Blogging and my life....

So I'm on Facebook, and one of my friends (a college professor!!! eeek, when did we get OLD?) wants to teach a class on blogging, according to her status report.

I think blogging is a fascinating phenomenon. I love reading blogs, there are some that are really wonderful. I also like writing my blog, because in some ways it does help me clarify my feelings about things. I'm uncomfortable now about putting too much personal stuff 'out there' because it is linked to my facebook page...and I suspect people could find it pretty easily otherwise.

I did find myself thinking a little bit in terms of 'blog posts' on my trip. This is when I'd wished I'd had my computer with me, so that I could have done the blog post on the pigeons, or travelling alone, or whatever else I was thinking of. Because even though I have some of the pics for the blog things I was thinking of...

(a view of Montmartre from Musee d'orsay, and vice versa, par example)

I've forgotten the witty things I meant to post.

But I do remember feeling, 'oh, this would make a fantastic blog entry'.

And I just finished reading a fabulous book, called 'Petite Anglaise', which is a story about how one woman's blog changed her life.

I've found a lot of blogs through books, sometimes in very roundabout ways. I read the Sweet Potato Queens books, went to the messageboard, after that died, ended up on a linked messageboard with another author who has a blog I love... (how's that for a run-on sentence?). I found some blogs just linked in the backs of the books.

I've found blogs through other blogs as well.. some have been linked through messageboards that I read, some I happen on by accident. I found a few blogs when searching for a friend's blog...

Its just really amazing to see the number of blogs out there. And to get glimpses into people's lives and the things they are passionate about.

Because even though I may never be a quilter or a knitter, I can see the gorgeous things people make on their blogs and go 'ooooo'. And hopefully, this blog will inspire someone, someday...to do what, I'm not sure..maybe just to live life sucessfully as a single woman who is always trying new things, and who is chasing some dreams...

The real me.

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Also, if you are reading this blog, please click on the sidebar so I can see who you are! I'd like to know that my words are not falling on deaf ears... (and yes, the phrasing is intentional, for those of you who know me)

Parting shots...

This was inspired by and stolen from a friend's blog... The best last lines of novels.
http://americanbookreview.org/PDF/100_Best_Last_Lines_from_Novels.pdf

And its a cool idea, because for me, when I write, I often find that the last line, for me, is the best, the strongest line. And when I read, the last line is the thing that stays with me....

Now I've got to go into my books and find the last lines that have really resonated with me... The book I just read was not a good example of that, but there are some that are truly wonderful.

What is your favorite last line?

You are what you read? (not for under 18)

I'm on a messageboard which is technically about food, but we discuss other things too... one of which is books. And in one thread on books, someone mentioned that he starts thinking like the book he is reading at the moment... so when he reads Tolkien, he starts thinking in Middle-Earthese... and that got me thinking about the phenomenon... and how you are what you read, but sometimes people are the opposite of what they read (at least I certainly hope so!).

I am one of those people who absorbs what I read, and what I read also reflects my state of mind as well. For instance, when I was rediscovering my faith, and trying to figure out what I beleived/how I beleived, I read a lot of 'finding faith' books, and a lot of things about the evolution of Catholicism (I'm actually a little more Gnostic in my beliefs than I am Catholic, with a dash of Protestantism thrown in, but that's a different topic). I read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy, as I try to see the magic in the world. Not literal magic, obviously, but there is a beauty that is conveyed by some of the myths and legends, and I love books that incorporate that into the modern world. I like people-based books, about people in strange worlds, about communication. I tend not to like bloody/gory things or 'tabloid' books, or technology-driven sci-fi.

There are, however, little old ladies, and very sweet people, who come to the library and take out the most extraordinary stuff. They take out books on axe murderers, Jack The Ripper, true-crime books...the secret history of Princess Di..

and it does make me wonder. So much of the stuff I read is something that is enriching in some way for me, or helps me figure out my desires, my wants, my interests (and now I may need to 'edit' my library on the side here...it may tell more about me than you need to know!) I just don't understand the little old ladies who want bloody, gory murders, or who like reading Stephen King... every time I've read anything with the slightest tinge of horror, I end up sitting up in bed all night with a carving knife under my pillow! My imagination is just too vivid I guess!

I think (and now this may be TMI, but I'm basically thinking as I write), that the only thing I read about that is at all similar in concept to people reading horror is stuff like Heinlein and Carey, with some racy sexual situations... its stuff I will probably never live, but it is entertaining to read about.

I do tend to take some books very much to heart, though. Which is why I rarely read torrid romances anymore. As much as I would love for a Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet and carry me away, at this point, I'm going to have to hunt him down and drag him out from wherever he is hiding... I've also stopped (as much as possible) reading the books where the heroine is really in love with her best friend. My best friend is my best friend, period, end of sentence. I don't want to start transferring the feelings from the book to him, he has enough issues without me acting like a lovesick puppy!

Yes, I know, now it sounds like there is nothing I can read... but it really is amazing how one can transfer feelings from a book into reality... I'm just surprised we don't have more axe murderers as a result!

Why Americans are fat...take two...

I was watching a movie yesterday, on the Indie channel. They did not have commercials. Honestly, I get up, during commercials (or pause a movie on the DVD) and go get something to nosh on. I realised this.

In the cinemas in France, there weren't popcorn, candy, soft drinks, etc. (at least not the two I went in). There weren't those things on the boat at the movie there (the one place we weren't being fed/beveraged)... Its fascinating.

And it really made me think, we really are a food-obsessed culture, and not in a good way. France is food-obsessed in a good way. You sit down, you have a wonderful piece of something, you enjoy it, and then you are done. You don't go home, turn on the telly, and have a packet of chips. (sorry about the mix of anglicisation and americanisms--story of my life, and being on the Queen Mary II brought some of that back to life for me)

Yes, there are other factors too, mini-chocolates, maxi-chocolates (whatever happened to a normal sized candy bar? its either snack-size or mega-humongous-big-whopper-value sized), corn syrup (and now the lobby is feeling the pinch and putting ads out), not having a walking culture...

But you start adding up all the little things, and its scary...

A little disappointed...

*sigh*

So we had our first rehearsal for Annie last night. I'm ensemble, that's fine, I knew that going in. But I kept hoping, until last night, that I'd have a line, or even be an understudy for someone... nope. The only one who was in it last year who does not have any additional bit? Me. Bleah. Everyone else has two or three bits. I know I tended to duck out early from the cast parties and such, but I don't do well when I can't drink because there is nothing safe for me to eat...and don't want to get sloshed when I have to drive myself home. I did sign up for the cast party comittee, that way I can make sure there will be stuff for various allergies, etc, maybe some interesting punch/non-alcoholic stuff.

It just becomes hard to sign up for as much as I'd like to, living 1/2 an hour (or 45 minutes in the case of SLOCO) away, so I try to sign up for those things I can do at home, etc. I'm sure that was a factor. As is the fact that I seem to be scheduled (AGAIN!!!) to work the Sat we move in to SHS. I can't really ask to switch, because with all the crud going on at work, its not really flexible. *sigh*

Oh well, it will still be fun. And there is always next year. Even though this year is when my parents are actually around... imagine that.

Odd Conversations at work...

So I'm trying to jump back into the dating scene (back? I was never really there to begin with). I started out with a wine tasting at one of the local historical places. Yes, I met a few people, but the wine was cheap...so next day, HEADACHE.

So I was chatting with my co-workers the next day, my boss asks me if I've tried Catholic Singles. I said no, because a lot of the things were very religiously oriented, and while I believe, its not the focus of my world. We then started on a topic of dating younger men, which we had to break off because one of our patrons, a member (and ringleader) of The Old F***'s Club, was coming over, probably to see what we were chatting about. Because God Forbid I actually want to laugh about some of the oddnesses of dating... (it seems also like a lot of the men my age are now divorced with kids, which makes me feel OLD).

So later, we pick up the conversation again, and I started to explain to my boss that I have no problem dating younger men (just call me Mrs Robinson). I then find out that she had misheard something I'd said as "Harry is too young", and that's why it evolved into a whole thing on dating younger men... I have no idea what I'd said, but I don't know a Harry...

We end up having odd conversations at work. And the danger zone is that, working in the Library, being active in Church, yadda, yadda, yadda, means that people coming in often know my life just as well as I do!

And now I'm posting this on the Internet for all to see... you know, just to make sure everyone knows all the juicy details of my life. Its an open book anyway!

I'd come in to work the day before and a patron asked me how I'd liked my lunch! Which I'd just bought and eaten at home... that was a 'waittaminute' moment...turns out she saw me at Trader Joes.