It's been a busy month. There were many papers and presentations due, but I had an A in all of my classes at the end of the semester. I am getting closer towards obtaining that masters degree! While much of my time was spent working at work, working on school assignments, or working on home projects, there was still some down time with Samantha and Zamora. Oh, and we also celebrated Severin's (Samantha's cousin) 2nd birthday. Here are some pictures. Cheers!
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| Zamora being kinda creepy. |
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| Zamora chilling with the teddy bears |
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| Samantha and I |
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| Samosa, the best thing from Kenya |
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| Severin's 2nd B-Day |
It has been some time since I have posted on my blog. That doesn't mean I haven't been experiencing life. A few weeks ago, Samantha and I decided to attempt gardening. Here are a couple pictures of our efforts.
There were happy times to be had recently too. I celebrated Rob Schaefer's 200th beer at the Flying Saucer in St. Louis. He was awarded a plaque on the wall for is accomplishment. Here is a picture of us celebrating the celebratory event.
On April 2, a childhood friend of mine, Sean Schultz, died tragically in an accident as a result from a seizure. A few of us from Springfield went to pay our respects at a memorial in honor of Sean. Needless to say, it was a sobering experience and made me reevaluate the important things in my life.
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| Sean and his fiancee |
There were happy times to be had recently too. I celebrated Rob Schaefer's 200th beer at the Flying Saucer in St. Louis. He was awarded a plaque on the wall for is accomplishment. Here is a picture of us celebrating the celebratory event.
As far as reading goes, I finished a charming book called The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma. This book is for those that love the art that is writing. If you happen to read this, please tell me you want to visit a writers' colony in Iceland too.
Of course, life is all about the small things that happen. Since my last post, Samantha and I ate pizza at a new restaurant called The Grotto, we had a fire pit party with our friends, and I played outside with Zamora. Here are the pictures for proof. Cheers!
Sometimes, I love working as a librarian that specializes in young adult literature. However, sometimes I loathe it. My job requires me to be up to snuff on the latest Gateway and Truman award nominee books. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson fall into this category of required reading. Both of these books are poorly written supernatural stories with a little romance thrown in. The books are so forgettable, my mind has already forgotten them. Please stay away.
step one, get a blank canvas
step two, take picture of wife
step three, paint entire canvas with any color
step four, let canvas dry
step five, use artist tape to make any kind of design you want
step six, fill in shapes with contrasting colors
step seven, let paint dry once finish
step eight, take tape off and hang on wall
I am by no means an artist. I never took an art class nor was I ever interested in art at school. But it is now my new hobby. I can confidently say that I learn something new each time I attempt a new drawing. Someone recently reminded me to never stop being creative or you will become boring. I truly believe those words. This drawing is how I imagined the main character from my most recent novel. I am sending it to the author. Perhaps she will give a kind reply. Anyway, I hope my meager drawings inspire others to find ways to be creative too. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. The end.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is the first book I have read amongst the 2013-2014 Gateway Award nominees. It's a tough book to endure, but a necessary one. It explores the horrors of prison camps for Lithuanians wrongly imprisoned for being considered anti-Soviet during WW2. This book sparked my curiosity. Lithuania is one of those countries not discussed often in the history of WW2. This book helps keep this little country's history remembered.
I just finished reading The Diviners by Libba Bray. Now I want to travel back in time to the 1920s and experience speakeasies. As a librarian, I highly recommend this book to young adults who still desire mystery, magic, monsters, and the unexplained but require writing that doesn't insult your intelligence. As an avid reader, I recommend this book to everyone. Yeah, it was good.
I finished reading World War Z because I heard it was going to be released in film format this year starring Brad Pitt. You would think a movie based on a book starring Brad Pitt would be good. Meh. I was wrong. The book was just okay, nothing too exciting. I think the reason I had a hard time enjoying the book was because it didn't read as a traditional narrative. Anyway, I only recommend this book to fans of zombies.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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What I Read During the Holidays and a Little Reflection on 2012
Wow. As always, I ate too much during the holidays. Now I can fit in my work pants that used to be too big for me. Anyway, having so much down time allowed me to get some reading done. Over the holiday break, I finished reading Son by Lois Lowry. Son is the finale to Lowry's famous award winning novel The Giver. I found the novel to be a satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite books of all time. Unless you are familiar with the The Giver, her new novel might underwhelm. However, I recommend this to those who have read The Giver. If you haven't read The Giver yet, I recommend you do so immediately.
I also read a graphic novel called Unterzakhn by Leela Corman. The story is unique in its subject matter. It takes place during the early 20th century in New York City. It examines women's issues through the eyes of two Jewish sisters. What fascinated me the most about this graphic novel was the subject matter and the witty story telling of serious issues. The art compliments the story well with its simple black and white cartoon drawings. I recommend this to everyone whether you like graphic novels or not.
On a final note, I look at 2012 as something to learn from. I didn't get to be as creative as I wanted to be. I had a lot of personal family issues during the year. My mom got breast cancer, my parents divorced, my sister became pregnant with her second child, my mother-in-law continued to live with us, etc. However, a lot of positive events happened too. Samantha became a legal resident of this country, she got back into school and had a successful semester, and I finished the school year myself with high grades. I look forward to 2013, and look back at 2012 as a period of growth and learning. I believe we need periods of growth and learning. With that in mind, my new year's resolution is to just be creative. If I can create just one thing a day, whether it be a simple drawing or even one single haiku, I will feel accomplished. Hopefully, 2012 will give me something to reflect on during my creative episodes.
Here is to 2013. Cheers!
I also read a graphic novel called Unterzakhn by Leela Corman. The story is unique in its subject matter. It takes place during the early 20th century in New York City. It examines women's issues through the eyes of two Jewish sisters. What fascinated me the most about this graphic novel was the subject matter and the witty story telling of serious issues. The art compliments the story well with its simple black and white cartoon drawings. I recommend this to everyone whether you like graphic novels or not.
On a final note, I look at 2012 as something to learn from. I didn't get to be as creative as I wanted to be. I had a lot of personal family issues during the year. My mom got breast cancer, my parents divorced, my sister became pregnant with her second child, my mother-in-law continued to live with us, etc. However, a lot of positive events happened too. Samantha became a legal resident of this country, she got back into school and had a successful semester, and I finished the school year myself with high grades. I look forward to 2013, and look back at 2012 as a period of growth and learning. I believe we need periods of growth and learning. With that in mind, my new year's resolution is to just be creative. If I can create just one thing a day, whether it be a simple drawing or even one single haiku, I will feel accomplished. Hopefully, 2012 will give me something to reflect on during my creative episodes.
Here is to 2013. Cheers!
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