Keris Stainton's Blog, page 91

Teenagers – WTF?

I absolutely love the podcast of an American radio show called To the Best of Our Knowledge. I listen to it when I'm walking the school run and it's inspiring and entertaining and just wonderful.

Last week, I listened to an episode about teenagers that started with an interview with David Bainbridge, author of Teenagers: A Natural History. Not only does he sound rather nice, he had some really interesting things to say about teenagers. If you have or know any teens, you should listen.

The smallest member of our family

Harry has *heart eyes* for Apple

The other morning on the way to school, Harry asked me to tell him the story of our family. So I said there was a girl who met a boy and they fell in love and got married and then, after a while they decided to have a baby and that was Harry and then, a few years later, they realised they'd like another baby and so they had Joe. And they were all really, really happy.

"And then," Harry said, "they got the iPod Touch and they all loved it very much, but it braked and they sent it back to Apple and got a new one and they all lived happily ever after."

Indeed.

200 days away

I absolutely adored Amy Krouse Rosenthal's sort-of memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and one of her (many) children's books, Yes Day, is a favourite of Harry's. A while ago, I read an article she wrote for O Magazine (my fave) about turning 40. I can't quite believe it was four years ago, but it was, because when David's big 4-0 was coming up – and with mine in mind – I found it* and re-read it.

And then I found that Amy had scanned it in and put it up on her website, which is great because I've wanted to share it with people, but my scanner's not up to the job. So here it is: Half Life. Read it. It's wonderful.

* Rather than look through my nine years' worth of O mags, I tweeted @missamykr and asked her what month it ran. She very kindly let me know.

{Photo via Chronicle Books}

New Alan Partridge

Just putting this here to see if lovely Jenny Colgan can watch it in France. Because I'm nice / a suck-up / procrastinating (delete as applicable)

Kiss a Kindle

I've wanted a Kindle for a while. I don't really need one, but I definitely wanted one. I wanted to be able to download books immediately (this may be dangerous). I wanted to be able to read my own manuscripts as if they were, you know, real books. Mainly, I just wanted one. I mean… they're so cool!

But I struggled with shelling out the £149. So I decided I'd buy myself an Amazon voucher every time I got paid. I bought myself one for £10 to start myself off and I tweeted that I was 7.5% on my way to a Kindle.

And then, a couple of days later, I got an Amazon voucher from someone else. One of my Twitter friends. It came with a message that made me cry. I couldn't believe she'd been so lovely. A few minutes later, I got another voucher. From another Twitter friend, again with a lovely message saying she'd wanted to help me on my way to getting my Kindle. I was gobsmacked. And then… another one. I had a little cry. And I sent some emails.

And I learned that it had been Emma's idea. Lovely Emma who I've never even met had emailed some Twitter friends and suggested they might like to send me some Amazon vouchers. And they did. And I cannot tell you how happy it made me. Not just cos I got my Kindle (woo!), but because they cared enough to do it. They took the time and they spent their money and they wrote lovely messages and… it's just overwhelming. I still can't really believe it. I feel completely blessed.

So I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to lovely Emma for the idea. And thank you to Emma, Fiona and someone who would prefer to remain nameless (!) for the vouchers. I can't tell you how much it means to me.

Usborne Lift-the-flap Picture Atlas

Today is National Non-fiction Day and, to celebrate, Usborne Books very kindly sent me this Lift-the-flap Picture Atlas.

Harry's recently started getting more interested in other countries, but unfortunately I'm utterly rubbish at geography and so I frequently fail miserably to answer his questions. ("When we get home, we'll Google it, okay?")

But this book is wonderful. The illustrations of the countries are cute and detailed, but still accessible and then, under the flaps, you find even more detail, along with more illustrations. For example, under a flap with a picture of a Mayan city ruin, it says "Mayans build massive pyramids over 1,500 years ago. Many are decorated with elaborate carvings." That's plenty of information for Harry to be going on with. If something sparks his interest, we can look into it further, of course, but this way he's not overwhelmed.

At the back of the book, in a pocket, is a world map along with the national flag for every country. Harry used to be completely obsessed with flags, but he's forgotten most of them now, so that will be great for his bedroom wall.

What's that? Do I have a video showing Harry's obsession with flags? Funny you should ask… (in case it's not clear, "Checky-a-bucky" is "The Czech Republic").

 

I *heart* this Kate Spade bag

I'm always looking for the perfect bag. I want a cross-body bag (because shoulder bags keep slipping down and I'm busy enough pushing my specs back up my face without hoiking a bag back up my arm too). I need it to be big enough for a couple of books and magazines plus, if I'm out with the boys, nappies, wipes, snacks, etc. And it'd be great if it was smart enough to use when I go down to London on Important Publishing Business!

I did have my face set on an Orla Kiely car print bag, but they now all seem to have disappeared off the face of the planet (as have the Orla Kiely stem print light shades – why didn't I buy the one I found on ebay for £25?! Why?!)

But now I've found this Kate Spade All Typed Up Clyde bag and it's perfect, no? No. It's $495. I don't know what that is in real money, but I know it's more than I've got. Curses.

(I also love this Orla Kiely Ivy bag, but £435? Are you having a laugh?)

 

Carless Whispers*

I don't think I've mentioned (not here, at least, I've certainly moaned about it everywhere else) that we're having to manage with no car, have I?

We decided that we didn't need two cars and could manage perfectly well with one. We got rid of my car. And, for a couple of weeks, it was all good. And then David's car packed up. So now we are carless. Car-free. Without wheels. It's no picnic, but I'm making the best of it by writing a column about it for LittleStuff. Click on the pic to go right there.

* Don't blame me, David came up with that one

November

Let's have a drink. It's NaNoWriMo time. *sung to the tune of Status Quo's Margarita Time*

Yes, it's November – the month during which I attempt to write 50,000 words of, you know, a book. This year I'm also going to attempt to do my Jessie edits, which are due on the 21st. Eek.

I have a vague idea for a book – well, I have characters and setting, not so much plot – and I'm excited to write it. Sort of.

Because I'm going to be writing so much fiction during November – and because this Thursday, 4th November, marks the first ever National Non-Fiction Day – I'm going to be mostly reading Non-Fiction during November. (At first I thought I'd only read non-fiction, but there are too many novels I'm excited to read.)

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Are you celebrating National Non-Fiction Day? If not… what are you doing this month?

Halloween, Peanuts-style

When I was little, I was really envious of Americans for having Halloween – it looked so cool. Now that we're getting into it over here a bit (at least if you believe the supermarkets), I'm not actually that keen. Partly I know it's my age, but the Charlie Brown Halloween was just so much sweeter than teenagers in Scream masks hammering on your door late at night. At least this year we're actually going to open the door – for as long as I can remember, we've pretended not to be in…