It’s the birthday of child prodigy novelist Barbara Newhall Follett (1914 – ???), whose bestselling novel, The House Without Windows, was published when she was only twelve and who disappeared without a trace at the age of 26. The mystery of where she went or how she eventually died has never been solved. (Note to [...]
It’s the birthday of science fiction and fantasy author Connie Willis (b. 1945), known as one of SF’s premier humorists and also known for winning more major SF awards than anyone else, including 11 Hugos and seven Nebulas. (For the record: Robert Heinlein won the most Hugos for Best Novel with six wins out of [...]
It’s the birthday of Pam Muñoz Ryan (b. 1951), author of more than forty children’s books ranging from picture books to YA novels and the 2018 U.S. nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, which award is a Big Hairy Deal in the world of children’s book awards. Muñoz Ryan was born Pamela Jeanne [...]
This is a re-post from two years ago. Today is the birthday of William Carols Williams (1883-1963), one of those people who thought he could be both a successful doctor and a brilliant poet and writer, and who turned out to be right. Among his accomplishments were becoming chief of pediatrics at a general hospital [...]
It’s the birthday of Charles Simic (b. 1938), one of today’s Great Living Poets of surrealist ilk (though he does grim realism as well), whose poetry “removes the safety nets from the everyday.” Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and spent his childhood fleeing the violence of WWII; he has said that “My [...]
Sensory deprivation tank wasn’t even in my Amazon cart for 30 seconds before I removed it. I mean, I’m not crazy. Or rich. Actually I might be crazy but I’m not rich. Anyway, tanks now showing up constantly in Facebook feed, along with those old-fashioned claw-footed bathtubs—next best thing to sensory deprivation tank and only [...]
It’s the birthday of Peggy Bacon (1895-1987, #nicelonglife), who was the author and/or illustrator of 60-some books and won great recognition for both her art and her writing, including an Edgar Allen Poe Mystery Award nomination for her novel The Inward Eye (1952). Margaret Frances Bacon was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, to two artists; her [...]
After careful experimentation all morning have discovered important scientific fact: giving child Euler’s Disk to play with does nothing to increase peace or happiness of adult in vicinity. Pretty, shiny Euler’s Disk, when spun on its mirrored surface, provides child with “dramatic visualization of energy exchanges in three different, tightly-coupled processes,” which I’m sure we [...]
Note to self: Brilliant idea for movie, sure to be blockbuster! Everyone living in locked-down apocalypse, unable to leave home without risking exposure to terrible virus. SCRATCH THAT. No one wants to read about virus. Unable to leave home without risking exposure to giant man-eating hummingbirds. Crap, how stupid is that? Hummingbirds not scary at [...]
Familial reaction to the new glasses is mixed. Older Child took long look, made non-committal noises, and then said they looked “perfectly normal.” Perhaps high praise coming from teenager, yet “perfectly normal” not what I was going for. Husband’s reaction even stranger. Made non-committal noises, then said that frames, which I ordered in “rose gold,” [...]
Desperate times, desperate measures. Back in January saw an eye doctor. Remember January? Children at school, restaurants open? You needed milk, you ran to the store? Anyway, my vision had changed, reading gotten harder: words seen clearly with one eye were wonky with the other. Doc said astigmatism was worse but all was well and [...]
In so many ways, my strange, newfound connection with Le Petit Caporal has brought such comfort and peace at this difficult time. In so many ways, we resonate, he and I. He died on May 5; I was born on May 6. (I mean, not right away, but 199 years later.) He was “one of [...]