Ironically enough, I AM hungry, but this post is actually about the alleged "Hunger Games". Like the majority of people who don't live under a rock, I have heard all of the hype surrounding these books, and I'll admit I was skeptical (wha? me? never!) to read them because of the types of people that kept saying how amazing they were.
A couple people in my classes last year said they were an easy read, and pretty interesting, so I decided I might give them a shot one day, just to see what all of the fuss was about.
The more I heard about the books, the more I put off reading them. Then, over Christmas break, my sister gave me the first one and told me to read it. I looked at it for awhile, and I even read the first sentence, but I left home with the book tucked away in a backpack, and soon forgot about it.
Social media reminded me that I should probably get started on the book, but the more I heard about it, the less I wanted to start reading.
The last weekend in January came. I worked Friday and all day Saturday, and when Sunday came I realized I had the entire day off. I went to church, cleaned out and vacuumed my car, then set to work on my house. I cleaned, scrubbed, vacuumed, washed, straightened, folded, you name it, I did it. With everything gleaming, I decided to curl up with a cup of coffee and a book. Unfortunately, the books I recently purchased from McKays were not calling my name. Then I remembered the book that I had stuffed in a backpack, and I kept hearing that its a book that you "can't put down", so I decided a day when I had a nice block of time was a good time to read it.
And so, I started it. Now, if you know me at all, you know I'm about to give you some opinions. You can disagree of course, but this is my blog so if my opinions offend you, look away. Little disclaimer there.
My first reaction was "What the? Present tense? Terrible choice." Because as anyone whose ever taken a basic writing class knows, present tense is difficult, and it usually doesn't work very well. It was jarring, and even after finishing the book, I think present tense was not the best choice. But, she did make it work, so props to her for that. I just personally didn't care for the tense.
Also, as I read the first four or five chapters, I kept finding grammatical errors. This is a curse I was born with; anytime I read anything my mind automatically corrects the errors. I was confused; was she trying to convey the voice of the narrator by using incorrect grammar? Or were they mistakes?
So, that threw me for a small loop. But, I overlooked it, because a fellow writing student told me that despite the rough writing in the beginning, it gets better.
So, I pressed on.
I thought it was obvious that the author was setting up a romance between Gale and Katniss, so I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't volunteer to go to the games as well.
I didn't find the book particularly interesting until about halfway through the Games segment. The writing definitely improved, and the world that she set up turned out to be much more in depth than I expected. It was a strange combination of a post apocalyptic world, where the people have nothing, and the electronic future, where everything is tracked and watched and televised. Obviously I found myself thinking of Lord of the Flies several times, but the Hunger Games had a sick twist, since the children should not have been in that situation in the first place.
I appreciated how dark she let the book get; I was afraid that being in the "young adult" genre would hinder her from going into too much detail. There was a nice balance between action and suspense and description, which is hard to do.
I didn't find that I "couldn't' put it down", but I did find myself curious as to what would happen. It was a really easy read, which was a nice change, and the plot was nicely pieced together. All in all, I'm glad that I read it, but I wouldn't say that I would read it again. I'll probably see the movie, and I might even read the rest of the trilogy if someone offers me the other two, but other than that, my time with the Hunger Games is finished. I gave it a chance, it didn't dazzle me but it did entertain me for a few hours, so that is that.
Cheers!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Words...
Words are definitely high on the list of my favorite things. No, this list does not actually exist, and probably never will, but I never tire of mentally adding things to it.
Let's see...blog blog blog. Well for starters, I posted a political statement on facebook. This is what I consider to be myself evolving into an adult. Granted, the post was a little negative, but you get the picture.
Ummm. Well, I've started delivering pizzas to people, which is actually quite fun! Granted, zero degree weather or rain could put a damper on things, but tonight was a BEAUTIFUL night, and I got paid to drive around (I may or may not have been listening to a book on my Ipod) and make people happy by bringing them food. There was actually a note on an online order that said "I'm drunk and hungry, plz hurry!! This was my favorite thing tonight. Honesty really is the best policy people! No, I didn't deliver their food, but the message still cracked me up. People are so crazy.
Presidential stuff is of no interest to me, which is silly because I'm always saying that we should respect our rights as Americans and use our freedom for the greater good. I'll figure out who I'm voting for when it comes around to that time of year again (ok fine, I still get excited at the idea that I'm old enough to vote again, sue me) but until then, I mostly stay out of political stuff.
So that's that.
I've really been trying to concentrate on "the little things" in life. Now that I'm graduated, I don't have ten things due in a day or have a bunch of meetings or classes or things that HAVE to get done. Also, the sermon last Sunday was about the parable of the talents (look it up, I'm not about to explain it) and how God really wants us to be diligent in the small things before he'll trust us with bigger things.
This was a really big deal for me. I've been struggling SO much lately about not having "big" tasks in my life. I want to be changing the world, not delivering pizzas! But God apparently has other things in mind for me right now. So, I've been using my free time to "be diligent" and try and stay grounded in what is important. Yesterday was one of the worst days I've had in a really long time (and if you know me at all, you probably know that I never have "bad days") and it seem to come at the worst time possible. I was like, really God? I'm trying my best to be diligent and you throw me this crap??
And then it hit me. I can't grow, or have any sort of substantial relationship with God, if I'm not tested. God gave me his fatherly all knowing look (I always personify God in my mind) and basically told me to suck it up. I've had an amazing life, and the little things that go wrong and seem to weigh me down are really pretty silly in the long run.
I was like, okay God, fine, I see your point. I'm going to remain diligent in the small things, even when it seems like everything is being thrown at me at one time. *grumble grumble*
Because really, if we can't remain true in the small tasks when things are going poorly, how can we ever expect to have big things thrust upon us and still survive?
So today, I woke up with a fresh attitude, and I concentrated on the small things. I drank coffee, I started a new book, and I dragged my awesome comfy chair onto my porch and basked in the sun. A friend who went to Cambridge with me once told me that "the sun is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" and I believe that with my whole heart. The fresh weather, sunshine, and relaxation completely rejuvenated me! I went to work with a smile, and I've had a great night thus far. Attitude is SO important, people. So yeah. On that note...
This is me, the humbled servant, signing off for the night.
:)
Let's see...blog blog blog. Well for starters, I posted a political statement on facebook. This is what I consider to be myself evolving into an adult. Granted, the post was a little negative, but you get the picture.
Ummm. Well, I've started delivering pizzas to people, which is actually quite fun! Granted, zero degree weather or rain could put a damper on things, but tonight was a BEAUTIFUL night, and I got paid to drive around (I may or may not have been listening to a book on my Ipod) and make people happy by bringing them food. There was actually a note on an online order that said "I'm drunk and hungry, plz hurry!! This was my favorite thing tonight. Honesty really is the best policy people! No, I didn't deliver their food, but the message still cracked me up. People are so crazy.
Presidential stuff is of no interest to me, which is silly because I'm always saying that we should respect our rights as Americans and use our freedom for the greater good. I'll figure out who I'm voting for when it comes around to that time of year again (ok fine, I still get excited at the idea that I'm old enough to vote again, sue me) but until then, I mostly stay out of political stuff.
So that's that.
I've really been trying to concentrate on "the little things" in life. Now that I'm graduated, I don't have ten things due in a day or have a bunch of meetings or classes or things that HAVE to get done. Also, the sermon last Sunday was about the parable of the talents (look it up, I'm not about to explain it) and how God really wants us to be diligent in the small things before he'll trust us with bigger things.
This was a really big deal for me. I've been struggling SO much lately about not having "big" tasks in my life. I want to be changing the world, not delivering pizzas! But God apparently has other things in mind for me right now. So, I've been using my free time to "be diligent" and try and stay grounded in what is important. Yesterday was one of the worst days I've had in a really long time (and if you know me at all, you probably know that I never have "bad days") and it seem to come at the worst time possible. I was like, really God? I'm trying my best to be diligent and you throw me this crap??
And then it hit me. I can't grow, or have any sort of substantial relationship with God, if I'm not tested. God gave me his fatherly all knowing look (I always personify God in my mind) and basically told me to suck it up. I've had an amazing life, and the little things that go wrong and seem to weigh me down are really pretty silly in the long run.
I was like, okay God, fine, I see your point. I'm going to remain diligent in the small things, even when it seems like everything is being thrown at me at one time. *grumble grumble*
Because really, if we can't remain true in the small tasks when things are going poorly, how can we ever expect to have big things thrust upon us and still survive?
So today, I woke up with a fresh attitude, and I concentrated on the small things. I drank coffee, I started a new book, and I dragged my awesome comfy chair onto my porch and basked in the sun. A friend who went to Cambridge with me once told me that "the sun is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" and I believe that with my whole heart. The fresh weather, sunshine, and relaxation completely rejuvenated me! I went to work with a smile, and I've had a great night thus far. Attitude is SO important, people. So yeah. On that note...
This is me, the humbled servant, signing off for the night.
:)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
FINE!
Ok ok OK people, I really and truly am going to try and blog more often. I have no idea why blogging is such a struggle for me, it makes no sense for a cynical writer to not enjoy putting her cynical thoughts down and having people read them. Maybe it is the fact that I doubt many people will read my posts, and I think it is a bit of a waste of time since I don't know how to do all of the fancy shmancy stuff with blogs that most people do. I'm going to try and start including pictures and stuff though, so hopefully that will make it a little cooler? Yes? Maybe? Arg.
What to say, what to say...
Lately I'm struggling immensely with the dreaded question: What comes next? Everyone has been asking me what my plan is now that I'm graduated, and I get extremely frustrated anytime someone asks me this. I've reverted to saying "I'm just chilling" or the ever popular "I'm going to be a writer!" (I absolutely love how uncomfortable people get when I say the latter, they back away slowly and tell me how lovely that is...haha)
The problem for me is that there isn't much that I could do that I wouldn't be happy with. Let's see, a mortician, a coroner, a nurse, a Wal-Mart employee, a construction worker, and a truck driver are pretty much the only jobs that I wouldn't enjoy. Actually scratch truck driver, that would actually be kind of awesome. I could wear flannel all day and have an awesome dog for company.
Anyways.
The point is, at every stage of my life thus far, I've been content. More than content actually, I've been happy. No matter where I live or what I'm doing, I'm always fine with it. 9 out of 10 people who ask me what I'm doing now assume that I've moved back to my hometown, which really blows my mind. Don't get me wrong, I love North Carolina, but my town is so small and really has nothing for me right now, especially when I've pretty much got the world at my fingertips.
I've considered the Peace Corps, long term missions work, teaching English somewhere random, going on and getting my masters (I would only do this if it was somewhere abroad, I'm thinking Edinburgh) or just moving to a big city and trying to find a random job. The last option is the least appealing to me, but it seems to be what a lot of people assume I'm going to do. For me, right now, Cleveland is great because I'm comfortable here, I know people, I have connections with professors at school, and I have a great job (not great pay, but amazing people and an insanely flexible schedule) that pays the bills. Also, I have free time to write, and I'm freelancing for a tax software company based out of my hometown.
But alas, I know that my college days are over, which probably means I should get out of my college town, but I just can't seem to figure out where to go next! It's not that I don't have enough options, on the contrary, I seem to have too many. I could seriously do anything and everything and probably be happy. I could live anywhere (except maybe Antarctica, but I do love penguins...) and do any job, and be content.
Anyway, those are my current frustrations. Most people seem to think I need to have some big master plan for my life, but I honestly never gave much thought to post-college life. Graduation was always the goal, and it seems so unfair at how fast everything turns on you. One second everyone is super happy for you because you are about to graduate, then suddenly, they turn into an angry mob, demanding to know what your next move is going to be. Not fair.
I'm sure I'll get bored in Cleveland, but for now I try and stay busy reading and writing and working and hanging out with my friends. And catching up on sleep ;) My first endeavor after graduation was to reread all the Harry Potter books (granted, I've read them all at least five times, but not consecutively) which I've now almost accomplished. Next, I'm reading the Hunger Games, which I'm actually dreading because of the crazy hype surrounding it.
Oh crap, I promised pictures! I need to go back through and add some fun visual stimulation, which you will have seen by the time you read this, so maybe I should just erase this sentence. Nah.
So I can't think of any images that would be appropriate for this post. I promise I'll include pictures in some posts from now on!!
What to say, what to say...
Lately I'm struggling immensely with the dreaded question: What comes next? Everyone has been asking me what my plan is now that I'm graduated, and I get extremely frustrated anytime someone asks me this. I've reverted to saying "I'm just chilling" or the ever popular "I'm going to be a writer!" (I absolutely love how uncomfortable people get when I say the latter, they back away slowly and tell me how lovely that is...haha)
The problem for me is that there isn't much that I could do that I wouldn't be happy with. Let's see, a mortician, a coroner, a nurse, a Wal-Mart employee, a construction worker, and a truck driver are pretty much the only jobs that I wouldn't enjoy. Actually scratch truck driver, that would actually be kind of awesome. I could wear flannel all day and have an awesome dog for company.
Anyways.
The point is, at every stage of my life thus far, I've been content. More than content actually, I've been happy. No matter where I live or what I'm doing, I'm always fine with it. 9 out of 10 people who ask me what I'm doing now assume that I've moved back to my hometown, which really blows my mind. Don't get me wrong, I love North Carolina, but my town is so small and really has nothing for me right now, especially when I've pretty much got the world at my fingertips.
I've considered the Peace Corps, long term missions work, teaching English somewhere random, going on and getting my masters (I would only do this if it was somewhere abroad, I'm thinking Edinburgh) or just moving to a big city and trying to find a random job. The last option is the least appealing to me, but it seems to be what a lot of people assume I'm going to do. For me, right now, Cleveland is great because I'm comfortable here, I know people, I have connections with professors at school, and I have a great job (not great pay, but amazing people and an insanely flexible schedule) that pays the bills. Also, I have free time to write, and I'm freelancing for a tax software company based out of my hometown.
But alas, I know that my college days are over, which probably means I should get out of my college town, but I just can't seem to figure out where to go next! It's not that I don't have enough options, on the contrary, I seem to have too many. I could seriously do anything and everything and probably be happy. I could live anywhere (except maybe Antarctica, but I do love penguins...) and do any job, and be content.
Anyway, those are my current frustrations. Most people seem to think I need to have some big master plan for my life, but I honestly never gave much thought to post-college life. Graduation was always the goal, and it seems so unfair at how fast everything turns on you. One second everyone is super happy for you because you are about to graduate, then suddenly, they turn into an angry mob, demanding to know what your next move is going to be. Not fair.
I'm sure I'll get bored in Cleveland, but for now I try and stay busy reading and writing and working and hanging out with my friends. And catching up on sleep ;) My first endeavor after graduation was to reread all the Harry Potter books (granted, I've read them all at least five times, but not consecutively) which I've now almost accomplished. Next, I'm reading the Hunger Games, which I'm actually dreading because of the crazy hype surrounding it.
Oh crap, I promised pictures! I need to go back through and add some fun visual stimulation, which you will have seen by the time you read this, so maybe I should just erase this sentence. Nah.
So I can't think of any images that would be appropriate for this post. I promise I'll include pictures in some posts from now on!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
My Labor Day
Well, as most of you were complaining about it raining on your holiday and how you had to stay inside and watch movies all day, I figured I would share my day.
I woke up at 7:00 to read and get ready for the day (drink coffee, write a few letters, watch the rain, etc). It was a really nice way to start the day.
I went to class at 9:30, yes, we have class on labor day. I've honestly never been upset about it because I've gotten used to it while being at Lee. I had class until twelve, when I got my lunch and headed home. I had a break until my class at 4, so I planned on eating, watching a movie, and possibly napping before class and then work after. I got a text, asking anyone who could to come in and help at work because they were slammed. I felt guilty that people were there in the hectic weather trying to deliver pizzas, so I decided to go help. And help. And help some more.
Suddenly, it's ten o clock and I realize that I'm still at the store. It's now twelve thirty, and I've been home for about thirty minutes. Let's just say, it was a looong day. And it isn't over.
I've got to read about fifty pages and write a project proposal for my classes tomorrow.
Here's to hoping that Lee does something awesome: CANCEL CLASSES! This would be awesome but will probably not happen. Although there are several roads that are closed, so I really could just say I couldn't get to school. That would be wrong though..Arg I'm so tired of moral dilemmas.
So yeah, my labor day was exhausting, but I function best when I'm extremely busy. I've been getting a lot more done.
In other news, I was quite happy last Thursday because I successfully paid my bills, all on my own.
Ok I really can't take any more time to blog because I have school work looming, staring at me and begging me to come do it. But my bed is also trying to convince me that I should be laying in it instead...who will win? We will find out.
I love the rain more than most things in this world. There's something very calming and peaceful about it.
What I don't love, however, is monsoons that make the roads dangerous. My friend Brittney wrecked on the highway yesterday because she hydroplaned. Its pretty serious stuff.
But I still love rain nonetheless. It makes me feel like I have a right to be relaxing.
Goodnight!
I woke up at 7:00 to read and get ready for the day (drink coffee, write a few letters, watch the rain, etc). It was a really nice way to start the day.
I went to class at 9:30, yes, we have class on labor day. I've honestly never been upset about it because I've gotten used to it while being at Lee. I had class until twelve, when I got my lunch and headed home. I had a break until my class at 4, so I planned on eating, watching a movie, and possibly napping before class and then work after. I got a text, asking anyone who could to come in and help at work because they were slammed. I felt guilty that people were there in the hectic weather trying to deliver pizzas, so I decided to go help. And help. And help some more.
Suddenly, it's ten o clock and I realize that I'm still at the store. It's now twelve thirty, and I've been home for about thirty minutes. Let's just say, it was a looong day. And it isn't over.
I've got to read about fifty pages and write a project proposal for my classes tomorrow.
Here's to hoping that Lee does something awesome: CANCEL CLASSES! This would be awesome but will probably not happen. Although there are several roads that are closed, so I really could just say I couldn't get to school. That would be wrong though..Arg I'm so tired of moral dilemmas.
So yeah, my labor day was exhausting, but I function best when I'm extremely busy. I've been getting a lot more done.
In other news, I was quite happy last Thursday because I successfully paid my bills, all on my own.
Ok I really can't take any more time to blog because I have school work looming, staring at me and begging me to come do it. But my bed is also trying to convince me that I should be laying in it instead...who will win? We will find out.
I love the rain more than most things in this world. There's something very calming and peaceful about it.
What I don't love, however, is monsoons that make the roads dangerous. My friend Brittney wrecked on the highway yesterday because she hydroplaned. Its pretty serious stuff.
But I still love rain nonetheless. It makes me feel like I have a right to be relaxing.
Goodnight!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
So I guess I'll do a little recap of my life the past two weeks.
I left Franklin, moved back to Cleveland. Suzanne and I found an apartment and signed the lease in one day, and we were even successful in knocking fifty dollars off our rent AND not having to pay a deposit. Yeah, we're that good. Our utilities are officially in our name, and the internet people are coming on Monday. It's a crazy feeling, being an adult. Now that I've decided to pay my own bills, life is more stressful, but also a little more satisfying. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything; I've been blessed beyond what I deserve with parents who are more than generous and willing to help me whenever I need it. Which is probably why I'm ready to do stuff on my own.
So we moved everything in, and our furniture is super cute! Suzanne's brother gave her his old living room stuff, so everything matches (including my futon, crazy!) and our kitchen is quaint, just like everything in this apartment.
In other news, my pending graduation in December is stressing me out to the max. I have five writing/reading intensive classes, which means 3 separate 20 page papers, three presentations, and two 15 page papers. Not to mention a grand total of 15 books that I will have completely read by the end of the semester. Ahhhh!! I'm trying to take everything a day at a time, so far I have successfully done at least an hour of homework and an hour of reading every night, which is new for me because usually I can do things the morning they're due and not have to read in order to get by, but I'm really trying to excel this semester, not just scrape by.
But that's boring school stuff. Unfortunately, it's my focus this semester. Part of me wishes I would have spread it out between this semester and next semester and just graduate in May, but I'm really feeling the need to just work really really hard to get all of this done in one straight shot.
Not to mention I also have a part time job (remember the whole paying my own bills thing?) which requires at least 20-25 hours a week of my precious time. Sigh.
I've never thought of weekends as a time to catch up on homework until now. I wrote two small papers today, and read 100 pages of one of my books. Who am I??? This is craziness. Instead of watching movies and napping all day until time to go to work, I'm actually being productive?? Good grief. It's like I'm an adult or something.
That's pretty much all about my life right now. I'm terribly sorry it didn't contain a lot of sarcastic observations about people or delightfully cynical insights of life. My brain feels so squished with information already (three days into the semester, yikes) that it's difficult for me to be witty right now. Hopefully I'll have some wit and charm in my next post. In fact, it will be my goal.
I worked until 12:30 am this morning, and I'm about to head back to work. At least I love the people I work with, because that makes all the difference.
Here's a quote from the book I'm reading, The French Lietenants Woman by John Fowles.
He is speaking about writers, and the reasons we write.
"We wish to create worlds as real as, but other than the world that is. Or was. This is why we cannot plan. We know a world is an organism, not a machine. We also know that a genuinely created world must be independent of its creator; a planned world (a world that fully reveals its planning) is a dead world. It is only when our characters and events begin to disobey us that they begin to live."
Word.
I left Franklin, moved back to Cleveland. Suzanne and I found an apartment and signed the lease in one day, and we were even successful in knocking fifty dollars off our rent AND not having to pay a deposit. Yeah, we're that good. Our utilities are officially in our name, and the internet people are coming on Monday. It's a crazy feeling, being an adult. Now that I've decided to pay my own bills, life is more stressful, but also a little more satisfying. Not that I'm ungrateful or anything; I've been blessed beyond what I deserve with parents who are more than generous and willing to help me whenever I need it. Which is probably why I'm ready to do stuff on my own.
So we moved everything in, and our furniture is super cute! Suzanne's brother gave her his old living room stuff, so everything matches (including my futon, crazy!) and our kitchen is quaint, just like everything in this apartment.
In other news, my pending graduation in December is stressing me out to the max. I have five writing/reading intensive classes, which means 3 separate 20 page papers, three presentations, and two 15 page papers. Not to mention a grand total of 15 books that I will have completely read by the end of the semester. Ahhhh!! I'm trying to take everything a day at a time, so far I have successfully done at least an hour of homework and an hour of reading every night, which is new for me because usually I can do things the morning they're due and not have to read in order to get by, but I'm really trying to excel this semester, not just scrape by.
But that's boring school stuff. Unfortunately, it's my focus this semester. Part of me wishes I would have spread it out between this semester and next semester and just graduate in May, but I'm really feeling the need to just work really really hard to get all of this done in one straight shot.
Not to mention I also have a part time job (remember the whole paying my own bills thing?) which requires at least 20-25 hours a week of my precious time. Sigh.
I've never thought of weekends as a time to catch up on homework until now. I wrote two small papers today, and read 100 pages of one of my books. Who am I??? This is craziness. Instead of watching movies and napping all day until time to go to work, I'm actually being productive?? Good grief. It's like I'm an adult or something.
That's pretty much all about my life right now. I'm terribly sorry it didn't contain a lot of sarcastic observations about people or delightfully cynical insights of life. My brain feels so squished with information already (three days into the semester, yikes) that it's difficult for me to be witty right now. Hopefully I'll have some wit and charm in my next post. In fact, it will be my goal.
I worked until 12:30 am this morning, and I'm about to head back to work. At least I love the people I work with, because that makes all the difference.
Here's a quote from the book I'm reading, The French Lietenants Woman by John Fowles.
He is speaking about writers, and the reasons we write.
"We wish to create worlds as real as, but other than the world that is. Or was. This is why we cannot plan. We know a world is an organism, not a machine. We also know that a genuinely created world must be independent of its creator; a planned world (a world that fully reveals its planning) is a dead world. It is only when our characters and events begin to disobey us that they begin to live."
Word.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Glorious Day
The day before yesterday was a glorious afternoon. I came home from work around 4 and immediately noticed how fantastic it felt outside. It was a mere 80 degrees with a lovely light breeze which contained the foreshadow crispness of autumn. I couldn't stand the thought of being inside any longer after working inside all day, so I grabbed my "yard laying supplies". For those of you who don't know, my top ten necessary yard laying supplies are as follows:
1. Blanket (preferably big enough to spread everything out on and lay down comfortably)
2. At least 1 book
3. Musical playing device
4. Journal and pens
5. Quote book
6. Letter writing material
7. Sun glasses or hat
8. Bug spray
9. Camera
10. Snack and/or drink
I may take all ten of these things, or mix and match a few. Depends on how much time I have. I also have to wear dirty clothes in case I decide to climb a tree. Which happened the other day, and it was fabulous, regardless of the fact that my dog freaked out and thought I was dying and kept jumping in the air, attempting to bite my foot to pull me down. Which of course was funny at first, but not so funny when he almost succeeded to pull me off the branch as I climbed back down. I have to say, it was one of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in awhile. I read a book called The French Lieutenant's Woman, which is set in England and so I read it out loud in a British accent to my cat. Yes, I did feel like Alice reading to her cat Dinah and no, I did not see a white rabbit. I've decided to have days like that more often. Even if I don't have time to do it for very long, I need to lay on a blanket outside and read a book as often as I can. It's good for the soul, and that's something
you can't afford to be bad to.
This time spent outside reminded me of two things. One was an afternoon in Cambridge with Ashley and Molly spent in the park on a blanket. All three of us being English majors, it only seemed appropriate that we would bring an ungodly amount of books, journals, etc..
And we just soaked up the sunshine we had missed oh so much while living in England.
It was a magical day for us because warm days were rare, as you can imagine since we lived there from January to April!
I was also reminded of a little trip I took one day in Cambridge by myself. I went to a park that none of us ever went to since it was on the opposite side of town (bear in mind we were always on bikes!). I discovered this fantastic tree:
I mean, seriously, how stinkin AWESOME is this tree? Doesn't it make you just want to go lay under it, or climb into it? I decided to do the first idea and spent the afternoon relaxing under this magnificent tree.
I had a lovely view of a playground!
That's it for now, folks. Take time to enjoy the little things!
If you want to read more about my England/European travels, check out my travel blog.
http://mydistantlands.tumblr.com/
Byeee!
1. Blanket (preferably big enough to spread everything out on and lay down comfortably)
2. At least 1 book
3. Musical playing device
4. Journal and pens
5. Quote book
6. Letter writing material
7. Sun glasses or hat
8. Bug spray
9. Camera
10. Snack and/or drink
I may take all ten of these things, or mix and match a few. Depends on how much time I have. I also have to wear dirty clothes in case I decide to climb a tree. Which happened the other day, and it was fabulous, regardless of the fact that my dog freaked out and thought I was dying and kept jumping in the air, attempting to bite my foot to pull me down. Which of course was funny at first, but not so funny when he almost succeeded to pull me off the branch as I climbed back down. I have to say, it was one of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in awhile. I read a book called The French Lieutenant's Woman, which is set in England and so I read it out loud in a British accent to my cat. Yes, I did feel like Alice reading to her cat Dinah and no, I did not see a white rabbit. I've decided to have days like that more often. Even if I don't have time to do it for very long, I need to lay on a blanket outside and read a book as often as I can. It's good for the soul, and that's something
you can't afford to be bad to.
This time spent outside reminded me of two things. One was an afternoon in Cambridge with Ashley and Molly spent in the park on a blanket. All three of us being English majors, it only seemed appropriate that we would bring an ungodly amount of books, journals, etc..
And we just soaked up the sunshine we had missed oh so much while living in England.
It was a magical day for us because warm days were rare, as you can imagine since we lived there from January to April!
I was also reminded of a little trip I took one day in Cambridge by myself. I went to a park that none of us ever went to since it was on the opposite side of town (bear in mind we were always on bikes!). I discovered this fantastic tree:
I mean, seriously, how stinkin AWESOME is this tree? Doesn't it make you just want to go lay under it, or climb into it? I decided to do the first idea and spent the afternoon relaxing under this magnificent tree.
I had a lovely view of a playground!
So as you can see, it was a great day in Cambridge that was spent exploring and wandering to my heart's content. That evening, there was an amazing sunset.
Ahh...talk about lovely! Man, I miss England.
Ahh...talk about lovely! Man, I miss England.
If you want to read more about my England/European travels, check out my travel blog.
http://mydistantlands.tumblr.com/
Byeee!
Bloggers Galore
My dad mentioned to me awhile back that he was sad that I wasn’t still blogging. I replied with the obvious answer: I’m not traveling, so why would I keep up my travel blog? This answer didn’t seem sufficient for him, but I brushed it off and went about my merry way.
I’ve been really, really bored at work the past few days, so I’ve been reading a few blogs that have thousands of followers. I really enjoy reading them, but I’m beginning to notice a few things about them. First of all, these writers are young. Not young in the sense that they are under 30. I mean that about 90 percent of them are my age, if not younger. Second, the most popular blogs seem to be women (I say women even though I am their age and don’t consider myself a “woman”) with husbands and kids. People want to read about housewives! What is this about? Most of them have side jobs, but their blogs have gotten so popular that they are able to sell advertising and literally make a living off of their thoughts and musings about their daily activities! What the heck?
So, I guess what I’m getting at is that I’m going to use this blog as a bit of a practice blog. I’m going to force myself to write a few times a week (maybe? hopefully? we’ll see) and just see what happens. Unlike most bloggers, the thought that people might be reading does the opposite of exciting me, it intimidates me. I’ve never been one to let people read my writing or know my thoughts, mostly because I feel like I’m 90 percent crazy about 90 percent of the time. But hey, I’m 22, so I really don’t have much to lose by just putting what I think about life and random things from my day into an internet blog.
Did you think I was finished? Oh no, you thought wrong. This is my first attempt at writing about my day/week/life, so here goes.
Thoughts:
-I really hate how facebook keeps all of your friend requests, even the ones you deny (they don’t call it denying anymore though, it is the “not now” button these days). Even when you say no, it still keeps them, it just “hides” them. As if one day I might think, hey, what ever happened to that 50 year old creepy man that wanted to be my friend? He didn’t seem so bad, maybe I should go back and befriend him! Um, no. Not happening. If I change my mind, let me find the person and request them myself. Sometimes facebook tries to be too helpful.
-People seem to think that since I’m young and unsure of what I’m doing with my life, that entitles everyone and their uncle to give me advice. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it is very helpful, but the ones that got married and had kids young always give me the “stay single while you can!” speech, at the same time the ones that stayed single for a long time give me the “find love and hold onto it because it’s the only thing that matters!” talk. I used to think I needed to take everyone’s advice as signs from God that were leading me in a certain direction, but I realize now that people are just trying to be helpful and I should heed warnings, learn from others’ mistakes, but blaze my own trail and do what I want to do.
-The more I think about my future, the more I’m realizing how different our generation is from the ones before us. Our grandparents didn’t think about what career they wanted to pursue; they just did whatever job they were given and pursued it with everything they had. Women didn’t worry about being independent and staying young forever, they just married if they fell in love and had kids and stayed content with their life. People from that generation seem to be so much more content with the cards they are dealt. Today, everyone’s motto seems to be “if you don’t like your life, change it! do everything it takes to get everything you want!” I don’t know, to an extent this seems ok but for some reason it just seems better to not be constantly wanting something different than what you have.
I think that’s all I really have to discuss right now. Maybe I’ll write a blog about my family’s medical mission trip to Panama soon. It was definitely a trip worth telling people about. We’ll see.
One more thing, I never read over my writing before turning it in. It’s a nasty terrible habit I have that is the cause for a lot of spelling and grammatical errors, not to mention typos. Maybe I’ll try and be better about this. Maybe I won’t. You never know with me.
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)