Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Saving for Dental School

So this evening the boys are wrestling on the floor (not unusual) while I'm yelling at them to stop (also, not unusual) when T spits his tooth onto the floor and says calmly "Hey, look at that!". Surprisingly, this is also not that unusual. Out of the five teeth that T has lost to date, J has had something to do with three of them. The two big ones on top he just grabbed, twisted and bingo. This new method of a knee to the mouth seems to be quicker. Once all of the baby teeth are gone this may become a problem.

On this date: In 1990, the first McDonald's opened in the Soviet Union.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Don't Eat the Green Ones


Just got back into town and can't buck up enough to write anything worthwhile, so I went over to www.becomeanmm.com and wasted a few minutes. Is the tiara working for me?

On this date: In 1969, the Beatles appeared in public for the last time.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Seinfeld Moments for Everyday Living

Airport Security Screener: (Holding 1.6 oz bottle of hand lotion swiped from hotel room): Do you have a plastic bag for this?
Me: No. There's just the one bottle.
Screener: Well, you need to have it in a plastic bag.
Me: But there's only one. Why do I need a plastic bag?
Screener: Every traveller is allowed one plastic bag full of creams, gels and liquids in their carryon. If it doesn't fit in the bag, then we know that you have too much.
Me: But there's only one. I can't possibly have too much if there's only one.
Screener: It still needs a plastic bag so we can see how much you have. Do you have a bag?
Me: But it's only one.

In the end, I marched through the screening thingy with my socks on and my skin slightly dry. But I did feel safer.

On this date: In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame elected it's first five members.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Freakishly Talented


This is just a quickie because it is Saturday and it's not like I don't have a life or anything. Ahem.

Went to my good bud Sue McD's art opening/40th birthday party tonight. People with her kind of talent freak me out a little bit. I keep telling her she should do some illustrating and maybe someday she'll listen.

On this date: In 1976, Laverne and Shirley premiered.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Cynthia Lord Rules

From my son's friend: "Getting called a name is just like getting a hit that knocks the happiness out of you." Same can be said for rejections. Or arduous dental appointments.

For those of you who aren't aware (and who could that possibly be?), my cyber-gal Cynthia Lord (who I don't KNOW, know, but kind of know from the blue boards) won a Newbery Honor this past week for her fabulous mid-grade Rules. I grin because when it came out I annoyed our local library about it so much they went out and bought two copies. Now I can go in to the library and say "I told you so". I won't, but I could.

On this date: In 1979, Dukes of Hazzard debutes.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Well, yesterday was a pretty depressing day, and I didn't want to post depressing stuff, so I just didn't. We lost someone in our family who will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. Even if not unexpected, even if at the end of a well-lived life, as J put it "that still stinks". Yes it does.

So, we're back today, still waiting for news on the MG that's out. Not that I'm obsessively checking my email or anything. Hold on a minute, something just came in....yeah, still waiting. Realistically, it's going to be early Feb. before we hear anything at all, but that can't stop a girl from checking in. I've only had an agent for oh, about 57 days or so and I try not to bug her, but sometimes we get into a quick back and forth email session that has nothing to do with business (or almost nothing). Today's ridiculous but fun exchange involved man-pants and video blogs. It made me realize how important it is to have an agent that not only knows what they're doing, but "gets" you as well. A lot of agents would roll their eyes and not want to be bothered, but it's nice to touch base in an informal way like that. The trying-to-get-an-agent phase can be just as difficult as the trying-to-get-a-publisher phase, but it's important to remember that you don't have to dance with everyone who asks.

Had a great dinner with my traitor best friend who recently up and moved over an hour away. The only bummer was that we went for ice cream and they had run out of peanut butter and chocolate. Come on, that's like running out of vanilla. Who runs out of peanut butter and chocolate? Of course I got something else, I'm not totally a stickler, but still.

Goodnight Grandpa Dave. We miss you.

On this date: In 1925, the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, the French Alps.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Late to the Party...

...as usual. Been reading blogs for years (Big A, Miss Snark, Sparks Fly Up, Pubrants to name a few) and have finally decided to jump into the pool with all my clothes on. Uh, that's good news to those of you who have ever seen me in a bathing suit.

Me (boring stuff): Older than I think I should be. Married with two boys (J is 9 and T is 6 3/4 - which is what he'll tell you if you ask). Live in Northern California with aforementioned family, four cats and one big hairy dog. T wants a turtle, but not until the fish die.

Me (slightly more interesting stuff): Kidlit writer. My first picture book called Six O'clock in San Francisco is due out from Clarion in Spring of 2008 (these things take forever). My fabbo new agent Erin Murphy is currently shopping my upper MG called Armadillo Season around to several publishers. Fingers crossed. Currently working on several projects including a couple of picture books and a YA that we'll call Triplets for now. At just over 5k words, it's barely a zygote at the moment, but I'm aiming for a completed first draft by June. I also write reviews and interviews for the amazing website The Edge of the Forest headed by the queen of all things kidlit, Kelly Herold.

Me (things you can't tell by looking): I can ride a unicycle (although my juggling is rusty), I've thrown up on StarTours at Disneyland (recently), I hate tomatoes, bell peppers and rye bread and have been known to go into a New York deli and order corned beef with mayo on white. I wish I could sing.

I love Brotherhood 2.o right now. If you haven't seen it, rush over to John Green's blog at www.sparksflyup.com. The one from today is awesome, but you really have to start from the beginning to get the full effect. My DH got Tivo for his birthday (at least he thinks I got it for him) and being the techie person he is has figured out how to get TLC's What Not To Wear beamed to my laptop. The newest episode has just finished loading, so I have to go.

There. That was fun. Not too embarrassing. Oh wait, is this thing still on....?

On this date: In 1957, Wham-O produced the first Frisbees.

Cynthia Jaynes Omololu
Cynthia Jaynes