Are We Allowed To Have Co-Writers? PLEASE!!

This message is brought to you by Audrey, of course. Please welcome Audrey. Now welcome our guest star, who Audrey has just said was the inspiration to this post, her sister, Lois.

Yes, that's right, my sister will be joining us today. (I hope that's okay Ms. Robbins!)

Meet Lois: I rock more than you.
Yeah, that's her.

Okay so I was thinking tonight about how right now as we all apply to high school and what not it must seem to us like we're the only ones who are feeling stressed out. But today, I was aware of Lois who is in 5th grade and how stressed she was too.

Okay so this is Lois now. Today in school we read a book about someone who died of stress. I was feeling sick so I was a bit tuned out but heard the words "died" and "stress". Yikes. It made me more stressed and then my teacher told us all it was post-war stress. Like CIVIL war stress. Whew. Not like Homework stress.

Yeah, that's my sister, the future historian. She has to compare everything to something in history, whether it makes sense or not. But I love her anyway.

Thank you, Lois.

It's Audrey now. So Lois and I are definitely really close. We just spent about an hour going through a giant box of old notebooks and folders from past years in school. It was so much fun to reminisce and just relax with each other, but I was also thinking a lot about how much stress I felt last year and now that it's over I almost feel like I was being silly feeling stressed about the things I was stressed about.

I just totally veered off the main subject, but what I'm really trying to say is a lot of tonight was Lois and I talking to each other about how stressed out she is. I was trying to tell her about all the times that I've felt worried and scared about the future and she was talking about the same thing. (Don't worry this does have to do with reading. But then again, I say that every week. OKAY!)

Back to you, Lois.

The feeling of being relived of stress is like being drafted into an army right before a major battle then being told you can go home. When I feel stressed, I feel scared and unsafe. I feel better in my mom or dad or mom AND dads arms. So then I feel sick. God, I wish you were there to witness me and Auds talking. Now I'm not sure if I want you to read this but hey- if any thing goes wrong I delete the post and brainwash you. I'm sure there's an iPhone app for brainwashing people right?

Okay so Lois keeps taking like an hour to type one paragraph and I keep trying to take the computer away from her to have her talk and me type. She just turned to me and went, "Sh! This is a nice moment!" Cute.

So here's my connection with reading. As I was sitting with Lois on her bed she said to me something that immediately made me think, "Blog Post!!" She said to me, and I quote, "Whenever there's a moment in my life whether I'm happy or sad, I try to compare it to a book that I've read, being the reader that I am. Right now, I just can't for some reason!" And then my mom who butts into everything poked her head into the room and said, "Well maybe you have to write it yourself!"

Which made me think. People go to books for comfort, for stress relieving and for relaxation. (Or atleast I hope!) I never thought that of the hundreds of billions of trillions of books that there are in the world you would never have to be put into the position where you couldn't find a book that related to you in the slightest. Does that kind of, sort of, maybe just a little bit??

Back to you Lois.

Just don't forget I'm awesome.

You're ruining my moment here!! -Audrey.

Right, so.

I like to think of myself as more of a writer then I am a reader, but still a loving reader. Of course. The thing is though, it never actually occurred to me to stop looking for a book and write it instead. When we search for books to match what we're looking for, it sure can come close to what we were searching for, but not exactly the thing. Why not just create your own book or writing to match what you have in mind. Whether it is to help with your stress, or whether it is to just enjoy yourself, either is fine.

Also, it doesn't have to just be writing and reading. It can be anything you're searching for. If you ever find yourself in a position where you aren't seeing what you you were looking for, make it yourself. I find it so much better making it yourself because this way, you can have everything you were looking for right there in front of you.

I honestly do hope that this post was not something completely confusing and unpleasant to read. I do want to end 2010 on a good note.

And, may I say, here's to another great year of blogging about reading, life, and everything beyond.

Lois fell asleep a while ago, but let's acknowledge her presence anyway.

Thanks Lo!

It's Taken Me Hours To Come Up With A Title, Ooh! Got One!

Before I jump in, this is so funny, my dad is sitting across the room from me on his computer and I think he's blogging too. We keep typing at the same time and then stopping at the same time to read over our writing and then starting at the same time again. It's weird! Okay, or maybe he's tweeting, I think he has a Twitter which is so weird because I don't think dad's are supposed to have Twitters. I think that might be illegal or something.

Here we imagine the torn cover of Audrey's favorite book of all times. She is embarrassed because she is a bit behind schedule in reading it. According to the inside cover the annual reading of Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume begins in November and ends a day later because she LOVES IT SO MUCH.

Also according to the inside cover, my 3rd grade handwriting states the following words:
Times I've Read This Book!

And, written in many different colors because obviously I do not use the same pen every time I read this book, states that I have in fact read it 12 times. Which if you can figure out means I don't always follow my schedule completely, sometimes I read it 3 times a year. (But the other two times I don't count because that wouldn't be fair.)

Well what I thought was so weird about reading it this time was realizing that I have never, ever underlined or written in this book at all. Don't worry, this is NOT going to be another one of those posts where all I talk about is writing in books. I've had one-too-many of those. But just as a quick note, if I may, I just thought it was so funny that of all 12 times my eyes have looked over the words on each page I have not once written a smiley face or a heart or just underlined a line from the goodness of my heart because I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Get it? I'm totally in LOVE with this book.

So I was thinking yesterday about the reasons why I love this book, doesn't it seem a little weird how much I love it? Yeah, I think so too. And the fact that I love it so much but I have never honestly thought about why I love it? Okay now this is just getting insane.

Right, okay I'm trying not to go crazy with love for this book and I'm trying really hard to figure out why I love it so much.

Here are the reasons I can think of right now, I will be sure to let you know if any others pop into my head.
1) At first, my mom wouldn't let me read it. Neither would the mean librarian at 321 when I tried to sneak it out of the library. Maybe the fact that I knew I couldn't read it made we want it even more, which made it even more satisfying when I could read it, meaning that every time I read it I remember how exciting it was for me to finally read it. Does that make sense?

2) The voice of Margaret always reminded me of my own, and no matter how old I get I always see a little bit of myself in Margaret.

3) I envy Margaret and her big house and perfect friends. I envied her parties and school dances and how cool her mom was.

4) I love how real her conflicts were.

5) I love how the book wasn't just all fun and easy, but when there were issues they weren't so overwhelming that I couldn't bare it.

*****

1) Five seems like such a few amount of reasons, but I like them. I feel like there is so much to be unpacked in each one. The first reason is so funny, so cute, so innocent. But really it means much more then just something silly, I'm sure my curiosity and them mystery of the book itself is what made me want to read it even more in the first place. (And what made me love it so much!)

2) What I think is so amazing is that after I read that book I not only fell in Margaret but I also fell in love with Judy Blume. I read almost all of her books and the thing I loved and still do love the most about her writing is how connected the voices she created for her characters were. She managed to give them all different personality but she never changed the voice she wrote in. So these characters had physical traits, sure Judy Blume created that for them. But I always saw them as the same people because they all sounded the same. I have still yet to determine whether that's to be considered a good or bad thing. Or both?

Yikes and I forgot this but hey, I'm adding it in now!! After I read all of Judy Blume's books I fell in love with writing myself and the first stories I ever wrote I tried to copy her voice! Sometimes I look in old folders and documents on the computer and see how cute I was, writing in a way that sounded just like Margaret.

3) I love New York City, but I've always been so curious and interested in life in the suburbs. I take back what I said before, I don't envy the house and life that Margaret lived. I envied that she got to experience it and discover is and all I get to do is read. But then again, what better thing to do when you can't have it in real life? Okay I take that back, I LOVE READING.

(I'm feeling a lot of love. Isn't it weird?!)

4) Some books you come across all have the same conflict and I for one find it really, really annoying. Don't get me wrong, whatever the conflict is I'm sure I love it and I'm sure I want to read about it. But come on, people, I want something different! Well lucky for me Margaret lives with a problem that up until I had read the book I had never even thought of. I loved how I was able to read and think about it, I loved that it was different, but I also loved that it didn't completely scare me. Which ties into...

5) Margaret's problem is difficult as every one is. Duh! It's hard and complicating to think about but that's okay because no matter how intense it gets Judy Blume always remembers to add in something just in time to let you feel happy again. Maybe not something that will solve the problem, no probably not. But definitely a little change of direction just for the time being so that you aren't totally freaked out. Does that sound weird? :)

So I hope this post wasn't too crazy. I'm feeling so energetic about reading this book and I almost feel like I've been rushing through this post so that I can get back to reading.

First I should maybe start the rest of my homework.

Or maybe I'll read THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOK first. What do you think?

What To Do When You Have Nothing To Write About And What It Means.

I must have just deleted 100 different drafts for this one blog post. I know exactly what I'm going to write about but I have no idea how to say it. HELP! I never have writer's block!

Okay, I'm going to try.

Since the very beginning of last year I've managed to say once in each of my blog posts of how much of a perfectionist I am. I think I wrote one just about my experience of cleaning my room every weekend and finding old books along the way. Yikes.

Maybe it's a good thing that I live on so many structures and plans, or maybe it's bad thing, that my need for everything to be in order is what makes me so stressed all the time. My point is, just like everything else my reading life is over course structured and follows many plans and rules.

I have this theory that after finishing a very large, difficult book you are obligated to read a small, easy book. It's a way of relaxing and of course a way of treating yourself to an old favorite after you worked oh so very hard on that previous book.

There are many books that I will treat my self to, but the book I constantly find "treating" myself to is Are You There God, It's Me Margaret.

Okay. Fine. Yes I cannot stop writing about this book, yes this is probably the 80th time I have written a blog post about it, MAYBE I am having so much writer's block that I feel as though I need to return to this subject with new thoughts because I know I will always have something to say about it, MAYBE I am about to paste the link to the first blog post I ever wrote last year in 7th grade and MAYBE, just MAYBE it is about this very book...

http://lostinreading.blogspot.com/2009/11/rereading.html

Well goodbye then, enjoy!

No I'm just kidding.

I realize now that for the first time in my reading life I am off schedule on something! According to my reading life calender I am supposed to read Are You There God every September! And it's December! And I feel like if I have nothing to write about in thinking about my reading, then maybe I need to switch to something that I know will allow me to think, even though according to the tallies in the inside cover I have read it 12 times!

Another note, just because one of my rules says I need to only read easy, short books when I'm done with a hard, large one doesn't mean I can add another one with even more logical meaning.

To add on my list of rules about reading, you don't have to read easy books after hard ones. If you're stuck and have nothing to write about, meaning you are not taking in what is in your book to take in, then go not just for an easy book but for a book that you love and you know you will always have thoughts for. Because technically, Are You There God is not so much as an easy book as it is a book that I'm used to because I've read it so many times.

So listen. You don't always need excuses to read light books like ones by Judy Blume. Sometimes it's nice to just be able to pick up an old favorite and coast through it in an hour. While I know I revolve everything around perfection and rules and order in my life it doesn't mean I never sit down and simply enjoy myself. Isn't that what reading's all about? Ease, enjoyment, relaxation?

I know that this blog is an assignment. I know. But when you love the book you're reading you don't mind thinking about it, you don't mind sharing it to others! Now whenever I feel like I don't know what to write for an entry I'll ask myself if I'm really in a good place in my reading life and whether or not I need to make a change that will make it easier to enjoy myself and easier to think about the things I should be thinking about.

How's this for someone who thought they had nothing to write about?!