You learn something new every day

or you knew something learned every day.

(I love the second-to-last one, especially.)

From a friend:

Paraprosdokian sentences are figures of speech that use an unexpected ending to a series or phrase.

Some examples would be...





I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike
>and asked for forgiveness.
>
>Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with
>experience.
>
>Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a
>garage makes you a car.
>
>The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
>
>Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until
>you hear them speak.
>
>If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
>
>We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
>
>War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
>
>Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit
>salad.
>
>The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
>
>To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
>
>A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
>
>Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train
>people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.
>
>I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.
>
>I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
>
>Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check
>when you say the paint is wet?
>
>Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for
>Miss America ?
>
>A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
>
>You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive
>twice.
>
>Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
>
>Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
>
> Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.
>
>I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.
>
>You're never too old to learn something stupid.
>
>To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
>
>Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination
>whatsoever.
>
>Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.


>

S'up!

I hung my art last night with a little help from my friends.

It took three hours.

It looks pretty darn good up there on them walls.

I am pleased. I am tired. I am elated.

NJ SCBWI Illustrator Day

On Sunday, November 14, the NJ SCBWI will hold another Illustrator Day at the Princeton Hyatt. Two Art Directors will be on the faculty: Laurent Linn of Simon and Schuster, and Marijka Kostiw of Arthur Levine/Scholastic Press/ Orchard Press.

The illustrator is emailed various passages of PB text and chooses one to illustrate. The illustrator gives specs to the art director and submits a preliminary sketch to him/her by a predetermined deadline. The AD sends back comments. Then the illustrator goes to work and completes a final from that sketch with the AD's comments.

On illustrator day, the art directors give group critiques of all the artists' finals. (Two separate groups.)

The other art director gives the artist a portfolio review.

Basically the illustrators are divided into two groups and spend half of their 'time' with one and then the other. Plus they get a yummy lunch with one or the other.

What I love in addition to this is seeing how everyone interprets the text differently and how they work. And everyone always has something (no matter how little) that can be improved.

Saving my pennies and dimes and using this as a kick in the bottom to finish my dummy and more samples.

Can't wait!!

This is one of the best things offered from SCBWI to illustrators... IMHO.

If anyone has any questions or would like more info please email me.... soon! It fills up fast.

The Biting Pear of Salamanca by Ursula Vernon

I usually don't like anthropomorphic food... but sometimes I eat it. (I also love and collect pear paraphernalia.) Sold right there... like I am so there. And I need this today while I work... for inspiration.

(Could this be in a picture book, perhaps?.....................................no, that pear is scary)

But there is something funny about this without being campy and cheesy (I could use a pear salad right now)... to me anyway. Maybe the lack of a complete face on the pear's part, and the traditional styled little rodent with his daguerreotyper alongside this five-foot tall, food-engineered poire.

Should that chipmunk be afeared?

"If you bite me, there will be no more portrait du poire, today."

(But you can't see anyway, pear... so your mouth would be chasing only air.)

Thank you, and courtesy of 'Art of the Day' on my homepage... one of my favorite things to wake up to.

Summer Accomplishments

It has been a LONG summer... I think the extreme heat and mugginess have not helped. Not the best summer for fun and travel but the best for getting things done... book, art and family related.

1. Got daughter moved into college apartment. Not an easy feat as hers is a four floor walk up (No elevator, she's top floor and it was the hottest day of the year... and her apt. is unfurnished) We put the bed together which took hours... and the desk and...
How do parents do this with multiple kids?

Said goodbye without tears. Just blood and sweat.

2. Framed over forty pieces of art (not really framed... but glassed) and they look grrrrreat. Can't wait to hang them.

3. Got a date for my opening.

4. My latest dummy is in progress. This one is a blast and is working itself out well. Is interesting b/c I have to do the middle first to get all the characters set before I can put them in the opening page (Kind of like a play) Their physical appearance has to be established first. DId I mention how much I love structuring? I think it has become my new favorite thing (next to world building.)

And I can tinker with the nursery rhymes once I have the art going. They really work hand-in-hand.

I love this project... took me long enough to get it all set in my head... and on paper. It has lots of hooks, and I hope kids will find it extremely entertaining and engaging. As I write I have to be that kid who has to be entertained both visually and with sound of words. And out of all the dummies I have made, this one and three others make me the proudest.

5. I've got some new art samples. Yay... don't have a new postcard image though. I may go with an existing image I love.

6. I wrote up a press release. I should call it "I HATE TALKING ABOUT MYSELF". I know I've said that before. But my friend is helping me through it. And it will go out soon.

7. I sent out a few queries and have heard nada. What does that mean? It is a puzzlement.

(Anyway, it is supposed to be a beautiful Labor Day weekend... and I reckon I will be working on my dummy for part of it.)

Hospital Bloopers

(A friend sent me these recently)

I particularly like number six and number twenty-three. Enjoy!


>1. The patient refused autopsy.
>
>2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
>
>3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
>
>4. Note: patient here-recovering from forehead cut. Patient became very angry when given an enema by mistake.
>
>5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
>
>6. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
>
>7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
>
>8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
>
>9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
>
>10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
>
>11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
>
>12. She is numb from her toes down.
>
>13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.
>
>14. The skin was moist and dry.
>
>15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
>
>16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
>
>17.Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
>
>18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.
>
>19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
>
>20. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
>
>21. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
>
>22. Skin: somewhat pale but present
>
>23. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities
>

Plotting, framing and studying favorites

Blimey it is hot. Thank goodness for a few air-conditioned rooms.

My studio has AC so lately I am up there a lot. Comfort breeds productivity. Thick air breeds thick thinking and naps.

Today I framed six pieces (frameless glass as I have at least forty I need to do for the exhibit... can't go broke in the process.. they look great thanks to creative paper working on my part). Now to think about writing bits.

But I had a bit of a breakthrough on my nursery rhyme heavily-reliant-on-illustrations-to-text project. I reviewed Each Peach Pear Plum and The Jolly Postman (fantastic books) and others to give me a visual beginning and end, to tie up the sequence. (Another kind of framing perhaps?) Plus I love me my cast full of characters. Yes, in picture books. Always have. They need not be described. But they are referred to and do things I notice and go back to over and over again.)

This project is turning out to be more than I had planned but WTH... I intend to make it work... words and art. Why not. It may take a while but I think it will turn out well.. with patience.


Gettin' stuff done..........................

I got it down... all my characters and their worlds, and how the whole thing works!


Update as of early August: FINISHED first draft of 14 fractured and themed rhymes, got some illos done. FIgured out the approach, the introduction and the end. Got the characters and scenes... now to dummy! (This project has been simmering for over two years.)