A week ago today we lost Alex. This morning at work R.S. presented me with a copy of his book as thanks for the encouragement I gave him. I blogged back in September about how he immortalized Alex as a character in his stories. It was bittersweet re-reading the parts with Alex in them. Mostly good feelings but there were some tears.
On a happier note.... the blog is one-year old today! I started this blog on a whim without really knowing what I wanted out of it. I've used it not only as a means of communication with family, but also as a diary to help my memory and as a digital scrapbook too. It's really become a special thing to me.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year... New Look!
D did a fabulous job on my new header. He is so gifted. I tried to convey to him the shape and look I was going for and he made it happen. Yes, I liked the plushie croc I started out with, he was cute. He's still for sale on Etsy.com (and still overpriced, as evidenced by the fact that he's been posted for nearly a year now). I found a different plushie on Flickr that I would love to have, but it's already owned by a very happy infant. I wanted a real logo, something different for the new year. I'm very pleased with it.
Last night D played for the Foothills New Year bash. I wish I could have gone and watched him perform. I felt so bad when he said he watched those couples in the ballroom and wanted to dance with me. But even at half-price I didn't think the ticket was worth it. We had an invite to a party with some church friends so I was over there and D came later. It was a good time. We didn't get to bed until 1AM or so because we were all mesmerized by watching some idiot daredevil trying to kill himself in Las Vegas.
D and I finally dragged ourselves out of bed to eat breakfast and watch Dr. No. I've been on a James Bond kick lately. This is the Christmas present I bought for myself: a collection of Fleming's novels. It's not a complete set but it's a start.
Breakfast was leftover brownies and milk. We simply must clear the house of junk food before we resume our healthy eating habits. Fenimore decided to help.
Today I have nothing more extravagant planned than to start my 999 reading challenge with the LT group. The goal is 81 books. I read 93 books in 2008 (the list is here). My favorites were:
The Gargoyle ...Andrew Davidson
Garden Spells ...Sarah Addison Allen
Doctor No ...Ian Fleming
Blackberry Wine ...Joanne Harris
Down River ...John Hart
Hopscotch ...Kevin J. Anderson
Heartsick ...Chelsea Cain
Stray Dogs ...John Ridley
Inkspell ...Cornelia Funke
A Kiss Before Dying ...Ira Levin
An Aquaintance With Darkness ...Ann Rinaldi
99 Coffins ...David Wellington
Spiral ...Koji Suzuki
ETA: We had Chinese takeout for Lupper. I eagerly broke open my fortune cookie to see what it forecasted for the new year. It was empty. No fortune at all. I hope that prediction doesn't hold true!
Last night D played for the Foothills New Year bash. I wish I could have gone and watched him perform. I felt so bad when he said he watched those couples in the ballroom and wanted to dance with me. But even at half-price I didn't think the ticket was worth it. We had an invite to a party with some church friends so I was over there and D came later. It was a good time. We didn't get to bed until 1AM or so because we were all mesmerized by watching some idiot daredevil trying to kill himself in Las Vegas.
D and I finally dragged ourselves out of bed to eat breakfast and watch Dr. No. I've been on a James Bond kick lately. This is the Christmas present I bought for myself: a collection of Fleming's novels. It's not a complete set but it's a start.
Breakfast was leftover brownies and milk. We simply must clear the house of junk food before we resume our healthy eating habits. Fenimore decided to help.
Today I have nothing more extravagant planned than to start my 999 reading challenge with the LT group. The goal is 81 books. I read 93 books in 2008 (the list is here). My favorites were:
The Gargoyle ...Andrew Davidson
Garden Spells ...Sarah Addison Allen
Doctor No ...Ian Fleming
Blackberry Wine ...Joanne Harris
Down River ...John Hart
Hopscotch ...Kevin J. Anderson
Heartsick ...Chelsea Cain
Stray Dogs ...John Ridley
Inkspell ...Cornelia Funke
A Kiss Before Dying ...Ira Levin
An Aquaintance With Darkness ...Ann Rinaldi
99 Coffins ...David Wellington
Spiral ...Koji Suzuki
ETA: We had Chinese takeout for Lupper. I eagerly broke open my fortune cookie to see what it forecasted for the new year. It was empty. No fortune at all. I hope that prediction doesn't hold true!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Why I Blog *** 100th Post ***
Wow! Earlier this year I started this blog on a whim. I never thought of it as something I would stick with. It was an experiment and now it has become a part of my life. Last week when I noticed my post count was headed towards three digits I started to seriously think about the blog. In particular, asking myself 'why do I blog?' Here's what I came up with:
To Learn New Technology
After visiting so many well-written and beautifully laid-out blogs my natural response was 'I can do that', but I didn't know how. Creating my blog was a learning experience for me. And it still is even today. Just last week I tried to post a video and failed miserably. I did successfully add a ticker to my Bogart movie list, so that was positive. I do not consider myself computer saavy and this is a way for me to continue learning a skillset.
Communication With Family
I know there's email and phone and I do occasionally still get snail-mail from Mom, but the blog is one more way of keeping in touch with family. Just about the first question I used to be asked was 'what's going on with you?' The blog takes care of that. I feel that my family is closer to me now because they know me better. That may not be true, but it's how I perceive it. I think it's been a great conversation starter too.
Therapy
Yes, my blog is theraputic. When I compose a post I'm working through my thoughts and expressing them, getting them out, which is healthy. This is my place, my forum for my thoughts. When I had that really bad day flying with Delta I blogged about it. Then I went and told Delta that I had blogged to the world about it - and that made me feel even better. The blog can be cathartic. There have even been studies done on that very subject so at least I know I'm not off in left field on this one.
To Keep in the Practice of Writing
The other day Mom and I were gabbing and she equated my blog with my journalism. I had not really thought of it that way before. Even though I haven't written for a paper since my CN days, I still have my training and sometimes I think like a journalist. These posts are little articles and dispatches from my world. Even if they're not in newspaper style at least they keep me in practice.
Improve My Memory
My memory is horrible. Maybe D's memory is just awesome, but mine pales in comparison. There are huge chunks of my life that I don't remember. I was told all through school that the act of writing things down aides the memory in retaining information. So this blog is a record of my days. A diary, if you will. I think it's working. I have been able to remember things better but it's only been a few months. We'll have to see if that is true in the long term.
Digital Scrapbooking
I used to love making scrapbooks. Used to - I lost the affection for them somewhere. But I very much enjoy posting pictures to my blog. So those blogs that are mostly pictures with just a few words here and there are my digital scrapbook. I think in some ways it's even better than physical scrapbooks because any family who wants a picture can just download it. Also, I don't have to worry about losing a scrapbook in a house fire or flooding or to a person who neglects to return it or damages it.
It's Fun
'nuff said.
To Learn New Technology
After visiting so many well-written and beautifully laid-out blogs my natural response was 'I can do that', but I didn't know how. Creating my blog was a learning experience for me. And it still is even today. Just last week I tried to post a video and failed miserably. I did successfully add a ticker to my Bogart movie list, so that was positive. I do not consider myself computer saavy and this is a way for me to continue learning a skillset.
Communication With Family
I know there's email and phone and I do occasionally still get snail-mail from Mom, but the blog is one more way of keeping in touch with family. Just about the first question I used to be asked was 'what's going on with you?' The blog takes care of that. I feel that my family is closer to me now because they know me better. That may not be true, but it's how I perceive it. I think it's been a great conversation starter too.
Therapy
Yes, my blog is theraputic. When I compose a post I'm working through my thoughts and expressing them, getting them out, which is healthy. This is my place, my forum for my thoughts. When I had that really bad day flying with Delta I blogged about it. Then I went and told Delta that I had blogged to the world about it - and that made me feel even better. The blog can be cathartic. There have even been studies done on that very subject so at least I know I'm not off in left field on this one.
To Keep in the Practice of Writing
The other day Mom and I were gabbing and she equated my blog with my journalism. I had not really thought of it that way before. Even though I haven't written for a paper since my CN days, I still have my training and sometimes I think like a journalist. These posts are little articles and dispatches from my world. Even if they're not in newspaper style at least they keep me in practice.
Improve My Memory
My memory is horrible. Maybe D's memory is just awesome, but mine pales in comparison. There are huge chunks of my life that I don't remember. I was told all through school that the act of writing things down aides the memory in retaining information. So this blog is a record of my days. A diary, if you will. I think it's working. I have been able to remember things better but it's only been a few months. We'll have to see if that is true in the long term.
Digital Scrapbooking
I used to love making scrapbooks. Used to - I lost the affection for them somewhere. But I very much enjoy posting pictures to my blog. So those blogs that are mostly pictures with just a few words here and there are my digital scrapbook. I think in some ways it's even better than physical scrapbooks because any family who wants a picture can just download it. Also, I don't have to worry about losing a scrapbook in a house fire or flooding or to a person who neglects to return it or damages it.
It's Fun
'nuff said.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Readability Test & the 999 Challenge
Today I was reading a friend's blog and found a link to a website that tests a webpage's readability level. So I put in my URL and it said high school level. I also read that according to national literacy statistics, half of Americans read at the eighth-grade level or lower. That was disappointing to me.I'm so glad that my Dad passed down his love of books to me. He kept hand-written lists of books he read, mostly during his high school and college days. Inspired by that, I kept a reading journal-log for several years but this year I ditched the paper and went completely digital. I think if Daddy were still around he would get a kick out of the reading challenges we have on LibraryThing.
I've never participated in an LT challenge before because some are daunting. There's the Dewey Challenge where you read a book in each of the Dewey Decimal numbers. There are groups reading all the Pulitzer Prize winners or Orange Prize books or Booker prize books. I'm not that much into 'literary' fiction so those are not for me. I've chosen to do the 999 Challenge. You define 9 categories (anything you want) and then read 9 books in each category during the year 2009. Really crazy people try to finish all 81 books by 9/9/09. I've already read 82 books this year so I know I can do it. To challenge myself I picked a few categories that I don't normally read (Travelogue and Self-Improvement). I am insanely excited about the 999. Must be the lack of sleep.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day at Long Forest
Woke up to rain. Thought the day was going to be gloomy but after lunch the sun came out. Spent some time taking pictures in SRL's garden. It was peaceful and relaxing, I enjoyed it very much.
Made Daddy's Peanut Butter Pie. D's right, it was a little too sweet. Will tinker with it next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
