The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

This weekend, Kevin and I went to go see Prince Caspian, the 2nd in The Chronicles of Narnia series. It had been so long since either of us had read the original C.S. Lewis book, that we immediately had to start reading it again to see how it compared to the movie.

If you're interested in The Chronicles of Narnia, you'll definitely want to check out Caspian vs. Caspian, Elizabeth Bird's simultaneous review of both the book and the movie over at Fuse #8. But be warned: there are plenty of spoilers, so if you want to watch the movie or read the book fresh, save this for later.

I agree with Ms. Bird on almost every point. For instance (no plot spoilers here),

• Prince Caspian was never my favorite Narnia book. (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, on the other hand...)
• The girls as excellent warriors was a good move. (She has an interesting tidbit about how the filmmaker had to argue for this.)
• The book has such a different tone from the movie that neither one could possibly spoil the other.

I think our biggest point of contention would be that I actually loved the Regina Spektor song at the end. (Check out the fancy-schmancy new song-clip widget from Amazon, or you can hear the whole song here.)


Overall, I thought the movie was pretty good. The characters are awfully flat (Kevin described it as taking the "meat off the bones"), and the tension could be ratcheted up a notch on lots of levels, but I have to say, the visuals make up for it. Just seeing the world of Narnia come to life is pretty spectacular. Plus, how could you not love seeing Reepicheep in action?

Here's the New York Times review, too.

Grab Bag Friday: Procrastination

This week, while a huge mound of laundry piled in my bedroom, and dirty dishes overtook even the smallest recesses of my kitchen, I really enjoyed delving into Slate's special issue on Procrastination.

Some interesting, funny highlights guaranteed to waste some time:

Seth Stevenson's Letter to a Young Procrastinator: Some last-minute advice from a veteran slacker

Josh Levin's Solitaire-y Confinement: Why we can't stop playing a computerized card game

Daniel Engber's The Unfinished Stories: All the stuff we never got around to including in the special issue. My favorite headline from this one:

"Doing Things vs. Not Doing Them: Which is better for the environment?"

The Peanut Butter Jam!

DJ Chris Wienk over at WEXT (a terrific independent, listener-supported radio station out of New York) emailed me to let me know that they're adding my music to their regular rotation. Starting with Unclouded Day on The Peanut Butter Jam this Saturday (5/17) at 9am EST. (You can even listen online to their live stream.)

The Peanut Butter Jam is a way-cool kids music show that plays things you would expect:

• Dan Zanes
• They Might Be Giants
• Laurie Berkner

...and things you wouldn't:

• The Cars
• The Clash
• Gram Parsons
• Wilco
  

I love kids shows like this that recognize that kids love *good* music, no matter what age it is marketed to.

I love radio stations like this that break the mold, play outside of the market "rules," and support independent artists.

Thanks, WEXT! Thanks, Peanut Butter Jam!

Toni Morrison: What Color Would You Paint Your Walls?

Photo by John Morgan

That Yael Naim video reminded me of a piece of a Toni Morrison interview that I heard over ten years ago. I came across it on some audiobook series that I can't remember for the life of me, so if this rings a bell and you know where it came from, I'd love to hear from you.

I remembered putting this clip on a mix tape for my friend Amy and liking it so much that I made a copy for myself (ah, remember mix tapes?). So this morning I dug through all my cassettes and actually found it! I figure it must have been around either the 1988 or 1992 election because later in the Q&A, they talk about Beloved, which was published in 1987. Here's the question from an audience member and Toni Morrison's answer, transcribed to the best of my ability:

Question: Times are becoming more and more depressing, um, especially with this election coming up. Do you have…what do you do to, like, maintain hope? (laughter from crowd)

Toni Morrison: Well, I’ll tell you something. You’re right. It’s very dangerous, it’s extremely depressing, and it’s really not funny. On the other hand, you really have to…it’s like you know a few years ago when there was such a build up of nuclear weapons and it was just getting like everybody was armed to the teeth and it was, like, awful…one realized that they had, somebody had imagined that. And it lived. So the problem then seemed to be to unimagine it. Unimagine it. What would it be like if it didn’t exist? What would it be like? In all of its details. In every way. What would it be like if you had it like you wanted it? What would it be?

Can you really imagine living in a world without nuclear weapons? It’s very difficult to do. What would you do differently? Where would you live? How would your life change? Or without all sorts of things. Well, that has got to be imagined in order to prevent the paralysis. Because if we’re paralyzed because it’s unworkable, unthinkable, non-political, we won’t move. That’s one thing.

The second thing is, there are things to do. There are not…if we think in huge numbers about how to save the continent, we’re already whipped. But if you think in terms of one…you know, small things. Six people. One person. One room. One backyard. Not the beach. The highway. You know, “What are you doin?”

And then it works. And you know that you have imagined a world in which you can live. It may be small, as small as your room, but you have imagined it. And then you are in control. That’s not hope, that’s real work. And that’s what’s important.

It doesn’t matter about those other little people. They’ll all sort of come and go, all these little junky people. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that people realize how valuable life is and simply exercise the one thing that human beings have, which is the ability to imagine what it would be like if you had it the way it was supposed to be.

Then what would you do? What color would you paint your walls? And then paint ‘em.

Grab Bag Friday: Linda Urban's Bada-Bings

This week, I came across a recipe for some deeelicious chocolate cookies with a zing. In Linda Urban's smart and funny middle-grade novel, A Crooked Kind of Perfect, 10 year old Zoe's dad has a penchant for mail-order Living Room University courses. One of his courses is in cookie making.

So it may come as no surprise that on Ms. Urban's website, you can find a recipe for Bada-Bings...fudgy, chocolate cookies with dried cherries (or cranberries) to give just the perfect balance of sweet with a tang. Yum!

Kevin and I have been loving these cookies. And they're so rich, that I'm actually perfectly satisfied after one or two. Which is unheard of. Gingersnaps, for instance...I could easily eat the whole pan in one sitting. :)

(We halved the recipe and it still made two cookie sheets full.)

I suggest picking up A Crooked Kind of Perfect, whipping up a batch of Bada-Bings, and having yourself a *lovely* weekend!

As for the book, here's the jacket-flap sum-up:

Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall.

But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.

Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises—and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center.

Yael Naim: New Soul

A friend of mine recently sent me this video by Yael Naim. It's been out awhile, so maybe you've seen it, but I really liked how it deals with the act of creating and how lovely and fun the process can be.

It also made me think about how there are so many ways in which we can create our own reality, and how *that* is really like creating a work of art or music or a new space. It starts with imagination. What would you like to see, do, be? And then you can begin to create those things around you. And soon enough, you might just be able to push down the wall and *be* there...right in the middle of things.

Cinco de Mayo: Octavio Paz on Crickets and Stars

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, here are some characteristically thoughtful, lovely words and a poem from Mexican poet Octavio Paz. I thought they resonated nicely with Rachel Carson's "sense of wonder" that I like to talk so much about.

This was part of Octavio Paz's Nobel Prize banquet speech in 1990. You can read the whole speech, and his entire Nobel lecture (in Spanish or English) on the Nobel Prize website.

"In the countryside one night, years ago, as I contemplated the stars in the cloudless sky, I heard the metallic sound of the elytra of a cricket. There was a strange correspondence between the reverberation of the firmament at night and the music of the tiny insect. I wrote these lines:

The sky's big.
Up there, worlds scatter.
Persistent,
unfazed by so much night,
a cricket: brace and bit.

Stars, hills, clouds, trees, birds, crickets, men: each has its world, each is a world, and yet all of these worlds correspond. We can only defend life if we experience a revival of this feeling of solidarity with nature. It is not impossible: fraternity is a word that belongs to the traditions of Liberalism and Socialism, of science and religion."

Grab Bag Friday: The Six O'Clock Scramble

I've always said that if I won the lottery, the one thing I might splurge on would be a private chef. I can't stand to plan meals. I'm not a great cook (though I can *bake* like nobody's business!) and Kevin and I only have a few standard meals:

• Burritos
• Tacos
• Chicken Soba Noodles
• Soup
  
• And our tried and true fallback--popcorn and smoothies.

Coming up with a unique meal plan for the week and figuring out what ingredients we would need is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

So recently, we've been trying out The Six O'Clock Scramble. It's an online program that plans out your meals for the week and spits out a grocery list to match. We tested a couple similar programs first, but settled on The Scramble because the meals were both tastier and healthier.

Here's the deal:

You pay $1 a week. You have to pay upfront for a year, but if you don't like it within 30 days you can get your money back.

You can choose how many meals you need for a week, and this takes a little experimenting. We've found that for 2 of us, taking leftovers into account, 3 or 4 meals gets us through a whole week.

You can swap out meals you don't like. Kevin hates fish, so anytime there's a seafood meal, we choose "Custom Menu" and search through the database to pick something else.

So far so good. I love not having to think about what I'm going to make for dinner tonight. The grocery list isn't perfect (it may list things twice if you need it in 2 recipies, so you just have to be vigilant), but it still saves a ton of time. We've had a couple meals we weren't crazy about, but overwhelmingly, they've been delicious. And they've added a *huge* amount of variety to our diet.

Here are just a few of the hits we've had in the last month:

• Southwestern Cobb Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing
• Barbeque Meatloaf
• Polenta Mozzarella Melt with Roasted Red Peppers
• Peanut Beef Skewers
• Fried Rice with Tofu and Snap Peas
• Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad with Salami)

I can't believe I actually made these things. And seriously. They were easy.

So I'd say The Scramble is worth a shot. I'm certainly enjoying dinnertime a whole lot more. :)

Sam Phillips: Can't Come Down

Well the news is out that the new Sam Phillips CD, Don't Do Anything, is now set to be released on June 2nd. Well, that's not February, but I'll take it.

In the meantime, you can browse around her newly revamped website, complete with a couple short, silent films and a blog.

And here's a video of her new song Can't Come Down:

Peter Sis: The Wall (Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain)

I first came across Peter Sis and his intricate, detailed drawings when I was in college. I just happened (thankfully) across Starry Messenger one day while browsing the children's section, and I was instantly hooked. His work is all at once breathtaking and thought-provoking and complicated and unaffected. Each time I read a Peter Sis book, I immediately want to go back to the beginning and read it all over again so I can appreciate all the details I missed the first time around.

So it's no surprise that I was swept away by his newest book, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. I can't believe almost a year has gone by since this book came out and I just got it yesterday!

The Wall is the story of Peter Sis' childhood and young adulthood in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. Throughout the book, we see the life he lived through his eyes: the book is spattered with entries from his childhood journals, actual family photos, and even his own childhood drawings of tanks and planes and patriotism. But it is art and music that dominate his world, though both can be very dangerous. He paints in secret in his room and joins a rock band (but fails to grow his hair long--the ultimate act of defiance).

I've read some reviews that criticize the book for being too one-sided, too western eurocentric, too America-saves-the-day. Sis himself mentions in an interview that some colleagues in Prauge are disgusted by the book (I'd be interested to read some of *those* reviews). But this is his life as he remembers it from a child's point of view. Of course things are always more complicated than they appear on the surface. To me, this book is more a testament to art and music and the desire to create and be free.

And it is an interesting discussion. I lived in Budapest for six months in 1997, and many of the Hungarian students my age were disgusted with the new capitalism and were nostalgic for the days of Communism, when there were no red light districts, no homeless, no Burger King. They refused to learn English in school, preferring Russian. Their parents, however, were shocked. I saw one parent telling her son how he couldn't begin to understand the constant fear and anxiety she had lived under. That went over as well as the "I walked 10 miles in a blizzard to school every day" kind of speech you'd get from your grandfather.

In his afterword, Peter Sis (who came to the US in the 80s on a short term work visa and stayed) explains it this way:

Now when my American family goes to visit my Czech family in the colorful city of Prague, it is hard to convince them it was ever a dark place full of fear, suspicion, and lies. I find it difficult to explain my childhood; it's hard to put it into words, and since I have always drawn everything, I have tried to draw my life--before America--for them. Any resemblance to the story in this book is intentional.

The Wall is an absolutely fascinating book, and though it is picture book size, I would actually recommend it for adults, especially jr. high and high school students. The graphic-novel, personal narrative style is an interesting way to engage the subject of the Cold War and should incite lots of discussion.

On Peter Sis' website, there is a Teacher's Guide (.pdf) for anyone hoping to use the book in class.

You can also find an interesting audio interview with Peter Sis on the site (click Audio Reading).

Here is the New York Times review with a small piece of one of my favorite images from the book--of Czechoslovakians painting and repainting a wall.

Here is the Fuse #8 review (I almost always turn to Fuse #8 *before* the New York Times :)

Here is an interesting YouTube mashup of images from the book and actual video footage from communist Czechoslovakia.

Grab Bag Friday: Compost Update, Sustainable Household Goods

It's the last day of Earth Week and our town is abuzz with free bike tune ups, cell phone recycling drives, and even a transportation fair. In celebration, I thought I'd give you a compost update and a review of how our various sustainable experiments worked out over the last year.

The Compost Update: All I have to say is, we're ready to go. As some of you know, last year we got a Sun-Mar 200 Home Composter and ended up with zero results at the end of the summer (apparently because our composter wasn't full enough?) Well, we've been adding stuff all winter, and let me tell you, it's full enough. If we don't have compost by June, we're out of excuses, and it was a failed experiment. I, of course, remain hopeful...

The Sustainable Goods Results: Here's where I'll rate the success of our various small household changes and how well we've stuck to them over the year. Click on the titles to review last year's posts:

The Lightbulb Change
We haven't replaced every single lightbulb yet (hence the 4 stars instead of 5), but we love our CFLs. They start out a little dim when you turn on the light, but within a minute or so, they're up to speed. I haven't had to change a single one. They're awesome.


The Yogurt Change
I've been really good about this one. If you remember, the change was to bring a regular spoon to work instead of using a plastic one for my yogurt. I eat yogurt at work at least 3 or 4 days a week, so I estimate that I've saved somewhere between 140-180 plastic spoons from the landfill just since June 2007!


The Sponge Change
These biodegradable pop-up sponges were definitely my favorite change of the year. Because they're so fun to expand! My estimate: we sent 45 fewer sponges to the landfill since June. As I mentioned last year, they don't have the scraping/scrubbing action of the heavy-duty store bought sponges, but between these and a scrub brush, I haven't come across a single thing I couldn't clean.


The Leftover Change
We haven't been the best at this one. We've definitely reduced the quantity of plastic bags and saran wrap that we use, but we haven't been able to totally shake the habit. We do, however, have a ridiculous number of saved yogurt and other containers spilling out of our cupboards, just waiting to be used. Hm.


The Napkin Change
I'd say we've been pretty good about moving to cloth napkins. We use them most of the time. But after a year, I'm not 100% sure about this one. What do you think is worse--the number of paper napkins that get thrown away, or the load of laundry that you do with all the cloth napkins? The cloth napkins seem like the way to go, but then when I'm loading them into the washer, I'm not so sure. Any thoughts?

Well, that's where we stand. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to remember to post some other successes, failures, and discoveries we've made on the sustainable goods front (for instance, our disastrous experiment with earth-friendly dishwasher detergent).

If you've tried any sustainable solutions that are working in your home, please share!

Rosanne Cash & Joe Henry: So It Goes

My friend Carter sent me a link to the new Measure for Measure series on songwriting over at The New York Times. It's a very cool blog with posts by musicians Rosanne Cash, Andrew Bird, Darrell Brown, and Suzanne Vega, who each post a song and discuss the songwriting process that went along with it.

I found Monday's post by Rosanne Cash, So It Goes: How It Went to be a fascinating read. She writes about the process of co-writing with Joe Henry and even posts the emails they sent back and forth with various iterations of the song. It's a great glimpse into the way a song comes together, and super fun to be able to listen to the final product.

Here's an interesting bit on her feelings about co-writing:

A note: It is not in my nature to co-write; I would rather go deep into the underworld alone, like Persephone looking for the pomegranate. The solitude and the simple satisfaction of having my own phrases laid out like beads on a necklace, while fine-tuning my melodies, suits me entirely. But I have pushed myself to be a co-writer more often in recent years and to force myself to forgo both the arrogance and the insecurity of the solo voice. My songwriting style is a synthesis of my strengths and my limitations, and occasionally it behooves me to borrow from someone else’s strength, and offer a key to the locked door of someone else’s limitations. I had to give up the pride of thinking myself only a journalistic songwriter, in order to become a better writer overall.

What a cool idea for a blog. I'll definitely be working my way through the archives on this one!

Poem of the Day: Learning to Speak by Liz Rosenberg

As part of the Poetry Month celebrations over at Academy of American Poets, you can sign up to get a poem a day (selected from new books published this spring). I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the pill-box image for the Poem-A-Day page...I don't like to encourage the poetry-as-medicine (it's *good* for you!) metaphor, but that's a discussion for another day. :)

Pill-box aside, I enjoyed yesterday's poem by Liz Rosenberg. Also, check out 30 Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month.

Learning to Speak
by Liz Rosenberg

She was the quietest thing I'd ever seen.
It was so restful, being in her company
For hours, neither of us uttering a word.
I'd read the paper, look up, and she would smile,
Her lips half-pursed, just tucked up at the ends
As if holding a blithe secret.
When I fed her, she'd silently nod and smile,
Like immigrants you see
In train stations or in the movies,
She'd take the bowl from my hands
And nod again and smile again
And neither of us would say a word
From sunup to sunset.
When son and husband came home,
Both talking at once, both talking
With their mouths full,
My daughter and I could only look at them
With our dark quiet eyes.
Siddown, she says now.
I sit down
Without argument.

Grab Bag Friday: Another Secretary Gag

Back in September, I confessed my love for a certain goofy television series and mentioned a Woody Allen bit that I couldn't find on YouTube. Well guess what I found? I *love* this woman's reactions to his dictation. Ah, high comedy.



(If you're reading from Facebook, here's the link)

Today Is Operation Teen Book Drop

Today is Support Teen Literature Day and Operation Teen Book Drop.

Are you dropping a book?

I've got Lois Lowry's tear-jerker, A Summer to Die (*man*, what a great book!) all bookplated up and ready to go.

Now I just have to decide if I'm going to drop it on a table at our local movie theater/cafe, ice cream shop, library, skate park, or the DVD rental store. Hmmm, what do you think?

(I'm leaning toward the ice cream shop because, hey, as long as I'm there...)

Doris Day: Good Blues Tonight

My mom and I were just talking about how much we love Doris Day and her clear, no-frills delivery. My favorite Doris Day songs are the ones that she sang with the Les Brown Orchestra in the 40s, and my all-time favorite is My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time (iTunes link update: Strangely, iTunes has this song labeled "Parental Advisory/Explicit Lyrics" which, in case you were seriously wondering, is an error...and a pretty hilarious one at that). Sadly, I didn't find a version that I could post here, but you can also find the song on the 2-disc Columbia Records Golden Girl collection.

Instead, here's a 1946 recording of Les Brown's Orchestra with Doris Day singing "Good Blues Tonight":

National Library Week & Maine Student Book Awards

Did you know that it's National Library Week? Yup, April 13-19 has been set aside as a time to appreciate all that your local library has to offer. And that's a wonderful thing.

How to celebrate Library Week? Here are some ideas:

• Look for special events at your library (ours is having *cake* on Friday!)
• Thank your librarians for all that they do...bring cookies, flowers, send a note, or just walk in with a smile
• Donate books, music, or movies to your library (cash works, too!)
• Flop down in the Children's Corner and read a book you haven't read in years
• Check out a dizzying array of mystery novels
  
• Pick one thing you've always wanted to know (Are blue butterflies really going extinct? How do I get a coffee stain out of a teacup? Where exactly is Kazakhstan on a map?) and go find out...Guess what? Your reference librarian can help!
  
• Participate in Operation Teen Book Drop on the 17th

AND...one very exciting library-related announcement. Each year, the 4th-8th graders of Maine vote for their favorite book and this year's winner is our very own Cynthia Lord for her Newbery Honor Book, Rules! This is the first time that a Maine author has won the Maine Student Book Award! How should you celebrate this one? By reading the book of course! Here's my review of Rules. And here's the full Maine Student Book Awards list.

Here's a sweet message from Julie Andrews, the honorary chair of National Library Week:

Grab Bag Friday: KidVid Has a Winner!

All good things must come to an end. And so, sadly, does Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2008. In an exciting final matchup, Mr. Richard's paparazzi video "Cheese" took on the quirky animation of They Might Be Giants' "Seven Days of the Week (Never Go To Work)."

If you go to the final matchup page, you can view both videos, and see the gazillion voters who ushered Mr. Richard into victory by a landslide. Seriously, it wasn't even close.

Since I was rooting for the losing side, I'm going to post "Seven Days of the Week" (from their new album Here Come the 1-2-3s) as a consolation post of sorts. Of course, these days we're supposed to believe that we're *all* winners, right?

Sam Phillips: I Need Love

I've been on a Sam Phillips kick recently. Probably because I had heard that she was coming out with a new album in February 2008, and I'm not ashamed to say, I've been checking her site every week or so for news. So when I found out that Don't Do Anything won't actually be out until June (sigh), I've been digging out all her old stuff, just to get my fix.

Last night, it was her 1994 album, Martinis & Bikinis, which Kevin had to finally ask me to turn the volume down on since I *was* kind of blasting out the whole neighborhood. But 1994 was the year I graduated high school, and I Need Love was one of the songs playing full blast in my head back then.

I've been a Sam Phillips fan since about 1986 (if you don't want to do the math, I was 11). Only she wasn't Sam back then, she was Leslie Phillips, a CCM ("Contemporary Christian Music") pop star who was billed by her record label as the "Christian Cyndi Lauper." Her album Black and White in a Grey World was one of the first cassette tapes I bought with my own money (and yes, I tried to wear my hair like that, too).

But Leslie Phillips' lyrics weren't the kind of warm, fuzzy mainstream CCM that was the norm in the 80s. She sang about spirituality in poetic and challenging ways and tackled the tough issues of both faith *and* doubt. In her songs, she called out the holier-than-thou, judgmental attitudes of the Christian community ("You smoke-screen with your judgmental words/But when the air clears you're just a scared little child/You smoke-screen, but you're fearful inside/That God doesn't love you/You let fear run you wild"). Her lyrics spoke so clearly to the world I lived in, and the ideas and emotions I was trying to sort through in my pre-teen years. I would listen on my pink portable tape player, liner notes in hand, following along word for word. Eventually in the late 80s, Leslie "went secular," changing her name and her record label, and I rooted for her all the way.

So that's all to say that if Leslie Phillips was the conduit for my pre-teen contemplations, by the time 1994 rolled around, Sam Phillips' I Need Love was the outlet for my particular brand of teen angst, blasted at full volume in my room on my very first CD player. It said everything I wanted to say:

I need love
Not some sentimental prison
I need god
Not the political church
I need fire
To melt the frozen sea inside me
I need love

Readergirlz: Operation TBD

April 17th is Support Teen Literature Day, and the folks over at readergirlz have found a pretty spectacular way to celebrate. Together with the Young Adult Library Services Association, readergirlz has organized a massive book drop to hospitals all over the country, and there's something simple you can do to help.

Justina Chen Headly, author and co-founder of readergirlz, explains the idea like this:

“While touring my local children’s hospital to research my novel, Girl Overboard, I couldn’t help noticing that teen patients didn’t seem to have the comfort objects that the little ones did. As an author, I knew that YA books—books with exceptional characters and fabulous stories—could provide teen patients with some of the escape and inspiration they needed.”

So this April 17th, as part of readergirlz' Operation Teen Book Drop, 20 publishers will donate over 10,000 Young Adult books to pediatric hospitals.

Get Involved!
readergirlz is inviting everyone to participate in the book drop! Here's what you can do:

1. Pick a Young Adult book you'd like to donate.
2. Download the Operation TBD bookplate and paste it inside the book, telling the recipient to read and enjoy.
3. On April 17th, drop the book in any public place (coffee shop, school, park...)
4. Join the after-party! Here's the official invite:

We invite all readergirlz and authors to join our online two-hour book party hosted at the readergirlz MySpace group forum, on April 17th (Support Teen Literature Day), from 6-8pm Pacific/9-11pm Eastern. The chat will be in a thread titled "TBD Post Op Party." The readergirlz divas will be giving away books and prizes, and chatting with teens and authors from around the world. We've invited so many authors and girlz you just never know who you might end up chatting with!

For more information about readergirlz, check out their manifesta.

Grab Bag Friday: Climate Counts

"How You Shop & Invest Changes the World"

I recently went to a lecture by the "CE-Yo" of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Gary Hirshberg. At the end of the evening, as we gathered our hats and mittens to leave the auditorium, my friend Amy grinned and said, "I can feel a blog post in the making." Hehe. A couple, probably.

Beginning with Climate Counts. Mr. Hirshberg talked a bit about a new initiative that rates companies according to their commitment to reducing their impact on the environment. According to their website, Climate Counts uses a 0-100 point scale and 22 criteria to determine if companies have:

• MEASURED their climate "footprint"
• REDUCED their impact on global warming
• SUPPORTED (or suggest intent to block) progressive climate legislation
• Publicly DISCLOSED their climate actions clearly and comprehensively

You could browse the results for hours, so I'll skip straight to what I found to be the most interesting one. At one point, Mr. Hirshberg addressed the mostly college-aged audience and asked:

"What is the coolest company that exists today?"

After one eager-to-please voice offered "Stonyfield Farm?" the rest of the audience agreed that there was only one true answer: Apple.

Now check this out: Out of a possible 100 points (100 being "Striding" and 0 being "Stuck"), what do you think Apple's Climate Counts score is?

Two.

Really. You can see the entire report here (.pdf).

To give you some context, Sony scored 51, Hewlit Packard scored 59, and IBM scored 70. Apple scored 2.

Now, Apple has supposedly begun a review of the environmental impact of its products and processes and is due to release that data sometime this year. And that's a start. But a little consumer pressure couldn't hurt. At Climate Counts, you can go to any company's scorecard page and click a link to send an email to the CEO of that company to let them know that their environmental practices matter to you.

Here's the link to Apple's scorecard page. I sent them an email. I plan to browse around and send emails to other companies I shop at. I hope you will too.

Here's a printable pocket guide (.pdf) with a quick view of all the Climate Counts scores.

Here's a little pep talk from the Climate Counts homepage:

When you buy from companies taking responsibility for climate change, you're sending a message that climate change matters to you.

Not all companies share that sense of responsibility. But if they know you're paying attention to what they're doing (or not doing), they'll take action.

As a consumer, you have real power.

USE IT.

Band of Horses Offshoots

NPR's Song of the Day has recently been featuring some lovely projects by former members of Band of Horses. I always love to see the projects musicians take on after they leave a band, so it was fun to come across these.

Yesterday's Song of the Day was "Sleepdriving" by Grand Archives, a band started by former Band of Horses guitarist Mat Brooke. The song is lush and hazy, a dreamy pop song that doesn't stray too too far from the Band of Horses mold. (Listen to Sleepdriving here.)

Earlier in March, NPR featured "You're Not Broken," a dreamy, country-tinged song by former Band of Horses drummer, Sera Cahoone. Cahoone made a bit more drastic change, coming out from behind the drums to write songs, sing, and play the guitar, but she too retains the dreamlike wash-of-sound aesthetic. (Listen to You're Not Broken here.)

Christopher Paul Curtis at Powells

I came across a treasure trove of author interviews over at Powells.com, including a great interview from 2000 with Christopher Paul Curtis, author of the recent Newbery Honor Book, Elijah of Buxton. In the interview, Mr. Curtis talks about how he began writing, factory work, his early work, his favorite authors, and his fear of becoming a country music fan.

Just a *small* sampling of other Powell's interviews I'm looking forward to perusing:

• Marilynne Robinson
• Barbara Kingsolver
• Richard Ford
• Nick Hornby
• Bill Bryson
• Sherman Alexie

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: The Court Jester

(Fair Warning: Hyperbole will follow.) I was browsing over at Educating Alice, and she posted this clip from the 1955 Danny Kaye movie, The Court Jester. My family and I used to laugh ourselves to tears watching this movie. And I still hold that it is one of the most hysterical comedies of all time. And that Danny Kaye is perhaps the most hilarious comic of all time. That's right. Of all time. :)

Now, some of you who know me may argue that I have a somewhat, oh shall we say, specific sense of humor, but that's a discussion for another day...

Here's my family's beloved "Brew that is True" scene and some fun trivia about The Court Jester from IMDB:

• Unimpressed with him in tights, producers of the film made Danny Kaye wear 'leg falsies' to improve the shape of his legs. This adds a touch of irony when Hubert Hawkins offers the princess all of him, including his legs and calves.
  
  
• Danny Kaye's daughter, Dena Kaye, said for the rest of his life, when people recognized Danny in a restaurant, they would walk up and spout the entire "brew that is true" speech.
  
  
• Basil Rathbone was a world-class fencer and it was due to his efforts that the hilarious fencing scene was filmed without injury. He later admitted that several times he was almost skewered by Danny Kaye's sword.
  

The Songwriting for Kids 1-2-3

Here's the lastest 1-2-3 from Songwriting for Kids:

1. 2008 Summer Program information and registration is here! Explore your creativity at a week-long songwriting workshop (entering grades K-3) or fiction writing workshop (entering grades 4-6). You can also stop by the Listening Room to hear songs from last year's workshops.

2. Oksana (age 6) wrote a hit song! Oksana, from Great Falls, Virginia, is our newest I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest winner. Please visit her song page to read the lyrics and comment on her sweet song: Since My Friend Moved Away. You can find information on how to submit your own song here (ages 12 & under only, please).

3. Songwriting for Kids Club is moving to a quarterly format. The Spring newsletter is now up with a new Songwriting Challenge and a new quiz. And of course, feel free to browse any of the previous Songwriting Challenges, and use the ideas to enter your song in the I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest.

Always leave 'em singing...

August Kleinzahler: Land's End

This morning, early spring sunshine filled up our whole kitchen. Though we are in snow-covered Maine, and nowhere near heat or eucalyptus trees, it reminded me of the opening poem from August Kleinzahler's collection, Red Sauce, Whiskey, and Snow:


Land's End
by August Kleinzahler

This air,
you say, feels as if it hasn't touched land
for a thousand miles,

as surf sound washes through scrub
and eucalyptus,
whether ocean or wind in the trees

or both: the park's big windmill
turning overhead
while joggers circle the ball field

only a few yards off
this path secreted in growth and mist,
the feel of a long narrow theater set

about it here on the park's western edge
just in from the highway
then the moody swells of the Pacific.

The way the chill goes out of us
and the sweat comes up
as we drive back into the heat

and how I need to take you
to all the special places, or show
you where the fog rolls down

and breaks apart in these hills or where
that gorgeous little piano bridge
comes halfway through the song,

because when what has become dormant,
meager or hardened
passes through the electric

of you, the fugitive scattered pieces
are called back to their nature--
light pouring through muslin

in a strange, bare room.

Grab Bag Friday: Obama's Speech on Race

I know clips of this have been all over the news this week, but if you haven't yet seen or read it in its entirety, it is *worth* taking some time out of your day for.

Full text of Obama's Speech on Race

Full video of the speech (thanks to my brother for the YouTube link):

March Madness: KidVid Tournament 2008

Woohoo! It's time for Zooglobble's annual March Madness KidVid Tournament! I *love* this tournament. Here's the official sum-up from the Zooglobble site:

It is time once again for the KidVid Tournament, the 2008 edition, where families come together by watching videos the way they were meant to be watched.

On the computer.

Over the next 2+ weeks, we'll be pitting 16 of the best kids' music videos from the past year or so head-to-head with readers voting to determine the best video of the year.

Here is where you can find:

The Bracket

Contest One: Orange Sherbet vs. Eric Herman (It looks like voting is already closed on this one, but that shouldn't stop you from watching and choosing your favorite in anticipation of the next round.)

Contest Two: David Tobacman vs. Ellen & Matt

There will be a new match-up or two every day until the ultimate video prevails. Have fun playing kingmaker!

Jane Yolen: Not One Damsel in Distress

I was recently browsing our library to see which Jane Yolen books I haven't read yet (and belive me, there are plenty...just glance at this list). Whether it is a picture book, young adult, or adult novel, I can always count on Jane Yolen for a good yarn, a tale with some adventure and a nice solid plot. Her retellings of traditional stories (her picture book about Tam Lin, or adult retelling of Briar Rose, for instance) are especially interesting to me. So I was thoroughly pleased to come across Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls.

The folktales Jane Yolen chooses to retell in Not One Damsel feature*lots* of heroes. Knights, pirates, wizards, dragon-slayers, Native American warriors. And each and every one of these heroes are girls. Bright, wise, brave, adventurous girls who overcome obstacles with their wit, brawn, magic, and love.

In the introduction, "Open Letter to My Daughters and Granddaughters," Yolen writes:

This book is for you because the stories were there not only in folk traditions and in folklore waiting to be discovered, but in history, as well. For, once upon a real time, there were actual young women who, sometimes in full disguise--and sometimes no disguise at all--went off to do battle....

And in the last words of the book, she writes:

But this book is for you because it is important to know that anyone can be a hero if they have to be. Even girls.
Especially girls.
Especially you.

This is a great book to have on hand for girls (and boys) of all ages. A bit of fair warning, though. This is no book for the faint-hearted. There are real battles with real blood and guts and truly scary moments. Like the folktales people used to tell before we polished and prettied them up (does anyone remember the ending to the real Little Mermaid any more?) This book isn't always pretty. But it's brave and strong and exciting, which is sometimes better.

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: Charade

Since I brought up the classic Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant movie Charade, now I'm dying to see it again. This is one of those great films that is deliciously dated but never grows old. A mystery with plenty of intense suspense and drama, that manages to be light and funny and romantic at the same time.

One of the reasons I love old movies is because they unfold slowly, so you get to soak it in and take your time enjoying everything about it. Even with all the nail-biting suspense (and yes, I jump out of my chair at least once every time I watch it...Walter Mathau is *such* a creepy villain!), Charade has perfect, quiet, funny moments between Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn (like the one below).

And the 60's spy-classic feel of this film is worth it all. The "aha" moment at the end is just as cheesy and charming and enjoyable as the Henri Mancini music, the credit animation, and Audrey Hepburn's goofy grin when she exclaims "Marriage license?!" (one of my favorite movie endings of all time). I love this movie so much, I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the remake yet...has anyone out there seen it yet?

Edie Brickell & Harper Simon: The Heavy Circles

Last week I mentioned that the Edie Brickell/Harper Simon collaboration, The Heavy Circles, is finally out. Here are a few more details for you:

There's an interesting interview on Morning Edition with both Harper Simon and Edie Brickell. It's fascinating to hear them talk about their songwriting process, which basically consists of Simon playing guitar riffs and Brickell imagining the images the music invokes and just singing the lyrics that pop into her head.

I was glad to hear songs like Dynamite Child, on this album, which is probably my favorite on the disc. It's a little more rocking, which allows Edie Brickell to really let loose on the vocals. Some of my favorite songs from her early work with the New Bohemians were the songs that had an edge, and I missed that in the solo albums Volcano and Picture Perfect Morning (though I still love them).

Other highlights include the peppy, feel-good Better, and the quirky 60's-tinged (something about it reminds me of Charade) indie pop song Henri...which you can download for free at Amazon.

Since The Heavy Circles webpage says that videos are "coming soon," I thought I'd post up an older video of Edie Brickell singing the lovely "Once In a Blue Moon"--not a song with an edge :) Enjoy!

Abigail Thomas: Safekeeping, Some True Stories from a Life

My sister recently recommended Abigail Thomas' Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life as good airplane reading. When I first glanced through it, I admit, I groaned. The chapters are extremely short, the story jumps around with no chronological order, the viewpoint changes from third person to first person to second person with no warning. I thought, oh great, another too-cool-for-school, experimental memoir that's trying to be deep. Thanks, Anna.

Then I started reading.

Safekeeping is actually a very lovely, well-crafted book about marriage, love, life, and mostly, memory. It is the story of a middle-aged woman who is trying to piece together her memories, trying to sort through and reconcile her life after the loss of a close friend who was "once upon a time" her husband.

The short, out-of-order chapters work because that is how memories come to us. In short, uncontrollable bursts. A displaced memory of a smashed dish, a loose fragment of a conversation, the cramped feeling of an old apartment.

The switch in viewpoint works surprisingly well. Instead of coming off as unbearably post-modern or uber-artistic, it serves as a simple, concrete tool. A woman trying to get a 360 degree view of her life. We see her as a young woman as *she* remembers herself. Then we see her as she imagines an objective observer might see her. Then her sister comes in and says, no that's not how it went at all...don't you remember?

And that's the thing. We don't remember. Not exactly. Abigail Thomas writes on her website:

I’ve written nothing but non-fiction for years now in spite of my poor memory. I can remember moments, and scenes, but not what happened when or what came after...But if I could remember everything in its proper sequence, there’s a lot of life that’s interesting to live but not so interesting to write about, let alone read. And frankly, I’m bored by chronology. I don’t even believe in chronology. Time is too weird. It contracts, then it shoots forward (or back), it dawdles, stops still, and then suddenly we’re twenty years down the road. Whole decades evaporate. For me connecting the dots is not as absorbing as the dots themselves. I’m more interested in why certain memories stand out. Why these and not others?

It's a great question, and one that I've been thinking about ever since I read Safekeeping. Writer Anne Lamott said this about the book, and I don't think I could sum it up better:

[Safekeeping is] not so much memoir as a stained-glass window of scenes garnered from a life. This is an unforgettable portrait of a grown-up woman who has learned to rejoice in being herself. Reading it, we feel the crazy beauty of life.

Grab Bag Friday: Yes, Pecan!

Just a bit of political and dessert related humor today.

This post from Slate.com yesterday cracked me up.

Creative genius.

The Heavy Circles: Henri & Confused

I don't know how I missed it for three whole weeks, but this morning I woke up and realized that the new collaboration between Edie Brickell and Harper Simon is out! The Heavy Circles was released Feb. 12, and so far this morning, I've listened to two songs:

• Henri, which you can get from Amazon for free
• Confused, which plays automatically when you go to The Heavy Circles website (not much to see on the website yet, but I'm hopeful for more soon)

So far, the vibe is cool, Edie Brickell's voice is engaging and startling and lovely as always, so now I'm off to Rhapsody to listen to the rest. I'll do a full review next week after I've had time to listen to the whole thing and process it all, but in the meantime, let me know what you think!

Lois Lowry: Gossamer

This weekend I had a lot of mundane chores to take care of, so for a treat, I downloaded the audiobook of Lois Lowry's new(ish) book, Gossamer. For almost a year now, every time I've gone to the library, I've looked for Gossamer. Every single time, it's been checked out. This is a good thing.

Fuse #8 wrote about Gossamer when it first came out, and she had this to say about Ms. Lowry (to which I'd like to add an emphatic my feelings exactly):

Lois Lowry is my comfort blanket. When you pick up a Lois Lowry book (and it really doesn't matter if it was Anastasia Krupnik or the book I will discuss with you now) you are blessed with the knowledge that this book will fufill the following requirements: It will be good. It will be interesting. It will be wholly original...Her books are perfectly thought out little worlds.

I don't dare say too much about Gossamer for fear of spoiling the quiet feeling of awe and wonder as it unfolds. Besides, there are already a lot of good, detailed reviews out there. But this is a lovely, delicate story about our most ethereal possessions: our dreams. How our lives not only inform what we dream, but what we dream can shape our lives.

The story itself follows the "dream-keepers" as they bestow dreams on a boy, his foster parent, and his mother. It's a beautiful mix of fantasy and realism, of soft, gossamer touches and rough edges.

The publisher pegs this book for ages 9-12, but I also think that younger children (6-8) would really enjoy and connect with it as a read-aloud (with a reassuring parent to help through the boy's troubled past). And if you've ever been a fan of Lois Lowry's work, you'll enjoy it no matter what your age. :)

Here's a short interview with Lois Lowry about the book at Kidsreads.com.

And here's a terrific interview at Writer Unboxed about writing, photography, and the importance of human connections. Plus, answers to lots of questions from "an enthusiastic 6th grade reading class."