Progress on New Year's Resolutions

January is almost over, and it's time to revisit my New Year's Resolutions.

1: No-TV January has been a success! I cheated one time, to see the end of Project Runway All-Stars (while fortuitously clearing a bit of space on the DVR). But I'm holding firm on avoiding television into the last week. Next Friday night and Saturday morning will probably find me birthday-weekend-binge-festing on shows I've taped.

But the truth is, I wouldn't be too sad if my DVR fritzed out and all the shows were lost. There are only only two programs I'd seek on DVD later: Downton Abbey and Merlin. I'd survive fine not knowing what happened on the others.

I've spent my newly found free time watching movies (including all the Hornblower, Firefly/Serenity, and Lord of the Rings discs from my shelves), reading for enjoyment (the stack of books I bought in August has finally been conquered), looking at various sites online (Ted lectures, Crash Course videos, and Lynda.com training videos), and correcting student work (editing major papers in all 5 classes, some using Google docs, which takes FOREVER). The reading, especially, has been a revelation. I always feel like I don't have time to indulge until summer. Turns out I do.

I don't think I've made a life changing decision akin to the "Start my own publishing business!" of February 2011, but lately I've come across quite a few inspirational quotes and stories that encourage me to continue teaching with enthusiasm, knowing that the work I do with kids is important. Not so much the teaching of grammar and reading strategies, more the importance of personal contact and impact outside of the Language Arts curriculum. Where I usually lose my focus in that respect during the dark months of winter and feel like I'm deep in the school year tunnel, no light to be seen until the March thaw, I am heads-up happy to be face to face with the new generation. (Most days.)

2: Better habits regarding my nails. Epic Fail.

3: Using my treadmill desk every day. Three valiant efforts, and then Epic Fail.

4: Learning Illustrator and/or Photoshop. Semi-successful. Here is a show and tell to prove it:

I made invitations to my birthday party, using Adobe Illustrator to create the balloons. I have to admit to defaulting to Adobe InDesign (I love you, ID) for the overall design, but I couldn't have done the little twisties on the balloons without Ai.


5: Posting more regularly on this blog. Once a week! Yeah!

Although I suppose 50% is not considered passing in most realms, I consider my 2.5/5 a stunning success. I plan to continue Resolution #4 and #5 into February, so maybe I'll share more art on this blog as I create it.  I hope your New Year's Resolutions are going well and you find yourself bravely creating and impacting the lives of others!

Signs of a "Good Book"

From Will Schwalbe's The End of Your Life Book Club, pages 42-3:

"One of the many things I love about bound books is their sheer physicality. Electronic books live out of sight and out of mind. But printed books have body, presence. Sure, sometimes they'll elude you by hiding in improbable places: in a box full of old picture frames, say, or in the laundry basket, wrapped in a sweatshirt. But at other times they'll confront you, and you'll literally stumble over some tomes you hadn't thought about in weeks or years. I often seek electronic books, but they never come after me. They make me feel, but I can't feel them. They are all soul with no flesh, no texture, and no weight. They can get in your head but can't whack you upside it.

Ahh.

I started Mr. Schwalbe's book late this afternoon, and I've dogeared 10 of the 48 pages I've read. A good sign, I think. This one will be hard to put down.


Before letting myself start the Schwalbe, which had been coming after me for the past week, I forced myself to finish the two other books I was reading.


The first of the finished books was volume three of that series all of us ladies read last summer -- the one which was delightfully lampooned on SNL as the ultimate Mother's Day gift. You know the books of which I speak. I had stopped reading that final book in the series when school started, and despite a serious lack of interest in finishing... Well, No-television January means either doing the unpleasant jobs on my to-do list (taxes, cleaning closets) or distracting myself by finishing whatever books are lying around unfinished. And, like I said, the Schwalbe was coming after me.

I had purchased the ebook to read on my Kindle, and that probably had something to do with my being able to set it aside for so long. It hadn't come after me.

The second of the finished books was P. D. James' lovely Death Comes to Pemberley. The prologue alone -- wherein James retells Pride and Prejudice in ten quick pages, deftly mimicking Austen while casting aspersions on the tale by taking the point of view of a village gossip -- was worth the cost of the book.

Upon turning the last page, I felt the grief of the reader -- the sad fog that fills one's day after bidding adieu to beloved friends. Another good sign.

PS My sadness was exponential as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are coming to a close before too long. I'll be saying goodbye to Elizabeth and Darcy again within the month. Sniff.

Small Town Book Club Thoughts

One nice thing about living in a small town is that I get to be friends with people with whom most people don't. Like my doctors and dentist and community leaders and owners of and workers at the businesses I frequent and my boss(es) and local law enforcement... You get the picture.

The people, I imagine, that most residents who live in larger cities would consider acquaintances or less -- merely members of the world who exist as background to their days.

But I get to be actual friends with these people. It's pretty cool.

So at book club last night, my dental hygienist (and friend!) Anne told me she had just finished SPOTD: The Hero Chronicle Continues and loved it. I do too. I love the characters, and I love the fun powers that Chase gets to play with in volume 2. I love the story's dramatic arc, and I love the direction the book heads leading up to volume 3. Most of all, I love that the world the characters inhabit, though imperfect, feels safe. There is no question that Chase, Addy, Charlie, Johnny, and Kat are loved. And that love makes their world secure, even when things go terribly wrong.

I'm glad that my book is next on the list of books to be read by my friends. Especially after the book we just finished. You see, for book club this week, we read Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, and although the group enjoyed the book and talking about it, we were left with a sense of sadness over the evil so easily to be found in our world. The story is heartbreakingly brutal, forcing us to face the inhumanity that can occur when people stop recognizing others as people deserving of love and security. When people become merely background.

Happily, we are able to find our humanity and the joy of connection with each other. That's a great part of being in a book club. Especially one in a small town.

Happy New Year!

Twin Cities Book Festival

Instead of the usual breaking-a-bad-habit or starting-a-new-one resolution, I used to pick an annual challenge. Sleep out under the stars. Canoe on the Minnesota. You get the idea. I had an entire year to accomplish the task. I always made it happen.

Once, my challenge was not to talk ill of a particular person (who shall remain nameless here) for the entire year. And I did well on that one too, though I admit I reveled in the attention the resolution garnered from friends. Mention of the goal was enough to both set them laughing and inspire their own unpleasant comments regarding the person. All in all, there was no net loss of negativity toward the individual.

Last year I switched it up and had a January challenge: ridding myself/my house of one unneeded object each day. It was kind of fun.

This year, I have a genuine resolution list.

1: Remember the No-TV February that kicked started my whole self-publishing venture? It's back. No-TV January.

2: Less television viewing will lead to better habits regarding my nails. TV is my trigger for poor fingernail habits.

3: I bought the treadmill desk. It's time to get serious about using it. Every day.

4: I want to learn Illustrator and/or Photoshop this year.

5: Posting more regularly on this blog. It's pretty sad that my last entry was back in October! Since then, I've had successful Twin Cities Book Festival and Christmas in the Village days. I met wonderful people in the industry and in my town who were encouraging and inspirational. And they bought my books!

A picture of Donna and Sheri visiting my TCBF table is above. Here are two more photos:

My table area. It was nice to be on the end of a row.

A surprise visit from my Aunt LeAnn!

I encourage you to visit Neil Gaiman's Journal (link on sidebar) to read his 2013 New Year's Wish.

And as he would say,
Bravery and Joy to you all --

Ann