Weekly Series

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW (9)

November 11, 2015November 11, 2015TrishLeave a comment

What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature started on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate. You can answer the questions in the comments section of the weekly #WAYRW post or link back to your #WAYRW post on your blog via the link up. You can grab the image above or create your own, just please make sure you link back to IART as the host for this meme.

How to participate:
Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:
1. What’s the name of your current read?
2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

1. What’s the name of your current read?

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.

I have been largely silent about my attitude toward weddings. Anyone who knows me even slightly will recognize how unusual that is, since I am notorious for making impassioned speeches about things nobody cares about. Like, I think it’s a federal crime parking meters won’t accept pennies. Yeah, government, we know pennies suck. But you made them! You have to accept them! Parking meters are literally one of the three things anyone uses coins for and you decide you don’t want to deal with them?

That’s technically from page 23, but I’m not to page 34 yet and that was hilarious, so. I do what I want.

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

A world in which Mindy Kaling exists? Of course, that way I get to enjoy The Office and The Mindy Project.

TEN YEARS AGO…Leaf Raking and Ice Skating

November 9, 2015November 5, 2015TrishLeave a comment

Today we’re kicking off the Ten Years Ago… blog series! This isn’t exactly ten years ago to the day, but I am giving myself a little leeway so that I find more interesting blog posts to share. But I promise to stay within a week of today’s date!

TEN YEARS AGO

November 5, 2005

I got up at 7:00 this morning. Ungodly. Earlier than school. Why would I do such a thing? To rake leaves. Yeah. Actually, it was pretty cool because I wasn’t going to (or just call later and meet everyone elsewhere), but I felt like God wanted me to. If for no other reason than because He wanted me to, and it was a test sort of thing. So I went. And people cheered when I walked into church. Hahaha. My bad habits are well-known.

We (the youth group and RAs [little boys] were split into two teams. Ours went to the Steeres (where we got hot chocolate and doughnuts…mmm…), Knights, and the Abels. Then we all recongregated at church for lunch, which was grilled hotdogs and chips and that sort of thing. I finished up my mood/emotion roll, but I don’t think it’s very good. I mean, they’re good pictures (I hope) but I don’t think they’re very moodful. And we definately set a pumpkin on fire. It was sweet. A great way to capture 30 odd kids’, teenagers’, and adults’ attentions. Continue reading →

Sunday Summary #5: What’s on the Internet

November 8, 2015November 6, 2015TrishLeave a comment

This week….

1| Can We Pretend that Airplanes… by Kelly J. Baker

This essay speaks to so much of what I love about traveling – the solitude and introspection allowed when you’re flying 30,000 feet above the ground. However, Kelly’s appreciation is tempered by her anxiety about all the things that can go wrong while traveling. I don’t share that fear (mostly because I naively assume everything will work out in the end), but I assume her thoughts and emotions will resonate with someone else!

Yet, I find myself craving the time I spend on airplanes. Quiet and solitude capture me for the length of the flight. My mind wanders away from the pressing deadlines, the ever-growing to-do list, and the what-must-be-done to what-could-be-possible. When I travel, I tend to face myself, the good, the bad, and the ambivalent. I cannot escape who I am by pushing onto the next task, the next essay, or the next school event. The captive time of each flight leads to revelation, small and large.

2| The Try Guys Get Prostate Exams

Someday I will do an entire post on the Try Guys, but for now, their latest video: getting testicular and rectal examinations to bring awareness to Movember, an organization dedicated to men’s health. I like when the Try Guys get political and raise awareness for things, and I really like when they’re making jokes to hide their fear and discomfort. This video has both IN SPADES.

3| JJ’s Top 10 Moments from the Hamilton Cast Album by S. Jae Jones

This is the post that tipped me over the edge and made me try listening to Hamilton: An American Musical (which I hardcore fangirled about over here). I used to read JJ’s blog all the time, but then she tapered off and didn’t write consistently for a couple years. I keep checking back, though, and was rewarded to find that she’d broken her 6-month dry spell…to write about Hamilton! FINE, I thought, if even she is raving about this weird musical, I’ll give it a try. Plus, I was very intrigued by the fact that a line from the show was apparently, “I’m a general, wheeeeeeee!”

4| 40 is NOT the new 30 by Jamie the Very Worst Missionary

Jamie the Very Worst Missionary (this is her given name in my head) has turned 40! Oh, like, a month ago. I don’t check her blog all that often, I guess. But! Like everything else, she describes and analyzes this milestone with candor and humor, once more confirming that I want to be her when I grow up.

As my 40^th birthday approached, people kept trying to make me feel better about being almost dead. They kept saying encouraging things like “40 is the new 30!” or, even more ridiculous, “40 is the new 20!” And I just smiled back and nodded with a look that I hope said, “YOU ARE EFFING DELUSIONAL.” That’s a damn dirty lie, that’s what that is. And we need to talk about it, because A) You have been the victim of this lie, and you think something must be wrong with you because when you turned 40 you definitely DID NOT feel 30. Or B) You haven’t turned 40 yet, but you think you might someday, and you’re clinging to the hope that 40 is the new 30, or preferably the new 20.

5| Honest Trailer – The Force Awakens

The honest trailer guys have made one for the new Star Wars trailer, filled with hope, apprehension, and prequel jokes. Perfect.

TEN YEARS AGO… New Blog Series

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015TrishLeave a comment

On Monday I am going to start a new blog series!

Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 12.52.49 AM I have been blogging ever since the Internet became a thing. I’ve had blogs on Xanga, Blogger, and WordPress. And I kept it all! I have massive Word documents of archived blog posts, and I recently realized that I have these saved back to 2005. The ten year difference seems auspicious, so beginning Monday, I’m going to start “Ten Years Ago…” In this new series, I’ll share a blog post from sometime that week ten years ago (it won’t always be on the exact day because I want leeway to find more interesting posts to share). Then I’ll react to the old post as my ten years older, and hopefully wiser, self.

To kick off this series, I’m going to share, and re-do, a survey that I did exactly ten years ago. It’s especially fitting, because the survey itself is about looking back ten years. So really, this newer post will encompass twenty years of my life. Whoa. Enjoy!

TEN YEARS AGO

November 5, 2005

Lindsay took my survey thing, so I’m taking hers. Yay for timewasters!

10 years ago, I:
1. was 7/ in 2nd grade
2. was friends with Michelle and Lacie
3. chased Ricky Carroll and put pink ribbons in his hair
4. read 100 books and got an award
5. wore spandex shorts Continue reading →

Letters Between Friends: #BLANKETBURRITO

November 5, 2015TrishLeave a comment

I wrote to Lindsay over on her blog about my life as a blanket burrito. Check it out by clicking HERE.

What Are You Reading Wednesday #WAYRW (8)

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015TrishLeave a comment

1. What’s the name of your current read?

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.

Most magicians know who I am. Most of them knew I was coming before I knew myself; there’s a prophecy about me–a few prophecies, actually–about a superpowerful magician who’ll come along and fix everything.

And one will come to end us.
And one will bring his fall.
Let the greatest power of powers reign,
May it save us all.

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Um, YES. A pseudo-Harry Potter world, but with more cursing and sillier spells and more romance? Sounds perfect.

Oh Hey, Friday! #7 HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP

October 30, 2015October 29, 2015TrishLeave a comment

It’s another round of the Oh Hey, Friday! link-up from September Farm and 5 on Friday from A. Liz Adventures!

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP

1| Make plans, but stay flexible

Before I left on my trip, I made calendars, lists, and overly detailed schedules for daily travel that included what time I needed to leave one place in order to get to the next place down to the exact minute. I didn’t end up using those insanely comprehensive plans after the first day, but it made me feel better to know that I had a general plan for how things could go down.

I needed to know who I was staying with and for how long, but twice I changed plans for the better. Once was to stay with my second cousins in Spartanburg, and the other was to stay another day in Dallas and recharge. Because I am ever-so-slightly anal-retentive, it was hard for me to accept that plans are changeable. But being flexible made my trip so much more enjoyable, so make changes when necessary. Continue reading →

What Are You Reading Wednesday #WAYRW (7)

October 28, 2015October 26, 2015TrishLeave a comment

1. What’s the name of your current read?

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.

I turned the blade. I was surprised that it hadn’t already disintegrated in my hand.

“I dunno, Randolph. This thing looks way past renewing. I’m not even sure it can be recycled.”

If I sound unimpressed or ungrateful, don’t get me wrong. The way I’d pulled the sword out of the river was so cool it freaked me out. I’d always wanted a superpower. I just hadn’t expected mine to entail retrieving garbage from river bottoms. The community service volunteers were going to love me.

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Of course! Rick Riordan always does an amazing job of combining epic myths with humorous modern life, which is exactly the sort of vibe I strive to accomplish in my daily living.

Sunday Summary #4: What’s on the Internet

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015TrishLeave a comment

This week I fell in love with Tom Hiddleston (again), some nerdy news surfaces, and a scientific approach to faith. Click “Read More” to check out these Internet marvels for yourself!

Continue reading →