Blogging Break

Hello dear readers, especially to those of you who follow this blog and/or know me in my full name incarnation outside of the pseudononymous first name "Jennifer" (which once upon a time was the most popular name in the U.S. because of a certain film that came out in the 1970s).

At any rate, I have struggled at various times on this blog with how much personal information I should reveal, since my intention is that this blog has a definite focus--issues of mixed race in the U.S. (but also around the world--I'm not as good with the global aspects of race but I'm working on it).

Anyway, I have decided that I need to get a bit personal because I need a break from blogging. I'm having some health issues and will be having surgery this Monday for these issues--and I'm confident that the surgery (which is routine) will be successful, but it does mean that I'm not going to be doing much blogging in the days leading up and certainly in the weeks following from this surgery.

Now. If you are someone who actually KNOWS me and who is perhaps even RELATED to me, you may be getting this information for the first time and feel alarmed. Really, don't be. Feel free to drop me a line, and I'll be happy to explain.

For those of you who only know me through my blog, I hope you aren't alarmed either--I really am OK, and perhaps I am placing too much faith in medicine but I truly believe that this surgery will be a good thing for me AND that I will soon be my old self (which you may not know what that's like but in the last week two different people described me as someone who brings "fire" and I was tickled pink at that description of me!)

So please don't give up on reading my blog--but do know that I may not be back here for a good 3 weeks. In the meantime, you can peruse older posts or better yet, let me direct you to any number of wonderful blogs on the sidebar to the right -- and their blogs have similarly wonderful blog links so really you can get lost just blog surfing!

OK, I think that's enough personal disclosure. The last thing I will say is that I know tomorrow is 9/11. I had intended to write a review of Joseph O'Neill's Netherland, which is about a man and his family coping with life post-9/11 but is also and perhaps mostly about being an immigrant in the U.S., specifically NYC. But I'm too tired, mentally and physically, to do more than just say that I do recommend it although I also don't know that at the end of the day it's "all that"--perhaps when I'm feeling more coherent I'll come back and let you know what I really think about this novel. Until then, if you are looking for a good read, one that is timely given tomorrow's anniversary, I do recommend it.

See you all in a few weeks!