Let's do this again.
Tell me something honest, something that needs to be told. Any degree of importance will do.
I will keep it for you and in return, tell you something honest about myself.
wie.ein.lied at gmail dot com
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
"Begin afresh, afresh, afresh..."
A good poem for a new year.
My hair is drying as I type and my digicam's gone into a coma.
I'm heading back to Chicago on Thursday to resume my career as a student at a private liberal arts college.
What will you make happen this year?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Read in December
1. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
I really would have liked this if he had stopped after the first fifty pages or so and made this a short story instead of a novel. As it is, it's okay.
2. The Beauty Myth, by Naomi Wolf
Freaking electrifying thesis on what's behind our ideas of beauty.
3. Green Angel, by Alice Hoffman
Small prose-poemish book. Some parts are very much fable/fairy tale. I really liked it, but it's definitely a matter of taste. Don't read it if you don't like the phrase "made of moonlight and laughter."
4. Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr
The weird thing about this story is it's set in the town where I worked most of this year, a little coastal suburb down the peninsula a ways. An interesting and original contemporary-realistic YA novel.
5. What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell
I'm not sure how I feel about the plot. There is some extremely striking imagery in this book, though--some moments are downright cinematic. The setting, a post-war 1940s Florida resort town in the off season, is the basis for an overwhelming atmosphere of glamor, restlessness, tension, emptiness, uncertainty, intrigue--it's hard for me to describe, but it's similar to the feeling I got from parts of The Great Gatsby.
6. The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, by Tomas Tranströmer
It took me a while to get into the phrasing of these translations, but once I did, I enjoyed his poetry so much. Glances from one subject to another in a weaving of strong and consistent mood and voice. Beautiful and thought-provoking.
7. Questions About Angels: Poems, by Billy Collins
His poetry isn't what I'm used to; through much of this book I didn't feel as if he was telling me anything important. He does have a rather delightful mastery of language, though.
8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan
Didn't really live up to the hype for me. It did pull me in; I read it in a day. My problems are with the unevenness of the pacing, and the main character. Her restlessness is appealing, but I didn't care that much about her, and I really didn't care about her love life (I'm not sure how she could when under constant threat of death by zombie, either...).
I really would have liked this if he had stopped after the first fifty pages or so and made this a short story instead of a novel. As it is, it's okay.
2. The Beauty Myth, by Naomi Wolf
Freaking electrifying thesis on what's behind our ideas of beauty.
3. Green Angel, by Alice Hoffman
Small prose-poemish book. Some parts are very much fable/fairy tale. I really liked it, but it's definitely a matter of taste. Don't read it if you don't like the phrase "made of moonlight and laughter."
4. Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr
The weird thing about this story is it's set in the town where I worked most of this year, a little coastal suburb down the peninsula a ways. An interesting and original contemporary-realistic YA novel.
5. What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell
I'm not sure how I feel about the plot. There is some extremely striking imagery in this book, though--some moments are downright cinematic. The setting, a post-war 1940s Florida resort town in the off season, is the basis for an overwhelming atmosphere of glamor, restlessness, tension, emptiness, uncertainty, intrigue--it's hard for me to describe, but it's similar to the feeling I got from parts of The Great Gatsby.
6. The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, by Tomas Tranströmer
It took me a while to get into the phrasing of these translations, but once I did, I enjoyed his poetry so much. Glances from one subject to another in a weaving of strong and consistent mood and voice. Beautiful and thought-provoking.
7. Questions About Angels: Poems, by Billy Collins
His poetry isn't what I'm used to; through much of this book I didn't feel as if he was telling me anything important. He does have a rather delightful mastery of language, though.
8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan
Didn't really live up to the hype for me. It did pull me in; I read it in a day. My problems are with the unevenness of the pacing, and the main character. Her restlessness is appealing, but I didn't care that much about her, and I really didn't care about her love life (I'm not sure how she could when under constant threat of death by zombie, either...).
Thursday, December 31, 2009
In 2009, I...
decided to take a leave from my college in the Midwest
recovered from clinical depression and an eating disorder
worked in a doctor's office making as much per hour as my college-grad brother-in-law (muahaha)
funded, planned, and took a solo trip to Australia
registered my own domain
got pierced
stood in the Indian Ocean
found a major that I love (anthropoloGY!)
came into my own as a feminist
started taking good pictures
tested the waters of analogue photography, and fell accordingly in love with toy cameras
was a bridesmaid
developed an addiction to snail mail correspondence
saw Arizona for the first time
stood up on a surfboard
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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