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About maedez

Writer, biographer, poet. History nerd, silent movie maven. Punk rocker, amateur baker, bookworm. Cricket fan, Scotch drinker, craft beer snob.

New Year’s Day Book Hunt

My favourite New Year’s Day tradition doesn’t involve parades or football games or overindulging in sweets. For this girl, it is all about books. Shocking, no?

A pile 'o books and calendars.

A pile ‘o books and calendars.

This pile ‘o goodies is the result of my annual New Year’s Day Book and Calendar Hunt. As you can see, the 2013 edition was quite successful. I decided to by-pass literature in favour of selections from the genres of art, biography, and silent film. Here are a few of the highlights:

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

REASON: Egon Schiele is my favourite artist (in a three-way tie with Modigliani and Pissarro).

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

REASON: Who could pass up a book with a title like this? Continue reading

Daily Diversion #80: Accidental Impressionism at the Car Wash

I took these photographs from inside my husband’s Saab while he was washing the car last night. The sun was setting, and the glow from taillights and street lamps illuminated the parking lot. The effect was softened through the filter of a soap-drenched window. They remind me of Impressionist paintings.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”-Camille Pissarro

An Announcement About an Announcement

In an effort to make A Small Press Life as solid as possible in 2013 (and beyond), we are going to add some wonderful new features to the blog. Don’t worry; what you love about ASPL isn’t changing. There is simply going to be more goodness to go around. When will this deliciousness start, you ask? Soon. This month. Stay tuned for more details.

One More Star to Cap the Year

Nicole of NMNPHX has nominated us for the Blog of the Year 2012 Award. It is our third star, which is three more than we anticipated receiving. What a wonderful way to end the year. Thank you, thank you! Pssst. You should really pay her blog a visit. It’s okay if you want to go now; I’ll wait. It was worth it, wasn’t it?

Blog of the Year 3 Stars

Blog of the Year 3 Stars

 

The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/   and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

I am getting these nominations in just under the wire. It’s already Hogmanay and the clock is ticking away, so I am limiting myself to just two blogs. I recently started reading both of them, and couldn’t be happier that I discovered them. They are:

Vyvacious, serving up hilarity and food, with a tasty, tasty side of Batman.

Romancing the Bee, which makes urban beekeeping compelling. Bonus: lots of honey-licious recipes.

Enjoy!

One Year Later

It has been a year (or thereabouts) since I moved A Small Press Life from Blogger to WordPress. It was a snap decision, but I haven’t regretted it for one second. Even though I have expressed this opinion a few times in the past, it is worth bringing forth once again: the WordPress community is awesome. A blog isn’t a blog without an interactive group of readers. With your keen commenting skills, you make every post an interesting, organic and unique experience.

2012 has been an incredible year. We have seen our stats steadily climb, and then soar. A Small Press Life was featured in both The Daily Post and  Freshly Pressed. Then, again, there’s all of you. Heading into 2013, you can be sure of two things: that we are truly grateful and feverishly excited to make the blog even better (more on that soon).

“I stay cool, and dig all jive,

That’s the way I stay alive.

My motto,

as I live and learn,

is

Dig and be dug

In return.”-Langston Hughes