Minnesota Spring is indecisive. Between 40 degree drizzles and 80 degree bursts, I'm constantly adjusting windows and the thermostat. It's 50 and sunny today, so I'm heading out before the chill returns. But first, over coffee, here are last weeks highlights...
1) Making progress on my writing:
In the first "most interesting," I was in the initial stages of looking into online writing courses, both on Youtube and through major universities. Proud to say, I have completed the full lecture series from Brandon Sanderson (what an enrolled student in the English program at Brigham Young would take). His classes are perfect for me because I'd like to write sci-fi fantasy, which is close to what he is known for. If that genre doesn't align with what you'd like to write, I'd suggest checking out How I Write, a channel on which David Perell interviews a wide array of writers on their process and what inspires them. The Plottery channel has amazing insight and recommendations to improve your writing with examples that can immediately be implemented. In addition to learning how to write better overall and starting my own novel, I also wanted some instantaneous improvement on my book review writing. Being able to concisely share with others verbally why I liked a book can be difficult. Reading something amazing and not having the tools to share it with others can be a sad thing, honestly. So, before I started the Brandon Sanderson series, I watched some quick videos to learn structure and key elements that make good book reviews. I've started keeping notes as I read, which has enabled me to compile my thoughts and I've been practicing doing just that on The Story Graph. The most helpful channels for raising the bar on my book reviews was Reedsy, Gina Lucia Reads, and Imagine Forest (which is for younger readers, yet the principles still apply). Next up is to start one of the free writing classes I chose at MIT!
2) "Beef" Netflix series:
Before I even talk about this series, please go to google and input "beef series" into the search bar and see what happens - HAHAHAHA - love it! Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I couldn't wait for the second season of Beef and it finally arrived to Netflix. If you're not familiar with this series, it's a dark and clever storyline, season one navigating what happens after a road rage incident spirals out of control and the season two digging into the ends wealthy people will go to to maintain their status (or grovel their way to the top). It's a fresh and enjoyable watch, I highly recommend it!
3) Alliance of Native Seedkeepers:
I haven't even 100% confirmed where I am going to put my garden. But, I am determined to get one in this year, even if I have to start it mid-Summer just planting Fall crops. Despite this, I went overboard and ordered 50 types of seeds (more than what can fit in the photo below)! Not having my outside garden planned yet isn't the worst thing, because I have planted some of them inside and successfully yielded full size plants (can't wait to show you my Tom Thumb pea plant, which is itty bitty, yet has flowered and is ready to send out some pea pods!). When I was looking for seeds, I did a little research in order to find an honest company to purchase from. Large corporations have forced out smaller seed companies and limited what we are able to do with the seeds we buy through patents and restricting seed saving. There are a lot of concerns about the mis-appropriation and labeling of heirloom seeds, oftentimes taking seeds from an idigenous lineage, which you might want to read up on as well before you commit to buying from a particular company. My research led me to the Alliance of Native Seedkeepers as a source for seeds! If you're interested in them as well, read their story here. This past week, they also got featured on their local PBS station!
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