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You wanna walk into the room like that other girl does
The one that's always making everybody fall in love
You see, girl, you're a lot like me
She rearranges all the light in the room
So you're always in the shadows
Well, that's what it feels like to you
Baby, I've been there too.
And I know how much it can sometimes hurt
You feel like the whole world has made you the ugly girl
Take it from me that you have to see it first

So before you trade in your summer skin
for those high-heeled shoes
to make him want to be with you
Let me remind you one more time
that just maybe
you're beautiful
but you just can't see
So why don't you trust me
They'll see it, too
You beautiful girl, you

You wanna lay the blame on somebody else
All these tiny little minds that leave you up on a shelf
But okay, I've seen it done that way
Just in case nobody ever comes through
Riding in to come to your rescue
You still have a chance
You don't have to be asked to dance
I know how much you've been dying to say,
"Look how much everybody loves me."
Guess who gets left when everyone else fades away

So before you trade in your summer skin
for those high-heeled shoes
to make him want to be with you
Let me remind you one more time
That just maybe
You're beautiful
But you just can't see
So why don't you trust me
They'll see it, too
You beautiful girl, you

- Beautiful Girl by Sara Bareilles

I strongly recommend Sara Bareilles, always, including her latest work, the book Sounds Like Me: My Life (so far) in Song (read my review) and the musical Waitress - Sara wrote the music and lyrics for the stage adaptation of Adrienne Shelly's film.



If you can't see the video player above, click here to listen to the song on YouTube, then get the song! (Note: I'm not making a cent off this - I'm just posting the link to encourage folks to buy it and download it legally, rather than otherwise.)

View all posts tagged as Poetry Friday at Bildungsroman.

View the roundup schedule at A Year of Reading.

Learn more about Poetry Friday.

The post The New Mexico – Arizona Book Award appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

During my second semester at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I took an oral history seminar with Dr. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall. It was an eye-opening experience, not only because of what I learned, but how I learned. We had to conduct two interviews, and after spending nearly two months of class time discussing the historiography and methodology of oral history, I thought I was ready to go. My first interview was with civil rights activist Wyatt Tee Walker, and although he agreed to be interviewed, he was not feeling well and had difficulty speaking. Thrown off, my first few questions were poorly constructed, and I sped through his early life hoping he would have more to say about his activist history later in life. Listen as I struggle:

I lost an opportunity during that interview. I could have discovered more about Wyatt Tee Walker based on his early life, but I zoomed ahead. Now, every time I give a workshop on oral history, I hammer home the same message: start with their childhood. What surprises me are the responses from students, who often look incredulous when I tell them. They may think stories about growing up have nothing to do with their project at hand, and they don’t want to waste time talking about childhood memories. They want to cut to the chase and focus on big events later in life. But by leading off your oral history with several questions about what it was like growing up, you will build the foundation for a better interview.

Let’s say you’re interviewing someone for a larger project about an environmental history of Orange County, North Carolina. The long-time director of a local community organization has agreed to talk to you, and from your research, you know this person will have a lot to say about environmentalism in North Carolina over the past twenty years or so. You arrive to interview the person, you chat and get comfortable with one another, and you begin the interview. You may be tempted to launch right in: “Tell me about how you first came to work with ABC Environmental Group…” or “Tell me about how you first became interested in environmentalism.” Resist the temptation, and begin much, much earlier.

Start by asking your interviewee about their childhood. Introduce yourself, the interviewee, mention the date and any other relevant background information, and then ask your first question: “Tell me about your childhood.” Based on how they respond, they will give you the working materials to ask follow-up questions that will give the interview much more substance. Ask about where they grew up, their neighborhood, their family, their education, their religious background, and so on. Ask about individuals in their family: “Tell me about your father/mother/siblings/grandparents or anyone else influential as you were growing up.” (Hint: many people love talking about their grandparents if they knew them well.)

Hopefully by now you’ve forgotten how I opened my interview with Wyatt Tee Walker. Now, consider this example when I interviewed Evelyn Poole-Kober, a local Republican activist in Chapel Hill. How did that one, single question differ from the many incoherent questions I launched at Walker?

Here’s what happened next. Poole-Kober shared stories about her childhood and adolescence for about a third of the total interview, around 45 minutes. Should I consider these stories wasteful because they weren’t directly related to my project at hand? I don’t think so. She opened up, shared intimate details of her life, and led me through her early life to show where she ended up. These memories enhanced the total value of the interview, and they opened the door to more questions, more stories, and a richer interview about her whole life.

Concentrating on childhood questions also helps oral historians move toward curating oral histories rather than just collecting them. As Linda Shopes suggested in a previous blog post, quality and originality should be stressed over quantity when conducting an oral history project. By focusing the beginning of every interview on childhood, no matter the project, you will generate an unpredictable set of stories and information that researchers working on vastly different projects might one day find useful. Curated in a way that crosses projects, time periods, and disciplines, these stories enliven the field of oral history by rooting the past of each person in vivid ways.

Every oral history interview and project is different. You may not have the time, or you might be unable to dedicate an extended period of time to every person’s childhood and adolescence. But if you can, I suggest that you do. The rewards can be great.

Image Credit: “Childhood Pictures” by martinak15. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

The post Oral history and childhood memories appeared first on OUPblog.

Happy Thanksgiving!  It snowed here and so we had a white Thanksgiving.  I love the snow.

I also love digital painting.  When I was a kid taking art, digital wasn’t a thing.  All the art supplies were sooo expensive and messy, and if you messed up, you had to start all over again.  Now you can try and do billion different styles and colors…I sure am grateful for that.

Anyway, here’s a piece that I’ve been meaning to do all year ^_^

I drew it for my sweet Instagram buddy, Nerdpoppins.  She loves Mary Poppins as much as I do!  You should check out her etsy shop–so many amazing MP things!

She was also the host of this year’s “Mary Poppins in the Park”–a Mary Poppins day at Disneyland.  I went and it was so much fun.  Every dressed Mary Poppins-y and THE Mary and Bert came (!!!) Everyone had a great time.

Nerdpoppins is on the right…my sis is in the middle, and I’m on Bert’s arm, dying.  (Isn’t the skirt beautiful?  It was sewn & hand-painted by Nerdpoppins.  I’m in awe.)

Speaking of that event, I gave out a limited edition print to the attendees!  And I have some left over!

Would you like this sweet little 5×7 print?  I’m gonna mail it out to the first 50 commenters!  Here’s how to play:

1 – Leave a numbered comment of something you’re grateful for.  (So, if the comment before you says it’s #12, you would write #13.)  (If you are reading this from tumblr, you’ll want to comment here, on the actual blog.)

2 – If your comment is below 50, send your mailing address to storyboarder{at}gmail.com  (That’s me!)  And I’ll send you the print right away!

I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was the best ^_^

Dolphin SOS
written by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki, illustrated by Julie Flett, afterword by Richard Cannings
(Tradewind … Continue reading ... →

It’s the day after Thanksgiving! And this turkey is very happy to see it!

The post Daily Drawing: Turkey 20 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This book is a gem and a gift, and in order to avoid spoilers I'll say up front: Parker is blind. The dots on the cover are Braille. And now you know ...except, it's not a big secret. Really, Parker would be the first to say, "So? And get over... Read the rest of this post

I once saw comics artist Emmanuel Guibert at the French Institute, drawing like this in book dedications. It looked amazing, but people had to stand there for at least an hour, waiting for their book to dry before they could close it. It's fun, though; adding the ink looks like magic. (Here's a six-second video.)


Direct YouTube link

Here's the finished picture, and a few more I made:



I like how the green one came out. Sort of a mixture of Paddington Bear, Toad from Toad Hall and immigrant me.



Here's a video of Guibert, up to his tricks for Alan's War:

Earlier this year, UK Parliament voted to change the law to support new and controversial in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures known as ‘mitochondrial donation’. The result is that the UK is at the cutting-edge of mitochondrial science and the only country in the world to legalise germ-line technologies. The regulations came into force on 29th October this year, and clinics are now able to apply for a licence.

The post Mitochondria donation: an uncertain future? appeared first on OUPblog.

Fred and I just got back from a quick trip to London where I got to meet a woman I consider a true genius, Viviane Schwarz. We have been "virtual studio colleagues"- a term she coined for ummm.....at least 10 years. Anyhow- we got to hang out for whole day. We went to the Tate modern and went from hot drink to hot drink- which is what she said Londoners do. It was freezing, so I totally get the tea thing now. 

• Thu, 14:25: If Sarah Josepha Hale launched Thanksgiving, I wonder if other authors could sort of launch an end to Columbus... https://t.co/PuwgmVOYxq
• Thu, 17:20: RT @FauxPelini: HAPPY THANKSGIVING KIDS WHY ARE YOU CRYING https://t.co/NzFgrYmhZ1

Although Thanksgiving was yesterday here in the United States, we PubCrawlers figured it was never too late to be thankful for our blessings and privileges. Without further ado:

S. Jae-Jones (JJ)

I’m thankful for my Skullcandy Aviator headphones because not only do they look good, they tune out everything around me so I can concentrate on writing.

Kelly Van Sant

I’m thankful for my local library branch!

Hannah Ferguson

I am thankful for my nerdy writing group. We are self named The Fellowship and when we aren’t writing, we’re drinking wine and talking about it. I daresay they’ve saved my sanity on more than one occasion.

Rachel Seigel

I’m thankful to have a job that I enjoy, and that gives me the opportunity to read amazing books & get paid to sell them!

Julie Eshbaugh

I’m thankful for my online writing friends. Because of them I never feel like I’m toiling alone.

Kat Zhang

I’m thankful for my writing friends, too!

Stephanie Garber

I am thankful for every single thing that has happened this year and for all of the new people who have come into my life.

Stacey Lee

I’m thankful for this post so I can say how thankful I am to join Pubcrawl this year. I’m also thankful for my parents, who are still vibrant (even though Dad’s 81) and I’m also thankful for friends and emojis.

E. C. Myers

I’m thankful to have a family that supports my writing goals and helps me keep my love of telling stories a priority even when life gets busy, demanding, and stressful.

Jodi Meadows

I’m thankful for so many amazing books to read.

And we are all, of course, thankful for each and every one of our readers. <3