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#32 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


MsBlueSky/flickr

Liff (lif) n. A common object or experience for which no word yet exists.

I'm guessing there are an infinite number of liffs floating free in the world, just hoping someone exceedingly clever will chance along and name them. Two clever someones, Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, compiled the first humorous dictionary of liffs back in 1983: The Meaning of Liff, followed by a revised and expanded edition, The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990). Along with these "no name" objects, feelings and situations, Adams and Lloyd also noted "thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places."

   

Words like Dunfish, Jeffers, Knaptoft, Ranfurly. They were real places, but who ever heard of them? Better yet, who'd ever think of visiting them? Why not match these place names with a needy liff?

Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversation and make a more positive contribution to society.

Thought you might enjoy a Sampler Platter of Liff Lunchables, à la Adams and Lloyd. All but a couple are food related; I've added a few extras to compensate ☺. Nibble on them, maybe give them a good chew (you're bound to chuckle). There's plenty to go around!

ABINGER (n.)
One who washes up everything except the frying pan, the cheese grater and the saucepan which the chocolate sauce has been made in.

BECCLES (pl. n.)
The small bone buttons placed in bacon sandwiches by unemployed guerrilla dentists.

CROMARTY (n.)
The brittle sludge which clings to the top of ketchup bottles and plastic tomatoes in nasty cafes.

DUDDO (n.)
The most deformed potato in any given collection of potatoes.

EPPING (participial vb.)
The futile movements of forefingers and eyebrows used when failing to attract the attention of waiters and barmen.

FINUGE (vb.)
In any division of foodstuffs equally between several people, to give yourself the extra slice left over.

GOOSNARGH (n.)
Something left over from preparing or eating a meal, which you store in the fridge despite the fact that you know full well you will never ever use it.

HENSTRIDGE (n.)
The dried yellow substance found between the prongs of forks in restaurants.

INIGONISH (adj.)
Descriptive of the expression on the face of a dinner party guest which is meant to indicate hug

#31 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." ~ Jonathan Swift




Oh. My. God.

This has got to be the most astonishing alphabet collection ever -- the coolest of the cool, the most unique and inspiring gift from nature anyone has ever received!

Some time ago, author/illustrator Leslie McGuirk began taking a closer look at the sedimentary rocks on a stretch of Florida beach near her home. These fascinating natural sculptures, smoothed and shaped by thousands of years of wave action, consisted of grains of sand and fossilized shell fragments "glued together" by a chemical in the seawater. Yes, they were all amazing and beautiful, each in its own way, but it was Leslie who noticed that some resembled letters of the alphabet.   

        
    
She soon became obsessed (my kind of woman), and began collecting these special letter rocks, as well as rocks resembling objects beginning with each letter. She did this for over ten years. Patient, persistent, eyes open, heart waiting. One by one, they revealed themselves to her. And now, she's sharing her collection with the world in her brand new book, If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet (Tricycle Press, 2011), which will be officially released on Tuesday, May 24th!

In her Author's Note, "Rock Talk," Leslie says: "Finding these letters, and rocks that looked like objects to match them, was a process of believing that anything is possible. These are beautiful sculptures, little works of art. I feel honored to share these rocks with the world. These compositions are intended to allow these rocks to speak for themselves . . . and for us to imagine what we would hear if rocks could sing." 

Leslie is here today to tell us more. You will no doubt be inspired to take a closer look at the world around you and marvel anew at the wonders of nature.

Jama: How and why did you start collecting alphabet shaped rocks?

Leslie: When I first moved to Florida, I started looking for shells, but they were all broken and not very interesting. So my brain switched gears and started to notice the rocks, which were truly odd little shapes. They became a total fascination for me. Suddenly I noticed letters, like L and C, which are easy to find, and then I started to think about writing out a word in stone. The obsession began!

Jama: What was the first alphabet rock you found?

Leslie: Probably a C or an L or an I. Those are pretty common.



Jama: Do you have a favorite?

Leslie: For sure the letter K, as I still have only one, after 10 years of looki

#29 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.





VERY BRIEF THOUGHTS ON THE LETTER M
by Miroslav Holub

A, b, c, d, e,
f, g, h, i, j,
k, l, n, o, p,
q, r, s, t, u,
v, w, x, y, z.

~ from Notes of a Clay Pigeon (Secker & Warburg, 1977)


DoubleM2/flickr


13 BRIEF NOTES Re. VERY BRIEF THOUGHTS ON THE LETTER M

1. ma-ma.

2. menu.

3. M = Sir Miles Messervey.

4. McCartney.
 
5. oustaches.

6. acarons?

7. Muse.

8. oolah.

9. MIA?

10. Dormouse.

11. etaphor.

12. moo.

13. mm mmm mmm m m.

♥ This post is brought to you by the letters J and A, who are looking for a few M's.

♥ Alphabetica live here.


Flavio Sartori/flickr

 Certified authentic alphabetica. ade by hand just for you with love and issing _'s.

Copyright © 2011 Jaa Rattigan of jaa rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

#27 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


Okay, how cute is this?

                

                

Made of bone china and available at Anthropologie.com!

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Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

#26 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.



Oh yes, I say! Love these leetle foxes.

Thanks to Tanita S. Davis, who tipped me off about yet another cool alphabet set. These samples are from Jess Bradley's "Rather Odd Alphabet." It's full of quirky creatures and many unusual words, some of which will twist your tongue twenty ways from Saturday trying to pronounce them. What fun!



Jess is an illustrator living in Bristol, England. Check out her website and blog to find out more about her work. She also has a cool online shop where you can purchase prints (she ships internationally).



♥ Click here to see all of Jess's "Rather Odd Alphabet."

♥ More alphabetica here.

♥♥ If you come across any cool, unusual, or otherwise noteworthy alphabet-related stuff (books, art, graphics, whatever), please let me know so I can feature it here and add it to my collection. Thanks!

*This post is brought to you by Friends. Thanks again, T. ☺

 Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade especially for you with love and whiffling weevils, among other things.


Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

 Animal prints available in three sizes may be purchased here.


To celebrate the launch of alphabet soup back in August 2007, I gave away a picture book called Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet by Gianna Marino (Chronicle Books, 2005).

After all, when considering soup books and alphabet books, Zoopa was one of my all-time favorites -- it contained so many of the ingredients I wanted to serve up via this blog: fun, whimsy, gorgeous art, fresh perspectives, renewed appreciation for the alphabet, and of course, delicious food for thought.

        

In the world of children's literature, there are alphabet books and there are ALPHABET BOOKS. Along with Carmine: A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet, Zoopa remains at the top of my list. This wordless visual feast, which begins with one tiny Ant eyeing up a bowl of tomato-y soup, and progresses with an entire alphabetical menagerie crawling, romping, leaping, trotting, splashing, and bounding all over the pages, inevitably begs repeated servings. Who can resist a mischievous chipmunk, a border of elephants cavorting on the rim of the soup bowl, a grasshopper wearing pink sneakers, or a monkey with green eyeglasses? Best of all, I love all the pasta letters floating around however they please in the bowl.

I was thrilled when Gianna contacted me a couple of months ago, asking if I had heard of Zoopa. Heard of it?! How do you tell an artist she's created a book with your name written all over it, the contents perfectly evoking a vision you've tried for years to express in words?   

You can see why I'm souper excited that Gianna has stopped by today. I asked her about the genesis of Zoopa, and a little about her new book, One Too Many (Chronicle, 2010), which was just released this Spring. It's the perfect companion to Zoopa -- a whimsical Seek & Find Counting Book featuring beautifully drawn animals rendered in a gouache palette of black, white, and greys. Both books reveal Gianna's deep love for animals, who always appear on the page with distinct personalities and the most engaging expressions (look at the eyes).

Gianna is visiting today from San Francisco, where she lives with her husband, stepchildren, two dogs, a fat cat, and Nabu, the brilliant horse.

Join me in welcoming Gianna to alphabet soup with a few enthusiastic slurps!

     

J: Gianna, where did the idea for an animal alphabet come from? 

G: I took a class through UC Berkeley Extension years ago on illustrating children's books. Though I had been an artist for years, I knew nothing about making a book, about the flow of pages, the number of pages, the size, the subject. Everyone has a great idea for a children's book (whi

#22 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

     

Well now, let's be naughty, shall we?

And while we're at it, let's throw in picky, offensive, rude, talky, quarrelsome, nosy, annoying, smelly, selfish, terrible times two, and shockingly untidy. And that's just for starters.

Linda Ashman's M is for Mischief: An A to Z of Naughty Children, features 26 alphabrats, each described in deliriously rollicking, alliterative rhyme. Compared to these kids, Pigpen's immaculate, Eloise, angelic, Genghis Khan, mild mannered and polite ("May I take over your country, please?"). One would be hard-pressed to find a noisier, more irritating bunch of rugrats anywhere in the civilized world. Tsk, tsk.


(Click to enlarge.)

I dare say, if any of these urchins showed up on my doorstep, I'd immediately pack my bags and flee! Definitely wouldn't want Daphne, the magic marker maniac, doodling all over the walls, furniture, just about everything in sight, including her father's face. As you can see from the cover image, she's doodled all over this book, too.
 
I positively tremble at the thought of meeting Catastrophic Coco, Fiendish Frankie, Mischievous Martin, Nagging Nora, and Rude Ruby. I imagine I'd be able to smell Offensive Oscar, who shuns the bath, from miles away. I'd rather not befriend a boy coated in dirt, with ooze on his oxfords, oil on his shirt, and yesterday's oatmeal still clinging to his chin, thankyouverymuch.

       

Disobedient and maladjusted though they may be, these are brats we love to hate. Oh, the vicarious thrill! It's just so much fun observing them from a safe distance, so satisfying when some of them get their just desserts. Ashman has done a brilliant job with her poetic portraits. I love the indefatigable wordplay and how each poem riffs on the featured letter. "Picky Penelope" begs to be read aloud; it's a prim, pungent, pimply, perky, puny, painful passel of perfection. Plus, there's pie:

        

Lest I appear negligent in my responsibility to this blog, I must declare Gluttonous Griffin the most delicious miscreant of them all. How I admire a boy with a good appetite! Dare I say, it's easy to see why he would want to gobble the gherkins, guzzle the gravy, and glug a few gallons of guava juice. Burp!



Props aplenty to Nancy Carpenter for her ink and mixed media collages, which propel riotous misbehavior to the moon and back. She gives new meaning to the words, "holy terror," through posturing and hilarious facial expressions, deftly depicting the unbridled tornado of energy and intensity that is childhood. Young readers who relish in devilry, mayhem, and the delectable act of provoking polite society w

#21 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

Happy Monday!

Start the week with a smile and a song, courtesy of the Three Stooges. "Swinging the Alphabet" is from their 1938 short, Violent is the Word for Curly. This is a great exercise in mental dexterity, and the women are pretty, too.



Hope that got your toes a tappin' and your creative wheels turnin'.

Now, back to writing!

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Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

#20 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

         

Got a few holiday items to share. Aren't these alphabet ornaments wonderful? I'm looking for just the right little tree to hang my set. They're on sale at Ballard Designs!

Here's another look:
     

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC offers these Girard Alphabet Blocks. Very handsome indeed -- made from locally grown sustainable wood with non-toxic inks, and features the Girard font:

              
 
Finally, I like these restaurant grade dishes from Fishs Eddy. I'm a sucker for anything with writing on it!


                        Worrisome Dinner Plate (10-1/4")

                  
                       Worrisome Side Plate (8-1/4")

They also have a few letter mugs left (50% off/5.48 each):

    


Can't leave out the alphabet bowl (also 50% off):

              

Happy Shopping!

More Alphabetica here.

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Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

#19 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.



Sshhhhhh!

I hope you don't mind my whispering, but I finally got all the lower case letters to go to sleep. As soon as I opened this doozy (or should I say dozy) of a picture book, those little rascals skitter-scattered every which way and their UPPER CASE parents kind of looked at me like this -- :o(.

But I know it's not my fault. Every time anyone tries to read this funny bedtime story the same thing happens. Even though they should be settling down and going to sleep, all the little letters find something they'd much rather do -- jump on the bed, play the accordian, read funny stories, take a bath, giggle and fidget. Typical, I say. Alphabet midgets run amok!



Just between you and me, I like them that way. Judy Sierra's done a brilliant job of capturing all their naughty and nice antics in rollicking rhyming couplets -- the lower case letters have a ball flexing their poetic muscle while they oh-so-cleverly elude bedtime (at least for most of the book). Some of these imps even alliterate: "f is full of fidgety wiggles./g has got the googly giggles."

And the illos? You know how I feel about Melissa Sweet. It wasn't enough she had to nail the impish personalities of letters big and small in all their goggly-googly-eyed glory. No! In addition to a jumble of shapes, textures, patterns and hilarious expressions rendered in pencil, watercolor, and collage, she just had to add a plethora of polka dots! *swoons* I. am. mad. for. dots!

Pint-sized alphabet learners will love all the giggle-worthy detail. Clothed letters with teeny tiny hands and feet. And those toothy grins would make any dentist proud! Each spread includes objects beginning with the featured letter (for "T" there's a telephone, turtle, t-shirt, teddy bear and tea set!). Melissa is famous for all those charming little touches that go straight to the heart of what kids love and look for in a book.

Did I mention the polka dots?

There are a ton of alphabet books out there, but Judy and Melissa have managed to create one that's fresh (slap me!), zany, and vvvvvibrating with energy. Just wait till you see all the little letters going through their bedtime paces, and then finally dozing in their cozy beds. The Sleepy Little Alphabet earned a *starred review* from Horn Book and was awarded a 2009 Oppenheimer Toy Portfolio Award. A great read aloud and fun primer. Go out and grab it!

Oops. I shouldn't have yelled. They're up again.

The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra,
illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Knopf (2009), Ages 3-6, 40 pp.
Review copy provided by publisher.

(Finally, somebody besides me who truly believes the alphabet is alive . . .)

                

#18 in on ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


photo by tenebrismo.

I am quite quazy about Q.

Quick and quiet, quacking or quaking, Q's a letter of quintessential quality.

Unlike O, who sometimes doesn't know which end is up, Q sits next to me on the couch and stays put. I like a letter who's quaint, a little quirky, sometimes questioning, always forever faithful to U.


photos by jazzejunqueinc and crissygarcia333.

You know how Ramona Quimby signs her name, drawing Q like a little cat? Ever since I saw that purr-fect Q, I've been a goner for Q's tail; it's got to be the coolest fashion accessory in the alphabet!

Okay. Right now, say "q." See how it makes you purse your lips just so, like you're ready for a kiss? ☺ I love that!

Now, look at your keyboard. Q occupies the farthest left position there (good politics, eh?). See how the word, "Qwerty" is spelled out in the second row? After decades of typing, I only recently learned what QWERTY is, and now it's my favorite Q word.


   Sholes Qwerty Keyboard Layout (1878)

Qwerty is the most widely used keyboard layout on English language typewriters and computers, patented in the 1870's by editor and printer, Christopher Sholes. Seems he spent years trying to find a layout that would prevent typebar clashes and jams. That meant studying the most common letter combinations in words, and arranging the keys so the typist would have to stretch and/or alternate hands to type them! That's why "q" is left hand, "u" is right hand.


First commercially successful typewriter (Sholes and Glidden by Remington, 1874),
(photo from sftrajan's photostream).

Another reason to love Q? It's withstood much malignment over the years. Like X and Z, it's not called upon quite as often as everyone else to form words. Moreover, Q's been called redundant (bite your tongue, Quintilian!) -- C and K (Q's staunch rivals) can easily stand in for Q without a fuss (quail = kwail, liquor = licor). Ben Jonson said things were just fine with Old English until the French (Norman Conquest), made Q part of the game: "The English Saxons knew not this halting Q, with her waiting woman 'u' after her."


photo by Afid wa Istafid.

As for me, a firm believer in minding her Ps and Qs, I think life would be quite bland without the exotic, specialized je ne sais quoi Q brings to Suzy Q, Bar-B-Q, Q & A, Q-Tips, and that rapturous word, "quiver." *fans self* And of course, there's this exquisite poem by Sharon Olds. True to form, Q knows how to really bring it.

Q
by Sharon Olds


photos by lowtech511 and sky_mitch.

Q belonged to Q.&.A.,
to questions, and to foursomes, and fractions,
it belonged to the Queen, to Quakers, to quintets --
within its compound in the dictionary dwelt
the quill pig, and quince beetle,
and quetzal, and quail. Quailing was part of Q's
quiddity -- the Q quaked
and quivered, it quarrelled and quashed. No one was
quite sure where it had come from, but it had
travelled with the K, they were the two voiceless
velar Semitic consonants, they went
back to the desert, to caph and koph.
And K has done a lot better --
29 pages in Webster's Third
to Q's 13. And though Q has much
to be proud of, from Q.& I. detector
through quinoa, sometimes these days the letter
looks like what medical students called the
Q face -- its tongue lolling out.
And sometimes when you pass a folded
newspaper you can hear from within it
a keening, from all the Q's who are being
set in type, warboarded,
made to tell and tell of the quick and the
Iraq dead.

~ from The New Yorker (August 10, 2009).

When I first read the poem, the ending stunned me. Everything was kind of playful until Q's final appearance, at the end of a word. Talk about surprise and impact.

What's your favorite Q word? (One Q word I don't like = query.)

Enjoy the rest of the poems being shared around the blogosphere by checking in with Kelly Herold at Big A little a.


Easy ham and broccoli quiche recipe here (Pillsbury.com).

                                     ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

DID YOU KNOW?

♥ When Remington mechanics finalized the qwerty layout before manufacturing the first commercially successful TYPE WRITER, they moved the R so that the word "typewriter" could be typed solely from the top row of letters (to impress customers).

♥ The first Remington typewriters were mounted on sewing tables and embellished like sewing machines to appeal to women. Instead of a lever, one used the treadle to return the carriage. Read more at the Virtual Typewriter Museum.

       

♥ Qwerty favors lefties; thousands of words can be typed using only the left hand vs. only about 200 using the right.

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Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
 

#17 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

This charming little guy can really carry a tune! The alphabet has never been cuter. Enjoy.



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#16 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

    
      The Alphabet Chair by Sarah Peters.

Ta da!

This has got to be the most unusual piece of alphabetica in my collection so far. Isn't this cast bronze piece amazing? Best part is, it was originally commissioned back in 2003 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Eight Cousins Children's Bookstore in Falmouth, MA. Leave it to kid's book lovers to come up with the coolest ideas!

I originally saw this chair in a photo taken by Vivian at HipWriterMama, who was lucky enough to vacation on the Cape this summer and see this chair in person. I decided to do a little more digging to find out who designed the chair and how it was made.

The talented artist in question is Sarah Peters, who maintains the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, MA. My love for the chair deepened when I discovered it was also a puzzle: each letter bears a unique texture which was imprinted from nature or common objects:

      
        B is for buttons, E is for elephant skin!

  
    R is for rope, S is for scallop shells.

Go to the Texture Page, and try to guess what texture each letter represents. I should have known what "P" was, but couldn't guess!

The Foundry Page contains great photos and explanations of each step of the process, from making the mold, to waxing, dipping, pouring, and finishing. And check out the Eight Cousins Page, with photos of the chair's unveiling.

Besides sculptures like this one, Sarah also does bas-relief work and medals. She's done a whole series of bronze plaques representing historic industries significant to Falmouth. They've been permanently installed along the sidewalk abutting the library lawn on Main Street. Perfect! Here's my fave of this series, "Strawberry Farming":

   

Sarah does some commission work, so if you're ever in need of a bronze Alphabet Chair, or something equally as wonderful, contact her via her website. I imagine some pretty great reading and/or writing could take place while seated in such letterific luxury!

♥ Special thanks to Sarah for kindly granting permission to post these photos here.

Click here for more Alphabetica.

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*All photos copyright © 2009 Sarah Peters Sculpture. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
 

#15 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

Why settle for boring tater tots or plain frozen fries when you can eat these?


They only take 20 minutes in a 475°F oven.


So yummy when warm and a little brown around the edges. 


How do you spell delish? Kids and short grown-ups can't resist them. Munch on a few crispy letters today ☺! 

Hope you had a nice weekend. Happy Monday! ♥

More alphabetica here.

P.S. The letters, "Y - E - S" taste especially good.

 Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade especially for you with love and a lot of happy, highly literate Idaho spuds.

#14 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


  
   8-1/2" x 11" signed and dated fine art print.


When the writing gets tough, the tough go alphabet shopping.

Actually I don't usually wait till things get tough.

See, I was once a Brownie. And our motto, just like the boys, was "Be prepared."

Life is so unpredictable. You just never know when you might need a good alphabet hit. Keep those 26 friends close by, I always say. Why, just hearing the words, "letter," "typography," "typeset," or "lower case" sends shivers up my spine, not to mention the all-time seducer (which I hesitate to mention in mixed company) -- font. Say it with me, friends: font, font, font!
 
*swoon* *fans self* *reaches for smelling salts*

While you're composing yourself, check out these decidedly cool things, all available from geniune-for-real artisans at Etsy.com. No big factories, no mass production. Whenever possible, I like to support independent artists. It's back-to-school time. What better way to learn your ABCs?

(Just click on each picture to go straight to the seller's page.)

Two-tone alphabet pencil case:


Letters and birds tote (100% cotton canvas, about 10" x 13"):



Alphabet tote (about 8" x 10", graphic print from Japan):


Yummy 100% cotton tea towel, hand screen-printed (16" x 30"):



Hot tea cosy (also hand screen-printed):



Lime green hulk wooden typewriter keys (set of 45):



Mint chocolate tea wallet (about 6" x 4" open):



Embroidered felt letters (100% cotton):



Monogram bottlecap zipper pull/keychain:

(this is especially for you, Mrs. Bottlecap♥)

Lowercase magnets (1" diameter):



Librarians love letters zipper pouch (8" x 8"):



Alphabet handbuilt porcelain dish (4-3/4" square):



DIY Heat fabric transfer (8" x 8", iron-on to bags, pillows, t-shirts, etc.):


And the best for last: PMC (precious metal clay/.999 silver) bracelets by Live Journal's very own Laura Ludwig Hamor, who just opened a brand new Etsy Shop called Silver Freckles! Each piece is hand stamped, sanded, polished, and attached to a black leather cord. Wear one at all times for enhanced creativity!



In case you didn't know, Laura is artistq !

Okay, that's your alphabet fix for the week. Go forth and order something! ☺ 

More alphabetica here.

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#13 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


photo by bitterbethany.

America's favorite humorist is 107 years old today!

Over the years, I've enjoyed his light verse and funny sayings, but only recently stumbled upon this abecedarian poem, first published in SPORT magazine in 1949. Nash was a baseball fanatic, especially loved Baltimore sports, and once said, "I think in terms of rhyme, and have since I was six years old."  

LINE-UP FOR YESTERDAY
AN ABC OF BASEBALL IMMORTALS
by Ogden Nash



A is for Alex
The great Alexander;
More Goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander.

B is for Bresnahan
Back of the plate;
The Cubs were his love,
and McGraw his hate.

C is for Cobb,
Who grew spikes and not corn,
And made all the basemen
Wish they weren't born.

(Read the rest here.)

I love this:

A girl who is bespectacled
She may not get her nectacled
But safety pins and bassinets
Await the girl who fassinets.

And I love a man in a baseball uniform (don't tell my in-laws, who are all Red Sox fans):
  
     photo by Keith Allison.

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#12 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


photo by Zyada.

Ladies and gentlemen, please select a clarinet so you can play it later in this post.

Exquisitely talented poet and maestro, Julie Larios, is here for an encore performance of her deliciously ingenious double abecedarian, "A Night on the Town."

This vigorous roller coaster of a poem first debuted on Julie's blog, The Drift Record, back in June. I was amazed, astounded, and absolutely ablaze with wonderment. Double ABCs! *swooning* A to Z down the left, Z to A down the right. Perfect lines, a funny story, a donkey and the Rhapsody in Blue! She even used the word, "glissando!" (FYI: a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another.) Love that word. Say it with me, right now: g-l-i-s-s-a-n-d-o. Don't you feel all shimmery and flowing in a particularly passionate Italiano sort of way? ☺

Friends (especially those of you who aren't regular Poetry Friday participants and may have missed it), this poem is especially for you. Whenever Gershwin or any other musician/composer is mentioned, please pick up your clarinets and join me in a group glissando. Make those notes glide and glisten! (Thunderous applause for Julie's lexicological dexterity is optional, but after reading this, probably unavoidable.)

A NIGHT ON THE TOWN
by Julie Larios

A man goes into a bar with a donkey. A small jazz

Band is playing, and the man says, “Hey, my donkey

Can play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on a sax.

Drinks on the house if he can’t.” “No way,”

Everyone in the bar says. A woman named Bev

Finds the donkey a sax, but the real sax player, Lou,

Gets annoyed. “Any idiot knows you need a clarinet,”

He says, “for Gershwin’s opening glissando.” Everyone agrees.

“I’m not sure,” says the donkey. He and his owner confer.

“Just get me outta here,” the donkey whispers, “P.D.Q.”

“Keep your shirt on,” says the man, who has his hopes up.

“Look,” he says to Lou, “how about Bernstein on a cello?”

“Maybe I Feel Pretty…?” calls out another man.

“No, no, no,” says his date. "Play Dance in the Gym!"

“On a cello?” everyone snorts, and she begins to yell.

“Please get me outta here,” whispers the donkey again. “Quick.”

“Quickly,” corrects the man. “it’s an adv. not an adj.”

“Right, I stand corrected. But I really think I….”

Suddenly the bartender, a big guy with tattoos, says “I wish

The donkey knew some early Louis Armstrong.”

“Under the circumstances,” the animal concedes, “if

Virtually everyone in the bar will sing along, I’ll be fine.”

“Woody Allen should be filming this,” says the drummer. “And

Xavier Cugat should be the bandleader. That's basic."

“Yeah, or maybe Spike Lee and Calloway." "Calloway?" "Cab.”

“Zubin!” someone shouts out. “Spielberg and Zubin Mehta!”

Copyright © 2009 Julie Larios. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------

For the glissando of all glissandos, you must watch this short Rhapsody in Blue film directed by Adrian Marthaler. It's cooler than cool, the cat's pajamas. No donkeys here, but there's a hotel lobby, a bar, a sturdy female clarinetist and one beast of a piano player.

*taps baton and raises arms* 

Play Part One.
Play Part Two.


photo by pho-Tony.

Thanks for the musical feast, Julie! ♥

More alphabetica here.

P.S. Julie and Carol Brendler have just started a new blog, Jacket Knack, where they will post every Monday about jacket/cover design. Check it out!

 Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade just for you with rhapsodic love and blue donkey ears.

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup.

#11 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.



Writing X's for kisses dates back to the Middle Ages, when much of the population was illiterate. A person made an "X" for his name, then kissed it, as a promise to stick to the agreement. Over time, the X came to stand for the kiss itself. (photo by Samdogs)

If X marks the spot, you've come to the right place!

I thought we'd give X a little love and attention today. As one of the least used letters in the alphabet (second only to Z), I imagine it must get pretty lonely at times.
 
A, E, I, O, U get invited to parties left and right. But X? It's usually the first to be crossed off the A-list. This is what sometimes happens to letters with a sordid past: X-rated movies, Brand X, the symbol for "Poison." But I'm happy to report X has redeemed itself of late. 

Today, almost everybody wants an X-Box, loves the X-Files, and knows X to be a mover and shaker: XFER, XMIT, XREF, X-ing. Besides, who can resist a letter with such magnetism and mystique? The X-factor definitely makes life interesting.

Up until a few days ago, Diane Lockward was Lady X to me. I saw "My Husband Discovers Poetry" in Good Poems for Hard Times, and simply had to read more of her work. When I found "I'm Lonely as the Letter X," I knew I had truly discovered a kindred spirit.

I'M LONELY AS THE LETTER X
by Diane Lockward


photo by Pixel Packing Mama.

Poor, neglected X, only two and a half pages
in a dictionary nearly three thousand long.
My lover's gone. I know how it feels
to receive scant attention, to have gifts
ignored. X deserves more.

X is special, a symbol, shouting, Don't do it!
And kindly too, warning of dangerous crossings,
strange, dark roads traveled alone.
Mysterious, an unknown quantity -- who really knows
what X represents? I wish I were as prolific as X,
which goes forth and multiplies: 2x, 5x, 7x.

(Rest is here.)


photo by Abdallah.

I am in the habit of crossing my legs. But I'm not mysterious, just short.

Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect is our Poetry Friday hostess today. She'll probably give you a kiss if you ask her ☺!

BTW, have you checked out Diane's Blogalicious yet? Fab posts about poetry writing process. A good one to bookmark!


photo by emily2012.

Have an Xtraordinary weekend!
~ jama ♥
xxoo 

 Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade especially for you with lots of love, hugs, and kisses!
 

#10 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


Click on this image to go directly to the online Alphabetilately Exhibit.

Any stamp collectors out there?

I've always appreciated the artistry and infinite variety of postal stamps, as they commemorate people, places and historic events. I still have a few teddy bear stamps and cherish those featuring children's book authors. Remember the Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss stamps? Very cool. And I've always had a soft spot for LOVE stamps.

This year, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., has an exhibit called "Alphabetilately," where each letter of the alphabet stands for some aspect of stamp collecting or postal service. (A is for Advertising Covers, D is for Duck Stamp, O is for Overprint, etc.) In the actual exhibit, there is a display case for each letter, but you can get a good overview by reading what is available online. Find out which stamp many collectors consider to be the most beautiful ever produced in America, and see one of the first stamps ever issued in the U.S., the 5-cent Benjamin Franklin (1847). In this day and age of email, stamps seem to be less and less a part of our everyday lives, so take a few minutes to appreciate these miniature pieces of art!

Not part of the Alphabetilately exhibit, but of interest to Beatles fans, is John Lennon's Childhood Stamp album. Apparently, both he and Paul were collectors. 


John (age 8), outside his childhood home with friend, Stanley Parkes.

Here is the cover of John's album,


his writing on the flyleaf,


and a page of his stamps.


To see the rest of his album, click here.

Alphabetica posts #1-9 are here.

Happy licking! ♥

*All images copyright © 2009, Smithsonian National Postal Museum website. All rights reserved. 

 Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade especially for you with love and a wish for more personal letters with real stamps!

#8 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet

    
    from bjensen2008's photostream

Awhile ago, poet extraordinaire, Julie Larios, gifted me with the letter "T" on a Poetry Friday when I posted about James Taylor.

So now, I'm sharing some of the things I love that begin with T, the most commonly used consonant in our alphabet, and the second most common letter in the English language, after "e."

#5 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.



Today, let's bask in the utterly exquisite, mind boggling beauty and delicate intricacy of Hina Aoyama's papercut art.

Awhile ago, Sara Lewis Holmes tipped me off about this amazing Japanese artist who now lives in France creating pieces that truly take the breath away.

Though she does a lot of scenic pieces, she also handcuts letters, poems, and pieces of literature:


Here's a Basho haiku,


and a piece that is permanently on display at a miniature museum in Lyon:


She doesn't use a laser; everything is done by hand with a pair of scissors:


A letter from Voltaire:


Japanese-Swiss Manga:


Here's a close-up of one of her pieces,


and she even does jewelry!


*Sigh and swoon*

Hina Aoyama's work has received worldwide acclaim, including a 2008 Paper Art Triennale International Musee de Charmey Suisse First Prize. She says, "My passion is to create a finest cutoff beyond the level of the very time-consuming needle lace making. I don't follow traditional, but I am trying to create a mixture of the traditional and modern styles and to produce my own world through this super fine lacy-paper-cuttings technique."

She recently published a book featuring her work, which you can learn more about here.

You absolutely must see her photostream on Flickr and her MySpace page.

Thanks again, Sara, for sharing this great find!

*All images from Hina Aoyama's Flickr photostream and MySpace page.

Certified authentic alphabetica, handmade just for you with love and a new respect for scissors.
 

#3 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

                   

I'm a sucker for the alphabet!

Saw this fun meme posted by Carrie at Reading to Know and couldn't resist. Though you're supposed to list your all-time favorite books from A-Z, I decided to narrow my focus (classic children's novels), to make it easier. It was still really hard deciding on just one title for each letter. Have you ever noticed how many classics begin with the letter, "L," especially the word, "Little?" *Tearing hair out*

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged! Please let me know so I can go read your list! Next time, I might challenge myself to do a picture book list.

A - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

B - (A) Bear Called Paddington

C - Charlotte's Web

D - David Copperfield

E - Everything on a Waffle

F - (A) Fine White Dust

G - Gulliver's Travels

H - Heidi

I - Island of the Blue Dolphins

J - Jane Eyre

K - Kira Kira (not technically a "classic," but it made me return to writing after a long absence).

L - Little Women (and the Little House books)!

M - Mary Poppins

N - Number the Stars

O - Onion John

P - Pippi Longstocking

Q - (nope, nothing here)

R - Ramona Quimby, Age 8

S -  (The) Secret Garden

T - To Kill a Mockingbird

U - Up a Road Slowly

V - Voyages of Doctor Doolittle

W - Winnie-the-Pooh

X - (who invented this letter, anyway?)

Y - Yolanda's Genius

Z - (somebody, write a Z book!)

Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade just for you with love and a taste for the classics.

See the other alphabetica posts here.

A Fishy Alphabet in Hawai'i, by Leslie Ann Hayashi,
pictures by Kathleen Wong Bishop (Mutual Publishing, 2007),
Picture Book for ages 4-8, 32 pp.

Calling all fish lovers!

Whip out your good time goggles and dive straight into this playful book!

Leslie Ann Hayashi and Kathleen Wong Bishop, long time pals from Wahiawa (the unheralded center of the creative universe), really know how to make a splash when it comes to the alphabet.

Did someone just say alphabet? Hold me down, please.

A Fishy Alphabet in Hawai'i (Mutual Publishing, 2007), is my fave Hayashi/Bishop book. Um, maybe I'm just a tad partial to alphabet books. You think? But this one just makes me happy all over. This usually happens when I'm confronted with page after page of vivid, pulsating, color-drenched pictures teeming with life. Thank you, say my eyes. We can't get enough of those sizzling orange-reds, seaweed hunter greens, and shocking lemon yellows. And dang, did you notice all those fishy facial expressions?



For each letter, a different fish -- gliding, wubbling, darting through the slippery pages of this book. Most go by their common names -- Pufferfish, Eel, Angelfish, Moorish Idol -- but there's one scientific gilly in the bunch, Xyrichtys Pavo, to keep all the others in line, and of course there are a few rascals who like to show-off their Hawaiian names -- 'Iao, Kikakapu, and the infamous Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. (Say that three times and you get extra chocolate.) Onaga, who likes his Japanese name instead of his Hawaiian (ula 'ula) or common name (red snapper), is the tastiest one of the bunch.

Little ones will eat up the four-line rhymes capturing the essence of each fish:

Goatfish

Known for its bear,
which tickles its chin,
if you haven't seen one,
where have you been?

Queen Parrotfish

The Queen Parrotfish,
with her crown of greens and blues,
shimmers in the light,
revealing splendid hues.

Then, they'll have a ball looking for the fun surprises on each page -- objects not usually found in the ocean hanging out on their corresponding alphabet pages simply because they want to: an angel mermaid patting an angelfish, an Easter egg nestled on a rock ledge tempting an eel, a volcano rumbling near a velvetfish, even a lonely zucchini teasing the zebra rockskipper. A list of hidden words at the back of the book is great for building vocabulary and prompting closer observation.



Did I already mention the fishy expressions? Kathy has done a fabulous job of giving these sea creatures personality. Her depictions are fetching, endearing, soothing, winsome.

I highly recommend you grab your net and scoop up this book. You can purchase it through Booklines Hawai'i, or from your favorite online bookseller. It's definitely the catch of the day!

                               

Look what else I snagged:

A yummy recipe from Leslie herself, who says, "I'm a soccer mom (my younger son plays), and whenever we have potlucks, I bring this dessert. It's a great hit as I'm usually asked for this recipe!"

GUAVA OR ORANGE JELLO SQUARES/RECTANGLES

6 packages Knox Gelatin
1 cup sugar (I actually use 3/4 cup)
1 box strawberry jello
2 tsp. lemon juice (optional)
12 ounces guava juice concentrate
2 cups cold water
4 cups boiled water

Start with 2 cups of cold water in a large bowl.
Add 2 packages of Knox Gelatin, one at a time, or it will get very lumpy.
Add sugar.
Add Jello.
Add boiled water.
Stir in frozen juice concentrate.
Add lemon juice.
Pour into 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan and refrigerate overnight. The jello can be cut into squares or rectangles and served in separate cupcake paper cups or just served from the pan.

Substitution: If guava juice concentrate is not available, you can substitute frozen orange juice concentrate and 1 box of orange jello instead of strawberry.

*What is great about this recipe is that unlike regular jello, this treat can actually stay out for hours and not lose its shape.

If you missed the other post about Leslie and Kathy's books, click here.

Be sure to check out their charming website -- these ladies make adorable mermaids! 

*Interior spreads posted by permission, copyright © 2007 Kathleen Wong Bishop, published by Mutual Publishing. All rights reserved.
 
Mahalo, Courtney!!

  Certified authentic Alphabetica. Handmade just for you with love and tartar sauce.