Words on Wednesday: Fresh Cliches

Tired of the same old cliches day in, day out?

Now you can do something about it.

Over at Defective Yeti, Matthew is asking you to jump on the bandwagon and put your two cents into the Cliche Rotation Project. Though he might prefer you dive into the moshpit and throw your AmEx Platinum card in.

Check it out. After all, maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. [Insert witty new cliche here.]

via Motherreader

Tanga Puzzles: January 29 - February 4

Here are the daily clues for the Tanga puzzles this week. To see the hint, highlight the space to the right of the date.

I don't give away answers here, just a small hint each day to help get you started or past a rough patch. If you want stronger hints, you can check the blog on the Tanga site itself, which is chock full of spoilers.

While I avoid giving away the answers on this page, be warned that there may be spoilers in the comments to this post, so open those with care.

Good luck!

January 29: I had so much trouble with this puzzle it made me want to fold on several occasions.

January 30: The picture at top is key.

January 31: Tough one to hint without giving it away. Don't worry about the meaning of the words, but every word counts.

February 1: I just kept thinking of that 1971 James Caan and Billy Dee Williams movie.

February 2: Oh brother, a couple of these were tough to work out but the directions were pretty clear.

February 3: It helps to open up a clearer version of the table. The highest number you'll find is 26, which is important but not for the reason that might first spring to mind. I found myself swearing *&! as I struggled through this, but in the end, this puzzle hit the spot.

February 4: And this one reminds me of the gatekeeper in the Wizard of Oz.

Lives in Letters: Audience with the Pope

Here's another postcard sent to my great-great Aunt Jean, but this one about 40 years later than the one I showed last week. Aunt Jean was still a live-in nanny, and was spending the summer with her "family" up in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her friends and coworkers, meanwhile, were travelling to slightly more exotic places.

Postcard
Guardia Suizzera
Citta del Vaticano
August, 1954



Addressed to
Miss Jean F-
Porcupine House
Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.A

Dear Jeannie,
This is the Swiss
guard at St. Peters.
We had a private
audience with
the Pope this
morning which
was very exciting.
I'm having a
terrific time and
am going to
Capri tomorrow.
Give my best to Evaline
+ the cook.
Love
Loy

Notes:

I've seen the Swiss Guard at St. Peter's a few times, and they're always dressed like this. Here are some things you might not know about the Swiss Guard, courtesy of wikipedia.

• They are mercenaries.
• In 1927, the Swiss outlawed the use of Swiss soldiers in any foreign armies, however the Papal Swiss Guard was left as the exception.
• Members of the Swiss Guard must be Catholic, single, age 19 to 30 upon joining, and at least 5 ft 9. They serve from 2 to 25 years.
• 2006 was the 500th anniversary of the Swiss Guard.
• The uniform of the Swiss Guard was designed in 1914. The colors represent a blending of the family colors of Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X.
• They are not to be messed with. They may look cute and even a bit silly, but they are well trained soldiers who will take you down if need be.
• When sworn in, the Swiss Guard take the following oath (translated from German):

I swear to faithfully, honestly and honorably serve the reigning Pope [name of Pope] and his legitimate successors, and to dedicate myself to them with all my strength, ready to sacrifice, should it become necessary, even my own life for them. I likewise assume this promise toward the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals during the period of the Sede Vacante of the Apostolic See. Furthermore, I pledge to the Commandant and to my other superiors respect, fidelity, and obedience. I swear to abide by all the requirements attendant to the dignity of my rank.

I don't know much about getting a private audience with the Pope, aka the Bishop of Rome, aka the Vicar of Christ, aka the Supreme Pontiff, but never never never never aka Peter. Popes are not allowed to choose the name Peter. I do know that.

Did you know that the youngest man to become Pope was only 18 years old? That the shortest reign as Pope was less than 2 weeks?

Did you know the Vatican has a website? Oh yeah, Pope Benedict XVI waving at you from a site that looks like it's straight out of a Dan Brown book. Now I ask you, if you saw a link on that site called "Vatican Secret Archives," wouldn't you just HAVE to click on it? But while it was loading, would you suddenly think, "Hey, how secret can these archives be? Hey... waitaminute!"

I wonder how Capri was. I wonder if Jean ever gave Loy's "best" to Evaline and the cook.

I think Aunt Jean traveled back to Scotland (where she was born) at one point, but I don't know that she did much travelling beside that. I wonder.

Holes ... in Your Pants!

Brooke over at the Brookeshelf pointed me to John Green's In Your Pants book-title game. Take any book title (we're using children's books tonight) and add "In Your Pants" to the end. It's like the fortune cookie game, with a twist.

Brooke's got a few great suggestions here, and I've added a few to the comments on that post. My favorites that I've thought up so far are below, but feel free to add more suggestions!

Holes in Your Pants (Louis Sachar)

A Wind in the Door in Your Pants (Madeleine L'Engle)

Emily Climbs in Your Pants (L. M. Montgomery)

Quote of the Day, 1/28/07: Barrie

A few quotes tonight from J. M. Barrie, my long-distant cousin.

The best of our fiction is by novelists who allow that it is as good as they can give, and the worst by novelists who maintain that they could do much better if only the public would let them.
...

Love is not blind; it is an extra eye, which shows us what is most worthy of regard.
...

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
...

We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it.
...

All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.

Creative Writing: No Words

Just something small today that has been stuck in my head this week.

No words. No words.

Farewell the magic.

I am undone at last.

This grieving, long anticipated,
Has come on fast.
And I am weighted
Down with things tragic
And absurd.

Why, oh Why, Do You Do It?

Blog, that is.

Here's a short and interesting survey about blogging. Well, it was interesting for me because my answers were both cerebral and pithy. What can I say? I fascinate myself.

Anyhow... if you take the survey, you'll be entered into a drawing to win an iPod Shuffle.

I bet your answers will interest you too.

A Little Poetry for You: Yeats

Susan's got the round-up today over at Chicken Spaghetti.

For Poetry Friday, I offer this from Yeats. It is both simple and lovely. Easy to understand and yet not simplistic. And now that I've listened to the audio clips below, I can imagine how Yeats might read this poem himself.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
William Butler Yeats

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Want to hear Yeats' thoughts on how hard it is to get his ideas into poetry? Here's a short audio on that topic. Pretty funny and just a little self-righteous.

Here is a brief lecture Yeats gave on the BBC in 1936, in which he talks about Edith Sitwell and T. S. Eliot, war and modernism. It's interesting to hear how Yeats spoke. Good stuff.

Quote of the Day, 1/26/07: Yeats

To go along with the poem I posted for Poetry Friday, here are some more words from William Butler Yeats.

I think it better that at times like these [war]
A poet's mouth be silent, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right.
...

We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but out of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.
...

Even when the poet seems most himself…he is never the bundle of accident and incoherence that sits down to breakfast; he has been reborn as an idea, something intended, complete.
...

We…are no petty people. We are one of the great stocks of Europe. We are the people of Burke; we are the people of Swift, the people of Emmet, the people of Parnell. We have created most of the modern literature of this country. We have created the best of its political intelligence.
...

Think like a wise man but express yourself like the common people.
...

It's not a writer's business to hold opinions.

Behind the Scenes with Bloggers

Over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Jules and Eisha have started a great series of interviews with various bloggers around the kid-lit blogging world. The cool important bloggers. The ones you'd stalk if only you knew where they lived.

Here's what you can find so far (with plenty more to follow!):

Jules and Eisha from Seven Impossible Things

Liz from A Chair , a Fireplace & a Tea Cozy

Fuse from A Fuse # 8 Production

Cybils Musings

Tonight I finished the 5th of the nominated books for the Cybils YA fiction category. I'm elated and sad and antsy -- itching for discussion with my fellow judges and wishing I could gush to you about the quality of the books I've read. (I'm being purposely quiet about the specifics of any one book.)

I will say this -- I studied children's literature for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees, and I've maintained a passion for the field ever since. When I started this blog, it was the most natural thing in the world for me to gravitate into the world of bloggers who are also passionate about kid's books (from picture books to poetry to YA...). I've learned a lot from this blogging community in the past 6 months.

But this experience, these last few weeks of reading, has added a dimension to my thinking about children's books. It's reinvigorated my appreciation for what children's books (and YA books) can be at their very best. I'm looking forward to the chance to tell people about these books, and to continue my own immersion in today's world of children's literature.

Words on Wednesday: A Reminder About Tanga

If you're in the mood for a good word challenge, or if you're a puzzle-lover in general, may I offer this reminder about Tanga?

The January 24 puzzle was very good for wordies. It took me way too long to have my AHA moment, but it turned out to be worth it.

You do have to sign up to see the puzzles now. But there's no cost to that, so it seems worth it.

As another reminder, I post a clue every night about the daily Tanga puzzle, so you don't have to go it alone. Plus there are a couple of decent chat resources for when you get really stuck and just want someone to give you the stinkin' answer already.

Newbery and Other Fine Awards

The ALA Awards (including the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and other cool awards) were announced and the winners can be found here.

I'm pleased that I've read some of the honorees. Still some catching up to do it seems, but not as bad as I feared.

Don't Let the BedBlogs Bite

Okay, my buddy Fran sent me this link, and at first glance I thought, huh?

Then I scrolled down and thought, oooh.

At least this way, if I fell asleep in the middle of posting, I wouldn't land face-first on my keyboard. Right?

Lives in Letters: That Great Ship

My aunt sent me a bunch of postcards which arrived this weekend. Here's my favorite of them:

Postcard
Jesmond Dene Waterfall
Newcastle, England
April 23, 1912

Addressed to
Miss J. F-
c/o Mrs. Chas. G-
Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.

Message written on front:

Did you get my letter All safe. What a disaster befell that
great ship! Only topic of conversation.

Message on back:

Dear Jean, What do you
think of this one. I shall
send you coloured ones
also. This is a lovely
spot in summer time.
The weather here has
been lovely for three
days. Hope you are having
better weather also.
Chick

Notes:

This was addressed to my great-great Aunt Jean, who emigrated from Scotland in about 1906. She went to work as a live-in nanny, and continued at that job (with various employers) for a long, long time. This postcard was sent in the care of Mrs. G because Aunt Jean was in her employ at the time.

.

While a live-in nanny, my aunt was savvy enough to pick up investment tips from at least one boss. Go Aunt Jean!
.

Aunt Jean got a lot of postcards from all over the world. Some were from family (nephews), but most were from friends or coworkers.

.

This one had a few points of interest for me. First, I love that it was signed "Chick." I don't know why it continues to surprise me that people used great nicknames back in 1912, but I can't seem to get over it.

.

I also love the black-and-white photo on the front. I'm not sure how well you'll be able to make it out on the screen, but it is a beautiful scene of a waterfall and pool, and I hope that little part of the world looks the same today.

.

But the real reason I love this postcard is for the little message on the front. "All safe. What a disaster befell that great ship." In April of 1912, that can only mean the Titanic. Here is an American travelling in England, just days after the Titanic has gone down, with about 1,500 dead. The greatest peace-time tragedy to that point. How amazing to see such a big event in history through 9 words scribbled on the front of a postcard. "All safe. What a disaster befell that great ship."

.

You can read about the Titanic here.

Tanga Puzzles: January 22 - January 28

Here are the daily clues for the Tanga puzzles this week. To see the hint, highlight the space to the right of the date.

I don't give away answers here, just a small hint each day to help get you started or past a rough patch. If you want stronger hints, you can check the blog on the Tanga site itself, which is chock full of spoilers.

While I avoid giving away the answers on this page, be warned that there may be spoilers in the comments to this post, so open those with care.

Good luck!

January 22: Dammit, I'm mad. Should have seen this one faster. After all, a Toyota's a Toyota.

January 23: Wow, I got it because someone told me the answer. All I can say is, if you reflect all the letters, you might be able to come 10 letters that make no sense. Then if you remove "ALL SMOKE" from that, you'll have 5 letters that can be anagrammed to the answer.

January 24: Another tough one, but once it clicks it's really quite good. Go for the obvious answers and fill in the grid as indicated. But remember, sometimes one thing can have two purposes. I'm glad I solved this one. Sometimes I feel like Tanga eats away at me.

January 25: Nicely done. Those are blenders in the background. Keep in mind what happens if the lid isn't on tight. (Oh, and if the puzzle still isn't showing the image, use this link.)

January 26: Don't count on much help from me. This is all I got: One, look at the words one at a time. Two, don't worry if there's a gap.

January 27: I'm Numb from Musing over this one. Oh, and Alphabetical order matters at some point here.

January 28: I was confused when my first letters didn't make a word.

Quote of the Day, 1/22/07: Hammett

As soon as I sat down to get my quotes today, the name Dashiell Hammett popped into my head. No idea why, but I'm going with it.

Who shot him? I asked.
.
The grey man scratched the back of his neck and said: Somebody with a gun.
...

The truth is you don't like the theater except the times when you're in a room by yourself putting the play on paper.
...

After a fraction of a year in high school- Baltimore Polytechnic Institute—I became the unsatisfactory and unsatisfied employee of various railroads, stock brokers, machine manufacturers, canners, and the like. Usually I was fired.
.
An enigmatic want-ad took me into the employ of Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, and I stuck at that until early 1922, when I chucked it to see what I could do with fiction writing.
...

Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller v. His yellow-grey eyes were horizontal. The v motif was picked up again by his thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down -- from high flat temples -- in a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond satan.
...

Dorothy patted the dog's head and left us.
.
We found a table. Nora said: "She's pretty."
.
"If you like them like that."
.
She grinned at me. "You got types?"
.
"Only you, darling -- lanky brunettes with wicked jaws."
.
"And how about the red-head you wandered off with at the Quinns' last night?"
.
"That's silly," I said. "She just wanted to show me some French etchings."

Quote of the Day, 1/21/07: Chaplin

From Wikipedia: Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr. KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977), better known as Charlie Chaplin, was an English comedy actor, becoming one of the most famous performers in the early to mid Hollywood cinema era, and also a notable director. He is considered to be one of the finest mimes and clowns caught on film and his influence on performers in these fields is great.

From Charlie Chaplin:

A day without laughter is a day wasted.
...

A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.
...

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
...

I do not have much patience with a thing of beauty that must be explained to be understood. If it does need additional interpretation by someone other than the creator, then I question whether it has fulfilled its purpose.
...

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
...

That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head.

Creative Writing: A Poetry Snippet

In my notebook of random writing, I find several scenic descriptions, a few completed poems, and then a big collection of sentences, half-poems and various scribblings. For this Sunday's installment of creative writing, I offer one piece of a poem. I don't know where the rest of the poem is, because I haven't found the words to write it yet. But this little piece has been sitting around for a few years, just waiting for a home.

They grew too fast
And flashed
In fiery hue,
Then fell too soon
To see
Their season through.

No Giant Turkey Legs, but Boy, What a Ride!

Wow... I just came from a carnival and I'm excited, overwhelmed, and itching to go back!

It is not too late for you to soak up all that carnival joy and nourishment. I like the funnel cake and corndogs personally, though I saw one guy walk by with a big turkey leg and I'm considering going back to get one myself.... Oh wait, it's a blog carnival. Okay, no corn dogs, but you can get plenty of nourishment anyhow, in the form of oodles and oodles of fun and informative bloggers talking about the world of children's books.

That's right folks, it's the 10th Carnival of Children's Literature, and it's IN TOWN NOW! Step right up! Step right up!

Seriously, the carnival Kelly's put together over at Big A little a is pretty awesome. Go!