Tag Archives: postaday2012

Dreaming Of Stores

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my dreams, so I think it’s time to share some.

I’ve had a few dreams over the last few weeks where I’ve been shopping in grocery stores.  Once in a while it’s Wal-Mart, but mostly grocery stores.

I don’t need a dream dictionary to tell me that it could mean that I’m looking for something I don’t have.  Apparently a large and/or well-stocked market means there are possibilities and choices…which I have and really need to narrow down…

Dreams are interesting things, and they can tell us a lot.  I guess my subconscious is trying to tell me that I need to make sure that I’m okay and am a happy and fulfilled person.  It won’t be easy, of course, but these things usually aren’t…right?

In the spirit of self-love, I suppose I should do some sort of contract or something.  I don’t want to go into this blind, and while I have some thoughts on what self-love means, I feel like I need to have a plan…some things that I NEED to work on and achieve this year.  I will work on that over the next week.

It really is amazing what a dream can set in motion.  Although it’s something I really should have been working on in the first place.

I can’t think of anything else, so enjoy your weekend!

Still Alice: A Novel

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Book: Still Alice: A Novel by Lisa Genova

Publishing Info: Published by iUniverse, Inc; 292 Pages in Paperback

Still Alice is about Alice Howland, a professor at Harvard.  While out on a run, she gets lost and realizes she can’t remember how to get home, even though it’s the same route she’s been running for years.  After a few medical tests and visits to a couple doctors, she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

What happens next is her slow and inevitable loss of memory and all connections to reality.  We learn about Alzheimer’s and experience it through Alice’s eyes.

This is such an amazing book.  It’s rare that I even get misty-eyed when I read a book, much less cry by the end of it.  But knowing what Alice had forgotten and how shut out she felt was so heartbreaking.  It read very much like it was written by the relative of someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

I loved how the book was written: Alice’s story was told very simply and beautifully.  I have no connections to Alzheimer’s disease at all, but it still hit home.  It could happen to anyone, and I really felt that throughout the book.

It’s so well-done, and it’s not something that I’ll forget anytime soon.  The praise on the back cover were dead-on.  I think this is a must-read.  It gets a 5 out of 5.

Because I Am Furniture

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Book: Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

Publishing Info: Published by Viking Juvenile: 352 Pages in Hardcover

Because I Am Furniture is the heartbreaking story of Anke, who is witness the abuse that her sister and brother suffer at the hands of their father.  Anke is ignored, and feels very much like a piece of furniture.  Through her time on the volleyball team, she learns to speak up and finds the voice she thought she didn’t have.

I really liked it.  The thing I thought was most interesting was that the entire book was told in poems.  It was refreshing to see Anke’s thoughts just spilling out onto the page, but at the same time, I felt like I was just an observer.  The poetry made it really easy to follow but it also added a certain complexity to it.

The ending felt a little rushed, and it would have been nice to see what happened to her dad, her friend Angeline, and a couple other people mentioned in the book.

Overall, it was realistic and very emotional.  I give it a 4 out of 5.

The Year Of Self-Love

Posted in 2012 Theme: Self-Love by

I settled on a word, and it is self-love.  I had some trouble coming up with a list of words, and then I remembered that I had bookmarked this link.  Granted, it’s a few years old, but it had a long list of words that I borrowed from.

It was hard to narrow it down to one, but the nice thing about self-love is that it does encompass a lot of the other words I liked.

The whole idea of self-love has really clicked over the last week or so, and it will definitely be a priority this year.  It’s sad that it wasn’t, and isn’t, but right now, the need to work on the self-love is very strong.  I really liked this one post from The Lettered Cottage that talks about the blogger’s word of the year.

So what does self-love mean to me?

For one thing, taking care of myself physically and emotionally.  Eating well and exercising.  Not being so hard on myself.

Accepting that I don’t need to be perfect, that it’s okay to have faults.  Accepting that it’s okay to mess up every once in a while, and that mistakes don’t mean I’m a failure at life.  That it’s okay to take care of myself.  Letting go of fear and indecision.

Okay, so, this post makes me want to cry.  It’s very hard for me to even think about this, and writing it down…makes it very real.  I think a resolution word will be a good thing, because I can make it as specific or as broad as I want.  Specific enough so that I’m not winging it, but broad enough to give me some wiggle-room.

I will be sharing my progress at least once every 1-2 weeks, so we’re going to be getting a lot more personal over the next year!

The Last Wife Of Henry VIII

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Book: The Last Wife Of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson

Publishing Info: Published by St. Martin’s Press; 326 pages in hardcover

The Last Wife Of Henry VIII is about Catherine Parr, Henry’s 6th, and last, wife.

It’s an interesting novel, but I feel like it could have been a little longer.  Erickson pretty much glossed over different events from Catherine’s life, and it went by far too quickly.  I would have liked more of her marriage to Henry, since it is titled The Last Wife Of Henry VIII, but no such luck.

I love the people and all, and Tudor England is one of my favorite historical periods ever, but I couldn’t get into it.  However, it was interesting to see the court and Henry’s other wives through the eyes of Catherine.  It just wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be, given she was one of two wives (the other being Anne of Cleves) to survive Henry relatively unscathed.  Erickson’s version was a tad boring for me, but she is free to write her as she sees fit.

There certainly was not a lot of detail about clothing or food or what the different castles and homes looked like.  It would have made the book feel more real and give the book some life.

Overall, it gets a 3 out of 5.  While not bad or amazing, it was a good, enjoyable read.

An Inspirational And Uplifting Playlist

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I didn’t listen to anything new last week, mainly because I was trying to catch up on podcasts.

Instead, I will be sharing some songs that are on my inspirational/uplifting podcast, one that has an astounding 85 songs.  It usually puts me in a good mood whenever I need some cheering up, or whenever I feel inspired or happy.

  • So Small by Carrie Underwood: I love this song, and it deserves its spot on the playlist.  I can’t put my finger on why it puts me in a good mood, but it does.
  • You Gotta Be by Des’ree: It always cheers me up, and I always feel like things will be okay.
  • Walk You Home by Karmina: This song is good at reminding me that it’s okay to ask for help sometimes.
  • Lovely by Sara Haze: When I’m being hard on myself, this is one of the first songs I go to.  It’s a good reminder that I’m fine the way I am and that I don’t need to change myself to make other people happy.
  • I Don’t Want To Be by Gavin DeGraw: Another favorite for when I’m hard on myself.  Basically, I like it for the same reason for the I like Lovely.

I think that wraps it up for today, so have a great day!

Delirium

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Book: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Publishing Info: 441; Hardcover; Published by HarperTeen

Delirium is set in Portland, Oregon, and is about a society that believes love (deliria) needs to be cured because of the problems it causes for society.  The government demands that everyone gets cured when they’re 18, because it doesn’t work on anyone under the age of 18.  Lena has looked foward to it, until she mets Alex 3 months before she’s supposed to be cured.

I liked it, and found the idea that love is a disease that has been (mostly) eradicated very interesting.  It seemed like everyone feared love, but I myself didn’t feel very scared of love at all.

I loved that the chapters were headed by nursery rhymes, playground chants, schoolbooks, government pamhplets and The Book Of SHHH, amongst other things. 

One thing I’m curious about, and something that wasn’t fully explained, was why love is considered a disease, and how they cure it.  It’s surgery- I think brain surgery- but other than that, we don’t know the specifics.  Perhaps it will be revealed in one of the other books in the series?  It’s mentioned what the symptoms of deliria are, but nothing about why it’s considered bad…and almost contagious. 

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It’s very imaginative and clever, and Oliver does have a way with words.  But there was something missing from it.  Still, I’m intrigued enough to read the next one.

11/22/63

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Book: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Pages: 849; Hardcover; Published by Scribner

It’s been years since I’ve read Stephen King, so when this book popped up on my recommendation list, I decided I needed to read it. 

11/22/1963 is about Jake Epping, a man who goes back in time to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. 

I thought it was just okay.  But when did Stephen King stop writing horror/supernatural stuff and start writing novels that are more science-fiction?  His stuff always had a hint of science-fiction, I suppose, but for some reason, it seems like he’s more science-fiction than horror.

Back to the actual book though.  It was well-written, but most of the book focused on the 5 years leading up to the assassination.  There was a lot of build-up for something that didn’t last very long in the book.  And with the element of time-travel thrown in, the main character goes back to his present time, only to learn that the entire country has been living in a nuclear winter.

It’s not as suspenseful or as thrilling as I would have expected, and it’s more about Epping’s long lost love than the Kennedy assassination.  There’s not enough conspiracy theory in it for me.  The book doesn’t really delve into how the Kennedy assassination would change the course of history, and when we finally got to it, it felt rushed.  Almost like King forgot what he was writing. 

It had a good start, with a boring middle and rushed/anti-climactic ending.  The ending wasn’t what I expected, with Epping having to choose between staying in present time and letting it all be done with, or going back and trying to change fewer things.  Either way, it was a let down, because why go through with trying to change it?

It could have been a really interesting book, but I think going back to 1-2 years before the assassination (at most) would have been nice.  5 years before was just too long of a time.  And if it had focused on how an attempted assassination changed history instead of the events leading up to it, I think it could have been a lot better and a lot more interesting.

I give it a 2 out of 5.  Slightly disappointing- it was just okay.

T.V. Time

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It’s been a while since I talked about t.v., so I suppose it’s time to talk about it. 

Well, stuff is back on now. 

Mostly.

I watched the season finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  I used to watch it all the time, and then watched it sporadically.  But just when I got used to watching it again, it goes off the air!  I was surprised that I wasn’t crying, but then the last few minutes, with the old clips happened, and I was crying.  I’m sad, but they had a good run.

And for some reason, I felt the need to watch American Idol this week.  I have no idea why, since the last time I watched it was when the pants on the ground guy auditioned.  But my grandma was watching it, and I wanted to be with my grandma, so I watched it with her. 

I missed Once Upon A Time, because I forgot it was on.  And promptly remembered that it was one after it was over.  Because that is how things work.  I’m slightly annoyed that they showed a new episode of NCIS, only to take a break for a few week.  And I still need to catch up on Revenge and Person Of Interest.  For some reason, it’s getting harder and harder to remember to watch them.

I honestly can’t think of anything else, other than I’m excited that House is coming back on Monday with a new episode.  Have a great weekend!

Word For The Year

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I can’t remember where I got this idea, but knowing me, it was probably a blog or a podcast.

But I feel the need to pick a word to describe how I want my year to go.  Like hope or positivity or kindness or something.  Every word I think of seems so boring and cliché.

Like, positivity is good.  I try to be positive.  But do I really want it to be my own personal word of the year?  I’m not sure. 

Creativity?  Maybe.  I do want to be more creative, whether I’m writing, being craftsy, baking, or cooking.  There are so many ways of being creative, so maybe it’s a good word to have as my word.

Healthy comes to mind, but I feel like it’s because it’s a new year, and that’s the thing on everyone’s mind.  I do need to exercise, and I feel like I eat pretty well, but I’m not sure.

There’s no rule that I need to have, so maybe a list of words that I can think about and remember and incorporate into my life.

I don’t have a set list of resolutions this year, and I’m not sure why.  I mean, there are things I want to accomplish this year, but I can’t seem to get into it.  But this word for the year thing has.

Go figure.  I think I need to create a master list and then narrow it down from there.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk about my guiding word soon!