Words words everywhere... what was I saying?

Plugging books tonight, briefly. Things have been so chaotic since we got back from Denver that I’ve been ready to tear my hair out… when I haven’t been coughing up a lung. Oh yes, the winter crud is here with a vengeance, for a second time in a month, and between that and sixty-hour weeks, I’m wishing for some peace and quiet next to the Platte River. Add another foot of snow and some freezing rain to the mix and I’m calling in dead and sticking in bed with another good book.

One redeeming thing lately has been a plethora of excellent books, from Lev Grossman’s Codex (you might remember the review of The Magicians, which is also a great novel by a fantastic author) to Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart (also see the movie with Brendan Fraser. Awesome!). There was also Paula Brackston’s The Witch’s Daughter, Caribou Island, and From Girl to Goddess by Valerie Frankel. At the risk of sounding like the guy from Reading Rainbow on PBS, you don’t have to take my word for it, pick up one of these, and other books to, at your local library.

Peace out, I need a shot of prose. And when words and work get too clogged up in my head, a BodyRock.tv workout is exactly what the doctor ordered. (Count the number of cliches I've used in this post and I'll sic the bull on you.)

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the PREMIER issue of Portland Book Review. A digital copy is available on their website. And that ad for readers on the last page? Oh yeah, I got to use my InDesign. Score!

Reviews:
The Jane Austen Companion To Love
Greek Myths by Ann Turnbull
Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent
And Check out Smooth and If You Love Me, You'd Think This Was Cute under the 14 Reads for Love section.

Words from the Root Cellar

I love books. There's a shocker. I also love agriculture. Again, shocker. So the most exciting thing I've done lately? Getting to write about BOOKS and AG for the newly formed Portland Book Review! Find the link to the column below and make sure to check out, and check back often, for all the AWESOME book reviews there.

http://www.portlandbookreview.com/featured/2-1-11-words-from-the-root-cellar/

Fun Site

Just discovered this site, http://www.organicauthority.com/, haven explored it much, but offered good advice for spring cleaning so if that's not a recommendation I don't know what is lol.

Also loved Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," which will render one thoughtful when dining out and unable to ever look at the cereal aisle the same again. Review.

Posting Denver pics soon!

10 Reasons to Learn Sustainable Home Cooking

http://www.sustainabletable.org/spread/handouts/10_Reasons_Home_Cooking.pdf

Off the Clock

For all you writers out there who have a life, (aka a job, kids, livestock... okay maybe not livestock, but you get my point), this guy's philosophy is right on the money.

http://sacramentobookreview.com/viewpoints-weekly-columns/1-6-10-off-the-clock-on-preparation-inspiration-time-management/

Book Review: Meridon by Philippa Gregory

The Wideacre Trilogy has three very unique heroines and Meridon, or Sarah Lacey, is no less formidable than her predecessors.

Raised as a Gypsy bareback rider, Meridon grows up ignorant of her Lacey blood, only sensing that she doesn’t belong in the rough life she leads with half-remembered dreams plaguing her. She remembers a copper haired girl and a place called Wide, but beyond that, she is a girl with only half a past.

Her skills with horses lands her and her sister, born on the same day to two very different mothers, in a circus act. But Meridon’s fears of heights and flying like an acrobat put her sister in the spotlight. When Meridon’s greatest fear is realized, her life changes forever. She washes up at Wideacre, realizing the past she should have had. But money is not all it appears to be, and Meridon learns, like her foremothers, that Wideacre and the Squires of Wideacre are not always of an accord.

Meridon concludes the Wideacre saga, a satisfying conclusion to the struggles of three generations of Lacey women.

January 1, 2011

Here’s to starting the New Year off right! Who made midnight last night? I passed out on the couch after too much champagne around 10, but was up again at 5 am so might have caught New Years in the Pacific somewhere. :-p

Okay, so resolutions, let’s see, the usual suspects: Lose Weight, Read More, Exercise More, Write More, Submit More, Eat Less… maybe I need better, less self-centered resolutions, like stay in contact with friends more, make more friends, make more time for friends, now we’re getting somewhere. It’s too easy to tip-tap away at a WIP alone in my room, neglecting the people I care about. Now, what else? Try to be more open with my honey, that’d be a good one. Recently, I made the mistake of not talking about the things that were bothering me, letting them fester and tried to hide them with profuse amounts of emotional distance and cheap booze. Not really conducive relationship builders.

I’d like to work smarter and take more vacations, enjoy life more instead of whipping myself when not working like a maniacal self-flagellating clergyman. I need to learn to relax and not panic when the realization hits that I’m having fun and not working.

So will I stick of my resolutions and make 2011 the most productive and enjoyable year ever, even if the grindstone takes the skin off the end of my nose? Probably not. But it’s good to take stock, reflect, and remember that the real things that matter in life are spending time with people you enjoy, who enjoy you, letting them know you appreciate them, and experiencing life rather than let life experience you. Because chances are if it’s the latter, there will be some unpleasant exploration of your nether regions with long cylindrical objects.

Happy New Year everyone!