Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "memoirs"

So here I am.
As I start to write this, it's 6 p.m.(give or take a few minutes) on a Wednesday night and I should be home having dinner before racing off to my next assignment as a reporter for a community newspaper. Instead, my boss insisted that we all stick around until the final edits of this week's papers are completed for reasons that are best not publicly disclosed.
One of my colleagues is killing time by doing some "creative" writing and another is trying to finish a last-minute assignment. As I glare at the blinking cursor on my own computer screen and try to focus on writing my very first blog, the frantic tapping on the computer keyboard in a nearby cubicle slows and then stops.
Apparently one of my co-workers has succumbed to writer's block. I'm somewhat annoyed because it's contagious,but at least I know the cure. Write something. Anything. And don't stop until you've run out of things to say.
The process is called block writing and it's a technique I learned while working at a daily newspaper in high school. It's also one that I've relied upon as an award-winning journalist for more than 20 years -- and one I often used while writing "Truth be Told: Adam Becomes Audrey."
The memoir that's now available through my official author page (sbpra.com/alexandrabogdanovic/) and major online book sellers sums up more than 20 years of my life in approximately 50,000 words and took more than two years to write.
In it, I share the story of how I met, fell in love with and married the man of my dreams, only to find out that he self-identified as and wanted to "become" a woman. I also share what happened after I learned the truth.
Part comedy, part love story imbued with just a hint of tragic irony, "Truth" was written to help those who find themselves in similar situations and to share another side of an oft told story.
I hope that those of you who are generous enough to read it enjoy it -- but if not, that's okay, too.
Until next time, "that's life..."

So this may well be a first.
In all of the time I've been blogging here on goodreads.com, I've never done a post specifically pertaining to other authors or their work.
Yet as I read "A Lumious Future" by Teodor Flonta, I can't help but reflect on the life experiences he documents and my own. You see, we grew up in different countries at different times. But we also have something significant in common, and that's our eastern European heritage.
My blood boils as I read about the hardships young Teodor and his family endured. I cry when I think about the injustices perpetrated on Teodor and his family by the Communist regime in the guise of creating a "luminous future."
But it doesn't surprise me. As a little girl growing up in the United States, I learned all about Communism. I learned about it from my dad, a staunch anti-Communist who fled the former Yugoslavia as a political refugee. I also learned to appreciate being born in a free country. I learned to take nothing for granted. I never will.
Until next time, "That's life..."

So I had a very interesting time in New York City last weekend.
Trying to ignore the fact that it was freezing cold, I took the 9:46 Metro North commuter train to Grand Central. From there I took the 6 Train to the Flatiron District, where I joined a couple of people from the Memoirs Only Book Club for brunch. We discussed Life on the Line by Grant Achatz. Although I hadn't finished the book, I enjoyed the conversation... and the food.
Afterwards, I ventured back into the cold with camera in hand. I planned to do some street photography before heading uptown to get some shots of the Manhattan skyline from Top of the Rock.
I had walked less than a block when I stumbled upon a street fair where vendors were selling food, jewelry and durable goods. At one booth, two women were doing astrological readings. I had no intention of having for one, but one of the women accosted me.
To make a long story short, she insisted on reading my palm -- for a small fee. Reluctantly I agreed, and listened while she told me about my past, present and future. Sometimes she spoke in generalizations, making statements that could apply to anyone. She could have reached some conclusions by reading body language. Some of her questions and predictions were uncanny.
She asked me about the significance of California and Florida, and it just so happens that I recently entered literary contests in those states. I don't know how she could have known about that, unless she had some sort of super-duper X-Ray scanning device that saw the post office receipts in my wallet.
The reading went on... and on. I grew increasingly wary as it continued. There had to be a catch -- and of course there was.
I learned that there is a lot of negativity in my life and that I am spiritually weak. I needed five crystals to restore my spiritual balance, thereby "fixing" everything in my life for a mere $500.
That did it. I'd had enough, and expressed my opinion in no uncertain terms. It was one thing to fleece unsuspecting people out of a few dollars for a reading. Fleecing someone out of a few hundred dollars is another thing altogether.
Call it karma or call it fate, but I got the last laugh. I'd agreed to let this woman do the reading for $20. But when I looked, I only had $17 in my wallet...
Until next time, "That's life.."