In My Wheelhouse

Do you ever hear a phrase and wonder where it came from? I do, all the time. So much so, in fact, that I just hopped over and bought this book for some enlightening bathroom reading: Flying by the Seat of Your Pants.

A phrase I heard recently and have been thinking about is “in your wheelhouse.” I’ll be honest—the source, I think, was Keith Urban on American Idol, and I knew it meant the repertoire of a performer, or the set of skills a person possesses. But what IS a wheelhouse, really? It brings to mind a shed stacked with old bicycle tires, or a house that can roll on its side.

Here’s the scoop:

The idiom “in my/your/his wheelhouse” may have originated in baseball, circa 1950s, possibly earlier. It’s used to describe the zone that is most advantageous for a batter, the range within which he is most likely to hit. Like a sweet spot. This metaphor may allude to a railroad wheelhouse (also called roundhouse), a platform used to spin a train engine or car for transfer to another track. Or it may have a nautical precedent, the pilothouse or wheelhouse of a ship, from where the vessel is controlled. So in widening this beyond baseball, it becomes “an area of knowledge, specific interest, familiarity,” or to designate two things in the same category.

I really like the thought of each person having a wheelhouse, a set of capabilities or strengths. Doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t hit outside of them, just that you’re strongest within them. And if the wheelhouse is the place where the steering happens, your strengths provide the direction to your life and you can take them any place you desire. Every ship needs a captain. We are fueled by our talents but they don’t have to define us; we still have the capacity to turn this way or that.

The Urban Dictionary gives another definition. The wheelhouse, it says, can refer to someone’s mind. As in getting into someone’s wheelhouse to disturb them.

So stay in control your wheelhouse and where it goes, people! You’re the captain and don’t let anyone in to throw shade on your talents. Oh, no. Now I have to go look up “throw shade,” which I don’t even think I’m using correctly…

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Stones by Polly Johnson

Stones by Polly Johnson is a coming-of-age novel set in Brighton, England. Johnson’s descriptions of the seaside community set the stage for this story about Coo, a sixteen-year-old girl still reeling from the death of her older brother some months before. Brighton is a cold, blustery and harsh place, as is Coo’s house, where she and her parents have settled into a chilly and silent impasse. Coo spends much of her time skipping school and hanging out at the pebble-covered beach. Here, she runs into an assortment of homeless characters and befriends one of them, an alcoholic named Banks. Her brother was an alcoholic as well, and the splintered events leading up to his demise are revealed slowly as Coo navigates this new friendship. She feels some measure of guilt about the circumstances of her brother’s death, and because after years of dealing with his abuse, she doesn’t miss him. Her best friend and schoolmate, Joe, seems to guard secrets of his own, and her parents stumble around in a haze, unsure of how to deal with Coo and her increasingly unpredictable behaviors.

I really liked that the setting mirrored the emotional strain of the characters; Johnson portrayed the struggle that exists in any relationship—the desire to know and to be known. It’s a story about what in modern parlance might be called codependency, the allowances we make in the name of love, the despair of addiction, and the often one-sided nature of any adoration. But this is a page-turner, too. The mystery of Coo’s guilt, the strange homeless man who threatens her, the building drama of her attempts to save Banks—the plot had me racing along while I was entranced with the beauty and insightfulness of Johnson’s writing. And I kept thinking about Carson McCuller’s observations about the beloved and the lover, and how they are “from different countries.” Every lover knows that “his love is a solitary thing.” Full quote from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe here. Each character in Johnson's story suffered from love in one way or another, and found that the beloved was perhaps an image of their own making.

Stones is a wonderful debut novel, and I’ll watch for what comes next from Ms. Polly Johnson. Available in ebook for a low introductory price here and very highly recommended by me!

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Stenos to Touchscreens

Recently, we were teasing my sister. She works in accounting and one day at her office, she mentioned Stenos and no one knew what she was talking about. She has many younger coworkers, it seems. But you remember Steno notebooks, right? Green paper, red stripe down the middle. We always had them around the house and that red line continually irked me. I’m going to assume that people who work with numbers know something about its use but for me, it only got in the way. We teased my sister because no one uses or, God forbid, says “Stenos” anymore, do they?

 

Today, someone on Twitter asked about touchscreen desktops and what the pros and cons were. I have a touchscreen, I said, but rarely use it. I forget that I can, and I don’t want fingerprints, I told her. But maybe, just maybe, it’s a bit of the Steno in me. New tricks, older-ish dog, etc.

 

We’re lucky, aren’t we, to live in a time with so many tools for writing? In the movie 12 Years a Slave, there’s a compelling sequence in which the main character, enslaved after living his entire life free, educated, and privileged, tries to fashion a writing utensil and ink from the crude supplies at hand. Although his main goal was to get a letter out to his family, I took it also as a metaphor for how every aspect of his past, cultured life had been taken away.

 

A while back, I wrote a piece for Author magazine, tracing my own experiences with technology since I began writing. I’m re-sharing it here (From Hand to Screen: Technology and the Writer), in case you missed it the first time around. And now I'm off to look for those Steno notebooks, stashed away somewhere and filled with poetry…

 

* For those curious about the origins of the Steno pad (and it has nothing to do with numbers), click here.

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Blue Monday

 

Today's supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. This has been analyzed, apparently, by measuring the "happiness index" of a group of people. Post-holidays, everyone is overweight and overtired, you see, and already failing miserably at those New Year's resolutions. It's cold and everyone's back to work, with a whole year of drudgery ahead. And although women seem to fare better on the "happiness index" for "Blue Monday," it's the most popular day to file divorce.

 

I acknowledge that often, I'm against the grain on these matters. Because I'm a stay-at-home mom, Mondays are not necessarily my least favorite day of the week. I like September and yes, I like January. It's a good time to start fresh, make lists, put my nose back to the grindstone.

 

Buck up, people! Think opportunity, not past failures. It's still one day at a time, just like last year. And if you need some help deciding what to do about those writing and reading resolutions you made before your depression hit, check out my post about next steps over at the LitChat blog, where I'll be contributing my encouragement and opinions now and then:

Next Year's Words

(And if you're interested, they'll be discussing this post on Twitter today, 1:00-2:00 PST. Use #LitChat to join in.)

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Favorite Films, 2013

Wow. What a great year for movies. For the past couple of weeks, I've been squeezing in many of the Fall Oscar-run releases, and I've been deliberating over my list of the year with the nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something from earlier in 2013. I'm including my favorite movies of the year and some others from prior years that I finally got around to. My main criteria is probably still visceral (I want to be moved and transported), but I'm finding that more and more, I appreciate a film that shows me something new. So I'm including an Honorable Mention section, for those films that perhaps didn't hit homeruns but are must-sees for one reason or another.

My 5 Favorite Films of 2013:


Inside Llewyn Davis

A week or so in the life of a struggling folk singer, circa 1961, and one of the most intriguing portraits of an artist I've ever seen. Great performances by Oscar Isaac and John Goodman and like any Coen brothers film, lots of enigma and comedy. Loved, loved, loved.




12 Years a Slave

Honestly, I hadn't planned on seeing this. I didn't think it would offer anything new on its subject, and I thought it would be extremely depressing. I'm so glad I changed my mind. Beautifully filmed, the depth of a saga, outstanding performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o but really, if Michael Fassbender doesn't win an Oscar for his role as a disturbed and cruel slave-owner, it will be a crime. He commanded every scene he was in and was just amazing. And the screenplay, which is based on a memoir, does indeed offer a unique look at the time period. Simply a great film.




The Hunt

While it may be true that you'd be hard-pressed to find a movie with Mads Mikkelsen I wouldn't like, this year's offering is outstanding. Mikkelsen plays a passive teacher struggling to retain his son's custody. When a child accuses him, the entire town begins to turn against him. I loved the mood of this film, the dark shadows and the way it felt that each person was like a spinning top--just one push and they could turn animalistic and destructive. The fear behind all anger. Mikkelsen's character was frustrating and Hamlet-esque, and the movie seemed to imply that in being this way, he may have brought it all on himself. Suspenseful, provocative, and highly entertaining.





Before Midnight

OK, lets start at the beginning. Did you see Before Sunrise (1995)? What about Before Sunset (2004)? If your answer is no, then you have some work to do. The former was the story of two strangers who meet in Paris and fall in love. The second, the story of their reunion almost a decade later. This latest installment catches up with Jesse and Celine another nine years later. They are middle-aged and taking a trip to Greece, where we watch them rehash their now-long-term relationship and decide on a future course. One of the best, truest marital arguments I've ever seen, and a mesmerizing portrait of the couple who have remained engaging for twenty years. You will only be sad that you may have to wait nine years for another.





All is Lost

A man on a boat, alone. Problems ensue. Man fights, time and again, to survive. Take it as an allegory of each man's final, solo journey or as a primer on how to keep your communication devices dry and working properly. Either way, this film grabs you from the first frames and never lets go. Robert Redford is seventy-seven years old but honestly, this role would challenge a man of any age. He is amazing and you won't be able to look away, even though he speaks maybe four or five sentences the entire film. Gripping, from start to end, and plenty to think about when you get home. I keep returning to this one, replaying parts in my mind and finding greater depths.





Honorable Mentions (Subtitle: Films I liked very much for one reason or another but I felt missed the mark on something else):

Philomena - A nuanced performance from Judy Dench, who creates one of the more memorable characters of the year. A bit connect-the-dot in other ways but still, had me crying throughout and pretty much any time I talked about it afterwards. Good stuff.

Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen's latest offering, entertaining throughout but notable for the remarkable performance by Cate Blanchett. A very good movie that left me frustrated because it could have been better.

Her - I include this on the list because it will be one of the more original films you see this year. Solid performances, visually fun and really clever. I enjoyed it but I wonder about staying power. I just saw it yesterday and already feel like it's slipping away.

American Hustle - Entertaining, with standout performances and some fantastic scenes but sluggish throughout the middle, at least for me. Original and funny.

Nebraska - Elderly man and son take a road trip to pick up a cash prize that doesn't exist and along the way, find out much about each other. I loved the way this was filmed--patiently, and in black-and-white, but I was never 100% invested. Some great moments, though.

Stories We Tell - A woman's exploration of her family, especially her mother, through stories and memories. She ends up uncovering a huge secret and tracing the reverberations it makes, once revealed.

Side Effects - I'll be the first to admit that this film got a little silly towards the end but it was so, so entertaining until then. Underrated, I thought.


Other Stuff, Other Years:

The Kid with the Bike (2011) - A coming-of-age film about a boy who is abandoned by his father but saved from an orphanage on weekends by a hairdresser he meets by chance.

Craigslist Joe (2012) - Documentary about a young man who decides to spend a year living on the kindness of strangers, via Craigslist. Fascinating look at society, humanity.

Pina (2011) - A movie I'm not sure I fully understood but could not stop watching. All about dance, in tribute to a German choreographer.

Footnote (2011) - Father and son Talmudic scholars competing for an important prize. But really, a story about relationships and family.

The Flat (2011) - Another documentary about unearthing family secrets; this one follows a grandson's search for the truth about his grandparents, who emigrated from Germany to Israel before WWII.

Through a Glass Darkly (1961) - A Bergman classic about a family reuniting to splinter apart. Includes a crazy sister and an evil spider.

Mud (2012) - Matthew McConaughey's much-lauded role as a fugitive serving as mentor to two young boys in the bayou.

Holy Motors (2012) - A film that defies explanation but which contains one of the best scenes EVER. I include it here, mostly for my own pleasure.

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