Monster

Beware of sea monsters.

Feet

For an entire summer my friend Marilou and I went without shoes. Now mind you we lived in a city( we were military brats living in Germany) and that means we walked the city streets, rode on subways, streetcars and buses sans shoes and we're not talking sandals here . We revelled in our calloused, cinder embedded feet as badges of freedom. We could walk on broken glass our feet were so tough. Later Marilou would be deported as a bad example of an American how I eluded that fate I'll never know. Marilou now resides in an abandoned trailer in upstate Maine. She wears Birkenstocks all winter (with unmatched socks I might add) even in 10 feet of snow.

Tattoo

Tattoo of the bubblegum variety- the very best despite its tendency to flake off. The other variety - too much commitment.

Insect

What could possibly be the rationale behind this disturbing practice of attiring one's offspring in insect garb? No doubt naive ill-informed parents claim that such getup is "cute"and see no harm in it at all. But the very young vulnerable child utterly impressionable is apt to develope inalterable insect-like traits after exposure to such invidious stimuli. I have observed several cases firsthand and vouch for the dire nature of this concern.

Tea

Two for tea

Song

I still think of my sister Nancy as the little redheaded girl darting about. My other sister Cindy wrote a song when she was 7 years old. It was called "Pilly, Pilly, Polly, Poo". It went like this: "Oh, Pilly Pilly Polly Poo Oh Pilly Pilly Polly Poo When the answer is spread I suppose I'll be dead Said Pilly Pilly Polly Poo Verse 2 When I'm in the grave
I'll be with Dave Verse 3 When I'm in heaven I'll be 97 " Did you pick up the Death theme? All this to a very jaunty and rousing tune,and we still sing it. A bit morbid for a 7 year old but Cindy was a deep thinker.

Valentines

Happy Valentines Day

Simple

The hammer may be a simple machine, but oh the havoc it can wreak! And thank you kind folks for requesting more of my magnum opus The Hammering Boy.

Chair

This is from a little book I made for my youngest son over 10 years ago. He was obsessed with hammers and carried one around wherever he went. In the story this boy hammers his whole house down but then he discovers he can also make things with a hammer and not just break things (a bit of moralising here). So he proceeds to build an entire city singlehandedly including apartment buildings, supermarkets and bridges. Well anyway he liked it and I told it over and over and over again. This is cut paper and felt tip pen which I put into Photoshop today to clean up. My very first TV show I ever remember seeing was Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Glamour

For dress-up glitter is an essential, also anything sequined, shiny or jewel encrusted. Fingernail and toenail polish,particularly if they are sparkly, loom large. The more frilly and girly-girl the better. And if you can get ahold of some makeup, apply heavily.

Cats

Cats, oh my, I'm ecstatic! Cats are so glamorous, so frou frou, so mysterioso! It's causing me to revert to my 60's self.

E is for Effort

Miss Egglestein gave Ermatrude an E for effort on her Time Machine/Marble Ramp for although the Time Machine sent one back in time by measurable nanoseconds the Marble Ramp itself was rather slow and clumsy and contained a fair number of glitches.

Exploring

Earnestine and Edgar expertly eluded entrapment as they extensively explored their exotic environment. Eventually their exploration evolved into an endless expedition.

My Dad

For Christmas my dad had a DVD made up of our family slides. Among them was this one. My dad was always good for these kinds of thriller joyrides. We were a family of 9 (7 kids) who moved almost every year. It was a bit Lord of the Flies-ish but we liked it that way.

Sea

Lenora was cast adrift in a sea of troubles until she espied a life preserver.

Flavor

Have a zesty, delectable and flavorful new year.

Holiday

Happy Holidays and Happy Holy Days! Love to all

Imagine

Imagination is such a funny thing. A storyteller can recreate a whole funtime fair simply through words spun around in the air. Hastily concocted in Publisher, just under the wire here.

Surprise

The lion eating straw like the ox, a surprising turn of events, no? Edward Hicks was from my town in PA. He did 66 Peaceable Kingdoms that are known. This is my interpretation of Isaiah 11- the cartoon version if you will, which I did in Microsoft Publisher. Peace.

Blue

Blue Christmas