What I Want To Know More About

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I honestly have no idea where to begin with this.  There are so many things I want to know, and there’s so much out there, that I’ll never know everything.  I think I’m going to talk about the classes I wish I had time to take.

I wish I had taken a few more history classes- I love history, so I wish I had more time to take a few extra history classes.  And actually, I wish I had taken history classes in place of some of the other classes I had taken. 

I also wish I had taken a few more English classes- I took only the required classes, and none beyond that.  I wish I had though, since English was always one of my favorite classes in high school.

Psychology- I always liked psychology, and wished I took more than Intro to Psych and Abnormal Psychology.  Abnormal Psych was really interesting- and all of the disorders that I never knew existed!  I’ve debated getting a copy of the DSM-IV-TR, which is probably the current edition.  If it’s not, then the newest edition.  Mostly because I’m weird, and because I know there has to be more than what we talked about in class. 

Sociology- I love sociology!  That should be expected though, since that’s what my degree is in.  And like everything else I’ve mentioned, there were a few classes I wish I had taken.  My two favorite classes were sociology classes- Minority Group Relations (best class ever!) and gender roles and the media.  Both were really interesting, and the professors were awesome.

Women’s Studies- I took one class, about women in the media, and I was fascinated.  I didn’t really glance at the other classes offered for Women’s Studies, but I was interested enough want to take another class.]

One day, I’m hoping to go back to school so I can take some of the classes I never got around to taking the 1st time.  Plus, I need to do some more reading, and see if I can learn anything, because I like reading, and learning new things.

How Hard Is It To Come Up With An Idea?

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I’ve given some thought to one of my other plot bunnies, and I’ve been struggling with it.

The premise is that someone stumbles across a secret government agency- it’s an agency so secret even the president doesn’t know about it.

I’ve been struggling with it because what would be so secretive the president doesn’t know about it?  Right now, one of the ideas that popped into my mind was something similar to The Event, which is a great t.v. show.  Or maybe something based off The Adjustment Bureau.  I haven’t seen it, but the trailers I’ve seen intrigue me. 

I’m hoping to have a more developed idea in the next month or two.  I definitely need to work on my characters too, because there’s only a couple that I’ve come up with. 

The idea needs a lot of work, so hopefully by November I’ll have a lot more to work with.  I like the idea though, so I’m hoping something will come to me. 

I may end up taking it in a different direction, since I’m still not sure what I want to do with it.  Coming up with a vague idea is the easy part- it’s developing the idea and the characters that’s slightly more difficult and somewhat problematic.  I think I may end up coming up with notes for each idea and see what happens.

I Hope I Don’t Get Caught Up In The Research

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I haven’t gotten much of anywhere with that historical fiction idea I have, but I’ve started to do a little bit of research for it. 

Here are some of the things I’m considering:

  • something from the perspective of Catherine Carey, who was Mary Boleyn’s daughter (Mary was Anne’s sister, making Catherine Anne’s niece).  I don’t know what it is, but there is something about Catherine that strikes me as interesting.  Perhaps what I find so interesting is the fact that she was a witness to Anne’s execution.  That could be an interesting take on it.
  • Amy Robsart- she was Robert Dudley’s 1st wife.  Robert Dudley was Master of Horse for Elizabeth I.  I find her story to be mildly interesting, and the circumstances around her death even more interesting than her life.  It might be interesting to write something about that. 
  • Something written from the perspective of a lady-in-waiting to the queen.  Or anyone who’s staff for the monarchy.  I read The Queen’s Fool several years ago, about a girl who was the Holy Fool for Edward VI and then Mary I.  It would be interesting to write.
  • I’m not sure if I still want to focus on Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard or Jane Seymour.  I might but it also depends on what I find out about the time period.

I’m definitely going to have to do some research on this- I want to have a general idea of clothing, food, language, and the household, among other things.  Plus, names are going to be important, especially if I go with the idea of someone’s lady-in-waiting, as I’ll be making someone up, instead of going with an actual person.  I want to have the right name, and use something common to the time period.  Something I learned was that middle names were commonly used in Europe, especially Spain and Germany, and the English generally didn’t have a middle name. 

I don’t really have a clear idea for a plot, although I have a couple vague ideas- and the ideas I do have are so vague I doubt they could be considered plots.  I’m hoping that as I research more, I’ll eventually come across something interesting.  Otherwise, I may have to put this idea on hold.  I don’t know whether that’s good or bad; however, if I don’t come up with something by November, it should make going with 2 ideas somewhat easier since I’ll have one less idea to choose from.

Bread and Other Scary Things

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Baking bread scares me.  It always seemed so hard and time-consuming.  However, I’ve decided that I need to overcome this fear, and try baking bread. 

I’ve already started looking at some recipes, and some look a lot easier than others, so I think I’ll start off with the easy-looking ones first, and work my way up.  By easy-looking recipes, I mean the ones where’s there no kneading required (or in some cases, minimal kneading).  Or the ones with minimal rising.  The two actually seem to go hand-in-hand.  Even the ones with a lot of rising and kneading don’t seem to bad, but I think it’ll be easier for me to work my way up.  I’ll be sure to post pictures of all my successes and failures.

Running.  It scares me and I definitely don’t want to look stupid while doing it.  Granted, it’ll be quite some time before I’m even ready to run, because I’m way out of shape.  And I really shouldn’t worry about looking stupid, but the other people at the gym!  They don’t look like they worry about looking stupid, even though I’m sure the thought is going through their minds.  Some of them anyway. 

I suppose I should pick a writing-related goal that scares me.  There isn’t anything in particular that scares me, although actually continuing to work on something is a little weird.  Okay, maybe actually finishing something is a little scary.  But I suppose actually finishing something is somewhat dependant on how much I like what I’m working on.  Of course, this is the 1st time I’ve wanted to finish anything.  It was going to happen eventually.  But whether I can actually get my butt in the chair (in my case, on my bed) and write is a completely different story.    

Besides, now is as good a time as any to do things that scare me.  How else are I going to get over my fears if I don’t face them?

Recurring Dreams

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Writing Prompt: Have you ever had a recurring dream?

There was this dream I had when I was little, but I unfortunately don’t remember it, other than Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty was in it. 

Lately, I’ve had several dreams where I get into arguments with both my mother and an aunt.  I guess you could say that it’s a recurring dream, because in the dream, I’m arguing with them (not at the same time, thankfully, because I don’t think my mind could handle it).  The location is usually at home too, and while I don’t remember what I argued about, but they’ve been really weird. 

I had a dream the other night where I saw some random person smother someone else, and then went to look out a window.  After calling 911, of course. 

I had this other dream where there was a fire, and my house was full of smoke.  I grab my magical binder, my flash drive, my laptop, and underwear, and throw it into my backpack.  There was something about being in a restaurant, and people staying over. 

What I find really interesting is that I tend to dream more vividly, and have dreams that mirror real life when I write in my journal before I go to bed.  Perhaps it’s an easy way of dealing with my thoughts and feelings if it appears in a dream, like writing about it opens the door for me to think about it.  A dream  could be just a dream, and there could be nothing behind it, but it’s still an interesting connection.

Overall, I don’t have very many recurring dreams, other than the ones where I’m arguing with family.  If I do, I don’t remember having them, which wouldn’t be that unusual.  While I don’t remember every dream I’ve had, I do remember a fair amount of them.

Random Update!

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Here’s what’s been going on lately:

  • I still haven’t volunteered.  I’ve lost interest in volunteering for the moment.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to get interested again.
  • The gym: I haven’t gone, but I’ve done random intervals of exercise videos.  That’s a start, but as I’m paying for a gym membership, it might be a good idea if I go a couple times a week. 
  • My 100 book challenge is coming along rather well.  I’m reading a lot of things that I’ve been meaning to read but never got around to it.  And I also have several that I never read in school, which is rather odd.
  • Cooking and baking: I’ve cooked and baked up a storm this month!  I caught up on several food blogs I follow, and I’ve been feeling inspired to cook a lot more than normal.  I’ve definitely been relying on too many t.v. dinners, and I must change this.  Baking is also going really well, I think I’ll even try baking a loaf of bread one of these days.  Plus, I’m trying to use my new mixer every chance I get.
  • Writing: Other than my blog and a few random journal entries, I haven’t done much writing.  I’ve added a few hundred words here and there to Turning Point.  I’ve decided Kiora must be accident-prone: I’d imagine it would have to be annoying for the Secret Service to protect someone who ends up in the hospital every few weeks.  I did get a great suggestion from a friend that one of her Secret Service agents should be accident-prone, since you wouldn’t expect it.  I think I’ll end up incorporating both.  I think doing Script Frenzy, even though I don’t plan on writing a script, will get me back into my novel-writing at least a couple days a week.  Plus, I want to plan some of the plot bunnies I have floating around, so I’m hoping to use Script Frenzy to my advantage.       
  • And my finger is doing much better, although using it is still slightly difficult.  I still can’t believe I’d be so stupid as to stick my finger in a vegetable slicer.

Anne of Avonlea

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Title: Anne of Avonlea

Author: L.M. Montgomery

Pages/Format: 276/e-book

What I Thought: Anne of Avonlea is the 2nd book in the Anne of Green Gables series.  I liked it slightly better than Anne of Green Gables- Anne is more mature in Anne of Avonlea, but still manages to get herself into some trouble.  She still has a vivid imagination and is still talkative, although she’s not nearly as talkative or imaginative as she was in the 1st book. 

She is now a teacher at the same school she used to go to, and there are a new cast of characters.  There are Davy and Dora Keith, who Marilla adopts after their mother dies, and their new neighbor, Mr. Harrison.

I did like the Avonlea Village Improvement Society (or AVIS) which Anne herself had organized.  There were questionable results at the start of AVIS, mainly when the town hall was painted blue instead of green.  After the mix-up, AVIS flourished because the town blamed the Pye family, who had been given the job of painting the hall.     

Having liked Anne of Avonlea so much, I can’t wait to read the 3rd book in the series, since the novel ends with Anne going off to college. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.  I loved it, and I can’t wait to see what sort of adventures Anne gets herself into.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

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Title: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Author: Betty Smith

Pages/Format: 493/Paperback

What I Thought: For some reason, I thought I had read this book, but as I started reading, I realized I had never read it before. 

It’s somewhat hard to summarize A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, but it’s pretty much a coming-of-age story.  It follows Francie Nolan as she grows up in Brooklyn with her mom (Katie), dad (Johnny) and brother (Neely).

I loved seeing Francie grow up- she had a lot to deal with, and her family clearly struggled to make ends meet.  Poverty and alcoholism are present throughout the book, and yet the Nolans perservere and rise above all of the problems they have.  I felt like I was growing up with Francie as she worked several jobs, had her heart-broken and took college courses.  I nearly started crying when I read the end- I wonder what happened to Francie and her family.  I wished it were just a little longer, because I enjoyed it so much.

I think one of my favorite parts of the whole book was when Francie’s English teacher talked to her about some of her essays and how writing about poverty and alcoholism was sordid, and that people acknowledged bad things existed, but no one wrote about it. 

Rating: I give it a 5 out of 5.  It was a great book, and one I can’t wait to read again.  It was definitely worth buying.

Jamba Juice Power

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Title: Jamba Juice Power

Author: Kirk Perron, with Stan Dembecki

Pages/Format: 222/Hardcover

What I Thought: It’s an interesting book: part recipes, part history 0f Jamba Juice, part nutrition and part lifestyle guide. 

The really brief history of Jamba Juice was really interesting, and I would have liked to see a more detailed history.  However, that can be resolved by googling Jamba Juice.

I could have done without the nutrition section, most of which I already knew, and is common sense.  I did like how how he put it on a basic level.  I also didn’t care for the details on their different boosts, and what goes into the boosts.

There’s a 21-day guide to being more healthy.  The reasoning behind 21 days (according to Perron) is that 21 days is how long it takes to form a habit, so by the end of 3 weeks, the reader should be well on their way to a better mind and body.  However, all of the advice is very practical and easy to work into your daily life.

The smoothie and juice recipes were my favorite part, because who doesn’t love a good smoothie?  However, a lot of the smoothies had over 500 calories, with one clocking in at an astounding 880 calories!  I don’t know about anyone else, but when I think smoothies, I think healthy and good for you.  The fact that frozen yogurt/sherbert is used in a lot of the smoothies are the likely culprit behind it, and could probably be substituted with something else.  Assuming you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, you’re drinking drinking anywhere from 25% to nearly 50% of your calorie intake for the day.  Knowing that, I’d probably drink these particular smoothies every once in a while, and not everyday.  I don’t count calories or anything, but I’d rather not drink 25% of calories, even if it has fruit in it. 

I also liked the juice section, which thankfully had a lot less calories then a lot of the smoothies, although I wished it had been a little longer.  Again, that’s something I can probably google. 

There’s also a glossary, which I could have done without, but it’s probably good for those who want to know what the different terms mean.  There’s a resource section as well- although I have no idea how accurate it is now, since I’ve had the book for a few years.  All the government websites (the CDC, NIH, etc) are up-to-date but some of the others, I’m not so sure about.  And there is a recommended product page, which is nice if you’re in the market for a blender and/or juicer.

Rating: I give it a 3 out of 5.  It’s more of a lifestyle book as opposed to smoothies and juice.  I was expecting it be more Jamba Juice, although I’ve only been to Jamba Juice a few times, and it’s been a while since I’ve stopped by.  I was expecting a lot more smoothies, and more of the history of Jamba Juice.  I was slightly disappointed with the smoothies, but still yummy.

Reading Minds

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Today’s Prompt: If you could read minds for a day, would you?  Whose? What would you want to find out?

I would definitely jump at the chance to read minds if I could. 

I think I would start off reading some of my family’s minds, just to see what they’re thinking.  If they’re as bad as I think, and what motivates them to do and say the things that they do.  It would mostly be to see if I can trust them, which I’m positive I can’t anymore. 

It’s definitely geared towards one person in particular, although it would be nice to see where the rest of my family falls.  I’m pretty sure they don’t think of each other the whole day, so if I could pick the day, it would definitely be when the whole family’s together. 

I’d also like to read the minds of some of the people I work with, just because they’re all really interesting, and it’d be cool to see what goes through their head.  They all seem like they would have interesting thoughts.  But don’t tell them I said so!

And definitely some of the visitors who come into the museum!  Mostly to see if some of them really are as stupid as they sound.

It is a pretty fine line though.  On the one hand, it would be interesting to see what the people around me think…but on the other hand, I could end up finding out a lot of stuff I don’t want to know.  And I would never be able to take it back.  I could never unknow something once I find out about it, and I’d have to live the rest of my life knowing what they really thought.  If it were silly and mundane things, I think I’d be fine, but with so many people on my list, I’m bound to find out something I don’t want to know, and I honestly don’t know if I could live with that.

I suppose a lot of it depends on what parameters are set in place, but it does bring up some interesting questions.