obama us and tattoos

No, no, not this Rocket haha (or as we call him, the lousy dirty Yankee traitor)

I'm talking about a real rocket.

Every department in every section of a school has something festive going on at the end of the year. The Art Department has an art show, the Drama Club does the spring musical, the band has Pops Night, it goes on and on. You might think that the shop department (industrial arts) would be immune to this propensity, but they are not. Shop guys get worked up for their stuff too.

You can trust me on that.

I was walking back to my car after a delightful two-mile stroll RIGHT BY the shop department of our local high school, where the proud students, all guys of course, were hauling out the result of a year's design work on a rocket ship. It was impressive. Bigger than a breadbox but smaller than a Honda. It had a bit of a Rube Goldberg aspect to it, which should be no surprise. The instructor, who looked like one of the students, was telling them how various other years' efforts with the rocket had gone.

"Some years it goes out that way," he said.

The boys weren't listening.

"Then again some years it heads more toward the football field."

They were almost ready to launch.

"Make sure no one is down there," he said. The thing was aimed in the opposite direction of me so I wasn't worried. I wasn't even really listening until I heard a high pitched swooshy kind of sound. I thought of World War II movies and then

CRIED OUT IN FEAR as the rocket fell an inch from my nose.

I hope they didn't spend ALL year working on it.

There is no good time to walk at the track, it seems. Either there are teams practicing on the field or outer space paraphernalia are raining down in the parking lot.

In other news, my rhodies just started to bloom! This signals a generally happy era, going all the way back to when my local theatre group used to perform at Brandeis in the yearly competition. I still remember getting home when it was light out and seeing these very blossoms.

MORE TITLES

(not necessarily for any book)

Living the Dream (I'm rather partial to this one)

Wearing the Drapes

Croesus' Pieces

Dolores Bucks Up (I know, I know. It rhymes with Dolores F----s Up, but still)

Twenty More Minutes of Arguing

Twenty More Minutes of Pasta

Twenty More Minutes of Kissing

Happy Memorial Day, dear reader. May your rhodies bloom in happiness.

A bientot

love,

becky

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On the right is St. Francis. He looks rather pious, doesn't he? He's the one who took care of the animals, I think, and he is frequently shown with birds and creatures hovering near him, not unlike Dr. Doolittle when you think about it.

Next to him is, gosh, who is that little minx? Bo Peep? No sheep showing, so I doubt it. Little Red Riding Hood? No wolf. It could be Little Miss Muffet, and if she keeps lifting that skirt up, we could end up seeing more of her tuffet than she intends. Let's not go there. Lady of the Lake? Too young, I'd say. Mistress of the Stables? No horses. These two have stood together now for many years in the same place. I wonder if he tries to lecture her sometimes.

"Hey. Whatever your name is."

"Are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talking to the bird feeder. Of course I'm talking to you."

"Well, funny thing, my name isn't 'hey.'"

"Whatever."

"And I thought you were the bird feeder. You have more stains on your head than I do."

"Your immodesty is giving me dreams at night, honey."

"What immodesty? I'm only eight."

"Yeah. And I'm the Queen of England. You're very big for your age, you know."

"I'm big boned. I can't help it."

"Please don't talk about big bones."

"Well, it's true."

"I think you're in puberty."

"Oh, you wish. Can you shut up for two minutes? People are sitting there on the patio and I have to look my best."

I'm sure it goes on and on. Life With the Bickeringtons. Anyway, I am working on my overall outline for the nun book. It will follow the course of a school year, so that is fairly easy to work with. I already know there will be Christmas vacation and the different breaks and holidays. I have always liked working with the calendar year.

I like rules in general. Rules are liberating. I can follow them.

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Well, I think I have waited all my life to see a cover like this. And the book sounds really good. Take a look:

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For most people, Bill and Hillary are the only residents they've ever known from the Natural State. Is that what they call it now? It used to be Land of Opportunity on the license plate. Actually, Bill is a true Arkie, but Hillary is from Chi and now they're both in New York. You can see Bill's hometown Hot Springs, just a little way to the left of Little Rock off Rte. 70. My dad used to refer to the bypass there with WalMart and all the other stores as "Paris on 270" We still laugh about that one. And we still call it that too.

I'm still learning about this new Google stuff and haven't yet figured how to get copy underneath the map. I'm making my way slowly up the learning curve.

I am actually writing to you from the Fletcher public library in Little Rock. I have the car and I don't have to be home for an hour. AAAAAAAAAAH. It may be SteinMart time!!!

My dad told someone last week that Mother was "in the hospital for corpuscles."

Back next Tuesday, dear reader.
love,
becky

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I'm off to Arkansas, dear reader. Meanwhile, Jennifer O'Connell is a doll. I'm proud to say we share the same agent and I have met Jennifer and socialized with her. She is what we call in New England "wicked smaht" (a Smith grad) and funny and very cute. She has a very successful writing career going for herself and this is the latest. I can't wait to read it:



ABOUT THE BOOK:One woman is about to take her knack for risk management to a whole new level in Jennifer O’Connell’s new novel, INSIDER DATING.Abby Dunn, barely past thirty and still reeling from her divorce, has taken herself off the dating market. Instead, she’s using her experience to turn the tables on the opposite sex by building a database to rank underperforming men and set women straight when investing their greatest asset: themselves.Now, what started as a pet project is becoming a full-time enterprise. But while Abby’s busy hedging bets, someone is skewing her data and threatening to ruin her business. Abby is about to find out that sometimes even the savviest market wizards can be headed for a crash.While it may be perfectly legal, nothing good can come from insider dating.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Jennifer O’Connell received her BA from Smith College and her MBA from the University of Chicago. She lives outside Boston and when she’s not writing, she spends her days as a market strategy consultant. She is the bestselling author of Bachelorette #1, Dress Rehearsal, and Off The Record.You can find Jennifer at her website or on her blog. On the other hand, why wait??

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Here are a few test takers, waiting to see how hard the questions will be. Their expressions changed after I told them they had to name every book ever written.

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This is Hansel. He is a babe. You can trust me on that. Back in the day, Hansel could turn the cable TV on and off with impunity. He alarmed me, an occasional visitor, because of his size. I learned to love him, though. But recently, he was displaced. Shut out. He's still loved but he is, shall we say, not valued in the same way as before. What caused this tragedy?














Yes, here she is. Little Maeve (she loves to chew on these tapes; don't ask me why. Tape Girl.).

In the early days when Maeve came home, Hansel would look over his shoulder at Loren, his mummy too, as if to say "You used to like me best." Heartrending.

Loren reports that Maeve LOVES Hansel, adores him. When he walks by, she goes crazy. Sadly, Hansel hates her. He can't wait to get away. Maeve doesn't know.

These are some of the sad realities of life, it seems to me. People want us to go away and we don't even realize it. We stand there talking like an idiot. But how does Hansel feel? His life is greatly diminished in some ways.

But you know what? The last time I saw him, he was starting to get over it. He approached all of us adults with a new heart. Love me anyway. I'm still a babe.

And we do, dear reader.

I like learning life lessons from a cat. It's so open-minded.

Going to Arkansas next week where I may learn a few more.

A bientot
love,
becky

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I met Shanna Swendson last year at the Romantic Times convention in Daytona Beach and she is the owner of the most fabulous pair of ruby slippers. I was quite covetous. Her newest Katie Chandler book is out this month and it looks terrific. Here's a taste.

Katie Chandler and her wizard colleague Owen have finally gotten it together and are about to have their first real date, after confessing their feelings and sharing an electrifying kiss at the office Christmas party. So naturally, when the eccentric fairy Ethelinda appears and announces that she is Katie’s fairy godmother, here to help her find true love, Katie dismisses her. She’s found her true love and they are on the path to happily ever after; why would she need Ethelinda’s help?

But Ethelinda isn’t taking “no” for an answer and continues to pop up when Katie least expects—or wants—her. Add in the evil wizard Idris’s scheme for world domination, or at least magical domination, and Katie has her hands full. She needs answers. Is Owen The One? What exactly is Idris’s next move? And how does she get rid of a fairy godmother who has more ulterior motives than Cinderella’s stepmother?This summer prepare yourself to be spell-bound by Katie’s world in DAMSEL UNDER STRESS.About the author:SHANNA SWENDSON escaped the corporate rat race to be a novelist and pop culture essayist. She is the author of Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos, in addition to contributing essays to books about television series, authors, and novels. When she’s not writing or watching television and movies so she can write about them, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and singing.

Visit her web site here, her blog right here at Livejournal, or join me in buying it immediately!

A bientot
love,
becky

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