“But, you may say, we asked you to speak about [yourself]- what has that got to do with a [blog] of one’s own? I will try to explain…” I am a 30 year old (almost 31, YIKES!) woman with a Master’s degree in English Literature, a love for creative writing, and a fierce passion for fashion! The economy being what it is and the fact that I have two degrees in fairly useless subjects (kids, don’t get your B.A or M.A in English Literature, unless you like being poor), my job does not allow or require me to use my skills. What, you may ask, is my job? I work as an aide in a Physical Therapist’s office in New Jersey. I jokingly describe my job as chasing the elderly and injured around and making sure they do their prescribed exercises. Joking aside, I actually care for my patients and my job does require a lot of time management skills and planning to be able to work with multiple patients with different issues simultaneously. I’m also there to listen, comfort and encourage them when they need it. Many of our more frequent patients have become like family and I know all about their lives outside of physical therapy. Though some of the patients call me “the Whip,” I think they know that myself and everyone else in the office is only making them do their exercises for their own good and they usually feel better at the end of a session. Unfortunately, while my job does require me to use my communication skills, I don’t get to write much except 2×10 heel raises, etc. My only fashion indulgence is finding shoes that are comfortable to run around in all day, but also meet my “cuteness” standards (there will soon be extensive posts about the cute, yet comfortable shoes that I’ve found so far).
This brings me to the reasons that I am writing this blog: to renew and share my love of literature, to share my love of fashion and offer the world some advice, and to get back into writing and honing my skills so that my brain doesn’t turn into mush (more on that later). I realize that having a blog isn’t anything new and opening with a rewritten quote from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own isn’t wildly original either, but I think my voice (with my frequent parenthetical statements) is original and honest enough that hopefully people other than my facebook friends will read it and maybe learn something.
So, after many years of saying I was going to start a blog (and after one failed attempt) and with the help of my wonderful boyfriend, the photographer Michael Treola, who helped me with the web design and pretty much everything else except the writing, I have a blog! I hope to share with you my love of literature, writing, shopping, fashion, what new beauty products to try, cute comfortable shoes, cooking and maybe a little bit of health and exercise (though keep in mind that I am NOT a Physical Therapist! If you have back pain, etc. I can offer some suggestions, but you should see a doctor for a medical evaluation). So, without further ado…a blog of one’s own!
(Please pardon my appearance while my web page is in development).