Showing posts with label nerd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nerd. Show all posts

Monday, October 14, 2013

"there is nothing to writing. all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed" - Ernest Hemmingway

Alrighty, then...

And as much as I want to believe in that quote, I know it's not true for me. Not because typewriters are practically an endangered species (and let me tell you, I have many nostalgic memories from sitting at a typewriter, but I digress...), but because I'm logical to almost a fault.

Personally, I find creativity to be challenging. I am decent at taking other people's ideas and running with them, and at times, making them very much my own, but other times, I sit and think and come up with nothing inspiring enough to get me to sit in front of a computer and have verbal diarrhea that is worth sharing.

Nothing has really changed, except the willingness to share. On that note, I created another blog: Adventures in Kreativitee to do just that.

I have challenged myself to write a short story or narrative at least every 2 weeks for a year. They may not be long, and it's very unlikely that all of them will be good, but the goal is to force myself to wake up and rattle the creative side of me, since the left side of my brain is used so heavily at work.

So, here's an unofficial official invitation to join me on this adventure. Prompts and feedback are welcome. But just remember, my major was Animal Physiology and Neuroscience, not Communications or Literature. Ahem... 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Book worm nerd alert!

I've neglected this blog for a good part of half a year now. I have a few "drafts" that probably won't get published, but I've been a little "busy", I guess.

Being a part of the real world (post grad school) has given me a chance to start reading for leisure again. I've always been a reader, and honestly, wished something like "goodreads" was available when I was younger, so I could have kept track of all the books I've devoured over the years.

I'll have to settle on hoping that I kept track this year and didn't miss one. So... what's the tally for 2012? A whopping 24 books! (Thank you Santa Barbara Public Library...)

Just in case inquiring minds want to know what the list contains (in no particular order):
1. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
3. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
4. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
5. Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
6. Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay
7. Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
8. City of Thieves by David Benioff
9. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
10. What the Other Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
11. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
12. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
13. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
14. Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
15. Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers
16. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
17. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
18. Rant by Chuck Palaniuk
19. Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julia Powell
20. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (and let the judging begin!) - almost didn't include this one, but what the heck!
21. Savages by Don Winslow
22. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
23. In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami (no relation to Haruki as far as I know...)
24.  Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

And there you have it. Aside from the Dexter series, I'd say it's a nice mix. Most of these books were recommendations from my virtual book club in Boston and some were me piggybacking off of Jase's books, others were recommendations of other friends, and some were flat out my picks.

The library is a great place to get ideas of what to read, but I definitely miss the brick and mortar stores like Borders and Barnes and Noble (the closest one to me is about 30 miles south... big surprise!) There will never be anything like browsing through displays of books and finding those eye catching covers. Hopefully BN won't also disappear!!

For 2013, I've already finished 4 books, (no, 2 of the books aren't the rest of the Fifty Shades series... although 1 is... haha), but that list won't be revealed for a while.

Let go of what is gone; be grateful for what remains; look forward to what is coming...

NOTE: Written on March 2, 2020: Pre knowing just how big Covid was... I decided not to rewrite it because it was a simpler time then.  Holy ...