Vote-Pimping, Books, and Tiny Produce
Voting for Real LJ Idol has opened up! The nearly 300 competitors have been separated into tribes (currently, alphabetical chunks), so you can read entries within a tribe and vote for the ones you like best. I'm hoping to make it at least a few rounds on this, to see what it's all about. I'm in this group. Lots of variety in all the tribes, lots of fantastic stories (maerhys' story is a standout).
On the book front, I'm reading (among other things) Cloaked In Red, by Vivan Vande Velde. This is the second book in which Vande Velde takes a well-known fairytale, skewers its weak points, and then writes alternate stories based on them. For The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, that included Why does that little man WANT a baby? and Why does he announce his name just when he's practically won the bet? This new book addresses issues with Little Red Riding Hood, such as, Who names their child after an article of clothing?, Who lets a little child wander the woods alone?, Seriously, you can't tell your own grandmother from a wolf?, and Where did that deus ex machina woodcutter come from, anyway?
On the gardening front... I mentioned my garden's tendency toward tiny produce yesterday. I know the soil isn't great (I'm still slowly getting the gravel out of it), and we should probably fertilize. But come on-- our largest watermelons were the size of tennis balls, and the cherry tomatoes were in the blueberry range. I took a picture for comparison, featuring the smallest micromelon and some tomatoes. It felt like I was halfway to making a model of the solar system:
Yes, the watermelon is barely bigger than the golf ball. I included the tiny green tomato because I actually harvested a few ripe ones that size about a month ago. Seriously. Well, at least they're cute. :)
*koff* Back to work. Toodles!
On the book front, I'm reading (among other things) Cloaked In Red, by Vivan Vande Velde. This is the second book in which Vande Velde takes a well-known fairytale, skewers its weak points, and then writes alternate stories based on them. For The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, that included Why does that little man WANT a baby? and Why does he announce his name just when he's practically won the bet? This new book addresses issues with Little Red Riding Hood, such as, Who names their child after an article of clothing?, Who lets a little child wander the woods alone?, Seriously, you can't tell your own grandmother from a wolf?, and Where did that deus ex machina woodcutter come from, anyway?
On the gardening front... I mentioned my garden's tendency toward tiny produce yesterday. I know the soil isn't great (I'm still slowly getting the gravel out of it), and we should probably fertilize. But come on-- our largest watermelons were the size of tennis balls, and the cherry tomatoes were in the blueberry range. I took a picture for comparison, featuring the smallest micromelon and some tomatoes. It felt like I was halfway to making a model of the solar system:
Yes, the watermelon is barely bigger than the golf ball. I included the tiny green tomato because I actually harvested a few ripe ones that size about a month ago. Seriously. Well, at least they're cute. :)
*koff* Back to work. Toodles!