Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I am a terrible blogger who never updates

0 comments Written by Nic at Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gratuitous Picture of the the Author
Vain and Gratuitous Picture to update you on my appearance (edited in photoshop out of boredom)
But the problem with a blog when you have no life is that you have nothing to write about. Most of the time my life consists of playing in Photoshop, occasionally writing on novels that may never be finished, tons of reading, and cooking (lots and lots of cooking). Just a reminder, I talk about my culinary adventures at A Taste of Joy, and I promise to update that blog more often. In fact, my goal is to blog more from now on, and hopefully I can manage that.

Before I start with the updates on what little has transpired in the life of Nic, let me begin by saying that this blog will hopefully become a lot more interesting. I’m not going to be blogging about major political issues or anything like that, though I may talk about important issues that have been on my mind a lot, but I am going to hopefully talk more about life as I experience it. This includes blogging about the books I read, the movies I see, things I see, and things that happen in my life. Whether or not that will be interesting or worth reading is yet to be determined, but writing used to be a great outlet for me; I intend to let it be that again. So on with the blogging.

Personal Updates First
In October I wrote about how sick my Nanny was, and near the end of that month she passed away. The ultimate cause of her passing was kidney failure, but the cause of her health issues was never really determined; they think that it was a very rare and incurable neurological disorder related to ALS, but there is no way to be certain. Her death has been hard on everyone, but it has been hardest on my mother, who was so close to her. Family drama, which I will not discuss, only made matters worse, and now that the holidays are here everything is so much harder. We paint on smiles and go through each day, but it isn’t easy; I know that eventually it will get better, but right now it is terribly hard to believe that.

The added stress and emotional baggage had made other things more difficult; during the time my Nanny was ill my health and fitness goals, as well as my law school aspirations were shelved. I’m pretty sure I gained at least twenty or so pounds, probably more, of the weight I had lost, and stress made me physically ill. I didn’t eat well, and I didn’t sleep; I still don’t sleep well. However, I have managed to get somewhat back on track, and when the weather permits again (It’s been raining or freezing for weeks and weeks) I will start running; I’ve dropped two pant sizes, and I can now wear size 11 jeans. You should have seen the ridiculous dance I did in the dressing room when I discovered this revelation. My goal is to be down to maybe a size eight, which is reasonable for a woman of my height and build, by the time I re-enter law school.

On the law school front, things are akin to pulling teeth. I’ve rewritten my personal statement twice, and I will probably rewrite it again. I have tried on numerous occasions to contact L-Ville in hopes of getting my transcript and letter of good standing, but so far I’ve had no luck. Further, I still need to work on applications in general, and I am finding myself more and more disappointed by the fact that I only really have two options for law schools in TN. But I will power through somehow.

Reading Updates
As I mentioned earlier, I have been doing a lot of reading, and you can find my Goodreads updates both on my sidebar and by visiting my account. I’m open to book recommendations and friends there. I plan to blog more about my literary adventures, including reviews of sorts of the books I’m reading.

Currently I am halfway through a re-read of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones so that I can move on to reading A Clash of Kings, and it’s one of those books that is so dense and rich that reading it a second time gives you more to love. Let me take a moment to talk about this book in general, without giving away too much, and then when I’ve finished I will write an actual review.

Martin’s writing style is very heavy, and he tends to be very wordy; however, for me that is not a deterrent so long as the story continues to move forward at a decent pace, which for the most part he does. He has a sort of Joss Whedon wickedness about him, in that you will fall in love with characters only to have them viciously taken from you via death. But his characters are deliciously human, and even the villains are realistic. I absolutely love that there are characters to love, characters you’ll love to hate, and characters you find yourself cheering for despite misgiving. The story rotates through their various points of view, which can be very daunting, and some of his chosen narrators leave a lot to be desired (I’m looking at you Sansa Stark, you little simpering whiner); however, each narrator weaves a brilliant portion of the overall tapestry, bringing their subplots and motivations.

The world is richly developed, and while there are underlying elements of high fantasy (dragons, direwolves, magic, and the mysterious Others), the fantasy aspect is cleverly worked into the overall story without bombarding the reader. It is not a book for the squeamish or those uncomfortable with sex, violence, and death, but I highly recommend it for fantasy lovers who want something thick and detailed to feed a need for heroes and villains.
Other books I’m reading:
  • Eona by Allison Goodman
  • Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
  • Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Writing Updates
The only update I have for now is that I have two mapped out but unfinished barely started novels. One is a futuristic dystopian work called NeverWonder and the other is a historical fantasy work that has yet to be named.

 

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