Welcome Back!

Hello Again,

It has been a couple of YEARS since I updated my blog.

Here is an update.

1.) My computer died a tragic death. 

2.) I couldn't afford another one

3.) I have two other jobs on top of Barnes & Noble that keep me hopping.

4.) I forgot about my own blog

5.) I am still reading.

Let's start with my job situation. 

I am definitely still a barista at Barnes & Noble. I still love it. It's crazy to think that I have been there for 4 years and am about to start my 5th. I am still in love with my co-workers and I definitely still love my books. 

But now I am also employed at my local community college in the Test Center. Basically, I hand out tests to the students and proctor exams. 

My third job is ... I am Editor-In-Chief at Line By Lion Publications. We are a small-press publishing company and we specialize in creating a quality book with the author at the center.

Remember how I always said that if it was possible, I would drop everything to join the Renaissance Faire? Well that is how I met my amazing boss, Amanda. Naturally, where does my eye land at any Renaissance Faire? The books. I was wandering around Blackrock Medieval Fest by myself (no one was able to go with me that day) and I meandered into this tent. I couldn't believe how amazing the company sounded. There's a broad selection of all types of genres from children's books to graphic novels to cyberpunk fiction. I had casually brought up about how I was looking for a job in the publishing field as an editor and she immediately started telling me about the opportunity available to do just that. Then I said that I really wanted to work at the Ren Faire and she asked me to come back the next weekend to WORK for her. It was amazing.

Naturally, I am already rambling. 

This photo was from my first weekend working with her. As you can see, my little friend on my shoulder is my faithful companion, Mystery the Dragon. Although, I advise extreme caution before going out and hatching a dragon. They're notorious for sneezing sparks and they are complete bed-hogs.
Anyway, I look forward to sharing my adventures as an Editor with you all. 

Next, I want to share with you all that I am severely sorry for forgetting about this blog. Time ran away from me. I never replaced a computer which only exacerbated that problem and now here we are, a couple of years later and a grotesquely overdue posting. 

I am here before you on my knees (figuratively) and begging for your forgiveness. 

*stands back up* 

So ... do you want to know what I've been reading? If I gave you a list from the past two years, we'd never leave this place, so let's just stick with what I am currently trapped in. 

Yes, indeed! I am finally on George R.R. Martin's fifth book in the Song Of Ice and Fire series. Will I be around for book six? No one knows. ;) I'm pretty sure that George is going to outlive us all and no one will have any idea what we were all excited about by the time that Winds of Winter is released. 

I love how he writes. He has so many characters and yet he makes it so easy to keep track of all of them. It's fascinating. Danaerys has made some momentous changes in her life since she began her story with Khal Drogo in book one. Tyrion is as feisty and clever as ever. Cersei ... well, I still kinda can't stand her, but I've also come to sympathize with her too. Then of course Jon Snow is always worth reading because life on the Wall with Ghost can't be an easy life

(Before anyone starts cringing and thinking I don't know what happens ... I have seen the show and I don't completely live in a cave. I know what happened. I am in DENIAL. But I know what happened)

Now the next book that I have been reading is in the Young Adult genre. I ... THINK ... it's supposed to be a romance, but as of yet, I don't see it. 

So far, from what I have seen, Kestrel is the daughter of a wealthy and very successful General. She's been raised to join the military herself. But she ... is only so-so at combat and much more impressive when playing at the piano. One day while she is out with a friend, she sees a slave up for auction. Something about him catches her attention and she bids and wins. The man's name is Arin. But there's something about him that Kestrel doesn't know about yet. And it could affect her entire life if he succeeds. 

I just don't see the chemistry between them. It seems like they play a board game in the evenings and then she ignores him during the day. I guess I have to give this more of a chance though. After all, this is only book one in a trilogy. 

All right, that's all for now. 

Let me get back into the swing of things. I haven't written in a long time. Give me a break. 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself

Taryn 

My Mini Midweek Vacation

We are kicking off our Get Pop Cultured Week at work. 

Basically, we're having several days where we're celebrating almost everything in pop culture. There's going to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle day, a Comic Con preview day (I think), Frozen Friday (yes, the movie), and more. 

On the 19th of this month, there's a Get Pop Cultured costume day. And it has been strongly advised that as employees ... we  have to dress up. 

I was even offered money to help go and MAKE a costume if I needed to. There was no way I could do that. 

Therefore, I made the decision to take my two days available off work to disappear to Grand Rapids to raid the thrift stores for costume ideas. 

I landed on doing the cosplay that I really wanted to do for JAFAX next year. 

I decided to dress up as Ponyo's mom from Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo. She's the Mother of the Sea and she's in charge of ALL the oceans and its inhabitants and she basically sets her husband straight when he tries to control their daughter in the movie. She was just so cool. So I decided to go as her. All I need is a dress, a wig, makeup, costume jewelry, the works. 

Go thrift stores! 

<---- Ponyo's mother as she arrives on the scene.

And the second photo featured here is Ponyo's mother at the END of the movie. So you can kinda see where I'm going with the costume. It looks simple ... but she has little elements that are going to be difficult to pull off. Like her very specific jewelry. For the 19th, I may have to skip the necklace, but I KNOW I can pull off her headpiece. I've seen some pretty phenomenal cosplay for her so far, so I hope I can pull this off. The end result should look SOMETHING like this ...

Then, to complete the look, I'm going to create my own little Ponyo and her sisters for me to carry around. THAT secret I am not revealing in my blog until I create the final product. I'm not very artsy or crafty and the way I'm creating Ponyo ... not giving it up until I know what it looks like. All I know is that after my day of shopping today ...I'm feeling a bit more confident about this more and more. 

Sometimes, I wonder why I wasn't ever MORE crafty. If I could suddenly learn how to make something or create something that was actually pretty epic, I would leave everything and travel the Renaissance Faire circuit as a career. I really would. I'd be awesome at it and I know I'd love it. Travelling from place to place, meeting new people, seeing new cities, and .... being able to watch a joust on a semi-regular basis? Yeah, that would be heaven. The only thing I think I'd miss was the regular-ness of life and being near a Biggby or Barnes & Noble. 

With the Renaissance Faire season fast upon us all, it just gets me more amped up to go again. I love the ren faire. I just love it. *sighs happily* 

With my writing, I have drastically been improving the original draft. I've got a decent bad guy and he has MOTIVE for hating the main characters now. So yay me. Also, I have some motivation to keep going. I always got kind of bored with rewriting and re-editing. So I had a feeling that my readers would get bored as well. When I had finally figured out the fatal flaw ... which was the bad guy having no reason to even BE a bad guy, I feel like life has been given to the pages of the novel. I haven't brought him in yet, but he's been mentioned and it makes me type that much faster until he arrives on the scene in all his red-haired, topaz-eyed, twitchy glory. ^_^ 

There have been many instances where I have been so into a novel and mostly it's when I'm reading one ... but now? I'm feeling it for the one I'm writing. What a difference! 

So it just means that I sit in a lot of coffee shops, drinking chai lattes or large pots of Glitter and Gold tea while typing furiously at a keyboard.

It has just been an interesting couple of weeks. 

I think it's time to put this blog post to bed, however. What do you think? As a close, I will tell you the books I am on the brink of beginning. Yay books! 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is about the lives of two very different people. A concierge who would rather not deal with people at all, but has a secret passion for life and a fear of pursuing it. And a 12 year old child prodigy who hides her true nature from everyone around her to maintain the visage of 'normalcy'. Together, they learn more about themselves and each other.
That's really all I know so far about this book, but it's been on my To Read list for a while and for our August's book club, we're reading it. 

Half Bad by Sally Green is about the battle between good and evil in this teen novel about a young boy named Nathan. He's trapped in the middle of an ongoing fight between White and Black witches. 

Again, that's all I really know. THIS one was an ARC I found at work and pretty much I just looked at the cover and said 'Sure, why not?' because of course that's how I roll. I'm a cover judger. I admit it. 

So those are the books that I am finally going to be beginning. Let me know in the comments if you've read these before or if you've heard anything about them. I'm always anxious to talk books and share ideas. 

Until I write to you again ...

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself

Taryn

Going For It....

Cheers for writing! 

Ever since I fixed my novel and it's no longer left with a GAPING plot hole that I'm sure a meteor could have flown through easily, I have been rewriting and writing like crazy. A friend of mine and myself decided that we've had enough of the rejection letters and the long drawn out wait to even find a literary agent. 
Together, we've decided that we're going to just WRITE our novels and then we'll trade the novels in chunks and slowly edit them between themselves. Then we're going to go through the self publishing route. After all, Jennifer Armintrout, my super amazing author friend SWEARS by this route because your book remains YOUR property. 
Or something like that. Maybe I'll have to ask her again. Get some more info. 

Maybe the next time I'm able to get to her Writer's Group. 

Meanwhile, maybe I will try to share one of my fanfiction pieces. Because my obsession with the Mortal Instruments only grows now that I have finished the final book. All I want is Alec and Magnus to be happy ... or at least I wish that Alec was MINE. (Oh yeah, Ashy. I said it. Alec is mine. Deal with it) 

True to form, I have absolutely no idea what I'm really writing about tonight. It's something that kind of bothers me. Maybe one day when I have my head screwed on straight, I'll be able to actually come up with some sort of idea to post weekly here. Am I right? 

Granted, I WAS just telling a dear friend of mine from Barnes & Noble that in my world, I have no deadlines, due dates, or scary things. I live on a cloud. And all the clouds are made of cotton candy and it rains chocolate. The trees are made of cupcakes and the leaves that fall from the trees are rainbow sprinkles. Bunnies, unicorns, and all things fuzzy are the co-habitants of this world and everything is happy. All the time. 

How could you NOT want to live in a world filled with these little guys? 
The real world is a scary place. In my head ... my world is WAY better. *laughs*

I think that's why I feel like I really connect with the main character in the novel I am currently reading. 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 
It tells the story of a young girl named Cath who ... is starting college with her twin sister Wren. Wren doesn't want to be her sister's roommate. She wants to be her own person. And Cath? She's nervous and anxious and scared (all of the above are different feelings. Trust me). Her roommate, Reagan is kind of anti-Cath and she has a boyfriend who's around ALL the time. She hasn't even had the courage to face the cafeteria. And her sister ... is nowhere to be found when Cath needs her. She just feels ... alone. So she retreats to a book obsession and a book world where everything makes sense to her. Fanfiction, forums, and writing are her escape. But ... soon ... as we all do, Cath is going to have to face the real world and step away from the fandom and look towards her future. 

I'm aware that we can't live in a happy, fuzzy bunny world all the time. I am very well aware of this fact. 
But the world we live in isn't easy. The lights are dulled and the air feels cold; the sky is unwelcoming and people are unfriendly. It's loud and dark and harsh. 

But there is a light we CAN grab onto. God gave me a gift when he gave me a good family, an amazing circle of friends, and of course ... my books and imagination. Without these things, I'm sure I wouldn't have survived my OWN experiences in college. Both at Kalamazoo Valley and at Cornerstone. 

I wish that I could say that one day I stood up and said 'No more hiding', but that isn't true. 
And because I know myself ... I know that that will never happen. A part of me will always be caught in two different places. One foot in someplace where I can disappear to in my own head (my writing world) and the other foot in reality that I HAVE to face on a daily basis. And ... that's okay. 

Whoa did that get intense. Thanks for hanging onto the ride there. 
Maybe that's just the mood I'm in. I don't know. 
Well, my store is closing so I've got to take off. I'll try to write you again soon. Don't cry. Don't sniffle. Don't be sad. I promise that I won't sound so .... depressing next time. 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn

Nearly Here

July 2nd is nearly here and THAT my friends is the next meeting of the Barnes & Noble Book Club that I now ... am the leader of. 

First off, I was like 'Whoa, when did this happen?' and Second, I was like 'All right. What improvements can I make?' 

For one, I'm making an even BIGGER effort than ever to read and complete each monthly selection. I managed to keep up when I had read Frog Music by Emma Donoghue and now I am working on the selection due for that day. 

The Here And Now by Ann Brashares is about a girl named Prenna and her friends and family who are living here in the 21st Century but they're originally from ... some thousand years in the future. In HER time, Earth has been devastated by a disease caused by mosquitoes and through the miracle of time travel, they have traveled back to our time and try to avoid suspicion from the Time Natives, otherwise known as people who shouldn't suspect them in our time period. 

Basically, they have a list of 12 rules they have to follow to avoid detection and of course one of them is ... not to ever fall in love with a Time Native. Which she does. 

So far, I find the book a bit tedious and dull. Prenna does everything that she can possibly do that would GET HER CAUGHT breaking the rules, yet she stupidly looks around like 'What? How on earth did that happen?' It makes me scream at the book 'Well of COURSE your best friend was taken away. You were telling her things where you KNEW the leaders of your little community can OVERHEAR YOU, YOU MORON!' 

Needless to say, I think the book could have been a THOUSAND times better if Ann Brashares had actually taken the TIME to write the book properly. At least develop the plot a little more. 

On my 1 to 5 scale, I give this book ... 

Give it a rest, Ann! You're forcing them out as fast as possible and you're ruining your talent. 

Still, simply from the leader of a book club ... I will remain impartial as I come up with some discussion questions for it. 

And isn't it odd how I got on a roll for ... however long it was where I wrote every Monday and Wednesday without fail and recently, it has been on Tuesdays and Thursdays? I don't know why ... but it had suddenly dawned on me that I had switched the blog up to this. Have there been any objections to this? Let me know! 

Meanwhile, I just go about my life, doing my own thing ... 

Although, I really wish that Avatar the Last Airbender was on Netflix. I really miss the episodes in Book 3 when Sokka, Katara, and Aang first go into the Fire Nation. Mostly because Sokka is HILARIOUS. 

See what I mean? I blame one of my besties, Emily. She apparently has been on an Avatar binge so every now and then I think of funny quotes and post them on her wall. 

Well, I should probably let this lie for a while. This where my mind goes, I tell you. 

Maybe I just need more tea. 

Oooh! I should get a cup of Rooibos. Drink ALL the tea. 

OR ... maybe I need a tea that will give my brain a jolt. To get me back on track. I'll have to go through that tea book some more. Maybe it will talk about a couple of types. Meanwhile, let me think of a new topic to talk about ... thinking .... thinking .... think, think ... think ... think think *sits in chair like Winnie the Pooh* 

I've GOT IT! 

So you know that really weird feeling you get when you think you've forgotten something, but you can't put your finger on it. And it slowly starts to get to you until you feel like you've gone completely mad? 

That was a customer in here yesterday. She was panicking because she lost her car keys. In the store. A whole bunch of us were fanning out and looking all over in the area where she was SURE she'd lost them. After maybe 20 minutes, she STILL hasn't found them. I even looked all over on top and underneath the shelves she was browsing when she was sure she lost her keys. 

I finally asked her 'Why don't you check your purse one more times?' She gave me a look that clearly told me 'do you think I'm stupid?' but she did anyway. This time, I noticed there was another pocket on the front of her purse. I point it out. She says 'No. They wouldn't be in there' I asked 'Are you sure?' Again, I got that look. That one that speaks volumes and is understood without saying a word. I simply looked back. She sighed and opened up that front pocket. Guess what? She found her keys. 

She told me over and over and over that she was so thankful that I had helped her find them. 

It reminded me about ALL the times that I was sure that I had lost or misplaced or forgot about something that was never going to come back to me. And I know we've ALL had these moments and you realize that whatever it was ... was right in front of you the entire time. 

When we panic, we don't look properly. We just give it a cursory glance and then look EVERYWHERE else. So here's some other advice that I need to remember to give myself. Because it works for everyone no matter what the problem is. Let's look close to home first. Usually, that's where it is. 

And let's try to throw that one phrase out the window ... you know the one

Question: "Where was the last place you saw it?" 

Answer: "Well if I KNEW that, I wouldn't be LOOKING for it" 

All right, I'm really going now....

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself

Taryn

Ran For All It Was Worth

And yes, I AM talking about the Cheetah Chase.
On Friday night, my friend came over to stay the night since we figured it would just be easier to carpool to the zoo. I'm really glad we did now. 

5:55am - The alarm went off. 

6:20am- We finally got on the road. 

7:00am- Arrive at the nearby High School to wait for the shuttle. So. Much. Traffic. 

7:40am- Still on the shuttle and finally getting dropped off to go get our numbers and tote bags and t-shirts, ran DOWN the hill to the Bag check to STORE our bags and then get in the Runners group for the race to begin.

8:00am - the race is ON! 

And no, you can't see me anywhere in this. I was NOT at the front of the pack. I just wanted to show from that angle just HOW many people were there. 
According to the Binder Park page, more than 1500 people participated in the Run/Walk this year. 

I even saw a few people I KNEW while running. That part was really cool. I was like 'Oh hey! Sara!' and 'Hey Katey, fancy seeing you here' and 'Oh! Look! There goes Chris'. 

I thought a couple of times I was going to have to stop and walk or just stop in general, but I was listening to my WCSG radio app on my phone for the entire run and when I was running up a particularly awful hill and that 'stopping' thought entered my head ... THIS song came on. 

And then, the final time, I thought I was going to stop ... I had just spotted the sign that said we were at Mile 3. By that point, I was like ... um ... no, that would be dumb. There's no way that I can't make it now ALL the way to the end. 
I finished in 48 minutes. I felt so proud of myself. 

OHHH ... and later when I was on the Binder Park Zoo Facebook page, I found THIS picture. 

<--- See that little striped shoulder and the ear right behind this blue shirted girl? That's me. LOL! 





That kind of made my day. I'm not going to lie. I kept going through all the pictures to see if I could find my bestie who finished 3 minutes before me, but she must have been super speedy because I can't find one. 

Then on Sunday, my bestie and I went to JAFAX which is basically a cosplay convention for Anime, Manga, Pop Culture, and Comic Books. There are panels that convene, talking about various topics from Anime Speed Dating (no joke), designing your own Kimono and Hakama, and Trivia about Anime. Then there are the vendors! It's kind of like going to the Renaissance Faire. Every vendor is different and selling different things and all of them make you drool as you stare in wonder at all the pretty things. 
There's one thing that I have ALWAYS wanted though. An Alcapasso. This 'stuffed animal' is a popular collectible in Japan and very difficult to track down ... even on the Internet for a decent price. And at JAFAX, they have them. I had been saving and saving all year to get one. They're basically alpacas, but some are dressed like pirates, some are big, some are small and most are rare. I got one of the new minis wearing the lacy ribbons. 

They have no website! And most that I have ever been able to find for sale are by sellers online IN Japan and the shipping fees are horrendous. They're just so STINKING cute. 

ANYWAY ... now that I have bored you to death with talk about my find at JAFAX, I can move on to stuff I found at work. 

There's a book that I want to get for the ChocolaTea that's called Tea Sommelier. In it, it talks about the various uses for tea, what kinds are available and how they are steeped. It even talks about what foods would be best for drinking certain teas. 
And since I am sitting at Barnes and Noble and reading this book, I will enlighten you all with a little blurb about a certain type of Chinese Green Tea. 

Tai Ping Hou Kui 

Typically, this particular green tea is found in China at the foot of Huang Shan mountains. During processing, this type of tea takes on a very unique shape. It's unusually long, has flattened leaves and can measure up to 6 inches in length. 
I actually like the color of this leaf. It's a very rich, brilliant green. The flavor of the tea is reminiscent of the orchid and is surprisingly sweet. 
Generally, the tea is recommended to be steeped for about 3 minutes to really develop its full flavor.
So far, I have yet to discover if ChocolaTea offers it as one of its teas and I will explore this so I can give you a full report on where it can be located. 

TeaSpring <---- Or you can visit this website for more information and even to order it in ounces if you so desire. 

What I found absolutely fascinating about this tea is that it was given the recommendation to drink it alone. With no particular food because it already had such a unique flavor. It has made me fascinated with this tea AND this book. But half off a lot of money is still a lot of money, so if the book is still here when I write the next blog post, I will give you another tea fact from it. I want this book. Just saying. 

After all, if one is going to learn about tea, one has to understand the true spirit of tea. So further study is required. 

I do believe that is all I have to say at the moment. I wish you all well. 

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn