Field trip today!! Yippeee!!

Today is the day for our huge Humanities field trip: to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and to Macbeth at the Guthrie! (And the Ol' Spaghetti Factory in between). We're all excited.

Yesterday in class we took parts and read the first several pages of Macbeth aloud in prepration. We had a blast, and everybody who came and read feels ready to watch. Fun!

Friends and books and awards

My friend Kirstin Cronn-Mills' YA novel is up for a Minnesota Book award. Here's a review from their website:

http://thefriends.posterous.com/tag/theskyalwayshearsme


My friend Kate Buckley's novel CHOICES is up for Book of the year award:

http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/books/9781935359128/


And Nicole Helget's Turtle Catcher is up for a Minnesota Book Award, too!

http://www.thefriends.org/award_winners_and_finalists.html#fnovel_short_story

At least I dwell in impressive company.

Minnesota spring certainly isn't silent.

The rivers are ROARING around here. The Minnesota is so far out of its banks that it's swallowed up both the dog park and the big pond on the Kasota Prairie. Yesterday, the Rapidan Dam had an entire tree stuck through the waterway, half on each side of the dam. However, The world is cracking spring open with a glorious blue-sky day and a fresh-smelling breeze.

Freya ran out on one of the smaller Kasota Prairie ponds and fell through the ice. Lucky she's got webbed feet. She hung on with her front paws and crawled and paddled her way back up on the ice. She was unfazed, but happy to be cooled off!

And my niece just had her baby! New spring life.

The future of KIDS' LIT

Mark McVeigh posted this article about the future of publishing for children and YA. Very interesting. (And thanks, Mark).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031901574.html

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

It's my brother's birthday, and that makes my Norwegian self feel nearly Irish. Strange, but true.

Great VeloNews Mailbag article about the coverage of men's racing vs. that of women's racing. Fun to read.
Maybe this is a good time to see if VeloNews my be willing to sell Chasing AllieCat in their VeloGear catalog. Maybe I'll have to buy an ad in the mag, but anything would be terrific.

March 15

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH! The legendary warning to Julius Caesar always sends bristles up my spine on this day. Speaking of Rome, my humanities classes are both taking their mid-terms this week. Nothing would make me happier than my entire Intro to Humanities class Acing their exams.

Foggy again. "They"--the weatherpeople--say that we won't see the sun 'til late in the week. First, it's dark from Daylight savings time change, and then it barely gets light when the sun is up.

Ghost tea

So....yesterday, my writing group went to a "Ghost Tea" at a haunted house. The resident (living, human) has written two books about her and her family's experiences with spirits and in her house. Delightfully fun afternoon, though no ghost appearances by the other residents (deceased, ghostly)while we were there.

If you're fascinated, or slightly interested, check out Annie's blog or webpage...and her books.

http://http://www.houseofspiritsandwhispers.com/about.php

http://www.anniewilder.com/