Poetry. Yes, poetry.

I post a lot of my poetry here at GottaBook, and not just in April (although EVERY day in April!). It's a lot of fun writing and posting, and I want to make it as easy as possible for folks to read it. So, I started a mailing list (specifically a Google Group) to send out each poem I post as it hits the blog. You don't get the other blog posts... just poetry. And, of course, it's freeeeeee. There are two easy ways to get on the list:

Enter your email address in the box below and click subscribe.

Or...

Click here and e-mail me.

If you need a more complicated way, I'm sure I can find one. But for now, I hope these do the trick!

Carnival time is here once more....

Yes, it's time for the March Carnival of Children's Literature hosted over at the Reading Tub (where you should dive in and read any old time). I'd like to tell you I was too focused on poetry to participate this month, but it was probably more that March was a blur. Regardless, that's some mighty fine collected reading over there....

The Final Four

Yes, the NCAA tourney is down to the final four teams (all number one seeds, in fact), but I'm sorry to report that Little Big League didn't make it to the big show in the Major League Baseball movie madness event. Field of Dreams was in the same bracket, and, while the results of anything other than the final four are not available, I like to think LBL lost out in a squeaker to what was clearly the number one seed.

I'd also like to know what the heck the percentage numbers after each movie title means. But, then again, I'd also like to know the secret to folding fitted sheets all by oneself. I think my odds are better on the latter....

A Poetry Friday blast from the past!

I figured today was the right Friday to repost the poem that lead of last year's April extravaganza. Cuz really, April 1st is right around the corner, and you gotta get ready. So... as originally posted here...

APRIL FOOLS
by
Gregory K.

Someone took my toothpaste tube and filled it up with jam.
Someone changed my sandwich into fluffernut-and-ham.
Someone laced my sneakers so they tie down by my toes.
Someone changed the vacuum so it doesn't suck, it blows.
Someone poured the sugar out and filled the bowl with salt.
Someone messed up all the clocks and made it seem my fault.
For me today, I have to say, it's nervousness that rules....
Since all that happened yesterday and now it's April Fools'!


Go on and check out the poetry Friday roundup hosted over at Cuentesitos. You'll be glad you did! (And oh yeah... you can sign up to have all my poems, and really just the poems, e-mailed to you as they hit my blog. Look over on the sidebar for a SUBSCRIBE button or shoot me an e-mail, and I'll sign you up).

Out of left field....

A friend alerted me to a bit of my past today -- you can actually vote for Little Big League (which I wrote, ya see), in a Major League Baseball movie madness... uh... mashup with the NCAA bracket system? Yeah. Like that.

Click here to see what I mean.

Voting ends today (and note that you actually have to vote in every bracket to make your votes count). This is, indeed, a bit of an odd looking event, but I have to say it amused me no end to see LBL listed in the "Left Field" category....

One week....

That's all that's left until National Poetry Month (and Mathematics Awareness Month), and I'm busy scribing and poet-ing and all that good stuff. I've got the email list (subscribe over on my sidebar and get every poem (and only the poems) of mine as I post it to the blog). I've got a pile of discarded poems already. What's missing?

Only April! Bring it on, I say. Bring it on.

The floor is open....

Once again I'm asking for suggestions for future Oddaptations. I've got a few more raring to go, but I'm always trying to get the names of classics folks think should be... uh... abridged so sweetly :-)

Feel free to email or leave in comments or just say "YES!" when I post the book you were thinking....

No way....

You know how there's all those "100th day of school" books and the like? Well, I realized we're only a couple weeks away from the 100th day of 2008. ALREADY????

I find that startling. Oh, sure, I know... 16 more to go and that's a lot of time. But still... 84 days? Even that's gotta be a mistake.

Pizazz.

It's about to be time for the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight and Final Four over in NCAA basketball land, so I started thinking that maybe other big prizes need that same time of buildup to the final prize. Like maybe the Newbery Award should have seeds and public elimination rounds and cool nicknames for different brackets.

And then I realized that we'd need our own TV network and slogans, too ("The Road to the Fictional Four!"), and it starts to get kinda expensive and unwieldy. So maybe we should just hire cheerleaders and marching bands? A little pizazz could be could, don'tcha think?

Poetry. Did I mention poetry?

Elaine has this week's Poetry Friday roundup (which includes a link to her own faboo post of resources for National Poetry Month).

In case y'all haven't gathered this, I'm excited about the upcoming month (hence my talking about it and setting up a subscription list for my original poems. But the key thing to remember is that poetry happens all year long, and you don't need a month or a Friday to enjoy it. Right? Right!

Another way to skin the poetry cat.

Thanks for the interest in having my poetry mailed out to you. In response to a couple questions asked today... no, you don't have to go through the Subcribe feature if you'd rather click here and e-mail me and ask your way in. If you e and ask, I'll add you.

Options, I tell ya! Options.

Poetry in your inbox?

So, I know there are many folks who subscribe to various feeds of GottaBook. And I know there's many of you out there popping in on a regular basis. (And thanks!). But now I'm offering something new: you can subscribe to my new Google Group and get every poem I post on the blog emailed to you. Yup, just the poetry (including Oddaptations and also, I suppose, any hugely important announcements) but not the other blog posts. Hey, I still want you reading every day, but since I'm doing 30 original poems starting April 1st, I'd love to spread the poetic joy. So, I hope you'll sign up and tell your friends and enemies to sign up, too. And most of all... ENJOY!



Subscribe to Gregory K's GottaBook Poetry Group and get all his new poems mailed to you as they hit the blog.

Email:

The Blogging of the Green

Do you like what I did to my blog? Turning it all green for St. Patrick's day was a nice trick here at O'Gotta, and.... What? OK, sure, fine -- it's always been green.

Whatever. I was just trying to get into the spirit of things....

Speaking of which, does anyone have any great St. Patrick's Day picture books they're recommend? I drew a total blank when asked earlier this weekend....

Like a rolling cat in the hat?

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is over at jama rattigan's alphabet soup... and it's got a Bob Dylan slant to it. Lotta folks post and discuss their favorite Dylan songs and it's pretty fun to see. Now, I'm a big old Dylan fan myself, but I think my Dylan tribute, instead, will once again be "Dylan" singing... but the lyrics of Seuss. (Scroll down on the link, if needed)

Rocking!

Gearing up!

Yes, though you can't see behind the scenes (behind the screen?) at GottaBook, there's work being done on this end as National Poetry Month draws near. What 30 poems of the day will be on the blog? Will there even be 30 or will I fall short? And what other (if any) surprises should happen hereabouts in April?

It's busy, I tell ya! Bizzzzzeeeee. But that's good....

Parts of speech

Apparently, I didn't get the memo, but for reasons unknown to me, folks keep ending up at my blog today, searching for various parts of speech. Was today National Noun Day or something?

It'd be kinda fun to have Parts of Speech Days, I think. Past Participle Day would probably end up like Arbor Day -- unappreciated and rarely celebrated. But think of the fun with greeting cards on Interjection Day!

Those with a hotline to Hallmark, please get in touch.

Oddaptation: Horton Hears a Who

Seemed like a fine time for another Oddaptation to me, and since it is my blog... you get one! For those not familiar with my Oddaptations, you can see them all collected over on the right (cleverly under the headline "The Oddaptations"). Or if you don't want to read others, just think of them as kinda Cliff's Notes/Spark notes of picture books... but with some attitude (and rhyme) thrown in. So with no further ado...


HORTON HEARS A WHO
by Dr. Seuss
Oddaptation by Gregory K.

Every Who down in Who-ville liked Horton a lot,
But a sour kangaroo and some monkeys did NOT!
They all hated Horton, who claimed there were houses
And Whos on some dust that was too small for mouses.

So they hatched an idea.
An awful idea.
Those beasts hatched a wonderful, awful idea.

They stole the Who dust speck! They stole Horton’s clover!
When Horton re-found it, his troubles weren’t over.
Before Horton knew it, the beasts had him bound!
The Whos knew that soon they would surely be drowned!
They had to be noticed. They HAD to make noise.
‘Twas no time for shirking or playing with toys.

Then when every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was ruckusing (without any presents at all),
The beasts heard a sound rising out of the speck --
A final, clear “yopp” had saved every Who neck!

And what happened then? Well, in Who-ville they say
They gained a whole lot of protectors that day
And learned that if every last person unites
You’re probably gonna win most of your fights.
But otherwise know as you bellow and bawl...
You’re only one person, no matter how small.



It's also Poetry Friday and the links are up over at The Simple and the Ordinary. Go on and check it all out.

Another birthday come and gone...

But not mine! It was once again Dr. Seuss' birthday and celebrations seemed to be going on in many different places. It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I'm a pretty sizable Seuss fan, so I've used his b-day as an excuse to read, read-aloud, and study Seuss, trying to continue figuring out just what makes so many of his stories so faboo. Good times. Good times, indeed.

Journey to the Edge...

The Edge of the Forest, that is -- the February issue is up, and even though it's March now, it's mighty fine reading. Go on... check it out.

Tagged. And lazy???

King of Pond Scum Alan Silberberg tagged me with a "5 Things about Me" meme. I told him I'd do it since I couldn't remember if I'd ever done it... and it seemhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifed doable. I woke up this morning and thought "hey, wait! I shouldn't have eaten that last piece of pie. AND I'm sure I did this meme." So, Alan -- I up you by 60% and replay my reply to the EIGHT things about me meme (with three changes to the eight for the alert/obsessed/daily readers among you)....

1) There's an X-Files character who shares my name.

2) I have held an Oscar. It was heavy!

3) If they were healthier, I'd eat ribs a lot more. Even still, I'm always on the hunt for great rib shacks (and LA has a lot!).

4) I have a copy of Winnie the Pooh in Esperanto. At one point in time I was convinced I'd learn Esperanto. Then... uh... I don't remember what happened, but I can safely say it's never been a problem that I'm not fluent.

5) I'm allergic to cats, and they, of course, love me. There are certain people that enjoy placing me with cats, anyway, because when I'm around felines too long, I lose my voice!

6) Every year, I attempt to decaffeinate for two weeks. Please note the word "attempt."

7) At one point in my life, I could do the Rubik's cube in under 15 seconds. Now, I could probably do it in under 15 days, but I make no promises.

8) I have never met a Game Seven of a best of seven sporting event that I didn't like. Team Handball, Albania vs. Malta, Game Seven??? Let's make popcorn!


Now, as is tradition around here, every single one of you is tagged. Go on. Tell us things.

End your weekend at a carnival....

Leap Day was also the coming out of the latest Carnival of Children's Literature. Sure, it's been up for two days, but you should still run on over to Anasatasia's blog and check it out (even though I failed, again, to get my act in gear and get a post in there!).