Sunday Salon: May 1, 2016

Happy May Day! I hope your weather is warm, pleasant and reminiscent of spring flowers.

Reading:

I started another audiobook this week through the library's Axis 360 app.

This go round I'm trying a non-fiction book, Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, by Ken Robinson.

It began a bit slow and dry, and the author reads the book himself with little dramatic inflection. However, he has a great wit and several times I found myself laughing out loud driving down the road.


I'm not far along, but I do look forward to hearing more about the Element - that point where natural talent and personal passion intersect.

Last week I shared my excitement at being a part of two street teams. Well, I can add one more to the mix: Janel Gradowski's fifth book in her Culinary Competition Mystery series: Banana Muffins and Mayhem.

I first met Janel online in 2009 when Janel's Jumbles was another book review blog on the circuit. I enjoyed reading her reviews, her forays into flash fiction, and tales of her adorable golden retriever, Cooper.

As part of the street team, I will review the book as well as conduct an author interview (my first). Stay tuned sometime the week of June 14th.


A final note on reading... In a Twitter chat this week, I discovered another read-athon event: Bout of Books. Are you familiar? I love the idea that this challenge is for an entire week (May 9-15) rather than a condensed 24-hour period. Unfortunately, it is the week I am out-of-town, and I fear my reading time will be limited.

I'm glad to know about this challenge, though, and perhaps I can participate next year.

Writing:

New Journal

The Blogging A-Z challenge is officially over. And I'm pleased to report that I managed to post every day (with the exception for Sundays) for the month of April. I will write a reflection post on the experience May 9th.

I will share one thing I learned over these past 26 days, however.

I learned this kind of focused writing helps me feel like a "serious" writer. And while I have no desire to post on a daily basis (I will burn out for sure)... I do want to maintain a serious writing routine.

I'm still not sure what that looks like for me, but I'm excited to find out.

Blogging:

Lots of blogging this final week of April.

• How to Journal: Legacy Journaling - Passions and Desires
• Totoro Family Recipes: Martha Dip
• Paris Impressions A-Z: U is for Underground; V is for Vedettes; W is for Windowsills; X is for XX Arrondissements; Y is for Yacht; Z is for Zola.

FUN:

A few little random "fun" events this week.

The annual "Honor Our Teachers" program was held at school this week and I, along with four other teachers, were presented this lovely award for 10 years of service. I was surprised and deeply touched.

I realized last Sunday that I surpassed 1,000 followers on Twitter! I'm so excited, considering I didn't really "get" this social platform until about six months ago.

In celebration of my upcoming trip, I took advantage of a recent May Designs sale and treated myself to a new travel journal. I love these journals - the whimsical designs, the optional personalization, the hand-stitched binding, and the narrow lined pages. It is one of my favorite journaling companies!

May is always a hectic month for me, even if I'm teaching only one class. There are end-of-year projects, last day of school festivities, and graduation. But I love it all and know it means summer is close at hand.

How about you? Do you have many plans for the month of May?