Author Archives: pj

I’m Fine – Everyone Else is Crazy

Someone gave me the dreaded “enjoy this now while it lasts – this is the easy time!” the other day.

That’s the kind of thing that would have ripped me apart 5 years ago when I was at this stage with my first child. Now? I laughed in her face. (Well, it was online, so her virtual face.) Continue reading

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How to be a Writer Without Writing Anything

The last few weeks have been tough. I had a baby, for one thing. I’m now 19 days into the newborn stage and am frankly having trouble seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Continue reading

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Writing I’ve Started: The Pessimist’s Guide to Babies

I’ve always been hesitant about posting things I’ve written on a blog.  (That is, things other than actual blog posts – books, short stories, poems, etc.)  There’s two reason for this – 1) it’s “out there” which is just a scary concept in itself and 2) other people will see it, which could in my head lead to any number of bad things I’ve probably made up.

But I’m a writer.  And a writer, at least the kind of writer I am, doesn’t just write things she never wants anyone to see.  Which is what will happen if I don’t start putting things out there.

There’s actually a third reason I don’t post stuff I write – it’s never finished.  Much of it is first drafty stuff, but even what is fairly polished just isn’t done.  Well, no more.  One of the reasons I finished some of my fan fiction back in college is that just the act of making it available for others to read (regardless of if they did or not) makes me feel more like a writer.

So I’m going to post a few excerpts from projects here, and see what I feel like continuing.  The first is something I started almost 5 years ago when I had my first child, and it’s been on my mind lately because I’m about to have (God willing) my second.  The Pessimist’s Guide to Babies is a kinda funny account of how to deal with a new baby, meant mostly for new parents who have not yet discovered, for example, that breastfeeding sucks.

Here’s one of the sections I liked better than others, on baby registries:  Continue reading

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On Writing and Habits

I am a writer

I am a writer.  And maybe what a writer does with her unexpected free time (due to pregnancy insomnia), is to open up a new document and write a little about writing.

This is part of a new undertaking I am attempting.  I’ve always failed at habit making.  The usual techniques never work for me – a “chain” on my calendar make me want to break it after a little while.  The idea of doing something “forever” makes my breath shorten and has me feeling caged.  Even something as simple as getting dressed in the morning can’t be a true habit for me – I want to decide every day if I really want to.  Some days I just can’t, and spending the day in pajamas is much more appealing.  So I do.  (Clearly, I work at home.) Continue reading

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Blog Update

I haven’t messed with this for a while, so I figured it was about time I updated this. It’s a pretty big change. First, the theme is different. This might change yet again, as I haven’t decided if I like it or not.

Second, I got rid of the “schedule” since we all know that I just don’t have one right now.

Third, I messed with the categories. I want to do more posts on food and parenting, which is to say, any posts on food or parenting. I’d also like to write more on writing, but that didn’t fit my “f” theme I had going on the menu bar. I dunno, that might be a little too cute. That might go away.

Only thing I haven’t done? Written a blog post. I guess that means I should do that at some point…

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August 17, 2011 · 2:29 pm

State of the eReader

When the nook first came out, I fell in love. It was the first e-reader I’d found that I could actually use and enjoy. I still have it, and though it’s suffered a hairline crack in the page turn button from sheer overuse, in many ways it’s better today than the day I bought it, thanks to excellent software updates along the way.

That’s not to say that it’s still the best reader out there.

(insert collective gasps here)

In fact, I’d say that there really isn’t a “best” reader to buy right now, but a whole lot of options for different reading habits. There’s too many for me to look at all of them here, but I did take a look at the most recent and most common readers available for people in the US. Here’s my short, quick and easy shopping guide: Continue reading

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Filed under Books, Gadgets/Code, Media

Solving Depression

Depression happens when you acknowledge the difference between your ideal and real life. Continue reading

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Aeryn’s “Stealth Geek” Blanket

My husband and I are big on stealth geek. What is that, you say? Well, I’d be breaking the rules to tell you.

Yeah ok, all it means is very geeky things that don’t, at first glance, seem like very geeky things. For example, we named our daughter Aeryn. There’s a lot of different ways to spell Aeryn (Erin, Arin, Aaron, etc.), but we chose that way for a reason.

So when it was time to start making a baby blanket for Aeryn, there was really only one choice. Serenity, a beautiful free pattern on Ravelry. It’s a leaf pattern, and the quote on the page is “Like a leaf on the wind…”

Excellent. Continue reading

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God Speaks (in free verse, apparently)

(Note: This was a rant-turned-ramble-turned-kindafreeverseything I wrote at 4 in the morning. Just to warn you.)

God Speaks.

He does.

This is a very inconvenient fact, and we Christians have been doing our level best to work around this for years. In America, we’ve built up a whole defense system around the idea, feeling quite under attack by it.

Does He speak? Is the question. And Christian Americans try not to answer.

We hem and haw in a pattern that sounds like this:

Does He speak? After a fashion.

We say.

He speaks, yes, but not in the way that you’re thinking.

What am I thinking? You know, speaking aloud. Actually saying words, in fact. Continue reading

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Hunger Games: Why in the world did I love this book?

I’m confused.

Not that this isn’t a normal state for me, but this time I have a reason. I loved a book that I wasn’t supposed to.

Continue reading

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