Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Bologna Children's Book Fair

Tomorrow I'm off to the Bologna Book Fair -- and the SCBWI Bologna conference. First time to attend, and I'm excited.

I'm rooming with two writers I've only met online, which is another first for me. One of them emailed me a few weeks ago, "You're not an axe murderer, by any chance?" I emailed her back, "I have a nice machete collection, but no axes." So that should banish any worries.

Also, I'll meet up with Angela, Natalie, and a few other people from Verla Kay's board. When I return, I'll blog more about the bookfair and the city of Bologna. Ciao!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter


"Easter Morning" -- by Dr. He Qi, professor at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
All creation joins to say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, O heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday


On the hiking path between Vernazza and Corniglia--in Cinque Terre, Italy

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A Mother's Heart

It does a mother's heart good to know her son was well taken care of on his birthday.

A Tragedy In One Act

Tragedy strikes.

My youngest daughter, who is blind as a bat (like me), cracked her glasses down the center last night. Duct tape currently holds the two halves together, but isn't high on a teen's fashion list...so I'm hoping the optician can rig up some type of short-term rescue.

Help!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

http://www.bostonkiltics.com

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis


Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in self-forgetting that we find;
And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.


attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

One of Many

I've been having a hard time coming up with things to blog about lately, so figured I'd show you our bookshelf closest to the computer. Whenever I go to other people's homes, I enjoy browsing their books, so here's your chance to do the same with me (for a larger view, click on the photo).

At last count, we had fourteen (mostly full) bookcases scattered around the house--and lots of books aren't even unpacked. Time to go through and scour the shelves, eh?

Monday, March 10, 2008

A Dog of Sensitive Stomach

I'm posting another picture for Murphy Monday, since it's been so long between photos.


He's been a "Dog of Sensitive Stomach" this week. While Jeff and I were out of town, Murphy caught some type of bug and is just beginning to return to normal. In the meantime, we've all endured his black clouds of odiferousness...if you catch my drift. Poor dog. But I feel sorry for us too--our rooms need several cans of orange spray and a good airing out!

Thankfully, Murphy's starting to eat again. I figured the BRAT diet (banana,rice, applesauce,toast) worked for our toddlers long ago, and it might work for him too--except I substituted oatmeal for rice.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Writing Assignment

My Gotham writing assignment this week is on "pacing" --

Let's compress and expand time in words. Pick a moment in your childhood that was either especially funny or suspenseful. First, tell about the moment in one sentence. Then, slow time down and describe the moment in detail. But try to keep it under 500 words.

I think I'll write about the evening a lady kept telephoning my father, over and over, asking how to treat a neck wound. She was truly convinced that a vampire had bitten her. Dad told her, "make sure to clean and ice it."

One thing that impresses me, looking back--Dad treated her with respect, even though we (kids) were probably chortling in the background. I don't know what the woman's problem really was, but he asked questions to find out if she needed medical attention and didn't belittle her. The mark of a good doctor, in my opinion..