Monday, August 30, 2010

I Gotta Feeling (Writers Mix Spoof)



This is a HILARIOUS video by writer Jen Hayley.  You can see more of her by visiting her website here.  Jen is a member of the vlogging group YA Rebels

Saturday, August 28, 2010

And the Award Goes To:

Answer: Share the Love
Question: What is?


A.  A bumper sticker adage plastered to the fender of a VW bus. 


B. Something your mother warned you about when she recalled those days of wanderlust and a man named Paul...


C. What led to the demise of Henry VIII


D. What I get to do as a recipient of the "ONE LOVELY BLOG" Award


*If you answered A-C, I applaud your imagination.  We should be friends.  Let's have tea shall we?


So, I get to pass on this award to FIFTEEN blogs that I have NEWLY discovered, that I think are lovely, (or as Eliza Doolittle says, loverly).  Again, a shout out to Virgin Sheets, the blog of Lisa M. Potts: she is the woman who granted me this fabulous award to begin with.  *bravo Lisa!*


And the award goes to: 
1. The English Teacher's Friend- the blog component of an INVALUABLE resource for teachers. You should check it out.  Oh, and did I mention Tamara is my crit partner? Yeah she's pretty much DA BOMB! 


The Founders of WriteOnCon: 
2. Literary Rambles- A forum for all things children's literature, hosted by Casey McCormick  (a plethora of information!) 


Monday, August 23, 2010

My first blog award, and an ANECDOTE!

A wonderful thank you goes out to the illustrious blogger Lisa M. Potts over at Virgin Sheets for giving me my very first BLOG AWARD!  How fabulous!  How tremendous!  *snacks on tea and crumpets, inspired by the lovely pictures on the "One Lovely Blog" award*


As a bonus, I get to pass this award on to 15 other blogs that I have recently discovered! (see below)


  1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
  2. Pay it forward to fifteen other blogs you have newly discovered.
  3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen. 
Now, as you all know, this is the beginning of school for me and I am a little swamped, so check back tomorrow for my list of blogs that I have deemed "LOVELY" enough to get this snazzy award. 

Before I go, I will leave you with an ANECDOTE OF AWESOME:
At the high school where I teach, our administration decided to have the second period class count as a sort of "homeroom" this year.  Since our mascot is the wolf, we are to call it our "Wolf Den" and our students in second period are our "Wolf Pups." We will go over things like dress code, code of conduct, business-y type things in second period.  I told my students that I was now their "Wolf Mom," and that this was a bit like Scouts, only... not. (Second period is one of my creative writing classes, I have to add). While I was explaining this, one student jumped up and said, "Can't we rename this? Like instead of the Wolf Den, can't we be the Wolf Assassins?"  Another student in the corner piped up, "Yeah, or just drop the wolf and be The Assassins, and you could be Mom Assassin!" 

And that is how I became the MOM ASSASSIN on my first day of school.  This is going to be a great year. I can feel it. 
Mom Assassin

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Bring me your tired, your poor, your teachers...

Children and their teacher at school in Chelse...Image via Wikipedia
How many hours have YOU wasted trying to create the perfect lesson?  You know the drill.  The school board is breathing down your neck with new regulations and mandates.  Your lesson templates MUST match the brand new benchmarks that are only slightly different from last year, but are numbered as such that you cannot copy and paste them AT ALL.  The state achievement test scores have been raised, and now it seems that the fate of the WORLD AS WE KNOW IT rests on your ability to get your students to pass that test! 


With all the red tape, political agendas, and paper trail BUSY WORK, even an idealist like me can get sucked into the quagmire of Educational Cynicism.  But, I'm here to tell you folks, THERE IS HOPE.  THERE IS A SOLUTION.  (And I'm not even getting paid to say any of this).




Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Impromptu Puppy Photo Shoot during WriteOnCon: Oh the unbearable cuteness!

"What?  You still don't know about WriteOnCon?" 
If you have not stopped by and gleaned words of wisdom from the WriteOnCon virtuosos, then stop staring at my adorable puppy and click here now to get up to speed. 


Okay. Now that is taken care of, we can get down to business.  While I was reading all the awesome posts and watching the hilarious and highly informative vlogs available on the WriteOnCon website; my Japanese Chin, Dandi, decided to jump into my chair and look cute. Well, I couldn't resist.  I had to cover her up in sheets, and then when she actually started falling asleep... 
THE IMPROMPTU PUPPY PHOTO SHOOT happened.  Don't worry.  I went right back to participating in the live chats and such later.  


So, for your viewing pleasure- here are some pictures of The Writing Master- because she enjoys WriteOnCon so much! AND SO SHOULD YOU! 


my little yoda







Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Awesomeness of WriteOnCon! A FREE online conference: ACT NOW!

logo copyright writeoncon 2010
TUES, AUG 10-THURS, AUG 12


It's FREE!


It's ONLINE, from the comfort of your OWN HOME! (read- you can wear your jammies)


It features a PANEL OF AWESOMENESS: 


1. Founded by these writerly ladies:  Jamie Harrington, Elana Johnson, Casey McCormick, Shannon Messenger, Lisa and Laura Roecker,  and Jennifer Stayrook


2. PARTICIPATING AGENTS/EDITORS:  Michelle Andelman, Regina Brooks, Catherine Drayton, Natalie M. Fischer, Mandy Hubbard,


Sunday, August 1, 2010

Author Jodi Meadows: Six things Stargate:SG1 taught me about writing


Witty and TRUE!  Click on the link below to see Jodi Meadow's original post from her live journal.


info from:  jodimeadows.com
 Meadows' THE NEWSOUL TRILOGY, beginning with ERIN INCARNATE, will be published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. ERIN ASUNDER and ERIN ETERNAL will follow.Read about the deal here.