Notes from an 8 year old

Hey guys,

I'd like to welcome back my 8-year-old nephew back to my blog. Today's topics include how to save trees, Ways that you know you get old.


Desi Q: So Eddie how can we save trees?

Eddie A: Schools have to give less homework because paper is made out of trees.

Desi Q: How are you going to learn if you don't do homework?

Eddie A: You have mom's, You have dad's ask them.

Desi Q: But they send you to school to be taught by professional teachers. These people actually went to school to learn how to teach you. What if your parent's aren't as smart as your teacher?

Eddie A: When you go to school you gather all the people that don't want to be there and start a riot.

Desi Q: How does rioting help you to learn?

Eddie A: It teaches us how to be aggressive. P.S. I'm making stuff up!

Desi Q: Being aggressive can only help you in some situations. I don't think you need to be an aggressive knitter, or an aggressive ballerina. Those things don't require you to be aggressive.

Eddie A: I'm not really aggressive I just like to say that.

Desi Q: On to the next topic. How do know that you're getting old?

Eddie A: Actually how do you know YOU are getting old?

Desi A: I'm not getting older, I'm getting better!

Well that was a short interview. I have to go smash my nephew on the badminton court. Until next time.

Des

Book Talking to Teens....

You may have been wondering why I haven't posted lately. Well it's a number of reason really. First I've been going to the gym a lot lately and I've also been preparing for a book talk and a craft show. 2nd when you're a commuter you spend a lot of time in the car-now I'm sure some of you could blog in your car but I haven't figured that one out yet. If all goes according to plan my commute will be a lot shorter. I've also been looking at apartments and trying to figure out my money situation. Everything is due in the month of may-car payment,insurance,tags,cell phone,etc. So I've been cooking a lot as well. I've made strawberry rhubarb pie again-I got the crust perfect this time(yeah!). Cornbread salad-I know it sounds funny but it's oh so good. I've also been experimenting with salads. I've fallen in love with walnuts and cranberries they are excellent salad mates. If you add a little diced chicken and some cherry tomatoes to your salad greens you're in business. I've been a little busy as you can see.

Well I gave my first formal book talk last night to some 14-year old. They were mildly disruptive but on the whole they at least listened. I did have some interactions from the students. I asked if they knew what a reservation was. One of the kids said it was a nursing home, another one said it's where they keep the Indians(what are they horses kept in a corral?). I then had one student who raised his hand(home training works!) and when I called on him-he told the class that a reservation was government land set aside for the Indians-(smart guys rule!). I then had a kid ask me what was the smallest book I had up there-I showed him-"That's small?! how many pages is it? 211 pages. He looked so dejected. So told them about the library,SRC,Fresh Start,and being a volunteen. I actually had two volunteens in my class(that sounds so weird like I'm a teacher or something). I got all kinds of questions I couldn't answer like-how many assignments are we going to have to do on these books. I kind of fielded them you know gave them a little direction but didn't say much else. On the whole it was a valuable experience-I'm doing it again tonight and what i think I'll change is my format. I don't think I'll be doing any readings from the book. I'll just try and generate conversation and nudge them towards the books. I was a little nervous at first but it got better as I went along. I'm still not ready to talk in front of 50 teens but I can hold my own with 15-20 of them.

What a wonderful day it is!

Today is National Maritime Day

National Maritime Day is a United States holiday created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed on May 22, the date that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933

It is also The International Day for Biological Diversity (or World Biodiversity Day) is a United Nations–sanctioned international holiday for the promotion of biodiversity issues. It is currently held on May22.

Today is the birthday of:
Janne Niinimaa, Finnish ice-hockey player
Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer.
Tracy Brookshaw, American professional wrestler and valet
Desiree Thomas, Library worker,exotic grilled cheese maker,knitter extrordinaire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janne_Niinimaa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Brookshaw

weird dreams

I know you're all wondering what does Desi dream about at night. Is it wolverine/Hugh Jackman in a mechanic's outfit ,Desi in a violently neon green sequined Tutu figure-skating in the Olympic semi-finals, or Flying threw the air with a generic superman. Most of my dreams are not logical at all. I had a dream.......

I was in the Robinson Fellowship hall at my old church. That's where we had all the extra activities at church. I was at some kind of afternoon program(translation the programs nobody comes back for after church )and I was sitting next to B.B. King. He was holding Lucille(his guitar) and asking me what I was going to sing on stage. I felt just like I do every Sunday morning when I can't remember any of the praise and worship songs I'm supposed to be singing. Not to mention that I wanted desperately to sing with B.B. King. All that would come into my head was surrender which was an old hymn. I couldn't wait to show him what I could do. I suddenly had to go to the ladies really badly and excused myself. I walked into the bathroom and one of my old friends was there in the bathroom with her sister. I asked her if she had a digital camera and she told me she only had a throw away camera. Her sister had one and I asked her to take a picture of me and B.B. King. i thought it would be great for my blog! But when we walked out of the bathroom the program had ended and the King of the Blues was leaving before I could get a picture(now maybe this means that the blues will be leaving my life? Kind of like I had been close to the blues but now I would be free to be happy? who knows.) I felt sad that he was leaving without saying goodbye. Next I was in a hotel-not in the lobby I was in the hallway(picture the shinning with a warmer color scheme-peanut butter colored carpet and chocolate doors(Reese's?) waiting for an elevator to go up. All of the people who were waiting with me had on clothes from the 70's. Brown polyester suits and really wide striped ties,or those blouses with the huge elaborately droopy bows in the front. And lets not forget about the huge glasses. There was one chick who had on a really tight leather jacket. The weird thing the hotel was masquerading as an apartment complex. I felt like I was in some sitcom from the 80's. More WKRP in Cincinnati than Bosom Buddies. I spent the rest of my dream going up in the elevator to my apartment or down to my job. I swear the view from the lobby was gorgeous. Tons of natural light and I think the setting was New York. There you have it what goes on in my dream world after the broadcast signal has faded to black.

Desi

Unwind

Have you ever had a book whose characters stayed with you well after the story ended. Have you ever hated a character but ended up feeling sorry the villain in the end. Have you ever really thought about what being a organ donor means?

I just finished a book called Unwind by Neal Shusterman. It was a brutal non-stop roller coaster of a book. Here's the synopsis of the story. There's been an all out war between the pro-choice and pro-life movement. After some years of struggle someone suggests a solution to the "where does life begin and end" debate. Abortion is now illegal but in it's place you have the practice of unwinding. Let's say you have a child who won't behave ;or there's too many orphans in the group home ;or you believe in giving a tenth of all of your income including your children as a tithe. Have your child unwound. That's right ladies and gentlemen until the age of 17 you can have your child disassembled. The parts that formerly made up your child will continue to "live" in other people rich enough to buy their various parts. The children are living donors.

What I hated about this book - It was so visual that I had trouble stopping myself from thinking about the characters in the book. Yes I know it's fiction but the description of unwinding just made me feel so bad for the kid. It made me think about being an organ donor-I am one-but also about the value of life and the fear that being a donor means they won't try as hard to save you.

What I loved about this book - How the kids found ways to stand up for themselves. I also loved moments of humor in the book. The story is so well written. If you have a teen in your life who likes apocalyptic stories I would highly recommend this one.

Des

Life is too short to not do some of the things you've always wanted to do. So I decided to try my hand at making ice cream. Why did I make Banana ice cream?

A. I got a bananza of bananas for 19 cents a pound!
B. Bananas are really good for you- tons of potassium!
C. My mom likes banana flavored deserts and has passed that love on to me?
D. All of the above.



The answer of course is D. You can tell from the picture above that it actually looks like real ice cream(and it is where's a sugar cone when you need one:). The recipe was pretty easy to follow. There was however a time element involved. You make up your ice cream mixture which does involve some cooking an then you have to put it in the fridge for about 3 hours. So you definitely want to do this on your day off. But the waits well worth it. After you add the mixture to your ice cream maker it's only a few minutes before your ice cream sets and it's awesome. Tip: there is a pour-in spout on your ice cream maker for a reason. Do not try (like someone I know... namely me)to pour the batter in frozen bowl and then put in the mixing element. The mixture will freeze immediately and you'll be up ice cream creek with no paddle-not good. Save that for when we make popsicles. My first try came out just sweet enough and delicious. Here's the book I got the recipe from. Visit your local library and check it out.



I have a dinner party coming up and I always bring the dessert. I think it's going to be pumpkin cinnamon ice cream this time.

Happy Birthday Ford Mustang

My dream car was released on this day in 1964.



There's nothing like a muscle car to brighten your day.

Enjoy

Des