A TIME TO BLEED

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." -Ernest Hemingway (Brainy Quote)


Everyone seems to like to talk about the color of their blood, especially during basketball season. I often hear things like "I bleed Kentucky blue," or "I bleed Carolina blue." Even the shades of blue are distinct, and sports fans want everyone to know the EXACT shade of their team's blue. NO ONE wants their team to be confused with another team - so the fine shades of blue or some other color must be clearly defined. But we all know that real blood is reddish black, not blue. In the above quote, Hemingway compares writing to a cleansing of the mind and body, a sifting of feelings until they are poured out into words. One could also argue that he's saying that writing is very painful and causes injury to the writer, but I don't think that's what he means here. I prefer the interpretation that writing is a way that an author pours out what is inside his/her soul, mind, experiences, and life. I, myself, have found that when I sit down at the computer, I usually don't know what I want to write about until I start typing. At times I am dissatisfied with what I have written, so I "clean it up" and try to make it more cohesive. As I edit, I try to imagine myself as a reader who is looking at this blog for the first time. I want my thoughts to be unified, cohesive, and interesting, so I keep chiseling away until I am somewhat satisfied with what I see on the screen.

Now some thoughts on last week's NCAA basketball championship. After today, I won't talk about basketball for a good long while, so those of you who don't particularly enjoy sports, don't worry - I will get off of this soapbox after today! As you know my local team, the Duke Blue Devils, won the national title and we are all very proud. Honestly, I did not expect them to go that far because it was sort of a "rebuilding" year with so many young players. But throughout the season the players continued to improve, to find their game, and to get in a rhythm of winning. It was a great season. Of course, I was also pulling for the Kentucky Wildcats, since I am from Kentucky and have followed them since I was a teenager/ I was very disappointed that they were beaten by Wisconsin, but I can't imagine how the players themselves must be feeling after being undefeated all season until that loss. Still, they had a great run and they should be proud of themselves.

When I wrote my last entry I was thinking about starting to read To Kill a Mockingbird again, but since then I decided to read a book that I got from my parents during my spring break. I'm reading The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. I'm almost finished with the national bestseller and I'm eager to see how the story concludes. If you like mysteries, strange happenings, or just plain old scary stories, you will like this book. There are several main characters in the story, and they live in various time periods. The first chapter begins during the time of Sara Harrison Shea, a farmer's wife who lived in 1908. The other characters are Martin, Gertie, Ruthie, Fawn, Candace, Kathleen, and Gary. The story takes place in West Hall, Vermont, a town that has many stories of strange disappearances and old legends. It's a fun book to read and I'm eager to see how everything turns out for the various characters, most of whom have lost a great deal and need resolutions.

The next ten books in my card catalog are as follows:

1. A New Song by Jan Karon
2. Out to Canaan by Jan Karon
3. Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
4. These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon
5. Milk and Honey by Faye Kellerman
6. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
7. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (a local author!)
8. She Got Up Off the Couch by Haven Kimmel
9. The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel 
10. Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.

Have a wonderful week,
Melissa