Website!

Hi there,
I just got my own fancy new website! Check it out if you like....

www.andrea-peck.com

Today's Advice

Stop Complaining, Stop Apologizing, Just Do

More Than A Fun Read

The 'dishy' novel that I referred to in an earlier blog is now done. I finished reading The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes on Friday and I have to say I loved it. It is a modern take on a Jane Austen novel with wit, women, relationships and social standing as key ingredients. The irony in this kind of book is the undercurrent of reality hidden beneath a seemingly unreal basic story. Here is an example:

Last night, for example, I found myself, against my own free will and better judgement, discussing how to deal with Hunter's laundry over dinner with him. Prior to marriage, the only reason to discuss the washer-dryer over dinner was if you were intending to have sex on it. Then, later on, just as we were falling asleep in bed, Hunter had said to me, "Darling, I love you very much. Where are those hiking socks I got in Telluride?"
Is this really the sort of thing that married couples discuss in bed, I'd thought miserably.....Hmmm, I thought to myself, this wasn't at all like an Eternity ad.

The amazing thing, besides how amusingly ridiculous this character sounds, is how she actually echoes many, if not all of us, at one time or another in our lives. Let's face it, if you have a TV or read magazines, you tend to imagine life as a visual image rather than a multi-sensory experience. I realized this when watching HGTV one day. I love watching that channel. It's so motivating. But, the reality, is that TV only shows one aspect of what is going on. We cannot smell the toxic fumes of paint, we don't feel the ache in the arms from hammering, sawing, etc..., and we don't feel the tiredness that the people experience. They look happy, they look good. They're on TV and they have makeup and nice clothes on. It's fake.

But, this is where quality writing can come in. A good writer can make you feel the reality and even though, you are just reading black symbols on a white page, you are transported, as much as can be, into a real universe.

funny blog

http://wimseyblog.blogspot.com/

I found this blog while on www.absolutewrite.com. It's very funny if you're an animal lover.

Word of the Day

Pernicious
1.
causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
2.
deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease.
3.
Obsolete. evil; wicked.

A friend said something along these lines to me the other day: "I don't mean to be pernicious, but...."

Wow! I like that word! Two points for vocabulary!

Sartre on books

I recently read (at my mother's request - thanks mom!) that Sartre was a lonely, only child who resorted to reading to 'fill his life.' From books, Sartre learned about the world, but he was also self-aware enough to note that books are ordered and systematic, while the real world, especially in Sartre's view, is disorganized and chaotic. Apparently, he spent thirty years overcoming the idealistic view of life that he learned from reading.

As a reader and a writer I have to wonder about this.

I believe that writing informs our lives and our decisions more than any other method of transferring information. Even the news has some sort of 'order' and organization in how it is presented to us. It starts out as print after all.

Are we expecting too much from life? More reason and sense than it can provide? Are we destined to be annoyed, irritated and disappointed?

Miss Snark

For those of you who read the blogs: Miss Snark is retiring her blog. A blow to those who want to hear the truth told with wit. If you are not familiar with her, go to www.misssnark.com. It's almost a good thing for me that she is retiring - now I can catch up on her old stuff!

quote for today

We must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it-
but we must sail, and not drift,
nor lie at anchor.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Response

I just discovered a new concept.

I need to write it down so that I don't forget, so please ignore my own self-admonishments while reading. Unless, of course, you fall into the same category as I do. I am a self-proclaimed high-responder. This plight was further exacerbated by being a first-grade teacher for six years. Responding falls into many categories, the most bothersome stems from a sense of responsibility. Now, we all know, underneath it all, that we are not responsible for everything. High-responders, however, tend to forget this. Hence, the new concept I came upon. One does not always need to respond.

For example, I can choose to ignore the phone ringing. A good time to do this is when I am in line at the supermarket. I am not responsible for the well-being of the phonee. I am not that important.

I don't need to respond.

What do you read?

How many books do you read and of those, how many do you actually like?

Recently, I came across this question in a blog and was surprised at the answers. It seems that we don't actually enjoy a high percentage of what we read. I wonder if we tend to approach reading as an intellectual activity - something that requires a bit of work and a lack of honest fun? Or do we get stuck with a book that looks good on the outside, but is ultimately unsatisfying?

I find the whole topic interesting, because as an unpublished writer, I am innundated by what I read on the topic of getting a novel published. It's almost impossible, requires thick skin, a deadly combination of false-confidence, real confidence, cockiness, and suicidal insecurity. I also read quite a bit about how much alcohol this combination requires. And I wonder, why aren't we loving what we are reading.... and moreover, who is telling us to read that which we don't really want to be reading? Is reading sometimes like a marathon, ultra-competetive? And how do you know who wins?

Well, that's enough thinking for today... bobbing back over to my dishy, easy-read. We'll pretend it's War and Peace....shhhh, don't tell.

Hello World!

Wow!
That was fast! Suddenly I am a blogger. What to say, what to say? Hmmm.... How about this: Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

Andrea