TSS: Happy 4th of July!!

It is Independence Day here in America - which for our family typically means a cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs, homemade ice cream, and watching the city's annual fireworks display.  Of course, we have experienced perfect weather all week -- sunny, high in the 80s and low humidity -- so that means that there is a good chance that all outdoor activities will be cancelled tonight due to rain.  Oh well, the food will be delicious and knowing that tomorrow is another day off will more than  off-set the lack of gunpowder in the air.

It has been a rather lackluster week in the reading department.  I did finish listening to The Life and Times of Thunderbolt Kid on the drive home from our long anniversary weekend celebration, and I have thoroughly enjoyed researching 19th Century France while reading Impressionism:  Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society by Robert L. Herbert.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the art of this time period.  There are numerous large color prints of various paintings, and the author does an adequate job of analyzing the style for a neophyte like myself.  What I like best about this book, however, is that it is organized by the different aspects of Parisian life --- not just a straight chronological order by artist like most books that I have previewed.  For example, the table of contents looks like this:

1. Paris Transformed
2. Impressionism and Naturalism
3. Cafe and Cafe-Concert
4. Theater, Opera and Dance
5. Parks, Racetracks, and Gardens
6. Suburban Leisure
7. At the Seaside

The cultural background that the author provides has proven invaluable to me and it has also given me the necessary information I need to more fully appreciate each work of art.  This was exactly the kind of reading I needed to accomplish this week in order to begin writing.  Yes, it is true - I did actually start to write.  UGH --- this is not pretty, that is for sure!

I hope to write a 12 chapter adventure story, because that is what is required of my students this upcoming year.  In the end my story may be more of a thriller or a character study, and it may be longer than 12 chapters, but for now I have set my sights on this goal.  I started writing Chapter 1 on Thursday, July 1 and wrote approximately 1,600 words Thursday and then I completed Chapter 2 on Friday with another 2,600 words.  I did not write yesterday but rather spent time finishing the above book in the hopes that I might find some ideas for character conflict.  I will try to write another chapter today or tomorrow and hopefully in that time I will discover an adventurous path to pursue. 

I am very glad that Belle has organized a Facebook summertime read-along of Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird, because otherwise I would probably quit this pursuit before I even started.  The entire second chapter of the book is devoted to the Sh*tty First Draft and she insists that all writers - novices and bestsellers alike - write horrible first drafts.  Well, I am here to tell you that my first draft is indeed horrible (if I turned this paper in for me to grade I would probably struggle to earn a "C") and it is taking every ounce of willpower I can muster not to go back and edit my work.  But I have been told that the process is just to write it all down first - and then worry about making it good.  So....I am trying to trust the process.  At the very least this exercise will certainly help me be more sympathetic towards my students' struggles.

As far as reading is concerned I think I would like to read some fiction this week that pertains to this time period.  My rationale is that the more I immerse myself in that culture, the more realistic my own story will be.  I have started reading Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland and find it to be a rather light, summertime choice.  It is good for me to pay close attention to the word choice in an effort to hone my own descriptive writing skills.  I am also giving thought to reading something by Emile Zola - an author who not only lived during this era, but was personal friends with many of the artists whom I am focusing.  I cannot decide if The Masterpiece would be a good choice, or perhaps L'Assommoir.  Have you read either of these?  Is there one that you would recommend over the other?

I would also like to try to read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.  This has been high on my TBR list since I first read about it on EWs list of top summer reads.   I waited nearly two months for the book to become available at the local library, and now it is due back early this week.  Alas, I am just not sure I will be able to read it by then, and that makes me "particularly sad" as well.  There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day - even in the summer!