Little House In The Ozarks

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

HAPPY SIX MONTH BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!

And thank you so much dear readers for taking this journey with me (did I sound like the host on The Bachelor when I said that?)

It's hard for me to believe that I've now reached the halfway point - but that's probably due to the fact that the books are all blurring together for me and so it doesn't seem possible that I've really done this for six months. And they said it couldn't be done. Okay that's not true. No one said that. But I just like the drama of saying that, it makes me feel like I'm in a TV movie.


My mother doesn't know how to even turn on the computer, so I've been printing up the entries all throughout the year for her to read. And today I decided to take a picture of the blog entries so you could all see what six months of blogging looks like:


















And now it's time for the end of the week count -

For the week:

CHAPTERS - 135

PAGES - 1,874

For the year so far:

CHAPTERS - 3,726

PAGES - 47,724

Today's book, "A collection of more than 140 articles on an array of topics, from the boring task of baking bread and the need to conserve natural resources, to the changes motor cars brought to her small town and role of the women in the work force and politics, sparkles with Wilder's timeless wit and wisdom."

I love the way the description of today's book just cuts through the crap. No promises that the book is "breathtaking" or "life changing" - and there's even the word boring thrown in, which seems like an odd choice for a book that you're actually trying to get someone to buy. But who am I to argue with the fancy schmancy publishing companies? If they want to throw the word "boring" out there then it's their funeral.

I decided to read today's book because I started out the year reading a book by Laura Ingalls Wilder and so it somehow seemed right to read another book by the same author to commemorate my Blogiversary. I've read today's book before, when I was a child and I was in the midst of my full scale Laura Ingalls Wilder obsession, but I haven't read it in quite some time so I figured it would be interesting to see how I feel about it now that I'm an adult. I of course use the word "adult" in the loosest sense of the word since I spent the morning watching TV that was designed for preschoolers, but technically I am sort of . . . kind of . . . maybe. . . supposed to be an adult now, so it kind of felt like I was reading the book for the very first time.

I enjoyed some parts of today's book but not all of it. And I hesitate to agree with the book description and just throw that word boring out there, but there were parts of the book that made me question my childhood taste in books. The book wildly veers from delightful to "I feel like I'm watching a high school filmstrip." So I think it's the kind of book that would only be enjoyed by a person who is totally obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder - someone who is fascinated enough by her that they would follow her Twitter page if she was alive today. And now that I've read this book and found it a little dull I can't help but wonder (do I sound like Carrie Bradshaw with that "I can't help but wonder" bit) if my Laura Ingalls Wilder obsession might be waning? Or is it just that I don't have time to fully devote myself to being obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dallas, The Brady Bunch, and reading a book a day all at once?

I think one of the problem was that I was having trouble relating to the stories Laura shared - and without the rest of the Ingalls family I got a little bored. Sentences like this are the reason why I had a hard time relating: "Whenever two or three women were gathered together during the winter, sooner or later someone would ask, 'Are your hens laying?" - What a coincidence, that same thing happens to me all the time. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me . . .

And here is your fun fact for the day dear readers (although I don't want you to get your hopes up because it's really not that fun): Saying "How old is Ann?" used to be slang for "Who knows." Now you can go bore all of your friends and family with that fact and force them to have to smile and nod and pretend like it's really interesting (sometimes I do this just for fun to see how good of actors people are.)

So thanks again dear readers for supporting my blog. I'm so glad that you have read my blog, become followers, left comments and been a part of my blog.