{"id":649,"date":"2007-05-27T00:31:51","date_gmt":"2007-05-27T06:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=649"},"modified":"2010-02-07T10:53:22","modified_gmt":"2010-02-07T16:53:22","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=649","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #12"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>New image this week! Thanks to Nancy at Journey Woman<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, I (Jules, that is) saw this illustration and was led to the illustrator’s site, artista blog<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. This is the blog of artist Irisz Agocs, who lives in Budapest. Go to her site to see more of her work, ’cause it’s good stuff. I love the feelings this illustration captures. I didn’t officially get Irisz’s permission to use this image, but I’m linking it to her site (thanks, Nancy, for taking us there), and I hope Ms. Agocs won’t mind.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s get to the lists then. Here’s our usual intro for any new people: It’s time for another installment of 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks. For those new to our series, this is where we all stop in every Sunday to report seven (more or less is fine) Good Things that happened to you (or that you read or saw or experienced or . . . well, you get the picture) this week. Absolutely anyone is welcome to contribute.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * Jules’ list * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

1). Usually my lists aren\u2019t in any sort of order in terms of Most Impressive to Least Impressive. I just randomly number them. But, without question, number one this week (as in, THE BEST THING that happened to me) has to be: Having the undisputed honor of reading Billie Standish Was Here<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, Nancy Crocker\u2019s new YA novel. It will be on the shelves in June, and I hope to talk about it here on the blog on Tuesday (since tomorrow will be our last Blue Rose Girls<\/a><\/strong> interview with Libby Koponen<\/a><\/strong>). This was one of the most beautiful novels I\u2019ve read in a long, long time. When I put it down, I dunno, I felt like someone had blessed me. It\u2019s utterly perfect and unforgettable. I say: Move over, all other YA titles published thus far this year. Or, really, any<\/em> titles published thus far this year. <\/p>\n

2). Two storytelling opportunities that came my way. Better yet, Alkelda<\/a><\/strong> offered to guide me if they pull through (I\u2019ve done storytelling before and even studied it in grad school, but I feel hopelessly rusty, and who better to guide you than the one and only Alkelda?) . . . <\/p>\n

3). Getting a copy of Khaled Hosseini\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> new novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, in no time flat from one of the public library systems I use. No waiting on a holds list! The Kite Runner<\/strong><\/em><\/a> will be etched in my memory forever and ever, and I\u2019m really looking forward to the new novel.<\/p>\n

4). All the great interviews that Just One More Book!!<\/strong><\/em><\/a> conducted at the International Reading Association’s 52nd annual conference in Toronto. Have you heard them? Alvina Ling and Peter Brown<\/a><\/strong>; Chris Raschka and Jack Prelutsky<\/a><\/strong>; Lois Ehlert<\/a><\/strong>; Janet Wong<\/a><\/strong>; Mo Willems<\/a><\/strong> (don’t miss the picture they snapped of him); and much, much more. And, look! A Mark<\/a><\/strong> sighting! (He’s one half of the dynamic duo over at JOMB<\/em> whose voice you hear on the interviews).<\/p>\n

5). My husband just returned from running some errands with some Baileys Irish Cream and Kahlua and Starbucks Cream Liqueur for me. I promise I’m not a drunk (I swear. Who you lookin’ at? I don’t have a problem. Who? Me?). Really, I like to put a bit of that in my coffee sometimes. And I\u2019ve had a frustrating week with our internet provider, Comcrap (uh, I mean Comcast). I work from home (and also, obviously, blog from home), and the problem\u2019s been ongoing for a while now, so I was pretty much over it (have you ever been online in the middle of work and then gotten kicked on and off, on and off, on and off repeatedly? I thought my head was going to explode). This was one way to surprise and cheer me up. Mmmm, I\u2019m enjoying a bit of Baileys in my coffee as I type. Yum. (It also made my day when Blaine left a comment<\/a><\/strong> on my Un Lun Dun<\/em> post<\/a><\/strong>; he\u2019s not one for chatting on the \u2018Net, but he\u2019s obscenely smart and I like to hear him talk about books, so that made me happy, though he keeps telling me it appears his comment \u201ckilled the thread\u201d).<\/p>\n

6). Feist<\/a><\/strong> has a new CD.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7). Getting a copy (thanks, Ellen!) of Little Donkey and the Babysitter<\/a><\/em><\/strong> by the Dutch duo Rindert Kromhout<\/a><\/strong> and Annemarie van Haeringen. I reviewed Little Donkey and the Birthday Present<\/em> here<\/a><\/strong>, and the title I just received is from last year (the translated edition, that is). Like with Little Donkey and the Birthday Present<\/em>, Kromhout really captures a preschooler’s way of thinking and talking. And I love van Haeringen’s work. I don’t think I’d ever tire of Little Donkey . . . I also enjoyed stumbling upon a copy of last year’s If I Had a Dragon<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Tom and Amanda Ellery while I was browsing our local library. Very funny stuff.<\/p>\n

I’m done, but — P.S. Tracy<\/a><\/strong>, if you’re reading, Happy “Memorial Day”!<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * eisha’s list * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n

Hey, great list, J. And I love the new image, too. As for storytelling, why don’t you just do “The Elephant’s Child”? I believe<\/em> I’ve heard you mention, maybe, once or twice<\/strong><\/a>, that you still know the entire thing by heart…<\/p>\n

1* On Thursday I went to the Spring Open House & Art Show at Charlesbridge<\/strong><\/a>. I saw some of their coming-soon books that looked very interesting, and had some lovely cheese and a tiny amount of wine. Everyone I met was totally lovely, including…<\/p>\n

2* …Jenny Choy, who runs their new blog, Unabridged<\/strong><\/a> (how great is that name?), and Kim Courchesne who lived in Ithaca for several years and told me tons of cool stuff I need to look for when I get there. And I ran into a certain book blogger who I didn’t realize lived so close to me, but she’s keeping her true identity on the down low so I can’t tell you who. But she knows who she is, and if you’re reading this, secret-blogger-person (nudge nudge, wink wink), it was a pleasure meeting you, and I’ll let you know as soon as I get that party planned. And also…<\/p>\n

\"Rickshaw3* Mitali Perkins<\/strong><\/a>, who was one of the featured speakers. She spoke about the evolution of her recent novel Rickshaw Girl<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (have you read it? Do! It’s lovely!), and showed some of the alpanas her mother drew. This was especially timely and awesome because we’ve been corresponding by email a lot lately, in preparation for an upcoming interview, and I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. Yes, she is just as warm and delightful as you’d think she’d be, and was even playing hostess, pulling me into conversations when I looked lonely. And she’s a great speaker for events like this – she seems very at ease, and she’s funny too. Oh, and…<\/p>\n

4* …the illustrator of Rickshaw Girl<\/em>, Jamie Hogan<\/strong><\/a>, was there too, and they had the original illustrations hanging up on the walls, which are just lovely. I was surprised to find out that this was the first book she had fully illustrated – she’d \"Dragononly done covers before. I think it was a mistake, though, to sit behind her for the other main event…<\/p>\n

5* …a drawing lesson from Ralph Masiello<\/strong><\/a>, author of the forthcoming Dragon Drawing Book<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. He showed us how to draw a beetle, a seahorse, and then an Ouroboros<\/strong><\/a>. Jamie’s were way better than mine. I know, shocking. And, lastly…<\/p>\n

6* …I was wearing my favorite new skirt, which I had just gotten for $9.00! I’ve already worn it twice, which is pretty unusual for me – I’m a jeans girl. But I seriously LOVE THIS SKIRT!<\/p>\n

So, that one event was worth a week of kicks, but I still needed one more to meet the (not really) requisite seven, so…<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>7* Saturday I went to the beach. It occurred to me recently that I really need to take advantage of living so close to the ocean while I still can. So I did. And while I was there, I finally got to read The Raw Shark Texts<\/a><\/em><\/strong> for more than a few minutes at a time, and I finished it when I got home. Oh. My. God. That is one seriously awesome book. Definitely one of the most satisfying, refreshing, thought-provoking reads I’ve experienced in\u00a0a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New image this week! Thanks to Nancy at Journey Woman, I (Jules, that is) saw this illustration and was led to the illustrator’s site, artista blog. This is the blog of artist Irisz Agocs, who lives in Budapest. Go to her site to see more of her work, ’cause it’s good stuff. I love the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}