Seeing Old Friends and Paul Blart, Mall Cop

Tonight was the annual cocktail party for
children's book folk hosted by the SCBWI.
It was fun to see friends, but I wish they
were still my colleagues. (I was laid off
from my job as a kids book editor a month ago.)

On Monday, the big book awards were announced--
the Newbery and the Caldecott (www.ala.org)
That always makes kids book people feel crazed.
Especially now, when publishers are struggling
to sell anything. You can see them here:

http://www.hbook.com/resources/awards/ala/default.asp

The Newbery was won by Neil Gaiman. If you want to
know more about him, check out his performance on
The Moth. You can download it for free.

http://www.themoth.org/mainstage

On Wednesday two children's book librarians from
Greenwich, CT. were killed in a drunk driving
accident on their way to the airport in Denver
heading home from the American Library Association
Conference. They were Kate McClelland and Kathy
Krasniewicz. If there was one librarian to know, it
was Kate. She was beloved and outspoken and if
memory serves, she loved chicken jokes. I never
met Kathy, but I wish I had. Some people may not know,
but librarians are celebrities in the book world.
They judge prize committees. They make things happen.

On a happier note, I took my boys to see Paul Blart,
Mall Cop--and I laughed a lot, especially at the
choice of cheesy oldies on the soundtrack. I fell in
love with the funny scooter Paul Blart rode around on.
What are those called? He could really move on that thing.

I must go to bed, and I didn't read to the kids tonight,
so I have no right to blog. Though I must admit
after seeing old friends who wondered how I was doing in
my state of unemployment, I truly felt like I had "extra
bloggage."