Friday Fun: New Years Resolutions

Hello Everyone!

This is the first Friday Fun post in entirely too long, and I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to write it about. I wanted to write about something new and different and something that I hadn’t written about before. I’m pretty sure that resolutions aren’t something I’ve written about, and if I did, it was probably close to a year ago.

I have mixed feelings on resolutions. They aren’t something that I want to make just for the sake of making them which is often what ends up happening. I’ll say that I’m going to exercise more or eat healthy, and then I don’t. I think that part of the problem is that these are huge goals, and I don’t have anything in place to keep me on track. This year I’m trying to take on things that are more bite sized.

Two of my goals this year are to read more and to blog more regularly. Already I’ve read 5 books and they’ve been good. I’ve read a memoir and Jodi Picoult and Ayn Rand for the first time ever. I started A Christmas Carol today because believe it or not I’ve never actually read it. So the whole book thing is really exciting for me this year. I’m really looking forward to reading things I’ve never read before and pushing myself. I have two big book lists that I’m working off of, and that’s been great. They’re giving me some guidelines for what I want to read, and they’re helping me to become more well read. That’s really something I’m working towards, especially as I get closer and closer to being an actual official teacher. One of my other big goals for this year is to blog more regularly. I’ve been really absent lately because there are just so many things going on that blogging falls low on the list. It’s hard when there’s homework and classes and my internship, and it’s been feeling like a lot of effort to log into my computer and log into the blog and write. But with the new year, I’m working really hard to get back to blogging on Wednesdays and Fridays every week and on other days when there’s things for sharing. It might take me a while to really get into a rhythm, but know that I’m really working hard and doing my best.

What do you think of New Years Resolutions? I’m really thinking that this bite sized approach is the way for me to go. I’ll let you know how things work out.

BrittanyM

Love of Books and Stories

I know that in the past I have written about how much I love books. In the intervening weeks that sentiments hasn’t changed, just like I don’t imagine it changing ever. For as long as I can remember books have been an integral part of my life. I love to read. I love stories. And that’s just simply the way it is.

I think when people hear the word stories they automatically assume that books are being talked about. After all, it’s books that tell stories, isn’t it? And that assumption certainly isn’t wrong. Hundreds of books tell dozens of different stories. Some books hold more general appeal than others, and some have better writing styles than others, but all tell stories. Personally I’m a fan of young adult literature even though I’m quickly outgrowing the “young adult” title. I love “The Hunger Games” series. I grew up with the Harry Potter franchise. And I’m a huge fan of Sarah Dessen’s books. (Girly, I know, but I am a girl, and I love the stories that she tells.) When it comes to the young adult genre pretty much anything is fair game once. I don’t believe in judging a book by it’s cover. I believe in judging it by how much it interests me. And outside of the young adult genre I love both ends of the spectrum. I’m a big fan of Jodi Picoult’s work, and I’m also a big fan of Mo Willems’ work. (For those of you who don’t know he writes the pigeon books and they’re hilarious.)

But stories aren’t just told by books. Stories are told by TV shows and by movies. They’re told by commercials and movie previews. They’re what are found on book jacket covers. They’re what can be found in a collection of pictures. Stories are everywhere in every form imaginable. And I like to imagine them in all of those forms.

Besides being quite the bookworm, I’m a little bit of a TV junkie and I love going to the movies. I love seeing how stories unfold on the small and big screens alike. It takes skill and talent to make a story look and feel real on the screen, but telling a story on screen also allows for a different way of presenting a story than a book does. More points of view can be used. Different scenes can be seen. It’s an entirely different way to bring in the audience, and I love that.

Clearly I’m a big fan of stories in all forms, something that will never change. And who knows? Maybe one day it will be my stories in the books and on the screen.

BrittanyM

Books and Other Loveliness

Today I read an entire book. Which, for me, really isn’t a huge accomplishment. I read a lot and this certainly isn’t the first time I read an entire book in a day. It is the first time it’s happened in a while, but that’s because I’ve been at school and have been super busy. So yesterday I got to go to the library and today I managed to find the time to read an entire book.

It was a good book – “Between the Lines” by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer. It was all about fairy tales and the secret lives of book characters and ultimately happy endings. It was exactly the type of book I would fall in love with and I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. I was ecstatic to find a copy of it at the library yesterday, and I’m glad that I was able to read it. The only sad part is books can only be read for the first time once, and while I’m sure I will read this book again and again, the initial magic is gone.

In other happy news work for my internship is picking up. Already I have several different things lined up to do and I can’t wait. I have my first story assignment which I’m slowly working on and my first photography assignment which I am equally excited about. Essentially I am excited for everything concerning my internship, and I can’t wait to have more details to share with you.

I think that’s it for tonight. Thanks for reading.

BrittanyM