3 (squared) Favorite Book Covers

For the pulp factor:


Chick Lit Pink & Blue Combo:

(In fact, I stole "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" out of the lost and found box at Nava-Hopi Tours for its cover.)

Dazzled by the Golden Shine (you can't really tell except in real life):


My favorite part of "The Enchantress of Florence" was probably the cover. I never took off the dustcover because I liked it so much.

Randomly Good:


Thank you Lost in Books!

3 Books That You Loved As a Child

This week Lost in Books asked, "...what books did you love to read (or have read to you) over and over again? What made them so lovable to you?" Well it was hard for me to narrow it down to 3, so I settled on 4.

"The Indian in the Cupboard" by Lynne Reid Banks - I loved playing with miniature dolls and my dollhouse when I was a kid. In fact, I played with them until I was about 16! I loved this book because I loved the idea of my dolls coming to life too! "The Return of the Indian" was also good.

"The Mouse and the Motorcycle" series by Beverly Cleary - Not only did I want to communicate with my dolls, I also wanted my animals to talk to me! Can you tell I lived in a small town without brothers or sisters to play with? These stories tickled me because the boy and Ralph could communicate, and Ralph had a toy motorcycle he could ride and operate just by making motorcycle sounds.

"Little House on the Prairie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Although I don't wish I could have grown up in Laura's time, it was nice to live it through her stories.

"Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" series by Betty MacDonald - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle has a cure for any nasty habit. The whole series features Mrs. Piggle Wiggle helping children in absurd ways.

I lied. I can't just name 4! I can't leave "The Baby-sitter's Club" series by Ann M. Martin and "The Saddle Club" series by Bonnie Bryant off this list. I always thought it would be fun to have a club. Fast forward 20 years and I finally got a book club!

P.S. I found "Daydreaming" on We Heart It.

internet goodness

If you go to this website, The Owl Box, you can watch live video feed of a wild mama barn owl (aka Molly). She's had 2 eggs hatch already, plus her owl-husband (aka McGee) periodically brings her rabbits and other treats. So cool.

P.S. "Winter Owl, Spring Flowers" is by Dana Carlson.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur once again. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.

"Queer place, the moor!" said he.



* Just came across this picture from a few months ago. What a quote!

Blue!

It's Blue Friday at Poppytalk.
I'm looking forward to seeing my nephews this weekend! Hopefully tomorrow we'll also get to take Captain Skippyjon Jones for a walk along the Salt River, which is flowing like a real river.

P.S. "Butterfly Girl" is by AliceinParis.

purple

Today is Purple Thursday at Poppytalk, so I took this opportunity to photograph the vine that has been flowering like crazy in our backyard. It's just about come to the end of flowering time, and the bees aren't even that interested anymore, so I'm glad I got out there with my camera before it came to an end.

bright as yellow

Today is Yellow Wednesday of Spring Color/Colour Week at Poppytalk. I love yellow and I love riding my bike. I should ride it more.

"Hello Summer 3" is by cathynichols. Pretend it's called "Hello Spring 3."

3 Books That Take You Back to High School

Two challenges in one: green spring color for Poppytalk, and 3 Books That Take You Back to High School for Lost in Books.

1. Any and all books by Christopher Pike. I was crazy for Christopher Pike in high school! I remember one Christmas my parents bought me a ton of his books and I was in heaven. If I have to pick one specific title for list purposes, "Remember Me" stands out in my mind.

2. I was enraptured by the entire "Anne of Green Gables" series, which I was turned onto by one of my high school BFFs.

3. "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare - we read a different Shakespeare play every year in high school, and this one was my favorite. Now high school and Hamlet are synonymous in my mind.

P.S. "Green Books" is by Chris Cobb. And now I want to color code my books.

pink: it was love at first sight

Poppytalk is having another color week - this time for spring. Today's color is pink, which gave me the idea to finally post the creation of Corey's Valentine's present.
I started with an old t-shirt which had somehow gotten too small for me. It's significant because of where Corey and I met, and because of our first Valentine's Day with a puppy to love. As a result I didn't want to pass it on to Goodwill and decided to make it into a pillow for Corey.
First I cut out the front part of the t-shirt which would also be the front part of the pillow:

Then I sewed on some super soft rickrack because I love rickrack and I wanted it to look more crafty. Even though I measured 3 times with a ruler it still came out crooked:

Next I pinned the back of the t-shirt to the front inside out and sewed them together leaving a space for stuffing to go in:

I would recommend using smaller chunks of stuffing. I got impatient and used big clumps, which gave it a lumpy bumpy effect:

Isn't he a lucky guy?

OK Go's new video is rad.

None of this is digital! It's a real invention by Rube Goldberg.

3 Best Sidekicks to a Hero

Wikipedia's definition of sidekick: A sidekick is a stock character, a close companion who assists a partner in a superior position.

1. The Attorney in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" - a good sidekick can pull strings to help the hero out, and talk the hero down from his bad acid trip
2. Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings" - his devotion bordered on creepy at times
3. Jem in "To Kill a Mockingbird" - Scout would probably not have been so interesting without her brother

(I wanted to pick Ron and Hermione, but I include Harry Potter in almost every one of these lists, and the host, Lost in Books, already chose them anyways.)

P.S. The photo of Jules, one of my favorite movie sidekicks, came from ALLStar500 on deviantART.