Catching Up: Reading and Writing

This is for my one follower out there. I'm finally writing again!

I've been writing several things since my last post, just not publishing them online: DVM program applications and essays, the first draft of my dissertation, and the first draft of my first manuscript about chondrogenesis. I am long-winded enough that those topics must be saved for future blogs. In the meantime, I've found a million ways to let myself be distracted as I procrastinate about writing. I now have a fake farm on FarmVille (since the week before Christmas), a Mafia Wars family (after my mom's persuasion in January), and a zoo on Zoo World.

I've been working on my to-read list on www.GoodReads.com. Their FirstReads program is awesome. Authors or publishers can post a drawing for a free copy of their book and if you're the lucky winner, you receive the book in the mail for the easy exchange of writing a review. I highly recommend checking it out. If you ever needed a recommendation for the next book to read after The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, for instance, that's the place to go to find the author, reviews, and similar books you might enjoy. For all you Twilight fans, just wait until you see all the other vampire books that are out there!

I absolutely love the fact that the Alachua County Library District (Gainesville, FL) has their book catalog online so I can place a hold for a book from any of their libraries to be delivered to my closest library branch. Every county's libraries should have such a system. I no longer have to be disappointed when my longed-for book or movie isn't available. I can place a hold and know where I stand in the hold list. It's silly how excited I get when I'm number 1 on there.

I've been working on some classic literature for children that I never read while growing up. I just read The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, which inspired the movie. Clever Mr. Fox and his family find ways to outsmart the chicken, duck, and turkey farmers who are out to kill them for their thievery. Next on the list by Roald Dahl: The Witches and BFG.

Last week I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I grew so attached to the characters, especially the protagonist, Francie Nolan, that I hated when she grew up and the book had to end. We meet her when she is a young girl of 11 growing up on Brooklyn, NY, and as the book progresses, she becomes an "adult" at 14 years of age as she works at a job where they think she is 16, WWI begins, she finds ways to pursue a college education, and she says good-bye to the neighborhood she loved so much. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reminiscing about those days when you were twelve and limitless possibilities lay before you. This book was also a learning experience for me: I loved reading about the ways of life in Brooklyn in the early 1900's, when you could go to individual stores to buy a cent's worth of greens or a dime's worth of meat and when a dollar really stretched pretty far.

Today as I was searching for new things to read, I noticed how many books talk about going green. I found The Green Bible, which is one where all the passages of the Old and New Testaments that relate to caring for the earth and God's creation are highlighted in green. I think I might just have to check it out. Additionally, with all my friends who are having babies, I couldn't resist checking out The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down to Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley. If you have seen all the expensive "stuff" that accompanies the arrival of a baby, then you know there has to be a simpler way to welcome and protect a little bundle of joy. I think this book might offer some great solutions. (Don't worry; it's not happening in my life anytime soon!) Besides, it's way easier for me to recommend this to others than it is to implement the ideas myself.

Finally, I'm going to finish David Zinczenko's book The Abs Diet for Women soon. I really like all the strength, stretching, and yoga moves that are recommended and demonstrated near the end of the book. These are things I could do in the gym or at home to help my body stay fit, even on days when there's not time to exercise.

Stay tuned for the fitness results and for more great books to read.