Confessional Memoirs

I came home for the weekend to attend a Pistons game with the family. The game was amazing. It was so exciting to see some of the phenomenal athletes I knew from TV. I knew a lot more players than I thought I would, because a lot of the same players are around from when I used to watch them a few years ago.

I did not tell many people I am home, which is hard to do, because I want to see everyone that I love, but it has been nice to experience peace at home. Thursday night I watched movies by myself and Friday I was able to rollerblade for nearly an hour. I have been reading David Sedaris and Anne Lamott all day to look for excerpts to analyze for my writing class. I have to give a ten minute presentation in a couple of weeks on "Confessional memoirs," which is right up my alley. Half of my books are all confessional memoirs. It has been fun going through and selecting some of the funniest or most striking quotes. I need to be sure to write in a little bit. I like having it be a part of my homework to write, but as exciting as it is, it is still tough. It is hard to feel creative all of the time. I am thoroughly enjoying Lamott's "Bird by Bird." She captures the life of a writer so well. I love that she has managed to provide a real image of the writing process. There's so many stereotypes about writers, some of them are true, but it's probably one of the most overrated and underrated processes there are. I feel like beginning writers, like myself fantasize about the life of a writer. I think great writers are great people, which is not always the case. At the same time, people who do not know anything about writing do not think enough about what is involved in the writing process. In class we learned the hardest battle as a writer is balancing the art of inspiration with the technical aspect. Anne Lamott says, "Being a writer guarantees you will spend too much time alone-" I love when professional, talented writers talk about being writers. That is why I have enjoyed hearing my professor talk about all of the published authors she knows when we talk about individual skills or techniques. She always seems to have a story about what we are talking about. She's always like, "For example, I have one friend who has published several works of fiction, yet she still does this or that..." It's really fascinating.

Tomorrow I am going to be able to meet up with the S. Dakota people. It just worked out perfectly that they are getting together for pizza tomorrow, and I happen to be in town. I'm looking forward to being together with everyone again. I am so busy these days that I feel like I have nothing to blog about, except school and being busy. It's kind of boring, so I think I will try to do some real writing.