Tuesday 1 May 2012

Chapter 1: She Writes


Welcome!  Let me give you some background on my new endeavor . . . aka this blog.

My unconscious desire to blog has resided within the back of my mind for quite some time now . . . perhaps even a decade.  I’ve always enjoyed writing (and reading) but I always found excuses not to actually write anything for myself.  Perhaps it was lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of ideas, or maybe even fear that whatever I wrote wouldn’t be important enough to permeate the internet waves.  However, recently, I’ve been inspired in two ways.  Not only have several friends started their own blogs and encouraged me to do the same, but my mother-in-law also inspires me when she talks about the 52 books/year she reads (averaging a book a week – WOW).   So what do you get when you put reading and writing together?  A blog about books, of course!  So I’m taking the plunge, putting on my brave face, and sending out my words for the world to read.

I am, as the title of my blog suggests, an academic.  To be more precise, the scientific kind of academic, the kind that studies the intricate details of the cancer cell.  This kind of study is incredibly fascinating, particularly when one thinks about how such tiny cells can contain so much complexity.  If I were to describe my academic experience, I might compare it to a roller coaster, filled with highs, lows, and even the loop-de-loops where seemingly nothing is accomplished.   Now, with the PhD behind me and the postdoctoral experience before me, I’m allowing myself to re-indulge in those things that I loved before graduate school consumed me.

And that brings me back to this blog.  I love books, both as the object and in the stories within.  I’ll pretty much read anything. . . from non-fiction to fiction, classic to bestsellers.  While I generally thoroughly enjoy all that I read, I have a tendency to forget all those great details.   With this new endeavor, I can share my random meanderings on those books, record the history of my reading, and convey my love of books.   

Enjoy!