A Year's Worth of Blogging

It goes without saying that another year has gone by without much activity on this blog. There have been so many occasions that I've wanted to post but just haven't had the time.

Time. If I could have just one wish it would be for more time. There just don't seem to be enough waking hours of the day, or sleeping for that matter. Lately I feel like I'm drowning in all the thoughts and running lists I have in my head. Things I want to write, projects I want to accomplish, books I want to read and so much more. It's impossible to do it all but one of my goals for the coming year is to be more organized and to organize my time better.

What a crazy year it's been. So many stories between the election, the economy, women's rights and of course the shootings. I've had so many thoughts I wish I had time to write about, but one of the unifying themes I keep coming back to on all of these events is religion and God. I do not practice any religion and am increasingly angered by how much it seems to encroach on our lives as Americans. I've always believed in some higher being or power, but lately I find myself questioning those beliefs. I know it's definitely something I will be mulling over for years to come.

I guess this is starting to get a bit rambling, but that's what happens when a years worth of thoughts never gets written. For the year ahead I hope to write more. I hope to make better use of the little free time I have. I hope to live in the moment more. I hope to be less tired. I hope to be more patient.

My Year Of Reading Wirelessly: The Sequel

Another year of reading wirelessly has come to an end. I just heard a few days ago that the Barnes and Noble at Westside Pavillion is closing and despite the fact that I haven't bought a book there in years, I was sad to hear it. B&N isn't exactly a small bookstore but clearly even giant like them can't compete against Amazon and of course, the ebook. While I absolutely love ebooks and being able to read on my phone has given me the chance to ingest books at an amazing rate, I can't imagine a world without real books and real bookstores. I used to spend hours browsing store shelves for new titles. Now I see how much Sofie loves books already and I dream of the day when we can browse the shelves together.

This time last year I was about halfway through "War and Peace" when I made my list, sadly I never got around to picking it up again, though I would like to at some point. I started on a cyber-punk/sci-fi kick that led me in a whole other direction this year. So without further ado, I present my reading list from 2011. Once again all read entirely on my phone. An asterisk denotes my favorites.

1. "Bossypants" by Tina Fey
2. "Neuromancer" by William Gibson
3. "Zodiac" by Neal Stephenson*
4. "The Leftovers" by Tom Perrotta
5. "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness
6. "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson*
7. "Jasper Jones" by Craig Silvey*
8. "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson (200 pages in)