07.29.08
“Each day comes to me…”
“Each day comes to me with both hands full of possibilities.”
-Helen Keller
This is one of my favorite quotes and has been for a very long time. Actually, for a while I had a framed print of it hanging on my wall. In the mornings, I would take the two seconds out of my day to read the words and soak in their wisdom. I think that what is most magical about the words is that they are Helen Keller’s. Her choice to view each day as a source of possibility rather than any other alternative is inspiring. Despite all of the obstacles that she faced in her life, she embraced the good things that life had to offer.
Each day comes to us all with more possibilities than we can ever hold inside our tiny hands. Sometimes we to have to search a little before we can see them. Sometimes we have to bend or stretch to reach them. But, we must not to let these possibilities slip out of our grasp once we have them. ~Melissa 
The Last Lecture
The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
I hope everyone that I know reads this book.
I heard about The Last Lecture, but had not yet seen the video when I decided to read the book. I had wanted to read the book since it was released back in April. I often saw it on the shelves in the bookstore when I went in for other things, but did not purchase it or pick it up. I put reading it on my “list of things to do” though and figured I’d get around to it eventually. Randy Pausch passed away recently and when I heard that he had, I moved up reading the book to the top of the list. I am very glad that I did.
I was a little bit nervous about reading the book because I didn’t know what to expect. I am an easy crier, and was afraid that I would be crying through all 206 pages. I did immediately shed a few tears in the beginning when he described his decision to pursue the project of The Last Lecture despite his wife’s pleading to spend more of his last days with her and their children. After that, I found myself smiling, giggling, and nodding my head a lot while I read. Don’t get me wrong, my eyes welled up plenty of times, but the stories were so heartwarming and sincere, that I wanted to keep reading, keep learning, and keep being inspired.
There is a part in the book where Pausch shares the moment when he had to make the shift from being confident in the belief that he would beat his cancer to when he knew that it was just a matter of time. I had to close the book and put it down for a few minutes at this point. My thoughts raced to so many people in my own life. So many that are no longer with us, and so many who are taking too much for granted, or not pursuing their own dreams, at this very moment. I thought of the people who I care deeply about and felt the pangs of my own mortality, and theirs. It is a scary feeling. When I picked up the book again, I felt like I had a better and stronger understanding of why it was written, and I focused my attention more on absorbing as much of the message that this man was attempting to share as I possibly could.
It isn’t so much that the anecdotes shared, or the lessons discussed through the book are unique or brand new; they’re not. Many of them you have heard before or at least something very similar. The power of the messages though comes from the simple fact that this man did not have to put them together in a lecture or book form. He did not have to want to share his experiences, or help other people realize their dreams. But, that was the choice that he made and it charged each message (and there are many) in the book with that much more power and importance. His choice, and how he completed this project is what hopefully makes the reading (and/or watching the video) an original and meaningful experience.
In the book Pausch asks, “What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?” If you don’t know how you would personally answer that question, or aren’t sure why you should answer that question, then you definitely need to read this book right away. You won’t find your personal answers in the book necessarily, but it will lead you in the right direction. Before you read this book, you have to want to live the best life that you possibly can, and be willing to receive the messages that Randy Pausch’s story offers.
After I read the book, I found the lecture online and watched it. I strongly recommend doing it in that order if you can because the book provides a lot of “behind the scenes information” about the lecture itself. I read the book in one sitting (it took me a little less than two hours - stopping to take notes and to dry my eyes periodically) and the video is only about an hour and fifteen minutes long. It is time that I consider to be very well spent. Please, put reading this book at the top of your “list of things to do.”
“Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.” – Randy Pausch
~Melissa
Title: The Last Lecture
Author: Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Publisher/Date: Hyperion, 2008, $21.99
ISBN:978-1-4013-2325-7
07.28.08
Read Often!
When I’ve asked for advice on how to become a better writer, and searched for tips to teach my own students, the one thing that comes up all the time is that writers need to read, and read often!
To some extent what we read isn’t really as important as how much. We should simply be reading all of the time. Many people who enjoy writing and are constantly trying to improve their craft are also avid readers. The two things go hand in hand. Exposing ourselves to language through books (or essays, short stories, articles, etc.) is a great way to develop our own vocabulary and determine which writing styles we like best, which ones match our own, or which ones we may want to try to emulate. Reading can also help spark new ideas for settings, characters, plots, or research. For those of you who suffer and get “stuck” from writer’s block, reading is a great way to get “unstuck.”
I say that what we read isn’t always the most important thing because we should read a variety of things, for a variety of reasons. Two main reasons that we read are to learn and to be entertained. An article or book that teaches us something important may or may not be entertaining to us, just as something that we find entertaining may not teach us very much. We have to read a variety of things so that we are continuously extracting new knowledge, ideas, vocabulary, and techniques from what we read so we can apply them to our own writing.
Now, what we read does matter if we are trying to develop a certain area of writing. If, for example, you are trying to write a mystery novel, then grab and read every mystery novel you can find! Read them and decide what works and what doesn’t work. How do the successful authors develop the setting and the plot? What makes the book suspenseful, and so on. If you want to write poetry, read poetry. If you want to write non-fiction, read non-fiction. If you are trying to develop your characterization, then read stories from authors who have developed great characters.
Read something every single day and reflect on it. Ask yourself if you can somehow use something that you read in what you want to write.
Happy reading!
~Melissa :)
07.27.08
“How we spend our days…”
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
- Annie Dillard
So simple, and so true! Sometimes (too many times, maybe) we put off doing things because we figure that we have all the time in the world and we will get to it eventually, or because we are afraid of failing at whatever it may be, or because we just don’t know how to do it. Well, this quote made me think about how each day is too precious to not do everything that is important and truest to our hearts. Do the things that you most enjoy, live each day to its fullest, spend time with loved ones, take risks, break a bad habit, do a good deed, take a class and learn something new, smile, laugh, dream, decide that it is possible.
Really, it may sound cliche, but what have you gained, what is the point, if you look back on your days and see what you have not done rather than what you have? ~Melissa
“Write in your heart that every day…”
“Write in your heart that every day is the best day of the year.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I chose this quote because the words are simply beautiful to me. The notion that what is in our hearts can be written there, evokes a powerful feeling of hope – even on the darkest or gloomiest of days, and especially for those who are at their saddest or deepest despair. What better place to write than our own hearts? Who really is a writer if he or she does not first write in his or her own heart? ~Melissa
A Dog Among Diplomats
A Dog Among Diplomats, J. F. Englert
In this second installment of J. F. Englert’s Bull Moose Dog Run Mystery series, the lovable Labrador of a main character and narrator, Randolph, takes us on an exciting journey through not only the bustling streets of New York City, but also into a much greater and dangerous world of espionage, murder, and betrayal.
Having already read the first of the series, it is easy to remember through this book that the story is being told from a dog’s perspective. As unusual as this point of view may be, it works wonderfully and truly shapes the novel to be unlike many others. (If you have not read the first book, don’t worry. Englert offers several subtle reminders through the story that it is by all means a dog who is telling it.) Randolph’s clever observations and insights about the world add a sophisticated charm to the story of his owner’s heart-rending loss of love, the seedy happenings that take place around him, and the perilous predicaments that Randolph finds himself in throughout the book.
The characters that we are meant not to like are easy to despise, and the rest are quite likable. It is an enjoyable summer read with many fun surprises along the way that will keep you at the edge of your seat and continuously turning the pages for more.
To fully enjoy everything that this book has to offer, I recommend reading the first in the series, A Dog About Town, before beginning this one.
~Melissa
Book Information:
Title: A Dog Among Diplomats
Author: J.F. Englert
Publisher/Date: Dell, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 978-0-440-24364-9
