And a happy new year to you, too!

Ahh, well. The best laid blogging plans have gone agley, and this is all I'm gonna slap up before 2008. So... may you all have a wonderful, happy, safe New Year's Eve, and I'll be seeing you around these parts next year!

Twas the Blog Before Christmas...

I should probably save that title 'til I have a post that's more of the "Twas the blog before Christmas and all 'round the Net...." variety, but I suspect I can re-use it if I get there. It's definitely sparse posting time around these parts, and while I expect to get a few things up before the new year, if I fail (and even if I succeed), I just wanted to thank y'all for hanging around for this year o' blogging fun... and I look forward to more fun and games in 2008.

The Christmas Fib -- a Christmas poem

The Christmas Fib
by
Gregory K.

Who?
Me?
Naughty??
I was nice...
Some days more than twice!
Please, Santa -- check that list again.


If you want to get all my poems emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Tis the season!

And me with a $25 gift certificate at a bookstore.

So... what should I buy myself?

Piles and piles of...

Egads! I'm not even sure what they all are. I've got piles of books and papers and notes and poems and mail and all of them screaming for me to take a day off and deal with them.

But I'd rather write.

The question, of course, is what this says about me... or about my office. And if those two have any bearing on each other.

Hmmm. I think I'll jot a note to figure that out... the put it in a pile!

Done did read

I believe I've done my last read-aloud of the year. Quite a good time, indeed, including late appearances by the Stupids as well as the sure-fire hit, The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups (as usual, greeted with applause. Go figure!).

I need to spend some time poring through the end of the year lists to gather new books for next year. I'm gonna take a hiatus, I'm sure, but I admit it: I'm addicted. Looking forward to digging in and seeing what I come up with... and, as always, am open for suggestions on sure fire winners.

Food, glorious food....

Looking back at this weekend, I am 99% sure that the only thing I did was eat. Is that so bad? I view it as 'research' since I do write a lot of food related poetry. And, as some of you may recall, I am on a quest to find my favorite dessert. I'd note that a well frosted chocolate cupcake is a good thing, but it has failed to earn a place on the overall top five. But this weekend? It was a very satisfying number one!

If I keep up the weekend pace, by the way, y'all can roll me around next year....

Seasonally poetic

I'm afraid I'm not, actually. The day swirled around (oooooh, like snow!!), and I ended up with a blank page (ooooh! like a yard covered in snow!!!). Luckily... there are a lot of seasonal poems (and much more) in this week's Poetry Friday roundup. Then, once you've rounded, why not stay at this week's host blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect? It's one of my faves, and I bet it'll be one of yours, too....

Holiday lull...

I blame my lax blogging on all the time spent on Holiday stuff instead. Mind you, I can't actually account for any of that time SPECIFICALLY, but it just stands to figure, don't you think?

Anyway, I suspect I'll be scarcer through the end of the year. Not disappearing, but definitely quieter. But don't panic. I still have a poem promised this month and other stuff I'm sure I simply gotta say.

But for now... I gotta book!

Opening lines....

Tomorrow night, a bunch of us writer types are gonna be talking about great opening lines (and paragraphs and even pages) of wonderful children's books... and why those openings are so good and important.

So I ask you... got any favorite openings?

In no particular order for me, here are five of the first that popped into my head....

How the Grinch Stole Christmas -- Dr. Seuss
Millicent Min, Girl Genius -- Lisa Yee
Frindle -- Andrew Clements
The Phantom Tollbooth -- Norton Juster
Absolutely, Positively Not -- David LaRochelle


And you? No worries if you're after "tomorrow night" time. I'd still love to hear....

On the hunt...

For Manga and graphic novels that reallllly work for an elementary school library. From Johnny Mutton and Baby Mouse on up, I know there's great stuff... but I don't know enough!

I've got the Cybils' lists and a few other online resources, but if any of y'all know a great site, do let me know.

Then, of course, there's the budget issue, but I'll deal with that later. Everyone needs a wish list, right?

Oddaptation: The Cat in the Hat

After quite a layoff, it's the return of the Oddaptations. For those who aren't familiar with exactly what an Oddaptation is, you can look over to the right and click on links (helpfully collected under "The Oddaptations" headline), or you can check this post. But briefly, think Spark Notes/Cliff Notes of a picture book... but with attitude.

And really, come to think of it, that's probably all you need to know so you can understand that I'm not picking a fight with the Cat. But an Oddapter's gotta do what an Oddapter's gotta do....


THE CAT IN THE HAT
by Dr. Seuss
Oddaptation by Gregory K.

Two kids, both quite young, alone at home sat
And let in a stranger -- a tall, talking cat.
The fish in his pot cried, “he can’t be about!”
But the Cat in the Hat just would not be kicked out.
Instead he played “games,” and he showed the kids “Things,”
And left a huge mess that was worthy of kings.
But the Cat then came back (on the very same day)
Cuz he always puts all of his playthings away.
Still he left those two youngsters quite troubled, it’s true,
Since you know they’ll now lie to their mom. Wouldn’t you?


(And hey, this week's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Becky's Book Reviews. Go spend some time being poetic and read some reviews, too!)

About that whole strike thing...

The multi-talented Tina Nichols Coury has posted an interview she did with me about the Writers Guild strike. As I said, this blog won't be a hub of strike talk, but it is safe to say that 1) the issues are important for everyone creating any sort of content and 2) the strike is a daily issue in my life.

So... go on over and read for yourself. Then be sure to poke around Tina's blog for other interviews, nuggets o' wisdom, laughs, and pictures. Good times!

You don't see that every day....

Well, maybe YOU do, but I don't. And what did I see?

Let me set the scene a bit. It's Hanukkah, and here in LA (and I assume other places) there are folks who drive around with an oversize electric menorah strapped onto the roof of their car/suv/whatever. So, with that in mind, early this morning while driving, I saw parked in a row...

Three identical Mini Cooper's with menorahs atop.

Personally, I don't think you see that every day, either.

By the way, any editor reading this who would like to discuss my story "Manny, the Mini's Menorah Maker" please feel free to email...

Genius out in the world...

Well, there's little I can say about this video that will make it any better than it is. So...

The Vegetable Orchestra


(Yes, I know I could figure out how to embed that youtube video here. But I didn't. Just trust me it's worth clicking.)

A new goal!

Yes, have a new goal for myself. An odd one, sure, but what the heck. See, today I was wearing a Marvin the Martian t-shirt and was at a store where the young clerk said "wow. that's my favorite character." I admit I was a bit dubious, but he rolled up his shirtsleeve and showed me a tatoo of Marvin! Whoa. So my new goal? Create a character that someone tatoos upon themself. Gonna be up to a brilliant illustrator to craft the image, but the character? Sure!

Hey, you gotta aim high and quirky, I always say....

Carving (an hour, not a turkey)

So, today I carved an hour out of the rest of the day to go blog-hopping. Not just look at my feeds or pop to a two favorites, but to actually jump out and dive into different blogs in full... to follow links to new places... to do what I used to do on a regular basis!

Good times. My advice? Take an hour and do the same. Feel free to start with your faves or just go to my blogroll and start a-clicking. A great variety of voices, thoughts, ideas, and nearly infinite amounts on The Golden Compass controversy, book, and movie. What's not to like?

Yet another reason we need the 25 hour day....