If you come across a broken link to one of my posts, you can change “darkwillow1980” to “iwilltellyoumine” in the URL, and it will work. This happened when I imported all my posts to the new blog, and if there’s a better way to fix it than one by one, I haven’t found it yet. I change them when I can, but there are a lot to do.

This blog is named after Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese,” twice; in the URL (“tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine”) and in the title (“meanwhile the world goes on”).

My “reviews” are not real reviews, at least not always, but I have such a terrible memory that I forget major plot points of even my favorite books within only a few days of finishing them. I started writing about them to help myself remember what I thought. Unfortunately the ones I write about are a fraction of the total books I read; I keep thinking I should try to do more, even if some books only get a few sentences. But I use Goodreads to keep track of everything that doesn’t make it here.

My book, movie, and TV choices: They change sometimes. I constantly question my old opinions, particularly anything I thought before about 2015 (due to childhood brainwashing)—so unless something is active in my mind or really impressed itself on me, I will always second guess it after a while, and then I don’t feel comfortable claiming it as a favorite until I can refresh my memory and make sure I still feel the same way.

My photos: I don’t take them purposefully for the blog, but just because I like to take pictures of books/nature/my pets, especially when those things combine. If I happen to write a post about a book I have a picture of, I’ll use it, which is why sometimes the books are just barely visible.

Quotes: You have to read them. In academic writing you’re never supposed to let the quote make your argument for you, but I’m not following that rule. When I quote writers, it’s because their words struck me for the particular way they get an idea across. I want their words to make the point, and if you don’t read all those chunky block quotes I include, you won’t get the point I’m building off them.

Finally, a paraphrase of Anne Lamott: I own everything that happened to me, and I’m telling my stories. If you wanted me to write warmly about you, you should have behaved better.