Doodles ‘n’ Drawings – Page 18 – Hey, Look! A Writer Fellow!

April 21, 2013April 22, 2013

The Stamp Act

And the Celebrate Stamp Saga continues.

Are you not familiar with the Celebrate Stamp Saga? Well, it all began when I was forced to draw a “Celebrate Cats” stamp.

The recipient of that cat stamp was the nine-year-old son of blogger extraordinaire Jilanne Hoffmann. The young man enjoyed my doodling efforts, I’m pleased to say, and, as a thank you, he sent me a hilarious, hand-drawn comic book and a “Celebrate Falling” stamp.

I was impressed and grateful. So I sent him a thank you note with another stamp drawing, “Celebrate Comics.”

In response, he has drawn a few more stamps that Jilanne recently posted on her blog.

You get the picture, I think; I have just gotten myself entangled in a Celebrate Stamp Cold War. I suspect that I am outgunned.

But it aint over yet! Watch your back, Hoffmanns. A Celebrate Stamp drone attack will be coming your way when you least expect it!

***

On an entirely different note, April is National Poetry Month!

Though I am not terribly well-versed (Ha!), I do sometimes give the rhyming thing a go. For example, thanks to Vanessa Chapman and her inexplicable love of seagulls, I was forced to write an ode to head lice.

I also bang out a couple of couplets in the comment sections of other blogs. At Catherine Johnson’s place, for example I penned this little gem:

Master Sculptor, bearing chisel,
Stopped his work to take a whizzle.
And so the marble had to wait,
For Sculptor to evacuate.

Wait! Where are you going? There’s more!

This next poem is out of season, but, hey, why not? In December, Sarah Wesson hosted a contest, asking her readers to write a poem. After a little cajoling on Sarah’s part, I wrote the following to the tune of Jingle Bells. Please feel free to sing it out loud at work:

Writing Christmas cards,
To those who do not care,
Like stupid Uncle Ted,
Does his still live there?
Oh, wait, I think he died,
Killed by a crazy tramp,
Gee, that really made my day,
I saved myself a stamp!

See how I brought the post back around to the topic of stamps? Pretty good, eh? This is why they pay me the big bucks!

But, seriously, Hoffmanns, you guys are going down.

November 8, 2012

My Very First Repost: Sunday Sketches

Celebrate cows — This is what I do with extra time on my hands.

Back in the early days of this blog, I wrote a number of posts that nobody ever saw. “Sixty-one views?” I’d say, aghast. “For the whole month?”

So, with your permission, I thought I’d pull an old post out of the pile and reintroduce it to a (hopefully) larger audience.

Feel free, as always, to comment with reckless abandon! I do so love your comments.

***

One of the ways I hoped to get my (then-three-year-old) son interested in reading was to leave him little notes at the breakfast table. After all, what could be more fun than getting a loving note every morning from your dear ol’ Dad?

But, since I am incapable of doing anything in a small way, I took my note idea to the next level. It’s always fun to get mail, so I sealed each note in an envelope; printed my son’s name and address on the front; and, for that extra dose of authenticity, drew on a stamp. (“Celebrate Cows,” was the first subject.) “There!” I thought. “That will get my boy interested in reading!”

Instead, it got my boy interested in stamp collecting. From the second note on, he carefully ripped the stamp off the envelope and stored it in a shoebox. The notes were glanced at briefly, handed to Mom to read aloud, and then discarded without a second thought. So while I’m pleased to report that my son – who is now six – reads with enthusiasm, my grand note experiment had absolutely nothing to do with it.

October 26, 2012

Craftastic!

Gobble! — Meet Corky. Suitable for framing.

My first Sarah Gives Thanks public appearance is on October 28 at 2 pm at Well Read, a charming, independent bookstore in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

I figured it wouldn’t be much work; I’d talk a little about Sarah Hale and Thanksgiving and then I’d read the book and sign copies.

But, Bill, the owner of the place, wanted more.

“You have a craft?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, a what?”

“It’s easier to get kids in the store when you also offer a craft.” Then he added – I assume to be helpful – “You know, something crafty.”

Ah.

Now, I am not a crafter. My skills don’t go very far beyond writing and doodling. But, lately, I also find myself becoming more and more skilled in the art of lying. So I assured Bill that I did have a craft. “A good one,” I said with a confident nod.

And then I floundered around for the next couple of weeks trying to think of something.

What I came up with was this guy at the top of my post. Meet Corky the Turkey. He needs your crayon skills. Coloring is the first part of the craft.

You may have noticed that Corky does not have any tail feathers. Well, fear not. I cut a bunch of tail feathers out of orange and yellow construction paper. Each child takes a handful of these feathers and writes something that he or she is thankful for on each one. Then the feathers are glued onto Corky’s butt. And that’s the second part of the craft.

For Hortense's tushie. — Now Corky can shake a tail feather.

Ta Daaa! Just call me crafty.

I know, I know. It is a far, far cry from what can be found at the incredible pillows a-la-mode and mywithershins. But it certainly beats tracing your hand and sticking a beak on the thumb.

So, onward!

***

On another note, The BCCBA Acronym Contest is almost over! Don’t forget to submit your entry by October 31 for a chance to win a free, signed copy of Sarah Gives Thanks!