Criticism and Grace

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

Trigger Warning: discussion of body issues (self-esteem, eating disorders, etc.)

Way back in January of this year, one of my aunts posted on Facebook about picking a word for the year. The idea was that you pick a word that becomes, more or less, your year’s theme. Some people picked thankfulness, others picked joy, I chose the word grace. My thinking going in was that I would work on extending grace both to others and to myself. Now, as we are on the eve of the new year, I think it’s a great time to reflect back on the year and see how it went. Continue reading →

Quiet on the Blogging Front

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

I have posts in the works, but the first couple of weeks of December ran me over a few times, so the blog fell by the wayside. On top of coming down with a cold on the first of December that only went away a day or two ago, I had to wrap up this school term, which included writing a final essay on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw using narratology for my theoretical lens. Crunch time for said final paper included pulling an all nighter, which really did not help with that nasty cold, but it’s all over now. I got my final grade for literary theory, and I am happy to say that I did much better on this round than I did when I studied the subject in undergrad. Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo 2013, or “That didn’t exactly go according to plan…”

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

Back in October, I could not decide if I wanted to attempt NaNoWriMo. I first participated in NaNoWriMo in 2009, where I somehow managed to pass the finishing line before midnight on November 30th. It was stressful, but I did it, and I felt so incredibly proud of myself. Needless to say, I was hooked from then on, and I have since faithfully returned to NaNoWriMo every new November. Each year, I won, and most years, it was a very close finish. However, I was only working during those years, and not trying to balance school, so this year, I just did not know if I should even bother signing up. But then my friends gradually announced their NaNo plans, and some of my coworkers said they were going to do it, and…well, now you know how I got suckered into it for another year. Continue reading →

Sunday Links! (Going up late because I’m tired…)

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

I have more things that caught my eye over the last few weeks. I hope you enjoy checking them out! As always, share things that you’ve found this week in the comments. I love seeing what’s out there. 🙂 Continue reading →