Sharing the Scene of the Blog

A fun announcement today–Cathy from Kittling Books invited me to be part of her weekly feature, “Scene of the Blog.”  She invites bloggers to share photos and some thoughts on the places where they write their blogs–desks, mostly, although not in my case.  If you’d like to see where I’m doing my writing, check out the post on her blog.

Thanks for the opportunity and the very kind post, Cathy!

A few other bits of business…  I recently joined Twitter; if you’re there too, I’d be happy to connect!  I’m @MarvelousTales.

And just a reminder, my Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge starts this Friday, so if you want to explore Discworld with us, be sure to come back for details and to sign up.

Saturday Snapshot: Fluffball Ducklings

We’re heading towards summer, but I don’t think it’s too late yet for some spring duckling photos…  These adorable balls of fluff lived at my favorite park last year (they may still live there, though I don’t know who’s who among the ducks).  I haven’t got out with a camera to capture this year’s flock, but I didn’t think you’d mind getting last year’s ducklings!

This single-mother duck was busy herding half-a-dozen ducklings around.  Being a duck mother looks exhausting!

I loved it when a duckling would wander off too far, suddenly realize it, and go skittering back to mom.

Two-parent family at this end of the pond…

More fluffballs!

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Saturday Snapshot: Words of the Prophets

Today, another couple of shots from my New York trip…photos no doubt less popular with the tourist industry than my museum photos.  But I actually got absurdly excited to see graffiti in a subway station.  It’s because of that Simon and Garfunkel song.  You know…

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.

Tenement halls…

…whisper in the sounds–of silence.

Surely I’m not the only one who takes very odd photos on vacations sometimes?  🙂  What’s the most random thing you ever photographed…and why?

Check out more Saturday Snapshots on At Home with Books!

A Pratchett Proposal

In my recent posts about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (here and here), I noticed a smattering of comments along the lines of “I’d really like to read more/start reading Discworld.”  Now, I’m always up for reading more Discworld myself, so I thought…what if we made it a group effort?  I’ve also been thinking for a while that there’s going to be a hole in my book-life when the Once Upon a Time challenge ends June 20th, and this could be the perfect solution!

So here’s the proposal: how about spending part of the summer with Terry Pratchett?  I’m thinking this would run June 1st to August 31st (so you could even do a two-for-one in June, with the OUaT challenge).  It would be totally low pressure, low requirement, high fun…all you have to do is read something from Discworld (and if you really want to read a different Pratchett book, that’s cool too) and then tell us about it.  If you have a blog and want to share a review, great–if not, you could just leave a comment (I’ll set up a post for that).

I thought we could do a group-read if there was interest in a particular book.  And of course you’re welcome to dive in absolutely anywhere you want with Discworld (though I don’t recommend starting with any of the first three).

This post is really just to gauge interest, and see if enough people want to jump in for it to make sense to hold a Pratchett Experience (that “challenge” word is far too intimidating for such fun books!)  So…if you’re interested, leave a comment and let me know!  Vote in the poll below if you’d like to get into a group read.  And if it turns out some people are interested in reading Pratchett this summer, I’ll post something official at the beginning of June.

Saturday Snapshot: My Literary Cat-Friend

I try to make a habit of walking around my neighborhood every day, and along the way I’ve met lots of neighborhood cats.  My favorite is Ruby, a very friendly adventurer who plainly has a literary interest.

There’s a small library only about six blocks from my apartment, and most of the time that’s where I see Ruby.  She likes to hang out on the brick wall or the front steps.  She’s a smart cat, and has realized that this is the place to go to meet people–or perhaps she likes to read.

I had always assumed she lived nearby, but then one day I actually took a look at the address on her tag–it turns out she lives a block and half away from the library.  By that point I’d been seeing her there for months, so I knew she wasn’t lost.  She just likes to travel.  In practical terms, I know I probably should worry about her crossing (quiet) streets, but if you actually meet Ruby–well, that is the most sure-of-herself cat I’ve ever seen, and it’s hard not to believe that she knows exactly what she’s doing.

Just once I did worry a little–I was walking a block on past the library, and Ruby seemed inclined to go the same way, the exact opposite direction from her house.  She ignored my suggestions that she ought to go back, and I don’t really think she was trying to follow me at all.  I think she was just going about her own business.  She trotted off down a sidepath with no hesitation, and sure enough, I saw her back at the library a day or two later.

I must admit, there are days when I feel somewhat envious.  I’d rather like to spend the day hanging out at the library too!

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