that's it. i quit. i'm moving on.

but not really. the infamous bradbury project is frustrating me.

there's just so much information to be collected, organized, and accounted for--it all seems like a little too much right now. but i've been here before; i'll continue trudging along through the muck.

on another note, a colleague of mine who thinks my obsession with bradbury is quite amusing thinks it's funny each time i purchase another book by or about bradbury. i mentioned that i recently purchased the 1967 book club edition just for the new introduction it contained and he decided that instead of the crazy cat lady, i'll be the crazy book lady. one day i'll die and the police will find me surrounded by hundreds of copies of fahrenheit 451. they will immediately decide that there's foul play involved and think the books are a clue. little will they know that i was merely afflicted with biblioholism.

he thinks it's funny. i think it's probable.

so, in honor of him, i've decided to commit to this bradbury obsession once and for all. i will purchase every book the man has published and every edition of fahrenheit 451 ever produced (accept the asbestos edition because i don't have $30,000 to spend on it--although if someone were to give it to me i wouldn't turn it down).

i'm sick.

our dogs.

they are interesting creatures. i thought i'd share them.

name: abigael snowflake
age: 11
size: medium
breed: lhasa apso
sign: aries
nicknames: black dog, muffin, abbers, abby-dabby
hobbies: barking incessantly at nothing, sleeping, eating treats then throwing them up, hiding from the monster that lives in the closet (vacuum), getting scratched

name: señorita sophia margarita aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
age: 10
size: small-ish
breed: long-haired chihuahua
sign: aquarius
nicknames: taco, rat, yoda, wombat

hobbies: sleeping, snoring, barking when no one else does, demanding attention

name: madalyn rae
age: 8

size: big
breed: catahoula
sign: taurus
nicknames: big girl, stinky, monkey, pumpkin, madders
hobbies: huntin’ varmits, guarding the house, looking out for her sisters and brother, getting her belly scratched, eating marshmallows and candy corn

name: shelby loo
age: 6
size: medium-ish
breed: beagle/dachshund
sign: cancer
nicknames: peanut, shelbs
hobbies: barking, protecting grandpa, chasing squirrels, sunbathing, making mommy let her in and out repeatedly, stealing chairs, going for rides, eating ice cream

name: mardi reed
age: 2
size: medium
breed: shih-tzu
sign: pisces
nicknames: bubs, lil’man, bubby
hobbies: playing with his girlfriend, doing circus paws, biting ears, eating cheese-whiz, digging to china, sleeping, dressing up

someone needs a cupcake.

my dear sweet blog is one year old today!

happy birthday, blog. it's been an interesting year.

mecca.

yesterday, my friends and i went to archer city, texas. it's a small town. it's the town that larry mcmurtry is from. it's the town that the last picture show was about. it's quaint. it's also home to mr. mcmurtry's pride and joy: four HUGE bookstores!

archer city is mecca for bibliophiles like me. here's how the day went:


we pulled up to the first store around 10:15am. we were excited.


we walked in and were greeted by a very nice woman who worked there. we began to peruse and ran across this cute little fella:

we turned a corner and saw this...



...and melted with happiness! i thought that this place was the closest thing to heaven that i had ever seen, until i saw this...

...and realized it wasn't close to heaven, it WAS heaven. two whole shelves of beautiful, old books on spenser!!!

here are some pics of us enjoying ourselves:





we stayed until they closed at 5pm. it was a day full of little letdowns (no 1976 edition of fahrenheit 451), complete surprises, and lots of fun times spent with good buddies. i didn't buy much, but i did come home with a couple of treasures:


aren't they lovely?

in the words of rayman's raving rabbids....

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

i am so freaking tired and stressed out. spring break cannot come fast enough.

correspondence with a legend.

so a couple weeks ago i mailed a letter to ray bradbury as part of a project i have been working on forever now. i didn't anticipate receiving any response, let alone one containing the answer that i so desperately need to finish the project, but i opened the mailbox monday only to find an envelope staring me in the face.

it was no ordinary envelope. it was self-addressed and stamped--just like the ones i had enclosed with the letter i sent; it was post-marked "los angeles, ca," and i delighted in the possibilities that small envelope held within it.

i opened it only to find thrill and let down. mr. bradbury is eighty-nine years old. he's not in the best health, and is still a busy man, so it was not surprising that all he could manage was an inscribed picture. that was it. no answer to my questions. nothing more than a token of appreciation. that's the let down.

the thrill is a little harder to describe, but i'll try:

RAY FREAKING BRADBURY WROTE MY NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

did you see that? that first word on the page? yeah, that's my name as written by ray bradbury!
a legend took the time out of his busy day to personally inscribe and sign a picture for me! after a couple years of researching this man and his career, my adoration is pretty strong, and it seems that with every day that passes my respect for him as an artist and a man is growing. so thank you, mr. bradbury. you made my day. and while i still have questions, just the very fact that we corresponded thrills me to no end.

i believe...

my students are working on essays of personal belief right now, so i thought i would join them in the exercise. here's my attempt at an essay of personal belief:

i believe in the power of music to change things.

when i was a little girl i had a walkman. it was my second skin, my defense mechanism against a cruel outside world. i listened to it constantly, escaping into the sounds it filled my head with. it played mostly pop those days, but as i and my music tastes have grown, so has my belief in the efficacy of music.

in college, in addition to my major i began studying ethnomusicology, the study of music as it relates to the culture it emanates from. it was during this time of musical exploration that music became less of a defense and more of a means to change. i studied counter-cultures and the music that sprang from them: bob marley, thomas mapfumo, jimi hendrix, janis joplin, bob dylan, and even more recent artists like the flobots.

as i listened and studied it occurred to me that artists composed their songs around the changes they wished to see in the world. in the words of the flobots:

“put your hands up high if you haven't abandoned

hope that the pen stroke is stronger than the cannon

balls to the wall, nose to the grindstone

my interrogation techniques leave your mind blown

place your bets lets speak to the enemy

don't let em pretend that we seek blood

and who's we anyways kemo sabe?

mighty warlord wanna-be street thug

a threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified

blow for blow never settles the score

word for word is time need clarify

we the people did not want war”


they used their music as a gateway, a mouthpiece for change, and i respected them for it. bob marley:

“until the philosophy which hold one race
superior and another inferior
is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
everywhere is war, me say war”

i’ve played a few instruments but i am no musician. instead, i am a connoisseur of music—revolutionary or otherwise. music helped me escape from the demons of my youth, helped light my path in adolescence, and guides me still today. it can change my mood in an instant, inspire, and focus me.

music is power. it is force. it is change. use it wisely.