It’s been two months since I blogged; time to amend that. Speaking of time, it’s that time of year in the Deep South when bright colors and sweet smells rule the days. In other words, spring has arrived.

For Aurora, the protagonist of “Light Fixtures”, the season will always be synonymous with her Grandmother and her beloved flowers. In the novel, once spring rain turns into drier and warmer days, Grandmother would faithfully water her gardens early in the morning, usually waking Aurora who, during her teen bipolar mania stage, had had only a few hours of sleep. (Of course, Aurora thinks that’s all just normal, as she thinks others move, talk, and think as if they were in molasses.)

Grandmother’s special flowers included: peonies (she plants them correctly with the eyes just above the ground level, not like the Yankee way that ended up with the flowers having no blooms); camellias, and azaleas. But her special flower actually graced a tree, the redbud tree that she’d planted at the beginning of the long driveway to the house.

Aurora loved the honeysuckle along the roadside and fences. Honeysuckle had a fragrant smell and a sweet, delicate taste! At night when she walked to the woods to see Mr. Hematite and Mr. Dragonfly, the scent carried her along. It even seemed to calm her down, as if she thought she needed that, but it was nice.

Maybe that’s the thing about spring, it’s not only brilliant in color but also reassuring that not only that all’s beginning again, but also that all’s well. Only Aurora, with the approach of summer, must first learn that lesson.

Nothing is more American than the Super Bowl; it’s probably the one unofficial national holiday that brings us together best. There are people who don’t know anything about the sport, yet come Super Bowl Day, they’re with family and friends indulging in The Super Bowl Party! After all, it’s said that football has surpassed baseball in popularity and is now America’s pastime.

I’m one of those football devotees. Of course I, like you most likely do, have my team, and it, maybe like yours, too, didn’t make it this year to New Orleans to play the big game. But then, my team LIVES in New Orleans (though I do not), so there’s a little bit of joy with that.

But back to the party. A big, vital part of Super Bowl is that it’s watched with delicious food and drink! When the viewing is at my house, the menu is usually based on Southern delights: fried chicken, potato salad, purple hull peas (if I can find them). But there are also all things American: salsa, BBQ ribs, blue corn chips, beer, wine, and sparkling water with lemon. Adding to the event is that folks bring their favorite dishes and drinks, too.

In Light Fixtures, Aurora is a football lover. Living in a small northwest Louisiana town, football IS the name of the game. When she describes the cute, upper classman Johnny, she notes first his position on the high school football team. To her, especially when she experiences mania with the early onset of teen bipolar that summer, she goes on and on about him and football. The bipolar mania refuses to let go its reign until a sudden trigger changes things.

Certainly, there’s no need to be biploar to feel the mania the Super Bowl brings. That’s just letting the good times roll. For most Americans, once the game ends, the mania slowly dissapates. But until the 60 minutes playing time is over, mania not only has its place, it also has no need to be punted!

Now that I’m back, after a long holiday recess, I wanted to share with you a movie that I saw during that time: Silver Linings Playbook. (I confess I try to go solo to a matinee on Friday afternoons; it’s escapism with a capital “e”.) In the movie, the actors and actresses were indeed fine, but what really struck me about the film is that in many ways, in many scenes, it made me think of Light Fixtures.

After all, both the novel and the movie feature protagonists who are dealing with the onset of bipolar disorder.
What their stories also share is that they’re not focused on doom and gloom. Thirty-something Pat (actor Bradley Cooper) in Silver Linings Playbook and teenager Aurora in Light Fixtures begin their stories with full-blown mania. The film handled Pat’s mania authentically, showing, as Aurora’s mania is described in the book: “Everything was moving fast…with very rapid thoughts, words, and action.”

Catching my attention as well was the movie’s solid depiction of how bipolar affects close relationships. Pat’s parents were always on guard around him, not quite sure how to react to him. With the scene where he wakes his parents up in the middle of the night (good portrayal of his not sleeping, a mania byproduct) to ask where something was – then going on and on how he had to have that something to finish a “brilliant” plan he’d come up with – you could see this had not been the first time this had happened and his parents were weary. Yet, those very manic actions will later on draw to him a new, close friend.

Like Pat, a very manic Aurora in Light Fixtures gets only a few hours of sleep at night, often not any, and roams the woods – via guidance from a dragonfly – in search of a new friend whom she believes has special knowledge. And he does.

In conclusion, both the book Light Fixtures and the movie Silver Linings Playbook offer a well-rounded story, as both Aurora and Pat strive to come to terms with themselves and life. I recommend you check them both out. Their stories that remind you that life is full of ups and downs — and that can be a good thing.

Unless something snags my blog attention, this writing effort will finish out my Light Fixtures’ blogs for 2012.

These last two months are holiday-heavy, as two distinct celebrations appear on the calendar: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is centered on gratitude and is often more community-minded, when those without family nearby may be invited to sit down at their friends’ dining tables for the special dinner (we’ll be doing just that, joining friends at their home for supper); Christmas, however, is usually more family and religious oriented.

In a way, these two holidays might even be considered to be bipolar, e.g. Thanksgiving, even with football on the TV (yeah!), is often felt to be more “laid back” and less activity-targeted. The Christmas season, however, is definitely a more hustling and bustling time, complete with holiday Noels, demanding shopping lists and, on the big day, gift unwrapping, kids playing with toys, and family togetherness.

The only snag with comparing Thanksgiving and Christmas is that within both, there can emerge up’s and down’s.
And that leads us to the connection with Light Fixtures’ protagonist Aurora. As a young teen in 1963 who’s discovering the onset of teen bipolar, Aurora is slowly beginning to grasp that her manic depressive moods reflect an imbalance, even as she spends time at her beloved grandparents’ NW Louisiana home and enjoys the family event of making homemade vanilla ice cream.

But maybe that’s the best place to be when one is facing a challenge of ascending and descending moods: (especially as they often surface during the holidays) a place that offers no expected protocol behaviors, just peace, understanding, and hopefully, thankfulness and joy.

Today, I’m sending Light to all those who dealt with Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricanes are not strangers to those who live in Louisiana, even those who live in the northwestern part of the state, as does Aurora and her family in the novel Light Fixtures. It’s well known that when a hurricane strikes in south Louisiana, the power of the weather leaves its force far and wide.

A hurricane at its fullest is analogous to mania in manic depression (bipolar disorder) — it moves fast and is full of energy. Though unaware of her unbalance, that’s what Aurora is experiencing within as the book opens. But she eventually learns about herself and teen bipolar disorder via the guidance of two special friends: Mr. Hematite and Mr. Dragonfly.

Here’s hoping those affected by Sandy are surrounded by those who care. I would bet on it, as, Mr. Hematite reminds Aurora at the novel’s end: we are all light fixtures, with the potential to shine with brilliance.

It’s difficult to believe that it’s been three weeks since I’ve blogged here on my book’s website! Busy is no excuse, but that’s what I have to offer. There’s something about this time of the year that seems to be filled with so many goings-on. Perhaps it’s that paradigm that’s centered on school’s starting again and getting back into a more demanding routine — though I haven’t been in school for a long time.

Yet, when I say that I realize that we never really get out of school no matter what our ages. Life IS a school, daily lessons that sometimes are smile-worthy, sometimes not so much.

For Aurora in Light Fixtures, set in northwest Louisiana, where autumn is about the weather cooling down as football becomes center stage (more on football season with an upcoming blog), her summer is ending, but what she’s learned during the season will prove to be invaluable. After all, slowly grasping that one has teen bipolar disorder is a big life lesson indeed. Her schooling about manic-depression is just beginning, but I feel she’ll do just fine as she starts her freshman year in high school. But that’s the story for another book!

Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons of the year. I guess you could say I tend to fall for fall (pun intended)! Yet, it’s also an ambivalent time for me. With its rich colors of orange, red, and yellow foliage that hangs precariously, then carpets the ground, autumn is a joy to see; however, there’s also a sadness that invades this space-time, too, as the brightness of summer is shaded and the season is put to bed.

Of course, this up-and-down feeling for autumn reminds me of Aurora and her behaviors in Light Fixtures, as the onset of teen bipolar disorder rears its head in the 14-year-old. With her guide-friends though, she learns to eventually face her high-flying, seemingly fun mania and then the pursuant deep depression.

Which takes me back to the bipolarity of fall. Just as Aurora must learn to deal wisely with teen manic-depression, so too must we learn to deal with those changes that make life a high and an occasional low. So, autumn, welcome back!

This will be a succinct blog today. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a lovely, sunny, 83-degree day and I’m headed outside to pick some ripe tomatoes from the vine – the last of the summer – and walk my property with my two felines – well, one is upstairs asleep on my bed. Guess he won’t make it.

But before I enjoy this September sunshine, I wanted to give you a heads-up on a film that’s getting “the talk” at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Silver Linings Playbook” is touted as being a smart and original comedy-drama. It stars Bradley Cooper as a young man with bipolar who’s learning to handle the ups and downs – that’s bipolar for sure – of life.

Wonder what Aurora who’s dealing with the onset of teen bipolar disorder in Light Fixtures and her guide Mr. Hematite would think about it? I’ll let you know what my impressions of the film are once it comes to the downtown cinema.

Catch you next week!

Every four years, the two main political parties gather in large arenas to nominate their presidential candidates. We’re in the middle of the Democratic Convention now. (BTW: I’m a registered Independent.) Watching the scenes on TV, I’ve been thinking about the estimated 35,000 people attending and the huge space that must accommodate them all. Both can be demanding on someone with bipolar mood disorder – especially when he or she is in the mania stage.

Teen bipolar sufferers know about that. One young woman said she gets irritable and feels like she’s suffocating when she goes to a big concert; consequently, she often encourages her boyfriend to go without her.

In Light Fixtures, Aurora is happiest when she’s alone, moving fast in the pastures or woods, though she’s comfortable having her elder friend Mr. Hematite and his assistant Mr. Dragonfly around. Of course, during this fast-moving time she’s dealing with mania, and the onset of teen bipolar mood disorder, so she’s not staying long anywhere or interested in going to where a lot of folks are. Feeling intensely everything around her at once, she’s often overwhelmed with all the stimuli.

And there’s certainly plenty of stimuli at a convention hall; therefore, I don’t think Aurora would have done well at such a large gathering. But that makes me wonder if any of those faces we see at the convention, as they go about the serious and noteworthy business of nominating a candidate, could too be dealing unknowingly with the same mood disorder. Certainly with the arena, the sounds and the people-movement, that could be understandable.

No matter what your philosophical, cultural, or religious background, you probably have an opinion about mystical beings. Last night, I came upon a TV show featuring a paranormal experience: a family had moved into a house that apparently already had residents, i.e., ghosts, and they weren’t sure how to deal with these non-physical residents. The show kept my interest for its duration (BTW: my favorite TV program of this type is SyFy’s “Ghost Hunters”, though I’m still sad about the departure of Grant).

Once I clicked the TV off, I begin thinking about beings of other dimensions, from spirits that hang around a place, to those that hang around us in a more protective way, often described as spirit guides or even angels. Certainly Aurora in Light Fixtures was blessed with such positive relationships via her friendship with the mystical guide Mr. Hematite and his assistant Mr. Dragonfly. Without them, she would not have learned in a caring way about her having the onset of teen bipolar disorder.

Of course, that was their mission and they fulfilled it well. But isn’t that the purpose of a valuable guide, mystical or not: to help another to move forward, whether that person has or has not bipolar disorder? Unlike teen bipolar disorder, it’s not an up-and-down thing with a guide; it’s just a true focus that’s determined and genuine. And everyone could use that kind of guide.