On Tuesday, Sabine and I took an introduction to WordPress class with Nicole Crimaldi of Ms. Career Girl through Dabble. (Whew - lots of moving parts there.) This class was $25 but Sabine and I signed up during a "bring a friend" special so it was really just half that for both of us. I had literally never looked at WordPress before, but assumed that there was something above and beyond about it that would require a two-hour introduction class. Turns out, WordPress is not hard. WordPress is actually really easy to use. WordPress seems kind of fun to use. However, this class was still a great experience and I do not regret going at all. If I did it all over again, I'd do it the same.
Nicole gave us a great overview with signing up for WordPress, yes, but so much of this session was discussion about how to use blogging for whatever your purpose. There were participants who were starting small businesses, some just looking for more information for the mental knowledge bank (me), and others unsure of the next step but ready to move on to something else. And it was amazing to hear Nicole's story of fighting back against a job that made her unhappy by working really hard and really smart. It was motivating.
Additionally, she had great tips on how to grow your blog's readership and how to think strategically about SEO and keywords. I would say most of the participants were interested in how to monetize their blogs, which makes sense if this is for your business or part of your side hustle. For me, my blog is just part of my web persona, if you will, but I am very interested in creating a healthy and interesting presence on the web. While I am really not concerned with monetizing my web presence, I would say it still falls into a "side hustle" category, and these tips were great.
I was thrilled with the class and thought it a great night. The space was comfortable and inviting. Nicole was engaging and interesting - and inspiring. I'm happy to add her to a list of entrepreneurs I admire. I feel ready to really make this blog something to be reckoned with (haha - that sounds intense). It'll be a little bit, here and there, but by the end of the year, there will be some big changes here. That's the best thing about these Dabble classes - they truly do give you a taste of something new, and empower you to take off from there. Money and time well spent.
Recommendation: If you're new to blogging or social media or just less comfortable with tech, take WordPress 101. If you're all set with figuring out how to set up your blog, do that, and take Nicole's Start Your Side Hustle class on Tuesday (8/14).
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Sense and Sensibility... and Disappointment
I finished Sense and Sensibility - I fought through to the end while on vacation in Maine late last week. And I was never so glad to finish one book and start another as I was once I moved from this to The Art of Fielding (for another book club meeting I didn't actually make it to - shocker).
If you have not read Sense and Sensibility, and do not desire to read blatant spoilers, please do not read further. I will summarize with this: I do not recommend reading it unless you also have a desire to read all of Austen's novels for yourself. It's slow and you will not be entertained. In fact, you may feel quite dissatisfied at the end. I certainly do.
Okay, it was fine. At this point, I'm comparing my experience to what I know of Jane Austen: a first read of Northanger Abbey, a few reads of Pride and Prejudice and countless journies through Emma. Sense and Sensibility. Going up against these reads I have loved, this just did not capture my attention nearly enough. I felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen - I did not have any moments of surprise, save near the end when Austen demonstrates that indeed Colonel Brandon pines for the obnoxious Marianne. And when Edward finally proposes to Elinor, Jane Austen keeps all the details a secret from us! We read through all these pages of insufferable detail in which I was frankly unconvinced that Edward was worth Elinor's attentions to get to this (emphasis added):
I trust that the film adaptation will be much better and that Kate Winslet will inspire me to love Marianne and Emma Thompson will prove to be a perfect Elinor. But if I don't get a proposal scene, I'm done.
Well, done until I move onto Pride and Prejudice, a title with so much adapted material, I shall be happily inundated with Austen for the rest of July.
Verdict: it wasn't for me, i don't recommend it, but do what you want
If you have not read Sense and Sensibility, and do not desire to read blatant spoilers, please do not read further. I will summarize with this: I do not recommend reading it unless you also have a desire to read all of Austen's novels for yourself. It's slow and you will not be entertained. In fact, you may feel quite dissatisfied at the end. I certainly do.
Okay, it was fine. At this point, I'm comparing my experience to what I know of Jane Austen: a first read of Northanger Abbey, a few reads of Pride and Prejudice and countless journies through Emma. Sense and Sensibility. Going up against these reads I have loved, this just did not capture my attention nearly enough. I felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen - I did not have any moments of surprise, save near the end when Austen demonstrates that indeed Colonel Brandon pines for the obnoxious Marianne. And when Edward finally proposes to Elinor, Jane Austen keeps all the details a secret from us! We read through all these pages of insufferable detail in which I was frankly unconvinced that Edward was worth Elinor's attentions to get to this (emphasis added):
How soon he had walked himself into the proper resolution, however, how soon an opportunity of exercising it occurred, in what manner he expressed himself, and how he was received, need not be particularly told. This only need to be said;- that when they all sat down to the table at four o'clock, about three hours after his arrival, he had secured his lady, engaged her mother's consent, and was not only in the rapturous profession of the lover, but, in the reality of reason and truth, one of the happiest of men.NEED NOT BE PARTICULARLY TOLD?! Are you kidding me?! Why does Jane Austen hate me?
I trust that the film adaptation will be much better and that Kate Winslet will inspire me to love Marianne and Emma Thompson will prove to be a perfect Elinor. But if I don't get a proposal scene, I'm done.
Well, done until I move onto Pride and Prejudice, a title with so much adapted material, I shall be happily inundated with Austen for the rest of July.
Verdict: it wasn't for me, i don't recommend it, but do what you want
Monday, June 18, 2012
Review of Northanger Abbey
I am not going to provide a long or detailed summary of Northanger Abbey. As I read this book with absolutely no idea what it was about, I recommend you do the same. If you desire a summary, read on...
Catherine Morland is the heroine of Austen's story, a sweet and naive girl of seventeen who ventures on her first extended stay from home with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Allen. In Bath, Catherine and Mrs. Allen, after some delay, find society with which to pass their time. Catherine is adopted as a confidante by Isabella Thorpe, who turns out to be taken with Catherine's brother, James. Before long, James and his friend John Thorpe, Isabella's brother, arrive in Bath, and John is quite taken with Catherine. Catherine has no romantic interest in John Thorpe though and, as Isabella is busy in her annoying courtship with James Morland (wherein she consistently denies being interested or noticing the interest of her suitor), Catherine turns to Eleanor Tilney for friendship.
Incidentally, the young Miss Morland is rather intrigued by her new friend's brother, Henry Tilney. This attention does not go unnoticed and everyone, except for the object of affection herself, recognizes there is competition for her attention. Catherine's naivete leads her to thinking everyone wants to be her friend and no one would employ trickery to woo her away. She, somewhat annoyingly at times, believes the best in everyone's intentions, despite the clarity to the reader that the entire Thorpe family is meddling in her affairs. Finally, she somewhat figures out Mr. Thorpe is trying to woo her and shuts him down. (Thanks, but no thanks - and he does come across as kind of creepy.)
From Bath, Catherine journies to Northanger Abbey with her new confidante, Eleanor. To our young heroine, Northanger Abbey is awash is mystery and... perhaps a tragedy? A scandal? Catherine's consumption of popular novels has sparked in her an imagination which is unsupported by all but the smallest details. It is so much like today's teenagers and their Twilight Justin Bieber fantasies that the reader often pauses to muse on the expected old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Ultimately, because it's Jane Austen, a few small scandals do arise and more than one person, including our heroine, is truly impacted. But they are small bumps in the road to a happy ending.
Really, Jane Austen has written something of a soap opera here, though the quality of writing and our appreciation of classic literature elevates it to a "romantic comedy." Don't get me wrong - I loved it. The plot moved quickly, and while twists were pretty easily anticipated, there is genuine delight in the protagonist's constant surprise at finding out the blemished truth about the intentions of her acquaintances. Catherine Morland is adorable and identifiable. Who among us did not have daydreams rooted in literature or film in our teenage years?
One of my favorite aspects of the novel are the pages in which Austen breaks the wall and talks to us directly. The historian in me was delighted to learn there was something of a cultural debate going on about the appropriateness or intellectual level of novels. My summer is proving to be busier than anticipated, but I am hoping to dig into this a bit more in the near future. Isn't it amusing to think that Austen's level and intent of writing was demeaned by her contemporaries but now revered?
Verdict: You'll tear through this Austen novel quickly, beach read worthy
Catherine Morland is the heroine of Austen's story, a sweet and naive girl of seventeen who ventures on her first extended stay from home with her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Allen. In Bath, Catherine and Mrs. Allen, after some delay, find society with which to pass their time. Catherine is adopted as a confidante by Isabella Thorpe, who turns out to be taken with Catherine's brother, James. Before long, James and his friend John Thorpe, Isabella's brother, arrive in Bath, and John is quite taken with Catherine. Catherine has no romantic interest in John Thorpe though and, as Isabella is busy in her annoying courtship with James Morland (wherein she consistently denies being interested or noticing the interest of her suitor), Catherine turns to Eleanor Tilney for friendship.
Incidentally, the young Miss Morland is rather intrigued by her new friend's brother, Henry Tilney. This attention does not go unnoticed and everyone, except for the object of affection herself, recognizes there is competition for her attention. Catherine's naivete leads her to thinking everyone wants to be her friend and no one would employ trickery to woo her away. She, somewhat annoyingly at times, believes the best in everyone's intentions, despite the clarity to the reader that the entire Thorpe family is meddling in her affairs. Finally, she somewhat figures out Mr. Thorpe is trying to woo her and shuts him down. (Thanks, but no thanks - and he does come across as kind of creepy.)
From Bath, Catherine journies to Northanger Abbey with her new confidante, Eleanor. To our young heroine, Northanger Abbey is awash is mystery and... perhaps a tragedy? A scandal? Catherine's consumption of popular novels has sparked in her an imagination which is unsupported by all but the smallest details. It is so much like today's teenagers and their Twilight Justin Bieber fantasies that the reader often pauses to muse on the expected old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Ultimately, because it's Jane Austen, a few small scandals do arise and more than one person, including our heroine, is truly impacted. But they are small bumps in the road to a happy ending.
Really, Jane Austen has written something of a soap opera here, though the quality of writing and our appreciation of classic literature elevates it to a "romantic comedy." Don't get me wrong - I loved it. The plot moved quickly, and while twists were pretty easily anticipated, there is genuine delight in the protagonist's constant surprise at finding out the blemished truth about the intentions of her acquaintances. Catherine Morland is adorable and identifiable. Who among us did not have daydreams rooted in literature or film in our teenage years?
One of my favorite aspects of the novel are the pages in which Austen breaks the wall and talks to us directly. The historian in me was delighted to learn there was something of a cultural debate going on about the appropriateness or intellectual level of novels. My summer is proving to be busier than anticipated, but I am hoping to dig into this a bit more in the near future. Isn't it amusing to think that Austen's level and intent of writing was demeaned by her contemporaries but now revered?
Verdict: You'll tear through this Austen novel quickly, beach read worthy
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