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Hello, Everyone! Photos from SCBWI-LA Illustrator's Day 2010 are up!





You can view the full SCBWI-LA Illustrator's Day album on Facebook here: http://on.fb.me/i5QwA3
and on Flickr here: http://bit.ly/dK0MSS

Captions in the online albums were provided by Ken Min, my very good friend and a superstar illustrator. Thanks, Ken, for organizing the event, and for asking me to photograph it!

Illustrator's Day was an amazing conference held in San Gabriel last Saturday, featuring illustrator Brian Floca, agent/author Jennifer Rofé, Art Director Rich Deas, Editor Abigail Samoun, and illustrator Dan Santat as speakers; with door prizes, portfolio displays, awards announced, hijinks, and touching surprises. Check out the photos to relive the excitement, or to glimpse what it was all about!

With thanks again to organizers Ken and Milla for the wonderful job they did this year, as well as to all the hardworking volunteers they recruited! The entire day was inspiring and delicious! (Speaking of delicious, several of us went out for dumplings at Din Tai Fung afterwards . . . yum, yum.)

Cheers, and Happy Holiday Week, Everyone!*
Rita

* gobble, gobble

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Woo hoo! The latest issue of Kite Tales came out! And so many awesome people are in it, including my good friend Mark Fearing, the super awesome Katie McDee, the dashing Lee Wind, and yours truly--for being a "Volunteer in the Spotlight" with Lee and co-Coordinating the SCBWI Westside Schmooze.

Check check check it out. Mark is on pages 11 and 12: "Illustrator's Perspective." Katie's "Illustrator's Gallery" is on page 25. And Lee and I are on pages 30 and 31: "Volunteers in the Spotlight." The whole issue is packed with great articles and information.

Congrats to the Kite Tales staff for putting out another great issue! Thanks for including us!

:D :D
Rita

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My friend managed to get through an entire day of work last week with horrific food poisoning, without taking any time off. He hid the symptoms all day long—when people passed by his office, when he attended meetings, when he drove across town for a conference (at which, it turned out, he had to speak).

"Every time someone walked by my office, I was like, 'Hey!' and then as soon as they were gone, you know," he said, holding his arms around himself and closing his eyes. "Rocking a little."

I could not stop laughing at every detail. The sweating. The shaking. The strategic running up back stairwells to remote restrooms so bosses and new interns wouldn't see him—both so they couldn't stop him and introduce anyone, and so they wouldn't hear . . . anything. Or know how long he'd been in there.

My friend couldn't understand what was so funny. Being a decent and humble guy, he kept interrupting himself and trying to change the subject with, "Sorry, this is a really boring story," and "And that is way more than you wanted to know about that!" And I kept laughing and saying No, I want to hear more!, and before I could explain why, he would remember something else and go on.

Like how, at one point, before heading across town to a meeting, he stopped at his house, because he had ten minutes to spare. And then he barfed a little, and thought, "Okay. . . ." pant, pant. "Now I'm good." Then he had to sit down again and spend a couple minutes breathing. Then he was running late and had to go.

Because he was only stopping for ten minutes, he parked on the street instead of in the garage. When he got back into his car, he went, "YEAHHHHHH!" Both hands gripping the wheel, face screwed up, screaming. "YEAAAHHHHHHHH!!"—twice—before starting the engine.

I laughed the hardest at that. I totally grilled him about it.

"What do you mean?" I said. "You were just . . . psyching yourself up?? Do you psych yourself up like that in general?? Whenever you have something hard to do?" I thought of all the scenes I'd seen on TV with guys karate chopping themselves in mirrors.

"Yeah. Why?" My friend had no idea why this was interesting.

I kept asking why he didn't go home—or stay home—and my friend insisted that at every turn, he thought the worst had passed.* Until it was too late again.

(*I found out later from his wife that, in fact, the worst did not hit until he was driving home from his meeting, and she came home to find him shivering, feverish, moaning. She was completely frightened. She thought it might be swine flu. At which point I rebuked him roundly, because if there is any chance you could have flu of any type—especially right now—you have to go home!! It's the responsible thing to do!! But he insisted he knew the whole time what flu felt like, and even though he didn't know what was going on, it wasn't that. I find this sketchy and scandalous, but anyway, he didn't have flu, so we'll leave it at that.) 

The rest of the episodes from his day were equally entertaining. The stuff of nightmares. Opening a document with 20 minutes before a meeting, and realizing it's 140 pages. Getting to the conference, which your boss's colleague said the company only needed someone to show up at, and realizing you're one of the few attendees with a nameplate. Thinking frantically of what you're going to say, the whole time the long-winded panel is working its way around to you. Pulling off your spiel so that people are coming up afterward to shake your hand and say they appreciated your presentation, even while you're too disoriented to realize you parked your car in the wrong lot.

I kept pulling details out of him. It amazes me when people don't realize

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From my wedding vows, seven years ago:

Seven years we have been together. And they have gone so fast, and every year has been so different, and so fun, just thinking about how fast it's gone almost causes me to panic. I know another seven years will go just as fast, and then another seven; and one day we'll celebrate our 25th anniversary, and one day it will be our 50th. I want all my years to be with you, and I shall love you always.

I've now been married to Damon for as long as we were a couple before. In fact . . . Damon and I have now been a couple (married and not) for as long as we spent as arch enemies. (14 and 14 years.)

It goes really fast.

:)
r

P.S. I dusted off our wedding cartoon for the occasion. (Click here if you don't see a video embedded below.)

Created by the super talented Tony Wang. This originally framed the slideshow that played at our reception.

Cheers, Everyone, :)
(d &) r

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So this is hilarious and a half.

Remember when I blogged “7 Random/Weird Things About My Significant Other” a while back, wherein I changed the rules of a meme to focus on Damon instead of me? Well, that post turned out to be a favorite among friends, including all kinds of people I had no idea were reading. Everyone loved how D loves elevator conversation.

Our friend Emmie Hsu, of Fomato Cards, asked “permission” to use the idea for a birthday greeting card. Then, out of the blue, she sent it to us last week.

I love it!! Both Damon and I love how it turned out so much!

I now present to you . . .

elevator conversations
by fomato cards


(front)

(inside)

(back)

YEAH!!

Click here to see “elevator conversations” on the fomato cards Web site

Click here for the main fomato site, where you can find all her masterpieces!

She tried to work in D's favored Days of the Week, but it didn't fit—at least not in this card. She got more input from our friend Calvin and used Frankie's “Living the dream.”

I love all fomato cards so much, you guys. I use nothing else. They are hilarious, gorgeously illustrated, high quality, irreverent, totally indie, and smack of asian american pop culture flava.

(Yes, I said flava. You have no idea how much I resist yo.)

So get thee to fomato.com for a hi-larious reading experience! Each card is short, punchy, and perfect for someone you know. Before you know it, you’ll have read them all. You’ll wind up ordering, too, because her cards totally inspire that “I-have-to-get-this-for-So-and-so!” reaction.

So much fun,
rita

P.S.
A few more of my favorites:
   potatoes
   no
   facebook intervention
   ramen noodle festival
   chinese food
   sushi lesson
   school o dissatisfaction (This one’s perfect for pessimists, optimists, and people who love mangoes)
   cheese
   boba
   time/stress/relationships
   job
   unexciting

Here is Damon’s favorite:
   screw you

Which ones are yours?

P.P.S.
Photos from Writer’s Day are still coming! This is one of the rules of writing: Never deliver what you promised. That keeps readers coming back.

Thanks for all the congrats, though—here, on Facebook, and everywhere!

Now get to fomato.com!

Damon’s favorite is apparently fomato’s current bestseller. I am mortified.

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If you roll over these images, you should see the snowflakes' titles and artists' names pop up (though I've noticed this feature doesn't work in Firefox).

Once again, just "a few" of my favorites:

Bid bid bid bid bid bid bid.

I lifted these images (fronts and backs) off the Auction 3 page of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Robert's Snow Web site. Too many wonderful snowflakes to post here! Go to Auction 3 and get tempted by them all!

Love,
R.

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Auction 2 of Robert's Snow is going on right now.

I could not possibly show you all the awesome snowflakes I want that are part of this round. You have to check them out yourself.

Here are just a few . . .




*Drool*

Imagine how beautiful your tree will look decorated in one, two, three, or half a dozen of these! Imagine a child looking at your tree (or window, or holiday vacuum cleaner) and dreaming of the stories implied.

I lifted these images (fronts and backs) off the Auction 2 page of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Robert's Snow Web site.

Go bid!

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Goodness.

Here is the most important thing I've needed to tell you:

The Bidding For Auction 1 of Robert's Snow is going on right now, and it ends today.

Bid now! Bid today! Bid before 5 PM (Eastern Standard Time)!!!
(Click this link and go!!)

Remember, this is the awesome opportunity I told you about a little while back—to own your very own original piece of artwork by a children's book artist of astounding renown and fight cancer at the same time? Where all these incredible children's book illustrators and authors have come together to contribute unique snowflake holiday ornaments, and the art pieces are available online, right now??

Robert's Snow happens in three rounds of online bidding, with a different third of the snowflakes being auctioned off each week. Next week is Auction 2. The week after is Auction 3.

The first third of the snowflakes is going fast, right now!!

Click here to go to Auction 1!!

Click here to go to Auction 2!!

Click here to go to Auction 3!!

(Actually, here is one master link that will take you to all three auctions! They happen Nov. 19–23, Nov. 26–30, and Dec. 3–7, respectively. Check out all the snowflakes! It's incredible!!)

Equally incredible is that each of these artists—and the snowflake each has contributed—has been further individually profiled by dedicated bloggers. So here is a list of all the relevant links where you can read up even more on the snowflakes you love and want!!

Amazing collectibles. Stunning gifts. The joy of owning/giving/bidding on these will warm your hearts for always.

Let it snow, let it snow,
now go, let's go!!

Love,
rita!

P.S.  A few sample Auction 1 snowflakes:



I lifted these few images (fronts and backs) off the Auction 1 page of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Robert's Snow Web site. The Robert's Snow poster above I lifted from 7-Imp, the good people who have done an incredible job of organizing Blogging For A Cure. Ooh, you want to bid!

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Today I went to the Great Wall of China. While there I saw a praying mantis.

The wall:

The me:



The mantid:



On the way back I noticed a roadsign forbidding giraffes to drive small cars.



Which is, I assume, why the giraffes of Beijing hide in the middle of streets, cunningly disguised by bushes, and wait to steal small cars and go joyriding....

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Good Morning:

I started my day with a cool and rainy 3 mile walk. Now that's a great way to start a fresh new day, if you ask me!

I've been looking over some of my past posts this morning, and I think I need to make it clear that I AM NOT AN ENTOMOLOGIST!! Wow, I can't believe how many posts I have that focus on insects. Mantis, Ladybugs, Walking Sticks.... and I admit, I have the creepy-crawlies just like so many others. Because my kids have learned outside of school since the beginning, I have always had cool projects going on all the time. It just so happens that there are lots of cool Science projects on the market for the "common folk". When my boys were younger, the insect projects were what they always chose. So, through the years, we just became "friendly" with bugs.

This post will focus on the release of my many hundreds of baby Praying Mantis, and that should be it for bug posts. At least for awhile anyway!

We released my babies late yesterday evening in my garden. They have voracious appetites and eat thousands of aphids and small insects each day. Being that they eat aphids, we released most of them on and around my roses. The egg sacs were still productive, so we hid them under the roses. After we released them, we managed to get some very good pictures of them in their natural environment:

Praying Mantis on Yellow Rose



Praying Mantis Egg Sac



Praying Mantis Close-Up



Now that most of you are probably thoroughly creeped out, I would like to thank you for being so patient and kind enough to continue to read my blog.

Now...here's my two newest collage prints listed in My Etsy Shop.

5" x 7" collage print entitled: "Ghostly Gert's Tucson Patio Party". This collage is what I like to call "story art". Most of my larger than ACEO size collages are story art. Here's Ghostly Gert's story:

This is poor ol' Ghostly Gert, revisiting the most exciting yet tragic day of her "life". Oh the happenings on that lovely desert patio. It goes like this: August 13, 1910, a sweltering hot day in Tucson, Arizona. It was Gert's 11th birthday and she was having a big party. Hundreds of friends and family members were swarming in. The food was delicious and the cake, oh the cake. It was 4 layers high. It was such an extravagent party. Everyone was laughing and dancing. Gert and the other children were playing games. Hopscotch, Tag, Croquet. Then, before anyone could do anything to stop it, tragedy struck...

Now, you get to fill in the blank. The end of the story belongs to you.



The second print that I listed this morning is an ACEO entitled: "Song Series: Inspired by Stairway To Heaven". This one is for all of you Led Zeppelin fans out there!!



Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Until Tomorrow:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
gnarly-dolls

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Good Afternoon All:

Time has flown today as it's after 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It's been one of those calm and glorious days when nothing too exciting happens. My house is quiet right now, except for the chop chop chopping of my daughter Ava preparing vegetables for the grill basket. Gary and my oldest son, Garrison, are out practicing driving for his behind the wheel test tomorrow. My other son, Brayden is lurking about somewhere. Most likely, he is sitting on the living room couch engrossed in "The Lord Of The Rings", as he has been each day this week.

We're having a bar-b-que this evening and have no plans to do anything more than that!

The most uneventful days can often be where I find myself most at peace. The quietness allows me to hear the sounds that sometimes get lost in busy-ness. It may be my kids footsteps plodding down the hall or the cat using his scratching post to it's full potential. It doesn't matter so much what I hear, but the simple fact that I hear what sometimes goes unnoticed and unheard. At this very moment, my house is echoing with the sound of hungry goldfinches flocking about the back yard feeders. Sitting next to me is my Praying Mantis habitat with hundreds of freshly hatched and voraciously hungry insects. I can hear them jumping and tapping all about inside their netted home.


Somewhere in a distant room is a television tuned to The Food Network. Likely, my daughter is watching TV while she's preparing for the bar-b-que.

The comforts of home rely so much on all of my senses. Hearing my home is something that I have learned to appreciate. Being aware of the sounds is just as heart-warming as the sights and smells. Although I must admit, the smells that gently tickle your nose when Ava is making a special desert can often place your focus on the smells of home.


Several night ago, Ava made her first attempt at baking with yeast. She made homemade Cinnamon Rolls. They were heavenly. They rose perfectly and had a wonderfully subtle glaze on top.


So, home can be the ultimate comfort, touching all of your senses, sometimes all at once. Whether it's the tapping of Mantis, or the sweet smell of homemade Cinnamon Rolls, the simple gifts that home offers can be the best and most worthy gifts in a lifetime.

Until Tomorrow:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
gnarly-dolls

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