The Quotidian Journal

"I wonder who found this giant chest and what's inside it..."

2009-11-13T21:45:00.002-06:00

(pen & ink drawing 11"x9")

Chris (age 10)

Once upon a time there lived a wizard. He made a chest that can make the person inside go anywhere the person wants to go but when the wizard died all the people took the stuff away but no one wanted the chest because the chest looked normal to the people. After a long time the home started to rot but the chest didn't rot and after many years the chest was buried in rubble. After a long time two kids found the chest. Their names were Chris and Ben. One day Chris shut Ben in the chest and after a long time Ben wished that he was at home and right away he was at home! Ben told the family what happened and after that day they never had to pay to go anywhere they wanted to go, especially Disney. The End

Ben (age 7)

When ever you open this chest you get whatever you want at that time. Back in 5000 B.C. they buried it and after thousands of years scientists found it. They got thinking there was gold and got mad when they saw there was no gold. One of the scientists got so mad he said, "I want to go home" and POP he was home. The End...Chris got mad at me because I finished my story too fast, maybe he will go home.

"cataract"

2009-11-10T21:24:00.002-06:00

Illustration Friday prompt: blur

one-line pen & ink drawing with watercolor pencils

glory:

2009-11-09T07:22:00.003-06:00

The sun splitting like an atom on the horizon of an ending day only to rise as a new day on another horizon.

Dominic, William Steig

2009-11-08T07:43:00.001-06:00

5 stars
A wonderful tale of life as pilgrimage. Steig once again taps into the realities of human love, longing, and adventure through a cast of animals. This book follows Dominic the dog as he wanders his way through choices and discovery, fiend and friend. A superb tale and very fun as well as insightful read. It includes Steig's great pen and ink illustrations throughout the story.

Here's a taste from the beginning of chapter seven:
"Dominic went out for a long walk and did a lot of thinking. He was still walking when the stars came out. Mournful, he lay down on the ground and looked at the stars. Life was mysterious. Bartholomew Badger had been alive long before there was a Dominic - long before anybody had even thought there would ever be such a dog. Two hours ago Bartholomew Badger was still alive. But now he was gone. There was no Bartholomew Badger; there was only a memory. His turn was over. Dominic's turn was still at the beginning. There were many who hadn't yet even begun to exist, but there they would be, some time in the future, a whole new world of creatures, some important, some not, and many of them wondering about life just as Dominic was wondering now. It would be their turn, and then Dominic's turn would be over. Many of them would think about the past, which was now the present, but by then what was now the future would have become the present. Somehow this kind of thinking made Dominic feel more religious than usual. He fell asleep under the vast dome of quivering stars, and just as he was falling asleep, passing over into the phase of dreams, he felt he understood the secret of life. But in the light of morning, when he woke up, his understanding of the secret had disappeared with the stars. The mystery was still there, inspiring his wonder."

Pipi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

2009-11-07T18:38:00.002-06:00

4 stars
Listened to the audio cd read by Ester Benson - made the driving around town a bit more fun as we enjoyed Pipi's unique way of seeing and being in the world. A great childhood read.

The Story of My Life, Helen Keller

2009-11-06T08:14:00.009-06:00

4.5 stars
Here is an inspiring read (the book includes her teacher's account as well as letters, journals, and supplemental essays - I only read the first 117 pages which is Helen's autobiography). Keller, who was both deaf and blind, writes the story of her life with incredible detail. It is as much a story about her as it is about her teacher Anne Sullivan - in a very real way this is a story of two geniuses.

Along with science, math, and English Literature, Helen also studied Greek, Latin, German, French, and could read Braille! Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"While my days at Radcliffe [College] were still in the future, they were encircled with a halo of romance, which they have lost; but in the transition from romantic to actual I have learned many things I should never have known had I not tried the experiment. One of them is the precious science of patience, which teaches us that we should take our education as we would take a walk in the country, leisurely, our minds hospitably open to impressions of every sort. Such knowledge floods the soul unseen with a soundless tidal wave of deepening thought. "Knowledge is power." Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge--broad, deep knowledge--is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life." (pg 87)

"Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful? Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life's shut gate. Beyond there is light, and music, and sweet companionship; but I may not enter. Fate, silent, pitiless, bars the way. Fain would I question his imperious decree; for my heart is still undisciplined and passionate; but my tongue will not utter the bitter, futile words that rise to my lips, and they fall back into my heart like unshed tears. Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, "There is joy in self-forgetfulness." So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness." (pg 108-109)

"Thus it is that my friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation." (pg 117)

click here for Helen's famous "water" account
and here for another word on the role of limitations

There was also a fantastic 90 minute movie done on this classic by Disney entitled The Miracle Worker which I highly recommend.

John Cougar Mellencamp

2009-11-05T08:07:00.001-06:00

"Oh yeah, life goes on. Long after the thrill of living is gone."

skinny

2009-11-04T09:24:00.003-06:00

Illustration Friday prompt

one-line pen & ink drawing w/color pencils

Horace

2009-11-03T07:58:00.000-06:00

"To flee vice is the beginning of virtue."

The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me, Roald Dahl

2009-11-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

4.5 stars
Read this one in less than a half hour in one sitting. A delightful book filled with Edward Learish poems, Quentin Blake illustrations, and Dahl's classic entertaining ways. This is the kind of book you read out loud to the kids! See his website in yesterday's post below.

George's Marvelous Medicine, Roald Dahl

2009-11-01T16:43:00.004-06:00

3.5 stars
This was my least favorite Dahl book I have read to date. It includes all the components that make for a great Dahl read but I had a hard time getting past how off the wall he went with George's dislike of his grandmother. The interview at the end of this edition was well worth the whole book however. Check it out here: Official Roald Dahl Website (click on the "Roald Dahl" link and then the interview - very good!)

The Dash

2009-10-29T12:11:00.004-05:00

Illustration Friday prompt: Fast

one line and some color - it's all we have...
in memory of mom
(one-line pen & ink drawing with colored pencils, 11"x9")

"I wonder what is behind this great stone door..."

2009-10-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

(pen & ink drawing 9"x7.5")

Chris (age 10)

It all began when the guard of the door that no one can open was dead and all of the town's people were amazed because he was the strongest person in the world. That very night the monster started to scare the people. Every night he would scare them. Finally, after many weeks the monster died and everyone celebrated and wore costumes. Now to this day it is called Halloween

.
Ben (age 7)

Every week the biggest monster comes out of the door and the guard has to fight it. Today, Goofis, the fiercest of the monsters was fighting the guard named Nofis and today Nofis was ready because three days before Nofis had made a potion that would make him win any battle that he fought in eight days. So, Nofis was ready to win the battle. The monster came out and Nofis was ready to fight. He fought and fought and fought until Nofis won. the end

dth (age 33)

Laundry.

find my email here and send me your creative musing!

Oh the horror!

2009-10-25T23:26:00.005-05:00

Monday Artday prompt: jack-o-lantern

9"x11"
one-line pen & ink drawing with watercolor pencils

Mindfulness In Plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

2009-10-23T21:30:00.002-05:00

3.5 stars
This book is written by a Buddhist for those interested in a specific type of Buddhist practice known as vipassana meditation (or understood in its simpler form, mindfulness). I read it as one interested to find what might be gleaned and applied to the practice of Christian spirituality. Although I disagree with the world view this text was written through, and therefore with many of the conclusions, I did find Gunaratana's instruction regarding mindfulness quite helpful. It's link to wisdom and the overarching call to be more aware of our thoughts and actions were a welcomed teaching as I think about what it entails to live out the life and teachings of Christ.

The Enormous Crocodile & The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, Roald Dahl w/illus. by Quentin Blake

2009-10-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

5 stars
The first and last book that Blake illustrated for Dahl - pure fun! Both are readable in one quick sitting and even now as I think back on the stories I find myself chuckling. The first is about a crocodile who has an appetite for children and the second about a vicar with a peculiar kind of dyslexia (in which I found myself laughing out loud at several points).

"Frog Legs"

2009-10-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

Home again, home again, jiggity jog—
Back from the market where I bought me a frog.

Pulling off his little legs
This is what my froggy says:

“Take those legs and put them back.
You may not eat them as your snack!”

But in the pan I cooked them up
And now they sit here in my gut.

"I wonder what this magic elixir does...where's it from...whose is it..."

2009-10-21T02:05:00.001-05:00

pen & ink drawing (9"x11")

Chris (age 10)

Once upon a time there lived a boy who worked for the king. The boy had a lot of adventures but I will only tell one of the adventures. Today I will tell you the best adventure. It all began when the king stopped for dinner at Chris' home. He was outside and he heard mom and dad say we will sell Chris for 21 pounds and the king said yes. Chris could not wait till they started. The next day they left. When they got to the king's castle he started to work in the cellar. It had lots of bottles. One day he found a bottle that had this name: elixir. So he told the king but the king said it was nothing. But Chris knew that it did something. So he drank it and a genie said you have drank the elixir and you will have as many wishes as you want. The End

Ben (age 7)

Well, there once was a man name Fat Free. But one day a witch turned him into a bird and he was so good at making elixirs that he could make stuff like an elixir that could make you into a flea. So one day he got a letter from the king to make an elixir that could make him have a bald spot. So Fat Free had never made an elixir that made a bald spot so he tried and tried and finally he made it and gave it to the king and the elixir worked and now that king is called Dan. the end

dth (age 33)

One could see the rain clouds beginning to build in the West. If all went as planned Glint would soon have the last ingredient he needed to turn the bewitched hawk back into his beloved bride. Fourteen years earlier, hours after they wed, Glint’s bride Kestrel was stricken with an evil spell by a jealous sorcerer by the name of Brindle. The sorcerer was a friend of both Glint and Kestrel yet the friendship grew cold when Glint won Kestrel’s hand in marriage as Brindle had hoped to woo her. Upon the announcement of their engagement, Brindle determined to vex them. He settled on a potion that would change Kestrel into the form of a hawk. If Brindle was not to have the love of Kestrel he determined no one would. So, he waited until the night of their wedding after the vows had been said to enact his vengeance. That way Glint would have to care for the hawk while getting no love in return. An hour after the couple had been wed, Brindle gathered Glint and Kestrel together and proposed a toast in honor of their love—he supplied the wine in their cups. The toast completed, Brindle slipped away into the night and shortly after Kestrel collapsed and was brought to her bedchamber, it was not wine that Brindle had put into her cup. Glint stayed by her side for the next several hours only to watch her womanly figure transform into that of a hawk. By morning the metamorphosis was complete and it wasn’t long before an edict was written proclaiming the desired capture of Brindle along with an impressive reward. He never was found and it had taken Glint fourteen long years to find the antidote for his bride—but tonight was the night as the clouds were forming and Glint only needed one more ingredient. For the past eight years Glint had been training the hawk for this night and the task of capturing the last needed item. She was to fly into the storm, high up into the clouds where the air is thin and so cold that the water is in the form of ice. The hawk had to gather the frozen rain crystals before they had turned to liquid or the elixir would not be complete. A simple raindrop would not do—it had to be a frozen crystal of rain settled within the darkness of a storm cloud—only a single crystal was needed. The venture would be dangerous and peril was a threatening possibility—but, the hawk had completed her training and Glint was certain she understood her task. It began to drizzle when Glint released her from his gloved hand, placed a bottle in her talons and watched as she soared straight up, her wings spread against the dark sky while lighting crackled and spread a flash of day every few moments. Glint watched the hawk soar but soon she was lost in the clouds and he could only stand and pray, head thrown back, eyes squinting, waiting for the emergence of his long lost love. And then, the hawk appeared and soon was well in sight. Clutched between her talons was the bottle he had taught her to hold and as she neared he could see it indeed contained something. In another instant the hawk was upon him and Glint could see she had succeeded. The crystals were beginning to liquefy and so quickly he pulled out his spoon and the hawk poured out the last ingredient. Glint added it to the readymade bottle of potion, gave it three violent shakes and poured the elixir into the hawk’s mouth as she sat on his arm. The change was almost immediate and the next moment Glint found himself carrying his beloved Kestrel cradled in his arms. The embrace that happened next was one of longing come to fruition and they kissed…

Tim (age: old; going on immature)

There was a bird that poured liquid into a spoon that the snake had in his mouth. "How the heck and I going to drink this?" said the snake, "you know, 'cuase I've got this spoon IN my mouth and no hands to take it out of my mouth and pour it in my mouth." The bird flew away into the starry starry night.

Send me your story and I'll post it.

Thomas Merton

2009-10-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

"Humility consists in being precisely the person you actually are before God."

from Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

The Real Thief, William Steig

2009-10-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

4.5 stars
I can't seem to get enough of Steig. Here was another of his longer children books that does not disappoint. In classic Steig fashion he takes a simple story and explores the larger human themes of friendship, truthfulness, conscience, and restoration; only this time it comes through the story of a loyal goose and his false conviction.

"Head Cold"

2009-10-17T20:50:00.000-05:00

Illustration Friday prompt: Frozen

pen & ink drawing w/colored pencils (9"x11")

Abel's Island, William Steig

2009-10-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

5 stars
Before there was Tom Hanks in Castaway there was Abel's Island. I couldn't help but think of the film as I read this book as many of the same themes are explored only through a child friendly lens: love, loneliness, survival, creativity, suspense, perseverance, hope, friendship, and adventure. Steig has written a beautifully human story through the likes of Abel, a mouse. The illustrations as well as the story line are filled with intrigue and the book ends with the heartstrings being pulled and the sense that time was well spent entering into Abel's journey. I highly recommend this short book for all ages.

Published in 1976, it was a Newberry Honor book which was also turned into a 30 minute animated film in 1988.

"I wonder why that ball doesn't pop..."

2009-10-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

one-line pen & ink drawing (9" x 11")

I used this as a creative writing prompt with my boys. They were given the above illustration and invited to wonder while also allowed to add their own color and background to the illustration. Here is what they wrote:

Chris (age 10)

Maybe he is as light as a feather or maybe the ball is a rock just colored. Or maybe there was invisible strings tied to him. Or maybe he can float. Or maybe the ball was very, very strong. Or maybe it was a lot of people dressed up as an elephant. Or maybe it was a stuffed animal. Or maybe we will never know. ThEnd

Ben (age 7)

Maybe he is as light as a feather. Maybe he drank something that made him light as a feather. Maybe he had to fight monsters to get the drink in a cave. Maybe he is a magician that can turn himself into an elephant. Or maybe the ball was a wizard or they both were wizards or maybe the elephant just was light. The End

dth (age 33)

Indeed, this is a strange sight, an elephant on a ball that doesn’t seem to pop. Maybe you are thinking to yourself this is simply a picture showing the elephant on the ball right before it popped. I too had this thought until I came to know the elephant personally. His name is Oakland and I came to meet him last Saturday after the circus came to our fairground here in Arbor County. What I can tell you is the ball never did pop. I watched Oakland hop up onto that ball (which in and of itself was quite a sight). The ball hardly even sagged as his enormous amount of weight pounced upon it. And so, I began to wonder about this circus trick—knowing that much of what goes on in the circus is simply well practiced stunts, I thought I would find Oakland after the show and inquire how he did it. So, I bought a bag of warm peanuts to entice the truth out of him, as well as thank him for his show, and headed to the back lot where the elephants were held. Upon entering the tent I saw Oakland lounging in a hammock sipping some limeade (which I found out is an elephant’s favorite drink). I approached cautiously not knowing if Oakland was a temperamental creature or not. Too my delight he welcomed me with a great smile and offered me some limeade (which I found to now be my favorite drink). He spoke to me softly, “I don’t get many visitors back here as everyone seems to leave when the show is over. Did you like it?”

“Oh, yes, very much,” I replied. It was at this point that I handed him the warm peanuts. “I bought you a treat for giving such an amazing show.”

“Oh my, warm roasted peanuts, my favorite. I remember when my mother used to give these to me.” It was at the mention of his mother that Oakland’s smile seemed to fade away and he stared out toward the tent’s opening.

Being pretty good at reading elephant mannerisms I asked, “Do you not see your mother much?”

Oakland’s trunk seemed to sink into the floor as his head lowered. “My parents were killed in a great battle when I was young and I was left an orphan. The animals of the circus have now become my family.” Here his head raised and he looked me in the eyes again. “But enough of my sad story. Tell me what you really liked about the show.”

“Well, that is actually why I am here. I marveled to see you on that ball this evening and I simply had to know how you did it. I wondered if you might dispel my wondering?”

“Ah, yes, that is a fine circus trick indeed. I suppose my telling how it is done doesn’t remove any of the wonder—simply inserts a new kind of wonder. You see, when I was orphaned I would spend a lot of time in the forest by myself. One day I was particularly down and brooding over the fact that I thought I had no special gifts to offer the world. Well, who should come along but my bug friend Jupiter. I told him of my distress and longing to be more than an elephant in a forest and he told me about a circus show he had seen the night before with animals of all variety who performed amazing feats of wonder. He suggested we come up with a way to enter the circus. Well, a plan emerged. It took a year of practice every day before and after school but we finally mastered it.” Here Oakland paused and called out, “Jupiter, come here.”

From a back corner of the tent behind an old beat-up bin a giant pill bug tucked himself into a ball and rolled to Oakland’s feet. I stood up stunned at what I saw. “You mean you were out there standing on a giant pill bug named Jupiter, rolling around and doing that juggling?”

“That’s right,” they answered in unison.

How would you finish the prompt or come up with a new prompt or added illustrations...

Martin Luther King, Jr.

2009-10-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."

Source: The Strength to Love, 1963

"fall scene"

2009-10-13T09:20:00.001-05:00

one-line pen & ink drawing w/watercolor pencils (9"x11")