Totally Be

  How complicated. I stopped some months ago and felt SO RELIEVED. But now I find myself doing it again. It feels different this time, but is it? That was from a journal entry some months ago. What a tiresome loop I kept finding myself in. But I think I’ve finally found my way out. I’m writing this article because I so often searched the internet for something like this and not many things came up. There are so many blog posts, articles, and videos on why you should or how to track your reading, but I just wanted to find some like-minded people who are sick of it. I wanted to quit and feel validated for doing so. I wanted fortitude to not go back to tracking my reading just because that’s what I see other readers doing online all the time. Now there is another group of people that have a space in all of this. That is the group of people who, when asked if/how they track their reading, cock their head and say, “Huh?”. Or else they proudly proclaim, “Never have; never will.” I envy t...

  A note on the deck I'm using: It is The Fountain Tarot by Jonathan Saiz, Jason Gruhl, and Andi Todaro. I first saw this deck in the video by Ariel Bissett that originally inspired me to do my own tarot book recommendation series . What a draw! All Coin Court cards. (I swear I shuffled.) Court cards have strong personalities and moods, patterns and states of being. Coin cards are related to the earth element and focus on practical matters like health, money, the senses, and physical experiences. Since these cards are so closely related, the books I've picked will have some recurring themes throughout as well. Queen of Coins - luxury, self-confidence, resourcefulness She is a self-confident, sensual woman surrounded by lush, natural beauty. She loves beauty but only if it plays a functional role in her life. She wants you to "Trust in your own abilities and embrace your unique way of being in this world." Lessons from Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott This book is al...

  Part 1 May 30, 2024 Why I Want To Quit 1. I spend a lot more time journaling that I do writing any other projects. If I spent the time on writing novels or a memoir or short stories or poetry that I do on my journal, I would be a lot more prolific. I would have a lot more to work with. Most of the words I have logged on this device are in my journal. Words that no one will see. Words that may not serve no purpose, but don't serve the purpose that I want to prioritize right now. 2. My "voice" is very one-dimensional. I always find myself going back to a first-person conversational style in any writing project. Now this can definitely work and is probably a strong suit of mine, but when I want to branch out, try something new, I often fall back into my own personal voice because journaling is something I do, am "working on", all the time so it's hard to cultivate a different vibe for another project. I have to be very conscious of it. 3. My writing ...

  I have often heard of people getting upset when a book series doesn’t match — like, the physicality of it. Hardcover/softcover, matching colors/designs, being the same size (that’s a big one)… but I don’t often hear people talk about what I’m here to complain about, which is when book titles in series seem so out of left field. I’m thinking of 2 collections in particular. They aren’t even series, but they are by the same author. So maybe I have nothing to complain about. But better titles were  right there  so I am going to go on about it. The first one I’ll bring up is the author that was on my radar longer: Mary Roach. She writes hilarious and interesting non-fiction science books on bizarre topics. Her first was on dead human bodies. Yep. Her list: Stiff  (cadavers) Spook  (ghosts) Bonk  (sex) Packing for Mars  (space) Gulp  (alimentary canal) Grunt  (military) Fuzz  (animals vs. law) You see the one that stands out there, righ...

  I’m going to start out with the disclosure that I do not have an overly large pile of unread books at home, and that I don’t think this tactic will work well for a very large list. I wanted to share it anyway because even if it isn’t a bulletproof system, it has helped me see my reading of books in a new way and that’s actually what I’ve found to be so valuable from this exercise. Historical note: I used to have a very large TBR (to-be-read pile/list) until I realized that it seriously stressed me out. I’ve tried many concerted efforts to read it down, but the most progress I ever made was when I went willy-nilly un-hauling books left and right – which I had called “donating” before the un-haul video became popular. It was so freeing to finally not have a huge pile of unread books suffocating me anymore. The only problem was, I never stopped buying books. I wasn’t interested in reading a bunch of books that had gone stale for me anymore, but there were lots of other fresh books c...

  April 22, 2024 Morning I’m not going to the gym because I’m distracted by my new computer. All the new things of Stardew Valley, not to mention catching up on a farm that I haven’t played in years. I also have this really cool keyboard that is like a typewriter. Very tactile and bouncy and clicky. And it even has a number pad! 123456789 And “end” buttons and all that fancy stuff that I haven’t had on a keyboard in a long time. Like, this is a FULL SIZE keyboard. How did I never think that was important for a writer? I thought that I wouldn’t mind writing on the iPad, but honestly it was kinda terrible for writing longform stuff. Anyway, yeah, now I have a cool keyboard and Word, which is whatever, but quite good for straight up documents. And, like, compatible and long lasting. I want to write stuff. Like a writer. But I don’t have any ideas. Maybe I could try some prompts. Maybe I could mess around. Maybe I could just continue to write crap like this. Oh, should this be in my di...