Ruth Buchanan's Blog, page 10
January 30, 2017
10 Book Titles That Sound Like Memoirs Written by Distraught Middle School Teachers Having Bad Days
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Where the Wild Things Are
The Taming of the Shrew
Crime and Punishment
Hard Times
Misery
The Idiot
The Book Thief
The Problem of Pain
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
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Photo Credit:By FOTO:Fortepan — ID 15794: Adományozó/Donor : Unknown. [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
January 23, 2017
To Cheer You Today: 15 Photos of Me Clearly Struggling
The real question isn't why there are so many pictures of me struggling.
The real question is how I'm still alive.
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More like this:
10 Inexplicable Pictures to Make You Wonder About the Nature of My Life
10 More Inexplicable Pictures to Make You Wonder About the Nature of My Life
January 16, 2017
How to Tell If It's Almost Time to Go Grocery Shopping
You opened your fridge and a tumbleweed rolled out.You've blazed through last year's hurricane supplies.You've used up all your travel toiletries and are now washing your hair with hand soap.You've been brushing your teeth with baking soda and vinegar.You're washing dishes with bubble mixture.You haven't dumped out your contact lens solution in three days.You ate a bowl of Parmesan cheese for dinner.You served a scented candle for dessert.You've tried using dryer sheets as deodorant.You're su...
January 9, 2017
The Goat Ate My Receipt: Confessions of a Professional Equestrian
Bethany is a grown adult who trains horses for a living. She has a very specific set of problems. Most are work-related, but some are just a result of Bethany being Bethany. Because she's my sister, I am kept apprised of her daily problems through a string of loosely-narrative texts.
It's very entertaining.
Because I didn't want to be the only one enjoying the chronicle of Bethany's slow, steady life implosion, I asked her to start texting me her daily problems with the understanding that I'd e...
January 2, 2017
2016: My Year in Books
Total books: 203Total pages: 62,466Longest read of 2016: George Eliot's Middlemarch, 904 pages - This marks the second time I've read this book. I can now say with authority that it's not a book that necessarily needs to be read twice.General breakdown: 118 non-fiction, 85 fiction.
While I did meet my overall goal of 200 books, 2016 marks the first year I haven't posted growth in the numbers. I attribute this largely to having a very productive writing year. In any case, I read a lot of great...
December 27, 2016
On Being Single at Christmas
This year someone asked me if it's hard to be single over the holidays. My answer: "No harder than usual."
As a thirty-eight-year-old never-married, I've experienced my share of single Christmases; and I've found that as with most of life, the situation is sort of a mixed bag.
On Being Single at Christmas
Some Cons and Pros
Con: Sometimes I'm forgotten when it comes to holiday events and parties. Couples and families tend to gravitate toward other couples and families. It's not a complaint....
December 19, 2016
The Most Specific Gifts
People with December birthdays know the drill: our birthdays are so close to Christmas that one celebration just naturally bleeds into the other, often leading to a hodgepodge of birthsmas presents and celebrations.Unless you're my family, that is. Most years, my family and friends go above and beyond to ensure that my birthday is special and distinct from the seasonal whirl, often turning my birthday into a birth week.
This year they outdid themselves with thoughtful Ruth-centric gifts: books...
December 12, 2016
Grace After Grace
The more we suffer, the greater our capacity to recognize grace in the ordinary.
It's not until we've been truly hungry that we delight in the simplest meal. When we're weary and sore, bedtime comes as the sweetest balm. It's not until we've gone without hot water for an extended period of time that a shower feels like a miracle. Only after we've experienced disaster do we relish the sane quiet of another ordinary day.
This is the alchemy by which our Father converts temporary suffering to long...
December 5, 2016
The 12 Days of Jane Austen Christmas
All together, now:
On the twelfth day of Jane Austen Christmas, my true love gave to me...
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*12 Diving Darcys*
*.....*.........11 Vexing Vicars.........*.....*
*................*.....10 Nosy Neighbors.....*................*
*............9 Putrid Fevers............*
*...........*.......*.......8 Comely Cousins........*......*...........*
*...*......................*7 Silly Sisters*......................*...*
*........6 Figured Dances........*
*............*........5 Locks of Hair!........
November 28, 2016
Did You Hear That?
Guest Post by
Bethany Buchanan
In my family, I have the reputation for being able to fall asleep almost anywhere. As a direct result of working a physically demanding job (often literally from sunrise to sunset), I have the ability to doze off in nearly any circumstance.
There was the time I fell asleep at a nephew's birthday party and members of my immediate and extended family took turns taking selfies with my semi-recumbent form on the couch. On more than one occasion, I have dozed off in a c...
Bethany Buchanan
In my family, I have the reputation for being able to fall asleep almost anywhere. As a direct result of working a physically demanding job (often literally from sunrise to sunset), I have the ability to doze off in nearly any circumstance.
There was the time I fell asleep at a nephew's birthday party and members of my immediate and extended family took turns taking selfies with my semi-recumbent form on the couch. On more than one occasion, I have dozed off in a c...
