Well here I am at 3:00 AM up with yet another upset stomach.....seems to be my way of dealing with things lately! Work has been tense and stressful...too much to do and too many annoying people!
Been knitting lots....two sweaters and blankets for the new girls to come and outfits for the girls here for their birthdays...blanket for Zack for college and finally getting back to Mark's blanket! Mark, you will have it by the time you need it, I promise! Also been knitting headbands and belts for various people....they are easy and mindless and finish up quickly. Every knitter needs short, long and future projects to work on....we are very dependent on our moods, we knitters. Short projects for when we need instant gradification, long projects to give you the pleasure of seeing a challenge well done, and future projects to look forward to. The challenge is to get to the future projects before the wool rots!
Been reading lots of books for 3rd gr-middle school for this committe that I am on. It is amazing what gets published. If you have ever thought of writting a children's/youth book, go for it.....seems like the publishing work has gone the way of the rest of the world...pandering to the lowest or most popular level. So get your computers going and watch TV for a few nights. Put it down in sentences that sort of follow the English grammer rules and you'll get published!
Speaking of reading....have I read the new Harry Potter book? No, but a young friend confirmed what I was sure happened at the end! In hero tales, something has to happen to force the reluctant hero to do what they have to do to suceed. In a longer series it usually means someone close to the hero has to die. If that person stayed alive, the hero would still be under their influence or care and they would never move on....kind of like being pushed out of the nest. That is why so many of the writers for children (see Susan Cooper esp.) feel that the hero tale is the one essential tale type that children should read, be read to, often. We all need to know, and the sooner the better, that we can go out overcome something, survive and come back to make the world we live in better. Fantasy puts that in the context of good vs. evil which enhances the message and gives children realistic hope. Yes, you may loose someone in the process, but it is because you and life must more forward. (guess what is my favorite type of literature!) I still want to read the lates Potter book because in good fantasy is not what happens, but how it happens. However, since I have to read 4 books a week for my committee I'll be lucky to get to it by the winter!
Better go to bed....have a bad day tomorrow....lots of hrs on the ref. desk, then home to make my place at least passable for Heather and anyone else who may stop by!
