And summer continues luxuriously on

I am now back in blogland. I didn't really mean to leave, but you know how life is. Things come up and distract you, then you get lazy and yeah. I haven't forgotten my blog, no, not at all. Many a time I thought of Lavender Rambles with a pang in my heart: "After all the work I put into it and all the nice responses I got ... " The fact is, I began blogging a long time before Lavender Rambles was born, a good two or three years. Xanga was my first experiement, and it went well. I still sort of have that blog; "sort of" meaning it's on hiatus. I put a lot of work into that blog, made tons of posts, but over the past few months I was loosing steam and finally it came to a standstill right around the time Lavender Rambled was being born. Various other blogs cropped up now and then during my time in blog land. None of them stuck for long, but still, it was even more writing. I just needed a break for a little while. Not that I could ever stop or get tired of writing but I needed a little time to germinate some new ideas and renew my wit. I felt like every time I sat down to write a blog I would end up with something that was hurriedly thrown together and written for the sake of writing, not because I had anything particular to say. But now, not only am I back in blogland, I am, more importantly, back in "blogmind". *wink*
I guess the fact that I just wrote all that when I had only intended to write a brief introductory paragraph consisting mostly of "hey, I'm back! Cool, huh?" is a good sign. I guess I had better get on to my real topic, which is summer.
This summer is looking really good (minus the 4 days of stomach virus INSANITY and my sciatic nerve crazyness!). So good, in fact, I think I am going to have to make a list!

My Summer:

• Learning To Draw ~ I have always wanted to draw, but thought that since I hadn't been born with a pencil in my hand it wasn't going to happen. Then one night, after watching some YouTube videos of people drawing (amazing stuff on there), I was inspired to just pick up a pencil and try some of the things I saw these people doing. The results were, while not what you would call good, something above and beyond my typical stick figures. I decided to get some books from the library, one of which was "The New Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain". WOW! That book is increadible. The only thing left to do now is gather a few more materials and then I am gonna be one drawing maniac! Hehee.
• Learning to Write Poetry ~ I might not be an avid reader of poetry, but it is something I appreciate and respect that I think I should get into more. I found a book about poetry in my basement and am excited to see where it takes me.
• Watching Classic Films ~ Just don't have the time when doing acedemic things, so this summer I am going to try to enjoy as many as I can. So far I've checked out 20 - 25 from my library. Not all at once though! :)
• Reading ~ Duh! Right now I am enjoying Summer by Edith Wharton, and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe. I am also reading The Mourners' Bench by Susan Dodd but not enjoying it as much. Too much graffic sexual details. Cheapens literature if you ask me. Haven't decided yet if I'm doing to finish it or not.
• Learning to Drive ~ Yes, I only just got my permit. I waited until I really felt ready - no shame in that.
• Shopping ~ I got lots of graduation cash and also made $200 at a garage sale. Cash burning a hole in my pocket plush a wardrobe full of clothes that no longer fit or were purchased when I was 15 - 17 ... I'm gonna be busy. ^_^
• Swimming ~ Well, I'm hoping for this one. My aunt and uncle have a "big" pool that I'd like to swim in but it's all up to my mom if she feels like visiting ...
• Journaling ~ Bought two nice journals at Barns & Noble. One for just keeping a daily log of my life, one for those occasional deeper thoughts.

Are you doing anything special or fun this summer fellow bloggers?

It Has Been Too Long

Well, I'm finally returning here. My life has been a little nutty of late. I graduate at the end of the week and I was just diagnosed with a sciatic nerve in my leg. Fun, fun. Hopefully I'll get lots of reading done while I lay in bed, right? I drug myself across the library last night to check out some old movies to keep me company as well. Otherwise, life is good. The sun is out, it feels like summer, and I can't help being happy in spite of it all.

Oh, the guilt. Welllll ... not really. ^_^

Ok, I cracked. I know I said I wasn't going to go to the library until I got through some of the books I've had for weeks, but ...
I've been wanting to go check out some classic DVDs and some french textbooks from the library, so Wednesday I went with my aunt. We couldn't stay long, but there was still enough time for me to pick up a couple of books. Saturday I went back and got ... about 15 more books. What can I say, I'm only human. ^_^
One of the books is Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins. I've been hungering to read some more of his work after reading The Moonstone, which I adored, and so far Poor Miss Finch has not let me down. I'm about 80 pages into the story and I can tell already it's going to be one of my favorites. I love the way Collins writes, with a sort of undertone of witty sarcasm.
Anyway, I've been having a terrible time choosing what to read. Everything looks so good, but I'm trying to not do more than 3 or 4 at a time.

I'm Getting Somewhere!

Today I gathered all (or nearly all) my library books onto my bed and checked to see which ones I was reading, had read, and wanted to read. I'm done with 6 of them; 5 I read and 1 was book 5 in a mystery series that I just checked out so I could look up the rest of the series later.
I finished Maisie Dobbs: Birds of a Feather today. After I got about half way into the book the pace picked up and I could hardly put it down. Thus I spent a leeetle too much time reading today, but you know ... I found Winter Season, A Dancer's Journal by Toni Bentley that I had got about 3/4 of the way through and forgotten about. I finished off the rest of it and put it in the pile of books to go back to the library. I began and finished my Dear America book over the weekend. One more to go back. Also in the pile are La Vagabonde and On Pointe. I am getting through them! ^_^
Now I only have about 9 or 10 library books waiting to be read.
All this came about because I got on Amazon.com and discovered tons of historical mysteries that I am itching to check out of the library. If I'm not careful, I could end up completely buried in library books. I really must get through most of the ones I have before I get anymore!

My First Challenge!

Yay! I joined a challenge. ^_^ I'm excited. 2+ medical mysteries/thrillers between June 1st and November 1st. I'm trying not to look forward to it *too* much, however, because I do not need the next few weeks to hurry by, I've got SO much to do, hehee.










I've only picked one book so far, that being ... oh dear, now that I look closer at it, I'm not sure it's actually a mystery. Bother. Ok, well, selections coming soon.

Hmm ... Well, At Least I Tried

This 30 days of pictures thing is not going so well. What can I say? It's not very high on my list of priorities at the moment between finishing senior year, planning a graduation, and getting ready for a dance recital. Maybe I should postpone it to a summer project. I'm a little disappointed, but one does have to prioritize. I did take some nice pictures two days ago, though, that I will try to upload when I can.
Well, I must be off, I've got to make a run to the store and *ahem* stop in "quickly" at the library - which is ok, though, because it's just a branch, not the main one. Hehee.

///EDIT///
I'm home again. I had a fun/annoying at times outing. I was saved from doing any serious damage at the library by arriving there 15-20 minutes before they closed. As we were pulling into the library parking lot my friend said, "are you returning books or getting some?"
"Well, I'm just looking," I replied. "...But whatever happens, happens." *grin*
I only found two books:

• The Coffee Trader by David Liss - I may or may not find this interesting. Anyone know if it's any good? I read a little bit in the car on the way to Wal-Mart (don't worry, my mom was driving) and it seemed like it could be a little bit ... mediocre.
• I Walk in Dread by Lisa Rowe Fraustino. This is, I am almost embarrassed to say, a Dear America book. But oh well - so what if I am not totally ready to give up all of my childhood?

I also picked up a little booklet of Express Books (books that you can only keep for a week instead of the usual 3) that come in this month. There were a few that jumped out at me, particularly The Camel Bookmobile by Marsha Hamilton and April in Paris by Michael Wallner.

The somewhat annoying time was when I was at Wal-Mart. I wasn't really there on my own time, I had to keep my sister and friend happy, so I got a bit frustrated. Plus, it's not fun to need to go to the other end of the isle and have someone totally blocking the way. What is it with people needing the whole entire isle to shop?

Thick

I was sitting in the other room, happily visiting book blogs. I had a stack of my current reads sitting on the piano in the living room. "Look how thick that one is," I hear my aunt say. "Jeez," says my grandma. "I can barely get through the little thin ones."
"Look at that sucker," my aunt marveled.
I smile to myself. They are referring to my biography on Margot Fonteyn and yes, it is quite thick. 580 pages, an inch and a half.
--
It's funny, lately I've been feeling so torn between reading books and book blogs. When I'm blog-hopping I want to be reading, and then when I'm reading I want to be blogging about it.
I love this new discovery of book blogs, I don't know why I never thought to look them up before. Reading is a huge part of my life. Sometimes I get busy and inadvertently "forget" to read for weeks on end. All of a sudden I'll think, "I haven't been reading at all," and I have this urge to find a book and start reading again. Once I start, I realize how imbalanced I've felt without reading. Reading, in a way, keeps me feeling "right". Does anyone else notice this? Anyway, it's nice to find other people who are so into reading. A lot even more than me, but still. With all these intriguing new blogs I'm exploring (oh the trails one can travel, going from link to link to link ... ) I've been using up most of my spare time. Hehee, hopefully I'll calm down pretty soon and things will go back to being more normal.