Coming Attractions: June

{a super sweet and summery new desktop calendar from Evelyn Henson!} 

Wait, May is over already? Are you kidding me? This past month was all about that back-to-back-to-back action, with at least three of the past couple of weeks in my planner completely blocked out with sorority stuff, school assignments, The Cheerleader's graduation activities, and more. It's exciting seeing so much of my efforts from this past Quarter starting to come together... in the way that you jump off the tracks to see a train speeding into the station up close. 

Now, all I've got to concentrate on is finishing out the year strong... mainly so I can continue seamlessly into my summer projects just as forcefully! I'm working in the offices of my favorite non-profit (can you guess who it is?) to tackle more of the history and archival side of 80 years of community service, adding a couple of new features to the blog and keeping up with the work I already do, going on as many vacations as humanly possible in fun adventures with the friends and family, and, hopefully, getting the chance to write some paper adventures of my own (eek, fiction!). I already know I can find the time for it, with three blissful, stress-free... aw, who am I kidding? Three more jam-packed months of hard work and epic payoff! 

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

{Enjoying late-week coffee dates with my darlingest Little at the late end of the school year; our brand-spanking-new Kickstarter-funded copy of the Veronica Mars movie; and the sheer adorableness of my younger sister, The Cheerleader, and her date, off to their Great Gatsby-themed prom} 

• My most popular post this month: Weirdly enough, it was a "Top Ten Tuesday" post I did in July of last year, on the "Best Opening Lines of Books," that snagged the top spot for this month! 
• My College Fashion posts from this month: Eleanor and Park and Alice in Wonderland
• My favorite post I wrote this month: I'll Love You Forever, I'll Like You For Always: Best Gifts for Mother's Day
• Your favorite review this month: The One (and it's accompaniment, in the form of the premiere of a new feature, "Character Carryalls"!) 

these are a few of my favorite links

1. In what is perhaps going to top out my personal list of most-quoted articles ever to surface on the internet, courtesy of The Toast, the vital question is asked, "Are You in a Jane Austen Novel?" (Read the comments section, as well.)

2. An interesting discussion of a rising issue in students rights at universities over at the L.A. Times, about whether trigger warnings should be issued for the inclusion of college class subject matter with "questionable" material. Thoughts? 

3. Based around NPR's List of Top 100 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels, comes this interactive guide on how to choose your next SciFi read, from the SF Signal! 

4. And speaking of SciFi, check out author Rachel Bach's guest blog post on The Book Smugglers, about answering the question of how her science fiction space novel would have been different if the lead character was a man instead of a woman. 

5. And, just because including it in the list will give my father joy without end, here's a Huff Post compendium of the advice of classic authors on How to Think Like a Writer! 

quote of the month

Okay, so maybe this 'qotm' is going to warrant a little explanation...

In the car ride back to school from our Memorial Day weekend BBQ, my Dad and I had a bit of discussion about confidence... and more specifically, my lack thereof. I've been having a bit of trouble asserting my opinions, or even worse, having people remember that those opinions came from me. My Dad happens to be a huge fan of superheroes, and after hearing me complain about my present circumstances in a self-gratifying monologue, my Dad gave me this sage advice: Every day, look in the mirror, and tell yourself, "I'm Batman." Because Batman knows what he stands for, and no one messes with Batman.