Category Archives: blogging

Pioneer Woman and Me

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Jackie

Cover of "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipe...

Cover via Amazon

Thanks to a dear subscription-having friend, I finally got to read the entirety of the recent New Yorker piece on The Pioneer Woman, otherwise known as Ree Drummond, otherwise known as one of my favorite, must-read, daily-check websites.

Like many of her readers, I suspect that Ree and I don’t have much in common: I have half as many kids as she does and far fewer animals living on my much smaller (and very urban) property. My husband is not a cattle rancher, I don’t homeschool, and I suspect we have different beliefs on faith, politics and many other subjects. I am also not a savvy businesswoman, and I don’t make money from blogging, much less the “solid million dollars” quoted in the article.

But we are both mothers, and bloggers, part of the 14% of women online in the US who are bloggers. While I do have access to a far wider variety of spices and ingredients than Drummond can probably find in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, I am very fond of the kind of cooking she does, and I am extremely fond of the photo-heavy way in which she posts her recipes. I love her accessible, funny, quirky way of writing, and her images are a wonderful visual treat. I appreciate that this woman, with a very full and rich life of her own, still felt the need to reach out, to express herself to online readers, to have a corner of her life where her voice was heard, independent of being a well-known figure in her own world. I don’t think she started her blog to get rich, and if you read her early entries or have read her from the early days on, I think you would agree.

So why do I rely so much on my daily serving of the Pioneer Woman? I love her recipes: her French Breakfast Puffs and sherried tomato soup have become traditional parts of our family Christmas brunch, and her crash hot potatoes and twice-baked potatoes are some of my favorite side dishes. I own a copy of her The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl and plan to cook my way through it eventually and will definitely buy her second one, coming out sometime soon, I think. I also use Tasty Kitchen frequently and have gotten some of my favorite reliable recipes from there, like this one for cheddar meatloaves.

I also love the (admittedly packaged version) stories of her life that she shares with her readers, which despite stereotypes, are not always completely sunny. Sure, she posts tons of pictures of her photogenic and adorable family, but she’s talked frankly about her parents’ divorce as well as her developmentally disabled brother and his drinking problem. I don’t own The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels–A Love Story yet, but am planning on it when it comes out in paperback, even though I’ve read all the website posts already, and I will definitely see the movie when it comes out. As a blogger myself, I appreciate that she doesn’t share every single detail of her life, and that she manages to feel like a woman you would know and like without baring her entire soul and while still preserving her husband and children’s privacy as much as she can. It’s a fine and tricky line to walk, and she does it well.

Do I envy her success? Not really. Sure, I would love to have a million dollars (who wouldn’t?), but not if it meant trading my life for hers (though I would certainly love to take a weekend on her ranch once in awhile). I am not a business woman, nor do I aspire to be a professional blogger; my life as a teacher and writer is perfectly suited for me, and I don’t think I would last long on a cattle ranch. What I do envy is her seeming grace, her ability to embrace the chaos, and the way she never appears flustered. Even though I know that is only the surface she presents to the world, it’s a surface I’d like to resemble more closely.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks (ncbookbunch.wordpress.com)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond (Sara Habein’s review #9) (cannonballread3.wordpress.com)
Exclusive: Ree Drummond on Her Pioneer Woman Food Network Show (blogher.com)
Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond (alleganylibrarycollections.wordpress.com)

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Posted in blogging, conversations, writing and tagged Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, Tasty Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Bookmark the permalink.

Oscillating Wildly

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Jackie

Image via Wikipedia

I have always been the kind of writer who hops from piece to piece, genre to genre; if my energy starts to run low with one, I jump to the next, trusting that the novelty will be invigorating. The benefit of this approach is that I sometimes do go back and find myself willing to tackle the old piece with fresh eyes, gaining a new piece in the process. However, more times than I would like, I end up with a thriving new project and a pitiful abandoned project that I actually liked, but have gone cold on, for whatever reason.

Do you see where I’m going with this? It appears that I am also that kind of blogger, though at a much slower pace. It has become increasingly difficult to motivate myself to post here, while at my book blog, I’m posting reviews, joining reading challenges, joining new memes, gaining some regular commenters, queuing up posts almost every day. I’m feeling all kinds of energy about that blog, and low energy over here.

So what does this mean? Will this blog become the abandoned one, or will I tackle it again with fresh eyes? It’s hard for me to say right now, and I suspect I need yet another conversation with myself about what role I want blogging to play in my life right now as I know it, and where my time is best spent.

So please check in with my book blog, and I’ll keep you posted about this space. As always, any suggestions or thoughts would be welcome, and your presence as my reader means more to me than you know.

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Nudge, Reading Blog Edition

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Jackie

Image via Wikipedia

Just so you know, over at my reading blog, I’ve reviewed a few books, like Cleopatra and Frankenstein, booked through Thursday, and posted about Sophie’s favorite new books, an epic series of legendary clans of warrior cats….

I’m not syncing that blog with Facebook, but I thought a few gentle reminders as I get up and moving over there couldn’t hurt. Come join me for some book chat, why don’t you?

Versatile Blogger

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Jackie

Image via Wikipedia

My bloggy friend Sara tagged me as a Versatile Blogger about a month ago, and I’ve meant to post on it ever since, but have been stumped by the requirement: listing “seven facts about me that you are unlikely to learn elsewhere.” I’ve been blogging for over seven years, so the list of things I haven’t blogged, but am willing to blog, is rather short. But then again, who knows how many of you have been reading all of those seven years, so really, I decided to get over it and just make a list, focused around music in my life.

The first cassette tapes I remember owning were George Michael’s Faith and Madonna’s True Blue. I believe that tells you all you need to know about which generation I belong to, both by the artists mentioned and the words “cassette tapes.”
I will further incriminate myself by saying my eighth grade boyfriend bought me a tape for Christmas, and it was Naughty by Nature’s self-titled 1991 masterwork, featuring “O.P.P,” a song to which I used to know all the lyrics and probably can sing embarrassing portions of even today. It was my favorite tape for months, second only to Boyz II Men’s “Motownphilly.”
I have a Mariah Carey station on Pandora, and I’m not ashamed. I also have a Britney Spears one, which I love as well.
For our wedding, my husband and I made mix CDs and gave them out as favors. I’m still pretty proud of our tracklisting, and I still play the CD regularly, though I’m not sure how many of our wedding guests would say the same. Songs included the Indigo Girls, “Power of Two,” Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together,” and the Cure, “The Lovecats.”
If forced to choose, I would choose the Beatles over the Rolling Stones, which my mother believes is one of the classic musical divides of our age. She’s a Stones fan, so we never speak of this.
If forced to choose again, I would choose Led Zeppelin over the Rolling Stones. While the Stones have many amazing songs, from “Sympathy for the Devil” to “Wild Horses,” there’s something so epic, legendary, decadent and just plain rockstar about Zeppelin. Not to mention I know their albums by heart (III is my favorite), have read extensively about their lives, and went through several obsessive phases dedicated entirely to them. Plus, Robert Plant is hotter than Mick Jagger.
I wrote a paper in graduate school on Eminem’s deployment of class and race imagery, which was accepted for presentation at the next meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Chuck D was the keynote speaker, it was supposed to be my first conference presentation, and I was thrilled–until it was canceled, as it was scheduled for the weekend after September 11th, 2001.

As for tagging, I’m listing some here, but feel free to jump in, if this appeals to you!

What Now?
Bumblebee Sweet Potato
Geeky Mom
Lone Star Ma
She Started It

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin by Jon Bream (collectedmiscellany.com)

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Posted in all about me, blogging, media mentions and tagged blogging, in my life, Lovecats, music, Robert Plant. Bookmark the permalink.

New Book Blog

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Jackie

So, I have another blog now, a book one.

That was kind of anti-climactic, right? I know.

But if you want to keep up with my Books I Should Have Read in High School reading, or the books I’m going to read for the GLBT challenge, or even the Gothic Reading challenge (post on that coming soon), you should head over there regularly. I’ll also be doing occasional reviews, posting about reading-related news, and Booking Through Thursday responses, when I feel like it.

I will still be blogging here, of course, about writing, teaching, parenting, and more, and this will still be my primary blog, but the only book reviews I do here any more will be ones focused on teaching. I won’t be synchronizing my book blog with Facebook, because I already worry that I post too much stuff there, so if you want to keep up with my reading, you’ll have to subscribe or add me to your feeds or just keep checking back. But in an effort to carve out more time and focus for my own reading, I signed up for these challenges, and I think blogging my way through them will increase my enjoyment of them. I think it will be fun, albeit bookish, nerdy fun.

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Books I Should Have Read in High School

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Jackie

Image via Wikipedia

This year, I’m taking on the Books I Should Have Read in High School, But Didn’t challenge Dana is running, and I’m pledging to read six books I feel I should have read, putting me in the Graduate Student category. The over-ambitious part of my personality wanted to try the Literature Professor category, but decided not to, since I’m tackling a notoriously long book as one of my choices. A few of these books I wouldn’t expect to be assigned in high school, nor would I want to teach them, but I feel I would, might or should have read them if my graduate degrees were in literature.

Here’s my proposed list, in no particular order:

Frankenstein
War and Peace
Song of Solomon
Things Fall Apart
Julius Caesar
Vanity Fair

War and Peace and Vanity Fair take place against the same historical backdrop, so I’m looking forward to those. Also, I have to confess two more superficial reasons for choosing Vanity Fair: looking forward to watching the Reese Witherspoon film, and finally/fully understanding the Becky Sharpe allusion Anne makes in Anne of Windy Poplars!

This is certainly a lot of reading, but I have a few strategies. First, I’ve gotten into a really good habit of reading before I go to bed every night, so that will be helpful to keep me moving forward. Second, I’ve always been a voracious reader, so I’m not daunted by the sheer number of pages I’ll be tackling. Third, I’ve also always been a relatively fast reader. Fourth, I’ll probably start my longest book (W&P) at the beginning of the summer, which is when I often get a lot of reading done, either in the long summer nights when I don’t have to wake up for school the next day or the long summer afternoons I spend poolside (yes, it’s clear why summer is my favorite season!).

Some of these are titles I’ve wanted to read for years, but I also like the idea of challenging myself to do what I ask students to do–read an unfamiliar, challenging text simply because it’s in front of me, and see what I can get out of it along the way. I’ll be blogging reviews and thoughts along the way, and will be watching film adaptations too. This is my first time participating in one of these kinds of reading challenges, but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun–feel free to join in, or try one of the many reading challenges Dana is trying. Dana is encouraging participants for hers even if you don’t have a blog, so jump in!

All links provided via my Amazon associates account, though I have received no compensation for these reviews. If you click through these links to buy the books, I get a very small cut. Thanks!

100 book challenge, 2011 (notsuchayummymummy.wordpress.com)
Review: My Reading Life (bookingmama.blogspot.com)

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Posted in blogging, book reviews, daily blog challenges, personal goals and tagged authors, blog challenges, book reviews, personal goals, Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

2010 in Review

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Jackie

Here’s a peek behind the stats-curtain–yet another reason to love WordPress for sending me this information, as well as formatting it into a blog post for me!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 12,000 times in 2010. That’s about 29 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 152 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 379 posts. There were 37 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 9mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was January 6th with 418 views. The most popular post that day was Lucky Number: Seven.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, lonestarmablog.blogspot.com, Google Reader, blogger.com, and google.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for a patchwork life, facebook project rubric, facebook rubric, facebook assignment rubric, and great gatsby facebook project.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Lucky Number: Seven May 2009
10 comments

Gatsby Facebook Project April 2009
36 comments

About Me July 2007
14 comments

Lesson Planning: Poetry May 2009

Lesson Planning: Literature May 2009

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Posted in blogging and tagged 2010, blogging. Bookmark the permalink.

2010: A Recap

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Jackie

Even though I jumped off the Reverb 10 train, I am still and always interested in reflecting on where I’ve been to see where I want to go. So I’m continuing my tradition of recap posts for the third year in a row–won’t you join me, please?

I finished 2009 by setting a lot of goals for myself in several different arenas of my life, and attacked my blogging goals by challenging myself to do NaBloPoMo, which worked out really well and helped me set some trends for the year as I moved into more teaching-focused posts like my series on what makes a great teacher. I also joined some conversations about working moms and leisure time, as well as overscheduled children. These posts all ended up in my Spotlight page, highlighting my best posts, which makes me realize perhaps another round of NaBloPoMo is in order!

In February, I was feeling a little bittersweet, talking about the Bible as literature, celebrating my catfish friend and surviving some major blizzards. By March, I was recognizing the need for some re-centering, blogging about student blogging.This was a slow blogging time for me–I wonder if it was a NaBloPoMo hangover, or just a busy time?

April brought the cruelest month for schoolteachers trying to hang on till the end of the year. My first supper club night and some other lovely moments helped get me through it, as well as my first annual public poetry project with my students. Watch this space–I’ve got big poetry month plans this year too!

In May, I tried my first experiment with student evaluations, which I’m going to refine and try again at the end of this semester. I realized that while my teaching of poetry had grown richer, it wasn’t the right season for me as a poet. My girls turned eight and took our first trip to faeryland. Finally, just when I needed a boost, my first teaching article, on scaffolding with digital media in the English classroom, was published!

In June, I was thinking about Twitter and tinkering, as well as piles of summer reading. We took our first journey to Green Gables, and I looked through a blog, darkly. In July, I felt ambivalent and struggled to exercise. I added up nine teaching accomplishments, updated my most popular post ever, and realized how blogging as made me a better writer. These summer months saw me blogging pretty regularly, helping me process my year and look forward.

August, my birthday month, saw me a a little teary after a lovely surprise reader email. I spent a perfect sewing day with my sister and my own girls, and blogged a series of posts about dialectical notebooks before beginning the back-to-school countdown.

My own school uniform showed up in September–of course, it’s a uniform I choose for myself, which makes all the difference! I cheered for Teach Like A Champion, got to know my new students and stumbled a few times during my first week back.

How do we teach kindness, and how can we make it better? These are some of the thoughts on my mind as we headed into October after a hectic September. I got more than a little cranky about the old “180 days a year” teaching stereotype, reflected on my life as a writer, and still felt I was at full speed ahead into November.

In a month where my calendar felt overstuffed, I blogged about teaching by calendar, and still had time to fall in love with some great books and music. Finally, in one of my most-commented posts this year, I realized I was going gray, and no, I don’t feel any more resolved about it than I did then.

December began with me attempting a reflective challenge that I didn’t finish, though it did help me think about my writing next year, possible (and better) versions of myself, what I need to let go of, which added up to at least 11 things. I succumbed to the holidaze and read some great books, which brings us to……

today, the last day of 2010! As appropriate for a new decade, this year has definitely been one of change and growth for me. I made some real progress on my goals and am working towards some new ones–you can find me on 43 Things if you are curious, and we can cheer each other on!

Thanks for spending some of your time with me this year–I hope it has enriched your life, as much as your presence, emails and comments have enriched mine.

Happy Fifth Birthday, NaBloPoMo! (blogher.com)

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Posted in all about me, blogging, personal goals and tagged 2010, in my life, NaBloPoMo, personal goals. Bookmark the permalink.

Appreciate Five Minutes

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Jackie

As much as I can understand not wanting to have children of your own, I am continually amazed at who I am because I have had children, and because I am a parent. I don’t know who I would be if I wasn’t, but I do know that wanting to be the best possible parent I can be is inextricably linked with wanting to be the best possible version of myself that I can be. The immense amount of value I place on parenting makes everything else in my life more intense, because all my roles and identities stem from that one.

I appreciate what being a parent has meant to me, and I appreciate the incredible joy I have often received from being a parent, as well as the deep anxieties and sorrows I have felt. All of it has made me better, but as also brought empathy and compassion into my life in pervasive ways. All of this can happen without having children, but for me, my children were the catalyst.

So if I imagine I will lose my memory of 2010 and have to capture the best moments, they will all revolve around my children. Splashing in the pool, reading bedtime stories, playing Beatles Rock Band, baking cookies, saying our “roses and thorns” around the dinner table, all of these and more, but especially every minute I get to spend watching them, talking to them, snuggling with them, and generally basking in their glow.

This is my Reverb 10 post for the day.

A Patchwork Life

Category Archives: blogging

Pioneer Woman and Me

Oscillating Wildly

Nudge, Reading Blog Edition

Versatile Blogger

New Book Blog

Books I Should Have Read in High School

2010 in Review

Crunchy numbers

Where did they come from?

Attractions in 2010

2010: A Recap

Appreciate Five Minutes

Follow Blog via Email

Posting Patchwork

Apples for the Teacher

Circle of Friends

Cook's Choice

Pop and Politics

The Writing Life

Archives

Follow “A Patchwork Life”

Category Archives: blogging

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Follow Blog via Email

Posting Patchwork

Apples for the Teacher

Circle of Friends

Cook's Choice

Pop and Politics

The Writing Life

Archives

Follow “A Patchwork Life”