As I looked back on my previous WFMW posts, I realized that I had not posted one of my absolutely favorite things on the internet - Bookcrossing.com!

Bookcrossing is a wonderful site, especially for book lovers like me (and many of my blog readers ;-))! I’ll try to explain it as best I can, but you really should pop on over to the site and check it out yourself.

Let’s say I have a book (haha, understatement). I finished reading this book, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t completely earth-shattering, so I don’t necessarily want to keep it here on my bookshelf taking up precious real estate. I register the book on Bookcrossing.com. In doing this, the book is assigned a number (which I either write into the cover, or use a sticker to put it in - this seems more effective), and I write up my opinion of the book on the website, rating it with 1-10 stars. This book is now added to my virtual bookshelf. I can do several things with it. If I give it to a friend, then they can go online, see what I wrote, and make their own review. Now it’s on their bookshelf. Or, I could take the book and place it strategically on a table in Starbucks. By doing this, I’ve released the book into the wild, and whoever happens to pick it up becomes the new owner. Or I could go to an online trading site like PaperBackSwap.com and trade my book for another book, thereby passing my journaled book on to a new owner. There are tons of possibilities!

Why do this? Why not! You’re recycling books, and it’s really interesting to see where your books have gone. Some of my books are floating around in other countries, and I’m seeing lots of people with different opinions of the books that I read. I released a lot of books when we were on vacation in Europe, so that was really cool.

Bookcrossing also has a big community online. There are forums, groups, all sorts of ways to participate and communicate with other book lovers. There are lots of books that I have read that I never would have read had it not been for Bookcrossing, and I’ve found some great new authors!

I’m more than happy to answer any questions - I joined about a year before I actually started participating because it seemed like too much work, but once I got going, it has snowballed into something I have enjoyed so much.

Bookcrossing.com? Works for me!

Just thought that since there is some fresh meat at my blog (muhahaha) I’d put in a plug for Bookcrossing.com! It is a really neat site that coordinates the liberation of literature ;-)! It’s a great community of book lovers who want to share their books with the world. Go check it out, they do a much better job of explaining it, LOL!

After a mastectomy, can I have my breast reconstructed?
Breast reconstruction can help restore the look and feel of the breast that was removed during a total mastectomy. Done by a plastic surgeon, breast reconstruction can be completed during the total mastectomy surgery or some time after the surgery. When a woman decides to have reconstruction depends on her wishes and the specifics of her situation. She should discuss her options with her surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists.

This post is for the Blogathon 2006! I am blogging for The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information about what I am doing, please click here!

I’m Lindsey, and thanks so much for stopping by Suspension of Disbelief. You might want to know a little bit about who is writing all this babble on this blog, so I thought I’d share a little bit about myself!

I love living in the South. Born and raised in Georgia, live in Florida, school in North Carolina – it just doesn’t get better. I went to undergraduate school in Winston-Salem at Wake Forest University, and graduated with my BA in May 2006. I double majored in theatre and English – too much reading for my own good! After briefly dabbling as a business school graduate student, I took a year off from school and just enjoyed life working as a barista at Starbucks and as the assistant project manager for E. Webscapes (I’m still working at both of these places, though I was promoted to Shift Supervisor at Starbucks in November 2007). Now I am in the MFA in Performing Arts Management program at North Carolina School of the Arts, and will be doing that until 2010 - yay grad school! When I get tired from all the school and work, I just go home and cuddle with my ADORABLE kittens, Oscar (Peterson) and Miles (Davis)!

I’ve been blogging since August 2004, and I’ve been on WordPress since February 2005 . . . I consider my blogiversary to be February 24, 2005. I opened my first website, the now defunct site Doodlebug, in July 2004. It had a paid member’s area (Doodlebug Designs) which offered design services for email stationary on several email platforms. Unfortunately, my interests shifted and I no longer had the time and energy it required to maintain Doodlebug Designs along with my other endeavors, so I closed the doors for good in March 2007. I also switched my hosting over to Blogs-About Hosting in December 2006, and have been very happy with the service I receive there!

As with most people, everything hasn’t been rosy in my life. In May 2000, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has been in remission since August 2000, and she is an incredible woman! In February 2003, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer (he has been in remission since March 2003), and in March 2006 he was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis. However, throughout all of this, our family has only grown closer to each other, and to God.

I am a strong Christian, and am committed to my faith. I was always raised in a Christian home, but didn’t realize just what it meant to be a Christian until I gave my life to Christ in July 1998, when I was newly 14. In high school I was a co-president of Brothers And Sisters In Christ (BASIC) and for all four years of undergrad I was a devoted member and leader in Living Parables Christian Drama Troupe. I also have a faith blog called Reading Red Letters. My favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11.

My whole life I have loved reading. When I was a little kid, a lot of kids’ parents would punish them by taking away television, not allowing them to go play with friend . . . nope, not mine. My punishment was that they would take away my books. It was the ONLY way they could get me to mind, LOL! Since graduating I have found that I am reading a lot of frivolous books (read: chick lit), which I can only attribute to exclusively reading real literature and theatrical works for the past eight years of my life. Chick lit authors I like include Sophie Kinsella, Sue Margolis, Jennifer O’Connell, and Carole Matthews. I am an active participant on Bookcrossing, and I HIGHLY recommend all readers check it out!

I have loved music since I was a small child – really, as long as I can remember. My dad has loved music his whole life and he just kind of passed it down to me I guess. My favorite music is old rock’n’roll and R&B from the 1960’s and 70’s (thanks Daddy), but I also listen to current popular music, hip-hop and rap particularly. I’m game for pretty much any music, as long as it’s not country. My all time favorite band is The Beatles, but I also love the Temptations, Chicago, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, and Ludacris (yes, random). A more extensive list includes:

Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Black Eyed Peas, Blue Man Group, James Brown, Burlap to Cashmere, Busta Rhymes, Caedmon’s Call, Carole King, Ed Cash, Chicago, Cirque du Soleil, Eric Clapton, Nat King Cole, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dave Brubeck, Dave Matthews Band, Miles Davis, dc Talk, Bob Dylan, The Embers, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stan Getz, Al Green, Hair, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Jars of Clay, Jay-Z, Jefferson Airplane, Elton John, King Floyd, The Kinks, Gladys Knight and the Pips, John Lennon, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Ludacris, The Mamas and the Papas, Bob Marley, Maroon 5, Medeski Martin and Wood, Missy Elliot, Lee Morgan, Nappy Roots, Nelly, Nickel Creek, Outkast, P.O.D., Paco de Lucia, Paul McCartney, Art Pepper, Oscar Peterson, Pillar, Pink Floyd, Bud Powell, Queen, Rent, Santana, Will Smith, Snoop Dogg, Star Wars, Steppenwolf, Sweetwater, James Taylor, Tchaikovsky, The Temptations, Thelonious Monk, Chris Thile, Third Day, Three Dog Night, Justin Timberlake, TobyMac, War, Wicked, Stevie Wonder, Victor Wooten

I’m also big into movies, though I don’t know as much about movies as I do about music. I guess I’m a music aficionado, but just hold an appreciation for movies. I am a HUGE fan of Netflix ;-)! My all-time favorites are Star Wars (V, VI, IV, II, III, I) and the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty. More recent favorites include Men in Tights and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. I also love television. My favorite show of all time is Sex and the City, and I also really enjoyed OZ and Friends.  I’m a pretty big Law and Order junkie too, including SVU and CI. My TiVo Stevo records a variety of shows for me every week, including Oprah, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, Lost, Medium, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and Private Practice.

Being from the south, cooking has been a big thing for me. My dad was raised on a farm, and when my parents got married, his mom taught my mother everything she knew. Which was a lot, LOL! I still have a ways to go, but I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at what I do for my age. And my friends are always coming over when I say I’m cooking! My favorite meal is fried chicken, rice and gravy, and zipper peas . . . ooo buddy! And, like the good southern girl I am, I am obsessed with grits and sweet tea. I’m a huge coffee drinker, which has only gotten worse since I started working at Starbucks. Used to be that I had my black coffee every morning and went about my day, but now? If I get something right before or after my shift, it’s free, so of course I have to take advantage of that! I’m also interested in learning more about wine (red wine in particular).

And in case that wasn’t enough info about me, I am ALWAYS open to questions. I love responding to questions that people ask me on my blog! So, wanna know something? Ask!