Crazy lady's sister,
Cece Meng, is a children's author. Unlike crazy lady, Cece doesn't write about death, sex and destruction. Like her older sister, however, Cece does write about strong, independent females who have fun living their lives. Her new book, Tough Chicks, is a wonderful story for all ages:
"From the moment Penny, Polly, and Molly hatch from their eggs, the whole farm knows they are truly tough chicks. They wrestle worms, rope roosters, and are often found under the hood of the tractor. All the other animals and even the farmer himself tell Mama Hen to make her chicks good. "They are good!" Mama Hen replies. But could her chicks be too loud, too independent, and too tough? Lively language and bold illustrations capture all the fun and humor of this delightfully different farmyard romp that's also a resounding endorsement for letting girls be girls (even if they're loud and tough and like to play with tractors.)"
According to Kirkus Reviews (a very big deal in the publishing world), Tough Chicks is "sublime and original":
"Mama Hen's three new chicks just won't be cute--or good, much to the dismay of all the barnyard residents, except their proud Mama. They race the bugs, rope the rooster and dive off the fence for fun, running around the farm with an unusual series of un-chick-like cries: "Peep, peep, zoom, zip, cheep!" They won't learn how to cluck, scratch for grain or build a nest. They even poke around under the hood of the big red tractor. Even the hyper-supportive Mama worries that their differences might get them into mischief or, even worse, make them outcasts. One day, Farmer Fred has some trouble with his tractor; it careens out of control and lands in a mud hole, and it's Penny, Polly and Molly to the rescue. Suber's bright acrylics fit the broad strokes of Meng's delightful tale, investing each yellow, droplet-shaped chick with an individual personality. Comfy, round shapes dominate her compositions, which tile and veer off-kilter with the chick's energy; taking a cue from the cartoons, she depicts the chicks' running feet as a blur of tiny orange strokes. Sublime and original."
Crazy lady suspects that the chicks in Cece's new book are a lot like the girls in her own family. Whenever a neighbor would complain about crazy lady and her three sisters, their mom would always say, "What? My children? They would never (insert insane moment here)." Did they steal the neighborhood garbage can lids to act as shields during food fights? Did they pummel the neighborhood kids with rotten fruit from their compost heap, giving new meaning to the phrase "food wars?" Did they convince their only brother-- poor, sensitive, kind soul-- that he could fly off the garage roof, like Superman? Never...(uh huh,
right).
You can order Tough Chicks
here.
Sunday was Family Day. It's rare that all of us are free, but crazy lady's sister-in-law wrote to say they could visit from Maine. I stayed home while crazy lady went to the Princess' house for the impromptu party. The visit coincided with granny and grandpa's 46th wedding anniversary, so we video conferenced with the family in California:
Pretty cool, huh? Here are more pictures:
Crazy lady had to leave early, but she had a great time.
Goose poop is deceitful. For something so delicious, so flavorful, so amazingly tasty, it is demon spawn and most likely related to those evil ones (cats). I've been good for weeks. I drop ("out") the poop that accidentally lands in my mouth, and "leave it" when I'm caught eying the tempting morsels. I would sneak a piece, but what's the harm? Heck, there are dogs who graze and consume gallons of bird waste, with no problems. Me? One little piece, and I spend 4 days pacing and whining because of constant diarrhea and tummy cramps. For three solid nights, crazy lady would take me outside every hour. Neither of us slept. The vet (and test results) said it was due to bad bacteria from the goose poop. The antibiotics are helping; and crazy lady has been giving me warm baths to reduce the muscle cramps. I eat the bland chicken and white rice, and stare at my friends playing in the park. No fun for me (or crazy lady) this week.
I was (to quote the crazy lady) "full of beans," running after sticks and eating goose poop:
Sunshine! New grass for grazing! Gotta love life, on this first day of Spring.
I am not a big fan of the cold. I love to play in the snow when it's light & fluffy; but I hate rocks and salt trapped in my paws during severe storms. Plus, snow men are evil creatures that MUST be destroyed at all times. You see, I prefer the sun. Crazy lady calls me a "heat seeking missile" and says I remind her of a cat. Shame, crazy lady, shame...do you want me to glare at you all day long? I am nothing like a cat. You will pay for your insult, witch.
Okay, enough threats...earlier this week, we had a sunny day. I was bathing in the heat, lazy on the windowsill, and ignoring the world at large. A strange man entered the apartment to fix the brand new drier. Nice hole in exhaust tube, huh?
Did I greet the man with a warning bark? Did I try to protect crazy lady? Did I even bother to get off the windowsill and explore the stranger who entered our sacred home? Those would have been my normal reactions to having a stranger knock on the door. But today, the sun was too precious. A storm was arriving by the end of the week. I had limited time to soak in the heat. I could care less about the repairman. I had my priorities, and SUN ALWAYS WINS.
Here's a close-up of my face:
Lovely, huh? The couch has a permanent indentation from my muzzle.
Crazy lady has been spending some time in NYC meeting editors, lawyers, small press owners and friends. She's exhausted and grumpy, but wanted to give kudos to RescueInk.org, a wonderful group of rescuers and activists:
Amazing folks doing amazing work. You can check out their adoptions here.
Before she completely crashes & burns due to sleep deprivation, crazy lady wanted to leave some fun wallpaper for the geeks in all of us:
More later...
Today was a silly day. Crazy lady is headed to Salem for a reading later tonight, but we spent the day playing with her sister Robyn and Princess Kaylie. We piled blankets on the bed:
Be-bopped to Lily Allen, especially the first four tracks on her new album (Kaylie loved Not Fair, 22 and The Fear):
And just wallowed in our silliness, especially when Kaylie grabbed the camera and took a picture of crazy lady!
Crazy lady has book readings, classes, homework and deadlines this week, so she's a little stressed. She wanted to post these pictures of my play time in the snow, however. Chasing and capturing and destroying this ball is my favorite activity:
Don't you love my battered soccer ball? You would never know that it was brand new 1 week ago:
Here's my final beauty shot:
Crazy lady's sister, Cece Meng, is a children's author. Unlike crazy lady, Cece doesn't write about death, sex and destruction. Like her older sister, however, Cece does write about strong, independent females who have fun living their lives. Her new book, Tough Chicks, is a wonderful story for all ages:
As you know, I decide when it's time to take a break, and I interrupt her work. She bought me a bed a couple of weeks ago, but I refused to use it. That is, until Echo arrived. We would share the bed in the morning while crazy lady edited her previous day's ramblings. Since Echo has returned home, I still spend the mornings on the bed:
Sigh... I miss that dog...oh well, crazy lady let me watch Barbie's runway show, because "everyone needs a Ken." No comment.
The middle:
The end:
Hah. Crazy lady really thought we'd let her sleep before her 10 AM reading on Sunday? Silly woman.
Echo's parents returned last night, and the house is peaceful. I'm moping, but crazy lady can't tell if it's from exhaustion or depression. Oh well. I'll just look sad until she gives me extra chicken.
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