About Me: A New Chapter

I finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up: Medical Coding. Medical Coding is assigning alphanumeric codes to diagnoses and treatment services/procedures for the purpose of insurance reimbursement.

I enrolled in a Medical Coding program at my local community college, Hillsborough Community College. Go Hawks!
                                                  
I just started my first semester on May 18. Now I will be over 49 (also known as 50) when I complete the program, but hey, better late than never, right?

In addition to offering a Medical Coding certificate, the school offers a certificate in Billing. The Billing program has three extra courses beyond the Medical Coding program, so I am adding those courses and getting both certificates. The program recommends taking three courses per semester, but me wanting to finish quickly with both certificates, am taking four. I am also working part-time at a podiatrist's office where I am getting some experience with codes and how insurance companies work.

The four courses I am taking are Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, Introduction to Health Information Management, and Office Applications for Business. The courses were not originally supposed to be fully online, but instead hybrid classes with some online work and one in class day per week. Because of COVID-19 however, they are all fully online. I thought this change was going to be easier. I was wrong.

I have Bachelor's and Master's degrees from traditional schools, but this online format is much harder. Back in the day, I could just sit in class, listen to a lecture and take notes. It wasn't even mandatory that I attend every class each week. Most classes had a mid-term, a 20 page paper and a final exam. Online school however, requires "attendance" in the form of logging in several times per week to write a discussion post about a specific topic then replying to two of my fellow students' posts. It is very time-consuming and I feel overwhelmed, but hopefully I will adjust to this new format.

I guess I will be reading mostly textbooks for awhile now. Wish me luck!

The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: MacMillan, 2018               
My Source: Land O Lakes library

     
                                                   


I haven't written a blog post in quite awhile, but this book inspired me to return to blogging, yes, it is that good! And I'm not too proud to admit that I experienced a wide variety of emotions and even shed a few tears.

Normally I would not be attracted to a book celebrating the great outdoors as I am more of a stay at home and curl up with a book and a blanket kind of gal, but I read this book because I loved the Nightingale also written by Kristin Hannah (and highly recommended by critics and myself.)

Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959. "North to the Future" is the official state motto, adopted in 1967 for the centennial of the Alaska Purchase. It was selected by a committee who sponsored a contest with a monetary prize for the best entry. Juneau journalist Richard Peter won the contest, stating that the motto "...is a reminder that beyond the horizon of urban clutter there is a Great Land beneath our flag that can provide a new tomorrow for this century's 'huddled masses yearning to be free'."

This story embodies that motto. The characters in the novel move to Alaska from the mainland to live off the grid, reinvent themselves, leave behind the hustle and bustle of the cities to the south, and experience true freedom. One character in the story, Large Marge tells newcomers that, "in Alaska, everyone is either running to something or running away from something." The author portrays her characters as brave and self-sufficient people knowledgeable in survival skills either innately or by necessity.

There are two main characters in the book, one is Leni, a teenage girl who moves to Alaska with her parents in the early 1970's. The family moves there because Leni's father's late Vietnam buddy left him a rustic cabin in remote Alaska. Leni forges new frontiers and new friendships all while hiding the secret of her parents' volatile relationship.

The other main character is the state of Alaska itself. There are numerous wonderfully written paragraphs describing the scenery and wildlife of Alaska. My mind was full with vibrant imagery. The story is also rich with foreshadowing in the form of repeated warnings about the dangers of Alaska and the many ways one can die there.

Alaska can be moody with its beautiful mild summers and harsh freezing winters which demand the respect of the people who call it home. The same can be said of Ernt, Leni's father, whom after being rescued from a POW camp in Vietnam suffers from horrible PTSD. PTSD was not well known or understood in the 1970's so Ernt receives no treatment for his illness. Ernt's moods change as quickly as the unpredictable seasons in Alaska, and like the seasons, his moods threaten the safety of those around him.

Leni attends a one room schoolhouse where she learns about friendship and the history of Alaska. One lesson she learns, and of which I was not aware, is that during WWII, two of the outer Aleutian Islands—Attu and Kiska—were invaded and occupied by Japanese troops. They were the only part of the continental territory of the United States to be occupied by the enemy during the war. Their recovery became a matter of national pride.

The Great Alone is a marvelous book packed with vibrant well-developed characters and exciting story lines. I don't want to give too much away because I want readers to discover the magic of the novel for themselves.


                                                               

                                                          Rating: 5 out of 5 high fives

Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading 2017

A few months ago my husband and I went to the Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading on the campus of USF St. Pete. It was a full day of author talks and book signings as well as various book-related booths to purchase books and other merch. We went to see three authors in particular.

The first one was Michael Connelly, author of numerous popular books including the Harry Bosch series which has been adapted for the small screen and is available for streaming on Amazon. While he did not read from any of his works, he did participate in an hour long interview including Q&A. He introduced his newest series about an L.A. female detective named Renee Ballard who works the night shift and catches now retired Harry Bosh rifling around in the file cabinet to work on a cold case that won't let him sleep. The two team up to solve the case.

Next we attended a talk by Nathan Hill, author of The Nix. The Nix is Mr. Hill's first novel and it took him ten years to write. He joked that his next book will only take 9 years to write. Mr. Hill read from his book and discussed his writing process. Unlike most authors who start with an outline, Mr. Hill wrote "improvisationally" allowing his novel to come to life organically, drawing from influences affecting him during that ten year period. He only tied the themes together after most of the book was written, maybe that is why the book started out at a hefty 1,000 pages until it was cut down to a still sizeable book of 600 pages.

Mr. Hill told the audience that all the elements of the book connect together by two themes: the ways people wall off others and how people lose the ability to communicate with others. These themes seemed to resonate with readers as the book has become wildly popular and there are plans for The Nix to be turned into a limited series tv show with Meryl Streep and J.J. Abrams behind the scenes.


The final presentation we attended was by Sarah Gerard, a young female writer who grew up in St. Pete and now teaches creative writing in New York. She discussed her most recent book, Sunshine State. It is a collection of creative nonfiction essays that take place in Florida. They consist of deeply personal accounts of events that took place throughout her life. Ms. Gerard first read from an essay about the amusing and heart-breaking relationship with her childhood best friend. Then she read a poem about all of the animals she has ever seen in her thirty plus years.

You can follow Michael Connelly and Sarah Gerard on Twitter @ConnellyBooks and @SarahNumber4

Another About Me: Part Four

My husband and I have been living in Florida for almost 5 months now. It still surprises me to see palm trees and feel the warm weather in winter, but I'm not complaining.

We have been acting like tourists visiting many local attractions. We have been to a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game, a Tampa Bay Buccs football game, a Yankees spring training game, Clearwater Beach, the Dahli Museum, and the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts Star Wars costume exhibit, just to name a few activities.

We have frequented a Land O' Lakes (yes, that is the name of my town) craft beer bar called In The Loop which has an outdoor deck overlooking a lake and yoga and beer on Sunday mornings.

We have also met some of our neighbors.

I fell into a job at Ashley Homestore as a Customer Service Representative because I told a neighbor that I was looking for a job and he said he was the store manager at Ashley and was hiring. I started out part-time on December 4, 2017 and got promoted to full-time on February 18, 2018. It is a good job with low stress and great co-workers.

I have had a lot less time to read lately since starting my job, but I'm happy to say that the Connerton Book Club is going strong. We have met three times so far and read The Nix by Nathan Hill, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick, and Small Great Things by Jodi Piccoult. Our current book is The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion which I am enjoying reading for the second time.

More About Me: Part Three

Well my husband and I had a wonderful time in Paris!

Since then we sold and gave stuff away at both my mother-in-law's house and our house.  It took longer than we expected and then we had to wait on our new house to be built in Florida, so we went on a Caribbean cruise with my family.

Next we became hometown tourists in our city of Louisville seeing things we never got to see while living there for 20 years.

Backside tour of Churchill Downs as recommended by Kevin Gibson--100 Things To Do In Louisville Before You Die

                                                            Maker's Mark Distillery

Finally we packed up the remaining stuff and our two dogs and moved to the Tampa area in October and things are going great!

                                                    This is us on the day we moved out.

                                                             This is our new house

Life is good here in Florida. My parents are close by and visit often. The weather is beautiful and everyone we have met has been more than friendly!

I had to leave my book club behind, but they did FaceTime me during the last meeting! Although I can't replace them, I did recently start a new book club with my new neighbors. We are currently reading The Nix by Nathan Hill and meeting at our neighborhood clubhouse to discuss the book on November 16, 2017. So far it looks like we are going to have a large turnout. The book is a long and detailed one. It was maybe a bit too ambitious for a first book, but we'll see.

It just so happens that Nathan Hill will be speaking at a reading
festival in St. Pete on this Saturday, Nov 11. My plan is to attend his talk and learn more about him and the book and bring that information back to my new book club.

While I have continued to read about two books per month and have attended a couple of author talks this past year, I have not been faithful to my commitment to continue writing book reviews or report on author talks. I guess life just got in the way. I will try to at least post something about the upcoming reading festival.

Joe Keith Bickett--The Origins of the Cornbread Mafia

Last evening despite the pouring down rain and high winds, me and about fifty other Kentuckians attended a standing room only book signing at Carmichael's by first time author and Kentucky native, Joe Keith Bickett. Mr. Bickett is somewhat of a hometown legend and hero and his book is a memoir entitled The Origins of the Cornbread Mafia: A Memoir of Sorts.

The gathering had the feeling of a large family reunion as most of the audience members were originally from the author's hometown in Marion County, Kentucky (located in central Kentucky southeast of Louisville.) Many of the audience members were very familiar with the author and I overheard several people proudly explaining their personal connections to both Marion County and the Cornbread Mafia. The event even brought out those who wouldn't normally attend a book signing as one woman told me she was 71 years-old and attending her first book signing. She said, "I do read, but I was just busy raising children my whole life." She added that if anyone in her family or from "back home" knew she was at a book signing they would laugh at her.

If you're not from Kentucky, you may not be familiar with the infamous Cornbread Mafia. They consisted of a large group of men who in the 1970's started a huge marijuana cultivation and distribution ring in Marion County. Mr. Bickett was reluctant to reveal the origins of the name of the group because he wrote about it in his book and wanted everyone to read the book, but I would bet one could Google it if curious.

Mr. Bickett was one of the originators of the so-called mafia and spent 21 years in prison for his criminal involvement in the group. During that 21 years he wrote snippets of his life story which eventually became this book. He read from a chapter that described a scene in which he and several other men were driving a convoy of three trucks moving marijuana plants from one farm to another to evade the law.

Mr. Bickett took questions from the audience including one about the legalization of marijuana. He unsurprisingly went on the record as being in favor of legalization, citing the large amount of money the state is missing out on by keeping the crop illegal. He added that he is not the only man who was sentenced to Draconian prison time for marijuana charges. Additionally Mr. Bickett briefly mentioned his good friend and past colleague, Johnny Boone, who was recently arrested in Canada where he had been hiding out for decades.

Mr. Bickett appeared to be a colorful character with an interesting past, and I have no doubt that his book is entertaining.

As an aside, there was another book written about the Cornbread Mafia by Kentucky native and journalist, James Higdon entitled The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code of Silence and the Biggest Marijuana Bust in American History. This book provides a journalistic take on the history and legacy of the group.

You can follow Joe Keith Bickett on Twitter @JoeKeithBickett.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

Author: Therese Ann Fowler
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2013
My Source: Louisville Free Public Library

I decided to read this book after watching and enjoying the pilot of "Z; The Beginning of Everything" on Amazon Prime. At this time only the pilot is available, but the rest of the series is coming out soon.

As the title states this is a fictional account of the life of Zelda (Sayre) Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story begins in Montgomery, Alabama in 1918 just before Zelda's 18th birthday. She is a popular carefree southern belle who often rebels against her traditional parents. Scott is a northerner, an army officer, and a man with dreams of becoming a writer. Zelda and Scott fall in love despite their differences and her parents' disapproval. They marry in New York City and Zelda's world is transformed.

Scott's first novel, This Side of Paradise, is a huge success and life is grand for the couple. They meet other writers and artists of the Jazz Age and attend all of the most exclusive parties. They get caught up in the scene, spending lots of money and drinking to excess.

How good life was! There was always an excuse to host a party or attend one. Every month, we got word that Paradise was going back to press for another five thousand copies. Scot wrote and sold three new stories. He befriended every actor, artist, writer, dancer, and bootlegger we came into contact with, and subsequently our house on weekends grew full of strange and lively and, yes, intoxicated people, but we almost always had a lovely time. 

Reading this book was like being transported back in time to the roaring 20's. I could clearly picture the fancy clothes and forbidden cocktails. I knew nothing about the truths and rumors surrounding this famous couple, but as I was reading I couldn't help thinking that life was just a little too good for them and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is in Paris where that seems to start to happen.

At first their life is similar to the one they lead in NYC, socializing with famous writers and artists, including Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway. Then things slowly change and the couple's marriage suffers. The author implies that this is due to several reasons: Scott's close relationship with Hemingway (who does not like Zelda), Scott's alcohol abuse and controlling nature, and Zelda's mental illness. The book portrays Zelda as a victim, and some biographers and scholars believe this to be true, but there are just as many who believe that Scott was the victim.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book both because of the lavish lifestyle portrayed and because of the complex relationship that developed between the characters. Scott and Zelda were so overjoyed and hopeful at the beginning, that witnessing their demise was heartbreaking.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 high fives