You may have noticed me standing on a rock at the top of this website homepage looking suspiciously
as though I have a plan.
I don’t.
Except to save as many people as I can from
the Curse of the Scroll of Doom.
About Me. Or . . .
Who is this person vowing to save you from boredom
One totally random blog at a time?
Enter Julia Odegard – Former stage actress turned novelist.
Now a Rebel with a Cause.
Standing between you and the boredom of eternal doom scrolling.
This blog is random by design. “Extempore, from my mother-wit,” as The Bard would say. I have to tell you. Shakespeare and I are “just like that!” In other words – soul mates.
I’ll share stories with you about all kinds of things because they delighted me, intrigued me, amused me, moved me, or simply refused to leave me alone.
One day you may find yourself 80 feet underwater with me and sharks. Another day waiting for the Oracle in Delphi, Greece. Maybe wandering through my memories. Or perusing my mushroom photographs. Perhaps you’ll encounter a ridiculous observation I can’t keep to myself. And, of course, there will be stories about cars with quirky personalities.
“But enough about me... though it never is.”
That’s an old actor joke. Since I was a stage actress for years, I naturally consider it a perfectly reasonable philosophy.
Before I begin to shamelessly rattle on about me, I’d like to make it clear that life has handed me an absurd amount of luck and adventure. For which I am eternally grateful.
And it’s absolutely true that I am never never bored.
What? Never? No! Never!
What? Never?
Well . . . hardly ever. Maybe occasionally in rush hour traffic.
Alert! Shameless bragging ahead.
I’m endlessly curious. I love nature, stories, history, photography, travel, and people.
I confess that I’ve decided to remain a kid inside, which I increasingly suspect may be one of my better decisions.
I think growing older and growing up are entirely different things. I’ve managed the first one. The second remains under investigation.
How Not to Look like Lunch in Tahiti.
I’ve gone scuba diving with sharks in Tahiti.
It sounds fearless until I admit I spent portions of the experience wondering whether I resembled something on a shark’s lunch menu.
Diving advice concerning sharks. Never pull their tails. And . . . keep breathing.
High Altitude and Low Oxygen - at 10,000 Feet,
I climbed Mount Rainier to ten thousand feet! That taught me many things about perseverance, altitude, and the annoying realization that my hiking buddy could chatter all the way while I struggled for each breath. Well, life isn’t fair, is it?
But just take a moment to look at that mountain.
Try to feel its presence. Its sheer magnificence.
I will never forget it. It’s the icon of my home state. Washington!
I like to imagine the mountain was glad to see me return to visit him.
And hey! I made it up that trail and up the glacier and stood for a time on top of the world. Well, okay, only 10,000 ft. up.
That’s Mount Adams in the distance. What an amazing day!
My Ski Technique. Controlled Panic.
I seem to have this thing about mountains. I learned to ski in Zermatt during a season where the slopes consisted primarily of ice and optimism. But the Swiss, wisely understanding human priorities, provided warm, bubbling fondue.
Here I am looking smug at managing to get down the mountain in one piece.
I survived and went on to slopes closer to home. Like glorious Lake Tahoe.
Actors! Always posing. My Ski Bunny shot. I hadn’t skied in decades and, let me tell you, I was terrified. But I was skiing with my son that trip and he had always considered his mother to be intrepid. I had a reputation to keep up. He was so encouraging that by the end of the trip I was taking on the Intermediate slopes and – horror of horrors – Moguls. I only fell twice. And I didn’t break anything. Which was even more amazing.
Of Oracles and Ouzo.
Travel has always felt a little like time travel to me. Greece remains one of my favorite places in the world. Standing in the temple at Delphi listening to mysterious whispers from a time so long ago, I felt transported back in time. As though the Oracle was still there. Perhaps she just stepped out for an ouzo and might return at any moment? What do you think?
Of course I hung out at ruined theaters. Actors can’t stay away.
Juliet Had a Balcony. Romeo Had a Camera.
Italy let me pretend I’d somehow wandered back into the Renaissance, where every corner seemed determined to produce another church, painting, piazza, or reason to linger. And I could pretend I was Juliet wistfully gazing down from her balcony.
Where’s Romeo? He took the photo!
Motherhood: Extreme Sports Division.
Then there was mountain biking with my son, an activity during which I discovered that I possess extraordinary braking abilities. Some people ride with abandon and exhilaration. I rode the brakes in sheer terror while attempting to preserve life and limb.
It was awesome. As my son repeatedly said.
Here I am, all optimistic and eager to hit the trail.
I discovered something during that time of thrills and chills with my son.
Parenting sometimes requires a lot of courage.
Alert! Enough about me? Of course not. I told you – it never is.
As well as a person brave enough to dive with sharks, I had to have bravery of another kind.
They say the fear of speaking in front of people is greater than the fear of death.
Well, as I’ve already told you (Is it 3 times now? Shameless!) I was also a stage actress once upon a time, performing nightly in front of hundreds of people.
Panic! But Make it Shakespeare.
Acting was exhilarating and terrifying.
What if I forgot my lines?
What if I forgot my entrance and left my fellow actor alone onstage to improvise?
What if he forgot his entrance and left me alone to improvise?
Actors have so many fears to overcome.
I acted in all kinds of productions, though Shakespearean comedies always stole my heart. Tragedies are all very well, but give me mistaken identities, hidden letters, dramatic entrances, ridiculous misunderstandings, and people accidentally falling in love while disguised as someone else.
Here I am as the Princess of France in Love’s Labours Lost.
P.S. I also designed and made the costumes for that show.
But that’s another story. A story about a seamstress who began sewing at age 13 and was very grateful for the skill when life got tough a bit later.
From Leading Role to Entire Cast.
Eventually I wandered offstage and into novel writing, where I discovered a wonderful secret: I no longer had to compete for parts. I could play all the characters and never have to audition. Heroes, villains, romantics, eccentrics, comic relief, suspicious butlers.
I finally landed the role of my dreams: The entire cast!
Alert! Shameless author promotion.
I write novels with my husband under the pen name Julia George.
(Guess what his name is. Brilliant! You guessed it!)
Try our author website.
https://juliageorgeauthor.com/
There’s a lot more there than just links to Amazon.
You’ll find stories about the characters, Facts Behind the Fiction, how we (Julia and George) write together, and much more. We’d love to have you visit. I have to say, it’s not your usual author website.
The Best Plot Twist.
Meanwhile, life quietly handed me the leading man of my dreams.
How could I resist?
I have a husband who has been my best friend ever since we met on stage, which seems fitting somehow. As if life decided to write its own romantic subplot.
Here we are in George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara.
You should try kisses over a drum sometime.
Together we’ve raised a terrific son who has joined us in so many adventures.
Like that mountain biking incident that I told you about earlier.
And That Brings Us To – Drum Roll - NeverNeverBored!
This little corner of the internet exists because, to me, social media sometimes feels like standing in a hurricane. Scroll. Swipe. Move on.
I want NeverNeverBored to be a place to slow down a little. To tell longer stories about adventures, absurdities, enthusiasms, memories, books, photographs, discoveries.
Things that make life feel larger and more interesting.
Welcome!
I’m so glad you’re here.
Come wander with me.
There will be stories. There will be photos. There may occasionally be sharks.
And if all goes according to plan, there will never, never be boredom.
What Never? No! Never!