The Garden of Stories

Welcome to my brand-new blog! Finding a title for this blog has been an exercise in frustration. I tried Carpe Diem! a motto of mine, but it was taken ... so was The Yellow Wallpaper and Song of Myself and even Somewhere I Have Never Travelled. Finally I have claimed two names, The Smallest Woman in the World, inspired by the magnificent story by Clarice Lispector, and The Paper Garden, an equally beautiful tale by Jerome Wilson originally published in Ploughshares.

I felt representing myself as "the smallest woman in the world," was really false advertising--I'm not so very small--so I've settled on The Paper Garden (ironically apropos for a venture into hypertext) until which time the other name becomes relevant. So, here as my official site created in celebration (and compulsory direction) of Prof. Meg Roland's Postmodernism and Hypertext course at lovely Marylhurst University, in damply blooming Portland, Oregon.

What can I tell you about myself ... I am a 40-something latecomer to the academic community. I spent the first 30-some years of my life trying to find myself, until I realized that was pointless. Now I hope to get that undergraduate degree, move on to graduate school and possibly teach or write for a living. Not a practical goal, I know, but my goal nevertheless. I love the written word ... I'm trying to find out whether it loses anything by not being on paper--maybe you can help me with that. If comments are enacted, I'd love to hear what you think. I also love the great outdoors, which is why Oregon is such a magnificent place to live. You'll learn more about me as time goes on.

This blog is going to be an exercise in learning about blogdom, centering and sharing. This is my own space, I make no apologies or qualifications about what it might represent about me ... I can only claim one thing and that is to be human, which implies the wickedly flawed state of being we all share. Please continue to check in with me, and let's see where this endeavor leads.