Handsome Boy plays T-Ball. So, two (and sometimes three) days a week, we load the trunk with folding Penn State chairs, water bottles, a Steelers bat, a pint-sized ball glove, and set off for the t-ball fields. We sit. We watch. We cheer. We swat bugs. Each game is pretty much like the one before.
Until last night.
Last night, somewhere amid the sitting and the bug-swatting and the game-watching and the cheering, I unexpectedly learned something from these small-type ball players...
After dropping off the Boy at his dugout, Lovely Girl and I set up our chairs and settled in to watch my little man do his stuff. I squinted through the bright sun at Handsome Boy out in the field as he examined dirt, made grass angels in the outfield, watched several batted balls roll right past him, yukked it up with his cap pulled completely over his face, and played pretend-catch with another outfielder. I cringed as he played tag and climbed the fence in the dugout. In fact, I spent the whole first inning trying to get his attention from the sidelines, sending desperate hand-signals to get him to get in the game before he got a t-ball upside the head (like last game).
Then, somewhere in the middle of my worries about Handsome Boy receiving his next bonk on the head, I stopped obsessing about my youngest child and took a look around at his teammates. Several little guys preferred to have a seat in the dirt as they waited for the batter to connect with the ball. A few ran in little circles in their assigned spots. Still others deposited unknown treasures from the ground into their pockets. There were some wrestlers in the outfield. A couple teammates intently searched the outfield grass for interesting critters to scrutinize. And they all played tag and climbed the fence in the dugout.
Then I started to just relax and watch the game. When the other team hit a grounder to center field, our center fielder's frustrated dad pleaded with his daughter to put down the lovely butterfly she'd just found, and go get the ball. In the next inning, while our batter was still swinging, their first baseman ran gleefully to the sidelines, clutching something thin and gray in his little fist. "Mommy! I found a feather for you!" A while later, Butterfly Girl waved her newest find at her dad as he once again begged her to put down the pretty butterfly and pick up the ball that had just rolled past her.
In between, there were some great plays: a couple of awesome hits to the outfield, a few pop-flies, some great plays at first base, and some exciting chase scenes as our right-fielder barreled toward home plate to tag a runner out.
But the best moment of all was right near the end of the game. Our team was fielding. The other team smacked a sky-high pop-fly right toward center field. But this time, Butterfly Girl was ready. She caught that ball in the air, then looked with amazement first at her glove, then at her coach - who ran over to give her a double high-five, then over at her dad. Then her grin stretched a mile wide as she took in the whistles, claps and cheers from both sides - coaches and parents alike - all for her fantastic catch.
At the end of the game, there were giant smiles on every kid's face. Nobody noticed how many outs there were, or how many runs were scored. Nobody argued about who collected pebbles in the infield, and who paid attention the whole time. Everybody thought their team had won, and every kid out there had a great time.
A few grass angels left in the outfield, and a few butterflies caught, and a few birds missing a feather or two is all part of the fun, I realized...
...and I'm so glad I didn't miss it.
The sore throat turned into something chesty and evil. Then all the hot water in the house dried up and went away. Still, my mood is better. And stuff is starting to get done. And I managed somehow get hot water to come out of the taps again. The wind is howling around the house...
Over at The New York Times, this article about SF that US politicians should admit to reading made me smile, althought I thought a few of the descriptions were pushing it.
Dear Mr. Gaiman,In Search of a Book to Read to My Nephew--
Part I
After countless hours of googling bizarre combinations of your name, "children", "books", "favorite", and various other words, I came across a book and its sequel titled GRIMBLE and GRIMBLE AT CHRISTMAS written by Clement Freud (grandson of Sigmund--as I'm sure you know). After discovering these titles, I proceeded to famous internet retailer Amazon.com to discover they, both of them, were out of stock and were "Used & New" with the lowest price being about $45. I then found my way over to eBay, and located a copy of GRIMBLE for... drumroll... $130! In light of these unfriendly prices (I'm cheap, you see) I was hoping you could utilize your "well-known author" powers to possibly influence a publishing company to bring GRIMBLE back in to print, or simply direct me to a website selling them for a reasonable, middle-class friendly price.
Oh, yeah--I almost forgot--can you recommend any other books to read to my five-year-old nephew (I've already read to him CORALINE, and he, as well as I, loved it)?
With much thanks and a fan always,Ben [last name removed by NSA... just kidding]
Actually, and in part because of my lobbying, Grimble was reprinted in the McSweeney's children's anthology with the astonishingly long title. I'd suggest you get the book directly from McSweeney's who tend to have it up very cheaply on their website -- recently they even offered it for nothing (plus postage) although I was too late to put that up here. All profits go to Good Causes too.
(And they have lots of cool stuff that would make nice presents up at http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm).
Beyond that, it's kind of hard to suggest books for a five-year-old, in the same way that it's hard to suggest books for a 38-year-old. People are different. (I know that at 5 Maddy loved Roald Dahl, for example, and all the Daniel Pinkwater picture books and early chapter books.) B
But I know that I need to put up some lists of books and authors -- and links to books that recommend other books.
Incidentally, I just noticed that over at the Pinkwater website there are Pinkwater Podcasts which include readings from Fish Whistle, the book that kept Terry Pratchett and me sane during the 1990 Good Omens tour.
Hello! I have a question for you about the signed limited edition of Coraline. According to amazon.com, the release date was November 30th. I pre-ordered mine over two months ago, so I assumed I'd have no problem getting one. But I just got a notice from Amazon saying that my order has been delayed until at least January. This either means that Amazon is sold out, or that the book has been delayed. I'm obvously hoping for the latter, so there's a chance I can still get a copy. Do you have any information on the situation? Thanks!-Brandon
The book was delayed, and it was mostly my fault -- there was a point in there where the box of sheets for me to sign was following me around the world (literally) and it didn't get signed until I got home from the Beowulf touring.
Having said that, I see from http://www.subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2007/12/16/neil-gaiman-update-coraline-shipping-soon/ that the books are going out in the next few days.
(I also understand that the first shipment of Hill House Press Anansi Boys has just arrived in New York from Poland. More information as I get it.)
...
I spoke to Jason Webley, and told him I'd love to put one of his songs up here, and he agreed. So for right now you can download or listen to the complete version of Almost Time To Go from his new CD The Cost of Living at http://www.jasonwebley.com/audio/AlmostTime.mp3.
Guess you never really stuck around
All that long anywhere.
I guess I should have known that you'd skip town.
You always did catch me unawares.
Looking now at your debris,
These trails of paper strewn across the floor,
Towards an open door.
Look at all you've gathered, all you own,
Hold it in your hand, does it weigh more than a single feather?
If the things you feel outsmart the things you know,
It's almost time, it's almost time to go.
Happy-sad in a load of good ways. (Especially if you're writing a book set in a graveyard.) Go and listen to it, or download it....
Read the rest of this post
I'm off on the edge of the world with almost no internet connection. It's raining, and my hair has gone peculiarly curly. I've got a sore throat of the kind I get when I've been travelling too much for too long, and have slept for much of the last 48 hours, like I do when I get a sore throat and it's time to sleep it off. I just drove to civilisation where I bought lemons, honey and ginger. And, for some reason that made sense when I bought it, but which now seems increasingly distant celery. And am now internet cafeing.
I'm working on The Graveyard Book.
Jason Webley's new CD The Cost of Living, is mostly playing in the background while I'm working, and his song from that, Almost Time to Go is sometimes on repeat (Here's the first minute from his website.) Up there with the wonderful strangeness of the Amanda Palmer-Jason Webley Elephant Elephant by Evelyn Evelyn. (http://www.jasonwebley.com/music_elephant.html but it is sold out, alas.) He's having a sale -- http://www.jasonwebley.com/index.html -- until the end of December.
Also listening to the new Thea Gilmore CD, but seeing it's not released yet there's not much point in linking to it. But she's started a Youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheaGilmore), with, so far, one video of her playing a song on her sofa on it. (Also nice picture taken by Thea's husband-and-producer-and-terrific-songwriter-in-his-own-write Nigel Stonier of Thea and me before Beowulf premiere on her myspace blog.)
Here's a summary of what's going on in the Writers' Strike right now.
Charles Vess has just finished the wraparound cover for BLUEBERRY GIRL...
and finally...
I wrote to you earlier to advise that there was far too much fun being had reviewing Bic pens on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000JTOYLS/ref=cm_rdp_product). There seems to be even more fun too muchly had reviewing Tuscan milk by a factor of approximately 25 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00032G1S0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top).
What intrigues me most though is through this page, I now know that if I ever need Uranium Ore, a JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank, or simply a Fresh Whole Rabbit, Amazon will be my first stop.
To which I can add nothing.
