My dear Mr. Dickens, I hope you are well and not at all rolling over in your grave. (It is, after all, nearing Christmas and renditions of your famous holiday tale are promenading before audiences who are mostly wondering whether they actually turned off the oven or whether the turkey they pretend to like is…
I just finished reading Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind for the fourth(?) time, though, honestly, I've probably read parts of that book three times, parts of it six. I just can't seem to stay away from it and end up rereading at least half of it every late spring/early summer. Whatever the exact number, I can…
As a writer, I spend a great deal of time editing and lamenting over my own work. Admittedly, I probably should spend more time revising papers than text messages, (yay, overthinking!) but in either case I am painfully aware of my weaknesses as a writer. However, sometimes I surprise myself as the ink on my…
The irony is that I was unable to write this story for several months due to the demands of the everyday... enjoy! 😉 Unravel Not another! she thought, plucking at a thread on her favorite navy blue jumper. It hurt her to pull on it, she was so fond of the old sweater. With…
In reading the poetry of Robert Frost for my honors college curriculum, I found myself hit by a wave of nostalgia. (Not to be confused with a "wave of nausea"- I'm not reading Nausea quite yet...) Throughout the formative years of my adolescent life, Frost provided guidance and comfort. I did not read his work extensively, but…
I was inspired this morning as I walked to practice piano for an upcoming recital... this would have been great, had I been inspired to practice. Rather, I was inspired to set the opening of Wordsworth’s The Prelude to music. My roommate (bless her) stopped me just in time: “Ryanne, if you write a melody and…
I took this photo on a sunset run and added the words (surprise! They were not actually fabulous skywriting!) as I was doing some reading later. The exercise, combined with the wisdom of St. Hildegard, were a welcome relief to an emotional day. Sometimes on overcast days like today, we fail to remember the sun.…
Yesterday was the birthday of renouned American author, Ray Bradbury. Three more years and we can celebrate his 100th birthday. But even in 2017, Bradbury's birthday is special to me because his stories provided the kick-in-the-pants I needed to take my writing seriously. Before entering high school, my family and I made a trip to…
The world is a mess. Whatever your political views, we can all agree that it's a rough world out there. However, while the news is increasingly depressing, I found an unlikely hero to cheer me for a few hours: Winnie-the-Pooh. Somehow I grew up reading everything in reach yet missed this classic! So I decided,…
Dystopian novels have been "in" for several years now. The Hunger Games and Divergent were the most popular reads of my high school days. Brave New World, 1984, and Anthem were on the AP reading lists. I continue to devour Ray Bradbury's work. However, we forget the purpose of dystopian fiction, which is to warn and protect us from creating such futures in reality.…
