Tag: conference

The land of Mickey

 I’ve returned from vacationing in the land of Mickey! While I’m not an Orlando sort of person (I much prefer forests, mountains and streams to the concrete jungle) I had a great time with my family. We visited the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Hollywood Studios. The creative minds at work there are just incredible. I’d love to be a fly on the wall while they create these rides. We saw a ton of theatre including Finding Nemo- The Musical which employs puppetry similar to the Lion King. The costumes and puppets were designed by Michael Curry who also designed the Lion King puppets. The experience was just incredible. 

In other news, the countdown to conference continues. 14 days. We are getting food numbers together and handling faculty travel issues. One of our faculty members will be having a blog tour next week. Take a look at Winston Breen’s Puzzle Party information to learn more! Travel to all the blog sites on the list and solve all the puzzles. Totally sweet! (That’s turtle for…um… totally sweet.)

Days of Yore

I’m pleased to say that the edits for the folder inserts are done. (No thanks to me, Anindita was Super Copy Editor Woman extraordinaire. slicing off commas left and right!) Conference things must be clearing out a bit, though, because I’m finding time to check status updates on Facebook and write on Live Journal. We are down to the nitty gritty. Food, travel and folder stuffing. This Sunday, a troop of brave volunteers will stare paper cuts in the face and say, "Bring it on," or something more eloquent. (They are writers after all. ) And fill all the colorful folders that we’ll give to 400 wonderful conference attendees. Oooo! I’m so excited. By the way 23 days and a wake up.

On Monday, I turned in a paper and art project I had for my color theory class. To do this, I had to revisit the days of yore. You know: staying up till midnight to finish my work, then getting up early the next day to REALLY finish my work, then arriving at class late because I had to finish my work. Crazy. I just keep telling myself that I’m doing pretty darn great considering I have kids (volunteering at my son’s elementary school production of Willy Wonka and oh, yeah,  baseball has started), I’m running a huge conference, and I’m still trying to do some creative work. If you missed my most recent grumbly post, check out (not me)  the comment from my friend Kim where she posts the link to the movie Who Does She Think She Is? Wow!

Something I learned while editing the workshop descriptions…word of the day… elision. 

My Life. So similar to yours I’m sure.

 When I wake up in the morning (around 6ish) my brain kicks into overdrive. With my eyes closed, illustration ideas play for me like a slide show. Sometimes I squeeze them harder trying to make out the details, the colors, the gestures, space, composition… Without fail they fade as I open my eyes. 

I take this time to plan too. "Today," I think,  "I will jump right up, do some research for my class paper, write the "one-month-left" letter to faculty of the conference, revise Regular Bus, I need to dummy up First Came the Deer"… and on and on until I’m so overwhelmed that the warmth of my husband and the bed lull me to inaction for another half-hour. 

Then it’s up and at ’em. Unload the dishwasher, get up the boys, make lunches. Has everyone has breakfast? Get your lunch box, shoes on, shoes on, homework packed. Mom did you sign my… Shoes on! Let’s go. Run, run, let’s not miss the bus…

Then quiet. Clean the kitchen or check email? Check email. 

Oh no, I’m late. Shoes on. Get to class.

Did I mention one month left. I’m so excited for the conference but part of me wishes it was April 27th. Maybe then I’ll get to that 6 am list. 

Still alive

Yes folks, Anna is still alive and well. Better than well actually. Conference registration is charging full steam ahead. After one week we have over 250 people. Last year (with 575 people) it was pretty obvious that we had outgrown the space and we are looking for a bigger spot for 2010. In the mean time, we’ve limited the conference to 400 people so that means that things are filling up.

Some people have been disappointed by the limits but I’m confident that there are enough wonderful offerings to fill your weekend. (I would suggest for instance, that if you think you do not write "about race" or for the "gay community" that you may be surprised how much we all include racial, sexual, and gender baggage in our writing.) We have moved around some of the workshops due to demand and raised their limits. If you were closed out of something you really wanted, check in with Shirley Pearson (conference registrar) about changing your schedule. (shirleydpearson at yahoo dot com)

I am taking two college art classes (Drawing and Color Theory) from an enthusiastic, and approachable professor. On the first day of class, many of the young adult students in the class set themselves up facing me. I quickly realized they thought I was the professor.  I was flattered (since that is my goal) but explained I was also a student. Since then, I’ve just been the one who is very willing to share my life experiences, ideas and thoughts. I actually find myself hanging back, pausing and trying to allow some wait time for my younger classmates to give their opinions. I’ve told my professor not call on me if my hand is up and she wants to get others in on the discussion. I’d love to hear from these other students too but they seem afraid to volunteer their thoughts. The professor has been using some teaching techniques to get everyone involved which is great. 

One thing I love about taking classes is that I start to see my learning all around me. I’m noticing how color works and doesn’t work. What color is "local" color what color is "perceived" or "vibrating." What are the darkest darks, the lightest lights. How is a space constructed "atmospheric perspective." Many things that I’m learning are review, some I know but don’t have a name for it, other information is entirely new. When I’m taking a class, the art I produce, because of the structure and intensity of the course, is usually more accomplished. I’m able to use what I’m learning to make the image better in a variety of ways. 

Sharing is good:
Check out this lovely Lego artwork…

Do I have everything?

Yesterday, we were not ready for Monday. My son’s scribbled on homework sheets that they "forgot" were due. We missed the bus. We jumped into the truck but it wouldn’t go. I had to ask my neighbor to take my kiddos to school. My usual Mommy-mobile was at the BWI airport with my husband who took it  at 6 am. That was fine, I figured it didn’t matter what car I had as long as I could get around. After plugging in the truck for a half-hour it started right up. That’s when I realized that the college parking sticker I bought was on the Mommy-mobile too. Ack! The security people at the college were very nice and gave me a temporary pass for the week. 

Today my sons jumped out of bed for waffles and strawberries. They packed their bags. My "organizationally challenged" child utterer the following words, "Do I have everything?"
Illustration by Ian Yates
Illustration by Ian Yates

Yes my friends… self awareness. I hugged him and kissed him. Then he zipped up his backpack, and put on his shoes without me asking. Have we turned a corner? Ask me in a month. 

In conference news…
Special events are filling up quickly so get your registration in. Remember that if spaces fill for something, that offering will not appear on the registration form. novel intensive with Sarah Aronson (thru_the_booth ) is closed. (If you want to be on the waitlist write to shirleydpearson at yahoo dot com) We currently have…drum roll please…185 attendees registered.

In writing news…
I’m still in the waiting room on a PB manuscript and a novel. I’m working on the illustrated dummy book for my collaboration with Joyce Johnson.

In other news…
I’m taking two college classes this semester to further my art knowledge for illustration and to expand my teaching certification to include an Art Educators endorsement. I have the same instructor for both Color Theory and Drawing. She’s a great educator and artist and I look forward to learning a lot.

Finally, it is snowing. There might be a inch but I doubt it. However, it is a big deal for these Southern Maryland folks and I just got a robocall that kids are being sent home 3 hours early. Early? Have you ever heard of such a thing? How are the parents suppose to get off of work and make it home to be there for their kiddos? I have class then. Good grief.

Edited to add:
Turns out the college is closing at noon. You call this snow?

Birthday Wishes

Yesterday, my children and hubby dragged me, kicking and screaming, away from my computer. (Obviously if I kicked and screamed I must be a little looney. Most people would be happy to exchange work for fun.)  We took a little road trip up to Annapolis, had a lovely lunch, strolled the brick and cobblestone streets of the port city, bought comic books, and found awesome candy and pastry shops. At night, I went to book club where the discussion was about Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl. The discussion ended up with a wonderful round of favorite family recipes and food moments. 

This morning, I reopened my computer to find Ooo-gobs (that’s a very specific and scientific value of love and friendship) of birthday wishes via Live Journal and Facebook. Thank you all. Many of you guessed that this was my 29th or 30th birthday. Aren’t you funny. I won’t be 30 again for another two years. 

One small step for the Earth

I have two priorities for the April New England SCBWI conference. One is to welcome and include as many different kinds of people as possible. We have a very diverse faculty and I hope that a diverse group of attendees will be drawn to the "Many Voices" conference.

My second priority was to reduce the carbon foot-print of the conference. My goals were to increase recycling, reduce the numbers of water/soda bottles used, and go paperless for the brochure and registration. Because it is the first year that we are doing online registration, all NESCBWI members will get a postcard to point them in the right direction. The online registration will be up and running on January 24th. The tests have gone really well, and we’ve gotten good feedback. Anindita, my co-director, is made of patience and awesome as she has formated the site and tackled the issues and glitches. Today I got the good news from the hotel that, because of my green requests, they will have recycling receptacles for all bottles and the "boxed lunch" boxes for our conference. 

I feel great about these achievements and look forward to seeing you all at the conference. 

One hundred forty four days and counting

If you are a NESCBWI member you may have heard about the new Social Networking aspect of http://www.NESCBWI.org, MyNESCBWI. If you haven’t visited the new ning, created by web guru Greg Fishbone, take a look, sign up, and friend me. I happen to know that Greg is looking for web work so if you are looking for a web guru you may want to contact him. Mostly the ning will be a spot for New Englanders but if you live outside of the area (like me for now) and are homesick for the colorful autumns, white winters, and brown springs then the ning may be the place for you.

Greg placed a count down gadget on the ning that tells you how many days are left until the spring conference. "Oh good," you say. No, this is not good. This is the ultimate in deadline manifestation. It even has hours and minutes left, slowly they tick away revealing how little time I have to get all the conference work done. ACK! It makes me feel like this:

My co-director  

[info]arialas

   says, relax. That’s almost as long as a school year. Hmmm… So maybe it feels more like this:

"Bring on the chocolate!" I say.

Five on Friday

 1. Looking over my blog posts recently I can report that they are decidedly political. (Go figure) I am not apologetic because politics is a lot of what makes me, me. But, since this blog is mostly about me and my pursuit of the allusive book contract, I’m posting more policy and political stuff on my Obama.com blog page here. So many feel a sense of ownership after this week’s amazing events. Come on over if you’d like to stay apart of the Obama community.

2. Like d_michiko_f  I have a husband who is often out and about on business. (I haven’t counted the total days this year Debbie, but I’m sure you’ve got me beat.) To those of you who single parent all the time you know that it is no piece of cake. But I think the difference is that when you are always the single parent you own that constant sense of decision making and responsibility in a way that on again off again single parenting does not allow. Hubby will be home on Sunday. Good thing because I’ve run out of energy. Last night we went out for dinner, this morning we ate breakfast at McDonald’s, and tonight we had macaroni and cheese (and broccoli)  Needless to say, I’m ready for my sweetie to come home.

3. The reason we ate at McDonald’s is because my children left their homework papers at school. This has been a regular issue for my organizationally challenged (OC) child so last night I barked, "We will wake up and go to school at 7 to get those papers and you will complete your work!" Well at 7:30 we did indeed make it school. "Mom," says my OC child, "it’s not going to be open." "Why didn’t you say that to me last night," I asked, "or this morning when we got in the car." "Because I didn’t think you’d really make us do it," he said. I got a chuckle out of that one. Once in, we got the papers and staked out the McDonald’s fun room as a quiet study hall away from the old guy coffee club. (free refills) They finished everything.

4. I finished my freelance newsletter and a press release in the midst of election euphoria. So glad! Today, I worked on getting out the rest of the workshop contracts. Now onto the folks who are doing any sort of crits. Hopefully I can take a few days to just do novel work and not worry about freelance stuff. I’ve noticed that my internet cruising has decreased sharply since the election was decided.

5. Today is poetry Friday. Here is a fall acrostic from my son. E.C. Boll (his own spelling)
Leaves chanje color
Evereone is playing
Apples are ripe
Varee quiet
Everething is still
Sharing
It reminds me a little of cfaughnan ‘s thoughts today.