in case you need a refresher, you can read about my first foray into my bulgarian roots HERE.
once again, adriana has tied me up with her foreign traditions thus transforming my winter blahs into sunshine and flowers. i mean, this is a much better way to celebrate spring than with old puxatawney phil. sorry phil, but those bulgarians get accessories when all you provide us with is a fleeting shadow and a hole in the ground. i can’t support that local custom, so i’m going global with this one.
thanks again for widening my horizons and teaching me the ways of the world, adi! i feel both stylish and cultured.
my mind is a frazzled, stressed out mess right now, so instead of unleashing that on you, my unsuspecting blog readers, i figured it’s best to talk about anything else.
like how after years of me saying, “you should really read HUNGER GAMES,” two more people in my life finally took me up on it. brother G and my friend R. and it’s been great hearing their perspectives on the book because as we all know, you bring your own life experiences to the pages when you read and they certainly have different lives than i do. all in all, it’s easy for me to continue saying, I LOVE THIS BOOK. (books 2 and 3 are a different beast, however.)
like how adriana is opening her heart and her wallet to do a book giveaway. the details aren’t final, but you know it’ll be good. keep an eye out for that.
like how sister E had her first collegiate lacrosse game this week AND SHE STARTED. (this means she’s really good.)
like how i have less than four weeks until the newly designed paperback edition of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by jandy nelson releases (march 22) and less than six weeks until WHERE SHE WENT by gayle forman is released. (WSW is the sequel to IF I STAY, one of my most favorite books EVER, aside from HUNGER GAMES. no other book has reduced me to such a sobbing, slobbering mess in such an enjoyable way.)
like how my parents are awesomesauce.
like how i bought my own squash equipment with birthday money from sister J and how i’m now officially addicted to the game. i’ve moved away from the beginning ball (hee) and onto the one dot ball (tee hee) which means i’m even closer to reaching professional squitty squash player status.
like how these signed bookmarks arrived from lindsey leavitt.
even though i’ve only read one of her books (PRINCESS FOR HIRE is the only one out so far), i believe in her fantastically fantastic talent. PFH is funny and charming and inspiring and real. linds (can i call you that, lindsey?) makes you laugh while sneaking in important life lessons about courage and friendship and family. i can only imagine her next book, SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD (which releases march 1. so soon!), will do the same. in short, lindsey’s one of those authors who’s career i’ll follow and i’ll most likely read every word she writes because she’s that good. oh and it looks like i’ve got a lot more coming from her. congrats!
and for the most uplifting thing, read HERE and behold the power of maureen johnson, twitter, and the publishing community. so amazing! i’m proud to say i donated to the cause.
jeannie moon to the rescue. here i am pondering what to tell you all when i find out she nominated me for a “stylish blog award” which means it’s now my turn to (a) reveal some secrets about me and (b) pay it forward.
PART A. facts about me.
1. i have never dyed my hair.
2. i used to have two holes pierced in each ear. now i only have one. i used to have my navel pierced. now i have none.
3. fingernails gross me out.
4. i have 2 plants in my office, a bamboo shoot and uh, something else. bamboo is basically a weed and so i couldn’t kill it if i tried and the second flower “likes sunshine and heat and indoors.” i can literally see it growing. it’s insane and kind of awesome, but it’s making me look like i have a green thumb. it’s a lie. a LIE i tell you. i think nameless flower is supposed to bloom sometime next month, but the whole “plant it outside in the spring” thing is going to be the death of that plant. you see, neither my apartment nor my work has a gardening plot. and thus, my lack of green thumb strikes again. at least i can enjoy the nameless flower for awhile longer.
5. my new netbook arrived and i spent last weekend writing. (note to self, remember to bring glasses home from work!) an unintended, but awesome side effect of owning a tiny computer…the screen is so small, it’s really annoying to look at the internet on it, which means i’m not tempted to do so which means WRITE ON with yo bad self.
6. my favorite gum is this which is nearly impossible to find anymore. the only store (and believe me, i’ve looked everywhere) that sells it anymore is a local place near work. they look at me funny when i buy 6 packs. i can’t help it. i’m addicted to this gum.
7. sleeping is my favorite. napping too.
PART B. pay it forward. so a lot of the names on jeannie’s list are ones that i would have listed, but the point is to introduce new blogs, so here are a few more than 15 MORE noteworthy blogs for you. their words inspire, teach, or provide a distraction. and now, i bequeath the stylish blog trophy to:
i’m not feeling very wordy today, so instead of bugging you with unimportant jibber jabber of my own, here are some others’ words, images, idea that entertain me…
a post on how and why her life is changing by kristen munson. GAH. i want to write like this. or, well, have something like this to write about!
a picture i hope i emulate someday from ally condie’s blog.
an interesting viewpoint from kiersten white on why authors shouldn’t read reviews of their work. the irony is, of course, that in order to write the post kiersten had to read reviews!
another beautiful seasonal photograph from ann finkelstein. it looks like something charlotte would have left over wilbur’s pen.
an important writing point wrapped up in a heart meltingly cute picture from (again) kiersten white.
the most hilarious take on what stress and expectations can do to a person from hyperbole and a half.
veronica roth on how sometimes NOT WRITING is a good idea.
a stunning, not seasonally correct picture from things organized neatly. mmm, summer.
my brain is very scattered this week and thus, my blog post shall be too.
how come i always find the most comfortable position AFTER my alarm rings in the morning?
i’m typing this while wearing one fingerless glove. and doing the moonwalk. and singing billie jean. (seriously, i’m only wearing one glove because my right hand, my mouse hand, gets so cold being out in the open. yeah, sitting in my apartment is essentially the equivalent to sitting outside. gas heat is expensive!)
if i wasn’t me, i’d like to be carrie underwood.
i got my first squash win on wednesday (9-8) and then proceeded to get squashed on every other game. but hey, i finally won one, that’s what’s important here, isn’t it?
if i wasn’t in this state, i’d like to be on a beach, under a tree, slathered in sunscreen, reading a book.
the antivirus program on my laptop had run through its trial program, so i needed to update or download another trial or do something so my poor laptop was not running naked through the interwebs. i couldn’t figure out how i had downloaded a trial version but anyways, after 3 hours and lots of mad googling, i finally figured it out. it involved a lot of clicking and uninstalling and reinstalling and downloading and clicking. i don’t actually know what worked, but i do know i’m not afraid to touch my laptop for fear it is contagious.
if i didn’t work here, i’d like to be a professional athlete.
i wish this chair came in adult size. think of the possibilities.
if i didn’t live at this apartment, i’d like to be in one with a washer/dryer and a porch.
i don’t recommend listening to the audiobook of gayle forman’s IF I STAY while driving, unless you’ve invented some form of windshield wipers for your eyes.
i changed my phone’s ring tone to carol of the bells, my favorite christmas carol. well, after this, of course:
i recently received some bookmarks from carrie harris. they are full of the awesome. it’s not surprising really because take a look at her website. yeah, amazing! why oh why do i have to wait until July 12, 2011 for her book (BAD TASTE IN BOYS) to be released?
coffee (caffeinated and decaf) makes me feel sick. i couldn’t seem to pinpoint when it would affect me and when it wouldn’t, so i made the tragic decision to cut it out of my life. i was good for about 10 months, but then i went to italy. they make espresso like no other. SLURP. and i felt fine. so i came back stateside thinking i was cured. alas, i felt sick again. drat. off it again. then i went to colorado and my mom makes really good decaf so i drank some there. fine. and then over thanksgiving, i drank more of the mom-made coffee. YUM. and i felt fine. WHAT GIVES, body? why do you only accept caffeinated when traveling?
from my spam filter: “makes me want to drink alcoholic beverages” in response to the art of listening. i’m going to guess that this person is NOT a good listener.
another goodie from the spam box: “People go en masse to the movies to see tales about Narnia and Harry Potter, escapist fantasies that take us away from our real world of austerity, cuts and looming economic disaster. In these tales, on our side we have wizards both brave and powerful. In real life, we look upon our so-called leaders and despair. If we want there to be a Narnia to escape to, we must build it here. Ourselves.” this comment makes no sense in response to gangsta but hey, spam is as spam does. i’m not going to unleash it from the filter, but i figured posting it here might inspire a little healthy competition. i know my commenters can get a little more creative. GAME ON.
Abigail Mumford 