3-14-15 9:26

Snow-pocalypse-ageddon 2.0: no big deal

Let it snow.

MFA Boston

Took a day off & went art-appreciatin'...

BReaking BAd eggS

Note to self: unlike with most other falling items, it will not be an improvement if you manage to catch a raw egg between your upper leg and the kitchen counter as it drops to the floor.

The Chinchilla Rapper

The students in my Grub Street Teen Intensive Workshop class are awesome.  They got an assignment to use elements from my own personal history as story prompts, and this is what it has led to...

(The chinchilla's name is Hammy.  He refused to stay in the family business by becoming a coat, and instead followed his dream of being a rapper.  Cotton candy also has something to do with it.  Things get weird here at Grub Street...)

Oh, and here is a photo of the actual chinchilla I owned in college (her name was Kenga):

Serious Girl

Our family in a nutshell: reading while walking.

Meet Toad-oro

This little guy showed up on our doorstep one night this weekend, like he was waiting to be let in.  He peeps like a baby chick, eats crickets (live ONLY) and will stare raptly at Studio Ghibli movies but ignores all other television.

He's wild and won't stay with us long, but he's just too charming not to share...

Happy World Turtle Day!

If you know my daughter Serious Girl, you know why this is a tremendously big deal.

Happy WTD, everyone!

Choose Wisely

The biggest decision you make each day is what gets done, and what doesn't.

Don't think that you get to avoid making choices by avoiding your work.  That's a choice, too.

Keep Going

Remember the victims, not the sensationalism.

source: http://petrichorandrose.tumblr.com

This quote was incorrectly attributed to Morgan Freeman... whoever said it, I agree:

“You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here’s why.

It’s because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN’s article says that if the body count “holds up”, this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer’s face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity? None that I’ve seen yet. Because they don’t sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man’s name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news.”

For my husband

How To Write Good

source: littletotoros

I would prefer if #1 said "avoid accidental alliteration always"... sometimes a well-placed repetition of sound is pleasing.  But you have to be aware that you're doing it.

Use what you have.

The Serious Girl's Halloween Costume

TOTORO

'Cause it was awesome.