Writings, Wanderings

First off, let me say that Malaga, Spain is an awesome city that deserved far more than the not-even-really-24-hours that I gave it. If you are traveling through southern Spain and have the room in your itinerary, go there! This Mediterranean city is the birthplace of the famous artist Pablo Picasso and pays tribute to him with more than one museum. His birthplace is closed on Mondays, my day in the city, but the Museo Picasso with over 200 of his pieces on display was open. The museum follows the artist's development from his childhood years and sketches into adulthood with both paintings and sculptures. While a chronological order is the main pattern, some displays focus on a topic such as his art that involved animals. The museum is not huge but does involve walking and there aren't always places to take a rest especially if it is busy like the day I visited. I was pleased with the audioguide although at times it was a lot of information and I was ready to move on befo...

Sometimes I read a book and it's just so good that I want to give it more attention than adding it in to a monthly wrap-up of reads. This Caldecott Honor Book is one of those stories. As a Spanish teacher, I am always keeping my eyes open for any literature that connects to my classroom; Spanish, English, bilingual, I simply want more good options for my students to connect them to the language and culture. When I saw this book at the library, I knew I had to evaluate it and today while my Spanish IV students read their own free-reading choices, I opened the book up. I had expected a basic story that explained the traditional Hispanic naming pattern of two last names, but I was immediately endeared to spunky Alma who found her string of given names too long. However, as her father explained the family connection to each name, the little girl beamed with discovery of similarities to her relatives. I loved this! The message of the importance of family came through clearly wit...

June 2017 one of my friends from high school and I did a whirlwind trip from Ohio down to the Gulf Coast and back in one week. Our route included stops in Nashville, Montgomery, New Orleans, Jackson, Mobile, and Birmingham alongside several small towns. We ate good food, shared lots of thoughts and laughs, and learned. We had been taught the basics of the civil rights movement over our years as students, but seeing places firsthand gave those lessons true meaning. One important museum in this growth was the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. This Alabama museum is located across the street from the Sixteenth St Baptist Church, the site of a horrific bombing in the 1960's that killed four young girls at church. The museum's exhibits are focused in four main galleries: Movement, Barriers, Confrontation, and Human Rights. While the exhibits had artifacts from the time period, they also worked to recreate some scenes. For example, the crucial role played by the churches in Afri...

Do you set New Year's resolutions? For some reason about a decade ago, I stopped calling my goals for the new year resolutions and instead created a list of Things To Do. This shift suited me much better and I enjoyed having a focus for what I wanted to experience in my life. Plus the lists helped me keep track of where I was on hitting the goals (I had too much fun highlighting each activity a different color based on how far I had progressed towards reaching that goal.) I didn't do a list in 2019. I think I let myself get too busy. Developing my writing and everything that goes with sharing my work in the world has been a far bigger task than I anticipated a year ago. I am so grateful for this opportunity, but I know I got overwhelmed at times. Just look at this poor blog--this is my first entry in over four months! So anyway I want to spend the next several days creating my Things To Do in 2020 list, but I already have one idea in mind related to books: Read 365 books. B...

My newsletter takes a look at books where August plays a role either as Part of the title Name of author or character Time of the story actions After researching traditionally-published books that fit one of these criteria, I thought it would be fun to reach out to the indie writing community and see what books they had to offer. Take a look below and maybe you'll discover a new read for the month! Dog Days of August (Twelve Months of Romance-August) by Margaret Lake is 8th book in a women contemporary's fiction novella series (this length book is perfect for a lazy afternoon!). All Jan wants to do is get her mother a puppy to help her get over her grief at the loss of her husband, Jan’s father. But when she gets to the shelter to pick up the girl puppy she had her heart set on, Kevin, a freak with a Mohawk and earring, is getting ready to walk away with her dog. Jan is still fuming when she gets to work the next morning, and it doesn’t help that she’s expe...

Going on summer break from school has been good to me. Although I had a good school year, I had a lot going on and as my last month's blog entry stated, my reading suffered. For June I took the time to rejuvenate by focusing on reading what I felt like when I felt like it as well as writing in my next novella (maybe short novel?? it's turning out longer than I anticipated but I think editing will keep it under 40K). I finally read the Grisha trilogy ( Shadow & Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin & Rising ) by Leigh Bardugo. I have seen others gushing about on Instagram for months now! This fantasy series is definitely more young adult than adult, but I wanted to keep reading and plan on reading the other stories in the Grishaverse. I found her system of magic interesting and was invested in the characters. Loved Nikolai! Yes, there was the over-used love triangle (or was it a pyramid at one point?), but it did not overwhelm the other elements. Recommended read for tee...

Last weekend I made a flying trip to South Carolina for a wedding reception. (And when I say flying, I don't mean that I flew but that it was a fast one, just over 48 hours gone from home, at least 18 of those spent in my car.) I arrived about two hours early for the reception, so not wanting to sit sweltering in my car, I drove a few miles over to the town of Fountain Inn and after cruising a few streets, found some public parking. My wandering led me to the Chamber of Commerce which houses a small hometown museum open for a couple of hours on a few days of the week--a few hours that happened to coincide with my visit. The museum is basically one large room that has a series of displays, each one flowing into the next. A little bit of attention is given to the earliest native inhabitants--including a display of a small collection of arrowheads--before moving into the beginning of European colonization. The right-hand side of the room moves visitors through time with a ment...