Nonfiction Monday

I'm at Vermont College of Fine Arts this week and next, but you can find Nonfiction Monday over at proseandkahn today.

Go, click, and enjoy.

wo

Mount Vernon

Today we drove down to Mount Vernon, just south of Washington, D.C. for a little bit of history plus a little bit of Hollywood.

Hollywood?

Yes, part of the movie, National Treasure 2, was filmed in and around Mount Vernon. And we got to see the basement area of Mount Vernon where it took place, plus saw photographs of the fancy party that Nicholas Cage crashed to talk to the President of the USA, and saw the place Nicholas Cage came out of the Potomac River, removed his wet suit, and appeared in formal evening clothing -- perfectly dry. (it's impossibile for clothing to be dry under a WET suit, but often used in movies)

The two grandkids were surprised to discover that all parts of the visit were interesting, even the history parts. The boat ride on the Potomac and the ice cream at the end helped.

They each took home a souvenier -- a key on a necklace to match the key to the Bastille that Lafayette gave George Washington. (a little bit of French history there, as well)

Fireworks

Monday (July 4th) we went to see the fireworks with the two grandkids. We left early because I wanted to try a new place to view them. Recently we've been watching the display that shoots off in the playing fields south of Calvert Hall school for boys. Unfortunately that meant we had to park in a shopping center parking lot, complete with the blazing lights of the shopping center.

I was brought up seeing fireworks being displayed over fields or being shot over a lake. The parking lot lights really annoyed me.

We had heard that we could enjoy the same fireworks by sitting in the playing fields of a nearby elementary school. So off we went this year to see if we could park anywhere close by. About a block or two away, we found a good spot to park, unloaded our folding canvas chairs, gathered our snacks, and explored the playing fields.

When we settled in the middle field, near the baseball diamond, the girls ran off to play on the school playground. When they returned, they discovered more people had set up in the field and some were lighting Roman Candles and other fireworks in the center of the dirt baseball diamond. Even more people came, some wearing glowing necklaces and crowns. This inspired the younger grandkid to get out her light-up Koosh and wave it around.

Once the first firework exploded -- behind the largest tree on the edge of the playing field -- we realized we needed to move our chairs. To the Left. To the Left. To the left, left, left, until we could clearly see the display.

This was more like it.

Colored designs in a darkening sky and a community of friendly people watching and enjoying them on a dark, grassy ground. Just like I remembered from my childhood.

Soooo, how was YOUR Fourth?

-wo

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is at Bookmuse today. Enjoy:

Medieval sims arrive in our house

My husband wanted to give the 11-year old a graduation present.

Her desire?

The medieval package for her Sims program.

So they (husband, 'tween, and 'tween's best friend) drove the new Ranger Truck to the Towson Town Center shopping center. Both girls wanted to squeeze into the back of the cab, on the fold down, side-facing seats. They insisted they were comfortable, but it certainly looked like a tight fit back there. Amazingly enough, he had no trouble with the parking -- it's so much smaller than the old Dodge Ram Truck we used to own.

But the Apple Store was so crowded it was hard to move around. He found what he needed pretty quickly on the shelves, while the two girls looked for Sims 3 Medieval. They no longer have a big display of non-Apple software, so no Sims on display. The next thing he knew, our "shy" (just ask her and she'll tell you she's so shy) granddaughter had literally tackled a salesperson, who grabbed another salesperson, and the two of them went to look in the storage room. They came out a few minutes later with what they said was the LAST copy of Sims 3 Medieval in the store.

Thanks to "shy" Ariana they were in and out of the store in about 10 minutes. Given the Sunday mob in the store, it would have taken much long if they had waited in the queue. The girls are currently building Medieval Empires -- one on her desktop and the other sitting beside her, using the iPad.

-wo

Still some room at the July MD/DE/WV conference

I just got this message from one of the MD/DE/WV SCBWI conference organizers:

If you're still contemplating the summer conference to be held the weekend of July 16 and 17, register now!

YA is closed, MG and PB are nearly full. Good opportunity to learn about NF or illustration. Deadline for all is Wednesday, July 6.

No walk ins!

See the previous posts for links to the conference.

-wo

Favorite blogs -- As the Eraser Burns

Okay, I know it's a strange name, but it has been the name of our local SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) newsletter for years and years -- and now is the name of the local SCBWI regional blog, which replaced the newsletter. Which Region do I belong to? The Maryland/ Delaware/ West Virginia Region.

Currently it's featuring the speakers who will be at our July conference, Staying On Track, which will be held the weekend of July 16 and 17. Editors! Agents! Authors! all set to help writers improve and sell their writing.

This year there will be four tracks -- YA, Middle Grade, Picture Book, and Nonfiction. Two of the tracks are still open for registration.

So click onto this link for the blog, As the Eraser Burns, and enjoy.

And continue reading it after the conference to pick up tidbits from the sessions, because I won't be there and can't pass them along to you, myself, sorry.

I'll be busy at Vermont College attending the lectures that kick off the second semester of work.

-wo