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PROGRAMMING NOTE from the Author and Archivist


So obviously I just stopped blogging on this platform. I'll get back to it eventually. Or not. I'm taking a break from all social media. It seemed necessary for my mental health.

The last few years have been busy and … challenging:

- 2015 Happened.
- 2016 Let's call it The Lost Year. (Obviously words failed me.)
- 2017 about broke me. Literally. Mentally.
- 2018 was ridiculous, proving 2017 was just a warm up. (Good thing I was already broken so it couldn't hurt as much.#2018TrashCanFire I thought things were going okay, but maybe not?)

- 2019 was such a blur. I know there were highlights, but then stuff happened and carried into the next year...

- And then in March#2020 really took a turn. Who can even categorize 2020? Do we dare?


I kinda want a do-over of some of the last few years. But life doesn’t work that way.


So for now, I'm hunkering down. Regrouping. Trying to stay safe and sort some stuff out.


Stay safe everyone. Stay well.

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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Anne-girl, you're looking good for your age

It can be surprising to no one that I'm a voracious reader. As a kid, I was notorious for preferring to read rather than play outside, clean, practice the piano (sometimes I did both), or watch t.v. In school I won those awards for reading the most books, and was one of those kids who was so far ahead of my reading level that I had to have "special classes." Yes, I was one of those kids. I remember skipping over the books recommended for my age group and reading Greek, Roman, and Norse myths. I know I skipped many of the "classics" of girlhood, like the Narnia books, the L'Engle books, and thankfully ALL of the Sweet Valley High crap, before I jumped into Sci-Fi/fantasy with Pern and Valdemar.*

One of the series that I very glad I didn't miss was the L.M. Montgomery classics, especially the Anne books ("Ann with an E," thank you very much). Part of the appeal had to be the release of the K. Sullivan television adaptations with Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie (who will always be Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe to me.) The rest of the appeal is that they were good books. A whole shelf in my personal library is now dedicated to just my L.M. Montgomery collection.

Can you believe that Anne of Green Gables was written 100 years ago? There are huge celebrations this year on Prince Edward Island. I am totally annoyed at myself that I didn't make it there in time for the festivities. One day I will cross the visit to PEI off my "bucket list" and I can say that I visited the home of that Anne-girl.

Nova Scotia, watch out.

* One notable teenlit exception that I'm glad I didn't skip were some of the books by E.E.White, aka Ellen Emerson White, particularly the books about Meg, the daughter of the first female President. I was FRAKKING ecstatic when the long overdue sequel, Long May She Reign, was released last year. Not only was it worth the decades!-long wait, I was delighted that the writing style and 600+ pages more than satisfies my now-adult tastes. Plus, Ms. White is a Battlestar Galactica fan. How totally excellent! (Am I gushing too much like a fangirl or what!?)