I've said it before: it's funny how many "coincidences" seem to pop up in my life.  I was disappointed in May because Rathskellar, the deaf performance art group, wasn't at DeafNation Expo in Pomona.  I first saw them perform there last year, and finally got to meet founder Jonathan Hall Kovacs, an actor whose TV work I'd admired in the '80s.  (I didn't know enough ASL to speak to him, so I had to write a note.)  

Well,  I was reading about Riverside's Deaf Awareness Week activities in the paper on Thursday, and noticed that Rathskellar was going to perform at the Riverside Plaza on Friday night.  That's closer to my home than the Expo!

I always feel a little out of place at Deaf functions, because I'm still not fluent in ASL (though I've learned a bit),  and everyone seems to know everyone else in the tight-knit community.  But it's fascinating to watch all the hands flying, even little kids', and the animated expressions on everyone's faces.  The show was great--again--and I remembered to take my earplugs (the group cranks up the music, to feel the vibrations). 

Afterwards, I walked over to Borders and browsed for a while.  Okay, maybe more than a while.  Outside the store,  there just "happened" to be a free telescope viewing of Jupiter.  Yes, I covered three of my interests in one night--ASL, books and astronomy.

Hmm,  wonder what's next?

  

          

      

I've always been a bit of a picky eater, so I'm trying to be more adventurous about food. In the past few weeks, I've eaten baklava, a pupusa, and an alcapurria.

L.A. County has a lot of pupuserias--El Salvadorean restaurants. A pupusa is a thick corn masa "cake" stuffed with meat. Not bad.

I had the alcapurria today, at Balboa Park in San Diego. That's a deep-fried, meat-filled Puerto Rican banana roll. I'm not crazy about bananas, so I didn't love it, but the meat was good. (I wanted to get a pastelillo--a turnover filled with meat--but the food booth ran out temporarily.) I passed on the rice with habichuelas (pinto beans). They also ran out of arroz con pollo and rice with gandules (pigeon peas). Yes, there were a lot of hungry Puerto Ricans there...

Balboa Park has a "village" of little international cottages, each representing a different country, and a United Nations gift shop. I went today because it was P.R.'s turn to provide the outdoor entertainment (bomba y plena music and dancing). I also wanted to see the House of Puerto Rico, since my novel is set there (the latest on that: one partial is currently being read...). The "casita," like the other cottages, is really cute. They had some interesting displays, a touristy video playing, and lots of free brochures. I bought a T-shirt with a P.R. flag on it, and saw many other flag shirt designs worn by visitors.

In other news, I've been working as a long-term aide at a local school, one-on-one with a first-grader who has CP and other health problems (she has a full-time nurse in the classroom). It's challenging, for sure.

On September 11th, the school had a patriotic tribute outdoors. Before it started, I noticed a hawk soaring in a slow circle overhead, like it was part of the ceremony. A young boy exclaimed, "It's an eagle!" Well, no, but that would've been even more fitting.

I was thinking about 9/11 today, as airplanes kept roaring by to land at the nearby airport. It was good to see that life goes on; that most people didn't even pay attention to the low-flying planes. But I couldn't help watching them, anyway.

I invited a few friends over for your party.   Hope you don't mind.   :>)

Wishing you a year of dreams come true!!
xoxo
Christine




                                                                 

I worked in a fifth-grade classroom this week, which was a nice change of pace.  I took a lot of notes, as usual.  Today the students wrote and read their own stories for language arts, and I was impressed with their imaginations.  Some examples:

One interesting, but undeveloped premise: a boy named Marco makes a wish to grow very tall, which he does.  The tallest person in his village gets to be the ruler.  The current ruler is... Marco's dad (Polo!).  Hmm.  This has good potential for conflict, doesn't it?

This one cracked me up: a vampire leaves a note on his front door which says, "I'm at a funeral--mine.  I died again, so don't come in."

Also good was "the girl with rainbow hair."  A girl goes to a salon for a perm and highlights.  The stylist asks what color she wants.  She replies, "Red.  No, orange.  I mean, green.  No, wait--purple..."  She ends up with all of the colors, and when she sees the result in the mirror, she screams.  (Apparently,  fifth-grade girls scream a lot.)

Then there was the space alien who disguises himself as a pineapple--a walking, talking pineapple.  When he talks to a girl in her room, she screams (of course), then faints twice.  The pineapple finally says, "Stop fainting!"   The girl replies, "Okay."  They talk the rest of the night, and become good friends.

Wow.  These kids are making me look bad...

My sister has to go back to work (school) next week, so we've been going on mini-vacationish jaunts.  Last night it was to the Griffith Observatory in L.A.  We'd tried to go twice before, on Saturdays, but couldn't even get into the crowded parking lot.  This time, since it was a weeknight, we finally did.  There was a beautiful sunset, and the view from the roof is always spectacular.  A helicopter flew by, shining a searchlight on the nearby Hollywood sign.  On the drive back down the steep, winding road,  a little animal darted across in front of the car.  Not sure if it was a coyote or a fox, though it looked orangey to me.  Anyway,  I'd never had one jaywalk in front of me before. 

So all in all, it's been an interesting week.  



 



  

More randomness (since I'm not schmoozing at the SCBWI conference)...

1)  I went to the L.A. Natural History Museum on Tuesday.  It's free the first Tuesday of each month.   Unfortunately,  about half of SoCal was there taking advantage.  Lots of school and day camp groups running around.  Most interesting group:  the little Hasidic Jew kids.  They all wore purple t-shirts,  but the girls were in skirts,  and the boys had the long locks of hair on both sides of their heads.

2)  The gem and mineral exhibit was my favorite part.  I could've spent hours in there,  looking at all the displays.  One case held gold nuggets.  I also saw a red diamond that was stolen by the Nazis;  they thought it was a ruby.

3)  I found out that I have a lot in common with grizzly bears:  poor eyesight,  but keen hearing and sense of smell;  more active late at night;  and we have a tendency to be ill-tempered.  I draw the line at eating grubs,  however.   (Berries and salmon are okay.)

4)  The day ended with a couple of unusual events.  A boy got his head stuck in a stairway railing (museum employees to the rescue ).  Then,  as soon as I got inside the nearby Science Museum's gift shop,  a cashier announced that everyone needed to evacuate the building.  I saw some smoke and smelled plastic burning.  Several fire trucks arrived,  but the firefighters didn't stay long,  so it must not've been too serious.  They were busy elsewhere,  though--a building downtown belched thick black smoke across the freeway,  and a brush fire was burning in nearby Glendale.

5)  I just finished reading a book--in Spanish.  A self-published mystery novel by my sister's pen pal.  I had my trusty Spanish dictionary at my side,  but I figured a lot of passages out for myself.  Glad I've learned something.   

         

Sometimes I feel like I'm working in a cave.  I know I need to get out and mingle with other writerly types,   especially when I'm in one of my dreaded slumps.  So there were two events this weekend that I couldn't pass up.

Friday afternoon,  I went to see Sarah Dessen (writergrl ) at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop in LaVerne.  It's a small,  intimate shop--there were about 40-50 people in attendance,  compared to the 200 she had at B&N in Huntington Beach that night.  Still,  not bad for 2:30 on a weekday.  Sarah began by reading a scene from chapter four in her new YA novel,  Along for the Ride,  then answered questions from the crowd of mostly teenage fangirls.  One asked her about the unusual names she gives her characters.  Sarah said she always wanted a more exotic name,  like Bianca (her best friend).  Auden,  the main character of her new book,  came from the Hollywood gossip magazine US Weekly (shh!).  A celebrity--she thinks it was Noah Wylie--has a daughter with that name.  She wondered who would give a kid a name like that,  then remembered that there was a poet with that name.  So it would probably be an intellectual type...And so the parents of her new MC became college professors.  (Sarah wanted to name her own daughter Clementine,  but decided it was too long for a little girl,  and people might call her Clem!   She picked Sasha instead,  thinking it was different enough--until President Obama's daughter,  Sasha,  made the news.)

Sarah was cute and perky,  but also down-to-earth.  She stressed to the teen girls that high school's not the whole world,  even though it probably seems like it right now.  After all,  she didn't really blossom until college.  She planned to write adult fiction,  but kept getting shot down by agents.  An author named Lee Smith finally took pity on her,  she said,  and recommended her to her agent (advising her to send another manuscript with the original one,  to show what else she could do).  They told her the manuscript was more suited to YA.   After her initial objections,  she now prefers to write YA.

And she said she still gets rejections,  although they're a "different level" of rejection now.  Usually from her agent,  who doesn't feel strongly enough about a manuscript she's just written.  I actually managed to speak to her while I got my book signed,  and told her I was at the "getting shot down" stage myself.  Sarah said she still has a huge stack of rejections,  and encouraged me to keep trying.  She also advised me to work on other books while sending out the first one.  Advice from Sarah Dessen--wow!

Saturday,  I went to the LAYAPALOOZA at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena.  I had an embarrassing "senior moment" (several decades early) and ended up merging onto the wrong freeway...So despite leaving early,  I arrived at the store 25 minutes late.  I snagged the last piece of Garlic Jim's pizza--whew!--and watched the kid-lit games.  17 L.A.-area authors were in attendance (lisayee  posted great pictures on her blog).  I was too shy to compete,  but Kerry Madden's (mountainmist ) daughter,  Norah,  was one of the winners.  It was fun to see the actual authors of the books on the shelves,  like Mark London Williams,  Amy Goldman Koss,  Sonya Sones (my mental image of her never included a fedora),  Cherry Cheeva,  Michael Reisman,  etc. 

I finally met LJ friend Sally Nemeth (salgal99 ) and chatted with her about Wrigley Field.  Kerry introduced me to Cecil Castellucci (castellucci ).  I told her I've been a lurker at her blog,  and that her novel Beige cracked me up,  because I could relate to the good-girl MC.  Cecil was really nice--like all the authors I've met so far--and said I should join the LAYAs.  That would be awesome,  but...I don't live in L.A. County anymore,  and I'm not in their published book club yet.  Maybe I could be an honorary/junior member?  Something to check into.

After all,  I need to get out of my cave more often.                

*Since my last post was in May...

1)  I worked a lot last month and the first two weeks of June.   A nice age variety again.   Mostly elementary school,  including an adorable kindergarten class of quiet,  well-behaved students.   I'm not used to that.   I also worked at an intermediate school,  where I was reunited with the little person (dwarf) ASL interpreter.   I asked her about the school district's requirements,  but she wasn't sure what they are now,  because she was hired a long time ago.   She said the ASL test was hard (I've heard that the Spanish one is,  too..),  but she encouraged me to give it a try.   She's really nice.   I'm still thinking about trying a college ASL course.

2)  Writing...well,  I'm in a slump again.   What else is new?   Things have been stressful and distracting on the home front,  and my revised query didn't grab anyone.   So it's back on the revising board again.

3)  I went to a gem and mineral show in La Habra this month,  and bought a piece of lapis lazuli and rose quartz.   Now I'm reading two different books about rocks,  gems and mining in California 100 years ago.   I think it's fair to say I've got rocks in my head...

4)  Sarah Dessen is going to be at Mrs. Nelson's bookstore today at 2:30.   Not sure yet if I'm going.   (I had to miss Tamora Pierce when she was there last month.)

5)  Even if I do miss Sarah,  I'll still see lots of local authors tomorrow.   I'm going to LAYAPALOOZA at Vroman's in Pasadena.   Kid-lit games,  prizes and free pizza.   Sounds good!   It might be my last chance to see Kerry Madden before she moves to Alabama in the fall...           
 

My brain is a little sluggish today,  so I'm glad it's a holiday.   Working at a variety of different schools this month,  along with research reading and extracurricular activity,  has kept me busy taking notes.   Maybe I'm just nosy,  but I see lots of things that interest me.

I spent two days working at my old high school.   It felt like a strange sort of time warp.   The campus has changed a bit.   Some of the teachers look awfully young.   I got to sit in on a choir class for the first time (not sure if I even knew about it when I was student). 

My friend's daughter just made the varsity cheerleading team there--as an about-to-be freshman.   Imagine not having to worry about your popularity in high school before you even start.   (Unless,  of course,  the older girls are jealous.)

At another high school,  I accompanied the Lifeskills class on a community outing.   Getting paid to roam around Sam's Club,  the warehouse store.   Not bad.

One of my WIPs is about triplet brothers.   So I couldn't believe it when these triplet boys entered the pre-K autistic class.   They wore identical outfits,  and their names began with A,  B and C.   Too cute.

Saturday,  my sister and I went to a Scottish festival at the Orange County Fairgrounds.   Lots of bagpipes,  and guys in kilts.   We found the Clan Henderson booth,  where Joe Henderson was happy to talk (at great length) about the origin of our ancestors.   He said the Hendersons were mainly lowlanders,  which explains why my dad likes wide open spaces.   But they did migrate to America,  so maybe,  like me,  they craved mountain and ocean views.

We had the combo for lunch--a meat pie (it looked like a hockey puck,  and my sister said the meat tasted like SPAM),  a bag of sea-salted potato chips,  a package of Walker's shortbread cookies (made in Scotland),  and a drink.   I would've tried the bangers (er...sausage),  but didn't want to wait 5-10 minutes for them to cook.

There are plenty of other things swirling around in my head these days,  but that's enough for now.

 
                  

#1--Deaf Nation Expo last Saturday was interesting,  but not as exciting as last year's (when I got to meet a deaf actor I'd admired for a long time).   But I did understand some signs here and there,  including parts of a live game show called "Accept or Accept Not."   The first "eureka" moment came before I even entered the building,  as I was coming out of the tunnel that goes from the parking lot under the street to the Fairplex.   A deaf guy looked at me and brought his crossed hands down in front of his face.   And I knew what he was saying--"Dark!" 

#2-- My last sign language class is next Monday...Now I have to decide if I want to try a college ASL course,  with the possible goal of learning to interpret for schoolkids.   (The requirements aren't as tough as interpreting for adults.)  

#3--I've actually worked three days in a row again,  at three different schools.   Yesterday,  I was at a junior high with students who have trouble learning and paying attention.   They had no trouble talking,  however--or insulting each other.   Their history textbook almost put me to sleep.   Why are they always so dry and full of big,  complicated words?
  Today,  I worked with the autistic kindergartners again.   Both days,  the teachers said I was a big help.   I was surprised,  because I felt a little awkward and bumbling.   Glad they didn't mind.     

1)  Spring is here,  which means I'm everywhere.   Well,  not exactly.   But I've had lots of free or cheap activities to keep me occupied.   I've mingled with horses (at Santa Anita and Norco Horseweek),  watched Little League teams in 3 cities,  and saw some amazing art at the San Dimas Western Art Show (held this year at the lovely Walker House,  which was built in 1887).

2)  Today I'm going to a quilt show,  and tomorrow is DeafNation Expo in Pomona.   They sent an e-mail saying they're not letting the flu epidemic stop them.   I'm not surprised,  since they do love to socialize.   (Corona did cancel tomorrow's Cinco de Mayo parade and festival,  and a high school prom.)

3)  Jonathan Hall Kovacs isn't going to be at the expo this year...Good thing I met him last year!   It'll be interesting to see if I've made any progress with my sign language classes.   I do understand most of what the teacher says--of course,  she doesn't go at full-speed.

4)  I can't believe the things I find at the local library.   People are just begging to be victimized.   I've found a driver's license and social security card in a copy machine,  and someone's legal forms with personal info.   Yesterday,  I found an itinerary for a softball team that had:  girls' names,  birthdates,  home addresses,  parents' names,  e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers!   Imagine if that had fallen into the wrong hands.

5)  I stayed up till after 1 a.m. last night,  retyping the first two chapters of my manuscript into an e-query.   (My computer won't paste the cut pages properly.)   This morning,  I already had a reply,  which made me nervous.   But it was just to let me know that the agency only responds if interested.   So now I have 6 weeks to wait and hope all that typing wasn't in vain.       

   

1)  After getting almost no work in March,  I've worked every day so far in April.    And they've given me an interesting variety:  infants of high school students,  autistic kindergarteners,  and,  today,  high school special-ed students.   Never a dull (or predictable) moment.

2)  I got to go on my first field trip today.   Another high school had an American Idol talent show featuring special-ed students.   I knew a lot of them,  so it was fun to see them sing and dance.   One highlight was hearing "Another One Rides the Bus" by Weird Al Yankovic.   I love that song,  but hadn't heard it in a while.
   A student in a wheelchair got to participate in a "Car Wash" performance--they made a fake car to go around his chair.   Very clever.

3)  The only downside to the day was that our group had to walk several miles.   From the school to a park for lunch,  and then from the park back to their school.   Yes,  I needed the exercise,  but I'll be feeling it for the next few days,  I'm sure.

4)  I went to ASL storytime at Barnes and Noble on Wednesday night.   Saw one of my sign language classmates there,  with his wife and 17-month-old deaf daughter.   One of the picture books they read was Mouse Was Mad by LJ friend Linda Urban (lurban )!

5)  B&N has been a dangerous place for me lately.   This past week I've bought two books there:  Three Times the Love:  Finding Answers and Hope for Our Triplets with Autism by Lynn and Randy Gaston (I finished it right before working with the autistic kindergarteners),  and Little League Drills and Strategies by Ned McIntosh.   (I've been going to Little League games on Saturday mornings.   It's a nice,  free way to unwind.)

Maybe I'll actually have some writing-related news next time....       

Whew!   Saturday was one of those days where all kinds of activities were going on (as opposed to other Saturdays when there's nothing to do).   My schedule went like this:

10:45-12:30--Checked out Norco Little League's opening day action.   Every year,  I go to the Western Region playoffs in San Bernardino,  but for some reason,  I never get around to watching the local games during the season.   That needed to change,  especially since I'm doing research on the subject.

 There were food and vendor booths,  activities for the kids,  and--ahh-- the smell of fresh-cut grass.   But the first game didn't start till noon,  I discovered.   So I watched about an inning and a half of Angels vs. Yankees (miniature version),  then had to leave to go to...

12:45-1:15--Book-a-Palooza at the public library.   More food and vendor booths,  Scholastic book fair,  activities for the kids,  and--ahh--the smell of orange blossoms.   The local art association (of which my sister is a member) had an exhibit,  and tutored kids in drawing.   Later,  it was time for...

4:00-4:50--the afternoon stop on Laurie halseanderson's book launch for Wintergirls,  at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop in LaVerne.   She was at Vroman's earlier,  and it must've been quite a contrast to go from the big two-story bookstore downtown to the cute little suburban shop.   For me,  it meant I got there minutes before her talk and still got a front row seat!

She showed us a slide presentation about her career,  which she uses at school visits.   Starting with childhood photos,  to her painful teen years,  and then how,  as a young mother,  she decided to try writing picture books before moving on to "angsty" teen novels.   (She credits SCBWI conventions as being very helpful to beginners.)   

It was really interesting.   I didn't know that the incident in her novel Speak was based on something that happened to her (she didn't talk about it for 20 years,  she said).   Twisted came from her desire to get into the male mind (which made her feel very powerful,  she admitted),  after boys at her high school visits asked her why the character in Speak was so upset--after all,  she wasn't attacked by a stranger in the bushes;  she knew the guy,  danced with him and was drinking.   Laurie said today's society is doing a poor job of teaching boys about human dignity. 

It took her a while to tackle Wintergirls--three years from first idea to completed novel.   She wrote the first draft in about 7-8 weeks,  but revisions took a total of nine months.   Writing the intense story (about a girl with eating and cutting disorders) was very difficult.   She said she often came down from her office in tears,  and wouldn't have gotten through it without her husband's support.   

After finally finishing the book,  she wanted to do something nature-related to celebrate,  so she and her daughter went to a strawberry patch.   They ended up picking about 100 pounds of strawberries!   If anyone wants jam,  she quipped,  just stop by her house.

She also joked that a writer should marry a carpenter,  because her husband is building her a little writing house on their property.   She showed one of the childhood photos again,  and revealed that the little boy in the picture with her is her current husband,  whom she's known since preschool.

Oh,  and there's hope for her young fans after all--her 17-year-old son,  Christian,  needs friends on Facebook,  she said,  because she doesn't think his current girlfriend will be around very long.

As for me,  I couldn't stick around very long,  either.   I had to be somewhere at 5:00 (I'll have to return soon,  though,  because I have a gift certificate I want to spend--when I have time).




 

When I told my dad I was going to a book signing at Vroman's yesterday,  he quipped,  "Yours,  or someone else's? "  (Ha,  ha.)   When I told my sister that lisayee  asked all the authors present to stand for a picture,  and I did so a bit sheepishly (the others were published book authors,  after all),  she informed me,  "You're an author,  too!"   Okay.   Nice to have that family support.

In addition to a big crowd,  Lisa's family stepped up,  too.   Her parents manned the refreshment table.   Her husband was a roving photographer,  and her kids were assistants.   Other relatives were also on hand as she discussed and signed her YA novel,  Absolutely Maybe.

Naturally,  it was a humorous event.   For starters,  Lisa had everyone line up to don a bright pink wig and pose beside the blow-up of her book cover (she's going to post the pictures for our public embarrassment).   Then came her talk.   She explained that it took six years for her to finish her first book,  Millicent Min,  Girl Genius.   She pointed out that her current novel was supposed to be MG,  but "morphed" into a YA because of the more mature themes.   Her agent,  Jodi Reamer,  was in attendance,  and verified her story about sending her an e-mail the morning after she received the manuscript,  saying she "hated" her for keeping her up all night,  reading (because it was so good).   The manuscript arrived at Arthur A. Levine's office at the same time as the long-awaited Book 7 of the Harry Potter series,  so she had to wait for it to get their attention.   No problem--she wrote a book for American Girl in the interim.

After answering questions from the audience (the funniest was how to pronounce Ted's real name:  Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider.   Lisa's daughter,  who told her about the name,  fared better at it),  she signed her books.   I finally got to pose with the famous Peepy.   She's posed with celebrities and award-winning book authors,  so I'm hoping she'll bring me some luck.   (The pictures are on an undeveloped roll of film.   I'm still a few decades behind,  tech-wise.)

It was so cool to see people I recognized from LJ (some of whom I couldn't quite identify),  like Jay Asher,  Ms. Cecil castellucci ,  and illustrator Dan Santat.   The Chicken Dance illustrator sat right behind me!   I get more starstruck by people in the publishing world than I do by screen stars.   I still feel like I'm on the outside looking in,  but it's fun to be in their orbit.

Oh,  and the chances of me getting out of a bookstore without buying anything were pretty slim.   Sure enough,  I finally found a copy of The Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu (cynthea ).   Yay!   There seems to be a China theme running through my life this year,  for some reason.         

     

It's been a stressful week around here,  but I do have some positives.

1)  Last Saturday,  I went to my cousin's wedding in Santa Barbara.   He married a Chinese woman,  so it was easy to tell who was on which side of the guest list.   The wedding was on the lawn of the historic courthouse,  and the reception at an upscale cafe/art gallery a few blocks away.   I saved my place card,  because it has my name written in Chinese characters on one side.

2)  The next day,  before reluctantly returning home,  I visited the old Santa Barbara Mission,  and Stearn's Wharf.   It was a beautiful day,  and I sat gazing at the ocean and mountains for a long while.

3)  Monday night,  I won the first round of ASL bingo in my sign language class,  and got an unexpected prize--a Ghirardelli chocolate bar.   Sweet!   Three days later,  I went back to the same school,  as a sub aide for the special-ed class.

4)  The IRS sent me a note saying they readjusted my tax return.   I hadn't realized that I was eligible for a special rebate.   So I'm getting $300 more than I thought I was.   Yes!

5)  Sunday afternoon,  I'm going to Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena,  for Lisa Yee's Absolutely Maybe book launch.   It'll be fun to see her--and Peepy,  of course--again.  
       

1) I liked Farmers Market (in Los Angeles since 1934) a lot better before they built the upscale shopping mall, The Grove, next to it. Makes it harder to get a parking space, not to mention making me feel like a peon.

2) I love bookstores, of course, but the three-story Barnes and Noble was a bit much, even for me. (I saw that Jodi Picoult is doing a signing there on March 20th.)

3) I also saw WINNIE'S WAR by LJ's Jenny Moss (face-out) for the first time.

4) Saw two dolls getting their hair styled (really!) at the huge American Girl shop. Times may be hard economically, but I saw lots of girls clutching the expensive dolls, or bags from the store.

5) I decided to be adventurous at lunch. I've been researching Indian food and culture lately, so I bypassed the burger and pizza places and went to Singapore's Banana Leaf. I ordered two curry puffs. They were similar to samosas, stuffed with potato, peas, cilantro and ginger. Not spicy. So being a glutton for punishment, I tried a little dab of a red condiment on the table. Took my tongue a few minutes to recover.

6) The deaf guy and his mother won on "Amazing Race" tonight! My sign language teacher will be thrilled.

Today's horoscope said I might have "goodies, gifts or favors" coming my way. I thought, 'Yeah, right, I've read that one before.' Then I got another reprint rights check from Highlights in the mail.

Story #1 was renewed by Pearson Educational Measurement again, and #2, the baseball story, was taken by Education Quality and Accountability Office (which I've never heard of). Encouraging news in this economy--at least somebody still has money.

In fact, while going over my tax documents, I discovered that my total income from Highlights last year was $750! That's pretty amazing to me. I had one new sale and two reprint checks in 2008.

I'm also thankful that I found LJ friend Jessica Burkhart's first book, CANTERWOOD CREST: TAKE THE REINS, at Borders yesterday. The independent bookstore I tried first didn't have it (naturally, since I had a gift certificate). So I went to Barnes and Noble, and was really surprised not to find it there either. One should not have to hunt for a friend's shiny new book (with a gorgeous horse on the cover).

My first sign language class on Monday night was interesting. For some reason, it never occurred to me that the teacher would be deaf! She's a little difficult to understand, speech-wise, which means I'll have to pay close attention. I was surprised that the class was full, too--including some returning students. We started with fingerspelling the alphabet, which was like kindergarten work for me. But some students don't even know that much. After practicing, we had to get up in front of the class and introduce ourselves via sign. That was the hard part, but at least I wasn't the most nervous person in the room for a change. I signed my name, feeling a bit awkward, then looked at the teacher for her verdict.

She moved her right fingers down her chin, a sign I actually recognized before she said it out loud:

"Sweet."

I signed "thank you," and returned gratefully to my desk.