So, inspiration has struck. =) Considering the incredibly wonderful and positive response I got to my unschooling post two days ago, I have decided to change my call for guest posts about writing and blogging to a more specific call - a guest post about your educational experiences and how they have shaped you! I couldn't believe the stories I got from people in the comments of my post, and I'd love to hear more about them in-depth here on the blog.
I actually can't remember if I ever put out an official call for guest posts on the blog, but I know I've done it repeatedly on Twitter. To make myself clear, I am leaving for summer Spanish immersion camp from June 21st to the middle of July - I'm not going to specify the date, because honestly, the date when I get back and the date when I'm coherent enough to return to blogging will definitely be two different things. =) I don't want my blog to get lonely while I'm gone, so I plan to schedule guest posts to keep it company!
I am of the opinion that everyone is an expert about their own life experiences, and so I am not asking for just writers, bloggers, and avid readers anymore - though I'd love to hear from those kinds of people, people who have stories to tell about their education are just fine, too! You do not need to be homeschooled or unschooled, your education does not even have to be particularly unconventional - I'd just like to hear about how it has shaped you, especially in regards to creativity and career.
Please surprise me here! Drop me a line at mdesmondobrien@yahoo.com with a brief description of the story you'd like to tell, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible - I'm really, really open here, guys. Anything pertaining to education, whether you're still a student of high school or college, a teacher, or long past your school days. I will try and get back to you as soon as possible, but please bear with me - the internet is down at the house right now and I am currently writing this from my public library.
Anyway, I'm excited, and thank you all again for your inspiring open-mindedness! =D
June 5, 2010
June 3, 2010
Unschooling: A Tangent
For those of you who are only on the blog for the books, I am warning you that I am going to get on a soapbox for a few minutes, so please disregard this post. For those of you who would like a little background on the reason I am able to read, write, tweet, and blog so much as a 15-year-old high school sophomore, please feel free to read on!
Yesterday was, apparently, Hate On Homeschoolers/Unschoolers Day. First off, I read this post from Good Morning America on unschooling, titled Extreme Homeschooling: No Tests, No Books, No Classes, No Curriculm. Read it? Good. Here was why I had a problem with it.
First of all, I didn't feel it was well done. It's a short, poorly formatted piece that jumps around the page and jumps around ideas like it's playing leapfrog, with a busy background and tons of ads. Perhaps this is just a personal pet peeve, but I HATE sites like this. Sites like this seem to scream "We just love to waste your time and ruin your eyes!" to me.
Secondly, it's poorly written and researched; transforming one admittedly odd family into a frightening trend and letting the writer's opinions color the reporting. Granted, that's what I'm doing here, but there is a big difference between a blog and an article, obviously. All in all, I think the thing that offended me the most was that it seemed like they couldn't be bothered about it at all, and only wrote the piece to inform their viewers and readers of said *frightening trend* so that they can warn their family and gossip about it with friends over the water cooler.
The second thing that happened yesterday? My sister came home in tears from the hairdresser after being grilled repeatedly about how she knew she was at grade level and would be ready for college when the time came. "Do you take tests?" "Are you getting good grades?" "What are you going to do when you have to join the real world again?" And the really sad thing was, she didn't even give my sister a good haircut.
Speaking as a self-proclaimed unschooled child, the life of the family analyzed in the Good Morning America article sounds absolutely nothing like mine. No rules? Forget it. No algebra? I wish. No hierarchy? Tell that to my mother. I am entering the PSEO (Post-Secondary Educational Option/Opportunity) this fall as a 15-year-old (I skipped a grade), which essentially means I get two years of college for free. I plan on graduating at 17 years old with my associate's degree, take a couple years off, and then return to college for a degree in botany/biology, or a double major with anthropology thrown in for good measure. I am extremely self-motivated (and also something of an overachiever), and unschooling lets me develop my loves and talents to the fullest at the pace I need. Sometimes I can race through material, sometimes I need to take it slow. (Are you listening, algebra???) I love that aspect of choosing my own curriculm, versus strict homeschooling and public school where I wouldn't have that freedom.
Don't misunderstand me, though. "Choosing my own curriculm" does not mean glossing over subjects I don't like. (Remember that comment about hierarchy and my mom?) It mean choosing the least painful and most natural way to learn them. I changed algebra curriculms three times before I found the one I'm using now, but the one I'm using now is the one I work the best from. I don't think it would have paid off to keep using a bad curriculm that I was learning nothing from. For pretty much every other subject, I read. I have read, literally, thousands of books. I review only a fraction of the books I read on this blog. And I observe. I talk to people, listen to people, take long walks in the woods, work in the garden, blog, read the blogs of others, and so much more. I hang out with my friends (which, by the way, I do have, contrary to popular belief about unschoolers), I hang out with my family, I absorb and I learn. That's why I don't understand all the comments I receive about living in the real world - the world I live in now is so much more real than the world that school would have been.
What about grades? How do I know I'm moving at the right pace? First of all, I do take a basic assessment test every year. It's great to know if I've fallen unacceptably behind, and thankfully I haven't so far. This year I scored in the 98th percentile. If I ever did fall behind, I'd definitely take action. But the idea of grades, to me, especially grading on a curve, is not a fair unit of measurement. If you scrape a B on one course, but remember the contents of that course and how much you loved it your whole life, are you or are you not better off than someone who crams an A but can't remember any of it in a month, a year, or a decade? I like academics, I do well at academics, and when I take outside courses I consistently receive good grades. But on a day to day basis, I learn much better in the knowledge that I will not be constantly compared to other kids at my "level", and that I am free to have my own strengths and they, theirs. No one can be good at everything, and yet good at everything is exactly what we expect a straight A student to be. And what about the things grades can't measure? What about true fitness (not just PE), a love of learning, invaluable social skills and what have you? Are we discounting them entirely?
I could write a book on my experiences with unschooling. I have so much to relate and am so passionate about it that that would probably be very easy for me. But honestly, it all boils down to this - I would not have the freedom and ability to read, write, and blog as I do without unschooling. I have been homeschooled or unschooled since the 1st grade, and have never really questioned that freedom to be me, to write what I feel without worrying about ridicule from the elementary school English teacher, to explore a craft that is so important to me. It's only now that I'm in high school, and my friends tell me that they wanted to be writers too, until they started having four hours of homework a night and simply couldn't do it, that I realize how lucky I am.
I'm not advocating unschooling for everyone - I know a lot of kids that couldn't make it without the kind of structure you find in public school or traditional homeschooling where they thrive. They would be incredibly unhappy as unschoolers. But I'd love to see unschooling gain the respect as another educational path that is not necessarily lax parenting or brainwashing (even if, in the wrong hands, it can become both). I'd love to be able to tell people that I'm unschooled without receiving weird looks or snide remarks in return. Most of all, I'd love if we could all be more open to the lifestyles of others, whether it's unschooling or veganism or meat-eating or yoga. Aren't we all entitled to the pursuit of happiness?
If you'd like to learn more about unschooling, the first resource that comes to mind is www.gracellewellyn.com, the website of Grace Llewellyn, who has written and edited several books on unschooling and homeschooling. I'm not a big fan of her website design, either, but she has a great link collection here!
Climbing off my soapbox now. Does anyone hear know any unschoolers or homeschoolers they'd like to chime in about? Even if you don't, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!
Yesterday was, apparently, Hate On Homeschoolers/Unschoolers Day. First off, I read this post from Good Morning America on unschooling, titled Extreme Homeschooling: No Tests, No Books, No Classes, No Curriculm. Read it? Good. Here was why I had a problem with it.
First of all, I didn't feel it was well done. It's a short, poorly formatted piece that jumps around the page and jumps around ideas like it's playing leapfrog, with a busy background and tons of ads. Perhaps this is just a personal pet peeve, but I HATE sites like this. Sites like this seem to scream "We just love to waste your time and ruin your eyes!" to me.
Secondly, it's poorly written and researched; transforming one admittedly odd family into a frightening trend and letting the writer's opinions color the reporting. Granted, that's what I'm doing here, but there is a big difference between a blog and an article, obviously. All in all, I think the thing that offended me the most was that it seemed like they couldn't be bothered about it at all, and only wrote the piece to inform their viewers and readers of said *frightening trend* so that they can warn their family and gossip about it with friends over the water cooler.
The second thing that happened yesterday? My sister came home in tears from the hairdresser after being grilled repeatedly about how she knew she was at grade level and would be ready for college when the time came. "Do you take tests?" "Are you getting good grades?" "What are you going to do when you have to join the real world again?" And the really sad thing was, she didn't even give my sister a good haircut.
Speaking as a self-proclaimed unschooled child, the life of the family analyzed in the Good Morning America article sounds absolutely nothing like mine. No rules? Forget it. No algebra? I wish. No hierarchy? Tell that to my mother. I am entering the PSEO (Post-Secondary Educational Option/Opportunity) this fall as a 15-year-old (I skipped a grade), which essentially means I get two years of college for free. I plan on graduating at 17 years old with my associate's degree, take a couple years off, and then return to college for a degree in botany/biology, or a double major with anthropology thrown in for good measure. I am extremely self-motivated (and also something of an overachiever), and unschooling lets me develop my loves and talents to the fullest at the pace I need. Sometimes I can race through material, sometimes I need to take it slow. (Are you listening, algebra???) I love that aspect of choosing my own curriculm, versus strict homeschooling and public school where I wouldn't have that freedom.
Don't misunderstand me, though. "Choosing my own curriculm" does not mean glossing over subjects I don't like. (Remember that comment about hierarchy and my mom?) It mean choosing the least painful and most natural way to learn them. I changed algebra curriculms three times before I found the one I'm using now, but the one I'm using now is the one I work the best from. I don't think it would have paid off to keep using a bad curriculm that I was learning nothing from. For pretty much every other subject, I read. I have read, literally, thousands of books. I review only a fraction of the books I read on this blog. And I observe. I talk to people, listen to people, take long walks in the woods, work in the garden, blog, read the blogs of others, and so much more. I hang out with my friends (which, by the way, I do have, contrary to popular belief about unschoolers), I hang out with my family, I absorb and I learn. That's why I don't understand all the comments I receive about living in the real world - the world I live in now is so much more real than the world that school would have been.
What about grades? How do I know I'm moving at the right pace? First of all, I do take a basic assessment test every year. It's great to know if I've fallen unacceptably behind, and thankfully I haven't so far. This year I scored in the 98th percentile. If I ever did fall behind, I'd definitely take action. But the idea of grades, to me, especially grading on a curve, is not a fair unit of measurement. If you scrape a B on one course, but remember the contents of that course and how much you loved it your whole life, are you or are you not better off than someone who crams an A but can't remember any of it in a month, a year, or a decade? I like academics, I do well at academics, and when I take outside courses I consistently receive good grades. But on a day to day basis, I learn much better in the knowledge that I will not be constantly compared to other kids at my "level", and that I am free to have my own strengths and they, theirs. No one can be good at everything, and yet good at everything is exactly what we expect a straight A student to be. And what about the things grades can't measure? What about true fitness (not just PE), a love of learning, invaluable social skills and what have you? Are we discounting them entirely?
I could write a book on my experiences with unschooling. I have so much to relate and am so passionate about it that that would probably be very easy for me. But honestly, it all boils down to this - I would not have the freedom and ability to read, write, and blog as I do without unschooling. I have been homeschooled or unschooled since the 1st grade, and have never really questioned that freedom to be me, to write what I feel without worrying about ridicule from the elementary school English teacher, to explore a craft that is so important to me. It's only now that I'm in high school, and my friends tell me that they wanted to be writers too, until they started having four hours of homework a night and simply couldn't do it, that I realize how lucky I am.
I'm not advocating unschooling for everyone - I know a lot of kids that couldn't make it without the kind of structure you find in public school or traditional homeschooling where they thrive. They would be incredibly unhappy as unschoolers. But I'd love to see unschooling gain the respect as another educational path that is not necessarily lax parenting or brainwashing (even if, in the wrong hands, it can become both). I'd love to be able to tell people that I'm unschooled without receiving weird looks or snide remarks in return. Most of all, I'd love if we could all be more open to the lifestyles of others, whether it's unschooling or veganism or meat-eating or yoga. Aren't we all entitled to the pursuit of happiness?
If you'd like to learn more about unschooling, the first resource that comes to mind is www.gracellewellyn.com, the website of Grace Llewellyn, who has written and edited several books on unschooling and homeschooling. I'm not a big fan of her website design, either, but she has a great link collection here!
Climbing off my soapbox now. Does anyone hear know any unschoolers or homeschoolers they'd like to chime in about? Even if you don't, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!
June 2, 2010
On the Web: 06/02/10
On the Web is a revamped daily feature of mine where I round up my favorite book reviews, blog posts, articles, and more that I've encountered over the course of the day - note that it's just stuff I read today, not necessarily stuff that was published today. Just another way my blog is going to suck your time from here on out! =) I'll do this daily whenever possible, but considering I'm not usually at the computer as much as I was today, it will probably be an every-few-days kind of deal. Enjoy!
Reviews
Reviews
- See Michelle Read reviews Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch: This book sounds like fun, and I love her review format!
- Forever Young Adult reviews The Enemy by Charlie Higson: Go zombie dystopia! And FYI, I will recommend that you read EVERYTHING Forever Young Adult writes, so you have been duly warned.
- Book Faery reviews Insatiable by Meg Cabot: Let us all return to the original vampires, none of this sparkle-pire crap. O_o Anyway, I loved the personal experience related in this review, and it sounds like a fun book!
Contests
- Market My Words is giving away a copy of Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins: Be sure to read the wonderful post by Mitali! To enter, leave a comment sharing a multicultural book you loved.
Blogging/Reading/Community
- How to report pre-publication ARCs that are up for auction on eBay from Sharon Loves Books and Cats.
- So you want to start a book blog... from www.angryrobtbooks.com.
- Forever Young Adult's recap of BEA Day 1, making me wish I was there: Again, you have been duly warned. JUST READ EVERYTHING, OKAY???
Writing and Publishing Advice and News
- How a dystopian world becomes a character in its own right from The League of Extraordinary Writers.
- 4 Dos and 4 Don'ts for writing series fiction from www.victoriamixon.com
- How much should they grow? Character development advice from Gail Carson Levine.
- Why literary fiction in which nothing happens can be so darn riveting from Writer Unboxed.
- Don't quit your day job - what debut authors really make from YALitChat's Georgia McBride.
Random Craziness/Coolness/Cuteness (Translation: I'm posting it because I like it and am a geek.)
June 1, 2010
Toads and Diamonds
Associate Links: Amazon
/IndieBound- Why I picked it up: Good reviews, PoC lit, Southeast Asia, twisted fairytale, love the cover!
- Disclosure: Library book (no reimbursement)
Diribani has come to the village well to get water for her family's scant meal of curry and rice. She never expected to meet a goddess there. Yet she is granted a remarkable gift: Flowers and precious jewels drop from her lips whenever she speaks.I read a review of this at Reading in Color awhile back, and I fell in love with the cover! Hennaed hands, a sari, and a lotus? Exactly the kind of colorful, gorgeous cover I'd love to see more of in YA! And considering it's a fairy tale with a twist, how could I go wrong? I think the mythology and setting of other cultures, especially those of Asia, is WAY underutilized in storytelling at large. Avatar: The Last Airbender was such a refreshing steampunk fantasy for me, and while this one wasn't quite so great, it still proved my point.
It seems only right to Tana that the goddess judged her kind, lovely stepsister worthy of such riches. And when she encounters the goddess, she is not surprised to find herself speaking snakes and toads as a reward.
Blessings and curses are never so clear as they might seem, however. Diribani’s newfound wealth brings her a prince—and an attempt on her life. Tana is chased out of the village because the province's governor fears snakes, yet thousands are dying of a plague spread by rats. As the sisters' fates hang in the balance, each struggles to understand her gift. Will it bring her wisdom, good fortune, love . . . or death?
The writing was smooth, easy to follow, and just plain well-done, the plot was paced perfectly, and the setting was rich and believable. I was obsessed with the period in Indian history that this novel is set in for awhile, so I quickly picked up on all of the parallels and loved that aspect! And how cool was it that the author put a historical note in the back? My biggest complaint was the same one Ari at Reading in Color had - that neither Diribani nor Tani seemed to lack faults of any kind.
Even so, it worked in a fairy tale retelling - think Cinderella or Beauty in the Beast. Both heroines were models of good behavior, right? Actually, this is the closest thing to a fairy-tale-in-novel-form that I think I've ever read. The format felt like the author had spent a long time thinking it out, and the topics she chose to cover were relevant and semi-allegorical, just like a true fairytale. I especially liked the themes of religious tolerance, which makes this book sound preachier and heavier than it was, but it really just worked with the story.
All in all, I'd be surprised if this book ended up on anybody's favorites list - it's just not that kind of stay-up-all-night-reading-it story - but it's an easy, satisfying read that's sure to please!
The Final Verdict: Unusual, but fun, sweet, and enjoyable! The kind of book I'd love to see more of in YA fiction! Four out of five stars.
May 30, 2010
Book Blogger Con: Pics and Summary!
So, I didn't post this yesterday because I was too busy hanging out here:
Since it's decidedly less warm and gorgeous today, I'm taking the time to spill the beans (and pictures!) of the tail end of BEA 2010 and most of the first annual Book Blogger Con which I was so lucky to attend! The pics I took while wandering aimlessly around the Javits Center looking for the reception on Thursday:
Note the huge banner for Cornelia Funke's newest series over the doorway. I actually took this one for 10-year-old sister, seeing as she's DYING to read it! (As am I!)
The amazing spectacular Javits Center (that I frequently misspelled as Javitz). Couldn't believe how many people were here! Also couldn't believe it when I found out that Suzanne Collins actually read from Mockingjay at a Scholastic party. That would have made going to the BEA worth it right there. =) I will definitely try and make it for the whole week next year, it looked incredible and I would have loved to see the panels! Anyway, after missing the reception (it was in the only freaking corner of the building I DIDN'T look in) my dad and I headed off to the Empire State Building:
I was so glad I'd more or less talked myself out of my fear of heights on the elevator on the way up. There is a reason the Empire State Building is called a skyscraper, ladies and gentlemen. It's tall.
I think you can kind of see the storm coming in in the distance. Dad and I literally got off the observation platform right before they shut it down. We then got drenched on our way to Bombay Talkie, the Bollywood-themed restaurant I picked out, and ended up getting a cab fairly quickly. Our luck would run out later, however. Muahahaha foreshadowing. Anyway, dinner was SO GOOD. Yummy. Good. It helped that I got to down two lassis and finish with halwa. Indian food is divine. Indian sweets are even more divine. No pics of me eating, which I'm sure will just *devastate* my readers. =D None of you really need to see food stuck in my braces, right?
Anyway, our luck ran out when it took us TWENTY MINUTES to get a cab as it was pouring out and our hotel was blocks away. My poor silk-rayon blend skirt, which I love but that had barely survived the Empire State Building (if you look back to the picture of me at the top I was holding on to it for dear life to keep from baring all to the other poor tourists), got drenched and nasty and still continued to blow around so that I'm positive more than a few unlucky New Yorkers got to see more of me than they ever, ever wanted to.
Being very sore and tired and full, I got straight into the tub and finished a book (an ARC of Hothouse by Chris Lynch) in one sitting, and then fell asleep to the sweet, sweet sounds of honking horns and construction and people shouting and driving and what have you. I live in rural Minnesota, where the only serenade I get is loons out on the lake and spring peeper frogs and stuff like that. I may be spoiled, but it was hard to get to sleep!
Anyway, woke up the next morning in a total panic. Just ask my dad, who tried unsuccessfully to talk me down. But having missed the reception the night before, I was ten times more nervous to meet all of the awesome blogger, publishing and author people I knew would be there! So I just sort of picked at my breakfast and then headed over to Times Square to do the tourist thing again. Ugh. Still, Times Square was completely deserving. I've never seen so much neon in my life! *goes starry eyed*
Note my lovely, clashing, yet comfortable green flip flops.
Broadway! I'll definitely have to come back to NYC for a show sometime. We then hightailed it to the BBC, with me freaking out the entire way, and made it right on the nose at 9:00 am just before the keynote started. I'm stating my unconditional love for Maureen Johnson right now, by the way, because she was hilarious! I'm so excited to listen to the audiobook of Suite Scarlett I received in my swag bag (I'll be posting about that sometime soon), because if her books are half as funny as she is in person, I am sold!
Maureen as she discussed the "Law and Order theory", aka, that the internet is out to get you. I wish this was a little less blurry and more zoomed in, but I was laughing too hard to be paying attention to my camera at that point! My dad managed to completely embarrass me by asking how he could nurture his "underage daughter", which would be me, but as a result I had a bunch of people come up to me afterward and congratulate me on being a teen blogger. Hey, I'm open to a little flattery. =D And I got an ARC from Selene Castrovilla, which I finished on the plane on the way back and plan to review later this week.
There was then a speech on professionalism and ethics given by Ron Hogan (of Beatrice.com), which was great, and then lunch, which was yummy. I was also lucky enough to sit next to some really great publishing people from HarperCollins, who were happy to discuss books, blogs, writing, publishing, and The Hunger Games with me. Thank you guys for alleviating my "Oh-Lord-where-do-I-sit-I-don't-know-any-of-these-people!" nerves! Before lunch I got to meet author Sandra Brannan, who was kind enough to tuck an ARC of her newest novel In the Belly of Jonah into my bag, too! Sometime at this point, due to the weight of The Swag Bag, I managed to throw out my shoulder in a rather nasty way, so if any of you were unlucky enough to sit behind me during the Building Content panel (pictured) I'm sure you noticed my fidgeting. Sorry!
I asked a question on the tone of positive vs. negative reviews during the content panel, citing Forever Young Adult as one of my favorites for giving equal, honest, and hilarious criticism to all novels, so imagine my surprise at the end of the panel when Sarah (aka Poshdeluxe) of, you guessed it, Forever Young Adult turned around in her chair and thanked me for plugging her blog. I'm pretty sure I fainted with joy/mortification for a second there. Anyway, I really wish I'd gotten a picture with one of my idols, but because I am one, crazy ditzy when I'm excited and two, I hate having my picture taken, I didn't. I was sad.
I then sat through the similarly awesome Marketing panel with even more fidgeting (curse all of you generous swag donors!) and got some great ideas for my blog. Actually, I got great ideas for my blog at all the speeches/panels! Anyway, I knew I had to leave after that one, so I was pretty freaked that I wasn't going to get the opportunity to say hi to Kristi of The Story Siren. She even tweeted about not knowing where I was and wanting to meet me (which Sarah was kind enough to show me on her phone), which caused another happy fainting spell! So I was very pleased when I did run into her on my way out. Kristi, if you are reading this, you are one of the kindest and most amazing human beings ever. =) Thank you for the hugs! I love your blog, too! Again, I wish I'd gotten a picture!
So it took us forever to get a taxi (again!), and we had to rush through security at LaGuardia, but then of course our flight was DELAYED. Ah, well. Gave me time to dig in to all of the lovely books responsible for brutalizing my shoulder. (Which still hurts! *shakes fist*) I was very sad on the flight home, because I fell in love with NYC during the scant 24 hours I spent there, and I also was lamenting all of the things I missed. However, I felt insanely lucky to have gotten the opportunity to go, considering I'd had no idea I would be able to a week and a half before! I'll try and make the whole Teen Author Carnival, Book Expo America, and full Book Blogger Con shebang of a week next year, and I hope to see all of you there! =)
Note the huge banner for Cornelia Funke's newest series over the doorway. I actually took this one for 10-year-old sister, seeing as she's DYING to read it! (As am I!)
The amazing spectacular Javits Center (that I frequently misspelled as Javitz). Couldn't believe how many people were here! Also couldn't believe it when I found out that Suzanne Collins actually read from Mockingjay at a Scholastic party. That would have made going to the BEA worth it right there. =) I will definitely try and make it for the whole week next year, it looked incredible and I would have loved to see the panels! Anyway, after missing the reception (it was in the only freaking corner of the building I DIDN'T look in) my dad and I headed off to the Empire State Building:
Doing the tourist thing, as you can see. I hate the tourist thing. I live in an insanely touristy area. But sometimes life just calls for the tourist thing. This was right after being harassed to buy tickets to go on the virtual helicopter tour of New York that they're now offering - YOU ALREADY GOT $40 OF OUR MONEY, YOU DON'T NEED ANY MORE. Gah.
Anyway, our luck ran out when it took us TWENTY MINUTES to get a cab as it was pouring out and our hotel was blocks away. My poor silk-rayon blend skirt, which I love but that had barely survived the Empire State Building (if you look back to the picture of me at the top I was holding on to it for dear life to keep from baring all to the other poor tourists), got drenched and nasty and still continued to blow around so that I'm positive more than a few unlucky New Yorkers got to see more of me than they ever, ever wanted to.
Being very sore and tired and full, I got straight into the tub and finished a book (an ARC of Hothouse by Chris Lynch) in one sitting, and then fell asleep to the sweet, sweet sounds of honking horns and construction and people shouting and driving and what have you. I live in rural Minnesota, where the only serenade I get is loons out on the lake and spring peeper frogs and stuff like that. I may be spoiled, but it was hard to get to sleep!
Anyway, woke up the next morning in a total panic. Just ask my dad, who tried unsuccessfully to talk me down. But having missed the reception the night before, I was ten times more nervous to meet all of the awesome blogger, publishing and author people I knew would be there! So I just sort of picked at my breakfast and then headed over to Times Square to do the tourist thing again. Ugh. Still, Times Square was completely deserving. I've never seen so much neon in my life! *goes starry eyed*
I asked a question on the tone of positive vs. negative reviews during the content panel, citing Forever Young Adult as one of my favorites for giving equal, honest, and hilarious criticism to all novels, so imagine my surprise at the end of the panel when Sarah (aka Poshdeluxe) of, you guessed it, Forever Young Adult turned around in her chair and thanked me for plugging her blog. I'm pretty sure I fainted with joy/mortification for a second there. Anyway, I really wish I'd gotten a picture with one of my idols, but because I am one, crazy ditzy when I'm excited and two, I hate having my picture taken, I didn't. I was sad.
I then sat through the similarly awesome Marketing panel with even more fidgeting (curse all of you generous swag donors!) and got some great ideas for my blog. Actually, I got great ideas for my blog at all the speeches/panels! Anyway, I knew I had to leave after that one, so I was pretty freaked that I wasn't going to get the opportunity to say hi to Kristi of The Story Siren. She even tweeted about not knowing where I was and wanting to meet me (which Sarah was kind enough to show me on her phone), which caused another happy fainting spell! So I was very pleased when I did run into her on my way out. Kristi, if you are reading this, you are one of the kindest and most amazing human beings ever. =) Thank you for the hugs! I love your blog, too! Again, I wish I'd gotten a picture!
So it took us forever to get a taxi (again!), and we had to rush through security at LaGuardia, but then of course our flight was DELAYED. Ah, well. Gave me time to dig in to all of the lovely books responsible for brutalizing my shoulder. (Which still hurts! *shakes fist*) I was very sad on the flight home, because I fell in love with NYC during the scant 24 hours I spent there, and I also was lamenting all of the things I missed. However, I felt insanely lucky to have gotten the opportunity to go, considering I'd had no idea I would be able to a week and a half before! I'll try and make the whole Teen Author Carnival, Book Expo America, and full Book Blogger Con shebang of a week next year, and I hope to see all of you there! =)
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