Retrospective Lily

February 2, 2018

Black History Month: The Story Behind “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”

Hi, friends. I’m stoked right now because I have a special series planned to celebrate Black History Month that’s going to be fun to research and write. In this post and a few others this month, I’m spotlighting African-American spirituals. I love hymns and the South, so this idea was a no-brainer. I hope you […]

January 30, 2018

200 Years Later: John Keats Writes Two Poems

Hi, friends. 200 years ago today on January 30, 1818, John Keats wrote the poem “When I Have Fears.” About a week earlier, he wrote “Lines on Seeing a Lock of Milton’s Hair.”

January 26, 2018

Prezi Next vs. Prezi Classic Update (Rectangular Slides)

Hi, friends. This post corrects a mistake/something I left out in an old post, Prezi Next vs. Prezi Classic. It’s kind of a game changer for the aesthetics of a Prezi presentation. What Is Prezi? Prezi is a digital presentation platform equivalent to Powerpoint that’s accessible from all locations like Google Docs. The slides in […]

January 22, 2018

How Victorian Ladies Survived Winter

Hi, friends. The harshness of the weather may vary depending on your location, but in the southern US, winter has been brutal. Several inches of snow last week gave me a lot of time to read, watch movies, and think (be lazy). I’m a huge fan of Victorian novels (British, mid to late 1800’s, often […]

January 18, 2018

Classics: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Hi, friends. This classic post varies from others because the work is a drama. The version of the story I read was the official screenplay (which wasn’t actually used in the film adaptations) so the text included spoken lines with unspoken directions as expected, but directions for camera angles were written throughout the scenes. I’ve […]

January 15, 2018

Classics: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Hi, friends. Here’s my second post about a classic work. Some of my book showings have included classics, but these posts focus more on the novel’s impact than my physical copy. Thanks for reading!

January 12, 2018

The Love of Collecting

My boyfriend and I are collectors. He compulsively buys DVD’s and Blu-rays from Amazon, and he’s reorganized his movies three times this week. We spend most of our free time these days watching movies. Our conversations tend to revolve around movies we’re going to watch or movies he’s added to his wishlist.

January 11, 2018

200 Years Later: The Shelleys Publish Frankenstein & Ozymandias

Welcome to a post that intertwines literature and history (with an added dose of scandal). Thanks for reading!

January 8, 2018

100 Years Later: President Wilson’s Famous Speech in WWI

On January 8, 1918 (100 years ago today), then-US President Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech to the US Congress during World War I. This speech, called Fourteen Points, outlined his vision for long-lasting peace in Europe after the war with fourteen points to consider in the peace negotiations.

January 5, 2018

Historical Image Resource

Hi, everyone. In the past, I have written a post on two free image resources, Pixabay and Unsplash. [Two Free Image Resources] The images from these sites are completely free for modification or use. I love these sites because they are endless treasure troves of beautiful, cute, funny, etc. photos that spice up websites, digital […]