I did one of these "Today I am..." posts a while ago, and I thought it might be fun to do another one today to let you all know what I've been doing lately. So here is what I have been up to:
Reading
Well, several things, actually. No, make that a LOT of things. I don't currently have a book that I am reading whenever I have a spare moment or late into the night or early in the morning or anything like that- I recently finished the Sadie's Montana series by a favourite author of mine, Linda Byler, and those are definitely spare-moment-late-at-night-early-in-the-morning type books- but several days ago I began reading a biography about Nellie Bly, one of my heroes, which has proved simply fascinating. And it's HUGE- 631 pages, people. Yes, I got up and checked. I've never read such an interesting biography before, not even about Jesse James. (Have I ever mentioned my Jesse James fascination? No? Well, that is a subject for another post. If this ridiculous problem ever gets fixed...) Anyway. Nellie Bly is one of my greatest inspirations, and I have very much enjoyed reading about her early life and early career. I'm not even halfway through the book yet, but I hope to finish it before the summer is out.
Another book I have yet to finish is Christy. I began reading it in May, I believe, and I just cannot bring myself to finish it! It's pathetic. I read through most of it at a reasonable speed, but once I got to the third chapter from the end I kind of lost interest completely. It's an amazing book, and it's caused me to think deeply on several matters I'd never thought about in detail before, but for some reason I just can't finish it. But I will, and very soon, I hope, I just have to DO it.
Unfortunately, I haven't found any of the books on my Fifteen Titles to Read list yet, but usually one of our local libraries is pretty good about getting the latest in Christian historical fiction, which is my specialty, so consequently they are my favourite library around. : ) Other books I hope to read soon are Mrs. Robert E. Lee, The Band That Played On, and a biography about Civil War nurse Dorothea Dix called Heart's Work.
Watching
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Well anyway, the characters were the most hilarious and diverse bunch yet, the Egyptian scenery was gorgeous, and the story completely surprised me, it was just so good. But then, I hardly ever guess the endings or the culprits in Poirot mysteries, which is sad, because I used to fancy myself a detective. Back in my Nancy Drew days, that was. Nancy Drew, meet Poirot. Poirot, meet Nancy Drew.
I actually might write a review of Death on the Nile, because I have quite a bit to say about it that I don't have the time nor temperament to write now. I will soon, if this horrid problem gets solved.
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| "Ooh, ahh." |
This afternoon, since I was feeling rather poorly, Sadie and I, later joined by our older sister Molly, watched Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (known to most people as "the Felicity movie") for about the 20th time. It was delightful, of course, but I'm afraid we got a little silly, Sadie and I especially, in our comments. Simply put, we were talking throughout pretty much the entire movie. We've made fun of it before, but this time could possibly have been the most....severe, shall we say, because we just kept saying one thing after another that made us all laugh hysterically. We get like that sometimes. It's not that we don't like the movie, even though that's how it may sound- we love it, at least I do- it's just so terribly easy to make fun of, as I'm sure you know if you've seen it, or any American Girl movie, for that matter. And you can make fun of things you like. Sadie and I do it all the time. :P
Another reason why I wanted to watch Felicity was because of...Schneider. Ever since seeing him as Sully's friend Daniel Simon in the 6th season of Dr. Quinn, Schneider has earned the high honor of being my 2nd favourite actor. Just look at him. : )
Listening
Oh, a little of this and a little of that. I've been listening to Mark Knopfler's album The Ragpicker's Dream quite a bit lately, which has several beautiful songs on it. Another favourite Mark Knopfler song is In the Sky, which is on his album Kill to Get Crimson. I love the instrumental and there is no doubt that Mark Knopfler has quite a way with words, but I must admit that for the life of me I have no idea what most of his lyrics mean.
The Gods and Generals soundtrack is currently my favourite and for a while I was listening to it every day, until my sisters grew tired of it and told me to stop. We found some music from a Dr. Quinn promo on Youtube and have listened to it a few times in the past week. Unfortunately there is no official Dr. Quinn soundtrack, but this video has some of the themes used in My Favourite Episode Ever, Where the Heart Is, in the 2nd season. (Skip to 6:00 to hear the really gorgeous part.) : )
Also I've been listening to Sadie play out of the book of 1,000 reels for fiddle that she borrowed from the library. It's getting a bit much.
Writing
Mostly just random bits and pieces of an unnamed story I've been working on. Nothing is really settled yet, though: I keep changing the character's names and the setting of the book and the year and blah-de-blah-de-blah. I'm not good at finalizing things: I just keep changing them. That's one of the things that makes it hard for me to just start writing and write pages and pages at a time, because I always think of ways I can make it better and then I just keep changing things and then I never get anywhere. It's frustrating sometimes, but I'm getting used to the fact that I'll always think it could be better and sometimes it's best the way it is. I actually haven't been writing very much lately. I've had lots of inspiration, from my Nellie Bly book and other resources- don't worry, I'm not copying anyone :P- but I'm having difficulty sorting it all out. The thing is, I want to make it perfect. I think what I'm trying to do is to incorporate every element of several stories I've thought of in the past into just one book, which probably won't work out. The other thing is I'm not used to making myself write, which I'm starting to think is necessary. Sometimes I just don't feel like it, but I need to write more and steadier if I really want to be an authoress. And I really, really do.
Anticipating
Next Tuesday Sadie and I are going to a concert by a violinist that I'm excited about. I always love concerts! We saw this violinist several years ago, but I don't really remember him. Back then I wasn't very interested in classical music anyway, and I've since changed my opinions dramatically so I expect to enjoy it much more this time. The concert is at an institution, kind of like a gated community, that is near where we live and it's absolutely beautiful, and I'm hoping that by next Tuesday I will have my new camera so I can take pictures!
Loving
Flowers, music, books, Dr. Quinn, Poirot, the Victorian era, Les Miserables, history, raspberries, graham-cracker piecrusts (with nothing in them), my cat Oliver, my dollhouse, painting, blue skies, green meadows, and John Schneider. :P
Thus ends my very long and rambly account of some of my latest interests and diversions. I hope I haven't bored you! Oh, and also, the dollhouse name poll is now officially closed. I didn't get any votes besides me and my sister, but I have decided to call my dollhouse Paradise House, after the house in the movie Angel. (Horrible movie, that- never watch it.) : P
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