Winter Solstice ramble

Greater minds and much better writers have have pondered and pontificated on what life is, my talent lies with sticking to and stating the obvious. A quick reminder of what life is NOT:

• Life is not like a book, we don't get to skip over the boring parts or peek at the ending to make sure we like it.

• Life is not like a movie, there is no sound track, laugh track or commercial product placements.

• Life is not reality tv, we ALL will be voted off the island eventually.

• Life is not like a news report with reality defined by a picture and a 10-15 word sound byte.

• Life in not like a video game, there is NO RESET BUTTON.

LIFE IS A GIFT a series of moments to use, waste, enjoy, cherish, endure; any or all of the emotions in between.

WISHING YOU ALL A NEW YEAR FULL OF WONDERFUL MOMENTS

Dana

Sleepers

In every generation there are books that may not have been financially successful or widely read when they were published, that end up growing in desirability as the children of that generation become adults with children of their own.

Sleepers like THE BOY WHO ATE FLOWERS or the CHRISTMAS COOKIE SPRINKLE SNITCHER two titles from the 1960's or one of my favorite sleepers from the 1990's; THE HIGH RISE GLORIOUS SKITTLE SKAT ROARIOUS SKY PIE ANGEL FOOD CAKE.

It has a great message, lovely illustrations and a title which probably drives Librarians, um I mean Media Specialists crazy.

Because they are FUNNY!

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.The winners are:

 Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

 Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

Negligent (adj.),a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavoured mouthwash.

Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

 Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men

Inventory

...long, long overdue, the book inventory is finally done!  Now let's hope for a nice and busy holiday rush.

In celebration of all things autumn...

...Peter Pumpkin, written by John Ott, originated by Pete Coley and illustrated by Ivan Chermayeff. Published by Doubleday in 1963.


nice to have a dust jacket, especially nice to have one in this condition

just because

...I think this is an awesome Leonard Weisgard dust jacket. 

2012 Edgar Juvenile and Young Adult Winners

BEST JUVENILE

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)


BEST YOUNG ADULT

 The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Random House Children’s Books – Knopf BFYR)



heavy sigh.....late again, these were announced in April

RIP Leo Dillon

Two obits in a row :-(

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak, Author of Splendid Nightmares, Dies at 83

Unlike Pierre,  a lot of people care.....

April lament

sigh taxes done.... forget about reading must sell books!

oh sadness

must, must, must do taxes..... but I wanna READ.   

ramble

I got a nifty new Roomba vacuum cleaner and tried it for the first time yesterday. It immediately headed under the bed to annihilate the dust bunnies nesting there. After a few forays it emerged, triumphantly pushing my copy of Michelle Sagara's Cast in Ruin that the dust bunnies were holding hostage.  I LOVE my new robot.  Pardon me I must go re-read my rescued book.