writer
My mom is in town, and it’s been so great! She has graciously been helping around the house and that’s meant lots of cleaning and errand running, and also lots of huge improvements to every day life. I’ll post more of the whole apartment later, but check out the before and after of this not new but definitely improved bookcase!
Huge difference, right?
Arya, also known as The Coolest Person You Wish You Were, is back and wins this week’s episode of Game of Thrones. We find her on the run after she escapes from almost certain death by bargaining with a man who will kill whoever she wants. I love Arya’s spunk. While sitting down to dinner with her kidnapper (rescuer? It’s not clear), she doesn’t hesitate to pull out her sword and challenge a man about three times her size.
I think Arya gives everyone a run for their money. If she were working/playing in the city today, here’s what she might wear.
She wore a lot of green this episode to blend into the woods. You can also wear it to stand out as a go-getter. Arya’s jewelry hints at the bones she could crush if she wanted. Her clutch doubles as a weapon–just in case. Her shoes are sensible, of course, so she can chase you if she needs to.
As Arya runs errands on the weekend, she casually throw on her fur–she is a daughter of the wolf after all. Her necklace is made up of the bones and teeth of lesser (wo)men. Her shoes have spikes because she had to leave her sword at home. She’s got everything she needs in her tote bag, including running shoes for a quick trip to anywhere.
Have you guys heard of Mark? He reads. And watches. And just generally does stuff. And it’s awesome.
Mark is a blogger who, in his words, runs in an online book (or TV) club where everyone but him has read the book (or seen the show). He reviews things chapter by chapter, and episode by episode, and picks series or books that are generally pretty big in pop culture but that he hasn’t had any exposure to. It’s so much fun.
I found Mark when someone asked me if I heard of this guy reading Harry Potter for the first time online. Obviously, I was interested. He started this adventure by reading Twilight after it became the It Book of the week (year? decade? oof). After that, he moved on to Harry Potter, and then on to, well, a lot more. He now runs two main sites–Mark Reads and Mark Watches–along with videos, Mark Plays, and attending conferences and blogger events all over the country.
I love reading (and watching) with Mark. His background is so very different from my own and I love hearing his perspective. I, like Mark, also like to read the newest phenomenon to see what everyone is talking about. And hearing him talk about the same things I’m reading with an entirely new view helps me learn and grow.
I’m so impressed with him. He’s created his own blogging business and truly seems to make the most of it. And it works because he’s totally, completely, and sincerely himself. And he is an open, friendly, caring person who focuses on making his sites a safe space for all. No spoilers are allowed on anything Mark does, and neither are slurs or derogatory language of any kind. He also does the best he can to make his products and his events free or a very low price so everyone can come. I admire his reading and writing, but most of all I admire his spirit.
Last week, Mark came to New York on his tour. And I got to go! It was a blast. He read some terrible fan fiction and just hung out with his readers. Everyone who came was kind and enthusiastic, much like Mark himself. One of my goals this year is to plan an event, in the hopes of being able to actually host one in the future. I’d be lucky if it were anything like Mark’s.
And yes, I did forget to take pictures. But you can see a video of him reading the letter Regarding Twilight Sparkle at our event. (language–and topic?–nsfw)
Ok, I know it’s technically not quite the end of March. But I’d like to save the actual last day of March to post my latest embroidery, which isn’t exactly finished yet. So I’m counting it close enough to declare the month in review! The top viewed posts from March were….
Here’s some pictures from this month. (you can follow me on instagram at raenudson)
March has been a good one. I had a great vacation and made progress on a lot of projects. It went by really fast. Are you guys ready for April!?
I’ve got the Destiny’s Child playlist going, and I’ve got the snacks out.
We are ready for this game. Happy Sunday!
I’m losing my mind.
New York, I love you, and we’re struggling. It’s a mess out there. Half the city has no lights, people are desperately trying to get back to work and back to normal, and we can’t. It’s impossible.
I have it way way way better than most. I’ve got electricity, and my health, and my cat. We’re all good. And I’m still about to lose it. Work is a mess–we’re working from home the best we can, but systems are down, employees have no power, and our building was flooded. Plus, what train would take me to the city to work? I’m so thankful I have a job where I can work from home, and that my income doesn’t depend on a three-hour commute on a crowded bus. I’m very worried for people who need to get do a doctor, or refill a prescription. I’m just about out of food, and I’m a little afraid to enter the supermarket scene.
My friends are scattered. I’ve never felt this far away from them. We used to be separated by a quick train ride through a tunnel and now it feels like oceans. Might as well be. My friends downtown are still in the dark.
And what about those who lost their homes, and their loved ones? How do you even begin to pick up the pieces?
It’s gonna be a long road, New York. But what else can we do? You can see it on people’s faces: the exasperation, the tiredness. And also the kindness. My neighborhood bar isn’t able to have their usual menu, so they ordered everyone pizza. The coffee shop is crowded with people chatting, trying to get out of their house, get their life back together. Sandy is the only topic of conversation.
The worst might be over. But I am exhausted.
Yikes! Two days you guys. This is the view from my couch
Yes, that is a jar of cookie butter on top of box 13.
This has been my door for the past two years
It’s full of pictures and post cards and good times and I love looking at it. I am very sad that everything is white and blank right now, but luckily everything is all packed away and waiting for me to take it out at my new apartment. Feel free to mail me things to add to it. And wish me luck! I’m getting nervous.
What I’m wearing today. Shirt from my mom’s closet.
Some friends and I were talking about the common belief that the newest generation is the worst. It was always better back in the day, and kids these days couldn’t work their way out of a wet paper bag.
My generation in particular has gotten a bad rap lately. We are lazy, entitled, and clueless. We live with our parents instead of trying to get a job. We tweet in, like, abbreviations and can’t string together a professional, grammatically correct sentences to save our lives.
I hate this. I feel like I have to fight that impression just about every day in my professional life. Not everyone is as lucky as me when it comes to stable employment, but the idea that my generation as a whole is incapable of hard work just really kills me.
But if I were a trained assassin, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if people thought I was young and dumb.
In Wizard and Glass, Roland and his friends have a huge advantage when the town leaders underestimate them. They leave their weapons at home on purpose, so as to not raise suspicions. But even without their guns, these gunslingers have better odds on just about any fight they’d come across, especially when the enemy is unsuspecting.
One of my favorite parts of this book was how seriously Roland, Cuthbert, Alain and Susan take themselves. They are about 15 years old but each is making decisions that affect the rest of their lives. And each of them takes these responsibilities seriously. It’s everyone else, like Susan’s aunt or the leader of the Big Coffin Hunters, who write them off as foolish youth. But even that, they use to their advantage.
In one of the best scenes in the book, Roland and his friends get in an extreme bar brawl. Cuthbert is only armed with his slingshot, but he refuses to back down or lower his weapon (in fact, I think he uses his weapon and someone almost loses a finger). The men can’t believe children could best them, and eventually they realize there could be more to Roland’s gang than bumbling youth. And through a hilarious and suspenseful turn of events, the boys prove they aren’t the weak idiots they seemed.
Their story is a story of first love, but it’s also a story of adult decisions made at a very young age. And about boys who became men and go to war far too soon. These boys believe in what they are doing and force a small town to take notice. But part of being an adult is knowing that everything doesn’t always work the way you want it to. And unfortunately, they had to live with the consequences of their decisions, too.
If you want to see what else I’m reading, check me out on Goodreads. And don’t forget to browse Rae’s Days e-reader cases and book tote bags. 10% of the proceeds will go toward the International Book Project.
I have a lot of feelings about this book.
You know how people talk about seeing a movie in their head when they read books? I don’t always do this. I read the words and say them to myself and I can understand what’s happening without necessarily having to see it in my mind. I don’t think that means it’s bad writing or that I’m a bad reader, it’s just how it works best for me sometimes.
But when I read the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, a movie was playing constantly in my head. It was effortless and it was lovely and I did it without realizing I had begun. I knew exactly what Roland looked like when he gave his cold, Gunslinger stare, and I know the way Susan’s tears fell down her cheeks and the bruise Cuthbert’s punch left on his friend’s face. I can absolutely see their homes and the landscape of the town they spent a fateful summer. And once I saw them, I couldn’t get them out of my head.
I’m attributing this mainly to Stephen King’s writing. When I read Stephen King, he has this way of getting his books to spill over into real life. In Roland’s world (or worlds, I should say), time is very fluid and events have a way of echoing to other characters and times and places. Jake hears of Roland’s quest for the tower and happens to take a walk to Tower Road and meets a Mr. Tower at a bookstore. These things keep reappearing in varying forms and they take is as a sign the world is changing and has begun to move on. But this echoing happens to me, too. I read about Blaine, a monorail the group takes quite an interesting trip on in Book 3, while I was on the subway train. I listened as the airport tram said, “welcome to the plane train, we are departing.” I saw a tour book in our house with a train on the cover. And it’s not just the Dark Tower series. When I was reading Stephen King’s It, I left the subway late one night and there was a balloon tied to the railing. I didn’t run all the way home, but I wanted to.
The story he’s crafted over the three preceding books contributes to the urgency in Book 4. Before we begin this book, we already know the way Roland ends up. We know he loses his love, Susan Delgado. We know his cold empty fate and the friends that die along the way. But what grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let it go is how they got to the end. The entire book was exciting, and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. This is a lot harder, however, when you are on page 300 than, say, 650. So give yourself some time.
This isn’t the first time someone has told the story of two teenagers falling in love with a tragic ending, and it won’t be the last. But it’s been one of my favorites. I have a lot of things to say about it, as you can probably tell, so I think it will be the subject of quite a few posts coming up.
Rae Nudson