Here at Brittany's Blog, I write and share poetry through #napowrimo & #the100dayproject
You can follow my 100 day project on my Instagram handle @bone_to_ash
I look forward to hearing from everyone.
I'm sure you've heard of Etsy.com. I search the site to gawk at all of the amazing works of art. My favorite things to search for are jewelry, art and fiber art (crochet and knits). The innovation of some of these people never ceases to amaze me. Anyway, I wanted to share with everyone on here a few pieces from Ogopogogal. She makes her own jewelry, sets her own stones, and does the occasional up-cycle. To check out or purchase her products, please visit her Etsy page here.
For the necklace featured below, I like its simplicity and the use of the pearls. They catch the light like little mirrors.
My favorite is this butterfly ring. It is a work of art! It is like a silhouette during a sunset. Simple and beautiful.
The Q at Writer's Digest has a new contest asking its readers to answer a question and then blog about the contest. You could win a free Writer's Digest subscription for a year.
The Q asks: Define What Writing Means to You
You can read the rules and the contest's description here.
I started my internship at Hawthorne Books this week. During the ten weeks I will do various projects associated with James Bernard Frost's A Very Minor Prophet. The book will be released April 1st, 2012. Currently, I am finding venues where Frost can do readings and promotions for the book.
On another topic, I've read a few books lately and I started my 2012 book challenge that I mentioned in another blog post. I finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami which I read for Japan, and I wrote a book review on Askmissa.com. I didn't like the book all that much. I thought it was too long and needed some serious editing. So many details are repeated over and over again and the ending was unsatisfactory. Overall, I give it two stars out five because the plot and characterization had potential, I just wish he would have made better choices as the story progressed.
Another book that I finished is The Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavitch. This autobiography of the author takes the reader on a journey through Lydia's abusive childhood up to her most recent past. Despite the chaos and the numbness in her life, two things always remained constant: water (and her ability to swim) and writing. By following those two things that gave her purpose and happiness, she finally finds the strength to heal her wounds. The book contains such a wonderful story and Lydia has a strong voice and style that make it impossible to put it down. With the very first paragraph I was sucked into her story and I'm so glad that I read it. The Chronology of Water is my favorite book of 2011 and I give it five out of five.
This week, I began The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. So far, I enjoy the book, but I'm only 50 pages into the story. Next week I will give an update or a review, it just depends on how quickly I read it.
With that, I leave you. Have a great three day weekend.
I want to send a thank you to Karen at Bibliographic Blather for featuring my flash fiction "The Loss" on her blog.
And to my readers and subscribers, sorry for the lack of posts. With the holidays and my graduate application due soon, I've had a crazy past two months. And next week, I'll begin an internship with Hawthorne Books, too . However, starting Friday the 13th (oh no! I hope no one is suspicious who's reading this.), I will post something every week.
I look forward to hearing from everyone and best of luck with your new year.
There comes a time in everyone's life when the music that you listen to a billion times a day gets old (like Pink's "So What" that plays at least fifty times a day on my local radio station). It gets to the point that you feel physically ill and that you make a gagging noise every time the first five notes of the song begin playing. I listen to the radio whenever I commute to Portland and one day, I started my car and Adele's "Someone Like You" was on. I rolled my eyes. The song was good, once...but now every time it plays on the radio, I turn it off. I can't stand it anymore. They have played it and played it and played it to the point of exhaustion. If I hear it again, I may do something drastic...like take a baseball bat to my radio.
Anyway, during these times of my life, where music from the radio cannot and will not satisfy me, I search for new music. I take it upon myself to find a musician or just one song that I have never heard before. One that doesn't sound like everything else, but that is completely unique, sometimes odd and often times just plain bizarre. In my searches, I have stumbled across some keepers. One of my favorites is the sister duo band The Pierces. Quirky and hilarious, their music makes fun of fame and fortune and will leave you thinking, Huh? Their music can get a little dry if you listen to it long enough (like their songs Secret and Boring, both can get repetitive). However, I recommend you listen to a few of their songs, especially Turn on Billie. Not only is the song catchy, but the music video is entertaining.
The next one that I have grown to love is Katie Melua, a Georgian born Brit who has one hell of a voice. I wish that her music was heard more in the U.S. because she has a real talent for singing. My friend introduced me to "The Flood" and the music video totes half naked men bumping bellies, yes bumping bellies. Despite the strangeness of the video, the song is powerful, the lyrics are well written and the beat will make you start dancing. "I Cried For You" is another one of my favorites from her. Yet again, the video is strange, but the music is beautiful and Katie's voice always catches me and makes me listen. Two others that I enjoy are "A Happy Place" and "Two Bare Feet."
Janelle Monae is my last and best. "Tightrope" is my favorite song from 2011 and in my opinion nothing can top it. She has a voice that will blow you away and dance moves that will leave your jaw open. You'll ask yourself, How does she do that? I don't know, but she has got something special. The rhythm of the song is addictive. And months after first listening to it, I still catch myself singing and doing a little dance move from the video. Another one of her songs is "Cold War" and her message is simple, Do you know what you're fighting for? Her music has powerful lyrics that critique our society and show you another way of seeing the world we live in. She has a rare gift that is both entertaining and informing. I hope that you will love her music as much as I do.
With that, I will leave you now. Have a wonderful weekend and I hope this music makes your lives less droll.
I discovered Ted.com about six months ago when one of my professors asked my class to watch "Life lessons from an ad man." Ever since watching that first video, I have not been able to get enough of ted.com. The site features videos with innovators from around the world. They share their new ideas or offer solutions to problems. Many of these lectures are fascinating, others are awe inspiring and others are humbling. Topics range from brain science to music, anthropology to social networking, internet hacking to a range of social issues.
Recently, I found two videos that focus on the issue of plastics. I wanted to share these videos because they have important ideas that I believe everyone should know and understand about the world we live in. The first video features Capt. Charles Moore as the speaker. He addresses the growing problem with plastics in our oceans. Moore also has written a book on this issue called "Plastic Ocean." Moore's lecture is disheartening to say the least. However, Mike Biddle's speech offers hope and a solution to the problem with plastic. Of course, it will require a whole lot of people to take responsibility over their plastics and to recycle, but Biddle has decoded a problem that has been holding back recyclers since the beginning. Maybe his solution will be one of the first major steps to clean up our oceans and landfills.
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