Just gettin' my toes wet

I've really enjoyed the writing process of this blog thus far.  I like the colors I've set up (I think I erred at least very slightly on the side of not making it too busy...I think.)  It's interesting to me how much of a different feel blog writing has for me as compared to e-mail or even writing real letters.  As a small example -- I originally put two periods after "busy" up there.  Then I went back and added a third because everyone knows that an ellipsis needs three and only three.  Whereas the definition (at least for me) of how many periods there can be is much, much broader when e-mailing, instant messaging, and, to some extent, writing letters.  Oh and two more examples to prove my point...  In every instance of the word "period" prior to this sentence, I originally had typed "dot" and then realized that, really, period was more accurate.  And when I started the sentence with "Whereas," I immediately thought, "That's probably not the ideal use of that word" but I made myself leave it.  :)

But probably this is a good thing, this being more aware of what I am writing.  I'm enough of a Luddite that I think to myself,(insert crotchety voice)  "This is what's wrong with society today!  Like that school in New Zealand (?) where they let those youngsters use text-ese on their essay tests!  What is this world coming to!?"  So perhaps blogging is one way for me to keep my writing at least somewhat more refined. (Note: This is not a promise from your dear blogger to always have work of the greatest quality posted here.  Please do not return tomorrow morning looking for such.)


(Third paragraph warning for Snozz) And then there is the issue of who will be reading this.  I don't really enjoy self-censoring (a shock, I know, to those of you who know me) and I don't want to self-censor in my own blog.  (At new acquaintances' dinner tables, maybe, but not here!)  There are two aspects about this -- the whole internet safety shebang and the actual content of what I'm writing.  With the former, I basically think that if someone really wants to stalk me, steal my identity, or send me anonymous care packages in the mail, they'll do it even if I never touch a computer keyboard again.  With the latter, I think my approach should be that if somebody doesn't like what I'm saying, they don't need to frequent my blog....  (A greater concern for me isn't them not liking what I'm saying, but them not liking what they *think* I am saying.)   These laid-back approaches are somewhat easier said then done, but in general I'm not a anxious person and the idea of letting fear impact how I live my life doesn't sit well with me.  I think is mostly just beginner's nerves and soon you will all be saying :  "Seriously?  She thinks a 49 line paragraph is a good thing?"  "Why in the world does she think any of us are interested in this ridiculous topic she chose to write about today?"  "I can't believe she's saying that about sea otters/air pollution/Karl Marx/high fructose corn syrup.  That's it, we are no longer friends!"  "Oooh, I think I've finally figured out exactly where she lives and what she looks like.  Time to start filling this priority mail cardboard box with yummy lotions, minty chapstick, fun stationery, awesome socks, and a few issues of Games Magazine."

A More-Than-Slightly Pilfered Book Meme

I slightly pilfered this meme from Bryan at Bryan's Book Blog who appropriated it from Susan at Well-Mannered Frivolity who (according to her) got it from “Ryan at Wordsmithonia, who borrowed it from Alexia's Books and Such..., who borrowed it from Brooke Reviews, and well, you get the idea.”  I've also given myself the liberty to cut a few of the questions because they were hard -- I know, very wimpy of me.  Please assume that none of my answers have been accepted into the canon as of yet.
 

The Rules:
No two answers can be the same book
All books must be fiction

Book Next to Your Bed Right Now:Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party -- What all responsible parents read to their six-year-old daughter at night.

Favorite Series:
Lately I've been especially lovin' on Suzanne Collins Hunger Games trilogy.  (the last one comes out in August)

Book/Series You Would Take With You on a Long Flight:Maybe The Time Traveler's Wife, as I could use a re-read.

Book That Everyone Should Be Made to Read in School:
1984 by George Orwell because, even though I didn't get as much out of it in high school as I did as an adult, it's something that is referenced so often and I'm glad I at least sort of got it.

Book That Everyone Should Be Made to Read, Period:
 Still Alice by Lisa Genova.  (I'm pretty sure I'd have a totally different answer if non-fiction was included.)

Favorite Character:Tie between Harriet the Spy and Miss Marple

Best Villain:  This is the one I've left til last. I think I'm going to go with Draco Malfoy -- I'm attracted to seeing the motivation behind a character's actions and I think we get some of that with Draco. 

Favorite Concept Series:Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series -- I originally had this in favorite series but I think it fits better here....

Favorite Invented World: Gone-Away Lake...  I'm sure there's another one, but Gone-Away is all I can think of right now.

Most Beautifully-Written Book: The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston and Deborah Kogan Ray

Funniest Book:  Couplehood and/or Parenthood by Paul Reiser  -- one of those books where you laugh because it's all so true.

Teaser Tuesdays -- England's Health Care System After WWII

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

  For the teeth and the glasses.  

  That was the reason so many coloured people were coming to this country, according to my next-door neighbor Mr. Todd.

  
  

  ~p. 93, Small Island by Andrea Levy

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Sand & Feeling Small - Or at least that the world is large

Tonight we are heading to Another Way, a group that meets twice a month to share a meal and have a discussion.  Tonight's theme is sand.  I didn't come up with any physical artifact to take, but as I was thinking about it I started thinking about was the many different kinds of sand that exist.  I was going to say the many hundreds of kinds of sand, but I really have no clue.  Perhaps a non-fiction book about sand should make its way onto my reading list for the Read-A-Thon on April 10! (Anyone have a suggestion?)   At any rate, I then jumped to another subject that's been rattling around in my brain lately.  Several times in the past few months, I've learned about an animal whose existence I was unaware of.  (I think we'll be allowing sentences to end with prepositions in this blog.) And when my sister Kristal was visiting from Costa Rica, the squirrels in Indiana were a novelty to her.  Just thinking about all sorts of forms of nature that are commonplace to others but new and amazing to me -- it's the stereotypical realization of how small one is in comparison to the universe.  Stereotypical, but I've realized it in a new way lately.  But I like it -- it makes me want to go adventuring and keep learning more and more!