March 12, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Last year, I wrote a (non-Top-Ten-Tuesday) post about books that need prequels. Today, I’ll be talking about some standalone books that need sequels. This list is shorter than usual because of how many authors and publishers are eager to publish sequels to stories that do well. There simply aren’t a lot of books that I wish had sequels. Hopefully, some of you will have longer lists.

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

While I loved the ending of this book, I couldn’t help but to hope we’d hear more from Starr again. The resolutions to her problems were incredibly realistic, but they also left a lot of room for speculating about how or if they might shift again in the future. What can I say? I wanted a happier ended than the one we got, and I’m still holding out home that it might happen someday. (The film is still on my to-be-watched list, so maybe it was different? Please don’t give me spoilers if they changed the ending!)

2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda, the main character, had been through something so awful she couldn’t even talk about it. I loved getting to know her sweet, creative personality and slowly uncovering the cause of her pain. She was a lovely person, and I sure would like to see what she was like a few years or decades after this terrible time in her life.

Skip the sentence below this paragraph if you want to avoid all spoilers. Keep reading if you prefer to know about potentially triggering subject matter ahead of time .

This book is about rape and the long-term traumatic effects of that crime. I was caught off-guard by that plot twist, so I feel obligated to let other potential readers know about it.

3. Bridge to Terabithia  by Katherine Paterson

The friendship between Jess (the main character) and his neighbour, Lesie is something I still think about to this day. While the ending to this tale was well done, I’d sure like to see what life was like for the characters decades later. There’s so much room for growth here.

4. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Imagine what it would be like if your father tried to marry you off when you were fourteen! I was a kid when I read this book, so I knew very little about the cultural norms of the 1200s in Europe (or anywhere else for that matter). Birdy’s story is something that has stuck with me for years, and I’d love to find out what happened to her after the events of the final scenes.

5. 1984 by George Orwell

1984 was about a man living in a harsh, totalitarian society who tried to figure out a way to escape it. I had a lot of mixed feelings about the ending even though it fit the tone of this tale well. It would be so interesting to revisit this universe a few decades later to see what might have changed in it.

6. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

There were so many unanswered questions about the other flat Coraline discovered. How long has it existed? Why was it created? Will anyone else ever become endangered by it?

A sequel would be the perfect place to answer these questions.

What standalone books do you all wish would have sequels?

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March 11, 2019 · 1:00 am

Future Trends in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Genres

When I was growing up, I borrowed as many books from the sci-fi and fantasy genres as I could find at our local library. Occasionally, a relative or a family friend would lend me a title that I hadn’t found elsewhere. Many of these tales were classics that had been published years before I – or even my parents – had been born.

One of the most interesting things about reading these old stories was getting a glimpse into parts of the past that history teachers generally didn’t discuss. Some of the characters in them worried about things that were controversial in certain eras or communities but that sounded old-fashioned and downright odd to me as a reader who wasn’t from that time and place.

Others discussed much more reasonable fears like the threat of nuclear war. Based on what I’d learned about the end of World War II and the Cold War in school and from reading about them in my free time, it made sense to see folks in 1940s and 1950s thinking about this topic and, in some plots, attempting to survive after the big bombs went off.

With these thoughts in mind, I’ve been thinking about what the science fiction and fantasy genres might be like in the coming decades. Here are my predictions of a few of the things I think could happen to them in the future.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Will Merge Into One Genre

The lines between these genres has only seemed to grow fuzzier over time. These days it’s becoming rare for me to find a book in either genre that doesn’t contain any elements from the other one.

This is especially true when I think about younger writers who appear to become more interested in mixing genres with every passing year.

We already colloquially refer to these two genres as sci-fi/fantasy or SFF, and I’ve seen multiple discussions take place about whether book or show X should be classified as fantasy or science fiction when it obviously was written to include elements of both in its storyline.

I think it will only be a matter of time before the majority of people start to think of them as more or less the same thing if this trend continues.

There Will Be More Diversity

…and it’s about damn time!

One of the most exciting changes I’ve seen in the sci-fi/fantasy genres over the past decade or so has been in the increasing number of diverse authors and stories. The demand for them rises with each passing years, and I think it will accelerate even faster in the future.

Climate Change Will Be a Major Antagonist

Yes, there already have been novels published about how humanity might fare as Earth’s climate continues to warm up in the near and distant future.

Unless something changes quite soon, I don’t think this is something future generations are going to escape. I expect more and more authors to write stories about characters dealing with water shortages, violent storms, and the erosion of coastlines.

Fiction isn’t always about escaping to a more pleasant place. Sometimes the same problems that plague people in real life leak into the stories we write and read about.

With more and more communities feeling the negative effects of climate change now and in the future, I believe that authors will dig into these experiences when they write about how their characters react to similar problems.

Hope Will Become More Fashionable

As I’ve written in my hopeful science fiction series,

The news is already overflowing with stories about miserable things happening to good people through no fault of their own. When I read fiction these days, I’m now looking for an escape from injustices that are never made right again.

I’m seeing signs that other readers feel the same way. This isn’t to say that horror or post-apocalyptic fiction will disappear entirely, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the SFF genre in general begins to turn its face towards those things in this world that help people believe tomorrow could be a better day.

People need hope. The more troubles they face, the truer this becomes in my experience.

How do you think the sci-fi/fantasy genre will evolve over the next few decades?

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March 7, 2019 · 1:00 am

Questions That Have Recently Brought New Readers to This Site

This blog has seen a surge in visits over the past two months. Welcome, new readers! It’s nice to meet all of you. I thought I’d answer some of the questions that some people typed into search engines in order to find this site. Hopefully, the things you might have been wondering about will be included in the list below. If not, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll answer you directly.

Lydia Schoch Toronto

Yes, that is my name and I do live in Toronto. I’ve never met anyone else with this name, so the probability that you’ve found the correct Lydia is quite high.

Lydia Schoch Universalist

No, I am not a Universalist. I’m an Apatheist/Atheist who takes a strong live and let live approach to life, so it’s rare for me to mention it at all. As long as someone isn’t using their beliefs – or lack thereof – to harm others, it doesn’t matter to me what label they apply to themselves. Genuinely good, kind people can be found everywhere.

I’d much rather discuss more interesting things like:

  • Alphabetizing and why it makes lists, and life itself, so much better
  • Anthropology
  • Astronomy
  • Books, especially non-fiction and science fiction
  • Fitness
  • How to properly pronounce the word gif
  • Mindfulness
  • Nutrition
  • Rabbits
  • Reboots and what people think of this entertainment industry trend in general
  • Social justice
  • Writing

Aunt Lydia

I am an aunt, but if you’re a fan of The Handmaid’s Tale I am not and never will be that Aunt Lydia. Based on the fact that I’m also bisexual, the Republic of Gilead would either turn me into a Handmaid or do away with me entirely if they spread into Canada.

Bruce Gerencser

Bruce is a prolific blogger and old family friend.

If you enjoy discussing politics, religion, or photography, his blog might be right up your alley. He’s a talented writer and a good egg.

The ethics of museums

Y’all, I wrote one post about this topic almost nine years ago. I never broached it again, and yet I keep getting hits from people wanting to know if museums should store mummies in them or what these institutions should do when they find out that some of their prize artifacts were stolen from other cultures.

At this point, I’m wondering if I should write a whole series of posts on the topic? People really seem to like it.

The ethics of consuming animal products

This is probably happening as a result of a post I wrote eight years ago about animal products. Once again, it was the only thing I ever wrote on the topic, and I still have all sorts of mixed feelings about what I should or shouldn’t eat.

(I have no opinions about what others do or don’t eat. It’s hard enough to figure out my own diet, so you’ll get no judgement or advice from me!)

While I’m definitely not nutritionally organized enough to claim any sort of label, I do often finding myself choosing bean dishes over meat ones for health reasons.

Beans are full of all sorts of vitamins and minerals that many of us don’t get enough of. Since I have a few food allergies and intolerances to work around when planning meals, this is a nice way to make sure I’m getting all of the calcium and other nutrients I need.

What kind of places are noisy and crowded

  • Anyplace you need to visit quickly to buy or pick up that one thing when you’re already running late
  • Big, urban malls
  • Concerts
  • Emergency rooms, walk-in clinics, hospitals, and medical waiting rooms in general
  • Parades, festivals, and food fairs
  • Service Canada Centres (where Canadians go to renew their health cards, passports, etc.)
  • Some people’s innermost thoughts
  • Sporting events

Is Mama Imelda alive?

This site is spoiler-free, so you’ll have to watch Coco for yourself if you want the answer to that question.

If you’re also a blogger who pays attention to the analytics of your website, what is the funniest or most interesting search term that someone has used to find it recently?

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March 6, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Hobby and Why

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

 I talk about my love of reading and writing all of the time this blog, so I’m going to branch out and talk about some of the other stuff in this world that makes me happy. Oh, and I’m bending the rules and talking about two different topics because it was impossible to pick between them.

Board, Video, and Role-Playing Games

If we were all sitting together in a room and didn’t have Internet access, I’d probably ask everyone if they wanted to play Clue, Scrabble, or Life. There’s something so relaxing to me about the simplicity and predictability of them. I see playing board games as a chance to bond with friends, so I’d much rather spend my time chatting between turns than trying to remember a complex set of rules.

When I was a kid, my favourite video game was Pharaoh. It was a city-building game set in various points of Egyptian history. I loved deciding where my characters should build a pyramid and planning out the designs of my cities.

These days, I spend my video game time building homes, digging mines, and fighting monsters in Minecraft. As long as no monsters sneak up on me while I’m working, it’s a very relaxing way to end a day.

A few months ago, I started playing Dungeons and Dragons occasionally, but I don’t know enough about that topic yet to go into much detail about it. It’s far more complicated than I ever would have imagined!

Why do I love games so much? Well, most of the ones I play ask you to use your imagination. There are very few things in this world that I find more interesting than needing to do that.

Fitness

I’m a weightlifter. It’s a form of exercise I first tried about four years ago, and it’s made me feel so good to grow stronger as a result of this hobby. I’m a short and petite woman, so every bit of strength I gain makes a huge difference in how I look, how I feel, and what I’m capable of doing.

Walking outdoors – preferably as close to nature as I can get to as a city person – is another fitness activity that I really enjoy. I originally tried to get into running, but I found that long, brisk walks were much more my speed. I like being able to take in my surroundings and notice that squirrel darting up a tree or a neighbour’s dog playing fetch in the distance.

Talking about this is making me very glad that spring is around the corner. I can’t wait to go to the park again.

Why do I love working out so much? Well, it makes me feel really good. I get an endorphin rush from cardiovascular exercise, and I really like the way weightlifting improves my life. There’s something thrilling about picking up a heavy laundry basket or bag of groceries and realizing that they feel a little lighter than they did the last time you needed to do that chore. It’s almost like gaining a superpower!

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. This is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

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March 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Like to Switch Places With

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

My list this week is going to include several characters from TV shows. All of these shows have had books or graphic novels written about them, though, so they still fit the criteria for Top Ten Tuesday.

1. Biff from Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.

I love the offbeat humour of Monty Python and Douglas Adams. Christopher Moore was an author I discovered when I went hunting for other examples of tongue-in-cheek storytelling, and his irreverent character Biff was the perfect fit for what I was looking for. It would be pretty amusing to see the world through Biff’s eyes for a day.

2. Buffy from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home and other graphic novels

Buffy wasn’t the first female superhero I ever watched or read about, but she has remained one of my favourite ones over the years. Unlike a lot of other superheroes, she had tight-knit relationships with her family, biological and chosen. I also loved the fact that she regularly dealt with problems that couldn’t be solved by super strength or fast healing. I’d sure be interested in finding out what it would be like to have those kinds of powers.

3. The Thirteenth Doctor Who

It wasn’t until I saw Jodie Whittaker’s take on the Doctor that I finally became a fan of this show. I love the creativity and practicality of the Thirteenth Doctor. Without giving away spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen her beginning yet, I was impressed with how good she was at getting herself out of a tough situation when she lost her sonic screwdriver. Her choice of companions has been top-notch so far, too, and I’d love to go on an adventure with them.

There is a graphic novel scheduled to be released about Doctor Who in May. I’m quite curious to read it.

4. Watson from the original Sherlock Holmes series

While Sherlock was a brilliant detective, I always found Watson more relatable because of his high emotional intelligence. He had impeccable manners and a desire to genuinely get to know others that I think would make him a very interesting person to switch places with.

Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because the image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.

5. Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery novel.

Drastic Measures is the name of the first Star Trek novel about this show. Let’s see what I can tell you about Michael without giving away spoilers to anyone who hasn’t started Discovery yet. She’s an intelligent, hard-working woman who is excellent at reading and responding to other people’s emotions. I also love the fact that she is so quick to stick up for the underdog.

Also, who wouldn’t want to visit the Star Trek universe? That would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

6. Jayne Cobb from the Firefly graphic novels

Firefly was another TV show that I was pretty sad to see end, but luckily it was given new life in the graphic novel format. This story followed a group of rag-tag space travellers as they visited various planets and tried to find enough paying customers to make their space flights at least somewhat profitable. Jayne was the mercenary of the group, but as we got to know him we discovered parts of his personality that you’d never expect to find in someone as tough and aggressive as he generally was.

I loved discovering the hidden parts of his life and think it would be quite interesting to see what else might be quietly going on with him.

7. The mysterious old woman from the traditional fairy tale, The Child Who Came from an Egg.

I’m guessing that a lot of you haven’t heard of this legend, so I included a link to a site where you can read it for free in the line above. The most interesting to me about the mysterious old woman is that we know nothing about her, including her name. She has powers that she uses for good, but where she came from and how she acquired those powers is a mystery. I’d love to be her long enough to figure out the answers to those questions.

(Someday I hope we’ll have a Top Ten Tuesday prompt that I can use to talk about nothing but fairy tales. I love this topic and will talk all of your ears off about it if Jana ever gives me the opportunity to do so. Ha!)

8. Yorick Brown from Y: The Last Man

The premise of Y: The Last Man is simple. After a worldwide plague kills off all of the men in the world except for a guy named Yorick, he must travel halfway across the world to make amends with his ex-girlfriend.

I’m fascinated by the thought of living in a world full of women, and I thought this series did a good job of showing how society might adapt to that sort of massive change.

9. Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

Lyra was such an inquisitive girl. There’s no doubt in my mind that temporarily being her would bring a lot of adventure my way.

10. Michonne from Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead graphic novels

Survivor is the first word I think of when I think of Michonne. She lived in an incredibly dangerous world, and yet she figured out ways to survive even the most dangerous situations without losing her humanity or will to survive. Without giving away spoilers, this is something that became pretty rare in this universe by the time I stopped reading the graphic novels.

I know that Rick Grimes is technically the main character of this story, but I’ve always felt like that honour should have been given to Michonne instead. She’s more than earned it.

What characters would you all like to switch places with?

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March 4, 2019 · 1:00 am

We Should All Have Android Bodies

You might think I’m joking about this, but I’m not. This is how the last couple of days have been for me.

Me: My injured foot is doing better. What a relief. I can’t wait to get back into my normal workout routines again.

Body:  Ooh, look! A shiny illness. I heard they pair perfectly with feet injuries, especially during cold and flu season when you can get fresh, locally-grown sicknesses at every corner store.

Me: Wait, what?

Body: It’s so sparkly. I want to cuddle it, name it Fluffy, and carry it around for a while.

Me: Illnesses do not sparkle and you do not want to touch that one. Trust me. It will be better for everyone if you put it down and go wash your hands with soap and hot water.

Body: Too late! Sorry not sorry, but I’m keeping it. The three of us are going to be besties until your immune and digestive systems figure out how fight back.

Based on how I’ve been feeling these past few weeks, I am beyond ready for humanity to figure out a way to give everyone an android body. Meat suits have some benefits, but they also need far too many repairs and recuperation time when they have accidents or pick up the wrong germs.

Give me a nice, robotic body instead. I’d be quite happy to never have to think about all of the things that can go terribly wrong with flesh, bones, and organs even when you’re only dealing with diagnoses that have an expiration date.

The science fiction genre often acts as though transitioning from having a purely biological form to at least partially existing as a computer program would be a terrible fate, but all I can think about is how nice it would be to no longer get sick or injured anymore.

Would you sign up to have your consciousness transferred to an android body if such a thing were possible?

 

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February 28, 2019 · 1:00 am

How Winter Has Changed Over My Lifetime

Lately, I’ve been thinking about climate change and how the expectations of what winter, or any other season, will be like in the average year are changing.

The official graphs and charts that show how rapidly the average temperatures are climbing from one decade to the next are obviously quite important, but I think there’s something to be said for listening to and writing down anecdotes about the climate as well. Future generations might like to know what things were like when we were young and the Earth was colder.

My first clear memories of winter happened in the early 1990s. My family lived in Wyoming then, and our town was nestled so close to the Rocky Mountains that we regularly saw heavy snowstorms between the months of October and May.

I think my family was snowed in at least once during these storms. There is only so much plowing that can be done before the blizzard wins and everyone needs to stay off those slippery roads for safety reasons.

Before I tell this next story, keep in mind that I was always petite for my age growing up. Not every child would have been light enough to pull this off, but I do have memories of walking on top of frozen snowbanks when I was about seven or eight years old. The snow had melted a little, and when it refroze it created a sort of crust on top of it that I could just barely walk on top of. I felt like a superhero and was a little disappointed the next winter when I realized that I was too heavy to do that trick again. (The funny thing was, I remained one of smallest kids in my class all the way through to high school graduation!)

In the mid-1990s, my family moved back to Ohio. Every year we’d generally have at least a few days cancelled due to snow or ice storms. Ohio was a less snowy place than Wyoming, so I don’t remember quite as many times when the roads were closed due to storms as they did when we lived out west.

I do remember feeling a little surprised by the lessening amounts of snow as the years rolled on. Part of it was almost certainly due to the fact that I was growing into my full adult height and viewing snowdrifts from that perspective instead of the point of view of a young child, but I also wonder if I wasn’t noticing the effects of climate change.

The winter of 1998-1999 was an exception to that trend. We had a huge snowstorm at the tail end of Christmas break that delayed the reopening of school by about two weeks. My family just so happened to be moving into a new house then, so my first recollections of 1999 were of perpetually-damp boots, gloves, and hats drying by the radiator while we unpacked our belongings one minivan full of them at a time.

I moved to Toronto in 2005. The climate was fairly similar to Ohio, but I’ve noticed winters seem to be morphing into drier and more erratic versions of themselves here over time. We still have some snowstorms, but we’ve also had weird weeks in the dead of January or February where the temperatures climb into early spring numbers (10-15C, or roughly 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit for you Americans) for a day or even a week before growing cold again.

This is truly bizarre, and I wonder if it will become the new normal for future generations. Will they no longer need heavy winter jackets, gloves, hats, and scarves? How will they react to the thought of a winter that doesn’t thaw out again until March? I suspect they won’t understand that concept at all, except as an academic exercise when they read about what life was like before climate change.

I’m interested in hearing your stories about how winter has changed and is changing where you live. If you live in a climate that doesn’t have winter, feel free to talk about how the weather is changing in whatever ways you might have noticed since you were a kid.

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February 27, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Fictional Worlds I’d Rather Not Visit

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Now that you all know about the fictional places I would like to visit, it’s time to take the opposite approach to this question. Here is my list of places I’ve read about in stories but would never want to see for myself. To see how everyone else responded to this question, click here.

1. Neverland.

This world’s dark side was something to be reckoned with. As much as I’d like to meet (some of) the Lost Boys and get to know fairies, I’d have to give this trip a hard pass. It seems like there would be far too many ways for things to go terribly wrong during it.

2. The Town of Stepford from “The Stepford Wives.”

I’ve never read the book, but I somehow managed to start watching the movie version of this tale without realizing the twist ending. Figuring out why all of the women in Stepford were perfect was terrifying! I legitimately had a nightmare or two about the same thing happening to me that happened to them. (And I’m purposefully being a little vague here in case any of you aren’t familiar with this story).

So, no thank you. I’d never want to visit Stepford, not even for an afternoon.

3. Community.

More specifically, I’m referring to the seemingly-perfect place Jonas lived in Lois Lowry’s “The Giver.” She did an excellent job of making it sound like a utopia in the beginning, but the price people had to pay to live in a society where there was no hunger, war, or pain was far too steep for me.

4. Azkaban.

There are loads of places in the Harry Potter universe I’d love to visit. A prison filled with Death-Eaters is definitely not one of them.

5. Mordor. 

Honestly, why would anyone actually want to go to Mordor if they didn’t have to? Just reading the descriptions of this barren, volcanic wasteland in the Lord of the Rings was more than enough for me.

6. Anywhere in, near, or within shouting distance of Game of Thrones. 

I tried to read the first book in this series once. The first scene introduced characters who were then killed off a few pages later if my memory is correct. Based on what I’ve heard about the rest of this series, that is par for the course for this universe.

As much as I enjoy dragons and the fantasy genre in general, I truly wouldn’t want to visit a place where people die so regularly.

7. The Overlook Hotel. 

One of the first horror novels I ever read was Stephen King’s “The Shining.” Let’s just say that I’ve been a little frightened of hotels ever since then, especially when you’re walking down their corridors late at night and alone even if their architecture is beautiful.

I can’t wait to see how all of you answered this question! Here’s the list of upcoming prompts for anyone who is curious.

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February 26, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Places Mentioned in Books That I’d Like to Visit

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

One of the coolest things about this week’s prompt is how nicely it complements tomorrow’s prompt for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. Today I’m going to be talking about places mentioned in books that I would like to visit, and then tomorrow I’ll get to talk about fictional places I definitely would not want to visit.

I have a lot to say on this topic today. Oh, this is going to be fun!

1. Honeydukes, the sweets shop in Hogsmeade.

Honestly, what Harry Potter fan wouldn’t want to eat a chocolate frog or a sherbet lemon from that shop or one like it? Who knows what other magical treats have been introduced to the wizarding world in the last couple of decades.

Some of you might even be brave enough to try Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. I tried the muggle version of it one time, and now I know what grass tastes like.

2. Wonderland. 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland blew my mind when I was a kid. I loved all of the riddles she was given and how delightfully odd all of the creatures in that world were. This is a place I’d visit in a heartbeat, especially if I could bring a few snacks from Honeydukes with me.

3. Xavier’s Academy.

One of the things I like the most about the X-Men universe is how Xavier’s Academy is generally described in it. I get the impression it was a fairly casual and welcoming school where everyone was welcomed. I’d sure love to tour this facility.

4. The Hundred Acre Woods. 

I will never be too old to stop wishing that Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends were somehow real. Wouldn’t it be fun to go have an adventure with them for a day? Or, better yet, to take them on a tour of modern society?

5. Cair Paravel. 

If you want to see Narnia without being turned into a stone or otherwise vexed by certain antagonists, I’d argue that the best time to do so was when Cair Paravel was ruled by the Pevensie children. It would be incredible to have a conversation with the talking animals who lived back then and see what their world was like during those peaceful years.

6. Avonlea. 

I’m a lifelong fan of the Anne of Green Gables series. While I know it isn’t actually possible to meet the descendants of a fictional character, a small part of me would love to somehow be able to visit Avonlea. I’d hope to run into Anne Shirley’s descendants and hear what the younger generations have been up to since the last story was written about Anne and Gilbert’s lives in the early days of World War II.

7. Rivendell.

By far my favourite part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy were the numerous scenes that showed how the elves lived, especially since they spent so much of their lives doing things like eating delicious food and learning for the sheer joy of it. As much as I’d miss the Internet, I think being surrounded by the beauty and peace of an Elvish city would more than make up for it.

8. The Ingalls Homestead. 

Anyone reading this who has met me in real life is probably chuckling now. I both loved the Little House on the Prairie books and am arguably the least rugged person in Canada, if not all of North America. The thought of me living on a totally non-magical homestead that also obviously wouldn’t have any modern conveniences like air conditioning or wifi is, well, hilarious. I think I would last about half an hour there before trying to call an Uber to take me back to the comforts of city life and away from all of the mosquitoes and mud the Ingalls dealt with so often.

Still, though, I would enjoy that very short visit quite a bit. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood definitely was an interesting one!

9. Avalon. 

For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the various legends of King Arthur, Avalon is the magical island where King Arthur was taken to recuperate after he was wounded in battle.

There was a book called “The Mists of Avalon” that came out a couple of decades ago that retold this legend from the perspective of his half-sister that described this island as an oasis for women. Ever since then, I’ve wished I could visit it for real.

10. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. 

Have you all noticed the slightly sugary pattern in my answers yet? I’m trying to stick to a low-sugar diet in real life for health reasons, so maybe that’s part of the reason why I spend so much time dreaming about worlds where dietary restrictions aren’t a thing and where there are no negative consequences from eating sweets every day.

How many of these places would you also like to visit?

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February 25, 2019 · 1:00 am

4 Things I Miss About My Old Workout Routines

I have a slightly embarrassing story to share with all of you today. About two weeks ago, I was walking around barefoot in my house and accidentally smashed my little toe into one of my hand weights that was lying on the floor.

(Pro-tip: this is not an amusing way to pass your time. I’d give it zero stars of out five and would not recommend this activity to anyone under any circumstances. Ha! )

That foot – and especially that poor little toe of mine – have been sore for the past two weeks, and I’ve been advised by my family doctor to give them plenty of rest and protection while they heal.

While my pain levels, ability to walk, and range of motion have continued to improve a little bit every day, I obviously have not been able to do my usual workouts for the past two weeks.

I’m at the point now in my recovery where I need very few doses of pain medication and am starting to feel eager to return to my old routines. My foot is not yet ready for all of that activity, so I thought I’d dedicate today’s post to the things I miss the most about the active lifestyle I had before this accident.

Feeling the Endorphin Rush

Brisk walks were something I enjoyed years before I became interested in other types of fitness. I didn’t have a name for the feeling they gave me for a long time, but eventually I learned about the endorphin rush that can happen after cardiovascular exercise.

For those of you who have never felt it, it’s like a wave of happiness that envelops your whole body. I personally love giving and receiving hugs, so sometimes I compare it to feeling a big, warm bearhug from someone you really care about. It’s going to be wonderful when I can move fast enough to feel this rush again.

Walking as a Form of Transportation

One of the best parts of living in Toronto is how accessible everything is, especially  if you live in a dense, urban part of the city. When I’m not injured, I can get all of my errands finished without ever needing to use a car or even public transportation for the vast majority of the year. There are multiple grocery stores, post offices, pharmacies, clinics, other medical offices, and speciality stores within walking distance of my home.

I was so used to walking everywhere without a second thought that it came as a surprise to me to see how much further away everything seems when you have an injured foot. Suddenly, I had to think about how heavy the bags would be if I went shopping for groceries or other necessities, how long the journey there and back would be, and how many staircases or slippery patches on the sidewalk I might need to account for.

It’s going to be nice to return to that level of activity once my foot is up for longer journeys and heavier loads of purchased goods again. In the meantime, I’m figuring out how much time I can spend walking and how much stuff I can carry without vexing my foot.

Accomplishing My Daily Fitness Goals

Before my injury, I’d get about an hour of brisk walking in on the average day. Most of it would happen in 10 or 15 minutes increments as I accomplished other goals like running errands or watching television shows, and it would add up to about 12,000 steps a day in total. I lifted weights and did bodyweight exercises regularly, too, but I didn’t count those sessions as part of the one hour goal.

Walking that much or that quickly isn’t something I’m currently able to do, and in the beginning my foot was so sore to even the most gentle touch that I didn’t worry about weightlifting either. All I wanted was to no longer be in pain.

I miss meeting my fitness goals consistently, and I think I might be ready to start doing upper body workouts again as long as I remain seated for them.

Feeling Perspiration

Yes, I’ll admit that this might be an unusual thing to miss. I used to strongly dislike the feeling of perspiration running down my back when I was a kid and had to go straight from gym class to sitting quietly and taking notes for english or history.

There’s a difference between feeling sweat slowly dry on your body in a classroom hours before the final bell of the day rings and being able to go straight to the shower after a workout, though. Now that I can wash up and change clothes instead of feeling vaguely crusty and stinky all day, I like seeing how far I can push my body safely when I exercise.

The perspiration is proof that I’ve worked hard and will have slightly more strength and endurance in the future. I might not notice a change between this session and the next one, but I know that will change if I stick to the habits I’ve created and remind myself of  what I used to find challenging six months or a year from now.

Here’s hoping I’ll be able to get back to my old habits soon!

Have you ever had a similar injury to mine? When was the last time you were too sick or injured to do your normal workout? I’d love to hear your stories.

 

 

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