Under the Table

            My kids can read me under the table. They zip through chapter books at a rate that astounds me. I wish I could keep up with them. Maybe someday.

            For now, I feel pretty good about the books I was able to finish in 2020. The stack includes Standing at Water's Edge by Anne Paris,  100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write by Sarah Ruhl,  When Strangers Meet by Kio Stark,  In His Image by Jen Wilkin,  Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris,  and The Once and Future King by T. H. White.

            Here's my 2020 Reading List reviews in a nutshell.  Firstly, I did not realize White's novel about King Arthur would take me a year to read, but am glad to have taken the time to do so. It's definitely a book I would consider re-reading (right now if it weren't for all the other books I'm anxious to get to-- again, maybe someday!). I now understand that I need to read more books by Sedaris, a hilariously entertaining storyteller. Paris's and Wilkin's books were helpful. I found Stark's book insightful. Finally, Ruhl's delightful book reminded me to do more writing of my own.

            On to accumulating titles for 2021's reading list! I hope you found something good to read in the past year!

Christmas Bits & Peace(s)

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

I'm throwing this post together. It's a mish-mash of some Christmas-y things: Past, Present and (hope for the) Future.

First, the Past. Here's a collage image I created one night during college. I think it was productive procrastination before I knew that was a thing tons of other people do, too. I used a good ol' craft knife, construction paper, and magazines. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Next, the Present. My Christmas cards went out with this obvious error on them. Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed about this mistake and not even sure how it happened. Lesson learned: order earlier!

Oh, well. Done is better than perfect!

Finally, a hope for a Christmas Future from my 6-year old. I swear, he found this and did it all on his own. It definitely brought a tear to my eye.

This holiday season has certainly been different than years past. But the meaning of Christmas is always the same; it's a time for peace on earth and hope for all. God bless!!  

Ain't Zine Nothin' Yet

    Here's a zine I made sometime earlier this year while testing out some vegetable printing, thanks to Austin Kleon's post and recommended reading. (Seriously! Sometimes, I think I  buy every book he suggests!) Anyway, I also drew on a couple of cute cactuses ("cacti?") before my 3-year-old added some random letters. Then I took the doodled-on sheet of paper and, almost instinctively, folded it up into a zine. I flipped through it a few times, trying to decide in what order the pictures should appear, but gave up, stuffed it into a drawer and forgot about it.

    During some recent tidying I came across it again. Even though I sorta stalled on the project and left it unfinished, I've decided to turn it into a zine template for whoever might be interested in a creative prompt!

    I invite you to print out a copy of my unfinished zine and fill it in however you like. This zine template is missing the captions. The story is open to interpretation. (Maybe that cactus has a conversation with those tumbleweeds?) Order the images however you like. Folding and cutting is easy. Or, for even more fun, go make your own zine if you haven't tried doing it already! 

    Download and print the PDF.