I used to think spring was the season that represented newness, change. After all, it’s when the plants begin to bloom after the cold of winter. Lately, however, I’ve pretty much embraced the idea that early autumn is considered a time of change in my life. (Maybe it has secretly been that way all along – I mean, the start of a new school year always begins in autumn.)
Quite a bit has been happening in my life in the last two weeks, but I didn’t realize the extent of it until I sat down and brainstormed possible topics to write about for this blog post. I was surprised to discover that there have been ten different occasions where some new change had transpired. Ten! With everything going on, no wonder I feel like the days have blurred together.
To give you an idea of what kind of new changes I’ve been experiencing, I’ve compiled a brief list below. (You don’t get all ten, though. Gotta keep some things private on a public blog, you know.)
1.) The “summer” part of my internship officially ended on Sept 21. (I submitted my last assignment on the 19th.) However, I signed on to be a continuing intern, so I’m still with the press. The “fall” session begins tomorrow. Therefore, I basically had a break for a week and a half. It was nice to use that time I used to proofread and just read a book for fun.
2.) Speaking of which, I started Book #19 on Sept 20. I’m roughly 54% complete with THE KNOWING by Sharon Cameron. I’m really enjoying it so far.
3.) I also met my new bible study group on Sept 19. Most of the people (like myself) were in this group for the past year, but now there are five new girls, and three of our former members had to jump into another group due to scheduling conflicts (except one - she left because she’s now officially a leader of her own group). Additionally, I met my brother and sister group three days prior to that. Surprising for an introvert, I like meeting new people; I’m just terrible at the small talk that comes with getting to know someone. But I’m looking forward to hearing about their lives in the next coming months.
4.) and 5.) My sister’s birthday was last week, so we’re now officially the same age. Quarter of a century. She also picked up her brand new car that day. (It was time to retire her sixteen-year-old car. It was falling apart.) It’s odd to see such a different car sitting behind mine on the driveway.
6.) I had my annual eye doctor appointment yesterday, and even though I’m an avid contact-wearer, I picked out a new pair of glasses. (This was the last time I’d be under my dad’s insurance, so I took advantage of my eligibility.) I still really like my light chestnut brown glasses that I chose four years ago already, but now I’ll have a black/dark tortoiseshell pair. Thank goodness my prescription hasn’t changed in years (my eyesight is bad enough), and now I can alternate glasses at home. It reminds me of my high school days where I used to rotate between three different glasses depending on what day of the week it was, haha.
So yeah. Autumn may have just started, but I’m beginning to feel its effect on my life. The trees around here haven’t quite changed colors yet, but if you look closely, some of the very tops of tall trees have leaves that are beginning to look rustic. I find myself wearing a light jacket now. (I forgot how much I dislike the cold. But I like fall fashion the most, so I don’t mind wearing layers and jeans instead of shorts.)
Also, my sister’s birthday kicks off “birthday season” around here, so I’m back to doing All The Birthday Celebrations. And before I know it, NaNoWriMo will show up, shortly followed by the holidays.
With all the new changes happening lately, I began to internally categorize everything as if it were a book. You know, like how each story starts with the inciting event, which triggers everything else in the story? I tried to pick the “inciting event” within my own life from the last couple of weeks, but instead I only narrowed it down to three changes. Basically I have multiple “story lines” going, depending on which chapter direction you want to follow.
But hey! Life itself is quite complex, so my comparison can only go so far.
I’m trying to embrace all the changes, though. I’ve had periods in my life where I felt like everything was moving at a standstill so at least all the new occurrences tell me that my life is actually moving forward. Even if it’s typically at such a slow pace. Like how it takes a few weeks for a tree to transform into brilliant colors before shedding its foliage. Until all that’s left is its sturdy structure.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Kerrytown Bookfest 2018
Last Sunday (September 9), I took a trip out to enemy territory Ann Arbor to attend the 16th Annual Kerrytown Bookfest. It’s basically an all-day celebration of independent presses and bookstores (plus book-related arts and crafts were sold). I had never attended before, but since my current and former internships at a publishing house were going to have a booth there, I decided to check things out. After all, I figured it would at least be nice to physically meet the editors.
When I left my house that morning, the sky was overcast and threatened rain. I was worried it might downpour by the time I arrived in Ann Arbor. All the booths at the Bookfest were underneath tents, but it was still outside – and I hate being outside in the rain. It only sprinkled briefly during my drive, so I saw it as a good sign. The drive itself took me longer than my GPS had predicted, but then again, I had taken the wrong exit at one point and had to turn back around. Needless to say, I’m still terrible at directions and prone to getting lost. But I eventually got there! (This could easily be said as a metaphor for my life.)
The Bookfest was really neat, though. I made 3-4 rounds to really take in all that the booths had to offer. I think I spent more time gazing at all the craft items being sold than at actual books, haha. In the end, I only bought a bookmark for $2. There was even one booth that was not only selling homemade notebooks filled with homemade paper, but the vendor was periodically making the paper at the table. I wish I got to witness it; watching her make paper would have been intriguing.
As for the publishing presses that I personally know, I went over and stopped by my former internship place first. Unfortunately for me, the publisher was not there. She decided to stay in Colorado so that was disappointing, but I understand why she didn’t fly all the way over to Michigan for this. Instead, I spoke with the three girls manning the booth as representatives. (Well, one of them didn’t talk to me. She just listened.) One was an intern for them three years ago, and the other girl was a current intern. It almost felt like a gathering of interns, past and present.
Conveniently, three booths away was where my current internship’s location was. The editor was busy talking to someone else when I arrived, so I actually talked with her husband first. Opened up one of their upcoming fall books that they were promoting, because my name is credited on the inside as one of the proofreaders. Once the editor was free, she invited me behind the booth and we chatted for a good 15-20 mins. One of the things we talked about was what my tasks would be as I transition into a continuing intern. We expressed how relieved we were that it hadn’t actually rained.
At 2:00 p.m., I attended a seminar about YA books. I feel like I’m pretty well-versed in this genre, but I wanted to hear what these authors had to say. There were three authors who were on this panel. One of them actually grew up in the Ann Arbor area. As for another one, I actually own (and obviously read) a trilogy of her books! So I was pretty thrilled about that – even if I felt a little guilty about not reading Joelle Charbonneau’s newest three books.
At 2:30, it started to downpour. The joke was that now no one was going to leave the seminar now, thanks to the safety of our large tent. The session only lasted forty-five minutes, so I think that’s my only complaint about it; I wish it lasted a bit longer. Afterward, all three authors were available to sign things. I half-contemplated about standing in line, but I didn’t want to risk spending money for their signatures. Especially since I have never read books from the other two authors.
At that point I was hungry, and I had to think about heading out soon. I feel like I walked through half of downtown Ann Arbor in the rain, trying to find some sort of café to eat dinner at. I finally found an opened sandwich place that I’ve never been in before, and I was quite pleased with the food. It was also nice to rest my feet for a little bit, for my shoes had ripped up my heels from the day before, and I had to keep reapplying a Band-Aid on my worst scab.
But I couldn’t dawdle too long, because I had to be somewhere at 6:00 p.m. Luckily, it stopped raining at this point, so the drive wasn’t too terrible. I was just tired of driving when I pulled into the church parking lot at 5:25.
Overall, I’m glad I went to the Bookfest. It was nice to meet at least one of the editors of the publishing presses that I’ve interned for. I just wish the drive to get there was shorter. And maybe for the weather to be a little bit nicer.
When I left my house that morning, the sky was overcast and threatened rain. I was worried it might downpour by the time I arrived in Ann Arbor. All the booths at the Bookfest were underneath tents, but it was still outside – and I hate being outside in the rain. It only sprinkled briefly during my drive, so I saw it as a good sign. The drive itself took me longer than my GPS had predicted, but then again, I had taken the wrong exit at one point and had to turn back around. Needless to say, I’m still terrible at directions and prone to getting lost. But I eventually got there! (This could easily be said as a metaphor for my life.)
The Bookfest was really neat, though. I made 3-4 rounds to really take in all that the booths had to offer. I think I spent more time gazing at all the craft items being sold than at actual books, haha. In the end, I only bought a bookmark for $2. There was even one booth that was not only selling homemade notebooks filled with homemade paper, but the vendor was periodically making the paper at the table. I wish I got to witness it; watching her make paper would have been intriguing.
As for the publishing presses that I personally know, I went over and stopped by my former internship place first. Unfortunately for me, the publisher was not there. She decided to stay in Colorado so that was disappointing, but I understand why she didn’t fly all the way over to Michigan for this. Instead, I spoke with the three girls manning the booth as representatives. (Well, one of them didn’t talk to me. She just listened.) One was an intern for them three years ago, and the other girl was a current intern. It almost felt like a gathering of interns, past and present.
Conveniently, three booths away was where my current internship’s location was. The editor was busy talking to someone else when I arrived, so I actually talked with her husband first. Opened up one of their upcoming fall books that they were promoting, because my name is credited on the inside as one of the proofreaders. Once the editor was free, she invited me behind the booth and we chatted for a good 15-20 mins. One of the things we talked about was what my tasks would be as I transition into a continuing intern. We expressed how relieved we were that it hadn’t actually rained.
At 2:00 p.m., I attended a seminar about YA books. I feel like I’m pretty well-versed in this genre, but I wanted to hear what these authors had to say. There were three authors who were on this panel. One of them actually grew up in the Ann Arbor area. As for another one, I actually own (and obviously read) a trilogy of her books! So I was pretty thrilled about that – even if I felt a little guilty about not reading Joelle Charbonneau’s newest three books.
(The guy sitting to Charbonneau’s left is Caleb Roehrig. He sounds like he would be a cool guy to have as a friend.)
At 2:30, it started to downpour. The joke was that now no one was going to leave the seminar now, thanks to the safety of our large tent. The session only lasted forty-five minutes, so I think that’s my only complaint about it; I wish it lasted a bit longer. Afterward, all three authors were available to sign things. I half-contemplated about standing in line, but I didn’t want to risk spending money for their signatures. Especially since I have never read books from the other two authors.
At that point I was hungry, and I had to think about heading out soon. I feel like I walked through half of downtown Ann Arbor in the rain, trying to find some sort of café to eat dinner at. I finally found an opened sandwich place that I’ve never been in before, and I was quite pleased with the food. It was also nice to rest my feet for a little bit, for my shoes had ripped up my heels from the day before, and I had to keep reapplying a Band-Aid on my worst scab.
But I couldn’t dawdle too long, because I had to be somewhere at 6:00 p.m. Luckily, it stopped raining at this point, so the drive wasn’t too terrible. I was just tired of driving when I pulled into the church parking lot at 5:25.
Overall, I’m glad I went to the Bookfest. It was nice to meet at least one of the editors of the publishing presses that I’ve interned for. I just wish the drive to get there was shorter. And maybe for the weather to be a little bit nicer.
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