hats

Last night I finished watching the BBC production North and South, which was excellent. Nobody does period pieces full of longing stares better than the BBC and I always end up getting totally sucked into them and find myself yelling things like "But you LOVE him!" or "But she LOVES you!" at the television and, um, maybe clapping in glee when everything ends in a satisfactory way.

Also, the lead actress in North and South, Daniela Denby-Ashe, looks *really* amazing in hats, which is a good thing since she seems to have one on about half of the time, and the most featured hat is this huge purple-ish thing that I wouldn't think anyone could carry off. But she does! (You can see pictures of her in the hat here)

Anyway, North and South has made me wish I could wear hats. But hats are a tricky thing (they are!) and I firmly believe that only some people can wear them. For instance, I had a friend in high school who looked adorable in any hat--I think she could have worn one made from newspapers and gotten away with it-- and sometimes she would wear a cloche hat , and I swear it made her look like a movie star from the 1920s. On the other hand, you have people like me, whose bodies seem to reject hats. (Seriously! The few times I've tried to wear a hat, I've put it on and poof! it springs up and teeters about on my head like it knows it doesn't belong there.)

And now I will take my hatless self off to work. (Note: I also don't have a handsome mill owner brooding over me. SIGH.)

my crazy dog

The first thing you have to know about my dog is that she's afraid of everything. The vacuum cleaner. Boxes. Her food bowl, when it's empty and not sitting in it's usual spot. I ask you, what kind of dog is afraid of her food bowl?

However, there is one thing my scared-cat dog isn't afraid of, and that's storms. We've had some monster ones over the weekend, including one where I was sure lightening was actually going to hit the house and there was so much hail it sounded like someone was outside flinging catapults of rocks around. I admit that I was a little nervous (What if hail breaks one of the windows? Why does the lightening and thunder seem to be lingering in our backyard?) and even my husband couldn't fall asleep (granted, it was because I kept asking him "Does that hail sound like it's inside the house?")

But the dog? She was lying on the bed licking her feet, completely oblivious to what was going on. Crashing thunder and lightening? Nothing! But bring in a tiny amazon box and she runs away. Go figure.

travel, or now I know to avoid gum

I recently took two trips back to back and now no longer need to do any of the following:

a. sleep on a sofa bed that slants downhill (seriously, it did, and let me tell you, it's a strange sensation to wake up and feel a bit like you're hanging upside down)

b. stop at a store that advertises the following: LIVE BAIT, AMMO, TRY OUR LUNCH SPECIAL

c. hear a new "advanced" smoke detector go off in the middle of the night. Especially when there is no smoke or fire. No one needs to hear a loud yet eerily calm female voice bellow "FIRE. YOU ARE IN DANGER. FIRE." when one is in the middle of a really great dream where you're sleeping in a bed that doesn't tilt your head down toward the floor.

d. step or sit on gum. Yes, I managed to do both, and within a two hour time frame! The gum on my shoe wasn't bad, but the gum on the back of my jeans was...well, you can guess.

b-a-n-a-n-a-s

There are many words I can't spell properly, as anyone who has read this blog for, oh, say, an entry, will have realized. For example, I never could figure out how to spell banana properly -- I always put in too many n's. But then Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" came along and took care of that problem for me. Not that I ever pictured myself finally learning how to spell banana via a song, but hey, it worked!

Now I just need someone to put out a song where definitely is spelled out in the chorus. And embarrassment. And privilege. I'd be set after that.

live! new! website!

My website is now officially open, and I have to say, I think it looks pretty good. (This is, of course, because I had nothing to do with actually making it!)

On the front/home/index/etc. page, my blog is mentioned and asks "curious to know what happens in the daily life and mind of a YA author?" which led me to think about what exactly it is I'm thinking about today.

So...

Things I Am Thinking About Today:

1. my new website (actually, when I think about it, it's more like "I have a website!!!!!!!!!!!")

2. why my dog must wake up at 6:30 every morning, and why she then feels it is necessary to come and sit on either me or my husband until we wake up.

3. you know what a real outrageous celebrity kid name would be? Bob. Or Jane.

4. The Devil's Playground (it's a documentary about Amish teenagers and the custom of rumspringa. (I watched it the other day, and it was very good)

5. What happened to Ann Brashares's novel The Girl of Lost Things? I would link to the amazon entry for it, but when I checked my email this morning I had a note from amazon explaining the title was 'unavailable.' I figured something was going on because I hadn't heard anyone talk about it at all (and you know a new Ann Brashares book would get mentioned!) but still! It's just disappeared!

6. now that I think about it, the title for Ann Brashares's disappearing novel is eerily accurate.

7. spellcheck is insisting I have spelled Brashares wrong. Is that true? (Nope, and drat you spellcheck, for making me doubt myself!)

article on high school security

Yesterday the Washington Post Magazine ran an article about security in high schools, spending a week with the head of a local high school security team. Changes in high schools in regards to security (security guards, presence of metal detectors, etc.) isn't something you often see in young adult novels (off the top of my head, the only one I can think of that does show this is Laurie Halse Anderson's excellent Prom) and I think the article provides an interesting look at concerns all schools (even ones in affluent areas) wrestle with.

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Week in the Life of a High School Security Guard by Michael Leary

things I love

Things I Love:

You know, it figures the one time I was completely ready to write a journal entry, blogger went all wonky. But then I remembered I could write an entry and post it when blogger came back up! (Which it now seems to have. Crossing my fingers that this works!)

So, things I love:

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) -- it's an awesome magazine for librarians who work with young adults, but it's a great magazine for anyone who writes or reads young adult books. There are only six issues a year, and I got the latest one yesterday. And of course, as soon as I'd finished reading it, I had a list of about six books that I am dying to read! I get a bunch of magazines dealing with young adult/children's books, and books in general, but VOYA runs lists of books that focus on certain topics (this issue it was religion) that introduce me to books I've never heard of and decide I have to read right away. Plus I love their reviews, not only because they are thorough, but because they have teens read the books too, and share their thoughts. And there are always interesting interviews and features. This month, my favorites were an interview with Jeremy Jackson, who writes ya novels as Alex Bradley, and a really great essay by Katherine Jeffrie Johnson, who writes dark and gripping novels (like The Parallel Universe of Liars and Target), that you are *so* worth reading. So, yes, I LOVE VOYA!

My friend Jess. All right, she isn't a thing, of course, and I hope she doesn't get mad at me for mentioning her, but I have to because she is such a great friend. About a month ago, I watched the movie Red Eye and LOVED it. I didn't think I would because I don't like horror movies and that's what I think of when I think 'Wes Craven' but Red Eye isn't a horror movie. It's a thriller, staring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, and it is phenomenal. The first hour, in particular, is mind-blowing. Anyway, I'd been asking everyone I knew if they'd seen it, and no one had, but Jess watched it, because she is AWESOME, and ended up loving it too! We had the best conversation last night about it (and summer television, and celebrity gossip and um, philosophy, so you guys don't think I'm totally shallow (!)) and Jess, if you do read this, you are fabulous, and I love you for putting up with my begging you to watch movies. And, you know everything else!

As a side note, let me just mention something I DON'T love:

Cleaning bathrooms. I have to go do that now (my life is so glamorous!) and let me tell you, I hate doing it. I know it has to be done, but man, would I love it if someone invented a self-cleaning bathroom.