Five Things on a Friday
Nov. 27th, 2009 | 08:53 am
mood: 
full
posted by: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
cynthialord
1. Thanksgiving was wonderful. There's nothing like looking around the table and seeing every seat full. I loved it.
2. The Scottish Terrier won the dog show!
3. I spent Wednesday morning researching chipmunks. It's amazing what weird details come up at the end of a novel.
Jan, the head of "Island Readers and Writers," asked me to be their author next year for TOUCH BLUE. I really wanted to say yes, but since one of the participating islands in the program is the one that once made the choice to take in foster children to save their school, I wasn't sure how they might feel about that. So I told Jan I needed her to read TOUCH BLUE before we went any further.
Jan told me Wednesday night that she thought I had written "another winner" and wanted to go forward. Then she said, "But did you know there are no chipmunks on Maine islands?"
Apparently, this year's author/artist drew a chipmunk in his picture book set on an island in Maine and heard about that detail at every stop on his island tour. :-)
The father in TOUCH BLUE makes a joke that includes the word "chipmunks," so I spent hours looking for evidence of chipmunks in various places around my setting.
Technically, I don't need to change anything because the cove mentioned in the joke isn't a real place (and so it could even be part of the mainland), but since I'll probably be visiting a string of islands where this exact issue came up last year. . .I'm going to ask in the next stage of production if we can shift my imagined cove to a bridged island where I found a photo of a real one.
4. Hanukkah starts the 12th of December. Yikes. That's not far away.
5. I'm not going shopping today, but my daughter and I went yesterday in the late afternoon. LL Bean is only a few minutes away from me and they're open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. If you've never been, it's a fun store.
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Poetry Friday - An Original Poem
Nov. 27th, 2009 | 01:03 am
posted by: susanwrites
I had hoped to have a new poem up today but I didn't quite finish it. So I went looking through my archive for something to share and came across some poems that were cut from my book Hugging the Rock. If you've read the book you may remember a pivotal time for Rachel, the main character, when she goes grocery shopping with her dad. In an early version of the book I had this poem of Rachel shopping with her mom to show the differences. But in the end it was too much of a flashback and didn't add anything new to the story.
GROCERY SHOPPING WITH MOM
At the grocery store
mom stops to talk to everyone.
She scoops up new babies
sings them lullabies
nuzzles their peach fuzz heads.
In the produce aisle she spouts advice
races off to give her coupons to the old man in the wheelchair
then slips a quarter into the rocket ship
for a skinny kid in a baseball cap.
She tosses boxes of cereal
into the cart
then dances away
chasing a guy blowing a harmonica.
I put four boxes back on the shelf
and trail after her.
In the pet food aisle
mom talks fast
her hands pointing everywhere
and nowhere
until the guy smiles
cups the harmonica
close to his mouth
and plays a sweet tune.
The guy tucks a bag of dog food
under one arm
and they both walk off
still talking.
My mom marches beside him
right through the checkout stand
and out the door
and never once looks back at me.
I wait over an hour
watching the ice cream melt
and drip onto the loaf of bread
and a jar of pickles
wondering what is
in me
that makes me
so invisible
to her.
--- Susan Taylor Brown
All Rights Reserved
The round-up is at Becky's Book Reviews today.
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Outlining as a revision tool
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 09:47 pm
posted by: writerjenn
I'm doing an outline of my current project. I just finished the second draft, and it's now time for me to corral the free, wandering, rambling manuscript. To look at the plot threads and pacing, to watch where each character appears. This is a macro edit. Once the scenes and the plot threads are all in the right place, I can return to micro-editing, the scene-by-scene and line-by-line wordsmithing. Right now, it's all about the big picture.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 09:46 pm
mood: 
cheerful
posted by: patty1943
Things I'm grateful for:
Bob. He lived through Vietnam! He loves me even though I'm old. He keeps me laughing. He's always thinking and inventing...
Jack. My favorite and only son, who is a little lost, but keeping on keeping on.
Jack. My favorite and only grandson, who keeps me laughing.
Maggie, my dog, who is smart and loves cats even when they are bopping her.
Missy, Spike, Red and Itty, the cats who love to bop Maggie.
My house, which is big and almost clean...
The Dorkmobile.
The woods, here and in Maine.
Camp.
Books.
A computer to write on.
A Journal to write in.
Friends. (You know who you are!)
My health. I am not dying of an atypical heart attack. I have shingles, and between famcyclovir and prednisone and ibuprofen, I feel GREAT! Thank god I had the shingles vaccine last year or it would be much worse.
My 12 step programs.
Life itself.
Bob. He lived through Vietnam! He loves me even though I'm old. He keeps me laughing. He's always thinking and inventing...
Jack. My favorite and only son, who is a little lost, but keeping on keeping on.
Jack. My favorite and only grandson, who keeps me laughing.
Maggie, my dog, who is smart and loves cats even when they are bopping her.
Missy, Spike, Red and Itty, the cats who love to bop Maggie.
My house, which is big and almost clean...
The Dorkmobile.
The woods, here and in Maine.
Camp.
Books.
A computer to write on.
A Journal to write in.
Friends. (You know who you are!)
My health. I am not dying of an atypical heart attack. I have shingles, and between famcyclovir and prednisone and ibuprofen, I feel GREAT! Thank god I had the shingles vaccine last year or it would be much worse.
My 12 step programs.
Life itself.
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(No subject)
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 10:10 am
posted by: kwerg
Most of my painting is plein air...anyone else into that?
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Giving Thanks
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 09:06 am
posted by: susanwrites
I am thankful for a great many things today - family, friends, health, ability to be home writing - but I wanted to speak specifically to a single recent experience.
Earlier this week I went on a retreat with a few writer friends and a few writer/artists strangers who are now friends. We gathered at the beach mostly with solitary intentions and yet, it seemed, the magic of where we were and the creative energy of those gathered had other ideas.
We came with no agenda, no speakers, nothing that absolutely had to be done.
Groups of two and three started to form. Individual work turned into freeform group writing fun. Books and art were shared. Gifts were acknowledged, praised. We were validated as professional creatives. Meals stretched for several hours as we lingered over coffee and tea. We sat by the fire and talked long into the night. We laughed (and some of us cried) and took a great many pictures.
Our backgrounds, our journeys to be writers, were of course very different.
Our passion however, was very much the same.
I am so grateful for the time spent with these fabulous and talented women. You have to understand that it isn't because someone took me aside and said a particular thing to me. It isn't because of anything we saw or ate or did. I think it might be because of what they didn't do.
They didn't say "do this." They didn't say "don't do that." They just listened. And accepted.
It rocked my world from the inside out.
Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. Thank you for all the times you read my blog. May your bellies and hearts be full of everything you need.
Earlier this week I went on a retreat with a few writer friends and a few writer/artists strangers who are now friends. We gathered at the beach mostly with solitary intentions and yet, it seemed, the magic of where we were and the creative energy of those gathered had other ideas.
We came with no agenda, no speakers, nothing that absolutely had to be done.
Groups of two and three started to form. Individual work turned into freeform group writing fun. Books and art were shared. Gifts were acknowledged, praised. We were validated as professional creatives. Meals stretched for several hours as we lingered over coffee and tea. We sat by the fire and talked long into the night. We laughed (and some of us cried) and took a great many pictures.
Our backgrounds, our journeys to be writers, were of course very different.
Our passion however, was very much the same.
I am so grateful for the time spent with these fabulous and talented women. You have to understand that it isn't because someone took me aside and said a particular thing to me. It isn't because of anything we saw or ate or did. I think it might be because of what they didn't do.
They didn't say "do this." They didn't say "don't do that." They just listened. And accepted.
It rocked my world from the inside out.
Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. Thank you for all the times you read my blog. May your bellies and hearts be full of everything you need.
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Happy Thanksgiving
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 10:02 am
mood: 
thankful
posted by: writerjenn
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On hard work
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 08:19 am
posted by: annemariepace
When I was in high school and a freshman in college, I dated a nice guy named Mark. We went to prom together and broke up soon after I got to William and Mary. (Ah, the short-lived devastation of breaking up with your hometown honey--I think everyone I knew broke up with theirs by Christmas).
Mark, like me, was into theater in high school. We both thought we'd teach high school someday--him, drama; me, English. I did end up teaching English. He didn't become a drama teacher. He came to William and Mary, too (not because of me), and continued doing theater (which I didn't). Somewhere along the line (and I don't know when because although we were friendly, we weren't really close friends anymore), he decided to pursue theater as a career.
We were out of touch for twenty years. I'd occasionally google him, the same way I'd google other old friends, and see that he was in a show here or a show there and worked with Actors' Equity. Then around two years ago we reconnected on Facebook and played the occasional game of Scrabulous before Scrabulous went belly-up.
This past spring, I learned from his Facebook Wall that he was in a Kennedy Center production of RAGTIME. I thought that was pretty cool.
Well, that production did so well that they decided to bring it to Broadway this fall. So at the fabulous age of, well, let's just say, not quite as middle-aged as I am, since he's a year younger, Mark is on Broadway, in RAGTIME.
And today, the cast of RAGTIME performed in the CBS Thanksgiving Day special, which includes part of the Macy's parade as well as some bonus performances like one from the cast of RAGTIME. They performed in Battery Park across from the Statue of Liberty, which was a fabulous location for it.
Mark's on Broadway now because he worked his butt off, learned his craft, and stuck with it for years and years. And I think it is AWESOME.
I don't know if there's a lesson there for you, but there's a lesson there for me.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Mark, like me, was into theater in high school. We both thought we'd teach high school someday--him, drama; me, English. I did end up teaching English. He didn't become a drama teacher. He came to William and Mary, too (not because of me), and continued doing theater (which I didn't). Somewhere along the line (and I don't know when because although we were friendly, we weren't really close friends anymore), he decided to pursue theater as a career.
We were out of touch for twenty years. I'd occasionally google him, the same way I'd google other old friends, and see that he was in a show here or a show there and worked with Actors' Equity. Then around two years ago we reconnected on Facebook and played the occasional game of Scrabulous before Scrabulous went belly-up.
This past spring, I learned from his Facebook Wall that he was in a Kennedy Center production of RAGTIME. I thought that was pretty cool.
Well, that production did so well that they decided to bring it to Broadway this fall. So at the fabulous age of, well, let's just say, not quite as middle-aged as I am, since he's a year younger, Mark is on Broadway, in RAGTIME.
And today, the cast of RAGTIME performed in the CBS Thanksgiving Day special, which includes part of the Macy's parade as well as some bonus performances like one from the cast of RAGTIME. They performed in Battery Park across from the Statue of Liberty, which was a fabulous location for it.
Mark's on Broadway now because he worked his butt off, learned his craft, and stuck with it for years and years. And I think it is AWESOME.
I don't know if there's a lesson there for you, but there's a lesson there for me.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 06:38 am
mood: 
thankful
posted by: cynthialord
Here are a few Thanksgiving treats for you:
First Thanksgiving by Sharon Olds (scroll down--any parent of a child in college can relate to this, I think),
With All the Trimmings by Garrison Keiller (just because I love him),
and finally, Turkey Tic Tac Toe, a game to keep the kids busy during the waiting times.
The pies are baked, the turkey is cooking, the oven racks were remembered. Life is good. I know many people look forward to football or the parade, but for my daughter, Milo, and me, it's all about the dog show! I've never had a dog who likes TV as much as Milo does.
Mom, the toy breeds are next!
OUR winner.
I hope you all have a wonderful day.
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SCONES AND SENSIBILITY
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 11:04 pm
mood: 
excited
posted by: jmprince
I can't believe it's almost time for the December 22nd release of my critique buddy's debut middlegrade novel, SCONES AND SENSIBILITY! As a HUGE fan of both L.M. Montgomery and Jane Austen, I can tell you that I heart the main character, Polly Madassa, and that you will too!
To celebrate this fantabulous book's release, author Lindsay Eland is holding a contest that just may allow YOU to get your hands on a copy of your very own! Check it out!
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Dropping in with Andy Mac
Nov. 26th, 2009 | 02:19 am
posted by: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
guyslitwire
Dropping in with Andy Mac: The Life of a Pro Skateboarder
This is one of those books you semi-reluctantly pick up thinking, “This can’t possibly be very interesting.” But it IS interesting. In fact, I find myself continuing to think about it.
I was already a fan of Andy MacDonald, but that didn’t necessarily mean I needed to know his life story. For one thing, he’s younger than me. How much life story can he have?
Plenty, as it turns out.
When you see Andy on TV, he seems like this nice guy who just happens to be able to dial in insane tricks -- so much so that they no longer look insane. The real story is that the tricks took lots of work, getting a chance to work on them took work and that, yes, the tricks are insane and Andy probably is, too:
“I do admit that from the earliest age, I’ve had a fascination with anything that can result in bodily harm…”
As with most books about a world-class athlete, a big chunk of it is about determination. This insane desire to “make it” “against all odds.”
The odds against Andy Mac are an interesting assortment, many specific to the sport of skateboarding. Any kid with a basketball can follow that dream down at the playground. But a kid who wants to be a Skateboard Vert champ is going to need a Vert ramp and back in the day those were hard to come by. I was stunned to find out the lengths MacDonald was willing to go to. (I.e. midnight missions in black clothes and blackened face to steal plywood.)
Even when he hit the big leagues, money was still a problem. Another shocker: he skated conservatively -- aiming at placing, rather than winning -- because he needed the prize money to get to the next competition. He literally couldn’t afford to take big risks.
Risking his life, however, didn’t seem to bother him. The story and picture of his world-record-setting jump from an preposterously dangerous 4-story ramp make me wish someone had stopped him. It was just plain crazy.
The book’s not perfect. One glaring omission is “the letter.” Early in his career, Andy wrote an outrageous letter which leaked out and made him the laughing stock of the skating world. It took him years to overcome it and it’s one of the most interesting things in the book. Except that the letter itself isn’t in the book.
Obviously, I think this book would be a great read for young skateboarders. But I’m not a skateboarder -- nor young -- and I got something out of it, too.
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Time is running out - $1000 book trailer contest!
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 03:45 pm
posted by: susanwrites
Time is running out for teens 13-18 to enter the $1000 book trailer contest! Please help spread the word to teens and teachers and librarians. The deadline for submissions is December 15th.
Please feel free to copy and paste from this post or if you want to link directly to the FreshBrain sign-up page, you can use this tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/rocktrailer
Put together a cast and act it out, create an animation, or use photos with text set to music - it's up to you. Be creative. Have fun. Make people want to read the book.
More details can be found at the Freshbrain.org website: http://tinyurl.com/rocktrailer
SUMMARY OF RULES
- U.S resident only between 13 and 18 years of age (as of the close of the contest)
- 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length and in a standard video format (.wmv, .mov, .avi, .mp4)
- Your own creation, NO copyrighted material
- Include a brief description of the process you followed
- Deadline for entries is 12/15/09
JUDGING
Judging will be based on the following criteria. Please see the official rules for more details.
- Creativity (50%)
- Consistency with the book (25%)
- Fit and finish (25%)
AWARDS
- The winner will receive a $1000 scholarship!
Please feel free to copy and paste from this post or if you want to link directly to the FreshBrain sign-up page, you can use this tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/rocktrailer
Download a reproducible flyer to post
in your library, bookstore, classroom. PDF Word
VIDEO BOOK TRAILER SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST
OPEN TO KIDS 13-18
Create a video book trailer for the novel "Hugging the Rock" by Susan Taylor Brown. in your library, bookstore, classroom. PDF Word
VIDEO BOOK TRAILER SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST
OPEN TO KIDS 13-18
Put together a cast and act it out, create an animation, or use photos with text set to music - it's up to you. Be creative. Have fun. Make people want to read the book.
More details can be found at the Freshbrain.org website: http://tinyurl.com/rocktrailer
SUMMARY OF RULES
- U.S resident only between 13 and 18 years of age (as of the close of the contest)
- 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length and in a standard video format (.wmv, .mov, .avi, .mp4)
- Your own creation, NO copyrighted material
- Include a brief description of the process you followed
- Deadline for entries is 12/15/09
JUDGING
Judging will be based on the following criteria. Please see the official rules for more details.
- Creativity (50%)
- Consistency with the book (25%)
- Fit and finish (25%)
AWARDS
- The winner will receive a $1000 scholarship!
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Buy a book, help raise money for young writers contest
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 02:29 pm
posted by: susanwrites
Help the Mt. Diablo branch of California Writers Club raise money for their Young Writers Contest for middle grade students. If you shop at ANY Barnes and Noble Bookstore from Nov. 28 through Dec. 4th and present their voucher (http://tinyurl.com/yf3ypfx) they will receive 10 - 25% of the amount of your purchase to help fund their yearly writing contest for middle grade students.
For the first time this year, you can also use the ID on the voucher to shop online at the Barnes and Noble web site or any other B&N store in the nation.
For the first time this year, you can also use the ID on the voucher to shop online at the Barnes and Noble web site or any other B&N store in the nation.
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Thankful for Books, Kids, and a pumpkin named Gianna Z.
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 06:08 pm
posted by: kmessner
Since I got home from NCTE Saturday night, I've been devouring books. This happens to me when I've just finished a big project (I turned in the final revision for SUGAR ON SNOW after an afternoon of work in a Philly coffee shop!) - I have a sudden need to go on a reading binge before I move on to something else, so that's what I've been doing. I've finished Cynthia Omololu's fast-paced, compelling YA debut, DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, which comes out from Walker in February. Then it was Bonnie Shimko's upcoming MG novel, THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF AMELIA E. RYE, which releases from FSG this spring and has a main character with one of the greatest voices of all time. Really. And finally, Elizabeth Partridge's MARCHING FOR FREEDOM, an amazing narrative nonfiction account of the children and young people involved in the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. All of these books are wonderful in wildly different ways, and I'll be blogging about them all soon in more detail. For now, I'm just thankful to have read them.
I'm also thankful for these kids...
...who joined me for an author presentation at Dodge Memorial Library in Rouses Point, NY on their day off today. One boy, who was already waiting on the carpet when I arrived to set up my projector, looked up and asked, "So you write books?" I nodded and handed him copies of my two regional historical novels as well as THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. He started flipping through one of the books, and his eyes got huge. "You wrote ALL THIS?" Sometimes as authors, published or unpublished, we forget what an accomplishment that really is.
And one last thankful moment...that came in my email from a teacher in Kansas. Her school library did a great project where kids got to create pumpkins that looked like their favorite book characters. Guess who this is:
Yep...it's my main character from THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. See the resemblance?
I love the way this reader/pumpkin artist captured Gianna's crazy red curls and her creative spirit, and mostly, I'm honored that she connected with the character enough to turn her into a pumpkin. Moments like this, so wonderfully quirky and unexpected, have been the very best part of this book journey. Much to be thankful for, indeed.
I hope your Thanksgiving is full of wonderful people, good food, and great books!
I'm also thankful for these kids...
...who joined me for an author presentation at Dodge Memorial Library in Rouses Point, NY on their day off today. One boy, who was already waiting on the carpet when I arrived to set up my projector, looked up and asked, "So you write books?" I nodded and handed him copies of my two regional historical novels as well as THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. He started flipping through one of the books, and his eyes got huge. "You wrote ALL THIS?" Sometimes as authors, published or unpublished, we forget what an accomplishment that really is.
And one last thankful moment...that came in my email from a teacher in Kansas. Her school library did a great project where kids got to create pumpkins that looked like their favorite book characters. Guess who this is:
Yep...it's my main character from THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. See the resemblance?
I love the way this reader/pumpkin artist captured Gianna's crazy red curls and her creative spirit, and mostly, I'm honored that she connected with the character enough to turn her into a pumpkin. Moments like this, so wonderfully quirky and unexpected, have been the very best part of this book journey. Much to be thankful for, indeed.
I hope your Thanksgiving is full of wonderful people, good food, and great books!
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LiveJournal Major Notes: Security, Mobile, Facebook, Writer's Block, and Notes
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 02:07 pm
posted by: theljstaff in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/newsinfo.gif)
news
Tweaks and enhancements
- In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
- We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
- We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
- You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock." - Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.
Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!
Photos of the week
We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.
Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!
( Read more... )
Curtains
Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!
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Thankful Thanksgiving
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 04:12 pm
posted by: kathyerskine
Things I'm thankful for . . . .
We have no job but we have a home.
I lost a mother but I found our two children.
Our country's not perfect but I believe we're on the road to recovery.
I have a sister who's like a friend, and many friends who are like sisters.
Love you all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
We have no job but we have a home.
I lost a mother but I found our two children.
Our country's not perfect but I believe we're on the road to recovery.
I have a sister who's like a friend, and many friends who are like sisters.
Love you all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
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It's Element-ary, Part Deuterium
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 02:57 pm
posted by: jjhoutman
Ah, the elements of the periodic table. What a lovely array! Let's recite them together, shall we?
What? You don't know the elements? Perhaps you need a tutor.
You could turn to Tom Lehrer.
Or his Hungarian counterpart:
Or perhaps They Might Be Giants can help you out:
Then there's this catchy little ditty:
Or something a little more up-to-date:
Think it can't be done? See what nine-year-old Dace has to say about that:
There will be a test on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving.
What? You don't know the elements? Perhaps you need a tutor.
You could turn to Tom Lehrer.
Or his Hungarian counterpart:
Or perhaps They Might Be Giants can help you out:
Then there's this catchy little ditty:
Or something a little more up-to-date:
Think it can't be done? See what nine-year-old Dace has to say about that:
There will be a test on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving.
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How horse crap almost destroyed the world
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 03:39 pm
posted by: gneri
Every once and awhile you hear of something you had never heard before. And your mind is blown. This is one such moment:
Hosed
Is there a quick fix for the climate?
by Elizabeth Kolbert November 16, 2009
In the eighteen-sixties, the quickest, or at least the most popular, way to get around New York was in a horse-drawn streetcar. The horsecars, which operated on iron rails, offered a smoother ride than the horse-drawn omnibuses they replaced. (The Herald described the experience of travelling by omnibus as a form of “modern martyrdom.”) New Yorkers made some thirty-five million horsecar trips a year at the start of the decade. By 1870, that figure had tripled.
The standard horsecar, which seated twenty, was drawn by a pair of roans and ran sixteen hours a day. Each horse could work only a four-hour shift, so operating a single car required at least eight animals. Additional horses were needed if the route ran up a grade, or if the weather was hot. Horses were also employed to transport goods; as the amount of freight arriving at the city’s railroad terminals increased, so, too, did the number of horses needed to distribute it along local streets. By 1880, there were at least a hundred and fifty thousand horses living in New York, and probably a great many more. Each one relieved itself of, on average, twenty-two pounds of manure a day, meaning that the city’s production of horse droppings ran to at least forty-five thousand tons a month. George Waring, Jr., who served as the city’s Street Cleaning Commissioner, described Manhattan as stinking “with the emanations of putrefying organic matter.” Another observer wrote that the streets were “literally carpeted with a warm, brown matting . . . smelling to heaven.” In the early part of the century, farmers in the surrounding counties had been happy to pay for the city’s manure, which could be converted into rich fertilizer, but by the later part the market was so glutted that stable owners had to pay to have the stuff removed, with the result that it often accumulated in vacant lots, providing breeding grounds for flies.The problem just kept piling up until, in the eighteen-nineties, it seemed virtually insurmountable. One commentator predicted that by 1930 horse manure would reach the level of Manhattan’s third-story windows. New York’s troubles were not New York’s alone; in 1894, the Times of London forecast that by the middle of the following century every street in the city would be buried under nine feet of manure. It was understood that flies were a transmission vector for disease, and a public-health crisis seemed imminent. When the world’s first international urban-planning conference was held, in 1898, it was dominated by discussion of the manure situation. Unable to agree upon any solutions—or to imagine cities without horses—the delegates broke up the meeting, which had been scheduled to last a week and a half, after just three days.
Then, almost overnight, the crisis passed. This was not brought about by regulation or by government policy. Instead, it was technological innovation that made the difference. With electrification and the development of the internal-combustion engine, there were new ways to move people and goods around. By 1912, autos in New York outnumbered horses, and in 1917 the city’s last horse-drawn streetcar made its final run. All the anxieties about a metropolis inundated by ordure had been misplaced.
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Three Things.(Including the Final Captivate Contest)
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 02:41 pm
posted by: carriejones
1. Thanks to everyone who commented on my two friends-locked posts. I know I thanked you there, but I want to declare here in a public way that you all are made of awesome sauce. Tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, I am going to think about each of you and be all thankful all over again.
2. J. Kathleen Cheney has an interesting discussion going on at her blog about The Destined Mate (TDM) or The One, which is like Edward and Bella in Twilight basically: the one true love that you are meant for, and how it is used in books.
So I was wondering:
Do you believe in THE ONE?
Do you believe in it in real life?
Do you believe in it in books?
Please let me know because I am currently obsessed with this.
3.
The people at my publisher, Bloomsbury, are really made amazingly kind to me, and even though I STINK at self-promotion, they are still amazingly kind. So.... They asked me to mention that there is a new sneak peek of CAPTIVATE up at the www.needpixies.com site. It is the second sneak peek. SO, PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT AND INCREASE THE WEB TRAFFIC SO THEY CONTINUE TO LOVE ME! Please....
If you do and post a word from the first line of SNEAK PEEK #2 in the comments below you could win one of my three remaining advanced reader copies. You have until Monday. I will draw a winner at random.
2. J. Kathleen Cheney has an interesting discussion going on at her blog about The Destined Mate (TDM) or The One, which is like Edward and Bella in Twilight basically: the one true love that you are meant for, and how it is used in books.
So I was wondering:
Do you believe in THE ONE?
Do you believe in it in real life?
Do you believe in it in books?
Please let me know because I am currently obsessed with this.
3.
The people at my publisher, Bloomsbury, are really made amazingly kind to me, and even though I STINK at self-promotion, they are still amazingly kind. So.... They asked me to mention that there is a new sneak peek of CAPTIVATE up at the www.needpixies.com site. It is the second sneak peek. SO, PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT AND INCREASE THE WEB TRAFFIC SO THEY CONTINUE TO LOVE ME! Please....
If you do and post a word from the first line of SNEAK PEEK #2 in the comments below you could win one of my three remaining advanced reader copies. You have until Monday. I will draw a winner at random.
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Thankful!
Nov. 25th, 2009 | 08:12 am
posted by: lisa_schroeder
So, I saw New Moon on Monday.
Suzanne Young has the recap HERE - pictures included, because Suz was born to be a blogger and takes her camera EVERYWHERE.
I liked the movie. And I continue to be totally amazed by this phenomenon Stephenie Meyer has created. I mean, isn't it amazing?
And really, we should be thanking her because so many teens have been turned on to reading because of her. Many of them go back to the bookstore for more, which is a very good thing.
This Thanksgiving, I'm feeling thankful for family, friends, and for being a YA author. It's a fun, exciting time. So many great authors writing incredible books.
Sometimes I look around and that song from Sesame Street pops into my head that goes - One of these things is not like the other - wondering how I'm here amongst all the greatness.
But I am. And I'm very, VERY thankful for that.
Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving with good food, good family, and GOOD BOOKS! Yay - four whole days to READ!!!!
Suzanne Young has the recap HERE - pictures included, because Suz was born to be a blogger and takes her camera EVERYWHERE.
I liked the movie. And I continue to be totally amazed by this phenomenon Stephenie Meyer has created. I mean, isn't it amazing?
And really, we should be thanking her because so many teens have been turned on to reading because of her. Many of them go back to the bookstore for more, which is a very good thing.
This Thanksgiving, I'm feeling thankful for family, friends, and for being a YA author. It's a fun, exciting time. So many great authors writing incredible books.
Sometimes I look around and that song from Sesame Street pops into my head that goes - One of these things is not like the other - wondering how I'm here amongst all the greatness.
But I am. And I'm very, VERY thankful for that.
Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving with good food, good family, and GOOD BOOKS! Yay - four whole days to READ!!!!