My goals for 2018:

1. Write.

2. Write more.

3. Do some writing.

4. Write an article.

5. Write for enjoyment.

6. Write to remember.

7. Write to understand.

8. Do a little more writing.

9. Think about things to write.

10. Write whatever comes to mind.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas 

and a Happy New Year!

The Book I Have Been Anxiously Awaiting

          For years, I have lamented the fact that Nelle Lee (Harper Lee) had never finished the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, my favorite book of all time. This summer, the impossible will actually happen when she releases Go Set a Watchman. I am hopeful and scared. Hopeful that her writing will be everything I know and love, and scared, as she probably was, that the book falls short of brilliance that the Pulitzer Prize winning first attempt was, and is. I've always thought that Ms Nell Harper Lee, of Monroeville, Alabama, was insecure in her writing, unaware of her brilliance, and willing to let others (Truman Capote) take advantage of her eagerness to help, to please. In my humble opinion, she wrote In Cold Blood, so to say that she went dry after TKAM is probably erroneous. She was probably so disillusioned with friendship, with publishing companies, and the selfishness of people to continue with her work. It was there lurking below the surface, however. Talent cannot be contained. It bubbles up and outward and needs to be shared with others. Thank you, Harper Lee, for understanding this need in your readers. I will savor every morsel of your book and read it over and over.

New Year's Resolutions

I have made a decision not to make any resolutions after reading this blog:

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/01/12-realistically-mundane-resolutions/

He is saying what I really feel about the situation!

One Year Later...

I cannot seriously believe that it's been a whole year since my last blog. I'm still reading books on my Kindle, but a lot of other things have happened since then! I am currently trying to finish up some writing so I can begin my research proposal (for those of you who didn't know, I'm on the last legs of my doctoral program at University of Arkansas - Little Rock. It has kept me incredibly busy this past year, so I won't be too surprised if it's next year before my next blog post!

One great book I've read this past year is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. If you like other stories written in the civil rights era and set in the south, you might like this one. That's all I will say!

TTFN,
Jennifer

I Got a Kindle!

Yep, I finally caved. I've heard the debates many times. One camp says they have to have their hands on the pages and it's the whole experience - the smell of the book, the feel of the pages, the blanket, the cocoa, etc. The other camp says books are so yesterday. One friend says this is the future of school - all on an ipad. I'm in between. I do love the feel of a good book, but let's face it, the Kindle is so easy to use, and it fits perfectly on my treadmill. It's right there in my purse when I'm stuck in line, in traffic, essentially anywhere. I'm finding I read more, books are more accessible, they're cheap, or free. It's easier to read in bed, with one hand under the covers and no aching thumb from holding the page open.

So, I'm thinking this post sounds a lot like an advertisement for Amazon.com but I don't care. I'm really excited about this. It has even reshaped my philosophy about reading. It's really all about the words. Jesus read from a scroll. Socrates said the world would go downhill with the invention of print, because the words would be compromised. Printed text as we know it has undergone tremendous changes over thousands of years. It will continue to change, but the word still remains the most important, and our interpretations of the word, whether spoken or in text.

Happy New Year!

Blogs are hard to maintain at times. There are so many other things needing attention that blogging takes a back seat. But as I skim over my past blogs I am reminded of some remarkable, or at least mildly amusing points of 2009. Before blogs, we had diaries. These, too, were a little challenging to keep up. Not only was I constantly hiding it in different places around my room, I sometimes couldn't find the key, and though I meant to record every meaningful experience, it tended to be weeks or months between entries. Even when I read them now, the entries don't seem that easy to follow. Why did I say that? Who was that? You get the idea. But for all the difficulty in keeping a blog or diary, it really is a valuable piece of history. I might not have remembered the Jupiter dimestore I haunted on my bike the summer I was ten, and I might not have remembered that at one moment I thought about that new box of crayons smell. So I encourage all to keep those diaries or maintain those blogs, because as messy as it is sometimes, it is our own personal history, and will only increase in value as the years go by!

Something to Be Thankful For

I am thankful for my friend, Allyson. Allyson and her husband Jerod have been trying to start a family for several years. They had looked into adoption, but have been turned down for various reasons, including income and Allyson's diabetes. They considered adopting overseas, but then they found out about the incredible number of children in the United States that are in need of foster care. This was a hard decision, as Allyson had her heart set on a baby. This is understandable, isn't it? We want our children's first words to be, "Mama" and "Dada." But once Allyson and Jerod heard about these children in need, they couldn't get their minds off them. Last year they became foster parents. They welcomed little three-year old Bethany into their home. Bethany has a story, and I won't go into it here, but let's just say that Bethany sees Allyson and Jerod as her own personal guardian angel, and she loves them as much as my own children love me. I am thankful Allyson felt the conviction of caring for these unwanted children, children who through abuse and neglect found themselves alone, scared, and hopeless. Bless you for being this little girl's hero!