Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive

Remember that time when I said I was going to blog more often and be diligent and successful and all that? Well, it’s only been a little more than a month, but I haven’t exactly done that just yet. Before you start “tsk tsk”-ing, though, let me first tell you the very good reason I have for not blogging.

…Okay, well there really isn’t one. But the point is, even though I’ve been really busy with silly things like class and homework, I’ve thought a lot about what I’m going to blog next about (other than in this post, of course), and you can expect a [very fascinating, ruminative] book review! I might also be doing an informational post about my new hamster at some point, just to bore everyone to tears. (Just kidding — there will be pictures!) I also hope to experiment with the visual aspect of the site as well, but no spoilers on that as of yet since I’m not sure about anything at this point.

So all in all, I’ll be trying my hand at some new things in the next few weeks, so keep checking in! Any and all feedback you have on my experiments is welcome as well. (Don’t worry, I’m a friendly mad scientist.)

-Andrea

PS: You’re not fooling anyone. “Stayin Alive” is now stuck in your head.

Hello again!

Remember me? It’s been almost a year since I’ve blogged last, and honestly during that time I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to start blogging again. But as I’ve been writing lately — and struggling to put myself on a habitual writing schedule – I’ve realized how helpful (not to mention fun) it would be to try it again. Let me explain my dilemma a bit: for writers (as well as aspiring writers), taking at least a little bit of time each day devoted to doing any kind of writing is the best way — and perhaps the only way — to get better. Even if you want to be a published novelist like me, blogging about something on your mind or even writing in your diary helps you expand your creativity and think of new ways to say what you’re thinking. So even though it doesn’t get you any closer to completing your 200 pages of science fiction glory, it improves your skills so that when you have time to write more of those 200 pages, the words you’re putting down are loads better than what you would have written after picking it back up fresh out of finals week.

Really, that makes writing the same as anything else. If you play an instrument, you know that taking a few days off means the next time you pick it up, it’s probably going to feel a bit awkward for at least the first few minutes of playing, and your repertoire isn’t going to sound as polished as where you left it. If you exercise daily, you know that after taking a few days off, you might have to ease your muscles back into your workout routine. Even if you stop reading a book for a few days, you might have to flip back a few pages to remember where you left off. Everything you do in life requires consistency and freshness before any true improvement can enter the picture. So that, in a nutshell, is why blogging (and even Twitter) can be one of a writer’s most valuable hobbies.

So why did I quit? I’m not really sure what the answer to that is. Maybe it was because I got busy, maybe it was because I got burnt out. But I think a huge part of my problem was that I was too much of a perfectionist. (I won’t go into this now because I’m bound to write a blog entirely devoted to perfectionism in the future. It’s been on my mind a lot lately.) Like most of the material I write, each blog took me a long time to compose, not because I didn’t have ideas or didn’t know how to say them, but rather because I doubted myself as I was writing. There probably wasn’t a sentence that escaped a scathing edit, whether it was during its composition or after. So in all honesty, blogging was exhausting. I couldn’t stand to publish something until it was perfect, and, as all writers know, being 100% happy with a piece of writing is wholly impossible. (Depressing? Maybe. True? Absolutely.)

Though that statement is true, I’m still just as committed to my future goals as I ever was. Why? Because writing makes me happy. It’s really as simple as that. I love it, even if it means there are bad days when I suffer from writer’s block and look fondly on paper-pushing or cleaning cars. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that mistakes are just a product of being human. The occasional typo isn’t going to gain me a hate club; no little grammar fairy’s light will go out. And as cliché as it sounds, life goes on. Why let myself get stressed when I could put all that energy toward improving my skills, instead of doubting them?

So here I am, blogging again, and this time I plan on being more regular about it. There will be plenty of times when life takes over, and papers and exams and projects for my classes will have to come first. (After all, at this point in my life, they are the things with deadlines.) However, I don’t plan on taking another year-long hiatus to rediscover how important (and fun!) blogging can be.

Stay on your toes! I’ll be back…

-Andrea

Books or eBooks?

Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Reader, Barnes and Noble’s Nook – all are competing devices in the industry of e-readers; even the upcoming Apple iPad can display eBooks. While the market for digital books is continually growing, some consider the advantages of paper books impossible for technology to digitally simulate. How can anything replace the crackling of the pages, the smell of the paper, the worn spine of a well-used book, or the pleasure of reading to a young child?

E-readers are convenient for many reasons though. Here are a few pros to buying an e-reader:

• Lightweight – Has your back ever hurt from carrying around a bag full of books? (I think we as college students can all relate to that!) E-readers allow you to carry hundreds of books in one hand.

• Compact – Every one of the books you buy has to be stored somewhere at home. The contents of several bookcases fit within a space as small as a couple of magazines.

• Immediate access to books – An e-reader, at the click of a button, puts the book you want right in your hands in seconds; there’s no time spent driving to a bookstore or waiting for a box to ship.

They seem perfect, right? Not always. Here are a few cons to buying an e-reader:

• Lending/Borrowing – Currently, copyrights and restrictions on many e-readers (most notably the Amazon Kindle) make it illegal to lend or borrow eBooks from your friends.

• Renting – Though some e-readers now offer ways to rent or check out books for a period, not all offer this feature yet.

• Reselling – There’s no way to sell a digital book on eBay when you’re done with it, so whether you read it again or not, you don’t get your money back.

• Money, money, money – Though eBooks are usually cheaper than paper books, you have to have enough money to plunk down on an e-reader in the first place, which typically range from $200 to $500.

All in all, e-readers still lack a few features that books have offered for years; but as the business grows, the products get better. Though they will never be able to completely replace books – especially for sentimental reasons – e-readers are useful and popular devices, and some people predict they are the future. What do you think: books or eBooks? Or is there room for both?

2010

Happy New Year!!! It’s officially 2010, which means that we not only start another year, but another decade. Will this new chapter bring with it new resolutions to make a difference? 2010 could give you just the opportunity to take the steps needed to make an impact on your family, your friends, your community, or even yourself. Take the initiative, make some resolutions for ’10, and keep them in the front of your mind as you begin your life in this new decade.

God Bless!

-Andrea

What matters the most?

I loaded the page www.yahoo.com. Right at the top center of the page was a box that had links to the latest news all over the country. Scrolling through, I noticed links such as “Celebrity couple splits,” “TV’s newest hunk,” and “___’s fashion mistake.” Interspersed between these “riveting” news pieces were stories about a young boy who saved his brother’s life, an ancient relic that was recovered, and a two-legged dog inspiring injured soldiers. Let’s stop and think about that: which story would you click on? Which one are you more likely to hear about from a friend?

After noticing this trend on Yahoo’s homepage, it dawned on me that a lot of times I simply looked over the interesting, substantial articles, choosing instead to read about the latest celeb break-up or flip through the pictures of omg.yahoo.com’s “What Were They Thinking?!” album, a collection of the worst fashions spotted on celebs that week. After all, when I go to Yahoo’s website, it’s usually when I’m taking a break from studying or working — I want something light that takes little thought, hopefully even gives me a good laugh. But, ultimately, what does it gain me? ….. Pretty much nothing.

Now this isn’t to say that keeping up with Hollywood gossip is a horrible thing. It’s fun sometimes to read about what people are doing, or to laugh at Lady Gaga’s latest attempt at style. However, it becomes a bad thing when you start caring about only that. Who honestly will care in five years who Reese Witherspoon was dating in December of 2009? Probably no one — except Reese, of course, since that is (and should be) her private business. But I don’t think you’re likely to easily forget a story about a little boy who has the courage to save his younger brother or a dog who walks on only its hind-legs because it was born that way. That’s stuff that really counts, stuff that inspires. And, sadly, it seems to be stuff that a lot of people look over as they’re trying to stay updated with the latest Hollywood scandals and fashions.

My question to you is this: What matters the most?

-Andrea