I took this the other day during my lunch hour. It is a Japanese Maple growing in the front of the library.
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Cover of The Invention of Hugo Cabret The big news this week, at least for me, has been the book awards! I’ve been wondering which ones will win the Caldecott, the Newberry, and the Printz award. I’ve read a lot of new books this year and wondered if any of my favorites won. Here are this year’s winners:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, set in 1932 Paris, won the 2008 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
The John Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children’s literature was awarded to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From a Medieval Village written by Laura Amy Schlitz (illustrated by Robert Byrd, for ages 10 and up). (article here)
The Printz Award went to The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean.
I am thrilled about the Caldecott! Didn’t I wonder, a few months back when I read it, if it was possible for a chapter book to win the Caldecott? I don’t think I have seen a more beautifully illustrated book this year. I was simply blown away by it.
Again, the Newberry Award is coming out of left field for me. I vaguely recall this book passing over my desk when it was new but I didn’t read it. I am now on the request list for it, that’s for sure. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt was a honorable mention, and I did really enjoy that. So I’m glad that got some good attention.
I hadn’t read the Printz Award, either. I hadn’t even seen or heard of it. So that will go on my list of books to read in the near future. It looks like a wonderful read!
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The last time we talked about this sweater I was wondering 1) if it would fit after blocking, and 2)which button to put on it. First of all, yes! It does, indeed, fit! I’m so happy. I even wore it to work last Tuesday. I think this will be a well-worn sweater. And, as you can see, I went with the wooden button. I have a lot of browns and neutrals in my wardrobe so I thought it would work for that. I’m happy with my choice. But I do want to use the fabulous flower button on something! That “thing” will come. It wants to be something yet to be discovered.I went on a craft rampage this week. Actually, it kind of all happened in a matter of three (or four?) days. First, I decided I needed a hood/cowl. This little seed was planted in the Ravelry forums when someone complained about some company charging $94.00 dollars for, basically a knitted tube. The argument is neither her nor there to me. Frankly, it’s worth $94.00 if someone wants to pay $94.00, regardless of the fact that it is easy to make. But anyway….I decided I wanted one, thinking that this would be a great alternative to a hat! I have to wear a hat in this cold weather, but like to take it off when I’m in the store or whatever. I don’t have a big enough purse to stuff it in so I stuff it in my jacket pocket, along with my gloves. This is not a good solution because my pockets are too bulky and unseemly. So the cowl/hood was born. And has gotten some good use these past few days.
The next thing that I decided I needed were some gloves. I have been wearing mittens around and, while warm, I don’t like wearing them very much. So I searched around and found this pattern in the book “One Skein” which I own. I was drawn to the cable pattern on the cuff. It took me a mere two days to knit these! And, indeed, one skein. These would make a great gift for someone in a pinch.That’s all of the crafty stuff from this corner. Hope you all are staying sane this winter ;). God knows, crafting has been saving my sanity this winter.
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Okay. I almost didn’t do this post today because I’m not feeling well at all. I went home sick with a blinding headache (and I’m not even kidding about that) and I am still fighting it. So this is gonna be short and sweet.My current read is Dharma Punx by Noah Levine. It’s a memoir, written by a gen x punk (around my age). He writes about his harrowing fall to the brink of suicide and the crawl back to sobriety and spirituality. I’ve been interested in this book for a couple of years. I saw him speaking on the local Santa Cruz television channel when he was speaking at the (I think) Bookshop Santa Cruz. I really liked what he had to say. I thought his melding of punk and Buddhism was fascinating. I thought a Buddhist punk fascinating, actually.
I had kind of forgotten about the book and never did pick it up. A few weeks ago I was catching up on podcasts and I caught an edition of To the Best of Our Knowledge that featured American Buddhist authors and Noah Levine was one of the interviewees. Again, I was intrigued with his story so I interlibrary loaned the book and received last week.
It’s pretty good. His story is very compelling. I can’t put the book down, actually. His writing style is a little gritty, but that’s fine with me.
The surprising thing to me about the book was that it takes place in Santa Cruz. Levine was raised there and he writes extensively of his time growing up there. So it’s been really cool to read this book and know exactly the places he is writing about. It makes me really, really miss the place. But that’s a whole other blog post. I’ve been feeling very melancholic for Santa Cruz, lately.
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I took this yesterday after we got another 7 inches of snow the night before. I has since warmed up a bit and is all starting to melt. However, there is so much of it that it might take awhile! And I’m sure there is more to come before winter is over.
