Random musings from an absentee blogger

Do you ever have that crazy itch for change? It’s like a constant nagging, no, it’s a little tug, pulling on that loose thread you’ve meant to remove from your favorite sweater. The tugging can go on for ages as the thread slowly unravels overtime, until one day enough of it is missing to finally make you notice that you’re no longer very warm.

Well I’m not as warm as I once was… and not just because of the awful weather we’ve been having lately.

It doesn’t help that change is forcing itself upon me. Don’t get me wrong, this is mostly good, just damn uncomfortable. You see, as much as we need change, none of us ever seem ready for it. We may even crave it, but that sweater is do damn comfy, it’s easy to avoid putting on a new one.

This is why I’ve neglected the blog for three weeks. I’ve been spending time reflecting, probably too much. Writing usually seems to help, so it would’ve done me some good to write sooner, but a lot of these changes are private things I can’t air.  Therefore, they wind up woven in my offline journal, and this little blog focused mainly on reading takes a temporary backseat. But tonight I’m trying something new by sharing some of these thoughts. Seeing where it leads, and yes the regularly scheduled reading review program will return shortly.

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Sometimes I look at a landscape, and I lose my breathe. It may be simple, a lone winter bare tree sprouting in the midst of a golden prairie.  

It might be the mundane.

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Snow covered woods blurred through the window of a moving train.

It  could even been the majestic urban tourist viewpoint.

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Such as a New York City from the top of Rockefeller on a cold February morning.

Each of these moments, minute and fleeting, tugged at that fraying sweater of my cozy little life.  Silly, I know, but don’t you sometimes just feel those paused breathes around you? That simple silent call of “Look here! This is you! Inside. Feel it? Feel you? Now look there. All of that. You’re part of it. What are you going to do about it?”

I’m tired of looking though, and I do fear some of the leaps I need to take, the decisions I need to make to move forward. But that fear also pushes me, because I can’t ignore it anymore. I feel the cold of stagnation. The inspiration I once found in the world around me has returned. Little tree hugger hippie me, feeling what was around me has grown up. And maybe, just maybe, I’m finally ready to let the flower child self meet adult me. Maybe if I put the two selves together, my new whole can tackle putting on a new sweater, slough off the old, and begin again.

So there…those are my random musings. They dance around my overly self critical mind, and sometimes come out as nonsense. Perhaps this will help clear the clutter a bit. Perhaps one of you will understand, and together we can both get somewhere in the middle of all of this thing called life.  (And perhaps I really just need Spring to hit so I can stop being a shivering shut in…that may also be a factor in my current mood… just a little).

Reader Questionnaire and Random Musings

I found this over on bluchickenninja’s blog awhile back, but I haven’t had the time to follow suit until now. It just felt like a fun little writing exercise, and I’ve been silent on the blog for a few days due to, well, life stuff (good life stuff, just stuff). Feel free to follow suit on your own writing exercise.

1. What is your favorite book?

Like most avid readers, this question is nearly impossible to actually answer. Really?! JUST ONE?! Still, I do have a few that I point to as “keystone” books for shaping who I am.  Jane Eyre, which I read in the 6th grade, remains a turning point for me as a reader.

Who DOESN'T want a Jane Eyre baby book?!

Who DOESN’T want a Jane Eyre baby book?!

Jane Yolen’s Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna were equally as pivotal.

 sisterlsd whitejenna

2. What are your goals? For the year? For your life?

First, to get healthier. I know this is an ongoing goal, but I’m really focusing on it right now.

Second, reading a minimum of 48 books for this year and writing in this blog regularly. So far, I think I’ll come out ahead!

3. Are you a writer? If so, tell me about your work.

This is a bit of a loaded question. I assume it means, “are you a published or attempting to be published writer.” I’m certainly not published, and I’m not certain I’m trying, but I do consider myself a writer. A writer of poetry, critical thought, ideas, life. Aren’t we all writers of a sort on here? Words and writing feel like part of my blood and breath, and that in turn describes “my work.”  Usually spur of the moment tales, dark dreaming landscape stories and poems. I have more ideas and outlines than full creative monsters, but then again, being here is already helping me develop that further.

4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Just one place?!  Iceland. Ireland. The Mountains (any mountains). On another train trip…maybe through the mountains.

Via Trains & Travel

Via Trains & Travel with Jim Loomis

5. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre and was it worthwhile?

American Sniper. This past weekend for my brother-in-law’s birthday. I almost went into full analytic mode about the movie here. The only thing that stopped me was getting home from the movie at Midnight. And, yes, it was worth it.

6. I’m curious, are there any books that you’ve tried to read and simply couldn’t finish? This is a no judgement zone.

Under the Dome by Stephen King. Don’t get me wrong, I like him, just NOT that book.  Middlemarch by George Eliot.

7. Are you currently working on a new book/project right now? If it’s secret, you don’t have to tell me about it. If so, however, I hope it’s going well.

Again, not a professional writer, so no. But I do have a few ideas in the work (mostly random children’s tales). Also, I need to finish editing my “poem”  A Salmon Named Ella. 

A salmon named Ella
And Nelson Mandela
One fine sunny Cape Town morn,

Deeply were talking,
While swimming and walking,
About why the fish was so forlorn.

8. If you could live in any of your favorite books, which one would you choose?

Jane Eyre, possibly or Harry Potter because, come on…

XSRcP2d

9. Are there any book-to-movie adaptations that you think are just incredible? That you absolutely hated?

Going back a bit, Contact by Carl Sagan is pretty good, though it cuts a lot of the hard core science for the movie. Also, the 2006 BBC miniseries Jane Eyre, is AWESOME. The 2011 version, not so much.  Eragon is also butchered in the film.

10. What do you look for in a book that you want to read? What’s the first thing to capture your attention?

I’ll admit it, I have a type: strong female character, unique world (dystopian/fantasy), well written prose.  I do read other things, but these are the ones that grab me first.

11. If you’re an author, what do you do when you first get an idea for a book?

Again, doesn’t apply, but my problem is that I spend hours upon hours obsessing, thinking, dreaming up the story…without writing.

12. How do you feel about different genres? Romance? YA? Sci-Fi? Poetry? Do you have any favorites? Any least-favorites?

I’m open to almost anything, but I’m not big into crime stories (Tana French’s books being an exception) or generic romance.  I do love YA, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Autobiography, & Historical Fiction.

13. If you could meet any writer in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?

Jane Yolen. Yes, she trumps Bronte on my list because she was kind enough to answer questions for a folklore project through e-mail when I was in college. SO. COOL.

14. Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?

Fiction. But I never underestimate the power of a very good non-fiction book.

15. Are there any characters that everyone loves that you can’t stand? Or vice versa?

I hate…HATE Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Please…let them rot.

Also, I don’t like Twilight so I therefore despise all of the characters.

16. What do you like to do besides reading/writing?

Spinning (yarn), making soap, cooking, baking…lots of bread. Sometimes hiking, crocheting.

17. If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

Apparently turning my house slowly into the witch’s house in Hansel & Gretel.

18. What is your favorite guilty pleasure book?

Anne Bishop’s Dark Jewel’s Trilogy.

Dark-Jewels

19. Do you have a reading goal set for this year?

Stated earlier: 48 books! On numbers 8 & 9 for the year right now.

20. Tell me anything about yourself that I haven’t asked. Random fact. Weird human trick. Whatever.

I am obsessed with weird animals. I want a random animal farm one day. Sheep, alpaca, chickens, goats, you name it.  I’ve wanted a pet skunk since I was a kid. I would name him Broccoli. I also think armadillos are awesome and want an armadillo basket (a taxidermied basket).

Oh yeah, I like weird taxidermy…Just look at the hat in my profile picture.