Facebook is a great place. It's especially great if you are an introvert which is a whole other can of worms.
It's great that I can watch your kids grow up no matter how far you live from me. It's great that I can share your happy moments and your sad ones as if I were there.
It's not great when you are the sort of person who only puts a vague statement about something and people have to draw it out of you. Seriously.
"OH! My heart hurts!" What?? Are you having a heart attack? Call 911! Don't tell facebook. Well, never mind, your cat got hit by a car we find out 2 hours later.
"I can finally breathe." Were you having an asthma attack? I just checked your last 5 days of posts and I have no indication otherwise. What? Never mind, your car passed DEQ inspections.
This sort of adrenaline rush isn't good for anyone. Just say what you need to say. I have no idea whether your drama is drama worthy unless you just tell me because I don't have time to waste begging you spell it out.
Did a runaway bus load of children run over your dog and then careen down an embankment where they all died? Or did you simply have a flat tire?
We need conversations that go like this:
"My grandpa died."
"Oh? When was this? I had no idea. He was a really fun guy."
"Last week, I posted it on facebook."
"You did?"
"Yeah. I said my heart hurt."
"Oh. Well, you didn't say why it hurt so I just assumed you were having a heart attack. My dog was barking at the neighbors though, so I had to run out and get him in before the other neighbor called the sheriff again. Maybe next time you should just say what happened so I know it's important that I get back with you."
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
The Current Reading List
If you stumble across this blog every once in a while, you will know that I might have ADHD when it comes to books. You can count on me to have several books going at any given time.
So, the current list includes the following:
1. A Very British Family This is a history of the (in)famous Trevelyan family. It's written by a Trevelyan, but it is the only book I could find. It's slow going in this one, but it has led me to increase my TBR pile because now I want to read The Competition Wallah, which was written by one of the Trevelyans.
2. The Ninja Librarians is being read with the kids. It's slow. I like that this book takes place in a library. I like that this book introduces some awfully clever words that the average middle schooler won't likely read otherwise. I hate that in the first 86 pages I have had to correct grammar. There are awkward moments of humor that help ease the tedium. This book will be finished but only because of the principle of the matter and also...there's my Goodreads challenge that needs the numbers.
3. Israel is nearly complete. As a matter of fact, we will finish it tomorrow and move on to Afghanistan. As we have read through the books about the various Middle Eastern countries, I have found extreme agendas in promoting Islam. This book began with a seeming bias against Israel by oddly worded sentences that made Israel look like the aggressor in many cases where history shows Israel was attacked first. However, as the book moved on, the wording changed and became a little more honest. Yes, I realize Israel has done some things that have been aggressive; but not all the things were started by them. Honesty is good.
4. IA: Initiate is only just begun but there has been magic already. Most notably, my inner reading voice became James Earl Jones-ish. My inner reading voice is rarely male and never big like his. That was unique and cool. So far, the characters I've met are believable and quite possibly just like children I knew when I spent so many hours with kids in Gary, Indiana. As a matter of fact, the young girl is most definitely pictured like one most adorable saucy child. This is quite readable and I'll possibly read it to the kids if I ever finish slogging through Ninja Librarians.
5. The Windcatcher has been slow. I started reading it last May. The writing style is difficult for me, but this is a book I go to when I feel specific clarity mentally. It takes a few minutes to get into the proper mode and then I can go only a short distance. I will finish this one but it may take a while. It isn't because it is uninteresting. It is more that it doesn't match my style. I don't mind books like that.
6. The Korean Word for Butterfly is odd. I don't know if it's going to get any better, but I've read words like "groovy" and "cool cat." This is a book set in the 2000's.
There may be others. Well, there are always others. Catch-22 is languishing under my bed because the thought of the droning on makes me feel as though fingernails are being dragged down a blackboard.
I have just completed The Mad Tinker's Daughter which I loved. It was my first foray into the steampunk genre and it was clever and it was fun. There is a good possibility that I will go on to the 2nd in the trilogy at some point.
So, the current list includes the following:
1. A Very British Family This is a history of the (in)famous Trevelyan family. It's written by a Trevelyan, but it is the only book I could find. It's slow going in this one, but it has led me to increase my TBR pile because now I want to read The Competition Wallah, which was written by one of the Trevelyans.
2. The Ninja Librarians is being read with the kids. It's slow. I like that this book takes place in a library. I like that this book introduces some awfully clever words that the average middle schooler won't likely read otherwise. I hate that in the first 86 pages I have had to correct grammar. There are awkward moments of humor that help ease the tedium. This book will be finished but only because of the principle of the matter and also...there's my Goodreads challenge that needs the numbers.
3. Israel is nearly complete. As a matter of fact, we will finish it tomorrow and move on to Afghanistan. As we have read through the books about the various Middle Eastern countries, I have found extreme agendas in promoting Islam. This book began with a seeming bias against Israel by oddly worded sentences that made Israel look like the aggressor in many cases where history shows Israel was attacked first. However, as the book moved on, the wording changed and became a little more honest. Yes, I realize Israel has done some things that have been aggressive; but not all the things were started by them. Honesty is good.
4. IA: Initiate is only just begun but there has been magic already. Most notably, my inner reading voice became James Earl Jones-ish. My inner reading voice is rarely male and never big like his. That was unique and cool. So far, the characters I've met are believable and quite possibly just like children I knew when I spent so many hours with kids in Gary, Indiana. As a matter of fact, the young girl is most definitely pictured like one most adorable saucy child. This is quite readable and I'll possibly read it to the kids if I ever finish slogging through Ninja Librarians.
5. The Windcatcher has been slow. I started reading it last May. The writing style is difficult for me, but this is a book I go to when I feel specific clarity mentally. It takes a few minutes to get into the proper mode and then I can go only a short distance. I will finish this one but it may take a while. It isn't because it is uninteresting. It is more that it doesn't match my style. I don't mind books like that.
6. The Korean Word for Butterfly is odd. I don't know if it's going to get any better, but I've read words like "groovy" and "cool cat." This is a book set in the 2000's.
There may be others. Well, there are always others. Catch-22 is languishing under my bed because the thought of the droning on makes me feel as though fingernails are being dragged down a blackboard.
I have just completed The Mad Tinker's Daughter which I loved. It was my first foray into the steampunk genre and it was clever and it was fun. There is a good possibility that I will go on to the 2nd in the trilogy at some point.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
My Heart Leaps Up when I Behold...
I decided to stop in at Barnes & Noble last night and just buy a journal to keep in my purse for those weird moments of strange inspiration that need to be written down so that I don't have to scrounge for an odd receipt anymore. It's actually quite cute and purple. Purple is important to me. But as I wandered, I ran across a thing that made my heart leap up. No, it wasn't a rainbow in the sky. (I'm sorry Mr. Wordsworth.) It was a notepad. Yes, a notepad made my heart leap within me! I embrace my quirk.
Okay, now do you see why? Wouldn't you be all giddy over this find? No? Well, as I said, I embrace my quirk. This notepad took me back to all sorts of times and places from pre-IR checkout.
I remember how I loved looking over the library pocket cards to see how long it'd been since it was checked out. I enjoyed reading books that had been overlooked for a while. I enjoyed seeing the names of the previous borrowers and wondering how they'd responded to the book in question. And, oh! Was that the name of my current crush? Well, we'd have something to talk about, wouldn't we? I mean, if I actually talked to people outside my tiny circle.
In sixth grade, I got to volunteer in the library. It was wondrous. I got to stamp the cards after the names were signed. I got to file the cards in their proper order. It was divine. I got to put the cards back in when the books were returned and it was marvelous.
So, seeing the notepad ignited nostalgia. In these days of quick-self checking, the stories of the pocket cards are gone. I didn't realize I missed them until last night.
Okay, now do you see why? Wouldn't you be all giddy over this find? No? Well, as I said, I embrace my quirk. This notepad took me back to all sorts of times and places from pre-IR checkout.
I remember how I loved looking over the library pocket cards to see how long it'd been since it was checked out. I enjoyed reading books that had been overlooked for a while. I enjoyed seeing the names of the previous borrowers and wondering how they'd responded to the book in question. And, oh! Was that the name of my current crush? Well, we'd have something to talk about, wouldn't we? I mean, if I actually talked to people outside my tiny circle.
In sixth grade, I got to volunteer in the library. It was wondrous. I got to stamp the cards after the names were signed. I got to file the cards in their proper order. It was divine. I got to put the cards back in when the books were returned and it was marvelous.
So, seeing the notepad ignited nostalgia. In these days of quick-self checking, the stories of the pocket cards are gone. I didn't realize I missed them until last night.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
And the sign flashed out its warning...
The neon signs flashed their messages relentlessly through the pouring rain. "Nails & Waxing" and "OPEN" beckoned her. There would be a phone there, she thought. Only, who would she call? Who would help her? In her moment of hesitation, the signs went dark. Her chance to do something different gone with the lights.
I guess that I need to carry a small notebook with me for these stupid little things that introduce themselves into my brain at odd moments. Last night, Sarah and I sat in the van waiting for Rebecca to finish taekwondo. The rain was dumping and Sarah mentioned that the signs were obnoxious. I looked up and watched them for a few moments. They seemed to speak something else to me. I fished around my purse for paper and pen. The only paper to be found was a folded receipt.
Does this moment qualify me for "writer"? No, I think I'm merely a dabbler.
I guess that I need to carry a small notebook with me for these stupid little things that introduce themselves into my brain at odd moments. Last night, Sarah and I sat in the van waiting for Rebecca to finish taekwondo. The rain was dumping and Sarah mentioned that the signs were obnoxious. I looked up and watched them for a few moments. They seemed to speak something else to me. I fished around my purse for paper and pen. The only paper to be found was a folded receipt.
Does this moment qualify me for "writer"? No, I think I'm merely a dabbler.
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