How I Am Spending My Days

I am so sick of clinical appointments. Okay, there, I've said it. That gets that out of my system.

(Sorry; I had two appointments today and one yesterday and two last week and two or three or something next week and ARGH.)

Moving on ...

I just picked up an extremely battered paperback copy of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight at the library -- I think my name was number one hundred-fifty-something on the waiting list. I wonder what I shall find upon reading it, having heard all the wonderful things I have?

I have also recently found myself whiling away the hours immersed in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries novels. They're a lot of fun and a nice break from all the appointments (let's not go there again).

The weather is very cold here in Rhode Island. My breath has become very white and I need three quilts to get through the nights.

So really, I don't have much solid blogging material for now, but it's been a while and I felt I should blog anyway.

~Emily

A Reminder About National Adoption Month

Okay, how many of you have little brothers? Eleven-year-old Jack is sitting on the sofa beside me (yes, I have Internet at home now, don't have to post every single blog entry from the library) reading aloud his Star Wars-esque narrative and driving me absolutely nuts.

Thank goodness. He's done now. He's actually a marvelous writer but is adding the John Williams Star Wars theme to his reading and it's really quite distracting while I'm trying to make a post. Oh well.

I'll make this quick, so I don't have to struggle for long. I was going to post a reminder that November is National Adoption Month -- a good time of year to take a look at http://adoptuskids.org and -- if you live in Rhode Island, like me -- http://adoptionri.org. There's one site I particularly like, http://mare.org, but it's really only useful if you live in Michigan. Still, a wonderful adoption site.

Jack has left the room but I'm going to go try and catch the last sliver of daylight. Just got back home from a stuffy clinic (all this hospital business is so not fun) and feel like breathing real air.

~Emily

Go Vote!

I was in a public service announcement for the Women's Fund of Rhode Island earlier this year, one of a group of girls exclaiming "YOUR VOTE COUNTS!", as a little reminder. PLEASE GO VOTE! It counts! Really and honestly and truly it does! Can you imagine if we all got into the midset of "My vote won't make a difference"?

Of course you can.

~Emily

Library! Joy!

Well, I'm back at the library! Ah, peace. I did miss this place. I can hardly climb a flight of stairs and the skin under my eyes is the color of a midday moon, but I am home.

Being held tomorrow is a community Halloween party in which I was planning to participate, but life messes things up. I feel all the commotion of freaking the heck out of people will be a bit much for me, so I'll just sit back maybe with some soup or something. It might not be so bad.

Thanks very much to everyone on the Fabulous Lorraine's blog (http://lorraineamalena.blogspot.com/) for their good wishes. All you Fiends rock!

~Emily

Sorry ...

I have a really good excuse for staying away from the blog for so long: I've been in the hospital for the past week and will probably remain here for the next week, or longer. Sigh. It does feel good to finally have Internet access.

Anyway, keep a check on the blog -- I'll be around when I can.

~Emily

Books and a Broken Toe

Having not had a book to review for VOYA since sometime in late spring, I am proud to announce that I finished reading one this morning and will soon be writing my review .... the book was quite horrible, but still, I was happy to have a book.



While I'm here, a list of (good) books I've read/been reading in my absence from the blog seems to be in order ...



Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee. It just might be that the best word to describe this book is "likeable". It's very emotional but so much fun at the same time ...



Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger. I'm a bit more than halfway through this one and really love it ....



The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Too good to be finished, but I finished it anyway.

Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends by David Wilton. I've always wondered where the word okay began, and now I know!

Spam-ku: Tranquil Reflections on Luncheon Loaf by John Cho. Each verse in this compilation of haiku is all about SPAM, the luncheon meat, and actually really lovely. Some of them are also absolutely hilarious, but each feels like genuine haiku (some have more of a traditional flavor than others -- which feel more like Western haiku).

On another note ...

I am a walker -- one harboring a great passion for journeying through an unknown neighborhood on foot. As a result of this passion, my neighborhood is no longer unknown to me -- I've been down every single street many a time; however, in the not-so-distant past, I wandered down unfamiliar streets and got myself lost, and was always nervous about that (more worried about my mother's being worried than anything else, actually), but relished the satisfaction of having found my way out. And walking become a routine but no less of a great love.

Anyway.

My toe is broken just in time for the flare of color and crisp air that marks the early Octobers of New England. Sigh. We only get so much of this weather. The cast won't come off until December, and I can only hope for a mild winter.

(If you're wondering how it happened, about a month ago I slipped on the stairs and landed on my toe, which buckled underneath me. I didn't think it was broken and so waited a while to have it examined. Of course, if it wasn't broken to begin with, it fractured when I reinjured it by tripping once more, only this time -- fortunately -- not on the stairs.)

I love walking. And I do miss it.

~Emily

The Graveyard Book At Last and Padma Venkatraman

Neil Gaiman's new novel comes out today! I am so excited to read The Graveyard Book and almost as excited to see a real, actual copy sitting on the shelf of a bookstore!

Also, I would love for people to know that Padma Venkatraman, author of the very wonderful novel Climbing the Stairs, will be making appearances on the East Coast later this month; I strongly advise going to see her if she's going to be in your area -- she is a truly lovely person and brilliant writer.

Thursday, October 16th -- 10:30 a.m. at Politics and Prose. Washington, DC -- 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW; phone: (202) 364-1919

Friday, October 17th -- 2:00 p.m. at VIMS, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 -- 1208 Greate Road; phone: (804) 684-7000

Also on Friday, October 17th -- 5:30 p.m. at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA -- Washington 201 (old campus); for more information contact Ann Repeta at (757) 221-2457

Saturday, October 18th -- 5:00 p.m. at Big Blue Marble Books, Philadelphia, PA -- 551 Carpenter Lane; phone: (215) 844-1870

Finally, on Sunday, October 19th -- 2:00 p.m. at Books of Wonder, New York City! -- 18 West 18th Street; phone: (212) 989-3270

I especially recommend going to see Padma (who is a friend of mine) if you feel passionate about multiculturalism! For more information about Padma, visit http://cliofindia.com/padma, or http://climbingthestairsbook.com (which is a beautiful site all about her novel).

And now I am going to go play with The Baby Name Genie (http://babynamegenie.com/), because I tend to have too much fun with names ....

~Emily