Life

Historical and Cultural Background

Jan.

• Attend the ALA Midwinter Conference in San Diego; learn that books can sometimes be free with the introduction to ARCs. I thought I was stealing at first!
• Beginning of 8 month silence with sister Erika.

• Gabrielle Giffords shot on Jan. 8.
• Charlie Sheen is “winning”.

Feb.

• Arab Spring protests begin.

Mar.

• Japan Earthquake on Mar. 11.

Apr.

• Spring Break begins.
• Read constantly to complete Spring Seasonal Reading Challenge; end up reading 28 books in April.
• Get married to long-time boyfriend Jesse during a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Reno. Both the groom and bride were lovely in their T-shirts, jeans, and hiking boots.
• Get pink-slipped for the third time in four years of teaching.

• Deadly tornadoes sweep the US, 207 touch down on Apr. 27, killing 346.
• Royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton (I didn’t watch, in case you’re wondering).

May

• Death of Osama bin Laden.

June

• Go to Wisconsin for a fishing weekend with Jesse’s family. Fire my first (and only) gun once, and find out that I have a propensity for fishing (caught a trout, a bass, and a blue-gill).
• Dad visits, temporarily reunite with sister, begin 6 month silence with Dad.

July

• School year ends on 1st day of Comic-Con; although I arrive at Comic-Con from work in record-breaking time, I FAIL to get into the Game of Thrones panel. Boo.
• Comic-Con is not as epic as years past: it’s far too crowded and hard to get into panels. But, I do buy a bunch of Twilight Zone toys.

Aug.

• Buy a desk and create an office in spare room devoted to writing.
• Begin pursuing writing fiction seriously via exercises in Bell’s Plot & Structure and The Artist’s Way program.
• Start writing three pages daily in journal.
• Break the silence with my sister.
• Read Hussey’s Create Your Own Blog, study and analyze popular book blogs, and set up my own blog Adventures in Borkdom.
• Published my first post on Aug. 24.
• When regaining my teaching job appears unlikely, Jesse and I consider moving out of state. North Carolina, Virginia, and Illinois are our top choices.

Sept.

• Rehired at school, one day before the first day of school.
• Learn how to balance blogging with a full-time job.

• Occupy Wall Street protests begin in NYC.

Oct.

• Participate in RIP challenge.
• Complete my first 24 hour read-a-thon.

• Death of Steve Jobs.
• Death of Moammar Gadhafi.

Nov.

• Death of Andy Rooney.

Dec.

• Break silence with Dad at Christmas.
• Hit my 100th post.
• Biggest month for blog hits; doubled last month’s number.
• Read my 100th book in 2011, the most books that I’ve ever read in a year!

• Death of Kim Jong Il

• Last US troops withdraw from Iraq.