2017 CHALLENGE: The European Reading Challenge

A challenge for the new year! Thanks to Gilion Dumas at Rose City Reader for this idea. I will post the books I am choosing soon...
Click the link below for Gilion's full post, and respond here if you are up for the challenge!


2017 CHALLENGE: The European Reading Challenge

Are people still doing this?

Aside from a few technical changes, Blogger looks the same. My page needs updating, but the links still work. Other people are currently updating their blogs. But mine sat dormant for three years.

Three years.

Where have I been? You probably aren't interested, but I will tell you anyway. I have been working in the real world. I am a TV News Producer by trade and took a job producing morning newscasts.

But that is over and the world is new again. So maybe something old can be new again here, too. Maybe a return to blogging and online interaction is just what I need. Maybe...

So hello again! In a way, I have missed you. What shall we talk about? Do I want to get literary again? Do I want to change the subject? The title?

We shall see.

Hello, again.

Back?

Am I back? Other options didn't go as planned...bur could I ever really write?

Just Write

It doesn't matter what you write.  Just write.

There's an audience for every idea.

The Rain Mix

Rainstorms are like a complex song.  The sounds are stacked on top of each other until all you hear is the mixed version.  But listen closely and you can separate the layers.
In the middle is the strongest of the sounds--the constant tiny raindrops that fall so quickly and so close to each other that they greet your ears with the steadiness of a waterfall.  Not a Niagara-type waterfall, but a smaller one that doesn't crash but instead constantly gushes.
The layer closest to you is, usually, the sound of heavier drops as they fall inconsistently from gutters or window panes.  These drops or still being fed by the rainfall, but they are hampered by human creations.  They are given time to join together and fall as they may--harder and less often.  Their noise is louder and joins the waterfall effect as a staccato layer.
And in the distance is the patter of the rain through the trees.  It's a two-fold layer.  The water hits the foliage with a gentle slap--a patter, if you will.  Then the water falls again; this time it is inn larger drops and makes many different sounds as they hit the different ground coverings.  Puddles, play sets, logs, grass, flowers, leaves--each with their unique surface.

Together, it is a cacophony of nature.  And, to be cliche, music to my ears.

Book Art

I love books.  I cherish them.  I love the way they look on my shelves and the way the paper feels under my fingertips.

But this artist has found a new way to love them.  German creator Dorisse can turn ordinary paper products into beautiful jewelry and, my favorite, book sculptures!

I will never give up reading the real thing, but I also love the idea of immortalizing my favorites as works of art--more than they already are, that is.

What do you think?  Reverent to the work or destroying it?

The power of books

From the site Common Dreams comes this "weapon" of mass destruction: the "way cool book tank created by Argentinean artist, Raul Lemesoff, with a 1979 Ford Falcon from the former military junta. Lemesoff tours from the streets of Buenos Aires to the countryside, offering his 900, donated, frequently-replenished books free as a "contribution to peace through literature."

I want to go to Buenos Aires!

I Spy

I have the house to myself this weekend.

A few minutes ago the doorbell rang.  I knew who it was: a neighbor-girl bringing change for a twenty, for a tchotchke I bought in support of some school program.

But I didn't answer.

Instead, I set down the book I was reading and lowered myself silently to the carpet.  Then I inched along the floor on my stomach until I could see around the edge of the sofa.  The girl's pink sweater fizzled across the patterned glass.  Her dark hair bobbed as she rocked in place, waiting.

I held myself still.  Frozen.  Breath slowed to the dimmest of oxygen intake.  I was a spy.

After all, why just write about the stuff?  Why not actually live it every once and a while?

Afraid

I think I am afraid to come here.

Like the mere act of opening Blogger impresses guilt upon me.  A reminder that I'm not writing.  A glimpse of a story unfinished.

So I avoid.  It's still a link on my bookmarks bar--glaring at me every time I open Google Chrome.

Someday I will just delete it.  Then the guilt will bury itself a level deeper.

And I will pretend to forget.

Anyone Can

Anyone can have a website.  Anyone can creat a blog.

Just look at this guy: Brianstalin, Past Life Research (including some very UN-researched connections between JFK and Russian royals and Abraham Lincoln reincarnating as Leonard Nimoy).

And The Watcherflies, which explains the 13 Illuminati Satanic Bloodlines.  Of course it does.

So don't believe everything you read.  Don't use faulty resources.

What's in a word?

We think we know what we're writing.  We think we know what we're reading.  But what if the word we use really means something else?


I am reading Robert K. Massie's Catherine the Great right now.  First, let me tell you that it is masterfully written.  The prose is interesting, the facts well-researched.  He follows a chronological order in laying out the chapters, but throws unexpected and interesting facts in places that catch you off-guard and, at times, make you laugh.  I highly recommend it.

Ivan (IV) the Terrible

I digress.  While reading this book, I was moved to search online for pictures of Empress Elizabeth I (Catherine's mother-in-law--and if you think you mother-in-law is terrible, you never stepped in Catherin's shoes).  One link lead to another, as they usually do, and I began reading about Ivan the Terrible.  This paragraph struck me as interesting:

The English word terrible is usually used to translate the Russian word grozny in Ivan's nickname, but the modern English usage of terrible, with a pejorative connotation of bad or evil, does not precisely represent the intended meaning. The meaning of grozny is closer to the original usage of terrible—inspiring fear or terror, dangerous (as in Old English in one's danger), formidable or threatening. Other translations were suggested, such as Ivan the Fearsome or Ivan the Formidable.

It's not a major difference.  He's either 'terrible' because he did terrible things, or 'terrible' because he was feared for doing terrible, or at least oppressive, things.  But still, it made me think.

Do you think about the words you write?  The words you read?  Do you ponder over their meaning and strain over picking the appropriate verbage?  If not, should you?

(For those interested, I came across some very ornate 'dolls,' for lack of a better word, fashioned after historical figures.  Here is the link for Catherine the Great's.)

My Super Hero Kids

My son, the Super Hero, saves Yodicity!

Become a Superhero onwww.hellokids.com, site for kids of coloring page.

And, my Super Hero daughter, too!

Become a Superhero onwww.hellokids.com, site for kids of coloring page.

Cute, right?

Nature is Art

Art abounds...Not really, but I have a new project I'm undertaking.

For a long time, as long as I can remember, I've always turned my camera on nature and snapped away. Am I any good? I don't know. But I think I have an eye for framing a shot. I spend a lot of time outdoors with my family, and it doesn't take much to just turn a little bit and click a few of a beautiful view or a vibrant tree.

Now I'm sharing those pics on Etsy, and you can order any that interest you. I am offering them

as prints (basic sizes starting at 5x7) and wrapped on canvas. The prices range from a low $8 for a digital copy, to upwards of $100 for a large canvas for your wall.

Even if you aren't interested in bring my view of nature into your home or office, pass the link along to those you think might be. I'd appreciate it. The more art out there, the more beautiful the world becomes.

Thank you, friends!

My photography Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheNaturePhotog
My Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePhotog

Guilty Pleasures

I love Pinterest.  I love the arbitrary pictures people post.  I love the chance to just "pin" something because I think it's beautiful...not because I'm pushing a product or wanting you to click on a link.  I can find beautiful places and dreamily "pin" them to my boards.  I can see unbelievable fashion and just add it to the page and feel satisfaction.

Source: highfashionsproperty.tumblr.com via Michele on Pinterest

Why do I feel satisfaction sharing these beautiful pictures?  I don't know.  But I do.

Source: thefoxisblack.com via Michele on Pinterest

 It's a way for me to explore all my interests without feel shame or silliness.

Find me if you want; find my pins: http://pinterest.com/micheleemrath/

What is your guilty passion?

Happy Holidays.

Quality, right?

How is it that Mattel can throw out a million (or at least three) Barbie movies a year, and I can barely get to the end of an outline in 24 months?

Quality, right?  That's what I keep telling myself: a difference in quality.

Happy Holidays to all of you...

From my family to yours...

Peace 2011 Christmas Card

Find unique and modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Wow.

Wow.  I am overwhelmed!  I certainly didn't make it to 12 blogs yesterday, but you all took the time to come by and welcome me back.  That means so much!

I am really enjoying this renewed spirit of blogging.  In myself, the energy is amazing and my mindset post-blog romp yesterday was much more positive than usual.  And the things I found!  Dez's Hollywood Spy up for awards!  Click away and I find Alex J Cavanaugh up for just as many there (vote for them both)...Patricia Stoltey blogging for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers...and many more wonderful adventures!

And my outlines stare up at me...beckoning and taunting.  If only I could tackle those with as much gumption as I tackle blogging!

I'm here.

I'm here.  I'm checking in.  I'm on the Internet...I did it!  I sat down at my computer and I typed words in a box and I am publishing them...wow.  Who would have thought something so small could be so fulfilling?  Who would have thought it would take me three months to get back here?  And even longer to begin a regular posting schedule?  Who would have thought...

I'm off to view your blogs!  Happy blogging day!

Hello Again

Hi.
I am sooooooooo sorry I disappeared!  I just lost my edge...lost my time...lost my oomph...lost my mind?  Thankfully, not totally on the latter, but I pretty much gave up writing for a long time.  Not that I'm 100% back on the wagon, but I have at least put words on paper and complete ideas in an organized form.

So I just wanted to write a quick "Hello!" to all my wonderful bloggy-world friends.  I have truly missed the discussion and the exchange of ideas.  I hope to hop around your blogs tomorrow (Tuesday), as I'll actually have some time to myself.

And feel free to yell at me if I don't post at least once a week (hey, we have to re-start somewhere, right?)!

Happy Holidays!

Love (and long-time missing),
Michele

eBooks

"Amazon sells more e-books than hardcovers and paperbacks combined." ~Vanity Fair, October 2011

Facts like these who the future of the publishing industry.  And that's not a bad thing (though at one time I thought it was).  For Father's Day this year, I bought my husband a Nook.  We chose this e-reader for several reasons: size, touch-screen, weight, and ability to interface with .pdf files and library content.  (There was a little support-your-bookseller anti-Amazon in there, too.)

But my husband has had so much studying to do for his next level of work (CFP status) and sooooo many Economist magazines to read...that I've sort of stolen the Nook. :)  Which is funny, because you might remember I was very against the idea of the e-reader (especially in March 2010).

I love buying books with the touch of a button!  (Watch out for hidden fees and know this can get expensive if you add up your purchases.)  I love taking a handful of books with me on trips, but being able to hold them all in one hand!  I love swiping my finger across a screen to turn the page!  And, with the recent founding of e-lending sites like Lendle and Bookfriend, the future is here.