Cupcakes and Books...

I am looking forward to this book that I pre-ordered from Amazon.com:


I enjoy seeing what new and clever idea Bakerella has come up with and presented on her blog. I have used her ideas for Apple Pops and Smiley Face Pops.

I also ordered this cupcake book. Cupcake obsessed much?!



::::::::::::Book Reviews:::


Flavia de Luce in the little village of Bishop's Lacey is a young chemist and solver of mysteries along side her faithful Gladys (her bicycle). I loved the line about Flavia's character, "I'm keen on chemistry and I enjoy making scrapbooks."
When a puppeteer and his assistant comes to town Flavia notices that the puppeteer knows more about the village and some of its residence then he says. The hanging death of a village child from years before is brought up again when the puppeteer uses the child's likeness in one of his puppets.
Flavia's home life includes an aloof philatelist father, a vain and talented sister, Ophelia, and a bookworm sister, Daphne. She also has a need for a cast iron stomach due to the family's cook, Mrs. Mullet. Dogger, depending on how he is handling his post war trauma, is the family butler, gardener, and groundskeeper.
The book is well paced and Flavia's desire to make sense of her surrondings using observation and science draws me in. The village setting allows for a close knit community and also for whispered secrets. Ancient history among the villagers provides depth to the characters and possible motivations.
Overall, I enjoyed the first book a bit more, but Alan Bradley uses his descriptions of characters and scenery superbly. I liked this book and look forward to the third book in the series.



I requested this book from the library because I was curious about the craft of thinking something up and then presenting it to others in a humorous way. A common theme with the writers was to write what you know. Also not to overwork the joke. I like to help Rachel's Girl Scout troop with their skit each spring. One of the moms said that our girls are known as the F Troop of Girl Scouts, so I thought it was appropriate to get a few pointers to get down their ideas. Some of the tips that seemed to fit with how I like to work is bouncing off ideas in a group. I find that someone says something that leads to something else quite funny. Another tip was to sit and write. Get it down and then work with the ideas. I always tell the girls when we are talking about skit ideas to know their audience. Ours is usually girls from 7-17 and women leaders, so our jokes and gags need to be varied.
Being obsessive compulsive seemed to be a common thread among the comedy writers, so if you are witty, observant, and must eat the same cereal everyday at 7:18am you might be a future comedic writer. Some writers are very well read, while others are just observant of their surrondings. The more you read the more material you have to use. If there is no center to the characters, Harold Ramis said, you just have whimsy which is not powerful.
You are unique, so work with what you've experienced. Todd Hanson from The Onion had this great advice, "If you want to do something creative, you should have a better reason for wanting to do it than to make money. If you want to make money, my advice is to sell shoes or go into banking." He suggests writing your own paper for fun.
I also liked what Dave Barry said about comedy's origin lies in the mutual understanding that "we live in an extremely dangerous, scary world, run by all kinds of forces over which we have no control. And we're all gonna get sick and die."
One of the writers interviewed was Jack Handey who writes about his "Deep Thoughts". One of the ones he shared that hit just the write note with me was, "Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff." The combination of sentimental and felonious is hilarious.
There are 21 comedy writers interviewed in this book and it is interesting to hear how they work. If you are curious about such things then give it a read. Be aware that there is some salty language peppered throughout the interviews...or should I say peppery language?




We finished this family book read a few days ago. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have put together another great adventure. The choice of words sets each scene magnificently. The book might play better to a slightly older child. Light and fluffy, these books are not. Sinister forces have returned to collect the starstuff caches in London and from Neverland. Children are put in perilous situations. The evil characters are described vividly and it is not a pleasant sight.
I got sucked into the book immediately, while Rachel (12 years-old) said she had a hard time feeling a connection to the characters. The book is well paced with several small chapters that keep the action moving, while giving the sub stories definition. Barry and Pearson add levity to the book by keeping a Disney-like interaction between Hook and Smee. The dialogue with these characters always makes me laugh.
I recommend this book for older kids and teens who like intense adventures.

Smiles!