Ah books.
My life essentially revolves around books.
whether it's textbooks for class, serious literature, or a goofy easy read, i am nearly always reading a book.
When friends come to me upset, i don't know how to comfort them. however, i know a good book they can read to either a) help them understand and deal with their situation or b) distract themselves from reality by delving into an alternate universe.
yep, i pretty much love books.
i prefer them to tv and movies. i watch more than my fair share of tv and i love movies, but they just don't quite compare to books in my mind. with a tv show, the characters are set in front of you, the show sets how they look, how they act, and all their personality traits.
books, however, have left a wonderful space for imagination to work. you get to see the characters in your own mind, taking the tidbits of information and building real people. you get to build this whole other world in your mind, designing down to the very minute details.
i inherit my love for reading from my mother. my dad has read a total of maybe three books for fun in my life. my mom, my sisters, my stepdad, and i all go through books like we go through oxygen. we live to read, and we all read at least one chapter of a fun book once a day. My sister and my mom trade books every time we meet practically. now mom and my sisters all have nooks, making reading just a tad bit easier - however, i prefer a real, heavy in my hands, old paper smelling book. Nothing is quite as good as the feeling of being so excited about a book that you can't wait to get home and pick it up again....no wonder i have no life...
ahh books.
email me for suggestions - if i wrote a post about the books i love i'd never be able to leave the computer! there are just too many!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
lonely
that's a funny word.
it carries a different meaning for different people.
sure, i'm lonely.
but then again, i've been lonely my whole life.
when you grow up as the youngest of three girls, you never have the bond that the older two sisters have. you don't have an instant best friend. instead, you bear the brunt of teasing, and they know how to push your buttons just well enough to make your temper flare and get you in trouble. we grew up playing with our distant cousins, and i was still the youngest. my middle sister and our youngest cousin are the same age, and are best friends until the end. my oldest sister has had the same best friend since kindergarten.
me?
i don't have that one best friend. i don't have that one person i trust with every little detail of my life.
then school didn't help. i was the kid who just went home after school and spent weekends being shuttled between parents' houses. i didn't get invited to parties. i didn't get invited to shari's after football games. i didn't get invited to anything. i went to the mall and movies once in a blue moon with the few people who bothered to call me a friend. summers were spent at my mom's house, with no invites to hang out at the lake or to hang out at all. i spent summers with my nose buried in book after book, reading away to ignore the world.
now that i'm out of my parents' houses and on my own, i see the same pattern. i'm not invited on weekends home or spring break trips. some people don't invite me because they know i work. however, i think i'm not invited because i'm forgotten about. it's not hard to forget me. i have a face that blends into the crowd. i'm not outstandingly funny or smart or any particular attribute.
the only things that are unique are my height, my determination to complete a double degree, and the fact that i am proud of where i'm from. those aren't friendship qualities.
here's the thing though.
I'm okay with being lonely.
i have been my whole life. boyfriend or no, i've always been alone. i hate that i'm forgettable, but i really don't care that nobody has time for me. i've gotten along just fine for nearly twenty years with no social life, no best friend, and no significant other of any type. sure, i'm close to a few people. they are close enough to earn the title "friend" instead of "acquaintance".
so "lonely" doesn't scare me. i have my books. i have my family. i have people i can keep in touch with. i'm okay spending my life alone. it's not scary. it's not sad. it just is.
it carries a different meaning for different people.
sure, i'm lonely.
but then again, i've been lonely my whole life.
when you grow up as the youngest of three girls, you never have the bond that the older two sisters have. you don't have an instant best friend. instead, you bear the brunt of teasing, and they know how to push your buttons just well enough to make your temper flare and get you in trouble. we grew up playing with our distant cousins, and i was still the youngest. my middle sister and our youngest cousin are the same age, and are best friends until the end. my oldest sister has had the same best friend since kindergarten.
me?
i don't have that one best friend. i don't have that one person i trust with every little detail of my life.
then school didn't help. i was the kid who just went home after school and spent weekends being shuttled between parents' houses. i didn't get invited to parties. i didn't get invited to shari's after football games. i didn't get invited to anything. i went to the mall and movies once in a blue moon with the few people who bothered to call me a friend. summers were spent at my mom's house, with no invites to hang out at the lake or to hang out at all. i spent summers with my nose buried in book after book, reading away to ignore the world.
now that i'm out of my parents' houses and on my own, i see the same pattern. i'm not invited on weekends home or spring break trips. some people don't invite me because they know i work. however, i think i'm not invited because i'm forgotten about. it's not hard to forget me. i have a face that blends into the crowd. i'm not outstandingly funny or smart or any particular attribute.
the only things that are unique are my height, my determination to complete a double degree, and the fact that i am proud of where i'm from. those aren't friendship qualities.
here's the thing though.
I'm okay with being lonely.
i have been my whole life. boyfriend or no, i've always been alone. i hate that i'm forgettable, but i really don't care that nobody has time for me. i've gotten along just fine for nearly twenty years with no social life, no best friend, and no significant other of any type. sure, i'm close to a few people. they are close enough to earn the title "friend" instead of "acquaintance".
so "lonely" doesn't scare me. i have my books. i have my family. i have people i can keep in touch with. i'm okay spending my life alone. it's not scary. it's not sad. it just is.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
ahhhhh..... that's nice.
Oh how i love the relief of finally finishing a huge project. it's like a giant weight is finally lifted and i can breath normally again.
oh, what's the project? a little something called the History of Oregon Woman Suffrage Documents Project.
(aka, my history class project).
Now, let me tell you all about it.
This history class was, uhm, interesting. The concept behind the class and the project is actually pretty dang cool, but i must say this class was far from being my favorite. With a different prof maybe it's be cooler, I dunno. Just my personal opinion.
Anyways. This class was centred around helping the Century Of Action committee build the history of the Oregon Woman Suffrage movement, as well as the COA website. We transcribed JPEGs of 1912 newspaper articles, which makes the articles searchable. (I thought JPEGs were searchable, but apparently not...) We were each given a topic, and we transcribed 5-7 articles about that particular topic. Then we got to write a contextual essay, placing our articles into the broader picture of the suffrage movement, both nationally and locally. All of our article JPEGs, transcriptions, and essays will be put on the Century of Action website : www.centuryofaction.org within the next week. On Tuesday, we will go to the state capitol and attend a kickoff event, showcasing the website. Yeah, I get to meet the Secretary of State and our former governor. No big deal.
So why are we doing all this writing and website-ing? I mean, besides earning credits?
Well, because November 5th of 2012 marks the 100th year anniversary of the passing of the Equal Suffrage law. Yep, that's right - women in Oregon got the right to vote eight years before the national movement passed. Century of Action is commemorating this with the website, and several events. Essentially this is trying to bring Oregon back to national attention and to reinvigorate the Oregonian spirit....I think....
I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly's going on with COA, but I know this for sure:
my transcriptions = DONE.
my essay = DONE
my project = DONE.
such a nice relief :)
oh, what's the project? a little something called the History of Oregon Woman Suffrage Documents Project.
(aka, my history class project).
Now, let me tell you all about it.
This history class was, uhm, interesting. The concept behind the class and the project is actually pretty dang cool, but i must say this class was far from being my favorite. With a different prof maybe it's be cooler, I dunno. Just my personal opinion.
Anyways. This class was centred around helping the Century Of Action committee build the history of the Oregon Woman Suffrage movement, as well as the COA website. We transcribed JPEGs of 1912 newspaper articles, which makes the articles searchable. (I thought JPEGs were searchable, but apparently not...) We were each given a topic, and we transcribed 5-7 articles about that particular topic. Then we got to write a contextual essay, placing our articles into the broader picture of the suffrage movement, both nationally and locally. All of our article JPEGs, transcriptions, and essays will be put on the Century of Action website : www.centuryofaction.org within the next week. On Tuesday, we will go to the state capitol and attend a kickoff event, showcasing the website. Yeah, I get to meet the Secretary of State and our former governor. No big deal.
So why are we doing all this writing and website-ing? I mean, besides earning credits?
Well, because November 5th of 2012 marks the 100th year anniversary of the passing of the Equal Suffrage law. Yep, that's right - women in Oregon got the right to vote eight years before the national movement passed. Century of Action is commemorating this with the website, and several events. Essentially this is trying to bring Oregon back to national attention and to reinvigorate the Oregonian spirit....I think....
I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly's going on with COA, but I know this for sure:
my transcriptions = DONE.
my essay = DONE
my project = DONE.
such a nice relief :)
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