Hey all you loyal bleaders...I have just posted chapter one of my new serial novel-blog. I would be honored and grateful if you would join me for this new adventure. Please check out the new blog and sign up to be notified by email when a new chapter has posted. The link is: http://52chaptersin52weeks.blogspot.com/
Many thanks!
Rachel
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
#52 WHAT COMES NEXT?
Here we are...and thank you for making this journey with me. When I started, I really didn't know if I would complete all 52 posts. It was a challenge I set for myself, so I figured that if I gave up, no one would really notice or care. Then my wonderful bleaders started following my posts from week to week and commenting to me about their thoughts. You told me what touched you, what motivated you, what amused you. You shared your own ideas and dreams with me. As my energy faltered, you gave me yours. So here we are! 52 posts have now been written and hurled into cyberspace. What's next?
I considered many options. I thought about stopping blogging completely. I have lots on my plate and I thought I could check this experiment off my list and move on.
I considered keeping the blog going but only posting when the spirit moved me. That seemed like a doable compromise.
I thought about focusing the blog on one topic, food perhaps, or books, and then posting only about things that pertained to that. However, I have heard from some of you non-cooks that the food posts were not as captivating to you. I didn't want to cut down my readership right out of the gate.
The idea for 52 Questions about Food, Books, Life and Love came to me suddenly, and when it popped into my head, it felt right. I was hoping for another such epiphany but they say that lightening doesn't strike twice. Lucky for me, it did. However, this time I wasn't sure I was ready to buy what my muse was selling. She seemed to be asking me to put a lot on the line, to take a big risk. Our conversation went something like this:
Muse: I know what your next project should be.
Rachel: Really? Great. What? (Since my muse is part of me, I can talk in shorthand).
Muse: Don't freak out, but I think you should write a novel in 52 chapters.
Rachel: You're nuts!
Muse: Think about it; you've already mastered this blogging thing. Remember how scary it seemed at first? Now you're done, and its been a really interesting and satisfying experience.
Rachel: I've never written a novel.
Muse: You've started quite a few.
Rachel: Thanks, don't remind me. That fact alone makes me feel like a failure.
Muse: Okay, then rise to the challenge. I know you can do this!
Rachel: I wish I had as much faith in myself as you have in me.
Muse: Look, the fear is part of the fun. This will be a challenge but that makes it exciting.
Rachel: But what if I can't do it? What if its awful? What if I embarrass myself?
Muse: What if its good? What if people like it? What if you can get it published eventually? Why do you always have to look at the dark side? This glass is half full.
Clearly, I am no match for my marvelous (manipulative?) muse. Next week, I will embark on a new blogging adventure. I will be writing a serial novel. This is not a novel novel concept. Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers was first published in the British papers in contiguous installments. Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Herman Melville all wrote serial novels. Even Tom Wolfe's iconic novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities ran in 27 parts in Rolling Stones magazine.
I have not yet ironed out all of the logistics. I may need to re-vamp this blog or begin a new one on the same site. I will have to let you know as I figure out the details.
In the meantime, friends, please stay tuned for our next shared adventure.
I considered many options. I thought about stopping blogging completely. I have lots on my plate and I thought I could check this experiment off my list and move on.
I considered keeping the blog going but only posting when the spirit moved me. That seemed like a doable compromise.
I thought about focusing the blog on one topic, food perhaps, or books, and then posting only about things that pertained to that. However, I have heard from some of you non-cooks that the food posts were not as captivating to you. I didn't want to cut down my readership right out of the gate.
The idea for 52 Questions about Food, Books, Life and Love came to me suddenly, and when it popped into my head, it felt right. I was hoping for another such epiphany but they say that lightening doesn't strike twice. Lucky for me, it did. However, this time I wasn't sure I was ready to buy what my muse was selling. She seemed to be asking me to put a lot on the line, to take a big risk. Our conversation went something like this:
Muse: I know what your next project should be.
Rachel: Really? Great. What? (Since my muse is part of me, I can talk in shorthand).
Muse: Don't freak out, but I think you should write a novel in 52 chapters.
Rachel: You're nuts!
Muse: Think about it; you've already mastered this blogging thing. Remember how scary it seemed at first? Now you're done, and its been a really interesting and satisfying experience.
Rachel: I've never written a novel.
Muse: You've started quite a few.
Rachel: Thanks, don't remind me. That fact alone makes me feel like a failure.
Muse: Okay, then rise to the challenge. I know you can do this!
Rachel: I wish I had as much faith in myself as you have in me.
Muse: Look, the fear is part of the fun. This will be a challenge but that makes it exciting.
Rachel: But what if I can't do it? What if its awful? What if I embarrass myself?
Muse: What if its good? What if people like it? What if you can get it published eventually? Why do you always have to look at the dark side? This glass is half full.
Clearly, I am no match for my marvelous (manipulative?) muse. Next week, I will embark on a new blogging adventure. I will be writing a serial novel. This is not a novel novel concept. Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers was first published in the British papers in contiguous installments. Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Herman Melville all wrote serial novels. Even Tom Wolfe's iconic novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities ran in 27 parts in Rolling Stones magazine.
I have not yet ironed out all of the logistics. I may need to re-vamp this blog or begin a new one on the same site. I will have to let you know as I figure out the details.
In the meantime, friends, please stay tuned for our next shared adventure.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
#51: WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
Sorry I'm a little late with this week's post....life is busy with school ending soon and Mom's Day brunch at my house on Sunday! Shout out to all the moms who read the blog: Hope your Mother's Day was filled with love!
Mine definitely was!
So...this is the second to last post of the original 52, and I thought this would be a good time to ask myself what I have learned this year. Here's my list:
#1 I am enormously grateful that there are people out there who want to read what I write. That is incredibly gratifying and inspires me to write more and write better.
#2 My life is full. I have managed to come up with a different question and answer every week for one whole year. I juggle lots of balls, a myriad of responsibilities and interests. I am a curious sort of gal, and I seem to have an infinite number of questions in my brain.
#3 All three of my young adult children have learned something new about me this year by reading the blog. Who knew that you could transmit valuable information to your kids via the internet?
#4 I have a few incredibly loyal fans (Thanks Mom & Dad) who actually email me every week with comments. You know who you are and I am incredibly appreciative. You let me know every week that when I press SEND, someone out in cyberspace actually receives my words.
#5 I can rise to a challenge! When I began this, almost a year ago, blogging every week for a whole year seemed like a monumental undertaking. Yet, here we are! The truth is, the year will pass regardless of what any of us do. Therefore, we might as well dream big and occasionally even bite off more than we can chew--which brings me to number 6.
#6 One bite at a time! That is the answer to the tongue-in-cheek question:"How do you eat an elephant?"
The truth is, we are capable of so much more than we think we are. But lots and lots of things get in the way of our dreams. Here's a list of a few of them:
*Responsibilities
*Insecurities
*Time
*Money
*Fear
*Exhaustion
*Naysayers and doubters
AND we ask ourselves the following USELESS questions?
*Do I deserve to succeed?
*Am I aiming too high?
*What if I fail?
*Do my dreams have merit?
*Can I?
*Should I?
*Is it too bold of me to try?
*Isn't there someone who can do it better?
*Why should I take the risk?
*What if I look foolish?
*What if people laugh at me?
*What if I try and fail and then have to finally let go of my dream?
#7 Time marches on. Things I thought I'd do by thirty, I still haven't done. But each time I have pushed myself, I've grown. My Grandma Fanny used to say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." I still hear those words in my head...ALL THE TIME! I still have to coax myself out of my comfort zone...inch by inch.
#8 Next week, I will announce what comes next. I have not told a soul yet...maybe because I'm afraid I'll change my mind. Nevertheless, stay tuned for next week's announcement. In the meantime, think about tackling one of your own dreams...bite by bite!
Mine definitely was!
So...this is the second to last post of the original 52, and I thought this would be a good time to ask myself what I have learned this year. Here's my list:
#1 I am enormously grateful that there are people out there who want to read what I write. That is incredibly gratifying and inspires me to write more and write better.
#2 My life is full. I have managed to come up with a different question and answer every week for one whole year. I juggle lots of balls, a myriad of responsibilities and interests. I am a curious sort of gal, and I seem to have an infinite number of questions in my brain.
#3 All three of my young adult children have learned something new about me this year by reading the blog. Who knew that you could transmit valuable information to your kids via the internet?
#4 I have a few incredibly loyal fans (Thanks Mom & Dad) who actually email me every week with comments. You know who you are and I am incredibly appreciative. You let me know every week that when I press SEND, someone out in cyberspace actually receives my words.
#5 I can rise to a challenge! When I began this, almost a year ago, blogging every week for a whole year seemed like a monumental undertaking. Yet, here we are! The truth is, the year will pass regardless of what any of us do. Therefore, we might as well dream big and occasionally even bite off more than we can chew--which brings me to number 6.
#6 One bite at a time! That is the answer to the tongue-in-cheek question:"How do you eat an elephant?"
The truth is, we are capable of so much more than we think we are. But lots and lots of things get in the way of our dreams. Here's a list of a few of them:
*Responsibilities
*Insecurities
*Time
*Money
*Fear
*Exhaustion
*Naysayers and doubters
AND we ask ourselves the following USELESS questions?
*Do I deserve to succeed?
*Am I aiming too high?
*What if I fail?
*Do my dreams have merit?
*Can I?
*Should I?
*Is it too bold of me to try?
*Isn't there someone who can do it better?
*Why should I take the risk?
*What if I look foolish?
*What if people laugh at me?
*What if I try and fail and then have to finally let go of my dream?
#7 Time marches on. Things I thought I'd do by thirty, I still haven't done. But each time I have pushed myself, I've grown. My Grandma Fanny used to say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." I still hear those words in my head...ALL THE TIME! I still have to coax myself out of my comfort zone...inch by inch.
#8 Next week, I will announce what comes next. I have not told a soul yet...maybe because I'm afraid I'll change my mind. Nevertheless, stay tuned for next week's announcement. In the meantime, think about tackling one of your own dreams...bite by bite!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Do You Remember "The Lottery"?
POST #50.......and counting
When you were in middle school or high school, you probably read Shirley Jackson's highly anthologized short story, "The Lottery." It is a literary rite of passage for American teens. I can remember being traumatized by it when I first read it at thirteen. For those of you who never read it (or who cannot remember it), here is a short synopsis:
The story opens as members of a small town in an undisclosed location (picture Any Town, USA) are gathering for the annual lottery. The children are innocently collecting and piling up stones, the men are chatting together as are the women. Then as the time for the actual lottery draws near, the fathers and mothers gather their children and stand together in family groupings. As the lottery begins, it becomes apparent to the reader that the participants want to lose rather than "win" this lottery. The family patriarch picks a paper out of a special box, and that paper determines whether or not his family is chosen or exempt. The members of the chosen family must then each draw individually until one member draws the paper with the special mark on it. The "winner" is stoned by all the members of the town including her own husband and children. It is chilling and ghastly and hard to read.
So why, then, did I pull it out and share it with my students this week? Well, there was an incident at school where a student tweeted something that he thought was funny but that many of us felt was highly inappropriate. It was, at the very least, thoughtless and at the very worst, cruel and divisive. Several faculty members were outraged; much of the student body (even those who were members of the groups he was targeting) were fairly apathetic. They chalked it up to a lack of sensitivity or an awkward attempt at humor. They forgave him easily and quickly. They wanted the whole thing to go away. No one jumped up and defended the people whom he had maligned. There was no student-lead outcry.
The unfortunate incident made me think of "The Lottery." It made me think about the way in which humans--in groups--often sink to the lowest common denominator. It made me think about peer pressure and apathy and about traditions that should be re-considered. Our conversations this week were very interesting. Some of the students couldn't get past the over-the-top nature of the story until I explained that Jackson was really writing a fable. If we can get past the extreme nature of the lottery, we can begin to think about some of the things we accept without questioning them.
I asked them to think of times in history that reminded them of this story. We talked about the Holocaust, slavery, the Salem Witch Trials, and the draft during the Vietnam War. We also talked about hazing in college fraternities and sororities. We talked about the way that hazing is perpetuated because the victims feel entitled to become the perpetrators, and the cycle continues over and over again. I then moved the conversation a little closer to home.
I told them that when I arrived at this school six years ago, it was a tradition for the senior class to toilet-paper the quad in the spring of their senior year. I told them that, while the quad looked magical the next morning covered in white toilet paper, and while the seniors seemed to love the experience of doing this activity as a class, it struck me as odd. I explained that I was looking at the event with fresh eyes; I was an outsider. To me, it seemed terribly wasteful to buy rolls and rolls of toilet paper to use in this way. It also seemed to go against all the eco-friendly advances most schools and organizations are trying to make. However, the most egregious part of the tradition to me was the fact that the following day, the school's maintenance workers had to spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. They had multiple ladders out so that they could pull toilet paper off the uppermost branches of the trees. They spent most of their day pulling toilet paper off the ground, away from the shrubs and out of the trees. I couldn't imagine how it could seem appropriate to sanction an activity that was so wasteful and unnecessary and which caused so much extra work for school staff members. I am happy to report that, without any intervention from me, the tradition quietly ended. I don't know who lead the charge to abandon it, but I am grateful that someone felt strongly enough about it to fight the hold that traditions have on communities such as ours.
Perhaps everyone should re-read "The Lottery" at different stages of their lives as a reminder of the importance of asking questions. In the story, Tessie questions the tradition only after her own family has been chosen. Her greatest complaints happen when she herself has been singled out for stoning. At that point, she seems like a sore loser and no one is willing to listen to her. We talked about how the more power you have, the more likely it is that you will be heard when trying to change something. We agreed that it would be highly unlikely that a college freshman who was undergoing hazing would be able to put an end to it. The students agreed that it would take an upperclassmen, probably someone in a position of leadership in the fraternity, to make change happen. As JFK (I think???) said, "With privilege comes responsibility!"
One last little aside: I had always assumed that Jackson must have had a dark soul to have written such a terrifying story, but then I came across, LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES. I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I was a young mother and I was eager to read stories of other women who had loved the challenging, engaging and exhausting job of being at home with young kids. I loved this book. I loved her warmth and her sense of humor. I loved the pure, fierce love she had for her four wild and wonderful kids. It is simply charming and made me transform my view of Jackson from a creepy woman to a warm and wonderful writer/mother. This is purely conjecture, but, perhaps, it was the strong mother lioness in her that caused her write "The Lottery" in the first place. Perhaps, she wanted
her children to grow up in a world where everyone would stand up against injustice and fight to change those things that needed to be changed.
When you were in middle school or high school, you probably read Shirley Jackson's highly anthologized short story, "The Lottery." It is a literary rite of passage for American teens. I can remember being traumatized by it when I first read it at thirteen. For those of you who never read it (or who cannot remember it), here is a short synopsis:
The story opens as members of a small town in an undisclosed location (picture Any Town, USA) are gathering for the annual lottery. The children are innocently collecting and piling up stones, the men are chatting together as are the women. Then as the time for the actual lottery draws near, the fathers and mothers gather their children and stand together in family groupings. As the lottery begins, it becomes apparent to the reader that the participants want to lose rather than "win" this lottery. The family patriarch picks a paper out of a special box, and that paper determines whether or not his family is chosen or exempt. The members of the chosen family must then each draw individually until one member draws the paper with the special mark on it. The "winner" is stoned by all the members of the town including her own husband and children. It is chilling and ghastly and hard to read.
So why, then, did I pull it out and share it with my students this week? Well, there was an incident at school where a student tweeted something that he thought was funny but that many of us felt was highly inappropriate. It was, at the very least, thoughtless and at the very worst, cruel and divisive. Several faculty members were outraged; much of the student body (even those who were members of the groups he was targeting) were fairly apathetic. They chalked it up to a lack of sensitivity or an awkward attempt at humor. They forgave him easily and quickly. They wanted the whole thing to go away. No one jumped up and defended the people whom he had maligned. There was no student-lead outcry.
The unfortunate incident made me think of "The Lottery." It made me think about the way in which humans--in groups--often sink to the lowest common denominator. It made me think about peer pressure and apathy and about traditions that should be re-considered. Our conversations this week were very interesting. Some of the students couldn't get past the over-the-top nature of the story until I explained that Jackson was really writing a fable. If we can get past the extreme nature of the lottery, we can begin to think about some of the things we accept without questioning them.
I asked them to think of times in history that reminded them of this story. We talked about the Holocaust, slavery, the Salem Witch Trials, and the draft during the Vietnam War. We also talked about hazing in college fraternities and sororities. We talked about the way that hazing is perpetuated because the victims feel entitled to become the perpetrators, and the cycle continues over and over again. I then moved the conversation a little closer to home.
I told them that when I arrived at this school six years ago, it was a tradition for the senior class to toilet-paper the quad in the spring of their senior year. I told them that, while the quad looked magical the next morning covered in white toilet paper, and while the seniors seemed to love the experience of doing this activity as a class, it struck me as odd. I explained that I was looking at the event with fresh eyes; I was an outsider. To me, it seemed terribly wasteful to buy rolls and rolls of toilet paper to use in this way. It also seemed to go against all the eco-friendly advances most schools and organizations are trying to make. However, the most egregious part of the tradition to me was the fact that the following day, the school's maintenance workers had to spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. They had multiple ladders out so that they could pull toilet paper off the uppermost branches of the trees. They spent most of their day pulling toilet paper off the ground, away from the shrubs and out of the trees. I couldn't imagine how it could seem appropriate to sanction an activity that was so wasteful and unnecessary and which caused so much extra work for school staff members. I am happy to report that, without any intervention from me, the tradition quietly ended. I don't know who lead the charge to abandon it, but I am grateful that someone felt strongly enough about it to fight the hold that traditions have on communities such as ours.
Perhaps everyone should re-read "The Lottery" at different stages of their lives as a reminder of the importance of asking questions. In the story, Tessie questions the tradition only after her own family has been chosen. Her greatest complaints happen when she herself has been singled out for stoning. At that point, she seems like a sore loser and no one is willing to listen to her. We talked about how the more power you have, the more likely it is that you will be heard when trying to change something. We agreed that it would be highly unlikely that a college freshman who was undergoing hazing would be able to put an end to it. The students agreed that it would take an upperclassmen, probably someone in a position of leadership in the fraternity, to make change happen. As JFK (I think???) said, "With privilege comes responsibility!"
One last little aside: I had always assumed that Jackson must have had a dark soul to have written such a terrifying story, but then I came across, LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES. I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I was a young mother and I was eager to read stories of other women who had loved the challenging, engaging and exhausting job of being at home with young kids. I loved this book. I loved her warmth and her sense of humor. I loved the pure, fierce love she had for her four wild and wonderful kids. It is simply charming and made me transform my view of Jackson from a creepy woman to a warm and wonderful writer/mother. This is purely conjecture, but, perhaps, it was the strong mother lioness in her that caused her write "The Lottery" in the first place. Perhaps, she wanted
her children to grow up in a world where everyone would stand up against injustice and fight to change those things that needed to be changed.
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