I was replying to all the kind comments left on my last check-in, where I mentioned that my book proposal was rejected, when my mind flew back a couple of decades. When my sons were small, they played with these little toys, wide-bottomed persons who couldn’t be knocked over. “Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” I still remember the jingle—any parent will know what I mean about having some songs implanted deep within memory through thousands of times hearing it. I do not jest; I do not exaggerate. My daughters and my sons watched things in continuous loops *Runs screaming from the memory.*
Back to the subject—what else can one do? I was not at all happy that I was rejected, but you know, you have to try very hard not to take it personally. I am SO not good at that, but I am really trying to be a Weeble. Oh, it was my book proposal that was rejected, not me. Oh my, I still have work to do, don’t I?
One very nice thing happened last week, in that Jamila Jamison gave me the Leibster Award. I am so honored, I can barely type! I am so looking forward to fulfilling my obligations on that—putting up the badge, linking back to Jamila, who is a fantastic writer, blogger and all-around good sort, and paying the award forward to five more bloggers. I plan to do that on Monday, when I will borrow a laptop for the entire day. Be still, my madly beating heart!
Oh, goals. Well, not too bad. Except for Friday, when I spent ten hours in the car to go pick up my youngest son from university, I walked Brigid. I am really happy to have DS2 home; he is actually quite a delight.
I did read a lot and take notes. I’m still so queasy about doing book reviews, which is patently ridiculous, really! One of the first papers I gave at a conference excoriated, well, eviscerated, one of the scholarly articles written on my topic. When the Q&A time came, a fellow stood up in the back, and said, “I’m the idiot who wrote that article.” And truly, I’ve read some really good books from fellow ROWers as well as the lights in the industry. So, why am I so nervous? Heck knows.
I did post in the Literary Post of the Week. I don’t know why I didn’t think of writing about the woman who has been a part of my life for more than two decades, but I finally wrote about the author whose work gave rise to my Ph.D. dissertation. Christine de Pizan was the first professional female writer and publisher in France. Born in 1364, she was one heck of a woman, and deserves a lot more attention than she receives.
Oh, and I will, with your indulgence, talk a bit more about Google Reader, which I love! Jamila Jamison did a wonderful job on her blog here, but she may not use some of the features that I do. She did mention the folders, which are crucial for me—I have “Medieval Studies,” “Early Modern Studies,” “Rare Books,” “ROW80,” “Other Writers.” The folders are important for me, since I have so much material on Google Reader.
There is a wonderful function, called Notes. It’s a little bookmarklet that sits on your toolbar. Using that, you can grab anything on the internet and stick it in your Notes. There is also a Share function, where you can share things with your friends, in a mini-Google Plus sort of way. I am just putting together my Elizabeth Mitchell/Lapidary Prose Reader, so I have no friends yet, but in my real-name Reader, I have posts I share with my husband, children, and friends through the Reader.
You can also browse for subjects, or get recommendation from friends, in the Browse function. It is really one of my favorite applications. If you have any other questions about the Reader, please feel free to ask.
Finally, I passed through a very dark night late last week, where I really felt like I was being disingenuous to think that I could write anything of interest to anyone, ever. I read through some of your comments and encouragements, and emerged in a much better frame of mind. Thank you all for your kindness, help, hints, and just downright, outright, goodness.
To check on the rest of the participants—and please do so, it is so helpful to the psyche—click here.
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