Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea [edited to add…COFFEE] when you’re relaxing, seeking comfort, and/or sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? There’s a special kind of calm and content that a hot beverage, a crackling fire and the company of those you love inspires. That’s what the Heartfelt Award is all about: feeling warm inside.
Rules: Put the logo on your blog/post. Nominate up to nine (9) blogs that make you feel warm inside. Be sure to link your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog. Remember to link back to the person from whom you received your award.
I'm nominating:
These blogs never fail to put a smile on my face and a bit of happiness in my heart!
What will you do for Independence Day?
Fourth of July should be fun. A Navy ship is a cool place to spend the holiday. We had what we call a “steel beach picnic” on the ship on Sunday. We’ll prolly have one of those for the Fourth.
What is a steel beach picnic, exactly? What do you eat at an event like that?
A steel beach picnic is basically where we put the grill out on the flight deck and barbeque. Chicken, steak, burgers, Cokes, etc. Just like a regular barbeque. The name is just a little bit facetious since we are obviously nowhere near a nice beach.
Do you wear your uniforms?
We wear civvies (civilian clothes). Shorts, tee shirts, sandals, that sort of thing.
Photo of Family Day aboard the USS X, where they set up food like they would for a steel beach picnic.
Is there room to play touch football on deck?
There were a few games. For $0.25 each you could buy golf balls and we had a tee so you could shoot into the ocean. There was also the game where you toss bean bags to score points depending on whether you landed on the board or in the hole. I forget the name [It’s called corn-hole, I think]. The flight deck is pretty big, enough to fit a helicopter, but no, we weren’t playing football. It wouldn’t be allowed anyway. It’s such an unnecessary risk of having someone fall overboard. If we were on a carrier though, the hangar would be plenty big. And some people were playing cards and chess. We had movies too. I think we get them free to show on the ship. Right now they’re playing Beerfest. At lunch it was Ocean’s 11. A couple days ago after I got off watch I saw Gran Torino…
What card games are most popular? Poker, spades, pinochle?
I actually just got an email today about a dominoes tournament on the ship. But I only see the enlisted guys playing card games though. Normally I would not be allowed to just sit down and play cards with some random 19 year-old enlisted sailor because I am an officer. That would prolly be considered “unduly familiar.” The official term is called fraternization, which encompasses so much, I can’t explain to you in just one email, or even several. You can Google “fraternization” and “navy” or “military” and I’m sure you would get a million hits.
UPDATE (7/20): Well as it turns out, its okay for me to play cards on the mess decks with enlisted sailors. And I did a couple times last week.
How much clothing/personal effects do most of the crew bring along? And are you allowed personal computers and electronics, or is that all provided and public?
We don’t have that much space to store stuff. A few jeans/pants and five or six shirts is about all of the room for civvies that we have. Of course we also have underclothes, hygiene stuff, ipods, laptops, movies etc. Some guys bring an Xbox or PS2. I bought a new ipod so I could put enough music to last me six months on it since I can’t get new music for a while. I brought a couple Spanish and Portuguese books too so I don’t completely lose my knowledge of them. There are computers scattered around the ship. Since I am an officer, I have more of them at my disposal.
Coming Soon: description of living quarters, an update on duties, and why I cannot tell you the real name of the USS X (stay tuned, or else)!
Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales--evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's new anthology for younger readers, you'll hear from the Giant's wife ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), Rumplestiltskin, the oldest of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many more. A stellar lineup of authors, including Garth Nix, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman and Nancy Farmer, makes sure that these old stories do new tricks!
There are times when I think the marketing and product descriptions of books do them a disservice. Troll’s-Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales, is a perfect example. The Booklist review lists the intended audience as grades 5-8. However, editors Datlow and Windling are best known for their yearly anthologies of science fiction and horror for adults.
I’m not saying that the book is inappropriate for younger readers: anything but! As we know, though, children have a pretty high tolerance for the sinister (just see the popularity of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book!). This book will appeal to anyone and everyone. I argue that it should be put in both the children’s AND adult sections at the bookstore and library. There are definitely enough dark themes and balancing humorous incidents to make any child or adult shiver and scream with laughter.
The credit goes to the editors for rounding up such a stellar list of contributors and to the ΓΌber-talented authors included in the line-up. The author list is what drew me to the book initially: I’d heard no buzz, but any text that unites my favorites (Neil Gaiman! Garth Nix! Delia Sherman! Kelly Link! Jane Yolen! Too many others to name!) can’t be bad. And it was the complete opposite of bad. It was so awesome I’m still buzzing a little bit. So go, find it, read it to your child(ren), read it for yourself, buy it for friends. It has a gorgeous and creepy cover, and there are gorgeous and creepy stories inside to match.
My favorite bit: Ellen Kushner dedicated her story, “The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces” (based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses tale) “to all oldest children everywhere, who are responsible whether they want to be or not.” As an oldest child in a large family, I can definitely appreciate that!
Complete list of contributors: Peter S. Beagle, Holly Black,
Michael Cadnum,
Nancy Farmer,
Wendy Froud,
Neil Gaiman,
Nina Kiriki Hoffman,
Ellen Kushner,
Kelly Link,
Garth Nix,
Delia Sherman,
Midori Snyder,
Joseph Stanton, Catherynne M. Valente,
and Jane Yolen.
Datlow and Windling also have a couple of other anthologies for young readers: A Wolf at the Door and Swan Sister. I read Swan Sister last year and wasn’t nearly as enchanted by it, though that’s perhaps due to the fact that the Troll’s-Eye stories are unbeatably and wondrously dark, original and humorous. Villains have so much natural potential!
