Well I was just picking on Kevin for not updating his blog...
This week has flown by. I've been busy re-reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass). Can I just tell you how much I love these books? I highly recommend them to anyone who loves a good story. It's got everything you could ever want--alternate worlds, talking armored polar bears, love, war, angels, and a great main character. Read them!
Tonight we have not one but two parties to go to. First we're heading to David and Chelsea's house. David is Kevin's friend from high school and is a musician. Chelsea is an actress and they are both lots of fun. Then later in the evening, we're going to my parent's house for a casual dessert and (of course) wine tasting. Then it's back home to sleep in our own beds. Have I mentioned how much I love living in Southern California?
And now, it's time for the annual New Year's Resolutions. I don't like to make resolutions as I just don't ever attain them and then I feel like a failure and my self confidence drops and I spend the rest of the year in therapy trying to come to terms with my potty training. So instead, I make New Year's Goals. Here are mine for the coming year:
1. Finish my novel. My goal is to finish my novel and submit it to agents by the end of 2005.
2. Establish better writing habits. Related to goal #1, I've been writing very haphazardly and I want to establish better writing habits so that I can finish and submit my novel.
3. Loseweightexercisemore. Because I should. We all should.
4. Write lots of letters. This is a carry-over goal from previous years and one that I'm going to try to attain again this year. I think there's nothing like a hand-written letter, and I've got lots of great stationery and pens, so I want to keep in touch with my friends this way.
5. Maintain a positive attitude. This is another carry-over goal from previous years. When I lived in Missouri I was a very negative person and it just serves to make life more miserable for yourself. So I've gone through an attitude adjustment and I want to continue my positive attitude throughout the year.
6. Spend more time with family. This was difficult in previous years as I've always lived far from home. Ever since I left home 13(!) years ago for college, I haven't been closer than a 5 hour drive. Now that I live in the area, I want to spend more time with my family, particularly the kids in my life--Zach (13), Corie (9), and Seana (2).
I don't want to make this list too long so I'll leave it at that. What are your New Year's Resolutions/Goals?
Have a Happy New Year everyone!
New Year's Goals:
1.) Looseweightexcercisemore. (Weight Watchers, here I come.....)
2.) Get back to my "happy place" - spend less time worrying about things I can't control or change, and just be happy and positive even for the moment.
3.) Pay off my Visa card.
4.) Quit being so jealous, bitter and hateful of other people.
5.) Continue to pursue my next insurance industry designation (see www.loma.com )
Posted by: Katrina at January 1, 2005 04:27 PM"His Dark Materials" - yes! A phenomenal trilogy, amazingly mature for a so-called "young adult" series. I also highly recommend it.
I've always felt that His Dark Materials were miscast in the young adult genre. Just because the main characters are 12 doesn't mean the books are for 12 year olds. To be sure, young adults would definitely love these books, but I think many of the themes are really better suited toward an adult audience. They work on both levels, but I'm afraid that adult readers turn away from them because they're kiddie books. That's a shame.
Posted by: Shelby at January 2, 2005 11:57 AMI have to concur with Shelby on this one - not really young adult at all. Of course, it has young protagonists and thus must be young adult, but it really isn't. In some ways it's like Narnia, only darker - I'm always amazed it hasn't been banned in some school in the US (of course, more frightening is that they might not have a copy that they can ban...). Really good stuff. If you can find a copy, you should also take a look at Galatea (1979), which Pullman himself calls "my last adult book".
Posted by: David at January 4, 2005 09:40 AM