The Great Hunt, by Robert Jordan (audio)

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Thistle

great-huntBook 2 of the Wheel of Time. To avoid series spoilers, I won’t add a book summary, and instead simply state my impressions of The Great Hunt.

First, let me say that I read the first book in this series, The Eye of the World, back in 2013. I read it only because my favorite author wrote the last few books of the series and I wanted to get to those books. I hoped this could be a series I would enjoy, but I didn’t enjoy the first book. I found many of the characters wooden and two-dimensional, too much of the plot obvious, and the whole thing kinda boring. After I finished it, I decided not to continue the series despite Brandon Sanderson’s involvement.

I am, however, a huge believer in second chances. It’s always possible that my feelings about a book are influenced by other things going on in my life. Perhaps it was just the audio version that made me dislike it or the fact that I was not really in a reading mood for most of 2013 and didn’t read any books I really loved that year. I decided to give the Wheel of Time another go. I went into the second book blind, remembering almost nothing from my original reading. While I did eventually remember some of the main characters, there are still many others I don’t remember at all. There are plotlines I don’t remember and never came to remember as I listened. Thankfully, that didn’t end up being an impediment, as it was fairly simple to figure things out as I went along.

While this still isn’t my favorite series, I did enjoy the second book more than the first. The characters were more developed, and there was more from characters who I felt didn’t get enough attention in the first book. There were again some this-should-be-obvious moments like in the first book, but far less of the boredom. I’m not compelled to immediately pick up the next book, but I’m also not opposed to reading it later on. That is a definite improvement over my last experience, and I hope that the improvement will continue as I get deeper into the series and as the characters/stories develop over time.

Performance: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading read this book. They did well, especially Reading, who is by far my favorite audiobook narrator.

Posted in 2017, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #41: January Challenge

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Thistle

buttonPer my 2017 goals, I’m going to assign myself one fitness and one nutrition-based challenge each month.

Fitness
For the last couple years, Adriene (Yoga With Adriene) has led a 30-day yoga challenge in January. This year, she’d doing a 31-day challenge, and it has come at a perfect time. One of the big things I need to do for my ankle is to stretch and loosen my Achilles tendon and the surrounding areas. I specifically asked about yoga, and I’m good to go as long as I modify any pose that hurts or puts pressure on my foot. Add to that yoga’s ability to help my PTSD and mental health, and I think this is the perfect January challenge. I don’t know that I’ll complete all 31 days – we have a couple events scheduled this month, including some travel – but I’m going to attempt to get a good chunk of it done, and aim to fully complete it.

Nutrition
This month I’m working on lowering my insulin levels, especially after the sugar-filled Christmas holiday. For my challenge, I’m cutting out sugar and flour this month. I’m not going to worry about small amounts in things like jerky, ketchup, or salad dressing. I’m also allowing a few exceptions:

  • When I’m traveling and have limited food choices, I just need to minimize flour and sugar as much as possible.
  • I’m allowed a measured tablespoon of honey in my yogurt, though the bulk of sweetening should be done with fruit.
  • Each night, I can have one small piece of chocolate. (Because I’ve never been good with all-or-nothing deprivation!)

I hope these two challenges together will help me recover from holiday eating and get me back into a regular routine for fitness without hurting my ankle. Wish me luck!

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

2017 Goals

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Thistle

goals-300x225It’s that time of year! Time to decide what I want to accomplish in 2017. Last year, I didn’t make any goals, and I really regretted that. Even in years where I only focus on one section of my goals, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Last year? Nothing. So this year, I’ve definitely made goals for myself! [Bracketed sections in italics indicate results.]

Health: For my health, I’d like to lose weight, improve my health numbers (especially my insulin levels), improve my strength, improve my nutrition, and redevelop regular exercise habits and routines. To do this, I plan to:

  • heal my ankle** [done]
  • do 100+ weight bearing workouts this year [about 80% complete]
  • spend the warmer months walking to complete the Appalachian trail on the Wii Fit U (687 more miles)** [done]
  • average 3+ fruits and veggies daily [done]
  • create and complete monthly challenges to improve nutrition and fitness [did this through May, after which my Summer of Nightmares interfered and life changed drastically]

[Overall in Health: I maintained my weight, improved health numbers (though I don’t know about my insulin), and made a small amount of progress toward redeveloping exercising habits. Otherwise, the crazy changes through the year disrupted my ability to complete anything more.]

**An MRI late in December showed that I didn’t just sprain my ankle (regardless of what the initial xrays said), but fractured the top nubbin of one of the larger foot bones (where the bruising is in the picture at the above link). It didn’t slide out of place, so it’s partially healed, but not nearly as healed as it should be given the time that’s passed, and is still not fully connected to the rest of the bone. For the next six months, I’m instructed to only do low-impact exercises (so the walking goal above will depend on how quickly the ankle heals), as well as a few other things that the doc hopes will finally heal this stupid thing. My goal to heal my ankle is mostly a commitment to the doc’s instructions.

Social: My goals this year will focus on two things – keeping up my strong current ties with friends and family in Texas, and creating new ties in my current location. To do this, I will:

  • participate in the Run 4 Hope 5K (an annual tradition with friends) in San Antonio [done-ish]
  • spend Christmas in San Antonio with family [moved back to SA…]
  • meet my newest nephew, Rory, in person [done]
  • send 25+ non-Christmas cards/letters [I forgot this was a goal]
  • go to 25+ new-to-me local places and/or events [done, then I moved away]
  • participate in NaNoWriMo here to find other local writers [moved away, didn’t participate in SA either]

[Overall in Social: I never did create any new ties in my then-current location, despite many attempts. But I moved back to San Antonio in August, so in the end, that didn’t matter. I continued to connect with friends and family in SA both before and after the move, plus I met with a few book bloggers for the first time this year.]

Writing: My goals are simple here – to redevelop regular writing habits. To help with this, I plan to work on edits for my current manuscript, write a second draft of one pending manuscript, and draft something entirely new during NaNoWriMo. While it’s not necessary, I’d love to get back to an average of at least 10K words monthly.

[I did absolutely nothing with my writing this year.]

Books: Another simple area, as I’m happy with my current book-and-blog life. This year, I’d like to make good progress into the Wheel of Time series, and get through my backlogged Audible queue.

[I read a few books into the Wheel of Time series before deciding that I didn’t want to continue, and I did indeed finish up everything in my backlogged Audible queue.]

Other: This category is a kind of everything else catch-all. Other things I’d like to accomplish in 2017:

  • get out of credit card debt [hahahahaha…no – another cross country move, lots of construction, and Jason’s job loss meant NO]
  • replace our roof [done]
  • finish our current weekend project list (house repairs/improvements) [done]
  • finish making my in-progress afghan [nope]
  • use up my current yarn inventory [not even close]
  • get two specific tattoos that I’ve been meaning to get for almost three years now [nope]
  • do 10 tarot readings (for myself or others) [if I count single-card daily readings, then this is a done, otherwise, only 6 readings done]

[Overall in Other: Extreme changes in plans this year meant that a big chunk of these goals were no longer valid, particularly ones related to money or time.]

Yes, that’s a lot of things, and no, I don’t expect to complete them all. I like having a plan and a structure, though, and I’ll do my best to complete as many of them as possible. To keep myself accountable, I’ll check in here quarterly. Wish me luck!

Posted in Personal | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Sunday Coffee – Putting 2016 Behind Me

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Thistle

img_7142Let me start my first post of the year by joining my voice to the many shouts of HURRAH that 2016 is finally over. Woohoo! Yay for the first day of the new year!

Have you heard the superstition that whatever you do on January 1st determines what you’ll do for the rest of the year? It’s silly, and I don’t actually believe that, but it’s a cute little tradition that I’ve participated in over the last couple years. To be honest, I don’t really even remember most of my January 1st choices/actions because they ended up totally insignificant through the rest of the year (as expected). I do remember this last year, though. A year ago, I hosted a brunch for friends, and during the rest of the day, I wrote, blogged, read, exercised, drew my tarot, and a bunch of others things that have slipped my mind since then. I basically stuffed my day with lovely things, so full that I didn’t really have time to stop to appreciate any of them. (This is, notably, pretty much the definition of the Ten of Coins in tarot – having so many blessings that it’s hard to see any of them clearly.)

img_7074While the superstition is silly, last January 1st really did end up corresponding strongly with the rest of 2016. It was a year stuffed full of things both good and bad. It was a year that was rushed and productive, often pointlessly productive. It was a year of trying to experience everything all at once, instead floating through it without really experiencing at all. There has been a lot of that feeling over the last few years, and I desperately want and need to Slow Down.

This year, I have no set plans for today. I’m going to drink my coffee. Maybe I’ll read a book, maybe take a bath, maybe cuddle up on the couch with a movie. Whatever I end up doing, though, I want to truly experience it, deliberate and fully present. Maybe it’s a silly superstition, but it never hurts to make your intentions for the year known from the start.

Cheers to all of you lovely readers and friends! Happy 2017!

Posted in Personal | Tagged , | 12 Comments

2016 in Books

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Thistle

2016-end-of-year-book-surveyIt’s that time of year again! The book geek in me rejoices, for it’s time for stats, lists, and the End of Year Survey from the Perpetual Page Turner. This year I’m going to start with my stats because I made some pretty pie charts for them, heheh! Note that my stats are more extensive than the ones listed on the official survey. Also, I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
Continue reading →

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 3 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #40: One Word for 2017

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Thistle

buttonAwhile back, I mentioned the possibility of making Discipline my one-word for 2017. In many ways, it would be a good word for me, as I want to redevelop lost healthy habits and establish strong routines. As the new year approaches, though, I’ve come to reconsider that word choice. Discipline carries too much of a punitive connotation. Given how much I’ve beat myself up these last few years, I don’t want to give myself a word that might fuel the self-chastisement. At the same time, I really do miss the discipline I built for myself from 2011 to 2014. I loved that my default was healthy, be it exercise, food, stress relief, or coping techniques. I miss the way my body and brain felt back then, and how much easier I adapted to challenges – physical and mental.

img_7140

(Queen of Coins – the tarot embodiment of NURTURE)

After several weeks of thinking, a light bulb went off in my head: NURTURE. To nurture is to care for and protect, but also to support, foster, and encourage during a period of training or development. I really, really love this idea: to care for myself while simultaneously creating the structure and habits I need back in my life.

I came to see it like an art metaphor. Discipline felt like taking a block of stone and chiseling away pieces to create a sculpture, whereas nurture feels like molding a sculpture from clay. Neither is a better method for creation when viewed objectively, but the artist will gravitate toward one or the other. Right now in my life, it is nurture that I need, the act of building something wholly new rather than breaking away pieces to find the art within. The end product may be the same, but the process to get there is very different, and I’m choosing a new path for myself in 2017.

 

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

The Best of 2016 (non-book)

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Thistle

I think it’s no secret by now that 2016 has been a really hard year for me and my family. A year ago, after another really hard year, I sat down and made a list of the best moments of 2015. There were sparks of bright light even in the dark of that year, and it felt good to highlight them. This year, I’m attempting to do the same. I want to look back at the brighter parts of what can accurately be called a wretched year, both personally and in the world (yikes!). So here goes, in time order:

1. Library Palooza – I went to this event with my friend Stephanie, and the two of us not only got to hear from many fantastic writers, but WE MET BRANDON SANDERSON!!!!!

group 22. Run 4 Hope – For my birthday this year, I requested no gifts, but instead for my friends and family to come out to a 5K with me to benefit the Rape Crisis Center in San Antonio. It was amazing to have everyone out there with me, and to be able to do so much good!

3. Maldralith – For just a few months this year, on the right combination of medications, my brain cleared enough to allow me to write again for the first time in a couple years. It was glorious! I finished a manuscript that I’d been working on for about a year then, and I’m really looking forward to working on the edits soon.

morning coffee4. Haircut – It’s silly, perhaps, but the haircut I got last June was probably the most confidence-bolstering thing I’ve ever done and I was completely in love with it. It’s unfortunate that I’ve never found another stylist to replicate it, and the stylist who did the original left the salon to go elsewhere. Boo.

5. Vacation – I may not be particularly happy that I moved up to Wisconsin again at the moment, but our two weeks here this summer were incredibly peaceful and happy.

6. Wedding – My sister Becky got married the day before we moved across the country this August, and it was so wonderful to see her and Jeff so happy on that day.

img_62927. Baby – My sister Aaren had her second son in September. Circumstances have prevented me from going back down to Texas to meet my nephew, Rory, but it’s still a wonderful thing to see pictures and to facetime-meet him and to have another member of the family join us.

8. Kitties – One of the lovely things about moving again is that we got my older cat, Ash, out of that old house. He was depressed and sick the whole time we were there, and since we moved, he’s been loving and kind, sitting in my lap again, acting playful, purring again. We thought he was depressed because we’d gotten a second cat, but now think it was all the gunk (mold, termites, etc) in our old house that caused his changed demeanor.

9. Movies and TV – I’m not sure what I would have done the last few months without various TV shows and movies to keep my brain steady. Particularly good experiences have included Ghostbusters (the new one), Me Before You, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Finding Dory.

10. Zoloft – This speaks for itself, I think.

stick11. Stick – I couldn’t end this post without including one of my favorite photos from the year. Jason gave me this shirt for our anniversary this year. Most people will look at it blankly and wonder why I’m so excited about it. This is a booknerd photo, most specifically a booknerd photo related to my very favorite book of the year, Words of Radiance. There’s a brief appearance of a character – yes, a stick – which speaks to one of the main characters for a few minutes. The stick says, “I am a stick.” (“The stick was not particularly eloquent.” – Brandon Sanderson) This still won’t make a lot of sense to those who haven’t read the book, but I love that particular scene, and my boys got a kick out of it when they heard the audio version (Kate Reading does an amazing job of narrating the stick’s conversation). I’ll wear this shirt with pride – once it’s warm outside again, of course!

That’s it! I hope 2016 has been a better year for many of you, though I know it’s been rotten for many as well. Just a few more days to the new year, though, right? Hang on!

Posted in Personal | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Seventeen

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Thistle

On this day in 1999, Jason and I stood before a judge and said, “I do.” The last seventeen years have had their ups and downs like any marriage. We’ve worked our butts off and sobbed our hearts out at times. We’ve also laughed and played and shared inside jokes and cared for one another when we’ve been sick.

10-woods-selfieToday, I am grateful for my marriage and my family and the complicated, twisting history of memories we carry with us. Happy anniversary, Jason.

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #39: Medication

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Thistle

buttonMy brain is obviously not working too well these days. I’ve had a lot of biochemical changes over the last three years. I went from a place of a healthy weight and great blood stats, to suddenly rising insulin and brain chemistry that went completely crazy. Some if it was situational, of course, but the situational stuff fundamentally changed the way my body and brain worked. Other physical things also affected my body: several surgeries, changes in dietary habits (like starting to drink coffee). I’m sure the moving has also affected me, given the extreme changes like weather, pollens I’m exposed to, etc.

My body and brain need a major reset. They were both failing. By the end of November, I was hardly functioning. When my brain is so foggy that I can’t even focus on TV, something is wrong! When my anxiety is so bad that I can’t even walk out my front door, something has to change.

All I could think was home home home home. I stared at pictures of my old house, the one we sold in 2014 before moving to Boston. I cried when I discovered that the house next door was currently up for sale, and fervently wished I could buy it. I had dreams that I sold enough of my books to offer excellent money to the current owners so I could get my old house back. The longing was irrational – not just desiring my old house, but tied in with my life before we sold that house – and I knew that. Knowing logically doesn’t change emotions, though, and I could not move my brain to a safer, better place.

So after my therapist appointment was canceled again (for the fourth time), I gave up on that side of things and went to a physician. I flat-out didn’t have time to wait until I could get a regular therapist (February at the very earliest). On December 1st, I walked out of the clinic with a prescription for Zoloft, and within a week, I started to feel about a thousand times better. Not perfect, but much, much better.

Zoloft worries me. The last time I was on Zoloft (most of 2015), it did a great job with my depression and anxiety, but it also caused extreme weight gain. My doctor and I discussed this at length, because I have a history of reacting badly to anti-depressants, and I really can’t afford to gain more weight right now. Things are different now, though. I’m on a medication that’s supposed to help control my insulin, and I rarely binge-eat or binge-drink these days. We decided to give it a try, since it was so effective on my mental health, and go a different route if I started gaining.

So far, things have been fine for my weight (whew!) at a very low dose, and I’ll see my doctor again at the end of the month to check where to go from here. Mostly likely the dose will increase, given that I can feel the effectiveness of the super low dose waning now, and I suppose we’ll see what happens with my weight and such after that. I hope it continues to work out, though, because I really have felt much better than before. I can drive again, and leave the house, and focus. I’m not obsessed with home any longer, and have more positive thoughts about the future. It’s really crazy how much the right medication can help.

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Without You, There Is No Us, by Suki Kim (audio)

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Thistle

without-youSubtitled: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite

In 2011, a journalist named Suki Kim posed as a missionary posing as a teacher. Using this layered disguise, she got a position at a school in Pyongyang, North Korea. The school, PUST, catered to the sons of North Korea’s elite. This book details Kim’s experiences of the school, the boys, and the limited view of North Korea that she was permitted to see.

I first heard of this book sometime this summer. I read an interview with the author, who talked about her surprise that the book was being marketed as a memoir rather than a journalistic piece. Because I’m not fond of memoirs, I wouldn’t have looked at this book without that interview, and so I’m really glad I came across the article! The book, while containing a few bits of memoirish pieces, was far more sociological in nature, and a very in-depth look at a microsection of a hidden culture.

Let me state up front: I know just about nothing when it comes to North Korea, and almost as little about east Asian history and culture. It’s an area of knowledge where I’m woefully ignorant. Probably partly because of that ignorance, this immersion into North Korea was equally fascinating and horrifying. I was reminded in many ways of my first readings on the Middle East and central Asia, books like Reading Lolita in Tehran, Kabul Beauty School, and In the Land of Invisible Women. Those books not only taught me a lot, they exposed me to new worlds, and piqued my interest in cultures, religions, history, and lifestyles far from what I’d known. In reading Without You, There Is No Us, I feel the same emerging interest in a new section cultures, religions, history, and lifestyles, previously left unexplored in my reading and study.

I’m not going to say much about the specific content of the book. Kim’s experiences are already once-removed – from lived to words – and to add a second layer of remove would only decrease the words’ power. The book is a remarkable study, an attempt to understand and show this hidden world fairly and completely. (Having read some “journalistic” books where the author exploits a culture to push preconceived biases, I’m very appreciative of nonfiction that reports with as little bias as possible.) Kim doesn’t hide the horrors of North Korea, but she doesn’t paint the people of North Korea as two-dimensional monsters, either. The book is fair, balanced, and insightful, and I highly recommend it.

Performance: Janet Song reads the audiobook, and she did a wonderful job. I was especially impressed (and relieved) by the way she handled the students’ broken English, without caricaturing it in any way. The narrative (both written and spoken) flowed nicely, making the book an engaging and quick listen.

Posted in 2016, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment