Bridget Zinn Auction

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Poetry Friday: “The Coming of Light”

I discovered this wonderful poem about light.  So looking forward to December 22 when the days start becoming longer.

The Coming of Light

  
by Mark Strand
  
Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light. 
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves, 
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows, 
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine 
and tomorrow's dust flares into breath.

Poetry Friday is at The Miss Rumphius Effect.  Thank you, Tricia.

Final call for the Season of Love and Hope Auction for my friend, Bridget Zinn.  The auction ends on Saturday, 10 PM CST.  Our hope is to raise $10,000 for Bridget’s medical costs.

Happy Reading.

MsMac

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Bridget Zinn Auction: Season of Love and Hope

The auction to help Bridget Zinn YA librarian and author (book to be out in 2012) extraordinaire is up and running. 

There’s been a generous outpouring from people with auction offerings like:This 13″ x 19″ canvas art print is a reproduction of the mixed-media painting Jim DiBartolo did for Laini’s novel LIPS TOUCH. The publisher ultimately chose a different approach for the final cover, but both Laini and Jim  really like what’s conveyed in this piece as well.
A signed copy of the novel will be included.

             A signed copy of It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder.

BRIDGET COUNTS and so do TREES!
Highest bidder wins an autographed copy of THIS TREE COUNTS! and 10 trees will be planted in your name. Not only that, 10 trees will be planted in Bridget’s name, too, through American Forests.org.
Help Bridget Kick Cancer and plant 20 trees!

            The auction  will conclude at 7:00pm Pacific / 9:00pm Central on Saturday, December 4th.

  • To bid on items, visit the auction site at http://bit.ly/bridgetauction and follow the instructions for bidding.
  • The action ID is: bridgetkicks 
  • The password is: cancer
  • Winners will be notified by Sunday, December 5th, and will be sent instructions for payment at that time.
  • As soon as payment is received, donors will ship or otherwise provide the item won to the winning bidder. 
    If anyone has questions or needs assistance, they can email bridgetkickscancer@gmail.com.

Bid often and have fun.

MsMac

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Poetry Friday: little tree

One of  my all time favorite poems of the season is the following:

little tree

by E. E. Cummings

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

 

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see          i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

 

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

 

look          the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,
Read the rest here.
My tree tradition  as a child was that the Christmas tree did not go up until my brother and I were asleep on Christmas Eve.  We would then wak Christmas morning to a magical sight: a decorated tree and the presents that Santa had left us. (Because we were always good.)
In sixth grade that ended.  It was the cost of trees in California and the hatching fly tree that led to the artificial tree.  I was devastated.
What tree memeories do you have?
BTW. only a few hours remain for the Bridget and Barrett auction.  I posted here about it. 
Can be found here: http://32auctions.com/
Auction ID: bridget
Password: rules
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Who’s Reading What Wednesday

There is good book news abounding on the Kidlit Front.  Just got work this morning that Bridget Zinn’s manuscript, Poison, sold at the book auction.  It is scheduled for a 2012 release and a sequel the following year.  Way to go Bridget!  BTW, a new auction to raise money for her and Barrett begins after Thanksgiving.  You can read about it here.

Meanwhile, Laini, Jim and sweet Clementine Pie are soaking up life in th Big Apple while they await tonight’s big event, the National Book Award dinner.  Their book, Lips Touch Three Times is one of the 5 nominees.  Such a delicious read! It would just cap off a really fabulous year for them and they so deserve it! So “mwah, mwah, mwah”  three kisses to them for luck!

I am up to my eyeballs in CYBILS Nonfiction Picture Book nominations.  Yesterday a fourth grade and a fifth grade class read several the nominations to provide feedback for me.  What was interesting was watching which books caused students to be totally engaged and which books not so much.   Of course Life-Size Zoo was a big hit and so was Where Else in the Wild.

I read the Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History! out loud to a third grade class. Happy to see the level of engagement with both boys and girls.  Third graders grasp the concept of fairness and wow, they could not believe that Annette Kellerman was arrested!  It was a very fun read aloud. 

My book club chose Oxygen by Carol Cassella.  It is a page turner about the medical field.  Cassella is a doctor in the field of anesthesia. Had to put the book down the other night as I would have stayed up all night long to read.

What are you reading?

Happy Reading.

MsMac

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New Online Auction About to Begin for Bridget Zinn

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Bridget and Barrett at the  “5th Friday” October Kidlit Drink Night

So the holidays are coming.  Is there any better way to get gifts and help someone out?  Another on-lin silent auction for Bridget and Barrett will be held starting the end of November.  Bridget’s friend Cailin is organizing this one. You should contact her at cailin.oconnor@gmail.com if you are interested in donating an auction item.  I am donating a handcrafted necklace and earrings combo and a set of my Oregon Coast cards.  Will blog later in the week about them.

In a recent email, Cailin offered this information:

Artists, authors, business owners… please consider donating an item or service to sell in an auction to benefit Bridget Zinn and Barrett Dowell. Bridget is a 32-year-old writer and librarian who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in March. She and Barrett, who have been together since they were teenagers, were married in the hospital just minutes before she went into surgery to remove a large tumor on her colon. She is now undergoing expensive treatment to shrink – and we hope obliterate – additional tumors. The treatment seems to be working, but much of it is not covered by her health insurance. Bridget & Barrett’s friends and family are rallying to help them pay the bills so that they can focus on Bridget’s health. You can learn more about Bridget at her blog, www.bridgetzinn.com/blog.    Between Friday, November 27 and Friday, December 11, we (a group of Bridget’s friends) will hold an online silent auction on the website www.32auctions.com, with all proceeds going to Bridget and Barrett to help with their expenses.
 
Here’s what it means to donate an item or service to the auction:
– You are donating the item to this auction, all proceeds of which will be given to Bridget Zinn. This is not a tax-deductible donation.
– You must provide an item title, description of up to 400 words, and starting bid for the online auction. You may also choose to provide a subtitle, fair market value, reserve price (amount that must be reached in bidding for the item to be sold), up to two photos/images, and website address for further information about you or about the item. All of this should be emailed to cailin.oconnor@gmail.com no later than November 25.)
– You may choose how you want to get the item to the winning bidder: (1) Keep the item until the auction ends, and mail it to the winning bidder (or contact the winner to arrange pick-up/delivery if feasible). We will contact you with the winner’s contact information when payment has been received, and ask that you put the item in the mail to the winning bidder within 3 business days. (2) Give your donated item to one of the auction organizers, who will get it to the winning bidder. This is a good option if you will not be available in the middle of December when the auction ends. If you are giving your item to an auction organizer, please indicate that (and who) when you send in your item description.