A Norma Rae Moment

The good and kind Laura Purdie Salas just tagged me with this shiny Versatile Blogger Award. Not so sure how versatile I actually am, but I'll just go with it... There are some rules that I need to follow now, so bear with me as I am traditionally pretty awful at reading directions. I need to:

1. Thank the person who bestowed the award on you
2. List seven random facts about yourself
3. Spread the love by passing along the award to five other bloggers – and let them know

Thank you so much, Laura! I hope that 2012 brings you all you would wish yourself! *hugs* Laura is a very talented poet and an equally wonderful lady, I love that she is local and that I get to bump into her at kid book events.

Ok, Seven Random Facts about me...

1. My favorite pop is Dr. Pepper.

2. I have lived in Minnesota my whole life but have never been to Canada.

3. My Pink Pearl eraser has gone missing... *sob*

4. Riding horses is my all-time favorite sport, but I haven't been on horseback since I was 7 months pregnant with my eldest (and that was over 9 years ago). Gah!

5. Currently addicted to Downton Abbey.

6. I once accidentally stabbed through my sneaker with a pitchfork and did NOT injure my foot. I know, right!?!

7. My favorite song right now is The Roller by Beady Eye.

I'd like to pass this award on to some local groovy art chicks that I adore:

Alicia Schwab, Anne Adix Fabie, Barb Björnson, Sara Weingartner, and Sharon Wagner.

Also, many thanks to everyone who has stopped by because of the 2012 Comment Challenge. I have enjoyed your kind comments very much and it has been especially nice to find all sorts of fab new blogs to visit! Cheers!

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There are lots o' cool things going on in November like PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo. My friend, Sara Weingartner, had a terrific idea: posting a sketch a day for the month of November (the most excellent Nancy Carlson has been posting her daily doodles for the past two years now!). I thought this would be a fun thing to do (Barb Björnson, Anne Adix Fabie, and Alicia Schwab are doing it, too). I've had an idea rattling around in my head for ever such a long, long time and I think it is ready to find it's way to paper... Happy November!

Hodgepodge

Hello, Hello! Look at Baby Gordy! It is almost his birthday! On October 9th he will be ONE! His favorite time of year has arrived: our backyard has turned into an all-you-can-eat leaf buffet! This past Saturday was the Minnesota SCBWI Fall Conference. It was really fantastic. After handling all of the conference registration it was fun to see folks walk in that morning and see their smiling faces (although I felt like a nerd behind the desk). Jay Asher, the author of Thirteen Reasons Why, was our keynote speaker that morning and he shared his journey to publication with us. He is an excellent and engaging speaker, and also a very nice guy! Jay also talked to us about injecting suspense into any novel, which was super interesting. My plan is to file it away in my brain in case I ever decide to write anything... The rest of the conference was great: it was fun to listen to all of the speakers and try to let it all soak in. My portfolio review was with Janet DeCarlo of Storybook Arts. She is just the nicest lady ever! I had a review with her 3 years ago and couldn't believe that she even remembered me! It was great to have the opportunity to thank her for all of the great advice she gave me years ago. She was very kind and gave me a lot of great ideas for new things to add to my portfolio. It was just wonderful! That was probably my favorite part of the conference. I also got to listen to editors Heather Alexander and Jordan Brown give their impressions of the first pages of manuscripts submitted by conference attendees. It was wildly entertaining to hear what they had to say after these pages were read aloud to the lot of us. It was a great conference and the weather was gorgeous. Minnesota is absolutely beautiful in the fall! Oh, and Susan Marie Swanson read a quote by Naomi Shihab Nye in her keynote speech that really stuck with me:

"Be modest, brave, and hopeful forever." How lovely!
Onto Mural no. 2! We began with painting the blue sky and green grass (same colors as the other room). Actually, my husband did all of the painting... Isn't he great!?!
Better than Astroturf!
Grab your sunglasses! The closet is very, very YELLOW!!!
Here I am drawing on the wall again... Let the painting begin!!!

Yesterday was the first day of a little gallery show I am in with a bunch of great art friends: Barb Björnson, Anne Adix Fabie, Alicia Schwab, Sharon Wagner, and Sara Weingartner. Our art will be at the Good Samaritan Society (Westview Acres Apartment & Assisted Living Home, 433 W. 5th St., Waconia, MN 55387) until the end of the year. Such fun!

Honorable Mention

I feel honored to mention that I received an honorable mention at the Reflections show last night along with my friend and fellow illustrator, Barb Bjornson. Best In Show went to the talented and deserving Shawn McCann, who is an amazing artist and a fantastic guy! It was a really wonderful evening, and I enjoyed visiting with lovely art friends and hearing the poets read their winning poems. Have a great weekend, everyone!
p.s. just added a photo Christina took from the show. There is my painting (though these folks are clearly looking at the painting below mine....)