"Never Use a Paperclip . . ."

Hey, there. I'm deep in revisions, so if you think I'm ignoring this blog, you're right. I get to a certain point in the heavy lifting where I become completely obsessed, and do nothing but write and eat soup (or cereal.)

Meanwhile, if you'd like something more interesting to read, check out my new teacher's guide for Operation Yes, written by talented teacher and former military kid, Natalie Lorenzi. You can can download it here or use the link in this blog's side bar or try viewing it at my new teachers page at the Operation Yes site. (If you have any ideas for items to add to that teachers page, please let me know.)

Here's a sneak preview of two of the fun imrov activities that Natalie created for the guide:

FLYING FARMER:  

In the spirit of the Flying Farmer, set up an obstacle course with students, chairs, tables, and low objects (such as blocks) on the floor.

One student is the Flying Farmer and must make it from one side of the stage to another while blindfolded. (You may use two X’s formed with tape on the floor for starting and ending points.)

An “air traffic controller” gives directions. If the pilot brushes or touches an object more than twice, the airplane goes down and the game starts over. You can set a time limit when the airplane will “run out of fuel.”

GOOD ADVICE:

Miss Loupe’s new 6th grade students could use some advice from Bo, Gari, and the rest of the Ugly Couch Players.

Brainstorm a list of “school” words—school supplies, teachers, objects found in school etc. Write the names of each object on an index card, and put the cards in a bag. Students go to the front of the class in pairs and draw one card each from the bag. Each pair must offer a one-line pearl of wisdom for next year’s students.

Rules:
1. One student begins the sentence, using the word on the card he or she drew from the bag.

2. The second student must complete the sentence using the other word drawn from the bag. The advice may be wacky, but it must make grammatical sense.

Example: If the following words are drawn from the bag: paper clip, water fountain... Student 1 might begin with: “Never use a paper clip...”

and Student 2 might finish: “...to fish your gum out of the drain in the water fountain.”

Hey! I thought of a good one: Never use a paperclip. . . . to eat soup.

See you guys on Poetry Friday!

Paul is running a marathon; I'm (maybe) doing pushups (if you'll come to my book signing)

First, a big shout out to Paul McCollom, who is running the Marine Corps marathon today to benefit the Fisher House Foundation.  As he says, he hopes the spectacle of his 61-year-old self hobbling across the finish line causes people to find out more about Fisher Houses, which provide housing for military families so they can be close to their wounded loved ones as they recover.  His fundraising page is here.

Second, a blanket invitation to all of you (and your friends) to come see me at the fabulous indie book store, Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, VA on Sunday, Nov. 8th at 1:00.  I'll be signing OPERATION YES, doing a reading, and perhaps demonstrating a few Miss Loupe style moves such as pushups. :)

For each book sold at this event, I'm donating $1.00 to Musicorps, which is another Fisher House program which helps wounded warriors recover through music.  I blogged about it at my Operation Yes site, beginning with:

How do you keep playing drums when the limb you use to operate the foot pedal is missing?  What if you have an artificial hand---can you learn to play the piano? If you were hit by a bomb and lost your leg, would you think to write a rap song for your son?  Read the rest of the post here.


If you want to support this great cause, but can't make it in person to the book signing, Hooray for Books will take your order over the phone: (703) 548-4092. Be sure to tell them how you'd like your copies personalized, and I'll sign them when I'm in the store on Nov. 8th. You can pick them up later in store (if you're local) or have Hooray for Books mail them to you for a flat fee.


Thank you so much for your support. We all lean on each other, and I'm grateful for each of you.

Poetry Friday: Banana Pudding

Sometimes, you get lucky. This morning, in the mood for not-so-serious poetry, I googled "banana pudding poem."   My search returned a link to a lovely villanelle, not at all about dessert, but the end of summer. The reason it was drawn into my Google net was because the poet, Karin Gustafson, compared the making of this layered form of poetry to the banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery in New York City, the very place I ordered pudding from to celebrate the launch of Operation Yes. (You can find the recipe for it here.)

I would've savored this coincidence and moved on, except that the villanelle itself shimmers with images and leaves me wondering if all things are as deeply connected as Google search and the interlocking layers of both villanelles and banana pudding would have us believe.



Swimming in Summer
by Karin Gustafson


Our palms grew pale as paws in northern climes
as water soaked right through our outer skin.
In summers past, how brightly water shines,

its surface sparked by countless solar mimes,
an aurora only fragmented by limb.
Our palms grew pale as paws in northern climes

as we played hide and seek with sunken dimes,
diving beneath the waves of echoed din;
in summers past, how brightly water shines.

Read the rest here

Poetry Friday is hosted today by its founder, Kelly Herold, at Big A, Little a