Why is it that I always have to drink out of the children's water fountain which is much too short for me while some little child on a stool plays in the big water fountain?
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Things It's Better Not to Think About
You want to see something scary? Next time you're on the freeway notice how many skid marks there are all over the road. I noticed it for the first time the other day during my commute to work. I couldn't keep count there were so many. That is a lot of car accidents! At least a dozen of them went straight off the side of the road. Some skid marks went on for two blocks in length. Yikes!
Friday, May 22, 2009
I Can't Believe I Liked It
What follows is a list of books I fully expected to hate when I started reading them, but ended up LOVING. Here they are in no particular order. (Parents: Most of these books are for older readers.)
Homeless Bird—Now one of my all-time favorite books. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
Hunger Games—The first time someone told me what this young adult book was about it didn’t sound like my kind of book. Was I ever wrong.
Ruby Key—As a librarian, I’ve noticed that most of the books with fabulous covers are usually not very good stories. The cover on this one was so beautiful I figured it had to be a flop. Thank goodness it wasn’t.
Sammy Keyes Series—I read the second book in the series first and liked it, but not enough to read the whole series. I decided to read one more—this time I chose the fifth book. After that, I was addicted.
Skeleton Creek—I almost didn’t even start this book because I was so sure it was going to be badly written. I now own it and can’t wait to get my hands on the second book.
The Mennyms—A coworker recommended this charming book to me. When I asked her what it was about she told me it was the story of a family of life-sized rag dolls. I actually gave her a funny look. “I know it sounds bizarre, “she said. “But you have to read it to understand how clever the story truly is.” She was absolutely right. I read the whole series in a week. The last book in the series was the best one.
Amulet of Samarkand—I’ve never been a fan of anti-hero stories, so right from the beginning I didn’t think I would be able to make myself finish this one. I have rarely laughed as hard at anything as I did at this book. By the time I got to the last book in the series, I was laughing and biting my nails until 3:00am, unable to go to sleep until I knew what was going to happen to my favorite characters. If only all books could be like this one.
The Girl Who Could Fly—I made a goal this year to branch out and read more books in genres I don’t normally like. This fabulous book was one of them. Thank goodness for annual work goals.
The Teacher’s Funeral—WARNING: This book could cause damage to your spleen from all the laughter it will induce.
Only Alien on the Planet—The strange but haunting cover on this book both repelled and attracted me. I kept seeing it at the book store and eventually I just HAD to know what it was about. I didn’t think I’d end up liking it. It’s now one of my favorites.
Life As We Knew It—Looking at the unexciting cover of this book, you would never imagine the life and death suspense hiding inside. I sure didn’t.
Stargirl—I got the book on tape for this book because I was so sure I wasn’t going to like it. After I listened to it, I couldn’t stop thinking about this story for weeks.
Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs—This was another of those books I read because I’m a librarian and it’s my job to read a large variety of books. I’m so glad I did. This book made the ordinary seem magical. I wish I could do that with my own writing.
Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Homeless Bird—Now one of my all-time favorite books. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
Hunger Games—The first time someone told me what this young adult book was about it didn’t sound like my kind of book. Was I ever wrong.
Ruby Key—As a librarian, I’ve noticed that most of the books with fabulous covers are usually not very good stories. The cover on this one was so beautiful I figured it had to be a flop. Thank goodness it wasn’t.
Sammy Keyes Series—I read the second book in the series first and liked it, but not enough to read the whole series. I decided to read one more—this time I chose the fifth book. After that, I was addicted.
Skeleton Creek—I almost didn’t even start this book because I was so sure it was going to be badly written. I now own it and can’t wait to get my hands on the second book.
The Mennyms—A coworker recommended this charming book to me. When I asked her what it was about she told me it was the story of a family of life-sized rag dolls. I actually gave her a funny look. “I know it sounds bizarre, “she said. “But you have to read it to understand how clever the story truly is.” She was absolutely right. I read the whole series in a week. The last book in the series was the best one.
Amulet of Samarkand—I’ve never been a fan of anti-hero stories, so right from the beginning I didn’t think I would be able to make myself finish this one. I have rarely laughed as hard at anything as I did at this book. By the time I got to the last book in the series, I was laughing and biting my nails until 3:00am, unable to go to sleep until I knew what was going to happen to my favorite characters. If only all books could be like this one.
The Girl Who Could Fly—I made a goal this year to branch out and read more books in genres I don’t normally like. This fabulous book was one of them. Thank goodness for annual work goals.
The Teacher’s Funeral—WARNING: This book could cause damage to your spleen from all the laughter it will induce.
Only Alien on the Planet—The strange but haunting cover on this book both repelled and attracted me. I kept seeing it at the book store and eventually I just HAD to know what it was about. I didn’t think I’d end up liking it. It’s now one of my favorites.
Life As We Knew It—Looking at the unexciting cover of this book, you would never imagine the life and death suspense hiding inside. I sure didn’t.
Stargirl—I got the book on tape for this book because I was so sure I wasn’t going to like it. After I listened to it, I couldn’t stop thinking about this story for weeks.
Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs—This was another of those books I read because I’m a librarian and it’s my job to read a large variety of books. I’m so glad I did. This book made the ordinary seem magical. I wish I could do that with my own writing.
Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Book Blog Update
My publisher finally hired an artist to do my cover. If you want to find out who it is, click on the link to my book blog.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Too Cute for Words
A friend and I recently discovered some old photographs in my mother's storage closet. Among them was this darling picture of my dog when she was just a puppy. She was so tiny in those days that a friend of mine (who was watching the dog for me) actually smuggled her into a movie theater in her diaper bag with no one the wiser. The dog slept through most of the film but managed to crawl out of the bag toward the end when no one was looking. The dog wandered through the theater isles eating stale popcorn, getting petted by people, and occasionally barking at the screen for good measure. My friend finally tracked her down and smuggled the puppy back out of the theater when the movie was over. No one told management about the incident. But then look at that adorable face--how could anyone resist?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Origami Fight
This was so good I had to pass it on. I've seen people do origami fights where they tap the tabletop to make them move, but nothing like this! Hope you enjoy. (Disclaimer: clicking on the link below will take you to an outside website whose content I have no control over.)
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4978359/13251659
Some people have way too much time on their hands.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4978359/13251659
Some people have way too much time on their hands.
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