50 Comments

Glad to see you back, Gayla, and a huge congratulations on your retirement and the adventure of the next phase of your life!

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Thanks Sarah and thanks for reading. I appreciate it.

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Best wishes as you navigate this new part of your journey!

I'm always amazed by people who are 'afraid' to retire, saying "What will I DO everyday?"

My response is "What WON'T you do?" because the options are endless!

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Thanks! Several people asked me that over the last few months and I told them I didn't know for sure yet, but whatever I did, it would be because I wanted to do it, not because I had to do it. And some days I may not do much of anything and that's o.k. too. It's kinda nice to sit and read a book or a magazine or watch a TV show I've recorded. :)

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I didn't see a suggestion in the first article how we might address the concern of children accessing adult material without also denying legit educational information. This is a topic I'm conflicted on. If I want to watch "Caligula" that's my business, but a 12 year old most certainly not be allowed to rent it. I thought the children's library card was a decent answer. My library has special children cards. Their argument against it was weak, imo.

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T.C., I responded to your post earlier today but I must not have clicked POST as it's not here. I don't know that the article had many answers either, and I don't know what the answers are. I do understanding that there are things that children of all ages shouldn't be allowed to read/see/hear until they are of an appropriate age, but I'm sure that banning those things from EVERYONE is NOT the answer. And appropriate age for one doesn't mean it's appropriate for another. I don't believe that all of the commotion surrounding this is real, much of it is cultural and political discourse designed to inflame others. Again, I don't have any answers but I'm open to common sense ideas that are genuine and not designed for the sole reason to provoke others. Maybe in this political climate there are not any of those kind of ideas.

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Have you read my MLIS essay? I am sure they'll try to ban everyone from having access eventually. That's why I'm in this program. I may need to reread the article because I only skimed it, but I felt the author poo pooed the children's library card which seems to work fine here.

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I did read it back when you published it but I'll go back and read it again. And I agree with you that the author of the post I linked to poo-pooed the childrens library card in the context that was being written about. I see the merits of the childrens library card for younger kids, but I don't know that I agree with it for 16-18 year olds. Thanks for discussing this with me.

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Good point, the card should grow with the kid.

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Nice to see you in my inbox again!

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Thanks for reading Julie!

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Welcome back...and welcome home. Now that you're starting to feel a tiny bit grounded, it will be fun to see what direction you go with SoNovelicious. Adventure awaits...for you and for us!

As an aside, I've been looking squarely into the eyes of Kindness Magnet trying to see where to take her. I wrote about that in my last post, 'Gardening in the Nude and Other Brilliant Ideas'. I think you are a subscriber, so you may have read it. My post coming out on Monday goes a step further - I'd definitely enjoy your thoughts on that.

Have a happy weekend. Hoping for cool reading weather for you on your patio. 💚

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Heather, I was not a subscriber, but I am now. The world definitely needs a lot more kindness. My sister-in-law says that, "if people would lead with kindness, the world would be a much better place to be," and I agree with her. I find myself not doing that more often than not. Hopefully, now that I'm not stressed with a day job I can aspire to be more kind in my own life. Good luck with your journey on where to take Kindness Magnet. I'm sure it will be great no matter what you decide to do.

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Thank you, Gayla. And I am looking forward to continuing to read your newsletter. I love to read, but sometimes don't because I don't take the time to go out and find books. Your recommendations will definitely help, so thank you! 💚

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Welcome back, Gayla abd welcome to the next chapter of your life. And thank you for these links! I didn't know about Libby and magazines.

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Thanks Betsy! I'm excited to get settled (unpacked) after moving and starting planning some of my travels.

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Whew! You did it! Welcome to the relaxed living club where we read any time we want!

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And what a wonderful club to be a part of. Thanks for reading Carol.

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Congratulations on retirement! I hope this new adventure is relaxing and joyous for you!

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Thanks Ashley and thanks for reading!

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Congratulations on your retirement, Gayla! I'm excited to see where you and So Novelicious go in this new stage of your life!

Also, great links in this issue. I tend to pick up postcards from my travels and use them as bookmarks & I'm excited to check out that summery, scandalous, small-town read soon. ✨

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Bad Summer People was a fun book to read, perfect as a summer beach read or anytime you just want to read something fun. I can't wait to start going places so I can pick up postcard and bookmarks! Thanks for reading!

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Welcome back, and congrats on all the things! *cheers* to your next era!

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Thanks Cassie and thanks for reading!

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It was great to see you in my TBR subdirectory today! I imagined life changes were part of the story. Many of us look forward to SoNovelicious so I hope it becomes a steady partner again soon. Congratulations on your retirement.

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Thanks Mark! I'm looking forward to being "a steady partner" again too, I just don't know when. I thought after not having a day job anymore, it would be easier to write more, but I still seem to be facing the same blocks that I was before I retired. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself too soon. I don't know, but hopefully I figure it out soon.

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Glad you are back and happy retirement!

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Thanks Charlotte and thank for reading!

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Congratulations on your retirement!

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Thanks Marla and it was nice to see you in my inbox again. I always look forward to your newsletters as they provide so much information and links to save for later.

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Thank you Gayla!

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Congrats on getting through all those changes Gayla--retiring, moving, planning travel (to me, always more complex than I expect), andyet still collecting all these wonderful links for us. My husband and I just returned from one week in Maine, where, my doctor says, your blood pressure goes down the moment you cross the last bridge into Maine from New Hampshire (we're in Mass. so we go through a bit of NH on the way to Maine). We were on the Maine coast, and he's so right, but the week was not near long enough. It seems it IS hard to get back to writing, for me too, whether I'm gone for a month or just a week! We're still a bit jumpy because we're on the wait list for a consult prior to an operation for our cat Daisy, who needs a rare ear surgery. Once that's done, we'll hopefully relax a little more, and Daisy will too since she will no longer have to have meds put in her ear twice a day (which is endlessly challenging since she of course goes to great lengths to avoid it).

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Thanks so much Susan for the good wishes and I hope things go well with Daisy's ear issues. Things like this are so stressful. How nice to have a week in Maine where you enjoy being and feel at peace. Time away never feels long enough, but it gives us something to look forward to in the future.

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Wishing you all the best!😊🩷🩷🩷

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Thanks Olivia and thanks for reading!

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I really loved the story about Debra who has been sending herself postcards from travels. I don’t travel a lot but I have been on a short trip last month and sent a postcard to my 7 year old niece. It was so much fun looking for the postcard and then trying to find a post office and even a pen to write it out with as I didn’t have one with me. In the end I’ve sent the postcard from a little post office at a petrol station in the most beautiful scenery. Sadly I didn’t take a picture of it. But it was so wholesome and my niece liked receiving the postcard. What I really liked about the article was the difference of the choice of postcards you’d send to a loved one vs the one you’d send to yourself. I will definitely be incorporating this idea into my future trips. What a wonderful way to record your travels.

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Thanks for reading Adrianna! As a kid I had a relative that was stationed overseas several time during their military career and they used to send us postcards and other trinkets from the places they were stationed at. I was too young to really appreciate it, but I did enjoy getting the mail and finding something in it addressed to me. You niece can't wait for your next trip!

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