Life in the Shadows of Book Mountain

[thisnewday]

Having finished, in one day, this month's selection from the book club at the Liverpool library, I'm thinking about taking my librarian friend Liz's suggestion that I read Jenn Shapland's My Autobiography of Carson McCullers--called "A hybrid of memoir and biography" by reviewer Linda Simon. Liz had kindly handed me a copy of the review before the book club meeting started, having remembered that some months earlier I'd read the entire McCullers canon as well as a 500-page biography when The Heart is a Lonely Hunter had been our monthly selection.

So this morning, as I was sitting down to do my daily BP readings, I pulled the McCullers bio I'd read from the bottom of a very deep and perilously-piled stack situated atop the ottoman in my upstairs office. (Our friend rosegardenfae lives a life of similar peril, residing in the looming, perhaps leaning shadows of her accumulated ventures into the world of books.) I always feel that I need something to read to bring my BP into a somewhat normal range because, even after just getting up in the AM, my mind is already racing to confront whatever challenges I sense facing me in the day ahead.

And because I'd already polished off The Silent Patient, which is this month's club selection, and hadn't yet acquired the Shapland book, I needed something to fill the void. So Virginia Spencer Carr's bio, The Heart of the Lonely Hunter, was gonna have to do for this morning although I have no intention of re-reading the full 500 pages of it.

With that, my friends, the day is started. No work today on the house in the city because the son-in-law has to work and my daughter has to care for the kids following their week-long exploration of opportunities in the south. In fact, all that I actually have scheduled for today is being my grandson's Lyft driver so that he can visit his dad--and hopefully talk with him about getting his own driver's license, lol.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday...

LPK
Dreamwidth
3.1.2020

Comments

[rosegardenfae]

Your post reminds me I should probably switch back to non fiction account of the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone. I've got three books going at once in this moment, but the stack never gets shorter, must be because I keep buying more books, ya think? It's an addiction, but less harmful than some.

Btw I sent you a message detailing some current events in my life, but I can't find it anymore do don't know if it went through. I have a hard time navigating this site and don't understand the private messaging system at all.

And, I gotta say, it has been a great thing since Anah got her license and much cheaper on the gas bill lol

Hope today is awesome!

[thisnewday]

"Btw I sent you a message detailing some current events in my life..." Yeah, I think that's on me--I'm pretty sure it's there, in my "InBox," but have been too intimidated by the volume of it to attempt and answer, just yet, but I will, lol.

Regarding LJ vs. DW, I made the switch to protect my "internet legacy" and to make a statement against a greedy American entrepreneur selling out to Russian oligarchs (who knew it would become a trend?) and because of explicitly homophobic policies enacted by the Russian government and supported by Russian media groups such as the one that had gained control of LJ.

Dreamwidth seemed a good place to land because it was started by a bunch of "techies" who'd been part of LJ early-on but had become disenchanted by the direction it seemed to be heading. They used the same programming technology as LJ and set it up so you could easily import your entire journal, intact, to DW. And you can cross-post if you want to maintain a presence at both sites.

Regarding difficulty posting pictures, I've heard that from others and experienced it myself although I'm not sure if it's really harder on DW or just that it's technology and it's different, lol. But our friend mallorys_camera, who posts pictures often--and is a dyn-o-mite writer as well--assured me she could help with that. The only thing that's kept her from doing so is, um, my own laziness. Sad but true.

Anyway, I WILL get back to my inbox and do my best to catch up and do hope you're having a good Monday as I write this...

[rosegardenfae]

Wasn't necessarily expecting an answer to the message so you are off the hook on answering it. Just needed confirmation that it sent because I was somewhat confused by the system and my inability to relocate it.

So, basically you switched to DW as an act of protest?

For sure not making my mind up today, but thanks for the food for thought. *chomp*

[thisnewday]

It was partly a political statement but also a reflection of my unwillingness to entrust 10+ years of my online journal to a Russian media group. By the time I actually made the decision, I'd surveyed a number of other journal sites and DW appeared to be the most viable and least problematic alternative. And I've been very happy with their service since making the switch. Bon Appetit, lol...