A Moment Over the Ocean

Recent events have lead me back to my bookshelf and the unopened book my Grandmother sent years ago, Evangeline by Longfellow. My grandfather recently pass away and both grandparents are in my thoughts a lot these days. When I opened the book, I discovered a little card tucked in the pages. The paper was gorgeous, printed up to look like a little patchwork quilt of some sort and on the front my name had been written in my grandmother's handwriting. In the card she wrote about our family origins in Louisiana and and linked it with Evangeline, the poem by Longfellow. She hoped that I would love it as she does. I'm not sure whether she means the book in particular or the poem but I'm guessing she means the poem. So I decided to open my mind to Longfellow for my Grandmother's sake and read the poem so dear to her heart. I still haven't read it all, it is a long poem, but I have read a part of it and I can see why my grandmother loves it. Its more a story than a poem. It is whimsical and quite poetic but rather than evaluate each line I went ahead and just read it and I quickly got a feel for the forest in Acadie. I could hear the ocean far away and almost smell the trees. I'm not going to rush in and finish it now though, I'm going to savour each part, reading it slowly. It'll be like sharing a little something with Grandma. Gaining a little insight into her world from the other side of the world.

The Bookshelf

So I've finished with uni for the semester and all the good TV shows have finished for the season. Now I'm feeling a little lost. What do I do with all this free time in the evenings? I'm not a party animal, the weather is too cold to be going out exercising and I've read all the books in my house. Except two. Hmmm. The first one was sent to me by my Grandmother in California. Its a book of poems by Longfellow called Evangeline. I've never been into poetry especially. I means its all very romantic and whimsical but who actually understands it other than the writer. Poems seem to require large amounts of analysis to understand them. A definite turn-off for me. This is the reason I placed the book in my bookshelf without reading it. To be fair I put it on the special shelf. The shelf in my office where I keep all the books that have meant something to me over the years. It's a bit sentimental I suppose but it always makes me smile when I catch a glimpse of the books on that special shelf. I know that if I were to go over and explore it I would find not only books but memories of people, love and life. So that's where I put the book from my Grandmother. I placed it between The Deerslayer and a Nancy Drew book, The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk. The former, by James Fenimore Cooper, was my dad's favorite book and the latter, by Carolyn Keene, was the first book I ever read. With this in mind it's a pretty important position on the bookshelf.

The Stranger Piece

I've been studying for a Sociology exam and got a little distracted by George Simmel's definition of the stranger.  Perhaps Simmel's 'stranger' explains why the new girl always seems so popular. Simmel expands on his basic definition with the idea that strangers are more objective than others in a group - they are in the group but not of it - because of this they are often accepted easily as an open-minded confidant. The thing is, I moved around a lot as a kid so I'm always cautious with new people, I'm not the sort to use strangers as confidants. Maybe New Girl senses this and has misinterpreted my caution as nonacceptance. Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting my nonacceptance as caution. Something to ponder.

Intro Piece

So here I am, a student journalist, contemplating the competitive nature of the profession I have chosen to study. There are so many journalists out there. How can I make a difference? What's the point of this profession if we can't make a difference?

I'm a 35 year old mother of two, wife of one, mature-aged student, considering the meaning of life. Not exactly a rip-roarin bio but I'm comfortable here. I don't have an amazing career to go back to now that my kids are a little more independent but I do feel good when I'm writing. So here I am - feelin good.