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Hello, 2019!

Posted in Books, Dance, Food, Getting It Together, Music, Resolutions, Writing on January 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »

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While I prefer a more social New Year’s Eve (I know – it feels just as weird to type it as it does to read it, but it’s one of the days of the year I like having plans), this was a pretty good fallback option.

Today has been both relaxed and productive. I did laundry, reorganized my dresser drawers, and broke open my shiny new planner (YAY!). I usually do two posts for goals at the beginning of the year to help sharpen my focus. Today’s post is a tangible to-do list for goals that I track throughout the year (well, except for one of them which is a one-and-done thing. And yes, there are actual charts). Tomorrow, I’ll talk about my word for the year. It’s a doozy.

  1. Read 100 books. I think I’m going to start posting my TBR list at the first of each month and then look back over it at the end of the month to see how close I actually stuck to it. This year, I’m revisiting some favorite authors (expect some Douglas Coupland, Haruki Murakami, Isabel Allende, etc.), brushing up on some classics, and keeping up with my three book clubs. The January TBR list:
    * The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
    * Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
    * Sphinx by Anne Garreta
    * Many Subtle Channels by Daniel Levin Becker
    * A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (Epiphany isn’t until Sunday – I have five days!)
    * Becoming by Michelle Obama
    * The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
    * Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
    * You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
    * Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende
    * Role Models by John Waters
    This may seem like a lot, but some of them are super short, and I have a 24in48 weekend coming up at the end of January!
  2. Renew my passport. I don’t necessarily have plans to travel outside the country this year, but I am adopting a you-never-know attitude about it, so I’d like to be prepared, just in case.
  3. Develop a daily creativity practice. My creativity veers in a lot of different directions, so this doesn’t have to look the same every day. It could be playing piano, dancing, writing poetry, building something, knitting, decorating or rearranging a space, or trying (or, let’s be real – tweaking) new recipes. But I know I get bored and restless if I’m not flexing those creative muscles, so I want to be more intentional about it.
  4. Continue building physically nourishing habits. By the end of the year, I want to be exercising four times a week, drinking an adequate amount of water daily, and feeding myself well. I have specific mini-goals to build up to it so that I won’t find myself looking back on this post in November and thinking, “Hmm…guess I better eat a carrot.”
  5. Get rid of something(s) in my overtaxed schedule in order to carve out time to do the writing I actually like to do (i.e., fiction, poetry, essays, blogging) on a regular basis.

Do you have resolutions for the upcoming year? What are they?

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Friday Five – Five Things I Learned in 2018

Posted in Andilit, Books, Core, Fishbowl, Friday Five, Resolutions, Run, Writing on December 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Some of my favorite photos of 2018

This year has been…challenging. It hasn’t been terrible, but it also hasn’t been great. Even in not-so-great times, though, I can still learn and move forward. Here are five things I learned this year.

  1. So much of my 2018 has felt like busy work. We talked a lot about strengths at work, and my word of the year was “core.” One of the effects of examining my strengths and core values is that I realized how much what I do doesn’t match them. I didn’t write as many posts about core values (I think I finished two – hope and story) as I planned because I’m disappointed in how little time I make for the things I love the most. Expect more of these posts in the new year as I continue to unravel them.
  2. Setting high goals is good for me whether I reach them or not. I didn’t reach my goal of reading 100 books this year, but in shooting for it, I read 14 more than I did in 2017. I streamlined my budget and thus was able to purchase a keyboard and pay for the entire trip to the writers’ retreat at God’s Whisper Farm without putting it on a credit card. I got out more and saw more of Denton than I had the previous year.
  3. I am more disciplined than I thought I was. My planner looks like it was run over by a truck. Like I said, the year has been busy. Yet when I set a short-term goal with a deadline, I met it. I finished my first draft of Fishbowl (and have since dismantled it and now I need to write more to fill it out, but it’s going to be so much better). I made enough money with my freelance gig in my spare time in August (a month not historically known for an abundance of spare time in my world) to pay my rent (proving that I could probably make a living just doing freelance work if I wanted to).
  4. If I’m going to stick to an exercise plan, I have to risk something. I don’t tend to stick to a running schedule unless I am breaking in new, expensive shoes, because I feel like I have to justify the investment. I had no problem exercising in college because I was taking dance and PE classes (PSA: do not take modern, tap, and swim conditioning in the same semester. You will be so tired.), so both my pocketbook and my GPA were on the line. One of my resolutions was to either use my gym membership or cancel it. But it’s only $10 a month, so if I go even twice, my brain registers that minimal effort as getting my money’s worth. I recently started going to Club Pilates, and it’s considerably more than $10 a month. I have no problem making it there two or three times a week. Part of that is that I love Pilates (and I especially love it on the machines), but the main reason is that I am sacrificing other things to be able to afford it, so I’m going to get every session I pay for.
  5. Reading in Spanish is harder than I thought it would be, but I’m learning so much faster by doing so. It’s going to take me a while to get through this book, but I think I’ve found my favorite way to learn a language.

 

So that’s 2018. I’m looking forward to the new year and what it will bring.

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My Favorite Line – a #sheofthewildwrites prompt

Posted in Books, Prompts on December 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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“I think that there are as many minds as there are heads and as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” – from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina

I’m currently reading two (two…five…whatever) books right now. I still haven’t finished the one for book club earlier this month, but I like it, so I’m working my way through. I am also working through Anna Karenina. I really had hoped I would love it. I have 300 more pages. Tolstoy can still turn it around. I believe in him. I am liking it more than I did when I started, so I guess that’s something.

The book I’m reading for Advent – Those Who Wait by Tanya Marlow – has me pondering love and the odd ways it shows up (or fails to do so…lots of thoughts and feelings about that). So, of course, quotes about love are standing out to me.

From Alice Hoffman’s Faithful – 

“Love is a mystery. It’s like an alien abduction. You think you’re on earth, and there you are among the stars.”

Once during my mastermind writer’s group, we had a conversation about our past romantic entanglements. I told the story about a close friend that I met my freshman year of college who started dating one of my other friends. When they started going out, others started treating me like I had been wronged and offering to listen “if I needed to talk.” Apparently, they were under the impression that my close friend and I had been dating and the other friend stole him away. So, laughing, I told him what they said, and he got very awkward, replying, “Um. Yeah. Weren’t we?”

Were we? Huh. NEWS TO ME. After listening to this and a few other stories several of us told, one of my friends said, “Hearing you talk about your past relationships is like hearing about alien abductions.”

He’s not wrong. I have learned that people thought our relationship status was different than I believed it to be several times. As the common denominator in these scenarios, I suppose I should take some of the blame. But also – how hard is it to have a conversation where we actually say out loud who we are to each other? I admit I’m not great at picking up on verbal hints. Physical cues? I’m pretty good at that. But if it’s just verbal, I’m going to need something more along the lines of “I like you and want to be exclusive. Check yes or no,” than just vague comments about my general delightfulness. Because frankly, I get that from people who definitely just want to be friends, so if you want more, you need to be clearer.

Even when there’s rampant miscommunication and misunderstanding, though, to be loved (or even liked a whole lot) is pretty dreamy.

 

 

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Sarah Laughed – A Poem for This Advent

Posted in Books, Church, Poetry, Uncategorized on December 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

I wrote and shared this a few years ago. I’m reading through Tanya Marlow’s beautiful Those Who Wait for Advent this year and thus dealing with some things I had buried. Maybe you are, too, this season.

“I will make you a great nation.  Sarah will bear you a son!”

The Visitor always did like to make an entrance.

None of the standards –

No, “How have you been?”

Or, “Friend, that was a long journey!”

Only a big announcement would do.

She heard while she was minding the supper dishes.

And Sarah laughed.

The Visitor was perplexed.

“Why is Sarah laughing? What – does she think I can’t?!”

Abraham, sweet man, tried

To act like it was nothing

To deflect the sound coming from the other room

“Probably just thinking about something funny that happened today.”

She stood in the kitchen, listening to men make plans,

And Sarah laughed.

Wouldn’t this have made more sense, Sarah wondered,

To have told me this Himself?

Abraham’s a good husband,

But there’s only so much even a good husband can do to bring a child.

I guess I should be flattered, she thought.

They’re throwing me a surprise party.

In my womb.

And Sarah laughed.

She remembered elusive promises and hopes stirred.

How long had the story been told?

Around tables and fires, shrouded in wonder and awe.

Descendants outnumbering the sand.

It need only start with one.

But the one was nowhere to be found.

She had been told of His perfect timing,

So Sarah laughed.

She remembered elusive sleep and garments rent.

How many tears had she shed?

Surrounded by a sea of children, but always on the other side of the door.

Skinned knee unbandaged, wedding unattended, grandchildren unheld.

Age showing her what it was capable of

As the bleeding stopped, and the book closed.

She had already cried,

So Sarah laughed.

Is this how promises are fulfilled?

To wait until all hope, desire, and ability are gone?

To finally bring her what she always wanted

But only after it was too late for her to enjoy it fully?

Just to make Himself look more special than everyone already knew He was.

Maybe what she wanted to do was punch Him

But she couldn’t

So Sarah laughed.

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What I’m Into – November 2018

Posted in Books, Church, Food, Fun, Music, Roots, Seasons, Thanks, What I'm Into, Work, Writing on November 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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This month went by super fast! There was one tree at the beginning of the month in the lot where I park at work that had shed all its leaves (as if to say, “Come on, you guys – it’s time! Don’t be late!” I feel like that tree understands me.), but now they’re all turning/shedding. And I love it.

November has been busy, but happy busy. I had a minor writing delay when my laptop crashed, but my sister and brother-in-law gave me one of theirs, so I’m back on a roll, and just in time for the holidays! Here’s how the month went.

What I’m into reading or listening to:

  • Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram is a gem of a book. I love the perspective and the sweet friendship he forges when he goes to see his family.
  • I’m getting through Anna Karenina. I recognize that I’m in no position to critique a translation from Russian, as I do not know a lick of Russian, but I’m going to critique it anyway. I’m liking the story line and character development, but I frequently run across a passage where I think, “I bet that was beautiful in Russian. Too bad this phrasing is awkward and awful.” I may check a copy out of the library and see if that goes better.
  • I attending the UNT Jazz Singers’ fall concert/CD release party and picked up their new collection called A Thousand Nights. Highly recommend.

a thousand nights

What I’m into doing:

  • A Club Pilates location opened in Denton, and I am obsessed. I love Pilates on the reformer machines! If you’re in or near Denton, and you’re curious, you can take a free, 30-minute intro session.
  • Our Housing holiday party was fantastic. It was beautiful, the food was awesome, and they gifted everyone with a free ham or turkey. As you can see in the picture at the top, I couldn’t decide what to drink. So many choices. I made them all.
  • I enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family. We only made four kinds of candy this year (one didn’t make it into buckets because it was only a small batch). I only suffered a minor burn, which is better than I usually do. I think my family actually enjoys the chocolate-covered salted peanut or pecan clusters I make to use up the excess chocolate more than they like the actual candy.
  • Speaking of chocolates, I refreshed our fair trade stash at church and put out a table with samples of chocolate, coffee, and tea. Hopefully the information I collected there can help guide our purchases better so that the products get bought before they go stale.

What I’m looking forward to:

  • There is a coffee crawl scheduled next weekend, and I’m very excited about it. It’s a fundraiser for the Explorium (a children’s museum in Denton), and I am happy to drink coffee to support them.
  • I’m also very excited about Christmas break. I am looking forward to having that time off.

What are you into these days?

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Friday Five – I’VE HAD SO MUCH SUGAR NOT SORRY

Posted in Books, Dance, Fishbowl, Friday Five, Writing on November 16, 2018| 2 Comments »

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The title (minus the Friday Five) is what I just yelled in the office. We had our Thanksgiving lunch at work and there was a walnut/chocolate/candy (let’s be real – it’s candy on a crust) pie. I ate most of the piece and now I have all the energy and have to maintain because I’m going to see the UNT Jazz Singers tonight and don’t want to crash before/during it.

Here are some things I enjoyed on the intrawebs this week:

  1. The Bloggess opened up her comments section for all of us to post our blog links because blogging is fun and cathartic and no one who enjoys it cares that it’s allegedly dying. It’s alive in our hearts.
  2. I visit my library at least twice a week (more now that the laptop has given up the ghost…*sigh*), and I approve this message.
  3. The 31 best dance scenes in movies. Any of your favorites on here? Any not on here that you love? My favorites on this list are #21 (Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines!) and #31 (Steve Martin/Bernadette Peters with Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers in the background).
  4. I love these stories of complete strangers saving the day.
  5. And Jonathan Franzen’s 10 tips for novelists is inspiring as I start looking toward editing the novel in January.

What have you enjoyed this week?

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31 Days of Short Stories

Posted in 31 Days, Books, Fiction, Fishbowl, Writing on October 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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Once upon a time, there was a young writer who started a book. It was National Novel Writing Month, and she wondered if she could do it. Write 50,000 words in one month (she could, but that’s another story). She didn’t make it to 50,000 words that month, but she did create a cast of characters who refused to leave her brain. They grew in her imagination, and every once in a while she would write down things they said and did. Pretty soon (in the grand scheme of the universe), she had a book.

Now she’s a young-for-her-age (jury is still out on whether that was meant as a compliment or not, but I’m going to count it as one) writer with a finished rough draft of a manuscript. Because it’s only a rough draft, though, and she is a perfectionist, completing this step didn’t give her quite the satisfaction she had hoped it would. Also, she forgot to celebrate properly. Others celebrated her, but all she could think of was how much more there was to do and how the darlings she had nurtured would fare during the process.

One of the characters is a storyteller. He makes up stories on the spot to entertain and delight (and sometimes sadden or provoke – storytellers are a tricksy bunch). So the writer decided that an appropriate way to celebrate this stage of writing is to do the same.

And they all lived (well, sort of…most of them) happily (eh…in a way) ever after.

All my 31 Days series in the past have been practical, how-to series. This one is a celebration and a glimpse into what I really love to write. I’m going to be telling short stories. I have some prompts, and I suspect I’ll have a few to-be-continueds to pick up on a subsequent date. I’m open to others. So if you think of something you’d like me to write, comment, email, DM, carrier-pigeon it to me, and I’ll try to give it a go.

I’m going to aim for 300-1000 words a day, but I don’t promise to stay within that range. Sometimes dialogue gets away from me. You may also see recurring characters or titles (written in a different style or with different characters). And each Friday is going to be a different story written from a Tumblr prompt that went around for a while.

In other words, I’m gonna have some fun with this.

I’ll keep the master list of posts here for reference:

Day 1 – Overview
Day 2 – The Case of the Missing Pen
Day 3 – Autobiography of a Real A-Hole (A Microfiction)
Day 4 – Lola Panter, Private Eye
Day 5 – Soulmates (Part 1)
Day 6 – Roger
Day 7 – If You Were a Hat

I’m also linking up with the Write 31 Days community. If this sounds like something you’d like to do, jump over and join us (to include your link to the blog or social media account you’re using to participate, see the dropdown under “linking up”). Or just linger and read. We like that, too.

 

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Fall TBR

Posted in Books, Resolutions on September 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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I am participating in Book Riot’s Fall into Fall Readathon, and every day we have a bookish prompt. Monday, I chose one of my summer TBRs (to be read) and put the rest in the DNF (did not finish) pile. I only had three left anyway, and two of them had already gone back to the library, so that was easy. The one I chose to move over to my fall list is Anna Karenina. I started it last night, and I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship. I also think the time it will take me to read it is going to last longer than some of my past relationships.

Yesterday’s task was to make my Fall TBR list, including at least one classic on audiobook. I usually make a monthly list, but I like the idea of making a list by season. My list for this season is somewhat practical (because book clubs) but mostly eclectic. I tend to read several books at a time (I am currently on 5 different books), and I have 44 more books to go meet my reading goal for the year. That’s finishing one almost every other day, which is doable but a little daunting, but that’s why there are so many on the list.

I’m also counting “fall” as to the end of December, even though technically we’re in winter by then. That gives me a few holidays and a couple of free weekends to get some reading done.

Without further ado, here, in no particular order, is my Fall TBR (which I reserve the right to amend as books I’ve forgotten to include are published or finally become available at the library):

  1. Anna Karenina by Lev (Leo) Tolstoy
  2. Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
  3. The Summer Without Men  by Siri Hustvedt
  4. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
  5. Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie
  6. Kindred by Octavia Butler (audiobook)
  7. The Elephant Company by Vicki Croke
  8. Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
  9. Faithful by Alice Hoffman
  10. The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman and Paul White
  11. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
  12. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman
  13. Black Dove by Ana Castillo
  14. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
  15. Evening by Susan Minot
  16. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  17. Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons
  18. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
  19. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
  20. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
  21. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
  22. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  23. The Folded Earth by Arundhati Roy
  24. Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
  25. Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin
  26. All the Colors We Will See by Patrice Gopo
  27. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
  28. The Little French Bistro by Nina George
  29. Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
  30. The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
  31. La Vida Imaginaria by Mara Torres
  32. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
  33. The Shaking Woman, or, A History of My Nerves by Siri Hustvedt
  34. Slam! by Pamela Ribon
  35. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
  36. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
  37. Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer
  38. Version Control by Dexter Clarence Palmer
  39. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
  40. No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol
  41. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
  42. A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
  43. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
  44. Womanist Midrash by Wilda Gafney

And maybe I’ll start Don Quixote again before the year’s out. Maybe.

 

What are you reading this fall? See anything in the list you want to read and discuss?

 

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A Review of Inspired by Rachel Held Evans

Posted in Books, Church on September 25, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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“They say art should afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. I think the same is true for Scripture.” – Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans grew up in a conservative Christian church where her passion for God was encouraged. Her questions, however, often were not. But that didn’t mean the questions went away. In Inspired, she engages the Bible, not as the facts-and-figures literal account she was always taught it was nor as the everything-is-relative figurative interpretations popular with many progressives, but as stories, told in a specific context and powerful enough to unlock truth and hope.

“We may wish for answers, but God rarely gives us answers. Instead, God gathers us up into soft, familiar arms and says, ‘Let me tell you a story.'”

This book would be most useful for Christians who want to love God with their whole hearts, souls, and minds, which probably means not having to switch any of them off when reading scripture. The Bible is full of stories of heroism and kindness and love. The Bible is also full of stories of cowardice and greed and hate. And if you’re reading literally, God doesn’t always end up on what one might consider the right side of the stories.

Take the book of Job, for example. When I was young, Job was my least favorite book. The God in Job is a real jerk, especially if you take a strictly literal reading. God allows this man’s life to be destroyed and completely ignores the pain of Job’s wife who lost everything and everyone he did, just so he can prove he’s better than Satan.

But when read not as an actual retelling of what God did but rather through the lens of instruction – and yes, even hope – it can read more like this:

“…it’s not the learned theologians who get the peek at glory, but the man who said, with candor and courage, ‘I desire to argue with God.'”

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. I expected it to sit heavier on me, but the effect was just the opposite. I enjoyed the descriptions of the different types of stories (my favorites being the resistance stories and the wisdom stories), and the organization into these categories made it easy to follow. I also enjoyed snippets like this:

“…from Proverbs 27:14: ‘If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.’ As we say in the Episcopal Church, this is the Word of the Lord.“

Although it took me a while to get started and to finish, the slow reading is more indicative of the challenges of wrestling with Scripture rather than with Inspired itself. I recommend for anyone who would like to refresh their approach to the Bible.

 

I received a copy of Inspired from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review.

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What I’m Into – August…ember 2018

Posted in Beauty, Books, Church, Food, What I'm Into, Work, Writing on September 12, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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What I’m always into is the book stack on my bedside table.

This month is the last month Leigh Kramer will be hosting her What I’m Into link-up. I missed the deadline for linking up, but I wanted to take a moment to mention how much I have enjoyed this community of bloggers. Even on the months I didn’t post, I would read through the posts linked there. I love reading about what other people love. This group has multiplied my to-read list, improved my skin care regimen (whoever recommended Acure’s Brilliantly Brightening Day Cream? I am forever indebted.), added to my recipe repertoire, improved my taste in wine, and given me more movie and television recommendations than I could ever finish in three lifetimes. I’m going to miss it, but I’ll still post monthly(ish) updates on what I’m into and, since I follow a lot of the people who were a part of it, perhaps I will link to their posts so you can reap the same benefits I have (albeit on a smaller scale). I’m so grateful to Leigh for hosting for so long!

Right now, I’m getting back into the swing of things as the regular schedule picks back up. Church is busier because all my groups (choir, writer’s group, book club, etc.) are meeting again and also because this year is our 50th anniversary, so we’re planning shenanigans for that. Our service project got rained out last Saturday, but maybe we’ll reschedule on a weekend I’m free.

Speaking of book clubs, I’ve joined yet another one, this time at work. Tomorrow is our first meeting, and we’re discussing Evicted by Matthew Desmond and Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I have read Housekeeping before but Evicted is newer. I recommend both, and I’m excited to talk about them tomorrow.

August at work is super busy, but it’s slowing down now. We got the residents moved in and are shuffling them around as we find spaces that aren’t booked and are able to accommodate requests and fill in some off our waitlist. We should be pretty full by the end of September.

I hosted my annual Hemingway party (where the food is good yet simple, like his prose, and the party is alcohol-laden, like the author himself) late this year, so the crowd was smaller. We still had a good time. It’s always fun to catch up with people.

This month, I’m looking forward to the Denton Blues Festival (this weekend!) and having a little time off from work.

 

What are you into these days?

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