How’s everyone doing? from Jeanne

I just thought it was time to check in with Jack’s readers… I’m still here reading along with the rest of you. My original plan to schedule these posts so far in advance that they are a surprise to me as well worked, and I never know what’s next unless I peek ahead on the schedule.

There are some new followers, which is always interesting and also gives me pause. Do these newcomers really know they are reading the words of someone who passed on a year and a half ago? Or are they just fishing for more followers on their own blog? I’m not complaining, nor am I analyzing that in the least. The more readers, the better. If you have been following along all these years back to when Jack was posting, I appreciate it so much. Posts are scheduled out for another 14 months or so.

I just submitted my paperwork to start the retirement process from my school library clerk job. I’ll have some free time starting in the new year. One of my project ideas is to put together some of these posts in actual book form. I’m thinking of grouping the Ask Old Jules posts for one book, and maybe blog posts (just some!) for another book. The main reason is…. I hate reading stuff online. Although I intend to leave the blog in place when the scheduled posts run out, I can’t see myself dipping into past material in online format. I follow very few blogs in spite of my interest (although that may change with retirement freeing my time). I’d love to be able to grab a book full of these writings and randomly peruse the entries. Lulu.com is a good way of doing print-on-demand books. I’ll be starting to edit and organize this material to see if it’s doable. I have other ideas for quotations and shorter paragraphs that I think are helpful to re-read. So I’m not ready to let any of this go. Although Jack was a flawed individual who made a point of NEVER offering advice, I’ve frequently turned to his writing for inspiration and encouragement. It may still be a part of my mourning process, and not anything helpful to anyone else, but those are some ideas I’ve been entertaining.
I’ll also be working on my art in the future, so check in over at www.jeannekasten.com to see if I’ve completed any new drawings or paintings. At this stage, I may not have any updates for a while, though, work is very stressful this year. I’ll also be looking for part-time work when the winter weather has let up a bit.

So that’s the update from here. I hope everyone is still surviving these difficult times. You are all very dear to me.
Jeanne