She Sure is {Serious About Children's Books} - There are Cats in this Book

Buy it Here OR If you are NYC based, make the trip to Books of Wonder (in Manhattan on 18th street between 5th and 6th) where it's $3 cheaper and where you're supporting the best children's bookstore in the tri-state area.
see....

Things I Throw Myself into Thursday

Aka. Why I have not yet found anyone worth marrying.
Many, many moons ago on a fated and muggy evening I fell in love with a curly haired blonde boy as he swayed and jumped in well... synch with a group of obviously lesser men. 

Not many moons later (and I must say much sooner than just about everyone else in the free world) I found room in my heart for another love:

Apparently - and this has been market tested, I have a thing for boys know how to lounge. I spent years trying to figure out what it was these two lingering teenage obsessions had that others lacked. Why these boys? After decades these infatuations still burn brightly while girlish crushes on lesser men (sorry Marky-Mark, my apologizes Keanu) have faded to mere memory. For years I have been sure that it's the quality that they each share, of always having a light in their eye.They're the kind of guys who have a hard time finishing a joke because they are boyishly so excited to have you laugh when they get to the punch line that they can hardly keep it together...I've known that part for a long time. Was that all it was?

Luckily, right place,  right time I was recently reminded of something that gave me deep, deep
joy last Fall: I invite you to grab a spoon and indulge

Then BONUS POINTS I was given this sparkling gem in my current tiara of inner peace. I had previously gone through life totally unaware of its existence. I cringe to think of the hours spent not watching this on loop that I'll never get back. Oh if you're one of my pet peevy people who have trouble wearing your nerd like a badge, make sure you watch this in private. I spontaneously clapped in delight three times.


So here's where this all comes together in a one-two punch. I've just let go of my third 'maybe' boyfriend of the summer. When asked why I felt the need to clean house, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. PHD Jake was handsome, and nice, and he smelled as men should smell -- like they are masking the scent of a recently exercised stallion by rubbing up against the bark of a mossy tree surrounded by wild flowers... but there was something missing. BAM! Thanks to the History of Rap and this perfect storm of sexy boyish cute and important music from my youth, I can now elaborate on what the boys who have names that start with J have that others do not! Hmm... oddly, PHD Jake was not in this club... This History of Rap could have easily sucked. Right? Right?! LBH, It could have blown.

When I watch it I am impressed by two things. First of all I'm floored at how damn fine Jimmy Fallon is looking in a suit these days much time this must have taken in the practice room. These are two men that could have easily been sidelined in the process of pulling this together by their busy schedules, egos or fear of embarrassment. Memorizing this, collaborating, blocking it, getting it perfectly aligned to go Live took WORK. Lots of it. As all worthwhile things do.

Secondly, in the actual execution of the whole thing you can tell how much fun they are having. They are loving this. This is where they want to be and what they want to be doing. Watching it makes you, the viewer feel great. They don't care if it might get bombed, they don't care if youtube doesn't love it with viral violence, or if their friends think they are total nerds. They have charm and charisma because in addition to their boyish grins, they are willing to OWN it.

There is a serious lack of people out there willing to fulfill even one of these two firstly and secondlys. Sometimes even my favorite people peeve me out cloaking themselves in a fear based 'don't get too excited' mask of indifference. For example, a good friend of mine recently rolled her eyes and explained that her friends were MAKING her go to watch a Ghost Busters' marathon in Central Park. Um.. I did that once. It was THE BEST!

Please. Don't act like you're not invested in something when you are. If you're doing something optional you truly don't want to do, stop. If that's not the case, fix your face. Throw yourself in with passion. You'll be happier. The people around you will be happier. If you're acting less than invested in like I dunno... something you love like cough, cough, your ART - your enthusiasm will make it sing louder and help people embrace it readily. Your audience won't need you to tell them you love it, they'll just be able to tell that it has that extra hard work + enthusiasum-y something JT+JF special when they look at it. Try not to make excuses. I really believe if you want to do something badly enough you do it. So, do it. Work hard and work with passion.


I'm naturally drawn to people who have an energy and spirit that resonates. I'm thinking I'm not alone in this. Remember, everything in life is just a white picket fence that needs to be whitewashed. Be Tom Sawyer.

Sidenote: In the five years since I started She Sure is Sketchy I've had a handful of men contact me to ask me out. If that's the reason you read my girly nothings, Hi, there ;). Embrace this blog post, it's giving you a major edge. I am currently accepting Fall 2011 applications.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a video to watch 30x.

Monday Morning

In Which I Draw A Tear

Oh! To live in a perpetual weekend - that is my wish and my sweetest dream.
Let us hope this week will at the very least be punny. I'd like a new contract too. Let's hope it involves Target.

SCBWI - Paper Scribbles

I've christened this exercise 'Paper Scribbles'. Kevin Hawkes spent the second half of the lecture that we had with him coaching us through this imagination exercise and since I'm pro-imagination and want all my readers to use theirs more deliberately I decided this needed its own blog post.

If you are hard at work on this assignment you should look like this.
Kevin mosied in and out of the aisles giving critiques and chatting. He told me I have amazing color sense, so given that that comment was based on three random sheets of paper I happened to throw on a page, I'm going to hold onto it like it's iron clad truth. Haha.

• You will need:
  Something to cut with: scissors or an Exacto
  Something to stick with: A glue stick, Rubber Cement, Elmer's
  A stack of colored paper
  A medium that takes you out of your comfort zone, I chose chalk pastels because I am dumb when it comes to using them. Find something that speaks to you like that.
  
  
• Here's what you do:
  Pick three colors that are bright and happy from your bouquet of paper
  Cut and tear the paper into random shapes
  Glue them on the paper in a way that gets your creativity on the bus
  Using your new medium create a happy illustration incorporating your random shapes.
  
  
• Try doing this with different papers that evoke different feelings. Use scary colors to make a nightmare of a picture, etc.
  
  
• If you get a chance to do this exercise let me know about it in the comments on my blog! I'd love to see what you come up with.
  
  
  Start at the very beginning:
  3 colors. 3 shapes.
  

make them into something.
Draw on your idea a little more.

Fin.