Saying good-bye to 2011

Soon we will all be saying good-bye to 2011 and hello to 2012 and I couldn't be more happy! I, like many people I know, have had a crappy year and I am looking forward to ringing in the new year. Well I can't say it was completely crappy. I did finish writing another book and start another one after all. But I am still looking forward to having a better year in 2012.

I won't bore any of you with a list of my favorite things of 2011, nor will I bore you with my expectations of 2012. I refuse to let myself have resolutions. I would rather have oaths for the new year. And my one and only oath for 2012 is patience. I would rather have more patience in my life than anything else in the world.

So I toast to all of you on this wonderful dawn of a new year. 

And I leave you with my favorite Irish toast - 

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

Happy Reading everyone! And have a happy and wonderful New Year!!

~Anastasia

*~* Winter Wonderland *~*

Christmas is always a magical time of year for me. The air gets cold and the snow flies, dancing like pixies on the wind leaving frosty footprints on windows. 

I tend to look at the season from a different point of view than many other people my age. I guess in a way I romanticize the season and see the magic in it that only children possess. But me, I love to watch the magic of the season from beginning to end. The lights on the houses that sparkle in the blackness of night, the trees in windows that twinkle against the frosty glass – they are all things that I look forward to for every December.

My favorite thing to do (and this isn't just a winter thing for me) But I love to cozy up in a warm blanket or near the fire and read. Any book really, it doesn't matter what one. 


All I want each year is for my family and friends to be warm, safe, happy and joyful. That's what the true meaning of the holiday's is. So from my winter wonderland to yours - enjoy the snow!!


Happy Reading!
~Anastasia

Communication in a time long since forgotten

I have been in a rather contemplative mood as of late. Perhaps it is the fact that for the past several weeks I have immersed myself into the history of 1500s England and the reign of King Henry the VIII while watching the 4 seasons of the Showtime show, The Tudors. I have always been fascinated with the English monarchy and for some reason the reign of the Tudor dynasty is the most intriguing. What's not to love? There was sex and drinking and jewels and dresses and intrigue. True, there was a butt load of death, most of it at the hands of Henry himself, but I think we forget that first and foremost, he was a man first.

(No he didn't look like this, but damn did Jonathan Rys Myers do such a good job at playing him)

 

 

(King Henry VIII after his victory in France in 1545)

But I have to say that though Henry was king and yes he was a man, the time they lived in was magical. Well, yes, I understand it wasn't so magical for the poor and yes I am romanticizing the time period, but I would have liked to visit there for a day. To receive the royal court treatment - the dresses, the dancing, the wine - would be amazing. A time when men were men and woman were....well they weren't very well respected (except for maybe Catherine Parr....she was made regent when Henry left to battle in France)  But at least a woman was bowed to and men stood up when a woman came into a room. 

Well regardless of how men or women were treated during that time, I still find myself thinking about the way people spoke to each other. Each word was carefully crafted and constructed to convey what they were trying to get across. Even the simple manor of apologizing was a long dissertation. People don't speak like that to each other anymore. We spend more time using short hand or text speak and less time face to face and actually listening to what the other person is saying. Words don't mean the same thing as they did in a time when words were the only thing many people had. Language has also been another fascination of mine and I find it such a heart ache that people can't speak to each other anymore without using "omg" or "lol" in quickly typed messages to each other. Whatever happened to the day when letters were written with such care that each words was a statement of intent? Wax seals and envelopes and parchment are items of a long forgotten past. A few years ago I had a was seal made for myself. It's beautiful and I use it whenever I can. 

(The artfully crafted wax seal I had made)

 

 

Well my friends, I bid you all a good night, but first I charge each of you that read this with a task. Take a few minutes and write down a letter to someone you haven't spoken to in a while - or even someone you have spoken to in a while. I am sure that the note will be appreciated and well received. And guys, just a little tip - regardless of the times we live in - women still like love notes. So why don't you write one down? They mean a whole heck of a lot more than you might think and guess what....it's not corny or embarrassing to express feelings in words. It's actually quite encouraged.

Happy reading and happy writing!

~Anastasia

How my love of books has transcended time

The book above is the Book of Kells. This book is the oldest book known to western man and it is in one of the world's largest libraries - Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. And before I go on a long tangent of how much I LOVE Ireland, I will stick to the point of this blog and talk about books. (But just and FYI, I do LOVE LOVE LOVE Ireland.)

(The Long Room in the library at Trinity College of Dublin)

So I have a very strong belief that my love for books and the love for the written word has transcended time and space...and maybe even my own past lives. I think that I was meant to love the written word with all of my heart and soul from the beginning of my time here in this realm. And I love how as we have evolved as a race, not only has the written word evolved, but how we read as well. As much as I love the feel of paper between my fingers, but I have to admit that I am liking how technology is making books into digital media. Each generation evolves as the technology evolves and even though I wasn't on the Kindle bandwagon to begin with, I have to say I love mine now. 

(I have to admit that I agree with this statement)

 

So to come to a very fast conclusion to this very uninformative blog, I don't mind the way we are moving forward. Technology doesn't have to mean the end of books. It also means the way we learn will change and for the most part, I believe this is a good thing. Just, don't forget about the real thing. Sometimes there is no comparison to the real thing.

Happy reading everyone!

Anastasia

How romance novels ruined my view of relationships

All girls dream of their knight in shinning armor. For that gorgeous guy to show up on his white steed and sweep us off our feet and take us away to his castle in this hills where we will live happily ever after. Well, that doesn't happen every day, wait...it doesn't happen ever! But we still wait and hope for that to happen; and reading romance novels and watching romantic comedy movies don't help the situation. I am sure I am not the only woman in the world that has cried at the end of a book/movie and felt a bit of self loathing over the fact that we aren't that lucky. We don't have the long flowing hair that is always perfect or the figures that make men want to haul us into their arms and keep us there for always. And let's face it, who doesn't want that to happen? 

I have been single for so long now, I have honestly come to rely on the men in my books and movies. They are always there for me, always happy to take me into their world and for a moment, I am one of those tragically beautiful girls that the most gorgeous men in the world fall for. One good thing is at least the woman in those books and movies are strong and independent. But like me, they safe guard their hearts and keep part of themselves back, so people won't know how completely vulnerable they are. To portray yourself as a completely whole person, void of any flaws, is, in itself a flaw. But as the story progresses, we learn that those women overcome those flaws and realize it's okay to wear your heart on your sleeve - and show that to the gorgeous man she's has fallen in love with in, say, 2 days, is a whole person. 

And me, I wish for the kiss that always happens at some point in the story. The kind of kiss that takes not only your breath away, but makes your soul leave your body for a moment and merge with the one you are attached to. And I have never experienced that kind of soul robbing kiss. 

So here's my question to those reading - especially the girls - am I alone in feeling like this? Or am I crazy for wanting this kind of mind blowing romance? I think every girl deserves this kind of love...even if it is a fleeting affair that turns your world upside down. So here's my advice to any girl out there looking and hoping for romance - don't give up and don't stop looking for it, thinking that you aren't worth the love that everyone else has. And maybe someday, the knight in shinning armor that we have dreamed of since we were little, will ride up and sweep us off our feet.

Happy reading!

~Anastasia

A Book is a Book...no matter what the cover looks like

So this weekend was my 30th Birthday Bash and boy was it fun! Friends came in from all over just to celebrate the awesomeness of me (see how modest I am?)

And I couldn't have asked for a better time. Well with that being said, as a treat from my "wife" Nicole, I was given a leather bound journal and she asked everyone that came to the party to sign it and she would give it to me later. So the night went on and the party swelled to the point where I probably couldn't have more fun - but then everyone sang to me and Nicole gave a very moving speech that made want to tear up. I still think maybe it was the alcohol - or maybe I am just that big of a sap.

Later, after the party had ended and I had made it home (safely thanks to my wonderful brother) I sat down and opened the leather journal to read the contents of what my friends had written to me. And what I read made me smile and cry and beam with pride. I have some of the best and I mean BEST  friends in the whole world. Some of the things that were written moved me to the point of tears and I loved it.

Nicole gave me one stipulation - the book had to be used. Whether it was for writing down my thoughts, dreams, quotes I like or even clips from magazines. It had to be used and dammit, I plan on using it! So a book is a book, regardless of it's cover. And it can hold meaning to someone without it meaning a damn thing to anyone else.

So maybe a journal is something that will inspire you as well.

Happy reading everyone!

~Anastasia

What's made me better....

Has anyone ever had that moment when something, whether it be a book, movie or song, that has changed your life? Well maybe not changed your life, but at least helped you get through the time in your life that needs some assistance. I remember the first time a book helped me get through a part of my life that needed help. I was young, probably 10 or 11, and I had just read Maniac Magee for school (but so did a lot of us). Though I am not quite certain as to the circumstances surrounding why it helped me – it was 20 years ago – I remember that I felt better, more grown up, than I was before.

There have been several books like that throughout my life – “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison was probably the biggest one that impacted me in my teen years. I read it when I was a senior in High School. I was 17 years old. My English teacher that year, Mr. Banks, was one of the most influential teachers in my life. He was great. He taught us it was okay to like things that we normally wouldn’t consider liking and I think that it made us into better students and eventually better adults. But I’m getting off track here…back to “The Bluest Eye”.

I read the book as part of a project where at the end of the quarter we had to do a presentation. This scared the crap out of me. First off, at that age, what teenager (especially one that has always kept to herself) wants to stand up in front of a whole class and tell people why the book was special? Because I sure as hell didn’t want to do that! But, I had to swallow my fear (let’s face it, it wasn’t pride holding me back) and get up there and tell people why I cried like a baby when I finished the book. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to compare the book to something relevant to a high school mentality. So one night, while watching the Disney version of “Beauty and the Beast” (don’t make fun of me, it’s a good movie) I decided to take the clip of the transformation scene and play that to compare the book. Now If you don’t know anything about the book, the rough synopsis is this:

Nine-year-old Claudia and ten-year-old Frieda MacTeer live in Lorain, Ohio, with their parents. It is the end of the Great Depression, and the girls’ parents are more concerned with making ends meet than with lavishing attention upon their daughters, but there is an undercurrent of love and stability in their home. The MacTeers take in a boarder, Henry Washington, and also a young girl named Pecola. Pecola’s father has tried to burn down his family’s house, and Claudia and Frieda feel sorry for her. Pecola loves Shirley Temple, believing that whiteness is beautiful and that she is ugly.
Pecola moves back in with her family, and her life is difficult. Her father drinks, her mother is distant, and the two of them often beat one another. Her brother, Sammy, frequently runs away. Pecola believes that if she had blue eyes, she would be loved and her life would be transformed. Meanwhile, she continually receives confirmation of her own sense of ugliness—the grocer looks right through her when she buys candy, boys make fun of her, and a light-skinned girl, Maureen, who temporarily befriends her makes fun of her too. She is wrongly blamed for killing a boy’s cat and is called a “nasty little black bitch” by his mother.
We learn that Pecola’s parents have both had difficult lives. Pauline, her mother, has a lame foot and has always felt isolated. She loses herself in movies, which reaffirm her belief that she is ugly and that romantic love is reserved for the beautiful. She encourages her husband’s violent behavior in order to reinforce her own role as a martyr. She feels most alive when she is at work, cleaning a white woman’s home. She loves this home and despises her own. Cholly, Pecola’s father, was abandoned by his parents and raised by his great aunt, who died when he was a young teenager. He was humiliated by two white men who found him having sex for the first time and made him continue while they watched. He ran away to find his father but was rebuffed by him. By the time he met Pauline, he was a wild and rootless man. He feels trapped in his marriage and has lost interest in life.
Cholly returns home one day and finds Pecola washing dishes. With mixed motives of tenderness and hatred that are fueled by guilt, he rapes her. When Pecola’s mother finds her unconscious on the floor, she disbelieves Pecola’s story and beats her. Pecola goes to Soaphead Church, a sham mystic, and asks him for blue eyes. Instead of helping her, he uses her to kill a dog he dislikes.

Claudia and Frieda find out that Pecola has been impregnated by her father, and unlike the rest of the neighborhood, they want the baby to live. They sacrifice the money they have been saving for a bicycle and plant marigold seeds. They believe that if the flowers live, so will Pecola’s baby. The flowers refuse to bloom, and Pecola’s baby dies when it is born prematurely. Cholly, who rapes Pecola a second time and then runs away, dies in a workhouse. Pecola goes mad, believing that her cherished wish has been fulfilled and that she has the bluest eyes.

The video was played and I remember looking back at Mr. Banks and he had this look of astonishment on his face - almost as if he didn't expect a 17 year old high school student to come up with that kind of message.

There are so many more books that have influenced my life and I am so excited to keep sharing these stories with you. Until then, happy reading!

~ Anastasia

The Beginning

To say that books saved my life is bit of an over dramatization - but in the world that books have created for me then yes, I guess that statement would stand true. I have loved the written word before I can even remember. When I was a child I used to lay on my bed and "read" even though the words on the page before me didn't mean a thing to me. It was all in my imagination - each book was a new adventure and I have kept that attitude into my adulthood.
I am told that when I was laying on my bed "reading" I would yell down the stairs to my parents "I don't know a word" In response my father would usually yell back "Spell it Annie!" A moment of silence would go by and then my voice (which I really don't remember because to me I have always sounded like an adult) replied "A. Q. T. F. B." From there, the usual response (after what I learned later was a moment of laughter) was usually "Bunny or cat." Fine with the answer I would go back to the book and continue to read - regardless of whether the story was about a bunny or a cat.

This is me at four years old. Part of me wishes that there are pictures of me with my "books" I guess I will have to go searching for those. Until then, I bid you happy reading.

~Anastasia