Books Read in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

January

February

March

1. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
2. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski
3. The Pact: A Love Story, Jodi Picoult
4. My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult

And then I stopped keeping track.  I did a really bad job of keeping this list in 2011 (though I was reading)!  In no particular order, here are some of the books I read (and if I remember more, I’ll add them):

• Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran, Azadeh Moaveni
• The Untelling, Tayari Jones
• Bumped, Megan McCafferty
• When She Woke, Hillary Jordan

• 9/15/2008 -- 101 in 1001 #2 – 47.52% Complete
• 7/27/2008 -- Books in the Workplace (Day of Blogs ’08 #44)
• 7/27/2008 -- Children’s Literacy Initiative (Day of Blogs ’08 #42)

There are a couple of things that I try to do to help in little ways.  Now that I live in Atlanta, I have MARTA available to me, and I try to use it as often as I can.  For the first 2 months I was working in Midtown (about 45 minutes from my house) I rode MARTA to work every day.  Then I had a minor setback about a month ago (that’s a whole other post), so I really need to start taking MARTA on a daily basis again.  I also use MARTA to get to the airport.  Not only is that one less car on the road, but then I don’t have to pay exorbitant airport parking fees!

Another thing that I do it try to reduce my paper waste.  This actually helps with preventing climate change a lot.  From the EPA’s website:

How can certain waste management strategies reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Waste prevention and recycling—jointly referred to as waste reduction—help us better manage the solid waste we generate. But preventing waste and recycling also are potent strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Together, waste prevention and recycling:

• Reduce methane emissions from landfills. Waste prevention and recycling (including composting) divert organic wastes from landfills, thereby reducing the methane released when these materials decompose.
• Reduce emissions from incinerators. Recycling and waste prevention allow some materials to be diverted from incinerators and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of waste.
• Reduce emissions from energy consumption. Recycling saves energy. Manufacturing goods from recycled materials typically requires less energy than producing goods from virgin materials. Waste prevention is even more effective at saving energy. When people reuse things or when products are made with less material, less energy is needed to extract, transport, and process raw materials and to manufacture products. The payoff? When energy demand decreases, fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere.
• Increase storage of carbon in trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in wood, in a process called “carbon sequestration.” Waste prevention and recycling of paper products allow more trees to remain standing in the forest, where they can continue to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

One of my favorite ways to reduce paper waste is something that I’ve adopted at work, and I’ve actually had another co-worker start doing this as well!  We have SO MUCH paper waste that comes off the copier, and while a lot of it does go into the recycling bin, I’ve come up with a better use for this paper.

Eco-Friendly Notebook

I take the paper, cut it in half, and then create a notebook from the paper!  I use a binder clip to hold everything together which works fantastically – not only does it keep things together better than a paper clip, but then I can remove sheets individually as if I were tearing them off of a pad (something I couldn’t do if I used a stapler).

It’s so simple, and I’ve had co-workers bring me their scrap paper to “refill” my notebook (hence the large stack of loose paper on my desk).  This is SO SIMPLE, but it really does make a difference.  My goal is to create a trend and get everyone on board with this idea.  It would sure save us some cost in office supplies if we didn’t need to by note pads!

There are so many fantastic ways to make small changes in your everyday life that will help us to keep our air clear, our ozone in tact, and our planet healthy.  I’m so glad that Blog Action Day 2009 is focused on this vital issue, and I hope that as bloggers we can make a difference in the world by our posts today.

What small things are you doing to help our environment?  I’d love to hear your ideas to give them a try!

• 10/15/2007 -- Today is Blog Action Day!
• 8/31/2007 -- Blog Action Day
• 12/29/2006 -- Thursday Thirteen #35

One of my favorite musicals of all time is Tony Award winning Best Musical Fiddler on the Roof.  This is just a stunning work, both on-stage and on-screen.  Topol is the embodiment of a time and place that no longer exist, and I cry every time!

When I was in high school we did Fiddler on the Roof my sophomore year, and that was when the theatre bug grew into the theatre interest that has brought me to where I am today.  I had always enjoyed theatre and thought it was a fun hobby, but that was the time when I realized that I needed to spend all my free time in rehearsal!

Fun fact: Fiddler on the Roof was the first run of a musical in history to surpass the 3,000 performance mark!

Once I start getting tired from the Blogathon, I’ll most likely pop in the Fiddler on the Roof DVD!

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1960 (Blogathon ’09 #5)
• 7/26/2009 -- Theatre in 2004 (Blogathon ’09 #44)
• 7/26/2009 -- Theatre in 2001 (Blogathon ’09 #41)

This important work won both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1956.

The Diary of Anne Frank is the stage adaptation by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. of the book The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank.  At a time when America was still raw from World War II, this brought to light a completely fresh perspective, and created a work that would compel school children for years to come.

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/25/2009 -- Theatre in 1965 (Blogathon ’09 #10)
• 7/27/2008 -- Books in the Workplace (Day of Blogs ’08 #44)
• 7/16/2009 -- Blogathon 2009 – Sponsor Me and Support The Actors Fund!

I have blogged for The Susan G. Komen Foundation during Blogthon 2006 and Children’s Literacy Initiative during Day of Blogs 2008.  This year I am going to be blogging for The Actors Fund.

The Actors Fund is actually a bit of a misnomer since it benefits actors as well as all other performing arts and entertainment professionals (which, as you may have guessed, includes me, LOL).  Here’s some general information from their website:

The Actors Fund, a nonprofit human services organization founded in 1882, serves all professionals – and not just actors! – in film, theater, television, music, opera, and dance through programs that address their unique and essential needs. As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, The Fund directly serves over 8,000 entertainment and performing arts professionals across the country, and approximately 300,000 more through Web resource programs. In providing care and service to professionals throughout the industry, The Fund’s programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature, and produce significant results, affecting the lives of people in our community year after year.

Employment in any division of the entertainment and performing arts industry is unpredictable. The life of an entertainment professional is very similar to any worker or independent contractor that moves from job to job to make their living. Work is erratic, security is fleeting and health insurance is often just a dream. For all of these reasons and many more, The Actors Fund is an indispensable and deeply significant part of the entire entertainment community.

I always think it’s important to know the mission statement of an organization before I decide to give money to that organization, so here is their mission statement:

The Actors Fund Mission Statement

The Actors Fund is a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis or transition.

If you would like to view their profile on Charity Navigator, then click here.

As always, I will be sharing fun facts and trivia throughout the evening as well as some nice ramblings!  Please consider sponsoring me for Blogathon 2009. Even one dollar an hour would help! You can either sponsor by the hour or a flat sum for the day.  If you have questions about sponsoring, please visit the Blogathon FAQ.  Essentially, you click on my sponsor link to pledge your donation – then after the Blogathon you will receive an email directing you to the correct place to make your donation.  Yes, it’s that easy!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask – otherwise, I’ll see you at Blogathon 2009!

This post is for the Blogathon 2009! I am blogging for The Actor’s Fund. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)
• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete

To top it all off, mark of #49, #62, and #96 from my 101 in 1001!

This post is being re-posted on 7/7/09 – I had a backup malfunction and lost 3 months of posts, and so I am re-posting them through my findings with Google Cache. I did NOT delete the comments, I just have no way of restoring them. I am sorry if you commented and it is lost!

• 9/15/2008 -- 101 in 1001 #2 – 47.52% Complete
• 7/19/2006 -- About
• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).

This project was taken from Triplux.

I completed my first 101 in 1001 on September 15, 2008!

The things that I say I want to MAINTAIN will be counted as completed if they are maintained for at least two months. I figure that if I maintain something for at least that long, then it’ll be habit.

Tasks I have completed will be struck through and a completion date will be listed that is linked to a post about the completion of that task. Tasks that I have begun will be italicized and a beginning date will be listed.

Started: September 15, 2008
Due Date: June 13, 2011
Tasks Completed: 48
Tasks Remaining: 53

1. Make this list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. If anything was left incomplete from my previous 101 in 1001, then figure out why I didn’t do it, and see if I can rework the goal. If so, it has to be on this list (these items have a ** in front of them). Completed 9/15/08

Religious
2. Join a small group/women’s Bible study.
3. Start writing again at Reading Red Letters and MAINTAIN it. Completed 12/26/09
4. Find a church home wherever I move to after school. Completed 12/26/09
5. Read at least 10 books by C. S. Lewis.
6. MAINTAIN regular daily prayer time. Begun 12/15/09
7. **Plan a religious fast and complete said fast (probably 3 days, but that’s flexible).
8. **Read the Bible from beginning to end.

Family/Friends

9. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2008. Completed 12/30/08
10. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2009. Completed 12/26/09
11. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2010. Completed 12/15/10
12. **Go to a concert with Daddy. Completed 8/15/09

Health
13. Get serious about meal planning and menus
14. Start and MAINTAIN drinking 8 glasses of water a day.
15. Get professionally fitted for a bra at a store that sells bras in my size. Completed 8/28/09
16. Learn to eat at least 3 new fruits and vegetables (doing this one again).
17. **Start and MAINTAIN regular exercise.
18. **Reach my weightloss goal and MAINTAIN it.
19. **Start and MAINTAIN regular flossing. Completed 10/28/09
20. **Get my stomach into fit enough condition so that a pierced bellybutton won’t look ridiculous (and if I keep my courage, actually pierce the bellybutton – but even if I don’t go through with it, the option is nice to have).
21. **MAINTAIN taking vitamins regularly.
22. **MAINTAIN monthly breast self exams.

School
23. Find an internship. Completed 3/23/09
24. Complete my graduate thesis. Completed 5/5/10
25. Graduate from UNCSA. Completed 5/29/10

Career

26. Find a job upon graduating. Completed 7/19/10
27. File paperwork for LLC for virtual assistant business and become OFFICIAL. Completed 8/28/09
28. Have at least 6 clients for Tizzy Consulting.
29. Find a new format for my resume and rework it. Completed 11/8/08

Financial

30. Become financially independent from my parents.
31. Save $5 a day and deposit into my savings account (doing this one again).
32. Contribute every month to saving for a house down payment.
33. Fully fund Roth IRA in 2008. Completed 12/31/08
34. Fully fund Roth IRA in 2010.
35. Create a budget which allows me to give 10% to church and charity.
36. MAINTAIN using coupons as I grocery shop when able (many organic products do not get coupons).

Travel

37. Get a new car – and I’m the one paying for it. Completed 4/11/09
38. Visit Alaska.
39. Take another cruise.
40. See New York City when it’s decorated for Christmas. Completed 12/8/08
41. Travel to a different country.
42. Go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter once it opens.
43. **Take a vacation to Atlanta with Mama – go shopping and see an exhibit at the High Museum. Completed 1/26/09
44. **Travel to Washington, D.C. At least see major monuments, the White House, and the Smithsonian. Completed 7/10/10
45. **Mount all my hat pins somehow (this replaces the previous “buy nice map and put a push-pin in every place I’ve been”)

Personal Betterment
46. Perform 10 random acts of kindness to complete strangers (0/10).
47. Have more involved communication with my sponsored child.
48. Get up the minute that the alarm goes off every day for a month.
49. Give blood if eligible (attempting to do this one again). Completed 9/10/09
50. Write a personal mission statement.
51. Wear makeup every day for a month. Completed 5/1/09
52. Write “to be read” letters to selected people (letters to be read upon my death by the people who mean the most to me). Completed 10/15/10
53. Pay for the person behind me at a fast food drive thru (doing this one again). Completed 12/1/10
54. Write a book.
55. **Stop biting fingernails.
56. **Update my journal and MAINTAIN it.

Organize/Purge

57. Organize, file, and store all my notes/keepsakes from my graduate classes. Completed 10/1/10
58. Move a large portion of my items stored at my parents’ house to my place. Completed 8/15/09
59. Sell, donate, give, or throw away 101 items (doing this one again). Completed 3/27/09
60. Create a filing system for all paperwork and MAINTAIN it. Completed 1/1/11
61. Sort through all clothing three times. Completed 10/7/10
62. Sort through all of my books and BookCross or give away a LARGE amount (at least 50). Completed 3/27/09
63. Rearrange books so that they truly are according to the Library of Congress system. Completed 6/30/09
64. **Finish entering all my books into a database. Completed 5/25/09
65. FLY. Begun 3/22/09

Technology
66. Write 500 blog posts (more attainable than 1001). (163/500) Begun 9/15/08
67. Participate in Blogathon 2009 Completed 7/26/09
68. Participate in Blogathon 2010 Completed 7/16/10
69. Participate in Blog Action Day 2008 Completed 10/15/08
70. Participate in Blog Action Day 2009 Completed 10/15/09
71. Participate in Blog Action Day 2010 Completed 10/15/10
72. Participate in NaNoWriMo Completed 12/1/10
73. Build up a decent audio/visual system. Completed 6/17/10
74. Start a system for regularly backing up my computer(s) and MAINTAIN it. Completed 5/1/10
75. Complete an email purge of all unnecessary old emails. Completed 5/12/10

Entertainment

76. Read through my A-Z Challenge.
77. Join local library. Completed 8/28/09
78. Decrease my LibraryThing TBR tags by at least 71 books (to less than 262 books, which was 50% of my books when I moved to Atlanta).
79. Re-read all the Harry Potter books.
80. Re-read all the Star Wars books.
81. Read at least 150 books (40/150).
82. Reach a Gamerscore of at least 3,000 on XBox360 (currently at 2,160).
83. Go see a famous jazz musician/group in concert. Completed 2/22/11
84. See a Cirque du Soleil show I haven’t seen (doing this one again). Completed 11/21/10
85. Go see a movie at the movie theater alone. Completed 8/30/09
86. See an opera. Completed 4/16/10
87. **Complete The Sims 2 Legacy Challenge. Completed 9/15/09
88. **Finish clearing my previous Netflix queue. (344/494) Begun 12/19/05
89. **Read 75% of the list of books that my friends have sent me. (24/85) Begun 12/19/05
90. **Watch 90% of the Greatest Films in 101 Things to Do Before You Die. (102/119) Begun 12/19/05
91. **See 100% of AFI top 100 movies. (81/100) Begun 12/19/05
92. **See 75% of Entertainment Weekly’s top 100 movies. (58/75) Begun 12/19/05

In the Kitchen
93. Rework my chocolate chip cookies recipe so that it is healthier.
94. **Learn to use cast iron skillets without messing up the seasoning.
95. **Find and make a good cheese fondue recipe (may require several tries).

Just for Fun
96. Find some attractive skirts that I can wear daily (not just on special occasions) and wear them! Completed 10/28/09
97. Complete a New York Times crossword (any day of the week)
98. Be super silly – take Oprah’s product recommendation. Completed 5/2/09
99. **Learn to drive a stick shift.
100. **Win something (anything) from a lottery ticket.

101. On June 13, 2011, publish a new 101 in 1001.

• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete
• 7/19/2006 -- About
• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/27/2008 -- NaNoWriMo (Day of Blogs ’08 #36)

Straight from their website, here is how CLI’s Professional Development Program works:

• Developing Engaging Read Alouds Because being read to adds directly to children’s knowledge and vocabulary, experts stress the importance of reading aloud to students.

At the writing center, a first-grader has word books, a dry-erase board and pen to work with. Activities can include writing a letter or writing about a book. We instruct teachers to promote children’s interest in books by reading aloud expressively, and to use books to build comprehension and vocabulary by asking open-ended questions. • Encouraging Writing Skills It is important to develop writing skills in young children, as language and literacy work together. Starting from infancy, almost everything that children learn about listening and talking contributes to their ability to read and write. CLI trains teachers to incorporate writing in every classroom center, and to provide ample writing opportunities for their students.

• Creating a Literacy-Rich Environment in the Classroom Displays of children’s writing, labeling, signs, and books in all areas of the classroom help immerse students in print conventions (such as punctuation and the way words are read) while providing them with a context for new vocabulary and letters. A literacy-rich environment includes interactive instructional materials created by the teachers and a collection of quality books on display with their covers facing outwards.

• Designing a Center-Based Classroom Work centers are physical areas of the classroom designated for learning and practice with specific instructional goals. Early childhood centers include such areas as a Library Center, Writing Center, Science and Discovery Center, and a Math Center. Classroom centers should be challenging and purposeful and the objective of each center activity should be targeted towards reaching classroom literacy goals.

At the science center, reading and writing are tools for learning. A book on frogs, alphabet tiles to spell with, tadpoles in a water tank, and paper and pens provide a purposeful learning opportunity. The results of a kindergartner’s tadpole study are displayed on the classroom wall.

CLI professional developers not only visit classrooms to help teachers rearrange and refine their classrooms, they also provide useful literacy instructional materials and activities that are theme- or content-related. Teachers learn classroom management skills in order to provide effective individual and small-group reading instruction and to promote independent learning.

I had centers in kindergarten – they were a lot of fun, and in hindsight focused our learning so clearly.  I just can’t say enough good things about CLI – won’t you consider sponsoring me?

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)
• 7/27/2008 -- Illuminated Manuscripts (Day of Blogs ’08 #39)

• Collect Britain
• Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum
• New York Public Library
• Flickr search results

Another fascinating link is to the St. John’s Bible project.  This is a work in progress to recreate the entire Bible in illuminated manuscripts.  They’re not cheap, but that’s because you’re pretty much investing in a work of art.  My mom actually has all the books that are completed so far, so I’ve seen them in person.  They are breathtaking!  Visit the site to see the pictures, but also to read about the process, because that is equally interesting.

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/27/2008 -- Children’s Literacy Initiative (Day of Blogs ’08 #42)
• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)
• 7/26/2008 -- Literary Quotes (Day of Blogs ’08 #23)