In this blog, my goal is to share a story a day from my own life - a whopping 29 years long! In talking with friends, I'm constantly telling stories about my experiences, and I'm often told to write a book. I'm working on the book thing - more on that in a second.
Last week, while telling the story about how I officially committed myself to an omnivorous lifestyle at the age of 17, I was told that I should write the story down. Now, that is a slightly different suggestion than writing a book, and I said to the person that I was talking to that I'd never thought of that, but that it was a good idea, especially since I tell that story almost every time someone asks if I'm vegetarian. Out of that conversation was born the idea of this blog. Thanks Rachel*!
In actuality, this blog already existed, but I've removed all but the first post because I didn't have a real focus at first. I started The Grinning Oyster in November, 2011, after being laid off from my position at a large corporation in Milwaukee. In a strange coincidence, I learned that my position was being eliminated only a few days after learning that I was pregnant with my husband's and my first child.
Given the circumstances, I had to consider my approach to job searching a little differently than I normally would. I decided that I might just enjoy the next 9 months to a year, getting ready to be a mom, and exploring other opportunities that I haven't been able to focus on while working full time. Blogging seemed a good way to discipline myself to write on a regular basis, something I've always wanted to do, and maybe look into that book thing.
It also happens that November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and, together with my mom and my sister, I decided to take on the challenge of writing 50,000 words between November 1st and 30th. I only got 3,000 written. But, I made the excellent choice to tell several friends that I was writing a novel, and they have this wonderful tendency to ask me about my progress whenever I see them.
So, this blog serves another purpose. In addition to posting a story a day, I will also be picking up my novel where I left off. My goal will be to have it completed before the next NaNoWriMo, November 1, 2012, and it will be posted here for anybody to read. I can't promise a best seller, but it's a murder mystery set in my home town, Milwaukee, involving a food critic, so it's at least a little interesting in my opinion. And there's at least one delicious sounding food idea in the first 3,000 words, so I'm hopeful.
I should also mention that my first 30 years includes this year, and I'm very excited to see how this year will play out. Unfortunately, only a couple weeks after learning we were pregnant, my husband and I had our first ultrasound and learned that the baby had stopped developing very early, possibly as early as three weeks. As sad as that was, we were grateful for the short time we had as parents and the new possibilities that were revealed in our own lives during that time. So, this blog is also an exploration of those possibilities and a tribute to our first child, "Baby Disney".
Stop crying, Mom. I'll move on to less emotional, housekeeping-ish information now.
- I want to mention that the daily stories/posts I write in this blog will be true, but please keep in mind that they're written from one person's experience and I do reserve the right to embellish a little for story-telling's sake.
- Also, see my asterisked note about anonymity, below.
- I'm going to try to post a story a day, but I know that won't happen for real. I take vacations, and sometimes avoid the computer, and whatnot. However, I will number the daily posts with the intent of getting to at least 365 (maybe I'll shoot for a leap year or multiple years, even!) and might post a couple in one day to keep myself on track.
- Mom gave me a six-word memoir daily calendar for Christmas, so I might try to work my daily memoirs into the posts, too, which will help me keep up on that, too. I'm already a couple weeks behind!
- Finally, please feel free to post comments, especially if you were part of a story and have your own take on it!
Thanks in advance to any and all who stumble upon this blog and share in my life for even the shortest moment. I hope you enjoy it!
---Q
P.S. The background picture, with the daisies, is one that I took in La Paz, Bolivia, in August, 2008. I have lots of stories from that trip!
*The stories are true, but I will change names of others and try to preserve a hint of anonymity since I do watch crime shows and there are some scary people in this world. Nevertheless, my goal is to be as open as possible and to share the world from my point of view, since it's a pretty darn amazing place.
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