I'm heading out for my second triathlon of the season. The New York State Senior Games! Am I nervous? You betcha!
~Swingset
Sunday 25 July 2010
15 years ago
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Niche Books
I’ve just discovered a blog devoted to books and I am completely smitten with this site (I just love that word – smitten!)! The blog is called Booking Through Thursday and it posts a weekly question about books. This week’s posting is related to niche books:
What a great question! I love books about Art. I have several categories of Art books – on techniques (drawing, painting, and clay), works by artists, and biographies of artists. Most recently I am studying A Drawing Manual by Thomas Eakins and Cedric Emanuel’s Canberra Sketchbook – both of which I’ve picked up at a used book sale that occurs twice a year here in Ithaca. My most favorite book that I refer back to time and time again is The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp. I’ve blogged about this book in the past.
I also love gardening books. The two I’m referencing most right now are Labyrinths by Virginia Westbury and Gardens of New Orleans by Douglas and Hardy. I have hopes to convert my backyard into one that has an NO look and feel to it – a wrought iron backdrop with a foreground consisting of decadent shades of viridian and orange – and a large labyrinth of stone to walk when seeking peace.
I’m going to try to participate in BTT each Thursday. What are your niche books?
“There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.)
But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that.
What niche books do YOU read?”
What a great question! I love books about Art. I have several categories of Art books – on techniques (drawing, painting, and clay), works by artists, and biographies of artists. Most recently I am studying A Drawing Manual by Thomas Eakins and Cedric Emanuel’s Canberra Sketchbook – both of which I’ve picked up at a used book sale that occurs twice a year here in Ithaca. My most favorite book that I refer back to time and time again is The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp. I’ve blogged about this book in the past.
I also love gardening books. The two I’m referencing most right now are Labyrinths by Virginia Westbury and Gardens of New Orleans by Douglas and Hardy. I have hopes to convert my backyard into one that has an NO look and feel to it – a wrought iron backdrop with a foreground consisting of decadent shades of viridian and orange – and a large labyrinth of stone to walk when seeking peace.
I’m going to try to participate in BTT each Thursday. What are your niche books?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Note To Self
I will not acquire any more effin' pets that require aquariums, large amounts of water, filters, pumps, heating elements, UV lights, warming rocks, bedding of any kind, or water bottles.
No pets that poop in a cage.
No cute little bunnies, cool turtles, nifty tadpoles that morph to fantastic frogs, caterpillars that become butterflies, entertaining hermit crabs, bearded dragons, lizards, salamanders, fish, baby ducks, geese or chickens. No birds. Even if they sing.
Note to those who live with me: Intervention may be required.
No pets that poop in a cage.
No cute little bunnies, cool turtles, nifty tadpoles that morph to fantastic frogs, caterpillars that become butterflies, entertaining hermit crabs, bearded dragons, lizards, salamanders, fish, baby ducks, geese or chickens. No birds. Even if they sing.
Note to those who live with me: Intervention may be required.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
First Triathlon of the year: Aftermath
I'm home in time for Sunday Breakfast! The rest of my family went out for breakfast while I did the biking portion of the triathlon. But I hate to miss my bacon and egg Sunday breakfast - so I cooked it for myself when I got home from the race.
This year's YMCA triathlon was much more difficult for me than last year's race. I was much better prepared - and in much better shape - last year.
This year I got really sick about two months before the race. I came down with a sinus infection with a fever that lasted 5 days. Then I developed bronchitis. I was unable to train for about 4 weeks - and then I was so winded as I tried to swim or run.
I almost didn't do the race. My husband encouraged me to try anyway - that it didn't matter how long it took me - that finishing in itself is an accomplishment - not how quickly you do it.
So I did it. And I finished. I might have come in last again this year - but I finished. And it was really tough.
The swim was good - it was a short 9 laps. (I can't believe I just wrote that! Last year this time I was just able to do the 9 laps and had just learned to breath properly.)
The biking was tough at first - my thighs would scream at me up each hill. However, I got in a rhythm about 3 miles in (15 miles total) and my legs just kept pumpin' away.
The run was really tough! It was 4.7 miles of sheer determination to finish. My legs were like rubber at first, then they turned to lead.
The credit for finishing really goes to those I love.
J - my husband - for encouraging and supporting me every step of the way. I kept hearing him say to me - what are your goals?
DJ - my oldest son who taught me to keep going no matter what you are faced with. He never let his disabilities get in the way of his joy for life.
E - my oldest daughter whose recent trek to New Zealand inspired me to keep taking one more step. I can always do one more step.
A - my youngest son who has true athletic ability. I had to have something to do with that, didn't I? Say yes!
M - my youngest daughter who has sheer determination and true grit. This little girl has an amazing ability to pick herself back up after a fall and keep going.
Okay - I know I'm getting all sentimental and gushy. I am allowed to do that today.
~Swingset
This year's YMCA triathlon was much more difficult for me than last year's race. I was much better prepared - and in much better shape - last year.
This year I got really sick about two months before the race. I came down with a sinus infection with a fever that lasted 5 days. Then I developed bronchitis. I was unable to train for about 4 weeks - and then I was so winded as I tried to swim or run.
I almost didn't do the race. My husband encouraged me to try anyway - that it didn't matter how long it took me - that finishing in itself is an accomplishment - not how quickly you do it.
So I did it. And I finished. I might have come in last again this year - but I finished. And it was really tough.
The swim was good - it was a short 9 laps. (I can't believe I just wrote that! Last year this time I was just able to do the 9 laps and had just learned to breath properly.)
The biking was tough at first - my thighs would scream at me up each hill. However, I got in a rhythm about 3 miles in (15 miles total) and my legs just kept pumpin' away.
The run was really tough! It was 4.7 miles of sheer determination to finish. My legs were like rubber at first, then they turned to lead.
The credit for finishing really goes to those I love.
J - my husband - for encouraging and supporting me every step of the way. I kept hearing him say to me - what are your goals?
DJ - my oldest son who taught me to keep going no matter what you are faced with. He never let his disabilities get in the way of his joy for life.
E - my oldest daughter whose recent trek to New Zealand inspired me to keep taking one more step. I can always do one more step.
A - my youngest son who has true athletic ability. I had to have something to do with that, didn't I? Say yes!
M - my youngest daughter who has sheer determination and true grit. This little girl has an amazing ability to pick herself back up after a fall and keep going.
Okay - I know I'm getting all sentimental and gushy. I am allowed to do that today.
~Swingset
Thursday, April 30, 2009
My own literary diversity
I love books. I love the opportunity to talk about books. I came across a series of questions designed to identify whether or not one's reading is diverse from a blog, Alone With Each Other, that I occasionally drop in on. Many of the books listed below were selections from book clubs I’ve been in or am currently in. However, in many cases I've enjoyed the author's writing so much that I continued to read other books by those same authors.
So when I came across this list of questions in another blog, I couldn’t resist posting my own here – and added the books I listen to on tape (I have an 85 minute commute):
Name the last book by a female author that you've read.
Audio: Gosh, most of my recent audio books have been by women! To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee; Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; Paint it Black by Janet Fitch. I’ve listened to all of these from September 2008 up to two weeks ago – when I finished To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Every one of these books was a wonderful experience to listen to.
Books: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (January 2009); The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton (December 2008). I tend to read more books by women. It’s not a deliberate choice – I just seem to be drawn in more by the story.
Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you've read.
Audio: Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Walking the Dog, Devil in a Blue Dress all by Walter Mosley (Fall 2006); The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (February 2007)
Books: One of my favorite authors is both African-American and a woman. I love Zora Neale Hurston’s writing. I was first introduced to her through a book club pick – Their Eyes Were Watching God (August 2006). I loved her writing so much that I later picked up Seraph on the Suwannee (October 2007). I’ve also read and enjoyed The Known World by Edward P. Jones (May 2005), and Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (June 2007).
Name one from a Latino/a author.
Audio: Zorro by Isabel Allende (December 2006)
Books: Another easy one for me. Isabelle Allende is another one of my favorite authors. I started with her book The House of Spirits (another book club selection August 2003). This one is on my list to read again. I was so thrilled with her writing I went on to read Daughter of Fortune (May 2006) and Portrait in Sepia (April 2008).
How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?
Audio: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
Books: I just finished reading SnowFlower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. It was last months book club selection. One book that I have read by choice was A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler. This is a compilation of short stories about Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans. Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans? Who could resist that? I read this book in July of 2006 and I am still haunted by images from some of the stories within. From Spring of 1995 to 2001 I read a lot by Amy Tan.
What about a GLBT writer?
Well – I didn’t know what GLBT meant. And I live in Ithaca. And I couldn’t even make a guess based on the blog I found these questions in. So I googled GLBT and found it stands for Gay Lesbian Bi-Sexual Trans-Gender. Okay – but I still didn’t know of any authors I read that fit into this category – until I found a list of GLBT authors.
Books: Willa Cather. I love her writing and have been working my way through all of her novels since I first read My Antonia in October of 1999. Another book I still think about and want to read again is The Country of the Pointed Firs (August 2004) by Sarah Orne Jewet. Like Cather, Jewet is a master at creating vivid descriptions of the setting her novels take place in. Other authors include, but are not limited to, David Sedaris, Anais Nin, Virginia Woolf, William Carlos Williams. Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Gregory Maguire.
Lastly, there is another blog I follow, You Would Think. I love the author's writing style and point of view on life and am eagerly awaiting to read her first published work.
Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you're feeling lucky?
I read Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Fafisi in Spring of 2005. Middle East novels seem to be a popular theme with both the book clubs I’m currently in – and I’m beginning to feel like I’ve been reading the same story (albeit well-written) too many times. In the past year alone I’ve read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini, The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Any other "marginalized" authors you've read lately?
Books: If Native American is considered marginalized, then I’d include Louise Erdrich. I read The Master Butcher’s Singing Club in July of 2002, The Painted Drum in September of 2006, and have her Love Medicine in the queue.
Your turn....
~Swingset
So when I came across this list of questions in another blog, I couldn’t resist posting my own here – and added the books I listen to on tape (I have an 85 minute commute):
Name the last book by a female author that you've read.
Audio: Gosh, most of my recent audio books have been by women! To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee; Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; Paint it Black by Janet Fitch. I’ve listened to all of these from September 2008 up to two weeks ago – when I finished To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Every one of these books was a wonderful experience to listen to.
Books: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (January 2009); The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton (December 2008). I tend to read more books by women. It’s not a deliberate choice – I just seem to be drawn in more by the story.
Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you've read.
Audio: Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Walking the Dog, Devil in a Blue Dress all by Walter Mosley (Fall 2006); The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (February 2007)
Books: One of my favorite authors is both African-American and a woman. I love Zora Neale Hurston’s writing. I was first introduced to her through a book club pick – Their Eyes Were Watching God (August 2006). I loved her writing so much that I later picked up Seraph on the Suwannee (October 2007). I’ve also read and enjoyed The Known World by Edward P. Jones (May 2005), and Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (June 2007).
Name one from a Latino/a author.
Audio: Zorro by Isabel Allende (December 2006)
Books: Another easy one for me. Isabelle Allende is another one of my favorite authors. I started with her book The House of Spirits (another book club selection August 2003). This one is on my list to read again. I was so thrilled with her writing I went on to read Daughter of Fortune (May 2006) and Portrait in Sepia (April 2008).
How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?
Audio: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.
Books: I just finished reading SnowFlower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. It was last months book club selection. One book that I have read by choice was A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler. This is a compilation of short stories about Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans. Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans? Who could resist that? I read this book in July of 2006 and I am still haunted by images from some of the stories within. From Spring of 1995 to 2001 I read a lot by Amy Tan.
What about a GLBT writer?
Well – I didn’t know what GLBT meant. And I live in Ithaca. And I couldn’t even make a guess based on the blog I found these questions in. So I googled GLBT and found it stands for Gay Lesbian Bi-Sexual Trans-Gender. Okay – but I still didn’t know of any authors I read that fit into this category – until I found a list of GLBT authors.
Books: Willa Cather. I love her writing and have been working my way through all of her novels since I first read My Antonia in October of 1999. Another book I still think about and want to read again is The Country of the Pointed Firs (August 2004) by Sarah Orne Jewet. Like Cather, Jewet is a master at creating vivid descriptions of the setting her novels take place in. Other authors include, but are not limited to, David Sedaris, Anais Nin, Virginia Woolf, William Carlos Williams. Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Gregory Maguire.
Lastly, there is another blog I follow, You Would Think. I love the author's writing style and point of view on life and am eagerly awaiting to read her first published work.
Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you're feeling lucky?
I read Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Fafisi in Spring of 2005. Middle East novels seem to be a popular theme with both the book clubs I’m currently in – and I’m beginning to feel like I’ve been reading the same story (albeit well-written) too many times. In the past year alone I’ve read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini, The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Any other "marginalized" authors you've read lately?
Books: If Native American is considered marginalized, then I’d include Louise Erdrich. I read The Master Butcher’s Singing Club in July of 2002, The Painted Drum in September of 2006, and have her Love Medicine in the queue.
Your turn....
~Swingset
Feeling Overwhelmed
It’s been a long while since I last posted. There are several reasons for this.
First, I’d been experiencing a feeling of overwhelming doom that started after my oldest son died that just kept getting worse. I’m learning that this is a common symptom of grief. I’m starting to feel better. It was gradual – where I’d have a day or two each week where I didn’t feel that way. The past month or so has been much better.
The other reason is because this semester has been an extremely busy one for me. I was asked to serve as Interim Chair of our department while our Chair was on sabbatical. In addition, I kept my normal course load because we needed the extra money. I’ve had very little time for anything extraneous.
I’ve turned the corner on my work load and am managing my grief better – so I’m ready to return to the things I love. Spending more time with my family, my artwork, and my new blog.
First, I’d been experiencing a feeling of overwhelming doom that started after my oldest son died that just kept getting worse. I’m learning that this is a common symptom of grief. I’m starting to feel better. It was gradual – where I’d have a day or two each week where I didn’t feel that way. The past month or so has been much better.
The other reason is because this semester has been an extremely busy one for me. I was asked to serve as Interim Chair of our department while our Chair was on sabbatical. In addition, I kept my normal course load because we needed the extra money. I’ve had very little time for anything extraneous.
I’ve turned the corner on my work load and am managing my grief better – so I’m ready to return to the things I love. Spending more time with my family, my artwork, and my new blog.
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