The Cloud Wall

Click the jump to read the first chapter of my children's fantasy novel THE CLOUD WALL. This is a current work in progress so I'm sure Chapter 1 will need a more extensive editing and revision down the road but I think it serves as a good jumping point.

Listening

My parents didn't read to me. They didn't read my homework with me. They didn't read the recipe directions to me as they made dinner. They didn't read the newspaper aloud after dinner. They certainly didn't read me bedtime stories.

Because of that, my earliest experience of someone reading to me was in school. I know my early teachers must have read to me, but I don't remember them. I do vividly recall a story read aloud by a substitute teacher though.

This woman told us she was going to read a poem to us and that we could draw a picture based on what we heard afterwards. She read "Hungry Mungry" by Shel Silverstein. I closed my eyes as she read about the poor hungry kid. As the story went on, that kid turned into a big fuzzy monster in my mind. It was, in fact, a monster I had seen before. The sense of de ja vu was so strong, it twisted my stomach.

When the teacher finished reading, she passed out the long manila paper popular back then and crayons. She offered one of those little chunky notebooks with the kaleidoscope covers that were hugely popular in the early 90s as a prize for the best picture. I drew my version of Mungry until the sick feeling in my stomach went away. My Mungry ate the world in one big gulp. Though he wasn't describe in the poem, my little 9 year old self knew what Mungry looked like as he ate the Earth because I had dreamed about drawing him before.

I won the substitute teacher's contest that day. I honestly wasn't trying but it was one of those times that I just knew I was right (about Mungry's looks).

 This is a very poor recreation of my picture of Hungry Mungry as he ate the world. I drew it as close to memory as possible. I know, from some of my surviving artwork from that age, that my "action" always happened on the left side of the paper, my right side always ended up smaller than the other, and I splayed the feet in every single drawing. I tried to remember that as I drew this.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Friday Five: Favorite Things About Children Under 13

Today's Friday Five is a list of my favorite qualities of children under 13. Next week, I'll do a list of my favorite things about teenagers.

1. Curiosity- Kids want to know the "why" of everything. It can be irritating to hear "why" all the time but it is one of the few opportunities that adults outside of a classroom can witness the learning and growth of children first hand. I like to turn "why" into a learning opportunity and spend a lot of time showing my sisters pictures of stuff. We had a conversation about weight and body image yesterday. One of my sisters probably doesn't weigh 50 pounds soaking wet but she is 100% healthy for her height (she is going to be short like me). The other is quite chubby but by all estimates, is going to be ridiculously tall so the weight is still normal and healthy. The heavier sister was trying to understand why she is the weight she is and her sister is the weight she is. I understand the issue considering the heavier one is a year younger than the lighter one. So we had a talk about healthy weight in relation to diet and exercise. And then I explained how awful getting hung up on the "ideal" body image can be because Hollywood images are not realistic or healthy in any way. I showed them images of anorexic men and women and went on to explain to them how those people still see themselves as "fat" while their bodies are wasting away. We then read some of the articles about one of their favorite stars, Demi Lovato, from Disney Channel that has recently come out about her struggles with anorexia. I live for teachable moments.
2. Creativity- Children have this innate ability to look at a mundane object and turn it into the most amazing thing. Sticks become guns for little soldiers and swords for pirates. Socks become puppets, chairs and blankets become caves. Pillow cases are capes, paper towel tubes are spy glasses. The possibilities are endless with children. I am envious of their creativity and the energy that comes from that creativity!
3. Ability to laugh at life- I miss the days when little things didn't piss me off. Pencil lead broke? Children say "No big deal. Just go sharpen it." Even if it just broke 30 seconds before that. And 20 seconds before that. Now, I'm ready to throw the stupid thing across the room. They have this ability to shrug things off because they don't take life so seriously yet. Things that would cause major stress and drama for adults is just a little thing to a kid.
4. Ability to forgive and forget easily- I love the nature of friendship with children. They are immediately best friends with nearly everyone they meet, regardless of age, gender, economic status, race, etc. Kids just don't see the difference in their friends. Now, when they get a little older, that is a whole different matter. But as a child, they don't have the prejudices that are learned as they grow older. And I love that. I also love the fact that they can be spitting mad at their friend and three seconds later, they are sharing secrets and juice boxes again. It is refreshing to watch.
5. Simplistic understanding- "Why shouldn't I touch the stove? Oh, because it hurts? Okay, I wont do that again." Just because there is a biological or chemical explanation for something doesn't mean kids want to know. They don't touch a hot stove because it hurts. Not because the heat kills the tissue cells resulting in different degrees of burn injuries depending on what happens to the skin. Because it hurts. It is that simple with most kids. Kids have this amazing innate concept of common sense that I think we smother out of them with good intentions and over-supervision. Yeah, kids do stupid things like everyone else. The difference is that when a kid screws up and then has to deal with the consequences, he learns not to do it again. If we scoop him up and clean up his mess for him, he will keep doing it because he has learned nothing in the process.

Norway, You are in my Thoughts!

Keep the victims of today's horrible tragedy in Oslo, Norway in your thoughts. Whatever the reason for all this destruction, nothing could have merited the lives of 80 or more people, many of which were children. Read an article here if you haven't heard about this yet. Norwegians, stay strong. You are in my thoughts.

Happenings

It has been an incredibly busy month for me, and it isn't even over yet! I just finished a month long visit with my little sisters, E & L. They are 7 and 8, full of insane amounts of energy (seriously, they get up with the sun!), and are incredibly smart for their ages. Okay, so maybe I am a bit biased on that last part, but I swear they are incredible kids. Their visit taught me several things: 1) not all Disney channel shows are KF, no matter what the Disney folks may think (strongly worded letters may soon reach those folks); 2) I have become attached to the characters from Wizards of Waveryly Place, iCarly, Shake It Up Chicago, and Good Luck Charlie (please, someone blow up my television); 3) when putting sunscreen on little girls, don't forget sunscreen for yourself (sunburn #3 is finally healing). We had a really good visit that included trips to the pool, the library, Wal-Mart (their idea, not mine), and the Dollar Store. We found paper dolls and coloring books. We read like maniacs (more my idea of course). I learned how to operate a Nintendo DSi. They wanted ramen noodles and tuna sandwiches for every single meal. Oh, and oatmeal (blech!).

During their visit, I started and completed several projects. First, I launched my blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. So far so good on these. I'm enjoying this blog thing a lot! We managed to almost finish the remodeling project in the living room. New paint, new flooring (good bye fur embedded carpet, hello tile), new trim. All that is left is some touch up painting and replacing a few light fixtures and the project will officially be closed. It only took three months. The touch up painting will be done over the next week and my dearest Daddy will be replacing the light fixtures when he has the time. No one in this house is qualified to work with electrical wiring so we wait patiently for him. My third project was difficult for me to start and it is definitely a work in progress. I am addicted to the internet and my method of absorption is internet games. Notdoppler.com is a favorite. As is Facebook games. I have blocked all Facebook games after some serious whining. I took NotDoppler off my bookmarks. I have stubbornly refused to quit playing "mind" games like Sudoku, Kakuro, Rummikub, Mahjong, and Hearts. They are intellectually stimulating, right?

With all the extra free time on my hands sans internet games, I have been able to read a lot more. That makes me so happy, you don't even know. I used to read a good 30-40 books a year at least when I was in high school. In college, that dropped down to about 20 a year, mostly over school holidays, between semesters, and between classes. I was busy! Then came World of Warcrack and Facebook. My reading dropped considerably, maybe 5 books a year if the internet was out a lot. That is depressing. I've never been a television person. I loved Buffy when it was on. I love Glee now that it is on. That is about it. Internet gaming has been my time consuming, entertaining, book replacement. I kicked the WoW habit after several years, but really just replaced it with MORE Facebook games. Since I blocked all the games, I have read 7 books! Even with the girls here, I managed a lot of reading. I was still active online (minus a few days when I was sunburned so badly). I maintained contact with friends and family. I made sure the girls didn't turn feral and run away with the cats.

Yay for old loves coming back full force! How much do you read? What keeps you from reading? What helps you focus on reading?

Moral of the story: Turn off the television and close the games. Open a book and turn on your imagination!