A new nickname

We just returned from celebrating Thanksgiving (American, obviously) with my sister and her family and had a delicious dinner, sampled some parks, chased some squirrels and had some fun times with Settlers of Catan/Seafarers of Catan - a game, I might mention, that my brother and his wife totally hooked us on. Just when you think you've got a strategy, the numbers go against you and, well, sometimes it's not pretty. But suffice it to say I actually WON once so life is good. (It's sort of like golfing that way.)

However, board-game triumph not withstanding, my favorite memory of the trip was a new nickname given to me by a preschooler. We'd been talking about fairies and costumes and magic and she decided I should have a new name and told me what it should be. At first I thought I might just be misunderstanding her but she was adamant.


So you may now all address me as...

"tinkerval"

Flying pigs

I have a collection of flying pigs. Ever since my first picture book (When Pigs Fly) was published, I have been building an odd assortment of flying pigs - some given to me, some I purchased, some wrangled out of unsuspecting people by enthusiastic friends. The collection ranges from clocks and blackboards to rubber stamps to jewelry and clothing. Some are hysterical, some adorable and some totally tacky.

So the other day, it caught my eye when Rick at Organized Doodles posted this gem:


Isn't he great?

Dentist shoes

I don't know what your dentist is like but in my experience they have always been male, usually wear those white lab coat things and and have a brisk sort of humor-you-through-the-chair attitude (except for the dental hygienist that used to come to my elementary school with the SERIOUS cigarette breath and no sense of humor. Maybe that's the reason I've been seeing male dentists lately...)

Anyways, I took my children to a new dentist the other day and she was - well - a she. Good - I thought. Maybe she'll be a little more realistic about the whole experience. I mean, it really can't be a fun job but a number of pediatric dentists I've encountered have zero flexibility on their policies about accompanying your child through the appointment. But before I go into a serious snit mode, just let me say that this dentist surprised me.

Why?

Well, my child and I had been chatting, the hygienist had done her thing and then I heard a "click, click, click" coming across the floor. So I looked over and saw...a pair of really cute strappy silver sandals (slides, if you want to be really accurate) and a toe ring.

Yep, that was the dentist.

So I may have immediately graduated to middle-aged old broad. She's cute, stylish and has a great sense of humor. She also seems to be a very competent dentist. But my first thought was "Sandals? It's November!" And the part that scared me the most was the "Young lady!" sort of tone that came in the middle of that thought.

Ack!!

I ran home and checked through my shoes for something not-too-old to wear to a meeting later that night. And sighed as I pulled on some warm socks and a pair of dress boots.

It's November, after all.

Title trouble

This is a blog that first appeared on my other blog but I know some of you that share my sense of humor will get a kick out of it anyways.

Or at least let out a refined snigger...

They say the title is one of the most important things you will ever write for your new manuscript - though probably the query letter still ranks a little higher. There are definitely some titles that catch the imagination or pique the curiosity. Some of my favorites include: How Are You Peeling?, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, A Bag Full of Nothing, Mr. Pinkerton Finds A Body, No More Dead Dogs, And God Created Squash, and the list goes on...

We'd been talking about titles in the residency I'm currently teaching (I'm done at the end of the week so will stop talking about it eventually) and doing some brainstorming about what should and shouldn't be in a title. Some kids had a snappy option right off the cuff, others just stared and shrugged. (I think I could tell which ones have more AR points.)

I got home with a head full of titles and then saw this sitting on my kitchen table:


Maybe it's just because I was hanging around with 9-year-olds but doesn't this strike you as possibly being an unfortunate choice? I can't imagine a parent walking into a book store and asking for the book "Things to Do with Pooh."

(Okay, actually I can. And I can also imagine the look on the staff member's face when they hear the request. I mean, if you didn't know it was connected to Disney's version of A.A. Milne's classic bear, what shelf would you start looking on?)

Needless to say, it's gotten some mileage around our house, and it's served as a caution to me too. Our titles need careful attention.

Not quite what I expected

So today I was teaching again in an art residency and it was a painting day (as opposed to a writing day or a sketching day or a "dummy" day). The students are usually pretty excited about it. We've done all sorts of water color techniques including the highly popular spattering.

But today, one child wasn't quite ready to enter in to the process. Instead he threw up.

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes to recess time, so the teacher rounded the class up and took them to the playground while a parent volunteer shepherded the poor child to the office and the custodian came in to clean up.

And there I sat, torn between a parental sympathy for the student and thinking "Wow - that wasn't the reaction I expected at all!"

Love the classics

The last couple nights have been full of tedious tasks like cutting large sheets of paper into smaller sheets of paper. Yeah, for this I have 10 years of post-secondary education.

To help me not notice how time is dragging, I like to throw in a favorite movie. I have a list you can see on my profile of some of the top-most-likely choices but tonight it's Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night's Dream as interpreted by Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart and the host of delightful actors they have together portray it. It's a pretty lush production and the fact that one of my favorite plays is being performed by some of my favorite actors mean it will continue to play over and over again at my house.

The only other performance I've seen to match it was when the Saskatoon Summer Shakespeare festival acted the play in traditional text but set in the 20s, Brooklyn accents, flapper costumes and all. It was marvelous!! And, of course, another great Shakespearian rendition is A&E's "Much Ado About Nothing." Tops them all, actually.

Anyways, it's back to my paper trimmer as Pyramus and Thisbe move once again to their prescribed fates...

I need a laugh :)