World Book Night

It's amazing the things you can find on the Internet.

This is the really awesome organization that I came across a few weeks back. It's called World Book Night and it has the coolest tagline - spreading the love of reading, person to person. Here's how it works: on April 23, volunteers across the world (the group started in the UK) hand out books from a selected list to community members who don't regularly read to try to spread the joy of the written word. How cool is that?

After doing some research about the group, I decided I wanted to submit my name for a volunteer position and last week, I was chosen! This means that I get to hand out 20 copies of Moneyball to people who wouldn't normally have the access or means to read. I got to choose from a list of pre-selected books - you can see the whole list here.

The Redondo Beach area, where I live, is not lacking for much, so I will be venturing out to other parts of the Los Angeles area to hand out my 20 copies on April 23.

I am really, really excited about this opportunity for a few reasons. First, it's about books and I absolutely love getting other people excited about reading. Secondly, it's a chance to go out to a place that I normally wouldn't be and give back. Some people might think that giving a book isn't much help when gangs, drugs and violence are prevalent in these areas but I really believe that one book, to the right person, can change his or her life.

It's too late to get involved for World Book Night 2013, but please check out the site for information for next year. Let's get everyone in on spreading the love of reading!

Picking out the perfect e-book

One of the best things about going to a library is that you get to cruise up and down the aisles, softly dragging your fingers across all of the spines...the ones that are brand new and the ones that have been cracked open for years. You never know what spine is going to jump out at you, what title is going to make you pull the book out and flip through it.

I am usually a fan of real books - I love the weight of them in my hands and enjoy flipping through the pages. And there's almost nothing like the smell of the paper and ink in a real book. But I am going on a trip where I am trying to pack light, so I just spent the last 45 minutes searching through my local library's online catalog of e-books where there are no aisles, no spines, no safe feeling that I've come to love in a place where words rule supreme.

This wasn't my first attempt to borrow e-books from my library. The last time, I had a few spare minutes to search through the most popular lists and found a book that was already on my "to read" list. But this time, with nothing in mind and apparently too much time on my hands, I was overwhelmed and frustrated.

First, I tried the most popular lists for both fiction and non-fiction; in the former I got a bunch of romance novels and beach reads, the latter, mostly titles that had a numbers in it (Lose weight in 10 days! or 9 steps to take to a happier life). After about 20 pages of search results for each, I gave up.

Then I jumped to the classic fiction list. That one was a bit more productive, especially since most of those titles are always available. I found one that I've had an interest in reading, but honestly, I'm not a classics girl.

Digging into the lists by putting parameters on the search helped (historical fiction vs. modern literature) and I was able to add a few more titles to my bookbag. Looking through the books that had been added recently was also key, meaning that the titles were most likely newer.

All in all, I wrote down nine titles that I know are available as e-books that I would have some interest in reading. But honestly, this experience was exhausting and a little disheartening. I know that most libraries are trying to decide whether to stock e-books or real books and some are even trying to stay afloat with city budgets being slashed. But I guess I was hoping for a bit more.

I should note that the Redondo Beach library is not an incorporated member of the Los Angeles County library system. That means that I can't tap in to the (I'm guessing) very large network of books that the county has. When I first learned this tidbit of information, I was quite shocked and a bit annoyed. But, I have yet to go get another library card from a neighboring city.

Reading About Writing

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

-- Stephen King

Learning About Love

I tried. I really did. My sister had given me "The 5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman and reading the back piqued my interest. I wanted to learn what type of language I spoke in my relationships and so when I started reading it today, I figured the timing (less than a week before Valentine's Day) was perfect.

But as soon as I started reading it, I knew I wasn't going to be able to get through it. The author's intentions were good. Through his research and extensive time as a therapist, he had come to the conclusion that there are five different languages, or ways, that people show affection; words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. His first chapter heading was "What happens to love after the wedding?" I was immediately turned off - what if I wasn't married (which I'm not)? Did I not show love the way married people do?

After making an effort to get through the first few chapters, I was disgruntled by the author's generic examples and, as I later texted my sister to tell her I couldn't read the book, the writing just wasn't good. It wasn't engaging and didn't inspire confidence that love was possible. It had a negative vibe - the examples he cited were all about couples who had fallen out of love because the woman asked the man to take out the trash in a "snarling tone." I was expecting a positive primer on how to communicate with your loved ones and was sorely disappointed.

I used to try and read through all books that I started. If I started it, I had to finish it. But those days are long gone and I don't spend wasted time on books that I don't enjoy. I'm sorry Mr. Chapman, but I just couldn't do it.

My Words Roar

Sometimes, every word that is written means something. It is dripping in your own personal sweat and tears, it knows where you've been and what you've been through. These words, when strung together, create personal stories that are often powerful to read, but sometimes, they GIVE power as they are written. These are the words that are yearning to break out of your mind, to be written or typed, to breathe life into a story that has been holding its breath inside of you for a long time.

These words have been bubbling up inside of me for the past week or so and I've been trying my best not to stifle them. They roll around in my head for a while before I spit them out and because they are so personal, they are so strong, at least to me. Because I have been writing a lot about what is going on in my life right now, I feel a connection to my writing unlike much I've written before. And that feeling is invigorating and positive and makes me want to keep going.

So God Made Him

"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing...so God made a farmer."

This is my grandpa, who passed away more than 8 years ago. When I saw the Ram commercial yesterday, I couldn't help but think of this photo, of his life. He was that farmer. I wish I could have been sitting next to him as that commercial aired.

Conquered

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." 

       --Liane Cordes

I'm still riding the high from running my first half marathon on Sunday I'm really still processing it in facts.

1:34.48.

30th overall, 12th female out of more than 10,000.

First in my age group.

But this picture seems to sum everything up.

This is me and my sister after the race. Yes, we look considerably more tired here than in the pre-race shots. But more important than all of the numbers and times is the fact that I got to share this moment with my sister. This was both of our first half marathons. This is my sister who decided back in middle school that she wasn't a "runner." But she set her mind to this race and trained for it and ran it! She conquered it.

The human body is amazing, but the will to reach our own potential is even more awe-inspiring. 

 

Be Anica

I received "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin for Christmas and I devoured it in about a week, reading and contemplating almost every single word of the book. Typically I don't read what I deem as "self-help" books. I judge them to be too cliche and not specific for me and where I am in my life. But because this was a gift, I figure I'd give it a shot and I'm really glad I did.

The author spent one whole year trying to figure out what made her happy and how to be more happy. Throughout the book, she talks about what she did and how it helped her, while also using research and studies to back up her findings. She did small things like lighting candles in her office to big things like making an effort not to nag her husband.

I really enjoyed this book. It was written in such a conversational tone that I felt like Gretchen and I were sitting in a coffee shop discussing what makes each of us happy. And a lot of her arguments made sense. She never said "do this and you'll immediately be happy." She pointed out how sometimes the changes she made increased her happiness but also how, occasionally, they just didn't.

This book made me think about what makes me happy in my life and since it's the beginning of a brand new year, I decided to transfer these concepts that Gretchen brought up in her book to my loose resolutions.

1. Be Anica. One of Gretchen's personal commandments is to be herself and to realize that sometimes you just don't like things even if you want to like them. I might like the idea of getting all fancied up to go out on the town, but in reality, I know that I really just want to curl up in my sweats and read a book. And I should be ok with that because, well, that's...me.

2. Write and read more. Plain and simple. Those are the things that bring me happiness. Why not do them more often?

3. Do it if it takes less than a minute. Put away that pair of earrings as soon as I take them off instead of letting them pile up on the bathroom counter. Wash the dishes right away instead of letting them accumulate in the sink - they probably take less time to scrub than you think.

4. Embrace the special and the mundane. Basically, be in the moments. In each moment.

5. Don't nag. Whether that's at home or at work, be cognizant of the fact that I live mainly in a world of adults who can do things on their own. While I might tell my boyfriend to not forget his coat more than once and I feel like I'm just looking out for him, he's a grown man who can chose to grab his jacket or not.

6. Spend more time with friends. This one always seems to be on my list but I am going to try to really make an effort to hang out more. I might be reluctant to go at first, but it's totally worth it once I'm in those love-filled moments with friends.

The Count Down to Tink

We're in the final stretch. In just two weeks, my sister and I will be lining up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland. After my failed attempt at my last half marathon, this will be the first time I go at the 13.1 miles.

I have been trying not to dwell on the race or psych myself out. Every time I start thinking about getting in the corrals or what it's going to feel like at mile 9, I make myself think about something else. Focusing on the things that I cannot change before the race is not productive for me at this point. Instead, I am hydrating, keeping track of how I feel, and stretching A TON. I am trying to get myself as limber and loose as possible.

I'm also trying to stay positive about my training up to this moment and the fact that "it is only a race," as the boyfriend likes to point out to me. He's a runner, too, so it's not like he is trying to downplay what it takes to tackle a half marathon. He is instead telling me that there are tons of things out there harder than a race and that I need to keep a level head.

After countless cross country races and track meets in middle school and high school, my mind has a standard operating procedure going into big events like these. It tends to make my breath come quicker, my mouth taste weird and my stomach reject anything that I put into it. But it is just my brain and I have been trying to combat it by shifting attention when it tries to psych me out. Tackling your brain and mental capacity is something that many long distance runners deal with. When you're out there on your own for mile after mile, there's nothing to keep you company except for your brain. Using your brain as a positive power instead of letting it have control over you is key and sometimes very hard to do. Here's hoping that I've trained it well enough.