Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2012

My new project

I am home from my weekend away in Boston and just as I predicted it did wonders for my attitude. It was one of the best trips home because it was busy without being too hectic. I got to sit by the ocean and eat lobster, drink wine overlooking the Boston skyline and spend quality time with my family. It also inspired a new project which I couldn't be more excited about. My sisters and I have decided to write a memoir about our family - specifically our grandparents. It came about for a few reasons the major one being that after my Uncle Al died this past April, it left my father with no siblings. He is the last of his generation and we got to thinking about how little we actually know about his childhood and the story of his parents. When I was born, my Grandfather Felix (my mothers father) was the only grandparent still alive and he was in his late 80s. I don't really remember him. Growing up, my parents never really talked about their parents or what it was like back then. I...

Slacking

I've been a slacker lately, I know. My college English professor would be disappointed in me..."You must write everyday if you want to be a writer!" I can hear his voice in my head right now. He was one of my first inspirations and if he could see me now, he would shake his head and sigh. I don't want to disappoint him - I never did and so I am channeling his voice as I write.  I used to write every day religiously. Now, it seems my job has taken over my life and finding time to do what comes so naturally to me and brings me such happiness is getting tossed by the wayside. Its sad really. I know it sounds cliche but writing frees me. When I'm not consistent, I see a difference in the way I view life. Lately I've been angry. My husband tells me this so I guess its true. I think its because I haven't made time for creativity of the mind. My job is so physical - my world is in exercising the body but in that I've neglected to exercise the mind. When I...

Tess of the D'Ubervilles

I am back to reading real literature and it feels good. All of the books I ordered from Amazon have arrived and I chose to read "Tess of the D'Ubervilles" first. I have finished it and have many thoughts as usual. I picked this one first because I am already a fan of Thomas Hardy. I love his progressive take on social issues such as marriage, religion and the rules and regulations of being part of a community. He was alive and writing in the late 1890's/early 1900's which feels shocking when you read one of his books because his plot lines and characters are so forward thinking.  This particular novel addresses issues of social acceptance and the judgement that comes when someone does something outside the social norms of the time: in this case, its sex before marriage and having a child out of wedlock. Tess is a naive teenager living in a rural part of England with her poverty stricken family. When the family learns that they are descendents of a wealthy family, ...