FIRST BOOK CLUB MEETING

I have chosen The Moviegoer by Walter Percy, but the other option is The Memories of Old Jack by Wendell Berry.  Please read part one of The Moviegoer, and approximately 44 pages of The Memories of Old Jack (I say 60 pages in the video, but ignore that).  This round of the book club will go from the 11th of July to the 8th of August.  Good luck!

2 AM Disturbances

The book club was supposed to start July the Fourth, but seeing as that is a significant holiday, I'm not surprised that no one posted anything.  I myself, in fact, let the day slip away from me.  I intended to take care of it first thing in the morning, but I didn't give myself a reminder (as I warned myself I should).  And so, my friends, it did not get done.

Good news is that I am now prepared for this Saturday.  The book club will begin this Saturday the 11th and this round will continue for four weeks.  I explain what to do at the first meeting, which is this Saturday, but for now, get your book and get excited!!!

Also, my new blog is close to being "launchable."  I'm not totally happy with it, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to move over there before it's totally done and allow it to be a work in progress.  Reluctantly, I asked my boyfriend for a photo shoot – because I don't like being photographed and he loves photography – and so we spent part of Sunday shooting a camera at me, and it was actually kind of fun.  He's being looking through the photos and found some good ones, so those will be going up on the website soon.  I am breaking the barrier between me and you!  You shall truly get to know what I look like.  (Even sound like…??????)

In other news?  Um….  If you're into knitting, check out this page and knit with me!  "Knitting Thursday" every, well, Thursday.

Story time:

So last night, I woke up to loud music and talking just before 1:30 AM.  It was clearly coming from the vicinity of my black neighbors – I say black neighbors because, well, they're black.  Which distinguishes them from my other neighbors.  They don't live in my apartment complex, but in the apartments on the next property over.  They tend to talk very loudly and shout often.  I've been afraid to approach them because they seem so unfriendly….  But last night, they were making a ton of noise.  Or visitors of theirs were.  I didn't want to get up to check.  I rolled over and hoped to get back to sleep.  But finally, car doors slammed and the noise quieted.  But then my neighbors – husband and wife I assume – continued to talk and yell at each other the only way they know how.  And it was 1:30 in the morning.  She seemed to deliberately provoke him – she must be a very unhappy person or just really grumpy at 1:30 in the morning – and I sympathize.

Finally – I didn't hear the car pull up but I heard the voices over the radio.  Almost 2 AM and, I checked, the police had pulled up.  It almost instantly got quieter, although you could hear them still yelling at each other from inside their apartment.

Whew!  What a night.  Took me forever to get back to sleep.  The police stuck around outside for awhile, and some other people seemed to be hanging out, but it was hard to see because it was 2 in the morning.  I'm not sure what was going on.  But eventually I realized that I hadn't heard a sound for a little while and I assumed everyone had gone or went into their respective doors.  And after a bit longer, I fell asleep.

Tonight, it's pouring rain and I love it.  I like falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.

That's all I have for now.  Thanks for sticking around!

~Meggy

New

I have been having a rough week. . . .  I don't know if it's depression or just moodiness - I don't know if there's a difference.  But I have not been able to cope with even the littlest things.  And last night I kept waking up for no apparent reason, which makes me think maybe it is depression, or at least stress.  But maybe someone was setting off fireworks nearby reeeeeally slowly, trying to interrupt my sleep without me noticing.

But I know I'm overtired, so I figure, you know what, it doesn't really matter what's going on with me.  There are plenty of reasons.  I just have to try to get better.  I tried listening to upbeat, happy music - do you know how hard it is to find truly happy music?  Even a lot of the music that sounds happy has a depressing message.  But it sort of helped.  This morning, as I got ready for the day, I listened to music again, but I tried to listen to it quietly so as to not disturb my sleeping roommates.

Knowing that there are certain mental patterns that lead me into depression, I've also resolved on avoiding those patterns.  It's hard.  But if I start putting myself down, I'll tear it to shreds - as though I had put it on a sticky note and pinned it to my mental reminder board, I'll rip it off and put it through the shredder.  If nothing else, the metaphor is helping.  And since my depressive moods are often caused or worsened by my reluctance to verbally care about anything, if I start to feel that way, I'll just straight up tell my boyfriend that I'm too tired to think.  And if, which I often do, I feel as though no one cares and no one will listen to me, I'll just say, "Hey, I need you to listen."  Now, the hardest part will be actually talking at that point.  Because the fact that I don't have the mental energy to form feelings into sentences is kind of a setback.

What do you do when you're in a funk?

Alright, if you got through that pity party, I now have an announcement.

I don't know that too many people are actually reading my blog anymore - so be it.  I'll do my research and find new blogs to read (which I need to do anyway) and I'll reach out to new bloggers.  But I'm afraid I need to leave Google's blogging behind.  Google just doesn't care about its bloggers, and that's okay.  Apparently that's not their strong suit, but I need something more.  I need to be able to do more.  Heck, I could probably do more on my own in Dreamweaver and then upload it to a server somewhere - but I don't really want to.  I want a platform that has the capacity to do what I need it to do.

Weebly.com is still fairly young, as far as I can tell, and it's not perfect, but it has so much more capacity than Blogger and, I think, Wordpress - although Wordpress is enough for the blog I keep up for my family.  But if I'm going with a more professional, modern, up-to-date and relevant look, I gotta leave both behind for this blog.  Weebly can't do everything I want, but it comes pretty close.  The worst part is the fact that I can't upload this blog to that one, which is a major problem.  About 500 hundred posts and over 4 years later, I don't want to leave all this behind and start fresh.  I've spent a lot of time getting those views and creating this content.  So I'm going to be manually transferring posts over - one. by. one. by. one. by. . . you get the point.  My priority is to move Movie Reviews over there to match up with all of the links I already have posted on the "Movie Reviews" page.

So my plan is to move over to http://magicinkanddreams.weebly.com, and I hope those of you, stragglers, will come with me as I build a new home, start a new life, begin with new hope.

. . .Alright, I won't be dramatic about this.  The website is still in designing phases, and I'm not moving just yet, but that really is the link and it is published, so feel free to go check it out and tell me what you think.

(Also, current comments won't be over there. . . . sad face.)

~Meggy

I would like to start a book club

I would like to start a book club.

My plan was to offer two book suggestions and tag other bloggers I know and love.  Then, every other Saturday (maybe every Saturday), I would do a post answering key questions about the book and synopsizing, reading my favorite bits, etc. – hopefully no more than 10 minutes long.  Ideally, only five minutes.  Although we'd be doing this as a group, each person could choose whichever of the two to three books.  And those who read the same book could discuss it.  The length of the book would determine how much we have to read each week, but I'm thinking a book a month, more or less?  Because I'm going back to school in the fall for my senior year, I may have to pick books that I'm assigned for my various English classes.  But I got the reading list for my American Novel class from my professor so I'm going to start on that early.  If you would like to participate and you have a similar concern, I'll take book suggestions and try to fit them into the list.  But as long as the group is small, I don't think I should offer more than two books.  If everyone is reading a different book, we can't discuss them.

So, the books for the first book club, starting next Saturday, are:

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

The dazzling novel that established Walker Percy as one of the major voices in Southern literature is now available for the first time in Vintage paperback.

The Moviegoer is Binx Bolling, a young New Orleans stockbroker who surveys the world with the detached gaze of a Bourbon Street dandy even as he yearns for a spiritual redemption he cannot bring himself to believe in. On the eve of his thirtieth birthday, he occupies himself dallying with his secretaries and going to movies, which provide him with the "treasurable moments" absent from his real life. But one fateful Mardi Gras, Binx embarks on a hare-brained quest that outrages his family, endangers his fragile cousin Kate, and sends him reeling through the chaos of New Orleans' French Quarter. Wry and wrenching, rich in irony and romance, The Moviegoer is a genuine American classic.  –Amazon.com

The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry

In a rural Kentucky river town, "Old Jack" Beechum, a retired farmer, sees his life again through the sades of one burnished day in September 1952. Bringing the earthiness of America's past to mind, The Memory of Old Jack conveys the truth and integrity of the land and the people who live from it. Through the eyes of one man can be seen the values Americans strive to recapture as we arrive at the next century.  –Amazon.com









If you're not interested, no hard feelings.  But this is going to go very well if I don't get anybody.  So if you're interested, please ask other bloggers as well!  Or non-bloggers that read blogs.

~Meggy

When Edna and Bilbo come together… in other words, I'm really tired………

I feel a little like Edna: "It will be bold.  Dramatic!  Heroic!!"

I'm sitting here, thinking about where I want to go with blogging, and I'm realizing – it's got to catch up with me.  No more, "Wellll… that looks pretty cute, we'll go with that design."  Never again, "That's what I've always done," or, "This is what I've seen others do."  This blog has to be me.

So I'm brainstorming.  What's me?  Well, I'm creative but I'm professional.  I'm shy, but I'm determined.  I'm quiet but not boring.  My main hobbies include gardening, knitting, writing, baking, and… literature in general.  How is this all going to come together?  It's like being Irish, Italian, and German all at the same time.  Wait.  I am.

I'm working on a surprise for you, and I'm hoping that it'll be ready for you by Saturday - fingers crossed!  But I can't make any promises.  I'm checking my email regularly for the information I need….  If you're still reading and you'd like to know what it is, let me know in the comments!  I'll make sure you get notified one way or another. :)

But more importantly, I'm looking for new blogs to follow.  A week or two ago, I went through the list of blogs I used to read and… they are like old Scotish castles, falling to ruin on the hillside.  I actually don't know if there are many Scotish castles falling to ruin on the hillside, but the point is that many of my favorite blogs are no longer being updated, and that has me sad.  I'll be perusing around a bit, but I'd love to hear about a few of your favorite blogs.  I can't wait to dive into them!

Well, I think I'm quite ready for another adventure.

photo courtesy of…

~Meggy

P.S. – I've probably said this before, but you should try listening to Enya Radio on Pandora.  It can be really motivating sometimes.

Hey, should I? Do you think? Mayhap perchance?

I recently wrote a new post for my "professional" blog, if you will, that was passionate and heartfelt.  I titled it "America Needs a Mending."  It's kind of a play on words - maybe you can figure out why.

Lately, I've been getting it into my head to become a professional blogger.  What does that mean?  Good question.  I don't know.  I was looking at Iris Hanlin's blog and I was so darn impressed.  I don't think she's earning any money doing what she does but she's good at what she does.  I suppose to get started on my goal, I'd start off following her example.  Maybe I'll try some kind of vlog.  Maybe I'll have themes.  Et cetera.  Et cetera. . . .

But there's so much I still don't know.  What to do. . . what to do. . . what to do with myself.  When I started Our Hearts Unhindered, I had in mind something like Matt Walsh's blog.  I'd like to just say that shortly after discovering Matt Walsh, I decided I greatly dislike him.  But now's not really the time to get into why.  Anyway, you may be able to tell that my Our Hearts Unhindered blog is modeled after his "blogging template," so to speak.  But 'tis boring.  'Tis not fun.  Any suggestions?

I broached this subject with my boyfriend recently, but the conversation was short-lived.  I had no idea what I had in mind and he doesn't discuss well if I can't define my terms.  He has a stricter scientific mind - which is good because that's ultimately what I need from him on this.  I need him to help me figure out what I want and how to get it.  But sometimes I don't realize that that's what I'm looking for and I don't go into the conversation with that in mind.  So I quickly dropped it, made a mental note to think more on it later, and we went on doing something else.

I'll probably bring it up with him again.  But do you have any suggestions?  I want to go on blogging like I do here, but better.  And I want to go on blogging like I do at Our Hearts Unhindered, but more better (and more attractive).  Is there a way I can combine them?

Gosh I'm hungry.  Good thing lunch is soon.

One thing I'm worried about is transparency.  In my blogs, I'm not transparent.  I've made an effort over the years to keep my blog secret from family and friends so that I could explore myself without shame, in a sense.  I've gone back and forth about even putting my picture in my profile.  And I've kept personal details strict on Our Hearts Unhindered.  It's succeeded, but it may be holding me back.

Do I need to start over?  Do I need to make a new blog that is a combination of all?  Do I revamp this one and just keep going?  I like that idea better, frankly: stop trying to be one thing and be all at once.  Don't hide the fun, don't segregate the serious.

Alright, that's all the time I have to write at the moment, unfortunately, but I'll keep thinking. . . and I hope to hear from you!  Clearly I need to sit down and really hash this out for myself. . . .

Thanks so much, guys
~Meggy

Passion and beauty

One thing going to school for writing has done is strip me of my ability to write.  It's true!  And very sad.  Especially for certain professors, in attempts to fulfill their every expectation by demonstrating everything I have learned, I may actually be a more skilled writer but I have lost my imagination and my instinct.  So that's my goal for this summer.  I want to become a writer again.

I'm sorry, this post isn't going to be very long.  In fact, I'm at work!  I'd like to share some things with you soon, but in the meantime, have anything inspiring to share with me to pull me out of this adult-ish funk they've trapped me in?

Please forgive my neglect

I think I'm going to try to make a comeback here.  I'll have some time this summer to free-write, and it would really do me some good.  Plus I have some ideas of what I could write about.  This summer is going to be full of adventures and I'm really excited about it.  Right now, I have one more day of work to get through before the weekend.  Ho boy....

Elder Days of Yesteryear – But Not Now

Please forgive me for not updating this blog EVER.  I'm very busy now.  I work for my school newspaper as web editor (The Troubadour), I am a technician's aid in the virtual conference lab, and I'm an eLearning Assistant aid, so when I'm not producing media for other people, I'm studying for my five classes ranging between 200 level and 400 level.

It's a lot, but it's not too difficult to keep up.

Anyway, as I've said before, my new blog has long been up and running and I'm committed to getting something out every two weeks.  If you're not interested in the nice little reflections and daily craziness that I used to share on this blog, you might enjoy Our Hearts Unhindered….  But if you don't really need another Matt Walsh type blog (only not as professional or snarky), then Our Hearts Unhindered may not be for you.  The only way I can recommend it is to say that it comes from me.  And it is my personal thoughts and experiences.  Only one of my friends knows about it because the topics and the non-specific experiences I relate could embarrass my acquaintances –

So if you do read it, please, please, if you want to, comment on the quality and material.  I do a lot of writing and I'm fairly good at it, but nearly all of my writing never comes under scrutiny.  My writing may not improve much unless someone points out that it sounds very dull indeed, or that it doesn't flow logically.  And my beliefs and my understanding of the world will not grow if no one challenges me.  I mean, if you're inclined to do that sort of stuff… please do.

I generally have a "no comment" policy, meaning that I will not reply directly to comments.  This is because it hinders the conversation, I find.  It also is not super professional.  So if you'd like to discuss something with me directly, there is a contact form; but please also leave a comment so others can see and contribute.

But y'all don't want to hear about my blog!

My sister had spinal fusion surgery yesterday because of her scoliosis and so I drove home yesterday afternoon into the night to visit her today.  It's really nice to be back in my own room, and I had forgotten how quiet it gets at night in the country.  People sleep and stuff.

The surgery went as expected and she's recovering well, but she's very tired.  She had to keep rolling over from side to side all night long so she didn't get much sleep, and getting out of bed is, I hear, I bit exhausting.  But I'm going in to see her today and I'm really excited.  She's my baby.

There's this song that I can't decided whether I like or not – so I'm thinking probably not really.  Anyway, a fraternity at some school somewhere made their own video to it and it's actually really impressive (…to me anyway).  So, as if in tribute to the elder days of yesteryear, I'll leave this here:

~Meggy

If Only Gardening Could Come Sooner

Winter is long over so bloggie needed a makeover.  Makeover completed, I am doubly reminded why I want to learn web design: (1) I want to know better ways to do exactly what I want with my blogs and such; (2) I love being able to design things to perfection.

Eeyore

I… was going to write about something… but now I don't remember what.  Hmm.  Huh.  Befuddled.

Well!  Anyway, have you checked out my new blog yet?  I'd really appreciate it if you would!  And also, if you're on Facebook, follow the blog on Facebook!  I'm not exactly sure why… but I want to promote my new blog and make it something real.  I want to take my blogging to the next level.

I guess we'll see!

I suppose next time I'll talk about Franciscan households, intenting, and maybe post a vague reflection on a relationship that's finally crumbling around me.  Fun stuff.  Nothing you haven't already heard from me before.  But you'll want to read it anyway.  Because I'm just that awesome.  Yup.

Someone recently compared me to Eeyore.  I love it!  I'm totally like Eeyore!

http://www.winnie-pooh.org/eeyore-quotes.htm

"Eeyore, what are you doing there?" said Rabbit.
"I'll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he'll always get the answer."
"But, Eeyore," said Pooh in distress, "what can we - I mean, how shall we - do you think if we -"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "One of those would be just the thing. Thank you, Pooh."

"I might have known," said Eeyore. "After all, one can't complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said 'Bother!'. The Social Round. Always something going on."

Well.  Anyway.  I should be getting to bed about now….

Night all

~Meggy

We're Moving!

Okay, here's the lowdown.  This is not an entirely easy decision for me, but Magic, Ink, and Dreams/Ginger and Rubies/Marcmire is losing its usefulness.  I've been watching other people transition to new blogs and I just sort of goggled them in bewilderment.  Their new blog wasn't radically different from their old one – why didn't they just overhaul their old one?

But now I think I understand.

This blog is kind of a mess.  Like a journal you've been using for a long time, it's falling apart at the seams and contains a lot of different material.  I've "overhauled" it a couple different times and I'm just not happy with it.  It's too cluttered and messy.  Only a complete demo and rebuild would do, I feel like – but there's still some good material here.

So while I'm trying to decide what to do with "Marcmire" (returning to "Magic, Ink, and Dreams" is an option I'm considering – theme as well as title), I've started a new blog.

"[Experience] Our Hearts [Wholly] Unhindered" is partially a more serious blog and partially a more grown-up blog.  "Our Hearts Unhindered" (working title?) will be for those posts I have written and will write that address real world problems, such as Busting Franciscan Myths, Ridiculous Facebook, Confidence Quotes, and perhaps re-blogged articles from other blogs (with the proper attribution).

If I continue to use this blog, it will be for the other stuff – the stuff that reads like I threw-up on the page; the stuff that is just my geeky, awkward, spazzy little brain letting off steam.

One main problem I have with this blog is my audience.  I'm not too sure that I really have one anymore; my stats have jumped into unbelievable numbers, but I'm fairly convinced these page views are mainly bots crawling my pages.  And what's more, I think most of my "audience" is either still in that blogging phase that I've left behind, or has moved on and left me behind.  Either way, I've lost my audience.

And what's more, I want more out of blogging.  I want to reach people and get comments by people who come to my blog for a specific topic I've written about – and not just because I'm in a blogosphere of young writers journaling about their lives and getting super excited reading about others' lives.  That was fun once, but I honestly don't have time to read posts about the daily walk you took this morning.  Not unless it has a point.

And I don't need that kind of outlet anymore.  (Praise my Heavenly Daddy for His blessings these past few years.)

So… to those of my loyal readers who still keep up with this blog, this post is for you.  Thank you bunches, and I'll try to keep this updated with random thoughts that come to mind – but it's getting harder to do.  I used to write about things that happened in my daily life, but it didn't used to necessitate hiding identities or trying to be vague to avoid embarrassment.

But at the same time, "Our Hearts Unhindered" isn't the place for spazzing – and sometimes I want to.  So the future of "'Marcmire'" is unclear.  As you are the one who reads this stuff, I'd love to hear what you think – if indeed, "you" exist.

And that's how that goes.

The address of the new place is http://ourheartsunhindered.blogspot.com if you wanna check it out and give me feedback (if you want to comment on appearance or anything not directly related to the posts there, please comment back here).  It's a work in progress and it's not officially "published" yet, so to speak, but it should be ready soon.

Thank you, anyone and everyone, for reading anything I've written over the years.  I've come a long way… and it still awes me to think about it.  Truly, I could not be more grateful for how far I've come.

~Meggy

What will "Marcmire" mean for...?

What's the significance of Marcmire?  Well, part of that is very secret.  But part of it is easy to explain.  It actually comes from a book I'm writing.  The protagonist leaves Normurland for Marcmire partway through the book and it's there that she finds herself.  And I find this blog and that place to be strikingly similar in purpose, meaning, and design.  Hence, Marcmire.

CLICK HERE TO READ A TEASER

It also means that I have to finish the book.  How could I not, now that I'm using the name, eh?  I almost feel that if I don't finish the book, the name would lose its substance.

So Marcmire.

Meggy of Marcmire.  I kinda like it.

The name is not without its traps, and perhaps before long I will regret the name change.  But as long as my blog is not mainstream and it is the "online book of me," its title may as well reflect me until I can find one that means the very heart of myself.

~Meggy

Bonus: http://noisetrade.com/jarsofclay/noisetrade-eastside-manor-sessions

Titles

As of the publication of this post, my current blog title is "Ginger and Rubies."  It's fine, and it symbolized where I was last year when I renamed my blog.  But say it aloud.  It's cumbersome and awkward.  And what does it mean?  Well, my first year of college was the first time I started seeing myself as a "ginger."  I'm a redhead, but no one had called me ginger before.  And for whatever reason, the ruby ring that my parents gave me on my eighteenth is especially important to me.  Plus its my birthstone.

The original title of my blog was "Magic, Ink, and Dreams."  But that too was cumbersome and awkward, so I had no qualms about changing it.  Well, my only qualm was of being indecisive and being one of those people who changes their blog title a lot.  I mean, its the title of the blog – it shouldn't change, right?

Well, anyway, I changed it and became one of "those people."  . . .So I haven't picked very good blog titles.  It doesn't really matter what it sounds like in my mouth because I don't tell anyone I know that I blog, but even so. . . I'm not the only one who might say my blog title.

So I'm thinking about changing it.  The problem is that I'm feeling very lonely and restless, and therefore, I'm more likely to be indecisive and want to change things.  I've already had to resist the urge to redesign my blog again.

Possible name changes:

Color Me Capricious

[She/I/...] Learn(s) As She/I Grow(s)
Marcmire

or just...

Meggy

~Meggy