children’s authors and their dogs: bow wow wow wow wow!

August 25, 2010July 19, 2018 ~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Woof woof! Arf arf! Ruff ruff!

Brush your fur, lick your chops, and perk up those ears! Sniff to your heart’s content.

Every dog has his day, and today is the dog day of the summer!!

Doggone right. It’s pink tongues, cold noses, and wagging tails here at alphabet soup, in honor of all the perky pups and hot hounds who grace our world. We just wanna say how much we love and appreciate everything they do — whether a cherished member of the family, a faithful companion to the physically challenged, or a highly trained work dog who helps keep us safe by sniffing out bombs or drugs, or pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage.

Dogs aren’t called, “wo-man’s best friend” for nothing. Their capacity for unconditional love, unfailing loyalty, and innate ability to bring comfort is unparalleled. Plus, they’re so dang cool. Yip!

To help us celebrate, some extremely good-looking doggies are here today with the children’s authors they live with (who are kinda cute themselves). Can we also acknowledge our debt to dogs for the long, quiet hours of companionship, for the joy and balance they bring to frazzled writers when things get ruff? Heck, some have even inspired stories of their own.

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blue monday

July 26, 2010July 23, 2011 ~ jama

“Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.” ~ L. Frank Baum

“Blue thou art, intensely blue; Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?” ~ James Montgomery

“Country Blues” by Lisa Lorenz (available for purchase here).

Blue’s the coolest color on a sizzling summer’s day.

Let’s sit back and chill while those blues drift this way . . .

photo by Woody the bear.

Show me your blue books!
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lovin’ on mr. brown (who’s got a lovely daughter)

June 15, 2010December 28, 2017 ~ jama

“Direct yourself to greatness. Answer your calls. Answer to yourself.” ~ Warren Brown, founder and owner of CakeLove

Far be it from me to seek out certain cupcakes just because the baker happens to be extremely dishy fair of face. *cough*

I’m all about serious research, focus, eyes on the product, heart in the food. Remember Bakeshop owner Justin Stegall? I only found out how cute he was after the fact (and six divine cupcakes). While I love researching the backstories of all these bakers, in the end, it’s supposed to be about the cupcakes. Right?

Maybe.

I didn’t know anything about CakeLove’s Warren Brown before embarking on these Cupcake Capers back in March. I had not seen him on Food Network’s Sugar Rush (2005-2007), nor did I know about his popular cookbook, CakeLove (2008). I actually learned about Mr. Brown because of the recent Washingtonian Cupcake Cup (Georgetown Cupcake took top honors yet again).

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friday feast: hats on, hats off

May 28, 2010January 6, 2018 ~ jama

photo: buttercakes by evan.

THE LOVE-HAT RELATIONSHIP
by Aaron Belz

I have been thinking about the love-hat relationship.
It is the relationship based on love of one another’s hats.
The problem with the love-hat relationship is that it is superficial.
You don’t necessarily even know the other person.
Also it is too dependent on whether the other person
is even wearing the favored hat. We all enjoy hats,
but they’re not something to build an entire relationship on.
My advice to young people is to like hats but not love them.
Try having like-hat relationships with one another.
See if you can find something interesting about
the personality of the person whose hat you like.

*

Like-hat? What twaddle. A hat is to love. Take the Houndstooth Hat Cake pictured above. I’m head over heels!

There are people who look good in hats and those who don’t. People who can don a fedora or leopard skin pillbox or silky black fez and kill. The last hat I looked good in was my Brownie beanie. I’m thinking of wearing it to church. Do you have a good hat head?

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