermaid could not harm the Prince, even though it meant the end of her life. It was this act of goodness, coupled with all her efforts and sacrificed to be on land, which caused the sisters of the air to take notice of the mermaid. The mermaid joined the sisters of the air, giving her the chance to earn a soul by completing good works—like she has been doing all along.  From here I pulled my Metaphysics, “Hard work and goodness is rewarded”.  However, this mentality is also shown in the No Name Storm story.

Yulee had a little bit of my Mom and the Little Mermaid’s fight in him as well. He was a self-made-man, working his way up in Florida politics, earning the title of Florida’s first US Senate, only to have that title taken away the following election. Did Yulee give up? No, he ran the year after and won. Then the Civil War happened, and Yulee left his position is the US Senate to dedicate himself to the state. His home was destroyed during the civil war, yet he never lost heart. When the war was over, he rebuilt like my mom, the little mermaid, and the Little Engine that Could, Yulee never gave up in when faced with an obstacle: he had perseverance.  

Looking back on everything, I was a remarkable good kid. I didn’t pout about not having my big birthday party. I understood that there were a few things out of my mother’s control, such as the weather. I wasn’t scared either. I just think that at five years old, I was oblivious to the severity of the situation. If I felt anything, I felt confused. However, once everything settled down, I saw that the storm happening on my birthday was an unexpected blessing. We were able to help so many people by donating food. Also, it was a Saturday. Had this happened on a weekday, would any one be around to make sure Granny got to higher ground safely? So my attitude or mood was confusion, and later understanding.

The image I chose to use to express my “thing”, was an actually picture of the railroad that once ran though Homosassa. It was called the Mullet Train, which is more than fitting for my little fishing village.  It was really important to me to find a picture that showcased the real Homosassa, because Homosassa is important to me. I altered the coloring though Photoshop to give the image a more antique look, but other than that it is an authentic depiction of my town, back in the day.

Selecting Entertainment… October 14, 2009

I thought I knew what I wanted my Entertainment to be based on. There was a story I loved as a little kid called “Ever Green.” It was a story about a little blue bird that broken its wing and needed a tree to stay in for the winter. All the trees were cruel to this little bird, except for three trees. These three trees were rewarded by Jack Frost for their kindness. While all the other trees in the forest would lose their leaves and stand naked all winter long, the kind three trees would bloom and bloom and bloom and stay green forever.

Great story right? The problem was that this story didn’t fit well with any of my memories. So I thought a little more, and that is when I thought of my love for mermaids. When did that obsession begin? Having grown-up near the water, I would always “play” mermaid…in the springs, in the river, in a pool, the tub. I preferred the Hans Christian Andersen version of The Little Mermaid to the Disney version, which is interesting.

Once I got a clear idea of what I wanted my entertainment to be, the memories came easy.

Felt – Birthdays October 14, 2009

For me, birthdays carry special meaning. They symbolize new beginnings, new opportunities, and responsibilities being presented in someone’s life. For the little mermaid, the day of her fifteenth birthday was the day she was finally able to go above the sea. It was then that she saw the prince for the first time, who was also celebrating his sixteenth birthday. I thought my fifth birthday was going to present me with the chance to ride a pony in my backyard, but instead I had the opportunity to learn to roll with the punches and watch my mother handle a crisis with grace and skill.  

 

Felt – Water October 14, 2009

Water was the common thread throughout all my family stories and entertainment. While the little mermaid wanted to get away from the sea even though that is the only life she had ever known and it is where her families lives, I cannot spend enough time on the water because it is familiar to me. I grew-up near the water. When I think of my family, I think of fishing trip, clam bakes, trips to the beach, and being together near or on the water. While the little mermaid wanted to escape from the waters which represented comfort and familiarity, I love the water because it is comfortable and familiar.

Even when that water seemed to be a terrible force in my life, such as the flood, it led to my family being all together. So it still have positive associations.

The Little Mermaid – Obstacles October 12, 2009

“If the protagonist and his objective constitute the first two important elements in the construction of a story, the various obstacles collectively constitute the third. Without impediments to the attainment of the protagonist’s desire there would be no conflict and no story.” – The Tools of Screenwriting

Before the sea witch gives the little mermaid the potion, she tells her that with every step it will feel like treading upon glass. The mermaid accepts this. Then the witch says that once the mermaid takes human form, she can never return to the sea again. Also, should the prince marry someone else, the morning after he marries another, the mermaid’s heart will break and she will become foam on the crest of the waves. The mermaid agrees to all of this.

 

The primary obstacle comes in the form of payment. The sea witch wants the mermaid’s beautiful voice. How is the little mermaid princess suppose to get the prince to fall in love with her without being able to speak to him? Still she gave her voice to the sea witch and took the potion.

She drank the potion on the marble steps of the palace. By sunrise, she had legs and before her stood the prince.

The Little Mermaid – Objective October 12, 2009

“The character’s want or desire or pursuit usually focuses and intensifies as the story evolves; it is not a static, unchanging want.” - Tools of Screenwriting

What began as mere curiosity of the world above the sea, evolved into a full-blown infatuation. The little mermaid princess is head-over-heels in love with the prince and is obsessed with finding a way to be with him. 

After her encounter with the prince, her only comfort is sitting in the garden and gaze at a marble statue that resembles her prince. One evening, her sisters take her to the palace where the prince lives. Every evening after, she spends in the waters near the palace.

One day, she asks her grandmother if humans didn’t drowned, if they could live forever. Her grandmother said, “they too must die, and their lives are much shorter than our own. We sometimes love to three hundred years, but when we die, we become foam on the surface of the water. We do not have immortal souls. Human beings have souls that live after their bodies have turned to dust. Their souls rise up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water and behold the earth, they rise to unknown and glorious places that we shall never see.”

The little mermaid said that she would give up hundreds of years to have an immortal soul, and asked how she might gain an immortal soul.

Her grandmother said, “unless a human being loved you so much that you were more precious to him than his father or mother. All his thoughts and all his love would have to be fixed upon you, and he would have to take you for his bride. Only then would his soul glide into your body, and you would obtain a share in the happiness of mankind. He would give a soul to you and retain his own as well.”

After this conversation with her grandmother, the little mermaid’s objective is clear: get the prince to love and marry her so she can win an immortal soul.

The Little Mermaid – Protagonist October 12, 2009

“The chief characteristic of the protagonist is a desire, usually intense, to achieve a certain goal, and it is the interest of the audience in watching him move toward that objective that constitutes its absorption in the story” – The Tools of Screenwriting

The central character of the The Little Mermaid is the little mermaid princess. She is the youngest and prettiest of all the sea princesses. The little princess loved to hear about the world above the sea. She made her grandmother tell her all she knew of the ships and the towns, the people and the animals.

When a mermaid reached her fifteenth year, she is allowed to rise up out of the sea. So the little mermaid watched and waited as each of her sisters, all six one year apart in age, take their turn to rise to the surface of the ocean. After six years it was finally the little princess’s turn.

Her grandmother adorn her with a wreath of white blossoms in her hair, and in every flower she placed a pearl.  When she rose to the surface of the water, she saw a large ship. The little mermaid peers into a cabin window. Though the porthole she observed a handsome prince celebrating his sixteenth birthday.

After a while the waves rose higher as a dreadful storm approached. The ship groaned and creaked under the lashing of the sea as the waves broke over the deck, and the thick planks began to give way. The little mermaid swam among the beans and planks that floated on the sea, looking for the handsome prince. When at last she found him, she brought him to the surface and laid him on the beach.  She waited near the shore for him to awake, and when he did she swam back to the palace, longing to rejoin her prince on land.