Cutting & Pasting

Today I felt like I was back in the Primary Grades of elementary school.  I got to cut and paste until my heart was content.  The task at hand was to make a "dummy book" of the picture book I have written, something that children's author Ann Whitford Paul recommends to all writers.

I separated my story, "I'm Just a Home Child", into 14 scenes.  Then I printed out the text of my picture book (2000 words). I took 16 sheets of computer paper, three hole punched them and stuck them in a duotang.  I numbered each page. Then I cutted and pasted each scene on to the pages of the duotang, leaving space for illustrations.  I added an Epilogue to explain what happened to the main character, my great-grandma, as an adult.  I added a Facts Sheet about the British Home Children along with my great-grandma's butter tart recipe.  Next, I used clip art to make illustrations for my book since I'm not an artist (the real illustrations will be done by a hand selected illustrator picked by the publisher).  I added some copies of photographs of my great-grandma to give the book more authencity and to give it a scrapbook effect. 

Then I gave it to my daughter Jacqueline, my guinea pig, to read.  She read it quite quickly and said that she liked it (of course, she's my daughter!).  The dummy book is not to give to a publisher, but rather a way for the author to envision what the actual book will look like.  It does make me feel like I'm a step closer to publication, though.  What's the next step?  Writing a query letter to the editor of a publishing company.  Wish me luck!

Resource:  Writing Picture Books:  A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication (Ann Whitford Paul).

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Washington DC

My son Thomas headed to Washington DC early this morning with our church's Youth Group on a week long mission trip.  I pray that they have a safe and successful trip!  Here are ten things you may not know about the American capital.

1.  Washington, District of Columbia is named after George Washington and Christopher Columbus.

2.  The city's population sat at 601,723 as of 2010.

3.  Washington DC is composed of the following groups:
  
     Black 50.7%
     White 38.5%
     Hispanic 9.1%
     Asian 3.5%
     Native Hawaiian 1%
     Native Indian 0.3%

4.  The city has 610 Protestant Churches and 132 Roman Catholic Churches.  Thomas and the other Youth Group members will be staying at a church in Fairfax, Virginia just outside of the capital.

5.  Washington DC accumulates 39 inches of rain per year.

6.  The Library of Congress contains 565 miles of bookshelves.  Its reference library alone contains 45,000 books.

7.  The White House was originally called the "President's Palace" or "President's House".  However, a Baltimore reporter referred to it as the White House and Teddy Roosevelt made it official in 1901.

8.  George Washington never actually lived in the White House as it was being built when he was President.

9.  The National Art Gallery contains the only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere, called Ginevra de Benci.

10.  Washington DC has no skyskrapers.  Some say this is because no building was supposed to be taller than the Capitol.  However, in reality it was due to the fire department's equipment not being sufficient to fight a blaze in a building higher than 110 feet.  However, a Cairo apartment building is 165 feet high since it was built before the regulations were put in place.  The Washington Monument is by far the highest structure standing 555 1/8 feet high.

Photo of the Washington Monument courtesy http://1.bp.blogspot.com.

"Frites" for Sale on the Paris Streets

Happy National French Fries Day, Americans!  Here are some facts about French Fries that you may not know.

1.  The Spanish forces, stationed in Columbia, South America in the 1500's, acquired their first potatoes and introduced them to the European continent.

2.  A French famine in 1785 led to wide-spread growth of potatoes and the popularity of the vegetable amongst "les pauvres".  Later either a Frenchman or a Belgian started preparing potatoes in long "tubes" and deep frying them in oil.  Sold on the streets of Paris, these "frites" became very popular.

3.  Thomas Jefferson ordered "potatoes served in the french manner" for an 1802 dinner party.

4.  Belgians eat more French Fries than any other Europeans.

5.  Europeans eat their French Fries with a fork while Americans consume them with their fingers.

6.  Once reviled and eaten only by the "masses" in Europe, now French Fries are consumed worldwide.  Eleven million tons were made in factories in 2005.

7.  French Fries contain more vitamins if the skin is left on.

8.  Americans eat 2 tons of French Fries per year (16 pounds per person).

9.  McDonald's sells more than 1/3 of the French Fries sold in U.S. restaurants.

10.  To burn off the calories of a medium serving of McDonald's fries, you must do either:
      
       -58 minutes of cycling
       -90 minutes of bowling
       -47 minutes of high intensity aerobics

11.  North Americans like French Fries served with ketchup, vinegar or salt.  However, some Europeans like their fries with mayonnaise.

12.  Canada's Quebecois make a dish called "poutine" which is French Fries served with cheese curds and gravy.

Sources:  www.simplyfrenchfries.com
                www.todayifoundoutabout.com

Photo crinkle-cut French Fries courtesy CanStock.

Happy Birthday, Jacqueline!

It was 9 years ago today that I was pregnant and woke up early in the morning with what felt like a little tug in my back, but it was so slight that I turned over and went back to sleep.  When I fully woke up once the sun rose, I discovered I had spotted slightly.  Still two or three weeks shy of my due date, I asked Rob to take me to the hospital just in case, given that my pregnancy was considered a high risk one.  We left Thomas with our niece Amanda and headed to Hamilton.  At McMaster, they hooked me up to a monitor and listened to my baby's heartbeat.  Three hours later, they told me that I had just had a false alarm and was free to go home.  I asked them if I could still go out of town the next day for the Tufts Family Picnic and they said yes.  Back in Brantford, I packed for the trip and then laid down for a couple of hours, hoping that would do the trick.  However, when I woke up at supper time, my water broke.  Back to the hospital we went for a second time (luckily Amanda was still at home to babysit Thomas).  This time, I had labour pains on the way to the hospital.  Sure enough, the doctor said that the baby was on its way.  I arrived at 8 pm, they prepped me for a C-section by 9 pm and Jacqueline Lee was born at 9:41 pm.  She weighed 6 pounds and 1 ounce and was 17 inches long.  She had tufts of black hair and dark blue eyes.  Her fingers were long as were her eye lashes.  I remember how holding a baby girl felt different than holding a baby boy even though they both had the same needs.  Baby Jonasson was the loudest baby in the nursery:  the nurses kept bringing her to me saying that she was hungry and I would say:  "I just fed her half an hour ago."  I remember feeling such relief that she had arrived safe and sound.  I also remember feeling so fatigued; I would fall asleep with Jacqueline on my chest after I fed her.  I remember feeling envious of my roommates, both of whom got a good night's sleep because their babies were being cared for fulltine by the nurses in the ICU (a crazy thought since I should have been happy that my baby didn't have to go to ICU).  I remember Rob making a trip to the gift shop downstairs to purchase Jacqueline's first of many stuffies, a pink Teddy bear.  I remember Jacqueline's first photograph, taken with her eyes closed and her arms in a hula dancer pose.  I remember Thomas arriving wearing his t-shirt that announced "I'm the big brother" and holding his baby sister in his arms with a proud and yet impish grin on his face.  I remember it all like it was yesterday.  And yet our "baby" is nine years old today.  Thank you, Jacqueline, for being our daughter.  We love you!  Happy Birthday!

Baby girl photo courtesy www.littlies.co.nz.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Rob!

It was 20 years ago today that I sat in my sister's Stoney Creek bungalow putting on my white satin wedding dress.  It was 20 years ago today that I climbed into a long white limousine with five other girls and a little girl wearing a miniature version of my dress, a bouquet of flowers in her hands.  It was 20 years ago today that we pulled up at Olivet United Church and climbed out of that limou one at a time as Mr. Lopez took our photo.  It was 20 years ago today that Rob waited anxiously for me at the altar while my wedding party assembled in the parlour.  It was 20 years ago today that my bridesmaids and I walked down the isle one by one (although our 3 year old flower girl, Amanda, ran).  It was 20 years ago today that Rob and I recited our vows, which we had memorized:  "I, Linda, take you Robert to be my husband, to have and hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, to love and to cherish, and to be faithful to you alone, as long as we both shall live." (I still remember them.) 

The funny thing is that I didn't get nervous about reciting my vows, but I did get nervous when I had to take my elbow length gloves off so Rob could put the ring on my finger!  Rob got nervous when he mistakenly blew out the candle we had just lit; he managed to get it relit, though.  Tears welled up in our eyes when my bridesmaid Michelle sang the Bette Midler song "Give Me the Gift of Love".  Memories of our courting year in Windsor came flooding back to us. 

"I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jonasson" announced the minister.  We floated down the aisle; it felt so right.  In the archway of Olivet, Mr. Lopez snapped our photo.  We hopped into the limousine and he took another shot of us poking our heads out of the sunroof. 

Our chauffeur drove us across the Hamilton Mountain to Dundas, cars honking behind us as we went.  Up the escarpment we went and at about the three quarter way mark we pulled into a long lane with the sign "Dundas Golf & Curling Club".  We posed for pictures on the golf course, the wind slightly blowing our hair (although I had a whole can of hairspray on mine), the sun beaming down on us.  Little Amanda chased a golf ball around the green.  Mr. Lopez shouted "LEENDA" over and over again trying to get my attention.  After what seemed like the 1000th photo, we were dismissed.  Freedom! 

My sister in law Ingrid took Amanda for some much needed refreshments:  they "butted" everyone in line and got a large glass of orange juice which my niece downed in one gulp.  We stood in a receiving line and greeted our guests.

Then we sat down at the head table, with a wall of windows in the background, the greens visible through the windows.  We dined on salad, soup, chicken cordon bleu, potatoes, vegetables and chocolate mousse for dessert.  We listened to some heartfelt speeches.  We cut the three-tiered chocolate and vanilla cake with the Precious Moments bride and groom on top, although we didn't get a chance to eat any of it (thankfully the top layer was left over and we froze it until our one month anniversary when we indulged). 

And then we danced the night away!  Even my Dad, who only likes jazz music, waltzed around the room to the strains of Journey's "Faithfully".  Later, I think he was caught in a train.  Much later, Rob's best man, Bill Arnold, danced with me a la Dancing with the Stars (just without the star).  He was ahead of his time. 

The two families, the Tufts and the Jonasson's, mixed beautifully.  Everyone had a good time.  If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.  Thank you, Rob, for 20 great years!!! 

Precious Moments Bride & Groom courtesy www.aboutfigurines.com.

London's Long Queues

V-E Day (May 8, 1945) in London, England courtesy http://farm3static.flickr.com.

Anthropologist Tom Harrison returned from the South Pacific after observing the habits of cannibals there and discovered that people were just as interesting in his native country of Britain.  So  he organized a Mass Observation Project which included 1000 participants who wrote 1 million pages over the space of two and a half decades. 

Author Simon Garfield studied the Mass Observation diaries and zeroed in on the postwar period.  The result is the book Hidden Lives:  The Everyday Diaries of a Forgotten Britain 1945-1948.  We have all heard about how vicious the London Blitz was.  And we have all heard about V-E Day where Londoners danced in the street to celebrate the end of the Second World War.  However, the victorious British did not feel like the victors in the postwar years.  The country went out of the frying pan into the fire:  unemployment skyrocketed; food rationing remained in effect; long queues formed to buy basic items; German POWS walked the streets looking for work; the threat of a third world war loomed; and air pollutioin was worse than ever, especially due to coal furnaces. 

This is the world that the following five real-life characters inhabit:  B. Charles, a snobbish, anti-Semitic antiques dealer; Maggie Joy Blunt, a 30-something freelance writer; George Taylor, a prim and proper accountant; Herbert Brush, a retired electrical engineer who creosotes his garden; and Edie Rutherford, a housewife.  These Britons write about everything from the Nuremburg Trials to the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten to the assassination of Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi.  On the other hand, they discuss such mundane issues as treating a nasty boil or lining up to buy tripe or redecorating a living room. 

It is a fascinating book about a neglected period in Britain's history.  If you would like to learn more about the Mass Observation Project, visit www.massobs.org.uk.

Photo of London's long queues circa 1945 courtesy http://downloads.bbc.co.uk.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

In honour of National Sugar Cookie Day, I thought I'd post this recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. 

Photo courtesy www.cookiepots.com.