Grammar Quiz

Whenever you might feel the need to sharpen your grammar skills, take a grammar quiz!! I might tell y'all my score if you post yours.

Out of steam

I am finishing up a month-long teaching stint of composition. I've got 35 students, two classes, and lots of papers to grade. What I miss is the extra creative energy to write and...think. Some people thrive on busy schedules and find anything less to be boring. I have enjoyed getting back into teaching. But balance--as in all things--is best. So I'm hoping after I finish these classes, I can have more time to write, and blog!

The bonus is that once I finish teaching, I get to go with a group to Cedar Point on Friday. Yea!

The Mouse Story

So finally, here's the story about the mouse. About a month ago, it was a chilly morning on the way to school, and I turned on the heat. Right away, we knew something was wrong because there was a funky sound coming from the heater. I turned off the heat and we just stayed chilly. The car needed some other work, so we had that checked as well. The mechanic said it found a mouse nest in the blower for the heater. A mouse nest? The car is normally parked in the garage, so we figured there must be a mouse (or mice?) living in there. But I figured we'd just see what happened.

Two days later, the blower made another noise that was sounding a little too familiar. Crud. Had it never really gone away? Or had those mice been at work again? The next week, I took the car back to the mechanic again. Sure enough, there was another mouse nest in the blower. I asked him to save this one for me, so he put all the nesty stuff in the plastic bag--which is what is shown in the photo. There are bits of kleenex, an old towel, leaves, and other miscellaneous stuff.

So, $200 later, I decided the time had come for some D-con. I'm sorry mousies! Today I found a very sad, very pathetic-looking, very dead mousey on the floor of the garage. I had an impromptu funeral and buried him in the lovely woods behind the house. Sigh...

Cowboy Slang

So I'm working on this story set "out west" with coyotes, stage coaches, and cowdogs. As I was browsing the library shelves yesterday for some writing books, I found The Cowboy Dictionary by Ramon F. Adams. It's got a pretty awesome subtitle: "The Chin Jaw Words and Whing-Ding Ways of the American West." Being from Colorada' I understand the west, and while I love the steadiness and calm of the Midwest, I do get a hankerin' for bein' out west where (at least in the movies) no one pronounces their r's. But seriously, back to the Cowboy Dictionary. I thought I'd add some words over the next few days to give y'all a taste of some cowboy lingo.

"airin' the lungs" - "What the cowboy calls 'cussin' which seems to be a natural part of his language (p. 4)

"all horns and rattles" - "said of someone displaying a fit of temper. A man in his mood, as one cowboy said, 'maybe don't say nothin', but it ain't safe to ask questions.'" (p. 5)

"ankle express" - "The feet. To walk." (p. 6)

While y'all are at it, you might enjoy this site.

Gobble-Gobble!

I just got the fall catalog from the Penguin Young Readers' Group, which includes Dutton Children's Books, which is releasing my book Gobble Gobble Crash this fall. (Whew! That was a long sentence.) It's always awesome to see the book being promoted in catalogs. No longer is it a private text that I revised and reworked through many drafts. Now it is public! (which is great and a little scary)

Until its release date (in Sept. 08), you can be amused by this video showing two turkeys fighting on a highway. I liked the title: "Gobble! Gobble! Them's Fightin' Words!"

Baby chickens and Alpacas

This past week, I got to see a chick hatchery at the Museum of Science and Industry. Here are some of the adorable photos.








In one section of the hatchery, there were eggs still "percolating." One little guy had just hatched. He would take two or three wobbly steps and then need a little nap.

Then on this past Sunday, I went to the Alpaca Invitational at the Fort Wayne Coliseum. Alpacas are related to camels and llamas. Llamas are taller than alpacas, and are usually pack animals. The alpacas are used for their fleece. They are herd animals and seem to love being close to each other, like these two.

Book Review

A couple of weeks ago, I read a short little book by Julia Cameron called "How to Avoid Making Art." It's a humorous take on why artists don't make their artwork--whether that be art, dance, music, writing, whatever. Each page has a "reason" why you would want to avoid doing anything artistic along with a little comic. Here are some of my favorites:

• Be in a big hurry
• Take seriously every negative thing anyone says
• Slide into despair rather than take one small exploratory action
• Consider the odds against whatever you make ever selling (ouch, that one hurts)
• Demand that what you do be absolutely original, totally brilliant, and never done before.
• Only share your good news with those who will immediately dampen it.
• Tell yourself that your job keeps you from making art and then work overtime just to prove it.
• The minute you have an idea, ask yourself: how much cold, hard cash is it worth?
• Think of all the other books that have been written. Why write this one? (Ouch again)
  
• Under no circumstances make any art just for fun.
  
• Never venture into new artistic territory, no matter how tempting.
  
• Never celebrate a job well done. Always think about "more" that needs doing.
  

Julia Cameron is my favorite writer on writing. Her books The Right to Write and The Sound of Paper have really changed the way I view my writing and creative process (I sound so high-faluting when I say that!).

This was the backdrop for some of my thinking when I visited the Art Institute in Chicago last week with my family. I wondered if the artists who are now considered "masters" ever thought their work would be viewed in a museum. Did they think, "oh, this is crap, I better just throw it out"? Did they get frustrated or have trouble with deadlines or feel trapped in a job that wouldn't let them do their art? Did they "venture into new artistic territories"? Did they doubt the quality of their work?

My guess is that most, if not all of them, had self-doubt and frustrations with their artwork, their time limitations, their small pay. They probably felt "blocked" at some point in their career, were frustrated by the market, what was selling, what they had to do to get by.

It makes me thankful for the writing career that I've sort of stumbled into. There are no guarantees it'll continue, that I'll continue to have my books published. That scares me, but it also makes me glad for what I have been able to produce. And that's why I love Julia Cameron's advice so much. Make art, whatever it is, just because you can. Don't worry about finishing that poem or the painting or the song. Don't worry about how much time you have or don't have. Just create and enjoy the fact that, being made in God's image, you long to create beauty in a world where it is often missing.

Superfoods

I've been reading in the last couple of days about 14 "super foods" that are supposed to keep you healthy and less medicine-dependent into old age. I've been skimming through the book, Superfoods Rx. Some of the super foods include: broccoli, tomatoes, beans, oats, soy, and blueberries. Jane posted on something similar to this about another book. Basically, we should eat stuff that grows in dirt. That's the bottom line.

Thoughts on Cancellation of Issues, Etc. Radio Show

Every organization, religious or not, has its own political wrangling; such is the case within my own denomination.

When I was 19 years old, I joined the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which is rooted in biblical truth, historic liturgical practice, sacramental worship, and doctrinal clarity. I love my church and my congregation. After the cycle of Holy Week services culminating in Easter last week, I was reminded again how grateful I am for the historic roots of my faith--the passion readings from John, the darkened church at the Easter vigil, the sweet smell of hope in the Easter lilies. But this is not merely an intellectual exercise. It is a personal, deeply comforting message I hear in every worship service, assuring me of a loving God who daily rescues me from my own failings and from the broken world we live in.

Last week, the powers-that-be at our denomination's headquarters decided to cancel a popular radio show called "Issues, Etc." I don't understand, nor do I pretend to understand, all of the reasons behind this. But it is troubling and disappointing on many levels. Here is an article written by M.Z. Hemingway, a friend of mine, about the topic in the Wall Street Journal. Very nicely put, Mollie.

To-Read; Beatrix Potter; Allen Say

So I was glancing over at Jane's blog and noticed this post on a reading challenge.
I'm not sure I could name 56 books I want to read before the end of the year, but I can start with a short list:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys who Flew the B-24s over Germany by Stephen Ambrose
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurston

I'm almost finished with a book called The Tale of Beatrix Potter, which is a biography about the children's author by Margaret Lane. I'd like to find a couple of other biographies to read about authors. The thing I love about reading biographies, especially biogs about children's authors, is I am reassured that every author has ups and downs in his or her writing life. I've had some frustrations lately, in the midst of some nice school visits, and it's always good for me to hear about other authors who have gone through the same sort of thing. Here's a really nice section about Beatrix Potter's work from this book:

"Conveying truth by means of fantasy, enlarging our perception of life by poetic means, is one of the highest functions of art, and it is not extravagant to say that in her small and special sphere Beatrix Potter performed it. ... Displayed in the trappings of their human counterparts [the animals Potter created] reveal their own true natures by oblique methods, and we ever after know more about them from having observed their behavior in significant disguise" (p. 106).

Last, this afternoon I stopped by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, where Allen Say, another children's author/illustrator was doing a book signing. There is a nice display of his beautiful original artwork from three of his books.

Gobble Gobble Crash

At the end of last week, I got my first proofs of Gobble Gobble Crash: A Barnyard Counting Bash. It's so exciting to see this new book coming together. I decided to take a couple of snapshots to show everyone how it's looking at this point in the process.

I wrote Gobble, boy, about 8 (?) years ago. The manuscript had a long and eventful journey, eventually ending up at Dutton Children's Books and it will be published this fall. I will definitely have to go to Pittsburgh for a book signing for this book since that is where the inspiration for the book came from.

One late afternoon, I was with my family, and we were driving on a road in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is an unusual city in that it is very hilly and divided up by three rivers. So, getting around town is a bit of a challenge--but it's also an adventure. We were on Streets Run Road (I think) which is like going up the side of a mountain. The road is lined with thick trees.

Well, on this one afternoon, we were driving home and all of a sudden, a huge bird flew over our car, over the road. Scott was driving and had his window down and said he could hear the beating of the wings of this huge bird. This happened shortly after we moved to Pittsburgh, and we didn't know what the heck that thing was that flew over our car.

We asked around and found out that there are tons of wild turkeys in the Pittsburgh area (and I'm sure all over the state). So, we actually had a wild turkey sighting. It was cool.

A couple of years later, I saw a mother turkey with seven little baby turkeys trying to cross another road, but this time on foot. One poor little guy got stuck on one side all by himself. Don't know if he ever made it.

Anyway, little incidents like that are what inspire my stories. I had an idea for a counting book about wild turkeys making a big ruckus at a barnyard. This manuscript went through SO many revisions. It was crazy. But finally, after getting guidance from other writers and editors, I settled on a story, and now...here it is!

Valeri Gorbachev illustrated the book. His artwork is fantastic! I completely love it. Anyway, the book will be released this fall (in September, I believe), so I'm looking forward to seeing it all bound and finished. It's a great treat, however, to see it in these earlier stages.

Jane Austen Awesomeness

Check it out! Why did I not know about this sooner!!??

Birds, Lunar Eclipses and Misc.

So, I tried to do the Great Backyard Bird track, but alas, I've seen almost NO birds at my feeder lately. Then I saw this article. I know hawks are definitely in the neighborhood, so maybe one is lurking around my backyard too.

Did you see the lunar eclipse? I tried to take some pictures with our new camera, but they looked like weird white blobs. At about 10pm, the moon was pinkish-red as the shadow of the earth blocked the light of the sun. A rare and beautiful event to witness. The thing about the moon in winter that I love is the soft light it produces as it reflects off the snow. But it was dark last night with this shadowy moon looming overhead.

Cute Cat Picture of the Day

This is our kitty-cat Penny. Ahhh...the bliss of cat-naps.

Great Backyard Bird Count

As some of you know, one of my hobbies is bird watching. I saw a great blue heron flying over campus a week or so ago. Awesome! And I love watching the cardinals in my backyard--especially in the winter. I noticed a couple of nuthatches yesterday at my feeder too.

Anyway, from Feb. 15-18 is the Audobon Society's Great Backyard Bird Count. For 15 minutes at some point this weekend, people from all over the U.S. (and Canada?) will be counting birds in their backyards. So I'm going to force Jacob to help me count for 15 minutes. Gotta go fill up the bird feeder!

More thoughts on teaching writing

Thank you, Carol, for your helpful comments about my last post. That book sounds awesome. I will definitely take a look. I was particularly frustrated that day when I last posted, but I have to say that now that I am teaching a new group of students and giving them assignments that are more creative, it's been a joy to see what they come up with. There are a few in the class who are poets at heart, and to see their writing has been a ton of fun for me this week. Here are the writing assignments I gave (nothing fabulous, but good creative writing starters nonetheless):

1. Write what comes before or after the action of a short story we read in class. This was awesome--several wrote about Jim and Della Young from "The Gift of the Magi" and put them in interesting scenarios. For example, what would happen if these two selfless, but poor people found an envelope full of money? Another two or three students wrote about what caused Montresor in "A Cask of Amontillado" to become so vengeful toward Fortunato. What were those "thousand injuries" that Montresor endured in order to bury Fortunato alive? Still others chose to tell the Misfit's point of view in "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Interesting stuff, indeed!

2. Another fun writing exercise which I LOVED was when I had my department chair break into my class and stage a scene. Then I had the students write about what they saw. It was a great exercise in showing how word choice differs a lot between people. So my department chair, right in the middle of me talking about "The Yellow Wallpaper" opened the classroom door and said, "Julie, I need to see you right now!" He really sounded mean about it too. I said that I was in the middle of class, could I talk to him later, etc. But no, he "needed" to see me then. So I left, and giggled in the hallway while the students wondered what the heck was going on. Mike left to get me a tissue to make it seem even more real, and then after a few minutes, I came back in, obviously flustered and shaken. (Not difficult for me.) One of my students said, "Do you want me to open a can of whoop-ass for you?" They stuck up for me! It was so sweet. (That was--in that moment--a highlight of my teaching "career"!) Then, after a few seconds, Mike came in and reassured the students that it was all a set up. Then, the pens started flying as they wrote down what they experienced.

3. I also asked students to take an everyday event and exaggerate it to make it into a more interesting piece of fiction. Those were fun to read.

4. Yesterday, I had students look at a photograph on the wall of the second floor of the building. I had noticed this photo (kind of Ansel Adams-ish) when I taught on the second floor last month of a couple standing on a railway platform, watching a train chug into the distance. So I had the students write about what was happening in the picture. I love those type of story-starters.

While I've been teaching this class, I've been sick and extra busy, so it's becoming a little frustrating to me that I haven't had as much time to write. But this is coming at writing from a different angle, and it's teaching me some things too.

I just don't get it

So I've been teaching this class on the Fundamentals of English. For the most part, I enjoy it, but I do not understand the idea that writing is some dreaded activity like I hear sometimes from students. Yeah, grammar can be a big pain with all the exceptions, rules, etc.

But why would you not want to improve your writing, so that you can communicate better? Express yourself more easily? Enjoy the sound of words? Experiment with word play and rhyme?

I love this quote from E.M. Forester (at least it's most often attributed to him): "How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" That quote so captures my daily experience. Some people think out loud by talking. I think by writing.

My Record Album

So, my friend Jane, over at Indiana Jane recommended this fun activity. You create your own record album cover. By going to various websites, you randomly find your band name, the title of the record, and the cover art. I'm not high-tech enough to figure out how to photoshop the cover art, but after doing this according to the directions, I came up with:

Ashley Heath (my band name) [which came from the Wikipedia site on the Ashley Heath railway station]

and "Life's not the movies" (my album name) [which came from the random quote website]

Pretty good, eh?

Directions:
1. The first article title on this page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the last quotation on this page is the title of your album.
3. The third picture on this page, no matter what it is, will be your cover artwork.
4. Take the artwork, your titles, and use a photo-editing program to paste them together.

Because you MUST love kitten pictures

There is NO way you can't say this is cute, right?

A Poll - Which is your favorite song?

Choose between the two extremely serious songs below:

Looking for My Leopard

OR

We Like the Moon.