Readin' Up

I read on a blog more popular than mine a list of things that you shouldn't blog about because they're generally not interesting. But I kinda don't agree with all of that list.

I read a mix of blogs, Etsy friends, shopping/handmade, Twitter followers, indie/small business tips. (There is some overlap there. The ones I find most interesting are the ones where the writer gets a little personal. I don't need to know in depth the personality of your cat, but a funny story about what happened apart from your general online persona is fine.

So I guess...what kinda blogs do you like to read?

Post Picture: Our Mutual Friend in shadows. I'm in the minority of folks who reads (or tries to read) Dickens when they don't have to.

By Its Cover- The Real Minerva

By Its Cover is my completely independent book review column. Selections are made based entirely on the book's cover. I'm testing the old saying in my quest to find new authors.

Title: The Real Minerva
Author: Mary Sharrat

I chose this because one of my Etsy friend's name is Minerva and she's awesome. :)

So it's set in the 1920s for most of the story. But little is said or done that couldn't have made it set today, which is a little sad...I'll explain in a minute.

It takes place in Minerva Minnesota and tells the story of a mother and daughter, a mother and daughter, and mother and daughter: Barbara and Penny, Cora and Phoebe, and to a lesser but no less tragic degree, Hazel and Irene. Barbara and Penny live with Irene and her family as hired help. Cora is staying at her grandfather's farm on the edge of town. Hazel is locked away in a mental institution, suffering from a malady that doesn't allow her to fully wake up or fully sleep.

Their paths further intersect when Penny runs away from her mother, angry that she, Barbara, and Irene's father, their employer, are having an affair. She ends up 21 miles away, at the Maagdenbergh farm just after Cora has given birth to her baby girl.

Penny stays on as a hired hand, helping Cora care for the baby and the house. She vows in her heart to protect them as she learns, first secretly and then more openly, of Cora's past. On the other side of town, Barbara's story continues with her falling in love with Mr. Hamilton and Irene seeing that as the ultimate affront to her sick mother memory so she...well, I won't give away the ending.

The part that saddens me is the way the town looks down on Barbara and Cora is pretty much the same as it would be now, only people may be less vocal about it. Progress, where art thou?

I'm sure someone could give this a more political literary analysis. I chose to take it as it is, not looking for hidden meanings or inferences. It's beautiful and a little haunting. I enjoyed it.

ThisNext:: Treehouse28

i love the sleeves...and the color.
the style is fresh and funky.

available here (via treehouse28)

WB- Snappin'

I go in and out of creative phases. I want to knot and will crank out umpteen pairs of earrings. I want to burn and will finish duplicates of all the magnets I have listed. At the moment, I want to photograph things. I have lots more bits to add to the Closet and oodles of things to rephotograph. So I hope I can get it done before the urge passes and I get all frustrated with having so much to photograph.

Desire to create is pretty low. I really want to concentrate on presenting what I have in the best way possible, get that stuff selling regularly. Most of my ideas have been made, even if they aren't listed (in the case of the woodburned art- see pic). So I don't have that pressure in my mind.

Post Picture: One of my pyro art pieces. They were to be coasters, but those patterns are just a tad to involve to just set a cup on. But I'm not having an easy time figure out how to photo them. That one's nice, but I should show it hanging on a wall or wall-like area, yes? Walls in my house are florally-wallpapered. :/

Test.fail

So I didn't pass the driver's test. Long story. I was very mad at myself. But the DMV guy being in the car just totally freaked me out. And info from the 8-hour course plus what I've read in the driver's manual was all melding together. I was incredibly nervous...and it was raining.

I'm scheduled to retake it the first week in April. That same guy said he'd go with me again. At least I'd be a little bit more used to him. He seemed really nice, even after we almost crashed (insert sheepish look) Could be a plus...if I could stop stressing about it, now. heh. I know how to drive...I all but aced the knowledge test. *sigh*

Random oddness fact: Most of the licensed people on my mom's side of the family, mom included, had to take the driver's test more than once.

Post Picture: Bro2 with his bike.