Author: thepineapplebuzz

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Serengeti Safari 2018

The safari Matt and I went on in the fall of 2018 was unforgettable.  

I remember the song cover of “Africa” by Weezer had just gotten popular.  When I think back on the lyrics, “gonna take some time to do the thing we never have…” we really did.  

We took photos of a herd of elephants in their element, a leopard feasting on its kill and lions mating.  

We got to stand up through the roof of our safari vehicle as we sped through the dirt roads in the Serengeti, wind in our face while we took in the land.

We danced in a group with the Masai Mara people and they showed us their traditions and way of life.  

We talked and dined by the campfire every night with new friends and listened to the lions make their sirens call just near our camp.  

It was a one of a kind vacation and the opportunity to see the people and places in Tanzania was genuinely a mutual exchange of heart and mind. 

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Carrie

You don’t even need to read any Stephen King horror novels to understand that he is a prolific author. Just the staggering amount of tales he has told (61) is hard to wrap my head around as a writer.

In Carrie, King’s descriptions set the scene like I’ve never seen before while reading. I found myself hanging on every adjective as I imagined the character’s faces, clothes and mannerisms. I’ve always had trouble imagining the descriptions I read in books but King writes in a poetic idiosyncrasy that paints a picture of the story he’s telling.

As the plot in Carrie creeps up on you, so do the characters. The elegant technique in which King draws out the storyline and the intentions of the characters] is the most skillful writing I’ve ever read.

When I told my husband I was reading Carrie, he mentioned he had heard that school libraries had been banning the book because of similarities to school shootings. I just think that if fiction is too close to reality for your comfort, maybe the book isn’t the problem.

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Backpacking through Europe 2019

I was reflecting on our most recent international travel and it felt almost as if just like in the videos I was watching back that we were roaming the downtown streets of Oslo strolling through Christmas light tunnels and finding impressive new burger places.  

Next, we were riding the Swiss countryside trains through the foggy mornings and sunny afternoons.  I recall the disappointments of fog through our train window as fondly as those warm sunny afternoons on a quiet train.  We laughed at the irony of the fog and basked in the sun melting all the snow away outside the train. 

Then all of the sudden you and I were climbing the heights of the Swiss mountains until we were at the highest point in Europe, slip sliding together through perfectly carved out ice tunnels.  I reminisced about the times we celebrated our love by toasting our evening espresso and champagne chocolate truffles and dancing in the low light of our Swiss chalet.  My mouth watered thinking about the breakfast we made for ourselves the next morning as we opened our windows to the crisp air of the mountain our room faced.  

I listened to the saxophone playing that I recorded just outside our window in Zürich soon after we went wandering down the alleyways and met both crowded music-filled streets as well as the quiet lonely evening shopping district streets.  

I giggled at the self deprecating humor you place on always being given a hard time at airport security.  

Finally, we ended up in the swanky neighborhood of SoHo in London where we share so many memories rambling through the streets, looking in the shops, having coffee and talking our way into the jazz clubs.  Looking at the bright red double decker buses that are so iconic of London reminds me of the magnets we collect from our travels and keep in our home that we share together.

The pure excitement I felt the entire week before and leading up to see the Harry Potter play was electric and I still feel that spark when I think about that time.  

The adventures Matt takes me on are awe-inspiring and memorable in a visceral way for me.  Having a traveling partner means having a companion to discover with.  It incites memories of childhood that are similar to the joy I felt as a child.

I’ll go anywhere and everywhere with you.

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Six of Crows

Kaz Brekker and his crew of specialists excite the mind while working together to pull off what should be a impossible heist.

When you’re slumming it in Ketterdam, it helps if your friends are skilled in things like lock-picking, scaling Walls and shooting firearms.  

Six of Crows is a definite read for thrilling adventure seekers.  The gang known as The Dregs take the reader on shootouts, break-ins and many decisive meetings all while at each other’s throats. 

Author, Leigh Bardugo gives each character a meaningful backstory griping the reader to care about them.  Each character is developed into these rich stories within the novel and reading them is full of emotions like loss and grief. 

The exciting skill sets of each character provides a light and easy dynamic throughout challenges and trip-ups on the pages of Six of Crows.

All these factors would make this book a great standalone novel and that’s what makes it cringeworthy that the story couldn’t be wrapped up in one book.  It’s frustratingly a duology.

Authors are constantly trying to drag out what would be a great story into a bore of a second or third book.  Much like 50 Shades droned on through the second book of nonsensical wild goose chase plots.  

Still,if you’re into provoking heists… its a must read.

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Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Posted on

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.