New Book Reviews at Zen Dixie
Psychology Today’s resident introvert Sophia Dembling has assembled her acquired knowledge – both personal and from others – into an interesting and enlightening book, The Introvert’s Way. The book was released in December, hopefully in time for family and friends of introverts to at least skim a few pages to better manage the holidays for both the introverts and extroverts in the family…
How to Be a Woman brings us an honest and humorous look at the ins and outs of being a woman. At its best, the memoir portions of the narrative are immediately relatable. Moran talks about taking the leap from childhood and wanders from trials to tribulations to the usual major events modern women have dealt with for years…
This Week at Design Review
This week’s meeting was the first meeting of the Design Review Committee of the new year. The majority of the agenda items were structural for a change, with very little about signage.
Highland Park
Live Design Group presented the conceptual designs for the new St. Symeon Orthodox Church on 8th Avenue South/Clairmont Avenue. The project includes a new church as well as renovations to the existing church buildings and a formal parking lot. Read more…
Saving the Lyric with an Art Hootenanny
My latest article at the Magic City Post.
This weekend stop by Rojo on Highland Avenue for “The Rojo Lyric Show Art Hootenanny.” Featuring new and recent works by local Birmingham artists. All proceeds from the art sales go directly to the Lyric Theatre restoration fund. Read more…
My Ode to the Replacements at Zen Dixie
In December, my friend Andy posted that he received this book for Christmas. Soon after, he mentioned reading it. Although I had a self-imposed ban on buying any new books before I finished the multiple dozen I had on hand to read, I could not resist. It was the Replacements after all – the one band for which I would forsake all others if told I could only take one discography with me while exiled on a desert island. I bought it on a Friday and finished reading it by Sunday (only because I went out of town on Saturday). Read More at Zen Dixie…
31 Days to a Better Blog – Day 4
The Day 4 topic is “Write a Mission Statement for Your Blog.”
A mission statement? What is a mission statement?
According to Wikipedia, a mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company, organization, or person; its reason for existing. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making. It provides “the framework or context within which the company’s strategies are formulated.”
One of the reasons I started my blog was to showcase my writing and to provide a place for extended interviews that complement some of my articles. After a while, it got to be more. I began writing a few creative writing pieces and other things for my blog, sometimes simply downloading whatever was in my brain at the time.
While that is still accurate, I think there is more to my blog than before. It is the place where I can demonstrate that someone who has seemingly disparate interests can show those interests co-exist. So, here goes my first draft:
The Scribe & The Scrum, by name, is a blog that is about dualities – the writer and the disorder. It showcases my writing, and the outlets where it appears. It also allows me to get in middle of the things I find interesting and write about them, too. The Scribe & The Scrum is a place for all of the sides of my personality to come together and remind others that we are all multifaceted.
I’m going to stew on this for a bit and take another look at it tomorrow.
The next topic to tackle is: “Revamp your About page (and include that new mission statement).”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What is this 31 Days thing?
My goal is to use these prompts to revamp my blog and get back to regular blogging. In an effort to ignite some inspiration, I decided to commit to The Writeous Babe Project’s (www.writeousbabe.com) 31 Days to a Better Blog.
31 Days to a Better Blog – Day 3
The Day 3 topic is “Update your Twitter header.”
I’m a bit torn about today’s topic. I am actually pretty happy with my Twitter header:
Writer – Editor – Historian – Researcher – Hockey Fan; Publications Editor at Birmingham Museum of Art; Blog: http://scribeandscrum.com; Birmingham, Alabama; http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rebecca-dobrinski/a/986/754
However, I have to admit some of it is not exactly accurate anymore. I am no longer much of a researcher and my work as a historian is few and far between lately. What I do, and do for more than one outlet, is review books. I also think I should drop the BMA stuff, since that is basically covered by the term “Editor” and the work is covered by the LinkedIn link.
Writer – Editor – Book Reviewer – Hockey Fan // Zen Dixie – The Terminal – Magic City Post – The Hockey Writers // blog: http://www.scribeandscrum.com // Birmingham, Alabama // http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rebecca-dobrinski/a/986/754
I know…it’s not much different. However, it is more accurate.
Tomorrow’s topic will be a challenge: “Write a mission statement for your blog.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What is this 31 Days thing?
My goal is to use these prompts to revamp my blog and get back to regular blogging. In an effort to ignite some inspiration, I decided to commit to The Writeous Babe Project’s 31 Days to a Better Blog.
The Wrap-Around
I never got the chance to post a links to my last published articles for 2012, and now my first book review for 2013 is up. To remedy that, I’ll do a quick “wrap around” to cover both the end of 2012 and the start to 2013.
My Bright Life column at Zen Dixie, “All I Want for Christmas is a New Tattoo”:
Well, that’s probably what I want for Christmas, but would you get someone a gift card for a tattoo shop on a whim? Probably not. But it was that concept – a gift card for a tattoo shop – that got me thinking about this article. If you know someone who has been considering a tattoo, you may think a gift card from her local tattoo shop is a great idea: it shows you are paying attention and that you gave this gift some thought. Read more…
Tis the season when Birmingham shows how generous its citizens can be. One of the most philanthropic cities in the country throughout the year, the holidays may be the city’s most giving season. On Tuesday, there’s another opportunity to help others less fortunate than ourselves: A Very Juka Christmas – Beat the Drum to End Hunger in Birmingham. Read more…
This week’s meeting was the final meeting of the Design Review Committee until the new year. The majority of the agenda items were signage, of course, and some façade renovations, plus a return visit from a parking lot landscape upgrade. Read more…
By now I am sure you have seen the Internet meme – a photo of Morgan Freeman with a sentence along the lines of “you’re probably reading this and hearing Morgan Freeman’s voice in your head.” Well, take that sentence and multiply it by a couple hundred pages and you will know what it is like to read Dropping the Gloves by Barry Melrose. Read more…
