So I blogged I while back about how I ran into a woman at Borders and she invited me to the local chapter of the Jane Austen Society and I accepted and I was excited to go because of my general nerdiness and how nice and encouraging she was at a time when I needed the encouragement and I went and it was awesome. Remember? Remember? Well...
It so happens that Borders Lady is a relative of a friend of mine! LOL! and apparently they don't like her very much, but that's another story. Funny funny small world. Except not really because apparently Borders Lady spends a lot of time in Borders and invites a lot of people to the Jane Austen Society. I was a mere fly caught in her web :) But regardless, I was pleased to accept the invitation and I'm still planning to continue with the Janeites.
You may not have noticed but I didn't mention much about seeing that lady again at the meeting I attended though I had been pretty pleased to meet her. I made a big deal out of honoring her invitation and then I didn't mention whether I saw her or not. Well, I did see her, but I spent most of the time conversing with the Janeites my age and, while I did greet her, we only spoke in passing.
New friend? Not so much. But I am grateful for the encouragement she gave me and the invitation.
But this whole episode reminded me of why I was so hesitant to resume blogging. In order to blog, you have to reveal things about yourself, your hopes and dreams, your complaints and troubles, your humor, etc. While you can choose how much to reveal, regardless of what you reveal, you always run the risk of discovering you were mistaken, naive, etc. And when you blog it, it is public. And, in some way, you can't take it back. It is way easier to appear ignorant or silly when hindsight is 20/20 and there is a written record of your past thoughts.
But I'm going to continue blogging because I'm self-aware enough to be comfortable with appearing silly or ignorant. Sometimes I am those things. And sometimes I'm not. But I want to be able to share myself because there are so many people who have shared themselves with me.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Nanowrimo... I'm crazy
I've thrown my metaphorical hat into the ring. I have signed up to participate in this year's NaNoWriMo. If you don't know what that is --> link! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano like magic!
It is really odd that I would choose to do this, for a few reasons: 1) I'm not an author, 2) I have no ambitions to be an author, 3) The vast majority of my writing is academic, typically history-related, 4) I'm currently writing my senior thesis to graduate, and 5) I don't have the time, energy or drive to "win."
But I'm going to give it a go anyway. I have never ever done anything like this before, and I'm not at all confident I'll finish anything on time, but how could you pass up the life experience? It's a big time commitment, but I'm risking very little for a chance to try something new, exciting, and challenging. I think if I can abstain from Korean dramas, reading, and video games for the month, I can do pretty well.
All in all, I have fairly low expectations of the result of my writing. I'm completely inexperienced and have to balance NaNoWriMo with my school work and academic writing. But I think that even if I don't finish my novel (which I assume I won't) I can be satisfied with my writing efforts and add it to my life resume.
As far as what I should write about, that is a bit more difficult. I have a bunch of story ideas that I've saved up over the years, but most of them more suited to a short story than a novel. Or I've outgrown the idea. Or I have a brilliant concept and a couple ideas for the story, but wouldn't want to write the whole thing. Sometimes I'm sure that creativity requires way more energy than I have available to me.
I have a week to come up with a plot I find exciting or compelling. Should be interesting.
Actually that probably encompasses my attitude toward NaNoWriMo, "Should be interesting." At the end of this month, I want to look back and feel that I was a part of an interesting and fun project alongside many more gifted authors. Let's try it!
Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
It is really odd that I would choose to do this, for a few reasons: 1) I'm not an author, 2) I have no ambitions to be an author, 3) The vast majority of my writing is academic, typically history-related, 4) I'm currently writing my senior thesis to graduate, and 5) I don't have the time, energy or drive to "win."
But I'm going to give it a go anyway. I have never ever done anything like this before, and I'm not at all confident I'll finish anything on time, but how could you pass up the life experience? It's a big time commitment, but I'm risking very little for a chance to try something new, exciting, and challenging. I think if I can abstain from Korean dramas, reading, and video games for the month, I can do pretty well.
All in all, I have fairly low expectations of the result of my writing. I'm completely inexperienced and have to balance NaNoWriMo with my school work and academic writing. But I think that even if I don't finish my novel (which I assume I won't) I can be satisfied with my writing efforts and add it to my life resume.
As far as what I should write about, that is a bit more difficult. I have a bunch of story ideas that I've saved up over the years, but most of them more suited to a short story than a novel. Or I've outgrown the idea. Or I have a brilliant concept and a couple ideas for the story, but wouldn't want to write the whole thing. Sometimes I'm sure that creativity requires way more energy than I have available to me.
I have a week to come up with a plot I find exciting or compelling. Should be interesting.
Actually that probably encompasses my attitude toward NaNoWriMo, "Should be interesting." At the end of this month, I want to look back and feel that I was a part of an interesting and fun project alongside many more gifted authors. Let's try it!
Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tea with Austen
Follow-up to my previous blog :)
This weekend I did visit my local Jane Austen Society meeting. I brought a friend along to the event, which was really a tea party/book discussion on the patio of a small-town tea shop.
Things I learned from the experience:
1) Members of the Jane Austen Society refer to themselves as "Janeites,"
2) Membership fees are pretty reasonable (yes, I'm definitely considering it),
3) I like scones way more than I thought (I ate three),
4) Although I was concerned about the age demographic, the college-age demographic was well represented amongst the members at the meeting,
5) Although this particular meeting was all-female, I have been informed that it was a first for the group and that there is usually at least one male member/participant, and
6) All of the Janeites present were intelligent women interested in analyzing Jane Austen's books (in this particular case Northanger Abbey) characters, and Jane herself. None of that bodice-ripping fantasy nonsense ;) I was a little relieved.
In any case, I intend to go to their next meeting (in a month) and I'll probably join. As my friend and I were leaving the meeting, I told her that I suddenly felt in harmony with my Austen nerd side. I won't lie, it's a good feeling.
This weekend I did visit my local Jane Austen Society meeting. I brought a friend along to the event, which was really a tea party/book discussion on the patio of a small-town tea shop.
Things I learned from the experience:
1) Members of the Jane Austen Society refer to themselves as "Janeites,"
2) Membership fees are pretty reasonable (yes, I'm definitely considering it),
3) I like scones way more than I thought (I ate three),
4) Although I was concerned about the age demographic, the college-age demographic was well represented amongst the members at the meeting,
5) Although this particular meeting was all-female, I have been informed that it was a first for the group and that there is usually at least one male member/participant, and
6) All of the Janeites present were intelligent women interested in analyzing Jane Austen's books (in this particular case Northanger Abbey) characters, and Jane herself. None of that bodice-ripping fantasy nonsense ;) I was a little relieved.
In any case, I intend to go to their next meeting (in a month) and I'll probably join. As my friend and I were leaving the meeting, I told her that I suddenly felt in harmony with my Austen nerd side. I won't lie, it's a good feeling.
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