Martha Tilton: I'll Walk Alone And the Angels Sing

A little blast from the past today. Here are two songs from one of my favorite big band singers, Martha Tilton. Sure, she's not a household name, but something about her sweet, clear tone has the ability to always put me right at ease.

And the Angels Sing is probably Ms. Tilton's most famous song, performed with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert. This is the first song I heard her sing, and it won me over instantly!



A friend of mine sent me a cassette tape with I'll Walk Alone when I was away at college, and to this day, it is one of the most beautiful melodies I know (and I truly believe lyricist Sammy Cahn was a genius). I like Martha Tilton's version because she sings it with just the right amount of melancholy. Not too drippy sweet, like some of her contemporaries performed it.

Robert Hayden: Monet's Waterlillies

When I'm in need of some seriously good poetry, the kind that makes you breathe deep and look at the world in a whole new light, I usually make a beeline for the Collected Poems of Robert Hayden. In celebration of the last Monday of Poetry Month, here is a Robert Hayden poem about the reflective and refractive qualities of art in a world we don't always want to look at head-on.

Monet's Waterlilies
by Robert Hayden

Today as the news from Selma and Saigon
poisons the air like fallout,
I come again to see
the serene, great picture that I love.

Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.

O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: Designing Women

One of the redeeming things about being laid up with a brutal cold is that you get to lounge on the couch and watch goofy old movies. Kevin and I rented Designing Women this week, and I must say, it was a highly satisfying viewing experience.

No, no, not those permed women with their interior design hijinks that dominated our televisions in the 80's. This is a 1957 comedy with two of my favorite actors: Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck. How could you go wrong?

The basic plot is that Marilla (Lauren) and Mike (Gregory) meet on vacation on the West Coast, fall madly in love, and get married on a whim. When they return to their home town of New York, they find (hilariously) that they have two completely different lives.

I was going to describe the plot and post the original trailer here, but it spoils far too many plot lines. There were so many fun surprises in this movie, it's got to be better to just rent it and start it up cold. Suffice it to say that Gregory Peck is a comic genius. Lauren Bacall is glamorous and wry. The ending (which the 1957 The New York Times review called "in somewhat doubtful taste") had me laughing so hard it hurt my throat (what that says about my taste could be a discussion for another day).

Kevin's verdict? He definitely liked it, but he thought watching me gasp, cringe, and guffaw through the whole thing was more fun than the movie. That's about par for the course at my house.

Oren Lavie: Her Morning Elegance

I know, I know. I missed my music blog post this Wednesday. Instead of blogging, I was curled up on the couch with hot lemon ginger tea in one hand and a box of kleenex in the other. *sigh* Spring cold season.

But, I won't short change you. I'll give you a quick music post *and* a Grab Bag Friday post, all in one day. How about that? All is forgiven?

For the music: a lovely, whimsical video by Oren Lavie (remember his beautiful Dance Round the Memory Tree in the Narnia movie?) I've been loving this song recently:

Mary Oliver: Red Bird

Lately, I've been day-dreaming about which poems to use in my summer Poetry Writing for Kids workshop. It's a fun, but difficult exercise...kind of like having to pick out just a few pieces of candy out of a blimp-sized bag of tasty treats.

Though my class is geared toward 3rd-5th graders, I'm the kind that doesn't like to narrow the field to "children's poetry" (although there is plenty to choose from there.) So when I started thinking about a nature-inspired unit, my thoughts drifted immediately to Mary Oliver. Her simple, elegant, sharply observant, and sparse poems are filled with exactly the kind of wonder and beauty I am hoping my students will tune in to.

Over Easter, I picked up Mary Oliver's 2008 collection, Red Bird. (Her newest collection, Evidence, is scheduled to hit bookstores this month.) As expected, it is filled with rich images from the natural world that plant themselves in your mind and stay with you all day. The poet Stanley Kunitz has wisely said, "Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing."

I was particularly struck by the poems in this book that concern words, and specifically, the writing of words. On one hand, Ms. Oliver ponders, words are everything. But on the other, they are nothing. She puts the image of herself, constantly finding beauty, joy, and anguish in writing and manipulating language, against the image of the red bird, the fox, the owl. In the natural world, of which she writes so much about, there are no words. And yet even without words, there is no shortage of beauty, joy, and anguish there. Without words:

"the trees flourish,
the toad leaps,
and out of the silent dirt
the blood-red roses rise." (From "Both Worlds")

Below is one of the poems on this topic that I intend to use for my class. I hope you'll have a chance to pick up a copy of Red Bird and read the rest. It is indeed fine and deep and reads like a blessing.

Percy and Books (Eight)
by Mary Oliver
(note: Percy is Ms. Oliver's dog)

Percy does not like it when I read a book.
He puts his face over the top of it and moans.
He rolls his eyes, sometimes he sneezes.
The sun is up, he says, and the wind is down.
The tide is out and the neighbor's dogs are playing.
But Percy, I say. Ideas! The elegance of language!
The insights, the funniness, the beautiful stories
that rise and fall and turn into strength, or courage.

Books? says Percy. I ate one once, and it was enough.
Let's go.


You can listen to Mary Oliver reading from her poetry (she begins with a Percy poem) at the Lannan Foundation. (Thank you to One Poet's Notes for the link.)

Mary Oliver's biography is available at Poetry Foundation.

Grab Bag Friday: Wild Rumpus on the White House Lawn

This was my favorite video of the week. It's worth watching to the end because President Obama starts to hit his stride. He's not half-bad at story time! Let the wild rumpus begin!

So which rumpus do you think will be better...Obama's interpretation or Spike Jonze's?

Playing for Change: Stand By Me and Don't Worry

My mom sent me a Playing for Change video a few months back, and one of my student's parents recently reminded me about it, so I figure it's high time to get something up on the blog!

The Playing for Change Foundation provides facilities, supplies, and educational resources for musicians around the world. The foundation has started a music school and an art center in Africa, and is working to rebuild Tibetan refugee centers in India and Nepal.

Working with musicians around the world, Playing for Change has recorded a CD, Songs Around the World that will be released on April 28th. It's such a cool project. Here are a couple songs that will be on the album (and are now available on iTunes):

Stand By Me:



Don't Worry:

Jane Yolen at The Miss Rumphius Effect

UPDATE 4/14: For another Poetry Month interview with Jane Yolen, you can wander over to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

For Poetry Month, The Miss Rumphius Effect (best blog name ever) has been doing a series of interviews called Poetry Makers. Last week, I was excited to see that she interviewed one of my author-heroines, Jane Yolen.

Jane Yolen is unbelievably prolific. She's published more than 300 books (and I swear that number is growing every day). And she's incredibly versatile. I first got hooked on her fantasy books, especially her retellings of traditional stories like Briar Rose. Then I got pulled into her picture books (like All Those Secrets of the World), her folk tale collections (like Not One Damsel in Distress), and her poetry collections (like the charming new book Here's a Little Poem).

What draws me to Jane Yolen's work is always her strong, brave, and truly capable female characters, her love of the traditional story, her bent toward the whimsical and fantastical, and the *fun* she has painting pictures with language.

What inspires me about Jane Yolen's work is her diversity, her depth, her very nuts-and-bolts, practical, and tireless dedication to sit down and write and write and write.

In The Miss Rumphis Effect interview, you can read some of Jane Yolen's poetry and learn about the new projects she is working on. But here is my favorite question/answer of the whole interview:

What are the things you enjoy most about writing poetry for children/young adults?
Jane: I can help them see the world anew. I can put into words some of the longings, and lingering doubts, some of the puzzles and muzzled moments of their lives. I can give them songs to sing.

She can. And she does. Daily. Thank you, Jane Yolen, and thank you Miss Rumphius Effect!

(Be sure to check out some of the other great in-depth Poetry Makers interviews with children's poets like Adam Rex, Julie Larios, and Joyce Carol Thomas...and stay tuned. There's more to come all month!)

Grab Bag Friday: Kill A Watt Meter

Yesterday, I spent some time at the Bowdoin College Climate Fair, showing people how to use a Kill A Watt Meter, so I thought I'd take a minute to pass the information on to you.

Kill A Watt Meters are becoming available at libraries all over the country (you can check them out just like a book...just ask your friendly librarian). You can use them to find the biggest energy hogs in your house.

They're a snap to use:

• Plug the Kill A Watt Meter into the wall
• Plug the appliance you'd like to test into the Kill A Watt Meter
• Let it sit for an hour

Once you have a reading on the kilowatts per hour you can go to this handy calculator and find out how much that appliance is costing you per month. (You'll notice it defaults to the Maine state rate of $.17/kwh, so if you live in another state, you should change that. To find your state's rate, here is a handy chart.)

Here are some examples:

• My television costs me $12.24 per month when it's OFF. If I plug it into a power strip and flip it off when I'm not using the TV, I could save almost $150 per year. (Or I could just unplug the TV and skip the power strip, but that would mean reaching behind the TV...not an easy task in our house.)
  

• If I turn my computer off during my lunch hour instead of leaving it on, that's another $80 per year.

• If I run my bedroom air conditioner for one hour less per day, I save $75 per summer.

You can see just with those three little painless changes, I've just earned myself a little spa weekend. Thanks, Kill A Watt Meter!

Sam Phillips: A Piece of My Bright Side

Sam Phillips is giving away a brand new song, A Piece of My Bright Side to anyone who signs up for her mailing list. It's an upbeat little gem, and I definitely recommend heading over to download it.

She's also selling a limited edition handmade book with the same name. A collection of "Sam's favorite oddities, pictures, interview tour stuff & more," it looks like her signature quirkiness bound up, packaged, and signed. What fun! I ordered my copy last week.

Here's a link to my previous (and surprisingly copious) Sam Phillips posts in case you want to read and hear more.

The Smallest Range: A Poem for Anita O'Day

For the first Monday of Poetry Month, I thought I'd post one of my own poems, just for kicks.

This is a poem I wrote a while back for one of my favorite singers of all time: Anita O'Day. When Ms. O'Day was a child, she had a botched tonsillectomy that left her with a very small vocal range, and little capacity for vibrato. She always claimed that having less to work with forced her to find more rhythmic, interesting ways to use her voice.

[Completely unrelated side note: There's a great round-up of all the online Poetry Month events in the kidlit world over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.]

The Smallest Range
Poem for Anita O’Day
by Josephine Cameron

Even this, this nothing, this incremental
change in pitch, if this is all there is, mold it, push it,
slice it to pieces, listen to it skitter and scat
through the cracks of this litany, this homage
to a void, this slender all-you’ve-ever-had.

Anita’s run off with the boys again—
Uptown, they play hardball, incongruous
with these thin lips, these starched curls;
home is a place to leave, so stamp it shrug it
drug it out, send sixteenth notes like so many coins
clamoring; crevices are made to be filled.
Leave behind expectations, preconceptions;
who’d have thought this flatness could burst
within its confines, the poisoned seed bloom;
this is evolution, determination, music, jazz.

Grab Bag Friday: Tilapia Topped with Warm Cherry Tomatoes

For those of you who are regular readers of Please Come Flying, you may remember that about a year ago, Kevin and I decide to try a meal-planning website called The Six O'Clock Scramble. Well, we're still at it, and I officially give The Scramble a two thumbs up. For three reasons:

1. I don't have to plan out our meals (which for reasons good or bad, I can't stand doing)
2. Our grocery list is made for us (and when we stick to the list, we spend less at the store)
3. We are constantly trying new, delicious meals (there are only a *small* handful of Scramble meals we haven't liked)
4. Every single recipe has been so easy, that even I cannot mess it up (ok, that's four)
   

There have been weeks when we haven't used it, but even still, it's been well worth the $1 per week.

And every once in a while, there are dishes that are so easy and delicious I have to share them with everyone I know. Here's one that I can't stop raving about. So simple, so *quick*, so delicious! (I used regular black olives because Kevin's not a fan of the kalamata.) And the cucumber salad on the side just *makes* the meal.

Tilapia Topped with Warm Cherry Tomatoes

This dish takes about 10 minutes start to finish, but you would never know it from the beautiful presentation and delicious flavor. Tilapia is a great fish to use for weeknights, because it is inexpensive, earth friendly, and cooks quickly. Our kids also like its mild taste. Serve it with a loaf of whole grain bread and a Cucumber Salad.

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-1 1/2 lbs. tilapia fillets (or use flounder, cod, or other thin white fish fillets)
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1/4 lemon, juice only, about 1 Tbsp.
• 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. salt, to taste
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper, to taste (optional)

In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish and season it with salt and pepper. Sauté the tilapia, turning it once, until it turns white throughout and flakes easily, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the fish to a dish or platter.

In the same skillet (without cleaning it) sauté the tomatoes, parsley, and olives for several minutes until the tomatoes are softened. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the fish, top it with the Parmesan cheese (optional), and serve it immediately.

Tip:

For picky eaters, serve the fish plain with sauce on the side or on just one bite of the fish.

SERVE WITH CUCUMBER SALAD WITH HONEY AND FETA

To make the salad, toss two peeled, chopped, and seeded cucumbers with 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, 10 chopped fresh mint leaves, and 1 tsp. honey. Serve immediately or chill for up to one hour until ready to serve.

Save the Date: Summer Writing Workshops

I can't believe it, but summer is *really* just around the corner! I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into the workshops I'll be teaching at Bowdoin College this summer. It's so much fun to be a part of the endless creativity that springs from these young writers. They constantly surprise and impress me. I can't wait!

(If you're in Maine, and curious, I'll post registration information soon.)

JULY 13-17 (8:30am-12:00pm)
Songwriting for Kids Vol. 1
Students entering grades K-3
This is the traditional Songwriting for Kids workshop. We will learn American folk songs and use them to discover the basics of songwriting while gaining some insight into the historical context of the songs. We will focus on elements of rhythm, rhyme, melody, and above all, collaboration. Students will learn about creative teamwork and work together to write a class song. Students who have previously taken this workshop are more than welcome as songs and activities vary from year to year.

JULY 20-24 (8:30am-12:00pm)
NEW! Songwriting for Kids Vol. 2
Students entering grades K-3
In Vol. 2, we will experiment with various songwriting forms and structures: the blues, the "hooky" pop chorus, the bridge. Students will work in small groups and individually to write a number of "song sketches" throughout the week. This workshop may be taken as a stand-alone, but students who have taken Vol. 1 will benefit from having a knowledge of the vocabulary and traditional song structure we will use as a base.

JULY 13-17 (1:30-5:00pm)
Fiction Writing for Kids
Students entering grades 3-5
This workshop teaches the basics of fiction writing, including Character, Plot, Revision, and Imaginative Writing. During the workshop, students will study character development, plot structure, and setting in popular children's literature and will write and illustrate their very own book.

JULY 20-24 (1:30-5:00pm)
NEW! Poetry Writing for Kids
Students entering grades 3-5
This workshop teaches the basics of writing poetry in both form and free verse. Students will learn to study and analyze poems by poets from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Robert Frost to Gwendolyn Brooks and Robert Hayden. Students will use class time to write and illustrate their own short book of poems.

Where The Wild Things Are

My friend Robin recently posted a link to this trailer, and I immediately thought...is it true? Is it true?

It *is* true! There is going to be a movie of Maurice Sendak's classic picture book, Where the Wild Things Are. (How did I miss this bit of information?)

Now, I have the same wary feeling about this that I had when I heard they were making a film of The Lord of the Rings. Excited, because it could be a brilliant interpretation of a book I adore, and nervous because it could just as easily be a full-fledged disaster.

What do you think? Can Spike Jonze successfully transfer Max's wild rumpus to film?

Here's a short blurb from the LA Times.

I have to admit, the trailer looks pretty awesome.

Grab Bag Friday: Community Supported Agriculture!

Here is a "rerun" post from 2007 about signing up to buy vegetables from your local farms. I truly believe the CSA movement is a force for all that is good and fresh and healthy in the world. If you are in Maine, Hatchet Cove Farm, my favorite local organic farm is currently taking sign-ups, and I just secured my summer share! You should, too! (At the bottom, you can learn how to find a CSA farm near you.)

* * *

Originally posted March 2, 2007. Here I am, snowed in on March 2nd, with at least a full month of winter spread out in front of me, and I'm happily dreaming and scheming about Summer! That's because I just received an email from Hatchet Cove Farm, a local organic farm that we purchase a CSA share from. Lots of farmers will be gearing up for their summer CSA programs over the next few weeks...here's what it means:

CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. It means what it says. I, as a community member, buy a "share" from a local farm. In return, I get a big bag of fresh, delicious, organic vegetables delivered every week for 18 weeks during the summer season. Here's why it's great:

I get to...

• Eat healthy, nutritious food all summer long
• Try new things (I'd never had bok choy before...it's delicious in stir fry!)
• Know the farmer that grew my food
• Support local agriculture
• Keep my money in the local economy
• Eat fresh, unprocessed veggies

SIDE STORY: My husband, a Los Angeles native, had never had a cucumber that wasn't bought at the store. We got our first CSA with cucumbers and he crinkled his nose, "I hate cucumbers." Until...he tried a real, fresh cucumber. He was stunned that it tasted so good! He thought cucumbers just naturally grew with a bitter, waxy buildup on the skin, never realizing that that is actually added to the cucumber to make them look more appealing and last longer in the store. Thanks to Hatchet Cove Farm, we snacked on yummy cukes all summer long!

Here's an example of how it works. I'll use our CSA, Hatchet Cove Farm, as my example...the details of other CSAs will, of course, vary:

• Share price: [2009 update: HCF is now charging $300 for the summer--still incredibly reasonable] $270 for eighteen weeks of vegetable deliveries (mid-June to mid-Oct) is for a "two-person" share. If you love veggies or have a larger family, you may want to purchase two shares. I think $15 a week for fresh, homegrown veggies is a terrific deal!


• The Vegetables: you receive a selection of in-season vegetables every week, including (but not limited to!) mesclun, spinach, and other early greens in the early summer. Peas, beans, broccoli, and early potatoes in the mid-summer. Zucchini, onions, peppers, and tomatoes in the late summer. Melons, corn, kale, and chard in the early fall.


• Pickup/Delivery: [2009 note: HCF delivery days & routes may have changed] There are a few options for getting your veggies. Hatchet Cove Farm makes deliveries to the Rockland Unitarian church at 11am Sundays for people in the Rockland area. On Monday afternoons, they deliver shares to Waldoboro, Damariscotta, and Nobleboro. On Tuesday mornings, they deliver to Woolwich and Brunswick/Topsham. On Thursday afternoons, they deliver to members in Friendship. And pickup at the farm in Warren or Friendship is always availiable. If you do not want your share on any given week, the folks at Hatchet Cove will be happy to donate your share to the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry in Rockland.


• Newsletter/Recipes: Every week, along with your veggies, you receive a letter telling about activities and news from the farm, as well as recipes to help inspire you to use up every last vegetable.


• Hatchet Cove Farm Meat: CSA members get first dibs on purchasing farm-raised lamb and chicken! [2009 note: check for availability]
  


• Hatchet Cove Farm becomes your farm, too!: Members are welcomed at the farm to volunteer or just to visit, and a potluck/garlic planting day happens every fall.

Sounds great right? So, how can you join a CSA?

You can find out about CSAs from local farmers by keeping an eye out on bulletin boards at your local grocery store, library, church, or community center. You can also do a quick online search for farms in your area at the Eat Well Guide (Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals). If you live in my area here in Maine, you can contact Hatchet Cove Farm by email: info@hatchetcovefarm.com.

Ah, summer dreams...

Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2009

Ok, it's that March Madness time of year again, which means BRACKETS. Which means CHILDREN'S MUSIC VIDEOS! Right?

Every year, Zooglobble (the premier kids' music blog) hosts a KidVid Tournament...head to head match ups of the best kids' music videos of the year. Each day, you can vote for a match up, and the winner heads to the next bracket to duke it out with the remaining winners. Right now, they're in the tail end of the first bracket, so I highly recommend that you and your family head over, watch some videos, vote, and enjoy the fun.

One of my favorites already lost, but then again, I'm a little goony like that. Something about this Barenaked Ladies video just cracks me up:

Poem-A-Day

Am I the only one who gets really excited about National Poetry Month (coming your way in, oh, 8 days...)?

Well, in case it floats your boat, too...every year for National Poetry Month (April), the Academy of American Poets sponsors a Poem-A-Day email. Don't forget to go sign up...you'll get a poem each day selected from new books published this spring. It's a great way to come across poets you might never have read before, and I always hope to find a new favorite or two in the bunch.

I do wish they would stop using this poetry-as-medicine image though. Blech. Isn't reading poetry a *little* more fun than taking pills?

Grab Bag Friday: 30 Days with Morgan Spurlock

Have you seen this show?

Not too long ago, Kevin heard about a television show created by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who made the fantastic documentary Super Size Me (which, if you watch the special features on that DVD, watch out...it will turn you away from McDonald's delicious french fries for ever. I haven't eaten them since.)

So we googled 30 Days, and it turns out you can watch all the episodes for free on Hulu. We watched a couple. And now I'm completely addicted.

The basic setup is like any other reality TV show. People agree to put themselves in situations that are out of their comfort zones and be filmed. We watch vicariously while they go through varying degrees of insanity on national television.

But this is not your ordinary reality show.

Morgan Spurlock seems to be very interested in questions of extremism. Think of Super Size Me. He took something Americans do without thinking (eating fast food) and took it to the extreme, eating fast food for every meal, every day, for 30 days, just to see what would happen.

30 Days is an extension of that experiment. Spurlock takes people with extreme views on hot-button issues (abortion, gun laws, same-sex marriage), and puts them in a situation where they will have to live like the "other side" for 30 days.

For instance, one of my recently watched favorites was the episode on animal rights. An avid hunter from the South agrees to spend 30 days living with a PETA activist and her family. According to the rules, he had to spend his days they way they would spend theirs. So our hunter had to work at an animal rescue facility, and protest on the street against animal testing.

The results are fascinating. Sometimes, each side sticks to their guns and is unmovable. In the case of the southern hunter, he and the PETA activist were able to come to a kind of middle ground. The hunter, who will continue to hunt, decided that the practices in the commercial meat factories are unethical and wrong, and he won't eat commerical meat any more (even though he said his friends are initially going to razz him!) The PETA activist learned that hunters are not necessarily the evil animal-hating killers she originally imagined, but real people who can have good motives and a good heart.

I love this idea. Each time I watch the show, it makes me think about things in a way I might not have stumbled on alone. Kevin and I get into some *very* interesting conversations. And I try to think about what extreme views, stereotypes, or belief systems I might have that could use a little moderation.

I heard a rumor, that FX (the station that airs the show) is cancelling 30 Days. Please, please, somebody else pick it up. The Bachelor is fun (and believe me, I've watched my fair share), but we also need shows like this in the world.

Great Hip Hop Speaks to Children News!

I'm happy to say that Hip Hop Speaks for Children (the Nikki Giovanni book/CD that includes my song Long Track Blues) spent its 5th week on the New York Times Bestseller list for picture books last week!

And, I found out from A Year of Reading that it has been named one of the 2009 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts. You can see the whole list here.

I'm hoping teachers and parents will use this book as a resource during Poetry Month, too.

Here's a short video biography of Sterling A. Brown, the author of the poem "Long Track Blues":

Jen Bryant & Melissa Sweet: A River of Words

This weekend, my sister and I went to a fabulous party to celebrate the recent Caldecott Honor given to Melissa Sweet for her picture book A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams.

What a blast! First of all, there were crazy party hats. You *have* to head over to Cynthia Lord's blog and read the story of the hats. (You can even scroll down to see a picture of me in my somewhat floppy hat.)

Second, there was a collage room. Beth and I worked diligently over a goofy collage involving plums, a flamingo, and *lots* of pink glitter (and no, I was not one of the pint-sized glitter gnomes that Cynthia mentions in her post). We were pretty satisfied with it until we looked up and saw some of the amazing (seriously, I mean frame-worthy!) pieces of art that were being created in that room.

Awed, we headed out to the main gallery area where we could partake in an activity we are much more talented at: making a mess while eating delicious cupcakes!

The best part of the party was the original artwork displayed on the walls. It was fascinating to see Melissa Sweet's collages in their original form, each intricate piece stacked on top of another, not perfectly flat and seamless like they appear in the book. Melissa signed my book and took the time to be gracious, kind, and warm to everyone in that long line.

Which brings me to the book. I was so excited when A River of Words came out because I love William Carlos Williams' poetry, and I've always thought that his use of the everyday, ordinary happenings and objects in our lives makes his work accessible to kids.

A River of Words tells the story of William Carlos Williams' upbringing, his choice to become a doctor, his friendships with other modernist poets like Ezra Pound, and H.D. The intricate illustrations merge the inspiration he found all around him (water, pastoral landscapes, roads) with his everyday life (bits of poems scratched on prescription orders, receipts, memo pads from his office).

I've always been interested in William Carlos Williams' story because he had a full life both as a successful doctor and a famous poet. It's inspiring and important to remember that we don't all fit into one neat box, as society often tells us. The "artsy" kid might just as easily also love math. The "science geek" or the "jock" might just as easily be able to create brilliant works of art. William Carlos Williams reminds us that we are all multi-faceted, and we all have the ability to see the beauty and the strangeness in the everyday world right in front of our eyes.

There's a great interview with Melissa Sweet over at A Year of Reading. Here's a sample of what she has to say about making the collages for A River of Words:

MS: This book had a woefully skimpy dummy and not many sketches. Although I had done extensive reading about WCW and visited his town, I was beginning to panic. I didn’t have a handle on how to render this book. The deadline was on the heels of Tupelo and I was feeling almost out of gas. I had saved some beautiful end boards from an old book with a subtle print and a good quality paper. I tried painting on it and it worked great. Then I tried using book boards as my canvases instead of starting on paper. It was just the thing I needed to propel me. It was new and fresh and I had such momentum from it. I’ve been buying old books, notebooks, atlases for years and for this project I used whatever I wanted—nothing was saved for another project. The collages are done like a painting. I start with a background, then add more objects and push things around until I feel it’s done. I approach it as a design problem so I’m considering the colors, composition etc. When I collect or buy collage materials I don’t necessarily know how I’ll utilize them. I just know I have to have them.

Grab Bag Friday: Operation Fairy Dust

George Bailey: That's some dress, Violet.

Violet: Oh, this old thing? Why, I only wear it when I don't care how I look!

Spring is almost here! The 16 degree (feels like 9) temperature outside tells me otherwise, but I choose to believe the calendar.

We all know two things are inevitable in Spring:

1. Spring cleaning
2. Spring dances

I read recently about a brilliant organization that is ready and waiting to help with both. It's easy:

1. Clean out your closet and set aside your old prom and bridesmaid dresses that you'll (truly) never wear again.
2. Send them to Operation Fairy Dust, where they will be donated to a girl who can't afford one.

Operation Fairy Dust is based out of New York City, but if you prefer, you can make the same impact in your own community by donating your dresses to the local Goodwill or thrift shop. Or just ask around. Even if you think your dress is outdated, just remember..."vintage" is back in style (haven't you seen the legwarmers the past couple of winters?)

Though prom dresses were never my thing, I have to say, this is a *great* idea. (Ok, so I wore my Converse high tops and a crazy fringed shawl to my prom, but that's another story...)

A Little Musical Nostalgia Never Hurt Anyone

My brother sent this video for nostalgia's sake earlier this week. It's amazing how hearing a song can bring you immediately back to a specific moment in time. When I was 13, I used to blast this as loud as my pink mini-boombox would go and bop around my room, complete with fake microphone in my hand and permed ponytail bouncing around its neon scrunchie. I can practically smell the Lip Smackers right now.

So what song were *you* bopping around to in your room when you were a kid?

Willa Cather: My Antonia

"Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep."

My friend Blueberry lent me this book over Christmas and for a long time, it sat on my coffee table, waiting to be read. Friends would walk into the living room and express genuine shock that it has taken me until age 33 to read My Antonia. "How is that possible?" What can I say? It simply hadn't entered my universe before.

I picked it up on a dull, snowy day. The kind of day perfectly described in the book, in fact: "Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen." The story is told in the voice of Jim Burden, an orphaned boy who is brought to Nebraska to live with his grandparents in the late 19th century. Antonia and her family are immigrants from Bohemia who have come to farm the land adjacent to the Burdens. Far from the American opportunity and promise they set out to find, their living situation is untenable, and they encounter struggles in the new world that they never would have imagined.

Willa Cather's prose is incredibly rich. She sets the Midwestern countryside ablaze with sunshine and lights up each individual blade of grass. Your mind can't help but hold a nostalgic, detailed picture of Antonia, her ragged dress, the dusty pioneer town, the dances, the starlight, the heat.

My Antonia is a portrait of pioneer life, and especially of the demands and struggles that confronted women of that time period. It is a reflection on nostalgia, friendship, endurance, and love. It's the kind of book you want to read again as soon as you've finished it. It's the kind you want to pass on to your friends and exclaim "What do you mean you haven't read this yet?" And even as you say it, you're just a little bit jealous. Because you know that when they open it, they'll get to meet Antonia for the first time, they'll get to run through the prairie grass, and be surprised and warmed by that deep, rich sunshine.

Grab Bag Friday: A Little Friday Humor

Here are three videos that made me smile this week.

My sister, Steph, sent me this one and I roared. I love the airplane bit at the end:



I came across this one on the blog As The World Stearns. It's another clip from Improv Everywhere. These people are creative geniuses.



Lastly, this one is Improv Everywhere's latest mission. I just love how quickly a simple thing like a high five can put smiles on people's faces. When these people get on the escalator, they're dour, lost in their own little worlds (like we all are half the time). When they get off, more than half of them are grinning, interacting, enjoying the moment. Think about that. It's brillant. What can you do to brighten somebody's day today?

M Ward: Rave On

This week, I've been enjoying listening to M. Ward's new album, Hold Time. I started listening to it when I was doing some paperwork, so I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, just enjoying his typical dreamy, groovy, somewhat nostalgic vibe.

But a few songs in, I had to put down my pencil and grin.

Was this really an M. Ward version of Rave On? Seriously?

Now how cool is that?



Original version:

Grab Bag Friday: Mixed Bag

A few random things today:

• It's been snowing so much around here that I'm beginning to think it will never melt! Our walkway to our house is now this narrow little path up to my waist. We took pictures, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet, but I'll try to post some soon. The photo below is from a local news story about this week's storm. It's pretty much what my street looked like on Monday.

• Please consider taking a moment today to donate to your state or local equivalent of Keep Maine Warm. Often, donations to programs like this can taper off as Winter wanes, but as much as I'd like to be in denial, we're still a long way from Spring! There are still many people in places like Northern Maine who are going to be in severe need of heating assistance over the next few weeks.

• There is a nice write up in the Bowdoin Orient today about my concert on Sunday. (Maybe I'll see you there!)

• Thanks so much to Cynthia Lord for choosing me for her surprise pick in her top 12 this week (even though I'm not even on American Idol!) If you haven't read Cynthia's book, Rules, you really ought to head down to the library or the bookstore right this second. Seriously. Go ahead and cancel your plans for the rest of the morning.
  

Concert Sunday: My Big Band Dreams, Realized

As any of you who know me are well aware of, I grew up on the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby. When I was in high school, I was in love with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Anita O'Day and Doris Day (I was also in love with Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins, but hey, I've always been an eclectic kind of girl.)

While my classmates were out at field parties in the summer, my friends and I were hosting (very small) big band parties, equipped with candles and 1940's style outfits and outdoor dancing to Pennsylvania 6-5000.

So when Bowdoin College's concert band asked me to do a show with them and sing some old Gershwin standards in the *gorgeous* new Studzinski Auditorium, I was an eensy bit excited.

If you're going to be in Maine this weekend, you can come watch me live out my dreams of being a 1940's big band singer:

Sunday, March 1st
2:00pm
Studzinski Auditorium, Bowdoin College
Free and open to the public

Here's one of the songs I'm going to sing:

Ezra Jack Keats: The Snowy Day

First off, I have to apologize for being so sporadic with my blog this month. Usually, I look forward to writing Black History Month posts because I love to honor the black writers and musicians who have been such important voices in our country's history. Suffice it to say, life has gotten more hectic than usual this month and I'll be back on my game in a week or so. :)

Secondly, it's maybe a little unconventional to feature two white children's book authors as part of my Black History Month series, but I love Chris Raschka's treatment of Charlie Parker (last week's post) and this week's feature, Ezra Jack Keats, played a huge role in giving African American children a central, important place in kid's literature.

Until The Snowy Day (published in 1963), American children's books featured white children as the heroes (if you know of one that didn't, I'd love to hear about it). In the biography on his website, Ezra Jack Keats says:

Then began an experience that turned my life around—working on a book with a black kid as hero. None of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids—except for token blacks in the background. My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along.

Besides being culturally groundbreaking, opening up children's literature to some of the marginalized citizens in our society, The Snowy Day is a beautiful book that perfectly captures the wonder and joy that can be found outside on a snowy day (yes, even in the city!)

A couple years ago, Kevin took me to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for my birthday, and we got to see original pages from this book. It was amazing to see the original cutouts, watercolor, and collage in person. Illustrations that looked like a consistent whole in the published book turned out to be separate pieces of paper fit and intricately glued together. It just goes to show, things that seem so polished and perfect always have an underside with details we can't even begin to imagine.

With that in mind, I'll close with a story on Keats' website that I loved. Keats was in school during the Depression, and his father tried to discourage him from focusing on art. He wanted him to do something more practical that would earn money. In 1935, when Keats' father died of a heart attack, he had to go through his father's belongings:

"I found myself staring deep into his [my father’s] secret feelings. There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."

Stevie Wonder: Never Had a Dream Come True

In the *biggest* news this week (around my house anyway), there was a new addition to the Hatchet Cove Farm family! In honor of Cecelia Jane's birth, here is the Stevie Wonder song that I sang at her parents' wedding.

I never, never had a dream come true
In my every dream, I'm loved by you

Welcome to the world, Cecelia Jane. I hope your dreams will be filled with laughter and sunshine and music and good, green, growing things. And I know they will come true.

Chris Raschka: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop

There are a few books that I find myself buying over and over again. I always end up giving away my copy, or thinking of another person who *needs* to have it. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop is definitely in that category.

On the surface, Chris Raschka's illustrations are so full of color and whimsy that you want to linger on each page a moment, just to breathe it in. But beyond that, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop is one of those rare books that can actually make you feel what the author is describing (in this case, be bop).

In some ways (like be bop), there's not much to it. There are rarely more than 5 or 6 words per page, and many of the phrases are repeated over and over again. But Raschka uses rhythm and rhyme in ways that are both satisfyingly predictable and completely surprising. By the time you get to:

Alphabet, alphabet, alphabet, alph,
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, chick,
Overshoes, overshoes, overshoes, o,
Reeti-footi, reeti-footi, reeti-footie, ree

you can practically hear the saxophone in your ear and you want to tap your foot and dance along. It's impossible to read this book out loud and not start to put some *swing* into it. Every single time I have read this book to my students they immediately respond with a resounding, "Read it again!"

Grab Bag Friday: No Pants Day

I love that there are goofy, creative people out there who are willing to do things like this. This little project involved 2500 people in 22 cities all over the world.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for turning me on to Color Me Katie. It just goes to show you that a small amount of effort can make the world a more whimsical place. For instance, last Friday, Color Me Katie planted colorful butterflies all over the city. Love it.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast Tour

This weekend, Kevin and I were ridiculously excited to find out that Andrew Bird was coming to the college we work at. Somehow, we managed to find a couple students who weren't going to use their tickets (I was sure *no one* would want to give them up), and we tried not to look too old as we walked into the packed auditorium (we also had to hide a couple yawns around 10pm when the rest of the audience was apparently just getting *started* with their evening).

The show was phenomenal, and you should definitely check out the tour dates. I've been a fan of Andrew Bird since he was Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire in the late 90's, but I've never seen him live. So it was fun to see little details in person. (Like, oh! that eerie background part is actually Andrew Bird whistling!) The set was perfectly whimsical, with Alice-in-Wonderland-sized, brightly colored phonograph-style speakers hovering over the musicians. The performance was terrific. Apparently, he had been trying to kick a fever for the last few days, and still he threw himself into the songs like he had all the energy in the world.

But the most striking thing about seeing Andrew Bird live was the extensive looping. He would play a few bars, loop it (which basically means you've created a recording of it that comes back over and over again through the speakers), loop something else over that, and so on until you felt like you were just being washed over with sound. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can see it in this video. The first thing that he plays comes back again and again, and he's playing and looping more things over it as it goes along. The result was breathtaking.



Here's Natural Disaster, another song I like off Andrew Bird's new album, Noble Beast, that he played at the show:

Grab Bag Friday: Turtle Bread

We had another snow day this week. When I was a kid, I used to actually feel *sorry* for the kids who lived in warm places like Florida and California...they never got to have any snow days! Snow days were like a gift from heaven. My sisters and brother and I would build snow tunnels (yes, the snow was *that* deep and packable), or stay in our pajamas all day, or most often, bake.

One year, my brother got on a Turtle Bread kick. He found the recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook, and he'd make turtle after turtle (and we would gobble them up faster than he could make them!) We loved to watch the bread rise, taste the raw dough (I know, gross, huh?), smell the bread cooking in the oven, and we especially loved to eat the little turtle feet.

This is a great introductory bread recipe for kids. Even if you're one of those poor souls who don't get snow days, I hope you'll enjoy making it:

Turtle Bread

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 package quick active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 egg
2 raisins

In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar and salt; set aside.

In 1-quart saucepan, heat water, milk and butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 125°F to 130°F; stir into yeast mixture. Stir in egg. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. On lightly floured surface, knead dough about 5 minutes or until smooth and springy. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. Shape a 2-inch piece of dough into a ball for turtle’s head. Shape 4 walnut-size pieces of dough into balls for feet. Shape 1 walnut-size piece of dough into tail. Shape remaining dough into ball for turtle body; place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Attach head, feet and tail by placing 1 end of each under edge of body to secure. Press raisins into head for eyes. Cover and let rise in warm place 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 400°F. Make 1/4-inch-deep circular cut around top edge of body, then make crisscross cuts in center to look like a turtle's shell. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Refrigerating dough is not recommended.

ALA Awards, Running Behind, & Stevie Ray Vaughan

I'm totally off-schedule and running behind this week.

I was planning to post about the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners on Monday. I was planning to spend some time listening to Andrew Bird's new album to review here today. There's a big pile of clean laundry on the couch, and a bigger pile of dirty laundry in the basement.

It's been that kind of week and it's only Wednesday.

So instead of doing *any* of those things tonight, I procrastinated on YouTube, found the video of Stevie Ray Vaughan's brilliant song Tick Tock, and a cool video of Stevie Ray and his brother Jimmie talking about making their album Family Style.

I love the shot of Stevie Ray and Jimmie playing the double neck guitar, and I *love* the quote at the end where Stevie Ray is talking about how much closer he and his brother became during the making of the album..."I really needed that." There's nothing like family to get you through.

Grab Bag Friday: Cold Is Relative

Okay, we can all admit to succumbing to the charms of the occasional forwarded message. My dad (in Wisconsin) just sent me this one, and maybe it's because the weather has been dipping below zero around here and freezing my brain cells, but it struck me as hilarious.

A lot of it, by the way, is not *that* much of an exaggeration--my sisters have totally sunbathed at 60, and my husband has used the outdoor grill in temperatures lower than 35!

(The picture is a van outside my mom's bedroom window in Idaho.)

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . . . . .
65 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Wisconsin plant gardens.
60 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Wisconsin sunbathe.
50 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Wisconsin drive with the windows down.
40 above zero:
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Wisconsin throw on a flannel shirt.
35 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Wisconsin have the last cookout before it gets cold.
20 above Zero:
People in Miami all die.
Wisconsinites close the windows.

Zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico .
People in Wisconsin get out their winter coats.
10 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Wisconsin are selling cookies door to door.
20 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Wisconsin let the dogs sleep indoors.
30 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Wisconsinites get upset because they can't start the Snow-mobile.
40 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Wisconsin start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'
50 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Wisconsin public schools will open 2 hours late.

Aretha Franklin: My Country 'Tis of Thee

In case you missed it yesterday, or in case (like me) you just wanted to see it again, here's the Queen of Soul singing at Barack Obama's inauguration. I watched it in one of my favorite restaurants that was so packed that I could only glimpse the corner of Ms. Franklin's fabulous hat on the big screen. But the timbre of her voice, the excitement of the moment, the beauty of the melody, and the profundity of the lyrics (written almost two centuries ago) brought me to tears all the same.

Langston Hughes: Children's Rhymes

Last week, a professor in my department used the second stanza of this Langston Hughes poem on his syllabus, and it was so stunning to read in light of tomorrow's inauguration that I immediately had to go look up the whole poem.

"Children's Rhymes" reflects the generation gap at the time Hughes wrote it (early 1950's, I believe)---an older person watching (and complaining) about the jivey be-bop rhymes (in italics) of the kids on his block.

We've still got a lot of hard work stretched out in front of us, but I have to say it feels really good to make some progress!

Children's Rhymes
by Langston Hughes

When I was a chile we used to play,
"One -- two -- buckle my shoe!"
and things like that. But now, Lord,
listen at them little varmints!

By what sends
the white kids
I ain't sent:
I know I can't
be President.

There is two thousand children
in this block, I do believe!

What don't bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We knows everybody
ain't free!

Some of these young ones is cert'ly bad --
One batted a hard ball right through my window
and my gold fish et the glass.

What's written down
for white folks
ain't for us a-tall:
"Liberty And Justice --
Huh -- For All."

Oop-pop-a-da!
Skee! Daddle-de-do!
Be-bop!

Salt' peanuts!

De-dop!

Grab Bag Friday: Tickets, anyone?

Well, I'm back from a lovely, sunshine-filled family vacation and woke up this morning to -14 degrees. Brrrrr!

Luckily, we've got some things to look forward to in the next few weeks to keep our minds off the weather. I'm looking forward to the inauguration, and Kevin's looking forward to the Superbowl. So of course this cartoon from Slate cracked me up:

Blog Vacation

I'm taking a little break for the first half of January, but you can be sure that when I return, I'll bring you up to speed on everything I've been reading and listening to over the last few weeks!

Happy New Year!!