Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Week 10: Read for pleasure
My goal for week 10, much like the one for week 8, is one that I'm surprised I had to "resolve" to do.
Reading is one of my greatest pleasures in life. For this, I blame - and thank - pretty much my entire family. My grandma used to take us on trips to the library when we were little to entertain us. My grandpa gave me the complete works of Shakespeare as a birthday gift... when I turned 10. My parents, sisters and I spent many a Friday night at an independent bookstore called The Library, Ltd. when I was growing up. (This bookstore, tragically, has gone the way of too many independent bookstores and is now closed.) My oldest sister has been teaching English for about the last 10 years, but I think her vocation really began approximately 20 years ago in our basement. I won a book collector's contest in college. We are all voracious readers, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
Despite my love of books, I haven't sat down to read a novel since I was in North Carolina. I did listen to a few audiobooks, and Elle was kind enough to read this adorable book aloud to me on our trip. Now that I have passed my RD exam, I decided that my goal for week 10 would be to sit down and read a book for fun. Audiobooks just aren't doing it for me.
So, did you do it? Half and half. I started one, and though I haven't finished it yet, I'm sure that I will soon. It is so good! Here's what I'm reading:
Reading is one of my greatest pleasures in life. For this, I blame - and thank - pretty much my entire family. My grandma used to take us on trips to the library when we were little to entertain us. My grandpa gave me the complete works of Shakespeare as a birthday gift... when I turned 10. My parents, sisters and I spent many a Friday night at an independent bookstore called The Library, Ltd. when I was growing up. (This bookstore, tragically, has gone the way of too many independent bookstores and is now closed.) My oldest sister has been teaching English for about the last 10 years, but I think her vocation really began approximately 20 years ago in our basement. I won a book collector's contest in college. We are all voracious readers, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
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| An old candid, taken by my friend Sue - December 2007 |
Despite my love of books, I haven't sat down to read a novel since I was in North Carolina. I did listen to a few audiobooks, and Elle was kind enough to read this adorable book aloud to me on our trip. Now that I have passed my RD exam, I decided that my goal for week 10 would be to sit down and read a book for fun. Audiobooks just aren't doing it for me.
So, did you do it? Half and half. I started one, and though I haven't finished it yet, I'm sure that I will soon. It is so good! Here's what I'm reading:
Photo via
I've been on a little bit of a Native American lit kick lately, so this book seemed perfect. I've never actually read one of Louise Erdrich's novels before! I've only read her short stories. I kept being drawn to this book every time I went into a bookstore in recent months, so I finally downloaded it; I haven't been able to put it down since. So far, I'd put it in the "highly recommended reading" category, along with Stuffed and Starved.
What great books have you been reading lately? Do you have any Native American literature recommendations for me?
Friday, March 8, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Week 9: Drumroll...
A few weeks ago, I mentioned studying for my RD exam. On Saturday of week 9, I took it. Obviously, the only goal I had for the entire week was to study, study, study and then kick that exam's butt. I answered about 1300 practice exam questions, listened to many hours of lectures, and read way more information than I could possibly retain. I still didn't really feel ready for the exam when it rolled around, but I knew I just had to bite the bullet, show up, and do my best.
I arrived at the testing center early and got to have a nice little chat with M before walking through the doors. While I was waiting for my name to be called, I made the acquaintance of a lady from North Carolina who was taking the DTR exam, so we had a lot to talk about! I had foolishly worn a Carolina T-shirt and a Duke sweatshirt to the testing center. My thought process was that no one in Arizona would care enough to judge me for my traitorous behavior. Boy, was I wrong! Live and learn. :)
After the exam, I spent a tremendously stressful 5 minutes trying to see my score, which the lady at the testing center had said would show up on my screen after the test. It didn't, so I logged out of the system, logged back in, and saw the message, "Test has been interrupted. Please see proctor." That elicited a higher than normal heart rate and a mild state of panic. Eventually, we got it all figured out and my score popped up on the test center computer screen. I passed!!!
This is how I felt when I saw my score:
This was my favorite of Honey Honey's songs.
And here's a classic from Bingham, which he performed beautifully on Saturday:
I arrived at the testing center early and got to have a nice little chat with M before walking through the doors. While I was waiting for my name to be called, I made the acquaintance of a lady from North Carolina who was taking the DTR exam, so we had a lot to talk about! I had foolishly worn a Carolina T-shirt and a Duke sweatshirt to the testing center. My thought process was that no one in Arizona would care enough to judge me for my traitorous behavior. Boy, was I wrong! Live and learn. :)
After the exam, I spent a tremendously stressful 5 minutes trying to see my score, which the lady at the testing center had said would show up on my screen after the test. It didn't, so I logged out of the system, logged back in, and saw the message, "Test has been interrupted. Please see proctor." That elicited a higher than normal heart rate and a mild state of panic. Eventually, we got it all figured out and my score popped up on the test center computer screen. I passed!!!
This is how I felt when I saw my score:
Photo via
In fact, it's still exciting every time I think about it, and I'm a little surprised each time - it's really over! I really passed! And now, I can really get on with living my life and working hard at my job!
To celebrate the good news, I hopped in the car and headed to Anaheim, California to see one of my very favorite artists play a show at House of Blues. I have wanted to see Ryan Bingham live for... I don't even know how many years. This was the perfect way to celebrate being an RD. He put on a fantastic show that was well worth the 6 hour drive. His opening band, Honey Honey, was pretty great, too! I'll leave you with a song from each of them.
And here's a classic from Bingham, which he performed beautifully on Saturday:
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