Somethin' special for the new year

Do you know Bob Dotson? Not KNOW know him, I mean more like know of him. He travels the globe reporting for NBC about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Finding the people in the shadows and sharing their stories. If you're familiar with him, I don't have to tell you he's an incredible storyteller. But I just did anyway. The American Story titles his ever expanding story collection. There are countless ways I appreciate his journalistic contributions.
He's been known to compare stories to onions. The layers.
And he's also said, maybe on more than one occasion, "We are the result of the many hands that push us along, who help us do better than we think we can." I couldn't agree more. Well, I could but that would just be wrong.
One story in particular he told a couple of years ago focused on the life of a young man who seems especially remarkable, even today.

I have visions of collaboration and a prosperous new year....


http://www.sethchwast.com

Mmmmmmmm

Have I told you I secretly wish for my own book not only to be published, but also for it to be celebrated in cake form? It's true. But first book, then cake.

Until then, check out some other sweet favorites....

http://www.pbs.org/parents/booklights/archives/2009/06/books-good-enough-to-eat.html

A little something

I like to think of myself as hip and happenin'. In the know. With it. Unless it comes to movies. When cinema is involved, I'm behind the times I gotta admit. So many choices, so little time. Enter Netflix. Ahhhh, Netflix. Netflix is revolutionary. I share with you that piece of personal history because, without it, you would be forced to deem me a a real weirdo when I tell you I saw Akeelah and the Bee just the other day. Or four years late. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose when I saw it doesn't matter much. I just saw it. I expected it to be a sweet, heartfelt show perfect to share with kids, but I didn't expect it would speak to me as a writer. It was quite a nice surprise. Midway through, Akeelah recites these words from a passage hanging on a wall:

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Some refer to Ms. Williamson's words as a poem but I know them as an excerpt from her book
A Return to Love. However you come to know them though, they can't help but make you feel shiny.

psst....Philomel....over here....

I'm pooped. The annual scholastic book fair completed its week long run at my kids school today. Everyone there was very gracious to let me be in the mix of it all in the library for extended amounts of time (considering I ate my fair share of Krispy Kreme too). I took advantage of the time to watch and listen to kids and parents. What books they were looking for. What caught their eye. What didn't. What selections they made. It might have been borderline creepy had I been in a different environment. No one seemed to have issue enabling me though. I was thankful. At one point I swore I drifted off into a dream sequence of sorts - there I was standing before an entire display case of carefully arranged hardback copies of....Philomel, are you listening? I'm over here!

I AM A WRITER! (not a photographer)

Tis the captivating capital of the great state of Texas you see before you. It was host to the Texas Book Festival I recently dragged my family to one fabulous fall day not so long ago. That's the festival map out in front of the colossal building. I'd never been to the festival before so, like most other first-time stuff, I was a bit overwhelmed. The good kind of being overwhelmed though. So much to see and do. Author signings. Children's activities. Food. No parking. And bazillions of books. Yeeeessss. I had several brief moments when I considered meandering through the crowds and assuring the visitors (the sweet natured ones anyway) I would be back to sign a heaping stack of my own books very soon. No worries. Well, at the very least, just considering it all put a smile on my face. I decided in the end not to pester Nana and her two sisters. Back to work....

Max

Yep. That's a pumpkin. The kids' dining hall at school had a pumpkin decorating contest and a couple of brilliant moms and I got together and entered this guy for my 1st graders class. Sam my just-throw-somethin'-at-me-and-watch-me-go husband built the boat. Max is currently positioned a top the milk cooler in the dining hall (better known as "where the wild things are"). I'm normally not fond of mentioning pumpkins and fuzz in the same sentence but this is an exception. Sendak never ceases to inspire....

Check it Out

New contest....http://kidlit.com/kidlit-contest/