Well. It’s been a rough week on a number of levels. As it stands right now, I am 8000 words behind where I “should be” to be on target for NaNoWriMo. That’s going to take a definite, concerted effort to tackle over the course of the next two weeks. Why? Due to certain recent events, I…
We are entering the wee hours of Wednesday morning as I write this. I am stunned. I am appalled. I am heartbroken. I feel this way for many reasons, but the most important are these: We have just sent a message that racism, misogyny, and bullying is acceptable behavior. We have told every woman and…
It’s Election Day. Yes, you are just one voice. But one voice matters. VOTE!
In the other years that I have done NaNoWriMo, week one has typically been my strongest week. I have found that getting ahead of the word count in the first few days gives me a strong start to the month and carries me through weeks that are more difficult (like week two and three). This…
I mentioned Jane Eyre recently and before it got any further from when I finished this book, I just had to say this: Can we take a minute to appreciate how awesome Jane is? Honestly. She has courage in her convictions; she is logical, practical, intelligent, and observant; she is humble and willing to admit fault, but…
Happy Halloween! For several years, I have participated in a project called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The idea is to write a total of 50,000 words in the month of November. This comes out to 1,667 words per day. It’s a stretch goal without being unreasonable, even for students or parents or full-time professionals. This…
I love this time of year. Hearty stew, thick scarves, brightly colored leaves, roasted vegetables. Everything warm and soothing. I found this has even spilled over into my reading choices at the moment. When it was time to decide what to read next last week, there was nothing that jumped out at me for a…
Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony Somewhere, Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony (along with many, many others) are rolling in their graves today…
With all of the ugliness online at the moment, I thought I would try and send out some positive vibes into the world by sharing some things that I have really been enjoying recently. Podcasts: Presidential–This is a FANTASTIC podcast by the Washington Post and I absolutely love it. They cover one president each week,…
Donald: I can put up with a lot. It takes a lot to get me upset or bothered. I don’t like conflict, so although I have opinions, I rarely voice them. (And I’m not naive enough to think they’re always the right ones, anyway.) But I learned something today, thanks to you. Two things in…
This week, I thought I’d do a quick overview of some of my recent reads. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness–First a little fangirl moment here. I had the very great pleasure of meeting Patrick Ness the other week and he signed this book for me. I may or may not almost have cried. Who can…
One of the most incredible things about art (whether that’s paintings, literature, theater, dance, etc.) is the ability it gives us to “experience” things that we never experience, “feel” things we’ll never feel, and spend time in someone else’s head. Art provides the most compelling argument and profoundest proof of the universality of human emotion.…
For the longest time, I felt extremely intimidated by classic literature. I think it started when I was between 8 and 10 and tried to start a few different classics. I was far too young, but for years and years I just thought that I wasn’t smart enough to read them. I thought classics could…
I grew up on Disney. Singing the songs, playing the songs on the piano, watching my favorites over and over again, quoting my favorite scenes and one-liners with embarrassing frequency. Disney movies (even their best) are certainly not perfect. But as I’ve explored them again as an adult, I’ve been kind of surprised at how…
In case you can’t tell from my other posts, I am completely obsessed with books and reading. I will happily preach the benefits of being a bibliophile and defend the importance and benefits of reading. Today, though, I thought I would write about those “misfortunes” (very tongue in cheek, of course) that readers everywhere can relate…