Words & Wine

Here's the thing:
1. It's about words, words, words, and wine (for any of those who can or wish to partake).
2. All words welcome - words from any place, any time, or anyone.
3. Let's shed - shed as many layers to the honest you as you're comfortable shedding.
5. Appreciate - appreciate the apple you cannot see. (What does that mean? Friendships are like words. They both start small, like a seed. How that seed turns into an apple, sometimes we don't know, don't even see it grow, but if we appreciate words and appreciate friendship, we can have a great group that shares and grows both).

Words can be - anything. Books, short stories, magazine articles, news clippings, spiritual passages, or a billboard quote you read on I-55.

Our get-togethers: The person who hosts can decide how she wants to do it. Just apps? Great! Just drinks, that's awesome. Potluck it? Perfect. It doesn't matter.

Here's a few ideas to get our group rolling (maybe we won't every month, but for mental imaging's sake, I numbered them by month):

Month 1:
Bring words you love, love, love. Words that you adore, that kept you up thinking late at night or have stayed with you like a faithful friend. Bring those words and share them.

Month 2:
Think about 1 or 2 people who are really important to you. Ask them what their favorite book, passage, article, etc. is and why. When did they read it, how many times, which storyline, character, quotes, plot, or lessons do they most relate to or remember, and why. Try to read a bit of it yourself, or, all of it. Tell us what you think.

Month 3:
Bring 1 or 2 quotes, passages, excerpts from anything you have read in the past month that struck you, for any reason. Tell us why it struck you, what you thought about and how you felt when you read it or heard it the first time. Now, reading it, does it strike you differently?

Month 4:
Bring words you haven't been able to finish. Maybe just one page, one chapter or everything but one chapter. Bring it along. Let's see if anyone else has read it, or, let's see if we can digest a bit of it together to see if you'd want another crack at it or just shelve it for good.

Month 5:
Bring words that really surprised you. Something that blew your expectations of it out of the water. Maybe it was its aesthetics, or lack of, maybe your mood when you crossed it, or who gave it to you, or perhaps the critics' reviews. Tell us about your expectations, good or bad, and how they changed, word by unexpected word.

Month 6:
5. Bring words for someone else. Something you think they'd like or appreciate. Tell us about the words, your history with them, who you brought them for and why.