Terrible Yellow Eyes

I know I did a blog post for this over at Yet Another Children's Book Blog but it is just too good not to share everywhere. Terrible Yellow Eyes is the brainchild of Cory Godbey, and is a blog tribute to the amazing Maurice Sendak and particularly his book Where the Wild Things Are. Cory has invited various artists to create artwork based on the book which are then posted to the site. The responses have been astounding. There are some downright amazing contributions to the blog and everything is so varied and fabulous. As a side note, the blog just stepped out of the blogosphere and became a gallery show at Gallery Nucleus in California.

When I was growing up I remember reading Where the Wild Things Are over and over. In High School when I was asked to translate a story into Japanese, I chose Sendak's book. I was fascinated with Max's ability to sail off into the unknown. There is a moment when his room becomes a forest that as a child I always wished would happen to my room. So this blog is of special interest to me. Plus with the movie opening soon and hopefully a resurgence in interest in the book (as if Where the Wild Things Are has ever gone out of style) this will be even more interesting. By the way I'm not above eating crow. When I first did a post about movies made out of picture books I mentioned that I was not particularly excited about this adaptation. But the more that I have seen of the visuals, the more excited I am. I only hope that it will keep the tone of the book unlike another picture book/film that has come out this past month.

But my griping aside, Terrible Yellow Eyes is one of the most beautiful tributes I have ever seen to a book. Each piece is beautiful and interesting in its own way. There are paper cut-outs, dioramas, oil, acrylic, watercolor.... on into infinity. The variations of theme and medium are stunning in themselves. If you have ever enjoyed this book, or just like incredible art, check out this site. And thanks Cory. This was a fantastic idea and has become a thing of beauty.

Photo

I have a full topic that I will post tonight but I had to share this picture. I took this while heading up to see some friends in Minneapolis sometime last year. It was raining and Jeff and I stopped briefly at the Diamond Jo Casino on the Minnesota/Iowa border. As we were getting out of the car we noticed this and had to take a picture.


Apparently there is gold at the end of the rainbow, or at least clay chips and slot machines.

In Praise of Banned Books

From the ALA's Banned Book Resources

Banned Book Week started yesterday and I'm already thinking about which book to read. I traditionally read a banned or challenged book every year during banned book week. I had planned to save Lolita for this year but found myself reading it mid-year. Sadly I have a ton of other books to choose from.

One of the greatest rights we have in this country is the freedom of the press and along with it, the freedom to read what we want. It is a right that has been challenged and questioned, but I still believe that the freedom to read and say what we want is the foundation of a good democracy. The librarian in me screams out that we all have a right to education and should have access to all types of information.

A couple months ago I did a review of And Tango Makes Three for Yet Another Children's Book Blog. That story has been the most banned or challenged book of the last couple years. There is debate that it is one of the most banned books ever. Yet wonderfully I was able to go to the public library near me, pick up a copy, and see what all the fuss was about. It is one of my most frequently read reviews. And one of my more passionately written.

I have never seen a reason to ban books. If you don't want your child to read a certain book, don't let them read it. If you have objections about a book and your child does read it, explain what those objections are. Talk with your child about why you don't approve of the book. But don't try to keep me from reading the book. Don't deny others the right to read and learn because of your morals. (I apologize. I know I'm up on my soapbox today).

Each year the American Library Association promotes reading on Banned Book Week. No librarian will tell you that you can't read something. Reading is learning and all aspects of life should be learned about. If you are passionate about the freedom of the press and about reading in general, go through this list. See what is being banned. And possibly grab yourself a copy. Celebrate Banned Book Week by flexing the freedom to read.

Poetry Friday

Another favorite. And one I haven't read in many years. My father had a copy of the collected works of Langston Hughes in his car this week and I sat down and re-read this amazing poem.

Theme for English b
by Langston Hughes

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you--
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?

Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white--
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me--
although you're older--and white--
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

Pixar's Presto

I just started reading Animation Blog and stumbled upon this Pixar short that I have somehow not seen. Considering how much I love Pixar's work this is shocking to me. I'm not kidding when I say that this is the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time.

Pixar's Presto.

Seriously, click on it. You will not be disappointed.

Least I Could Do

A while ago, I wrote a post about the comic Looking for Group by Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza which a friend of mine introduced me to. He had lent me the first book and I devoured it. Then I went to the website and read the rest of the backstory. I loved the strip. I was bit less interested in the duo's daily strip Least I Could Do.

I would start the backstory and read a couple weeks before giving up. It's not that the strip wasn't funny. It's not that I was offended by the content. It was just that other webcomics kept getting in the way. Finally early last week I decided to sit down and read my way through the backstory. I never follow a webcomic until I have read all the archives. Considering the Least I Could Do started in 2003, I had an uphill battle ahead of me. What I didn't realize is that the more I got to know the characters the harder it was to stop reading. I read the entire 6 years of comics in four days. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

Least I Could Do is the brainchild of Ryan Sohmer. The strip has had three different artists during its 6 year tenure but Ryan has always been the author. The strip mostly follows Rayne, a Don Juan character who spends a majority of the early strips trying to get women into bed. He is surprisingly successful, marking each anniversary (50, 100, 1000). Rayne lives with John, his ever patient teacher roommate who has almost zero success with women. He is surrounded by Mick, who is often the butt of Rayne's jokes, Issa, a female friend that Rayne continues to try to bed, and Noel, his long-time buddy who's been in a committed (now married) relationship for much of the strip.

It was interesting to watch the progression of the strip from the beginning. We see each character as they get older. The early strips often took place either in bars or in Rayne's bed. He was primarily the focus of all of the early strips. As the story has progressed we see more and more of his friends and the focus is often on the relationship between all of them. Not of course saying that Rayne has stopped sleeping around it is just not the focus of all of the jokes. Instead recent years have focused on Rayne's friendship with his 5 year old niece who is a bit of a trouble-maker. Rayne has also picked up a job which he is incredibly successful at and even tolerated by his coworkers.

This strip is filled with hilarious moments, geek references, the occasional disturbing strip, and a lot of great characters. Ryan and Lar have a way of making great ensemble comics with characters that you slowly get to know and like. It is not a strip for the weak of heart though. Rayne is a bit of a womanizer and some might be offended by his cavelier attitude. I found it hilarious. What started out as a bit of a nonsequitor strip has become a great character series. I've added it to my daily comics and can't wait to see what Rayne gets into next.

I Get to Play With Paint!!!!

I have been telling myself for years that I wanted to take an art class. I really want to be able to illustrate my own work and I'm terrible at drawing. So when my mother asked if I would go to an art class with her (a shock in itself) I jumped at the chance. It was an Exploring Painting and Drawing class and we could pick one medium to work in. I figured that charcoal would be easy and decided to start with that. My goal was to eventually learn acrylics or gouache.

So we had our first class last night and the instructor suggested two medium as some of the easier ones to work with. The first was pastel chalks which I have only a bit of interest in. I'd be more than happy to learn it but I'm not in love with the medium. The second, I was excited to hear was gouache.

For those of you who don't know, gouache is an opaque watercolor. It is also a heavily used favorite for animation and illustration. It has some of the most vibrant colors and even when the paint dries, those colors stay. You can paint over it. You can retouch work. A good deal of early Disney animation was done in gouache. And I could not be more excited. Imagine thinking that you would have to work up to learning your ideal medium with years of work. Instead they just say go ahead.

So I will be running out to the art store this week to pick up all my necessary supplies. Amazingly someone out there thinks that I'm old enough, heck mature enough, to play with paint. Poor misguided fools. I sat in class all last night thinking, wow you actually believe that I'm somewhat of an adult and can be trusted with paint. Not only that but that I have enough talent to use said paint. I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun and learn as we go. But mostly the five year old inside me just keeps thinking, Yay!!!! I get to play with paint.

Accentuate the Positive

This is just another cleansing post. I promise to have something better soon but my head is really not in it tonight. I don't want to talk about the fiasco that is my work situation right now mostly because I don't want to think about it. So tonight is more pictures. More images that make me happy. More nothingness. Enjoy. I'll try to have something of substance tomorrow. Hopefully things will be a little more stable tomorrow.

This is the image that is my wallpaper at the current moment. It is my favorite hummingbird picture that I took last summer.

A pumpkin to usher in the fall

And last year's firework display to send the summer out properly.

Again sorry all. I'll have something better tomorrow.

Cleansing Post

I need a little cleansing post. Today has been a hard day. It has been filled with unpleasant surprises about illnesses and I'm not even going to discuss the horror story that is my office right now. Things are, pretty up in the air. So instead I'm going to focus on my happy thing for the day.

My feeder has been discovered. Sadly it's been discovered by a squinty (thirteen striped ground squirrel for everyone not in Iowa). He arrives at the feeder, stuffs his cheeks with tons of food, and runs back to his den. And while I'm frustrated that he can empty my feeder in a day, I think he's absolutely adorable when his cheeks are stuffed with seed. Here he is peering over the side of the feeder. Not sure what he's looking at. [Note: I have no idea why these little creatures are called squinties in Iowa. It's the name I grew up with and just seems to be the standard for the state. I'll see if I can find that out]

Here is a black-capped chickadee that has been coming for a couple weeks. Today he fought over the feeder with this white-breasted nuthatch. I've never seen more than one bird on this feeder but I switched food today. It was a nice surprise in a day filled with bad ones.

And here is a little video of my uninvited guest. Enjoy the chubby cheeks. I wonder how much seed he can pack in there. Plus he appears to think that my feeder is a swing. He's a cute little fellow I just wish he ate a little slower.

Thanks for allowing me to share about the happy part of my day.

Poetry Friday for my Sister

I have a great family. I'm blessed in that I enjoy spending time with my family and that I can count them not only as family but as friends as well. I've been spending a bit of time lately with my little sister and have been loving it. She's one of the most encouraging and giving people I know. She always has a kind word for everyone. She's incredibly smart and always has great book or music suggestions for me. Half of my good music collection comes from her. She's just one of the most wonderful people and I'm so excited that I've gotten to see so much of her these last couple weeks.

We were sitting out having coffee recently and she mentioned that she's never read this poem. So Emilie, this one's for you. It gives me chills to read it again. Robert Frost is a master.

Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Public Art at its best

I'm sorry about the lack of posting this week. So far this week, work has been unbearably busy. I've been taking work home each evening and then have had dinner or coffee with someone every night. I've had almost no time at home where I wasn't visiting with someone or working on homework. So there has been no time for posting. Which is sad because lately I have a ton of things to talk about.

I'll start with my new favorite find. I've been reading Cute Overload for about a year now. I love that I get to see something adorable every single day. It makes me smile. And this past week I had even more to smile about since they profiled the work of Florentijn Hofman, a dutch artist who specializes in large public art displays. And one of his recent projects is a subject near and dear to my heart. Rubber Duckies.


For those of you who haven't followed me from the beginning I wrote a blog post a while ago about my two rubber collections, rubber duckies and condoms. Yeah I know, kind of a bit odd. But I love rubber duckies. How can you not? And how can you not love a rubber ducky that towers over buildings and boats. Hofman has set up his floating scuplture in several different cities includes ones in Brazil, The Netherlands, Germany, and France. The ducky then spends several months in the city before moving on to its next location. I love Hofman's words about the installment. "The friendly floating rubber duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages!" I can only imagine how passing by this bright floating icon of cheerfulness would make me smile every morning.
But Hofman has not restricted himself to ducks and his other works have been equally as amusing and beautiful. This rabbit (The Giant of Vlaardingen) was made out of scrap wood and was moved to three locations within the city. Hofman states that the wood was of poor quality but I'm just stunned at how beautiful this rabbit is. And of course scale makes it so much more impressive.

Hofman plays with scale at this exhibit which appeared at Gallery West in The Hague, Netherlands. For the exhibit, Hofman created a large number of stuffed animals many times the size of a regular stuffed animal. They were then placed into the building, crammed into corners and stairwells, and then photographed. The images play tricks on the mind and looking at the photographs I began to think that the building was simply smaller. The photos cleverly do not allow any actual measure of scale. I was impressed by how sad and at times menacing these stuffed toys could looked when I remembered that they were much taller than I was. This huge monkey had to be my favorite.

Over the years I've become a huge fan of public art, particularly cheerful public art. And Hofman is just a master. I'm in love with his ducky series but all of his scupltures have been inventive and beautiful. Hopefully, his duck will make the swim across the pond and set up an installment somewhere in the US. Landlocked as I am, I would make a trek out to see it. With my love of rubber duckies, I could simply consider it a pilgrimage.

Roald Dahl Day

One of the books I picked up when I was at the booksale this weekend was Going Solo, Roald Dahl's account of his time flying with the RAF during World War II. Years ago, I had read his short story "A Piece of Cake" which talks about him being trapped in his burning plane after a crash and I wanted to hear the rest of the story. This is the sequel to his autobiography Boy and was a really interesting read. He starts the book talking about his time in Northern Africa working for the Shell Company. After war is declared he is sent out with a small band of African warriors and no military training to try to round up the hundreds of German citizens fleeing the country. After that he heads to Egypt to train as an RAF pilot. The training and his flying missions are the bulk of the book.

Shortly after his training, Dahl is sent to join his squadron in the desert. After he is given incorrect data, he is forced to crash land in the desert. That is where his short story came up. He is discovered by a scouting group and brought back to a hospital in Alexandria. There he spends the next 8 months recovering his sight, rebuilding his nose, and recovering from severe concussions. He is released from the hospital and sent to Greece to join the dying campaign there. He and his fellow pilots have the only dozen RAF planes in Greece. It is a lost cause but no one seems to be willing to accept that. The pilots are flying for hours a day and getting shot up on every trip. Dahl talks about the almost everyday deaths of pilots. After losing plane after plane until there is only five left, Dahl and the others are evacuated to Palestine and Syria. And after hours in the air he starts to develop headaches which ground him, a side effect from his earlier injuries. He is sent home and the book ends.

Roald Dahl has a special place in my heart. I grew up reading his books and have so far not read one that I didn't love. I vividly remember being read The BFG (Big Friendly Giant, for those of you who had other acronyms in mind) which I still consider one of the best books for young kids ever. Dahl is best known for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but so many of his books are wonderful. His books have a dark sense of humor and are often considered gross or strange by most parents. But every child I know loves his work. My favorite of his books include The Twits, which is a terrible book about terrible people, getting their just rewards. It is delicious in its silliness and viciousness. I loved James and the Giant Peach, which its story of the young boy and his insects who find a way to cross the ocean in a gigantic peach. And for a more realistic book, there is Danny, the Champion of the World, a sweet story about poaching and fatherly love. It was interesting after reading so many of his books as a child, to read a bit more of his adult work. His stories from the war were enough to make this book interesting but to read it with the knowledge that he would become one of the most successful children's book authors ever, made it fascinating.

All that said, I was reading a bit more about Dahl online today and found out something very interesting. Dahl was born September 13th and I guess that day has been called Roald Dahl Day in some circles. I found it bizarre that I spent most of yesterday (his day) curled up on the couch reading his autobiography. I don't believe in coincidences but this one seems a bit odd. Roald Dahl type odd. So for all of you out there, wondering what strange and interesting tales to read your child, here is a suggestion. Find a nice quiet corner, turn your parent brain off, and get ready to be awed and revolted. And Happy Belated Roald Dahl Day!

Intermission

I'll try to get a real post up sometime this evening. Until then enjoy the visual madness that is a Gaudi building. He's my favorite architect although I'm pretty sure he was on some seriously good drugs. (Full name Antoni Gaudi, and no this is not where the word "gaudy" comes from, although it sometimes looks like it.)

Bent Object Inspiration

Last Friday I posted an image from Terry Border's Bent Objects mostly because I loved the image and I love Terry's work. A friend of mine headed over to the website and got inspired. This is a good friend that I met through Jeff who has to be one of the most fearless people I've ever met. He's willing to try any art form, any hobby, anything. He'll become interested in something and then he just does it, unlike me who just reads about it until the feeling goes away. So to me, he's fearless. So I shouldn't be surprised that this morning he sent me a bent object of his own. Then he sweetly gave me permission to post it.


Thanks Lon! I think it's great. This is Lon's "The Escape".

Poetry Friday

I was working at the county hospital when the towers fell. I remember a patient coming up to our window with a story about a plane crashing into a building. And for a moment I thought it was a joke. After we flipped on the TV I wasn't laughing anymore.

I'm not normally sentimental when it comes to these type of tragedies although I can remember (incredibly vividly) where I was during the Challenger explosion or the bombing in Oklahoma City. And I remember where I was on 9/11. I won't go on about the attack. That for me is past. But instead I think about what made this country great. People working together, working with neighbors, working to create a better world. The quiet and proud work that is done without praise or applause but is done for the joy of doing. And the words of Walt Whitman (the quintessential American poet) comes to mind. I don't normally like Whitman. His style is something you have to grow used to. But his poem seems to sum up today for me.

I Hear America Singing.
by Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhandsinging on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Joe Purdy

I hate to admit this but if it wasn't for the TV, I would never have found Joe Purdy's music. As a selp-published artist he's been relying on word of mouth and so far that hadn't reached me yet. What did reach me was a rather silly Kia Spectra commercial with a fun little upbeat song to go along with it.

I bought the song off iTunes but never really looked farther into Joe's music. I'm not sure why that is though. The song from the commercial, "Can't Get it Right Today" quickly became one of my favorite songs. I was surprised to find out that it was not the silly, ditty that I expected and was instead a very moving song. This is a beautifully sad song that somehow made me happy and sad at the same time. It hit me deeply, and I found myself singing it constantly. I've always loved folk music and this was some of the best I've ever heard. So why I didn't go find more of his music, I will never know.

One afternoon while sitting listening to Pandora.com, a song called "Whiskey and Fish" came on. I tapped my feet and bounced along to the song and then immediately clicked over to see who did the song. Joe Purdy again. And then I saw the new Dawn advertisement with his soulful "Wash Away". And I went out looking for the rest. Joe by the way is no stranger to music for television. Wash Away became a theme song for the series Lost, and Greys Anatomy has used some of his stuff. But since I've never seen a single episode of either, it took me two commercials and Pandora to spark me.

Joe has published 10 albums in the last 8 years. All self-published and all amazingly good. I read in an interview that he only expected to live to 27 and wanted to make sure he had 10 albums produced by then. His self-publishing has the downside of not offering a ton of marketing but also gives him a lot freedom with both writing and releasing his music. He gives people the chance to listen to all of his songs on his website and you can buy them directly from him or link to iTunes or Amazon. As I've gotten money to spend on music I've been buying up his albums. And so far have not found one that I didn't love. It took me a long time to find Joe but he has quickly become my favorite singer/songwriter. It's kind of sad to say that it took the television for me to find a new singer, but I'm willing to admit it, if it helps me get the word out about his fantastic music.

Back and Feeling Invigorated

I'm a bit hyper today. I don't think it's the coffee I had this morning, or the fact that I'm a bit sleep deprived after the weekend but I keep jumping from topic to topic. I've started this post at least 10 times and the moved on to something else. The big thing is that I had a great weekend and am feeling like getting things done.

As I mentioned on Friday we headed down this weekend to St. Louis for a bridal shower. Jeff's brother is getting married and Jen, my sister-in-law, was throwing a shower for Jen, my soon-to-be sister-in-law. And if that isn't confusing enough my little brother, who lives in St. Louis, is also dating a Jen. It makes remembering names easy and figuring out who people are referring to hard.

We headed down south on Saturday and had dinner with everyone that evening. I helped Jeff's mom with a scanning project for the shower and finally hit the hotel about midnight. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and then headed over early to the shower to help set-up. The house was decorated beautifully and Jen (the current sister-in-law) had bought a ton of gorgeous pink roses that were all over the house. There ended up being a good number of people at the shower and I had a blast getting to see relatives I hadn't seen in a while and hanging out with family. After the shower ended, the boys came over and we grilled out. We got back to the hotel around 8 and I crashed. I drank too much red wine but the evening was a blast.

The next morning we had brunch with Jeff's parents and his brother's children since Grandma and Grandpa were babysitting. It was a very nice breakfast and when I asked Jeff what time it was, I was shocked to find out that it was after one. We headed out on the road quickly. In fact I think the car ride was just what we needed. Jeff and I had always been travelers. When we were dating we would do regular day trips and always had some fabulous conversation in the car. Since Jeff's started back to school I haven't seen him or had a chance to talk as much. This was a great chance for us to hang out and feel like a couple again. We got home at almost 9 last night. I should have been tired (7 hours in the car will do that to you) but instead I was energized. I cleaned and scrubbed the kitchen, reorganized the cabinets in the bathroom, and took care of unpacking the suitcase. I was in such a good mood that when bedtime came I was a bit disappointed. I'm hoping the energy holds over until tonight. But after a nice weekend, I might just relax a bit.

Bent Objects

Okay I know I already posted today. But I just have to share my favorite image of the week with you guys. If you have not already checked out Bent Objects, the amazing blog by wire artist Terry Border, you need to.

This is "Zombies are Nuts About Brains". I love Terry's work. I'm so excited that he has a book coming out. Wonderful stuff.

Poetry Friday

Sorry I didn't get a post done yesterday. I had great hopes for the day but then a friend of mine (thanks Carol) introduced me to the incredibly funny site It's Lovely, I'll Take It. The site finds some pretty unbelievable photos from real estate listings and posts them with a bit of commentary. Now I love looking at real estate listings. If I get a bit of time and don't know what to do with it, I'll randomly pick a city and look at the listings at Realtor.com. Maybe it's looking at the decorations, maybe it's me being snoopy, maybe it is just seeing what certain amounts can buy. But this is totally different. I truly can't believe what people will highlight as selling points of their house. Or how little people clean before listing their house. Now I won't say my house is clean, but don't you think it should be a little more presentable if you're trying to sell it. It's a great new blog find and I've got it bookmarked and am working my may through the archives. Hilarious.

I'll warn you, there won't be any posting this weekend. Everyone enjoy your long weekend. I'm heading south (Yay!) to St. Louis to see family and to attend a bridal shower. My brother-in-law is getting married this fall and I'm invited to a shower. And I'm actually pretty excited about it. We don't get down to St. Louis as often as we should and it will be a lot of fun to hang out with everyone. I'm blessed in that I enjoy hanging out with my in-laws. It should be a beautiful wedding and I'm excited to add my new sister-in-law. It should be an exciting fall.

That said I've been wracking my brains all morning trying to find a poem that would celebrate their upcoming marriage. I searched all the classical poets and only found cliches. I keep hunting through Brownings and Neruda and cummings with a hope of finding one. Then I realized that instead of old poets, I should go new. This is one of my favorite poets and one of my favorite poems about love.

San Antonio
by Naomi Shihab Nye


Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.

Fractured Fairy Tales

I was too young to enjoy Rocky and Bullwinkle on its first go round. Since the show stopped running in 1964 and I was born about a decade later I had to rely on reruns and recorded videos (Beta back then for my family) to see the shows. But my parents had apparently been fans since we had most of the episodes. I loved Peabody and Sherman, Dudley Do-Right, and Boris and Natasha. But my favorite sequence had to be Fractured Fairy Tales.


This past week borrowed a bunch of animated films from my mom and one of those was a collection of the odd fairy tales. I sat down last night to watch them. I had forgotten how silly and funny the series was. I loved the revisionary stories and the modern plots. This is incredibly inventive writing. I had forgotten the changes made to stories like Rumpelstiltskin and The Pied Piper. One version of Cinderella had her wanting desperately to live in the palace but she couldn't because she's a commoner. Her Fairy Godmother turns her into a princess but there is one problem with her romance with the prince. He's tired of living in the palace and needs to marry a commoner to get out. So she's pretending to be a prince and he's hunting for a commoner. Suffice to say that everyone ends happily but not in the standard story way. There were at least two versions of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin. There was constantly a surprise at the end which often was done with a sly wink. Adults who know the stories will love the changes made.



What I think I had overlooked when I was a kid was how primitive the animation was. Some of the characters were little more than line drawings and the backgrounds were not always constant. Perhaps this realization now is because animation has become so incredibly good lately. Although comparing the animation work of Rocky and Bullwinkle to some of the films and shorts that Disney was putting out and we could see that there was a clear gap in skill level. [Edit: I found out while digging around today that some of the animation work for Rocky and Bullwinkle was outsourced to a Mexican animation studio and that the creators often found huge errors in the work].



The thing that impressed me the most though was the voice work. The voices were hilarious. They really brought out the funny moments of the series and sometimes the moment characters started talking I would be laughing. The voices were just so unusual. It was Jeff who sent me to the internet after he couldn't place a voice. There I found out a bit about Daws Butler, who had done a lot of uncredited work for Fractured Fairy Tales. His was the voice we recognized. And after doing a bit of digging, I realized why. Bulter had done the voice for Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Captain Crunch, Huckleberry Hound, and Quick Draw McGraw. I had grown up with his voice, although in many different incarnations. His vocal work for Fractured Fairy Tales left me in stitches.


I loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and watching the Fairy Tales last night reminded me why. This is not just a cartoon for kids. Although it was on in the evening and had been partially geared towards kids, there were tons of jokes that I know children wouldn't get. It was a series that managed to play up and play down to it's audience. And you never knew what you were going to get. Tons of fun.

Forgotten Bookmarks

One of the interesting things about blogger is that when you hit the main page, there is a listing of blogs of note. I don't check them very often but when I do I'm always rewarded with an incredibly interesting site. They do their homework and only seem to highlight blogs that are updated regularly and with unusual material. Yesterday after I posted and logged off I clicked through the blogs of note. And found what could be my new favorite blog.

Forgotten Bookmarks is an unusual blog in that the site features objects and items left in books. The writer works in a used bookstore and checks each of the books for left materials. And there are some interesting things left behind in books. I have not been through the entire archive yet but I will. There are postcards from family members, letters of apology, photographs, recipes, and tons of other interesting bits of ephemera. The blog's author always includes both a photo of the item found and the cover of the book it was found it.

Some of these items are pretty old, going back to the 1800s. The librarian in me is just fascinated by this collection of odds and ends history. As a reader I'm always excited to find notes or dedications in the used books I pick up. I have found the occasional library slip in some of my library books and find that fascinating. But this is a wonderful hodge-podge of personal items that somehow got overlooked. Some are old, some are new. Some are very personal, some are just advertisements. And of course even more interesting is which books they get left in. Below is a great example. The boar picture is actually a card that used to be included in cigarette packs.

I am truly excited about this blog. I've always loved found art and this has something of that appeal. I know that I tend to use whatever I have lying around as a bookmark. I'm not sure if I've left things in books although I try to check. But there is something incredibly personal and interesting about what other people just happen to use and then forget. I'll be adding this to my virtual bookmarks and checking out the great history that people have left behind. For those readers, librarians, or historians out there, here is an odd little blog that's definitely one to check out.