1. We are battening down the hatches - or would be, if we had hatches - in preparation for the confluence of Hurricane Sandy and the unnamed storm from the West, both of which are coming to meet up with a massive cold front from Canada. Where I live appears to be directly in the middle of Sandy's projected path (come Sunday night into Monday), so ( Read more... )

Sorry for the temporary communications blackout - I had to take M to look at colleges in New England, and had no internet access while gone. I will put up National Poetry Month posts for the days I've missed, but first, an update on some other stuff ( Read more... )

Let's see . . . here's a mixed-up list ( Read more... )

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1. S graduated from high school on Wednesday. I couldn't be prouder, nor could I be much happier for her ( Read more... )

Busy. Busy busy busy. Here are only some of the reasons why ( Read more... )

1. I'm thinking about Japan today, and very glad that I contributed to Shelter Box, an organization that I learned of via Maureen Johnson's Twitter feed. Shelter Box provides temporary shelters as well as basic necessities to victims of disaster.

2. This afternoon, I'm off to meet Jennifer Hubbard for lunch and a visit to Children's Book World, my ( Read more... )

1. I am not a member of the YA Mafia. That I know of. Not that I would say if I were - after all, the rules for the YA Mafia are probably like the rules for Fight Club, and we all know what the first rule is. Also, I remain surprised at how large tea-cup sized tempests can become ( Read more... )

In light of yesterday's sorrow, I'm looking things over and finding five good things to list ( Read more... )

1. I've been reading quite a lot of poetry lately. For grown-up poems, I've been reading that new Neruda book I blogged about as well as re-reading Ted Kooser's Valentines. In the kidlit arena, I've been reading the finalists for the CYBILS awards, since I'm one of the judges for the poetry category. Very good stuff on the short list this year.2. ( Read more... )