There And Back Again

Let's begin with the obligatory late August photo: 

And now on to today's episode!

I gave it my best.

The  'serious'  blog.

Let's get real, folks-I mean have you seen me in real life?  

My life isn't pristine and pretty but it's certainly not an apocalypse.

NOTE:  I was looking at the online thesaurus for a fantastic replacement for apocalypse. This was the first thing that showed up so I stopped looking  and settled for it because here we are. 

So I guess it technically could be considered an apocalypse in the overall picture even it is a bit of a stretch. 

My life isn't something that can stay within nice defined boundaries.

I color outside the lines.   I remove mattress tags.  

I occasionally run with scissors. 

I drink milk past the expiration date.  My Christmas tree is still up. 

Yes, I march to the beast of my own drum.

No that's not a typo.  I said beast. 

I will elaborate on that another time. 

My intent was to post meaningful things that provoked thoughts that were philosophical in nature and not the I wonder if she's off her meds kind. 

The funny thing is that I had people message me asking if I was off my meds. Oh the irony....

 I'm more like an eclectic mix of chaospasm mixed in with passion, insanity, and a side of occasional adulting. 

What snapped me back into myself?  

An audio book I was listending to. I randomly checked it out from the online library because the title called to me for some reason. Include the cover shot of a raccoon that looked like it was on an extended mania spree pretty much sealed the deal. 

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Pictured is the author and the book cover

This link will take you to the  free preview of the book. 

 Disclaimer: It is peppered with language but I promise if you can overlook it it's worth it.  

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Furiously_Happy/FS6NBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

As I have listened to it I got really excited because  I get it. 

I thank those of you who have stuck with my through the growing pains of finding myself back to this blog. 

 For some reason I got it in my head that by writing a 'serious' blog I was going to be a 'better' blogger.  

Well we can all see how that turned out.  

So this is just a quick update to say that I'm back-really back-and we shall continue on forging through this fantastic life of mine filled with nonsense and grit. 

The grit part isn't always fun to share but it's who I am and this is all-in or all-out.

At times we may go to uncomfortable places but they are part of the package. 

I hope you enjoy the ride. :)

Until next time,

-R

As always remember that there are only: 

The First Day Of School Blues And Other Misc. Tidbits

                                 

The thoughts running through my brain this morning:

YAY! She won't be bored.

Sigh. My girl is growing up so fast.

Wahoo I have free time!

I have no idea what to do-wait, I know-I can blog! (Especially since I am long overdue).

Ready to roll!

 We've had several adventures  with a couple of basic meltdowns tossed in the mix.  She was a bit bored this time around but it ended up on a higher note when all the kids around here settled down for the rest of the summer and began their daily games of zombies, army, and Minecraft. 

I've been posting tidbits on social media over the summer so most of you have gotten a glimpse of how it's gone. Update: the peppermint oil worked.  My car is now spiderless. 

My girl turned 10!

 This past weekend, Mariah had a birthday and entered double-digit territory.  I'm feeling sense of loss as she's my youngest. I'm also amazed at how fast the time has gone. It seems like yesterday we were celebrating kindergarten.  My girl is growing up!

We were going over some things for this school year and I had to have the talk.  You know the ones moms have with their daughters:

BOYS

She's  complained for the last month about the boys acting stupid and dumb.  I had to explain to her that boys are kind of silly at this age and to just go play somewhere else. She told me she plans to terrorize them at school and I immediately asked what she meant. 

"I'm going to chase them at recess all over the playground."

 Oh, Mariah,  you might want to rethink that strategy.

 And so it begins.

In other news, two of my favorite bands have released EPs over the summer.

Dead End Sky released Tomorrow Can't Wait and my favorite track is still Always followed by Only One Tear Left.

Letters From the Fire released their self-titled EP and I've absolutely fallen  for the track Waiting followed closely by Zombies in the Sun.

My beloved LUX series by Jennifer Armentrout was completed over the summer.  I felt all ends were tied up well and it was not lackluster or contrived.  One thing about this author is that whenever she writes a series, it's well thought out from beginning to end before she goes to print.

 Many of her books follow a similar pattern but she has a real gift for making them unique so reading them is not redundant. She is one of two authors that I have loved every book they've written. The other is Anne McCaffrey.

What's coming up for me:

My own writing has been sporadic this summer and one goal I have is to work my novels this fall. 

I also plan to get out and about to assorted locations to see what Autumn colors I can photograph. I also want to work on photographing people.  I've been asked to shoot several events this summer and declined because I'm afraid it would end up in disaster.  So I want to get my confidence up before I take one so important.

I will also be putting a lot of effort into learning how to use my Adobe Elements so I can take the step into Lightroom/Photoshop. I thank you all for the compliments about my existing work that you've given me-they mean a lot.  I always said I'd stay au-naturale, but to get a bit more of what I want in a finished product a tiny bit of editing would clear up the things that irk me. (washed out skies, hazy backgrounds, etc.)

There are a few other things going on in my life that I will blog about soon, but in my goal of keeping it as close to 500 words as possible,  they will have to wait.

Until next time,

Robyn :)

Note: Due to circumstances I have had to alter my workout regime.  I am happy to report my health is slowly heading an encouraging direction!

Why I Love YA/NA Books And Other Musings

Yet another 'two blog posts in a day' anomaly. I was encouraged to make my blog posts a bit shorter and make them more frequently-let's face it, I can get wordy.

I get a lot of eyebrow raising and ribbing because I prefer to read YA/NA (Young Adult/New Adult) books. Don’t get me wrong-I love reading almost everything but I prefer this niche.

 I know people don’t get why I do but despite what you might think, most YA is well-written. Yes there are the epic fails, but those occur within any genre. Blaming YA/NA books for ruining literature as we know it? I say BS, baby.

With the influx of books to read in the genre, it’s actually upped readership overall. People who haven’t read in years have found a gateway through YA/NA. Some stay tethered to it while others branch out to other areas of literature. I stay centered in YA but I read everything except extensive self-help books.  Those just don’t do anything for me.

Some of the best books I’ve ever read in my life were YA/NA.  (Anne McCaffrey and John Green I’m looking at you). I’ve read a few YA/NA series’ several times over and they never get old or lose their appeal for me.

Someone asked me how I could read kid’s books at my age. First off, I make no bones about being an old lady with a young heart.  And secondly I don’t read kids books. I do write them, however. Some of you pre-read “Mommy are you Broken” for me about The Midget’s issues when I had my surgeries).

It’s completed and edited, but on hold for now while I decide  whether or not to write a couple more and release them as a series. The kid book market is one of the hardest to break into in the business, so I want to make sure the quality and marketability for it is top notch before I toss it out and shop it.

Another thing I get is “How can you write that stuff?” when dealing with sensitive or gritty subject matter, or even language. It can be difficult to separate the writer from the character.  It can be difficult for me to write, but it’s a process and character development is its own beast. 

Some things I’m working on are very gritty and raw and show sides of human nature that is at its basest level. Again, that’s the character, not me. I’m not writing anything too over the top, rest assured. Sometimes I draw from my own experiences to add depth to a character, sometimes it writes itself and I can only hang on and go for the ride.

I’m a very emotional person and I can relate to the intense and gut wrenching all over the place emotion that is written into these books. Of course my memories of my teens were old school-before the age of tech. The internet didn’t even exist then. Books were my main escape and I read nearly anything I could get my hands on. I just related to YA/NA more.

I love it all-paranormal, dystopian post-apocalyptic, fantasy, and so on. 

I just like what I like. You shouldn't feel like you are cornered just because you read it. We have a finite number of days in this life and it’s too short not to do what you love, unless you are a serial killer but that’s a discussion for another day.

I've decided to take part in a read along for one of my favorite series and I’m kind of excited about it. I’ve never taken part in one and while I’m much older that most of them, I still feel the same enthusiasm that they do. One thing I found interesting is that a large majority of YA/NA readers are older-not always as old as me, but you get the idea. 

Often times when I’m making new online friends I start with “your favorite old lady from Idaho.” (Because I AM old).  Some find me odd, others get where I’m coming from. Once you get over your initial head scratching and trying to figure me out, you’ll find I’m just as complex and nutty as everyone else on this planet-but most of all I am sincere.  I just happen to have the mindset of a twenty-something. It’s led to some interesting adventures.

 A big home project is to sort through my bookcases and donate the books I don’t want or read anymore. With my Nook and the 4-5 shelves full of books stacked double thick, I won’t ever run short of reading material.

Even after I thin down what I have and go through the 8 boxes (yes, 8) of books in my garage I will have a full house, book wise. As much as I love my Nook, there is nothing like the smell or weight of a book in your hand. *cue the schmooze*

Some of my current favorites are:

 Jennifer Armantrout’s Covenant, Lux, and Dark Elements series.

John Green’s The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Arizona.

VeronicaRoth’s Divergent series.

 Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as we knew it series.

Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series.

Just about everything written by Anne McCaffrey.

.If you have any good book recommendations or would like me to review one for you, comment or shoot me an email and I will see what I can do.

If you are an author, I would be happy to ARC and review. (Wend Peltzer, I am looking at you.)

Happy reading!

Until next time,

-Robyn 

A New Day

 

Isn’t it funny how a change in attitude and/or purging negativity can bring an incredibly bright outlook the next day?

  I was looking over my previous posts and they seem to be a dark confessional of sorts and that wasn’t my intent.  I thought I’d do a quick happy post, rambling as it may be, for an insight to the more positive aspects of my mind.  :D

My cats’ attempt to overthrow my regime this morning was foiled successfully.   They ended up battling for dominance for the best perch on the cat tree and defending said dwelling against the canine assault.

 

  

The dog didn’t destroy anything, but I did have to stop him from chewing on a doorway corner in the hall. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see the small fluffs of carpet spread around the area. :/

I was worried last night that I’d wake up to a dusting of snow per the forecast I saw before bed last night.  I was really happy to see green (ish) grass and sun!  Only a few clouds in the sky.  I think I’m going to take Mariah down to feed the geese for some ‘us’ time.  Seeds of Ink may or may not join us. She’s been a prisoner to the shade for a week or so and it’s time to break her out.  

And wouldn’t you know it that as I’m ready to take a few shots to emphasize the actions of my critters the camera goes on the fritz. The bright side is that it’s the inexpensive point and shoot that was a clearance display that got for $25. RIP Sony Cybershot.  Now if I could only find my Lumix…..

The Nikon is much harder to carry around all the time-I’m kind of obsessive and have to have at least two lenses with me.  And speaking of lenses, my dad gave me two BIG ones a couple of years ago and I’ve yet to work with them.

My current lenses are the auto focus ones while the older ones are manual.  They do fit the camera body but one lens is really long and heavy and I’m afraid to stress the camera body without any extra support.  I need to take the plunge and learn to use the manual focus.  Time to check out some YouTube tutorials I guess. Until then for the remainder of this post I shall recycle old photos because I can’t have a post without visuals. It just feels wrong to me.

Someone also suggested that I pick up a solid Cannon in the future if possible because it’s nice having both.   I inherited a manual Cannon a few years ago from my uncle and want to use it to-I really like shooting 35mm.  I have to wonder how much longer there will even be physical film available.

***Any suggestions for photography education resources are most appreciated.  Inexpensive is fine, free is even better-at least I’m honest about it.***

I’ve decided that along with my new attitude I will be cleaning out a lot of clutter from my environment.  I am a collector of books, oriental décor, and rocks.  Getting rid of any of them feels like I’m losing something important, but the reality is that I’d like to keep the best of the best and only the favorites. Don’t get me wrong-we aren’t talking an episode of ‘Hoarders’ but my garage is full and my bookshelves overflowing.




Not my actual house but you get the idea

 
I also need to purge several electronic items-a couple of old laptops, a bazillion cords, an extra stereo (or two), and you get the idea.   My goal is to eliminate my need for the garage-I already rent a carport which is directly in front of my house, and if I work it just right, I should be able to keep my camping stuff in a spare closet I’m going to give it the old college try anyway.

 With the influx of sun, the call of spring is strong. My garden schedule is already a month behind due to winter deciding we needed snow after all.  Gah. We have a short growing season as it is.  I went ahead and started a few seeds-peppers, tomatoes, squash, c cantaloupe, and a few herbs.  Will see how they do.  I really do like growing things myself.

 

The community garden I belong to is going to allow kids to plant a mix of flowers and edibles in their plots which will make it look pretty neat.   I generally plant certain flowers for pest control and it does brighten things up. 

I plan to grow my herbs in containers at home this year because I like stepping outside and clipping what I need.   Usually I do a big showy and bright flower garden out front, but last year the new owners of the complex started to pull the juniper (awful stuff) from the landscape so I didn’t do my regular thing and lose any hard work I would have done. I get kind of particular about my flowers so I did containers. 

Turns out they didn’t get to mine but will this season, so no big show again this year. (I miss it. I truly do because it smells really nice too.)  I will let Mariah scatter some flower seeds and just see what comes up. I’m going to do something different with the containers-make combination pots or something. I love sitting on my back patio, small as it may be, on a warm night with an adult beverage and enjoying the ambience. 

I’ve taken mercy on the kitchen table and have a plastic shelf set up for my seedlings.  The kids really protested when I took up 60% of the table rather than the 20% I’d promised.  When green fever kicks in, it really takes over.

  

And in other news….

Books...

I haven’t read much during my murky funk, but a favorite author of mine recommended a story that looked interesting so I took the plunge.  I’m reading “The Girl of Fireand Thorns” by Rae Carson. I’m only a couple of chapters in but I already like it. I don’t have enough read time in to share a more in-depth view.

I was stressing on the eyeball thing and in a twist of irony another one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Armentrout has been given an eyeball diagnosis of her own.  In this case, it’s not a great one and my thoughts are with her as she takes her own journey.

Music...

I’ve been enjoying some new music by Minnasia-they have a new EP out, 'World of No Errors', and its FREE! You can get your copy here. The EP has a more unpolished, gritty feel and I like the way it turned out. My favorite track on the  EP is ‘Ice Burns’-it gives me great feels.  You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter as well.

   I discovered a new artist via an acquaintance’s Tweet earlier this week.   His name is Toumas Kasselgaurd Easton. I made some small talk (you know me) and he seems like a nice guy.  He’s a keyboardist and his first official music video ‘Daydreaming’ can be seen here. He's got a Facebook and Twitter too.

And with that I shall leave you to start my day-I want to go get in some sun time and will the few clouds that have crept across the sky away.

Wishing you a great day!

Until next time,

Robyn

 

~Post Script~

We had a wonderful time down at the lake-the sun was warm and there were a bunch of people feeding the birds that the bread could have filled a bakery.  It made for very happy geese, ducks, and of course, sea gulls.

 

 

 

How do you like your purple?

 

Purple prose.

 

 It might not bear the hallmarks of the more emphatically debated topics, but it’s there nonetheless and almost everyone I’ve talked to has an opinion on it.  It can be a tool or a death sentence to a story.

 

The consensus seems to fall into three categories:

Camp one says that it’s a writing style filled with useless words that aren’t important to the crux of the tale being told and can be quite distracting. Such readers prefer to have lots of room for interpretation.

She smiled, enjoying the sun and watching the leaves blow around.

Camp two indicates that they prefer a middle ground-enough detail to describe an environment and a character’s physical sensations without creating a gauntlet the reader is forced to endure.

She smiled as the sun’s warmth shone down on her shoulders in between

 the scattered clouds being tossed about on the breeze.

 

Camp three says that they enjoy the enhanced details and that it greatly enhances their reading experience, giving them an intricate and detailed view of what the author had in mind.

 

She smiled as the heated tendrils of light flowed down, her shoulders soaking

up the heat with a rapturous joy.  Scattered clouds moved languidly, occasionally

passing over her, denying her warmth, and causing her shiver.  A breeze blew

softly around her, pushing the offending darkness away, restoring the connection

between life, light, and skin.

 

 I am the first one to admit I tend to favor the visceral side of things, and that it gives more insight to the workings of my characters’ minds.

 

I was actually doing a bit of research on purple prose since it is something I deal with almost daily.  It's automatic with me.  It could be worse....

"In Defense of Purple Prose, " an  online article from the New York Times, Paul West writes:

             "Of course, purple is not only highly colored prose. It is the world written

up, intensifies and made pleasurably palpable, not only to suggest the

 impetuous abundance of Creation, but also to add to it by

showing - showing off - the expansive power of the mind itself, its unique

knack for making itself at home among trees, dawn, viruses, and then

turning them into something else: a word, a daub, a sonata. The impulse

here is to make everything larger than life, almost to overrespond, maybe

 because, habituated to life written down, in both senses, we become inured

and have to be awakened with something almost intolerably vivid. When

 the deep purple blooms, you are looking at a dimension, not a posy. "

            (http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/15/books/in-defense-of-purple-prose.html)

Combining cerebral with visceral has been a challenge to be sure.  My past writing style was one that was written such a  cerebral that it required extra purple so that the reader would not become lost.

 

A few readers really got it and went out of their way to tell me how much they liked it, while the majority ended up confused and not getting the story at all. Looking back I can’t help but cringe a bit. (Okay I cringe a lot).

 

 I think many writers aim for balance. I prefer to walk a bit left of that. A touch of unbalance makes my world go ‘round.  

 

Wishing you a purple day,

 

 ~Robyn

 

 

(Note: This is an entry from a blog long ago, that has been reworked and updated as it's still very applicable for me today. It was too good to waste and there are a couple I will be reworking and posting in the coming months. I will note them as such.)