I have always liked the whimsical way the Series of Unfortunate Events books started and two of them are on this list. Also on the list, Portland author and Willamette Writers member Laura Whitcomb's book A Certain Slant of Light, which I have a signed copy of and really enjoyed. And The Bible.

http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-best-100-opening-lines-from-books?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=RHSocialMedia

My daughter made a bouquet of chocolate dipped bacon roses for her boyfriend for valentine's day. (I helped!)

I noticed on twitter that zombie poetry is becoming a "thing". So I thought I'd post some of my own #zombiepoetry. I have kind of a mannequin fetish, so I did a little #mannequinpoetry too. You can see more if you go to my twitter: @marlaannbowie


Once upon a starry night
a zombie gave me quite a fright.
He chewed my arm, he ate my head.
Such is the life of the living dead.
___________________________________
My sweet, free that heart of thine,
so upon it I may dine.
And for dessert, it will do
that I will munch upon the rest of you.
___________________________________
Wander on the countryside
looking for a human hide.
Not to wear like Leatherface,
just to eat, at my own pace.

Being a former chef, the horror/irony of this not lost on me. (more horror than irony if you ask me)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/28/hans-rueffert-chef-stomach-cookbook_n_1011680.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C108265

I've been thinking about this for sometime and I think 2012 is the year to do it. I'm officially kid-fee now. At least in the day to day sense. I wouldn't exactly say I have more time on my hands, just less interruptions. So I'm going to go for it.

I'm going to try to read all the Newbery Medal winning books. I know I may not be able to get my hands on all of them, but I'm going to try. I believe the John Newbery Medal has been given out since the early 1920s. Some I've already read, so I can skip them.

Now if I was really ambitious, I would post a blog about the book after I've read it, saying what I thought of it. We'll see how that goes. I'm not a dedicated blogger.


If you want to see the list go to this website.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm

Tonight I got to spend time with my 80 year old father and my 91 year old aunt. My aunt, who will be 92 in December, cracks me up! Her humor is definitely not PC but she has such a sharp wit I can't help laughing.

Backing up:

Wed: I come home from work after a margarita with some work buddies. I'm supposed to make stuff for meals. Instead I'm trying to track down my youngest, wayward child and she refuses to return my calls. I waste a lot of time on this. I mean, it's not a waste, except for the fact that I'm spinning my wheels. A teenager that doesn't want to be found will not be found. I leave threatening messages about turning off her phone, etc. and finally get back to preparations for my trip. First on my list is chocolate chip cookies because I could use some chocolate and sugar about now. I finish all the laundry and do the dishes. I pack all my son's clothes because he now lives in Turlock with one or two outfits and I'm sure he's desperate for his full wardrobe. I can't even remember what my husband was doing but it was something useful, I'm pretty sure. We get to bed about 2:30 in the morning.

Thurs: My goal is for us to leave by 10:00 am, but when I wake up at eight, and I'm feeling close to death from too much working out and not enough sleep, I change that to noon. I drink coffee and make my husband a fried egg sandwich. I have a poached egg sandwich. We fix some cut up vegies, fruit and snacky type stuff. I throw a bunch of bottles of water in the freezer to get them nice and cold. Meanwhile my husband is tying my son's drum set to the top of the Kia. My husband was a boyscout, so everything he does is based on the motto of being prepared (for anything). Did you know it takes many, many hours to be prepared for anything. We don't leave the house until about 2:00 pm. We go get ice for the cooler and get on our way. Fifteen minutes later we are back out the house getting the bottled water out of the freezer. Just in the nick of time because the ice inside is starting to make the bottles puff out. We leave at 2:30ish. Finally on the road. Drums on the top of the car and everything in the world we could ever need on the trailer in the back. Just in case we encounter disaster.

Once we got to Lincoln City my husband took over driving. I don't care for driving over bridges so he drove most of the coastal hwy. I wanted to post pics of Yaquina Bay Bridge but I can't seem to get them on here so I'll put them on facebook.

We stopped in Gold Beach and took some fabulous sunset pictures. (unable to post those either) Sometime around midnight we pulled over and made the back of the Kia into a comfy bed and snoozed until about 8am. We headed south, making decent time considering my husband likes to stop and take pictures of everything. We listen to classic rock and sing about thunder rolling.

Guess what! By the time we got to Eureka we realized something was not right with the brakes, so we had to take the car into Les Schwab and get the brakes fixed. I friggin love it when that happens because I really wanted to spend my money on that when I'm on vacation! The nice thing is that my husband and I got to walk some trails while the car was in the shop. I got pictures of that, too. But can I post them here...no. I can't. I don't know if it user error or what. We ended up in a bay, a little smelly due to stagnation, but very, very tranquil. It was nice. Except for the fact that we came upon a little area that was obviously someone's living space I felt like I was intruding a bit. This included clothes (I saw a bustier and a nightgown among other things), an apparently abandoned tent,and beer cans. That part was gross, but we moved away quickly and found a nice fallen log to park our butts on.

Remember, we're now on Friday. So we picked up the car. For those who know me well, they know I possess a very special collection. Not my star trek collection, that's special too, but I'm speaking of my dead animal collection. Please don't get any preconcieved notions. It's purely scientific fascination. If you want to know a little more, I believe my very first post addresses this. Anyway, on our little trail walk we found a dead fox. Stiff, dried, nicely preserved and I couldn't take my eyes off those sharp claws and teeth. And the snakey, black dried up piece of tongue between the teeth. Yes, I'm strange. Some people collect shells, some people collect coins and stamps. I collect dead things. I have birds, cat skulls, beaver jaws,a bat my daughter give me and a full dried foot long rat (which my cousin found under floor boards and gave me for Xmas).(And much more) Now I have a full dried up fox. Les Schwab was kind enough to give me several tire bags to put it in to keep it contained until I can deal with it when I get home. Are you still with me? You think me mad?? lol. The really weird thing about it, is that when people find out that I have this interest, they literally volunteer to scrape up road kill for me. I've been given many dead animal gifts. Isn't that sweet! lol.

We're doing pretty good until we get to the Golden Gate. It was getting dark. And wow, the fog was thick. It went from sunny and hot to rainy and foggy in a matter of minutes. We went over the bridge - couldn't see it. And who knew that they only take cash for toll. No debit cards. Remember that if you're going into SF. We managed to get turned around and ended back on the bridge. We got in the lane to take "the last SF exit" off the bridge but IT WAS BLOCKED BY THE FRIGGEN POLICE. So we went back over the bridge. That was lovely. Really effing great. Luckily they waived the second toll. Wasn't that nice. About two hours later we made it to Redwood City.

Tomorrow: time with my family: 80 year old dad, 91 year old aunt and a bunch of other crazy relatives. Like my brother and sister.

bye!! I'm throwing myself into bed and falling asleep instantly! (sorry for the inconsistent verb tense but I'm too lazy to go back and change it - besides, I'm not writing a friggin novel here)

Among the top selling books this fall is Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Whimpy Kid: Cabin Fever". It's actually number one. The nice thing (in my opinion) is that as of now, it's only avaiable the old fashioned way: on paper between a front cover and a back cover. An article from Huffington Post begins:

"The books arriving this fall face a radically different market from just a year ago.

The Borders chain is going out of business, shutting down hundreds of stores, and millions more e-book devices have been sold. Some publishers say e-books are now 20 percent of overall sales or higher, more than double from 2010. Even J.K. Rowling has gone digital, and will soon offer e-editions of the "Harry Potter" books through her Pottermore website.

But the season's biggest selling title may be available only the old-fashioned way. "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever," the seventh of Jeff Kinney's series about the trials of schoolboy Greg Heffley, arrives in November with an announced first printing of over 6 million copies and, so far, no plans for an e-book."


To read more about it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/fall-books-preview-_n_936128.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl6%7Csec1_lnk3%7C89716

Because I write YA, I like to read as much YA as possible, especially anything award winning - such as CRISPIN The Cross of Lead by Avi (Newbery Medal winner of 2003)

I read these types of books for pleasure, but also to learn more about writing and what makes a book great. Avi is a great author to learn from.

I visited Avi's website: avi-writer.com

This quote was especially inspiring to me, not just for writing, but for life in general.

"Listen and watch the world around you. Try to understand why things happen. Don't be satisfied with answers others give you. Don't assume that because everyone believes a thing it is right or wrong. Reason things out for yourself. Work to get answers on your own. Understand why you believe things. Finally, write what you honestly feel, then learn from the criticism that will always come your way."

Which writer died from a bird dropping a turtle on his head? Which one from choking on the cap from a bottle of eye drops? And perhaps the most interesting....the one who predicted his own death by declaring "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it." He died of a heart attack the day after it returned.

Find out more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/13/weirdest-writer-deaths_n_918815.html#s322614&title=Tennessee_Williams

I have a weird mannequin fetish.

I saw this article about anorexic mannequins.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/gap-anorexic-mannequins_n_924771.html

Here's what they look like:








I actually have my own mannequin, named Sky. I'm proud to say she is a size 14. The size of the average women. (although because she's on a pole, she's very tall)




I've painted her face since. Go to my facebook pg to see.