My Heart Belongs to My Teacher

It's nearly time for school to start again, in my part of the world. Parents are stocking up on school supplies, kids' clothes, and a number of other items. There is a feeling of newness in the air. Soon-to-be students are anxious to see who is in whose class.

I have noticed an increase in traffic to my education-related site, TeachersPets. Once a part of my main store, this shop has branched off on its own and is acquiring its own following.

What can I say about this, my newest design? Well, I could start by using the description I have included in my new promotional area at TeachersPets, the "BONUS POINTS: Featured Design" section.

The latest design from TeachersPets contains a simple, childlike phrase with heart.
My Heart Belongs to My Teacher

Is there anything happier than a child (or an adult) who loves to learn? Loving one's teacher is very closely connected.
Maybe you love your teacher because he makes history vital and interesting, or because she opens the door to a place in your mind you never knew existed.
Maybe you love your teacher because he's your grandfather, who showed you how to create models, or your aunt, who taught you to play Mozart with pleasure and confidence.
Or maybe you love your teacher just because.

The teacher to whom you give your heart is the one who gives it back to you.
Get a gift that keeps saying "I Love You," whatever the season, whoever your favorite teacher.

By the way, "whoever" is the correct case in that sentence. I looked it up, as an afterthought, just to be sure.

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A Tale of Two Pickles, a.k.a. the Pickle Conspiracy

While I am on the subject of the bizarre ...

One of my favorite author/artists was Scarry -- Richard Scarry. I loved his illustrations in Little Golden Books. Even as an adult, I loved his big picture books. Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, and all the other residents of Busy Town.

The Head Start group I used to teach loved finding characters, making their own observations, hunting for patterns in these storybooks. One book contained a fleet of typically fun Scarry vehicles, including a truckload of pickles. The cargo was so large, pickles were falling out into the street here and there. All the way through the pages, we followed a trail of pickles.

Another character we loved was silly Mr. Frumble, a fuddy-duddy of an old pig with terrible luck. He was chasing his runaway hat all over town. Probably the only breeze in the entire town was catching up his hat and dancing around with it, teasingly keeping it just out of reach.

Years later, a conversation about conspiracies and paranoia inspired this design. The idea that something as common and silly as a pickled cucumber might be responsible for a plot of any kind was fraught with implausibility and humor. In tribute to Mr. Scarry, I created an author by the name of William Frumble for this stylish mystery. The reviews and the introduction are fun, but it's really all about the pickles. -- Yeah, they just fell off a truck? A likely story!

In the time the Pickle Conspiracy has been sitting in my "just for fun" section, I'd only sold one item before. Some strange and funny person bought a throw pillow bearing one of my pickle designs. (Obviously someone with great taste and a rapier sharp sense of the absurd.)

That was up until Wednesday, July the nineteenth, 2006. When I made my way to my computer, I found myself lured by the tantalizing promise of an email - a notification of a transaction.

My pulse quickened as I opened it to read. Who was it? What did they want? I was determined to find out.

I skimmed the email, paused, thought, "No way!" and read it again. An order for two Pickle Conspiracy Black T-Shirts? And four 10-packs of 2.25" buttons with the infamous veggies. It must be a scam order made with a fake credit card number. One of those weird people from the Capital One commercials, no doubt.

But, no, it's true. The merchandise is in production, and it should be finished this week. It might be on its way to its new owner mere days from now. But who? Who would place such an order? I think there is far more to this than meets the eye.

This is obviously all part of a plot.

Keep the mustard and relish handy. No telling when they could be needed.

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Totally Off-Topic

For the person who was searching here in my blog for information on "march to the beat of a different drum" -- the song you were looking for was "Different Drum," by the Stone Poneys. Linda Ronstadt was the lead singer. The song says "You and I travel to the beat of a different drum...." I believe it was written by Mike Nesmith, of the Monkees fame.

Oddly enough, people also come here seeking:

1. the Beatles
2. that line from the Everly Brothers song "Bowling Green" (and I thought I was the only one who remembered that song!)
3. the Cowsills
4. beautiful girls
5. horses
6. daffodils
7. t-shirts

I include bits and pieces about music I love, but t-shirts with girls, horses, and daffodils are the only things on that list which you might purchase here.

Then again, I am inspired by the music of those artists to create my own art, so that should count for something. Also, it's emotionally satisfying to read someone else's memories of favorite songs, old TV shows and movies, places, and people.

Folks have Googled for some fragment of a memory from their youth and found - my memories.
P.L. painting the day to Barry Cowsill's song. A barefoot summer girl basking in the Kentucky sunshine from Phil and Don Everly's song. I even have a painting in my gallery section which I haven't featured (yet) of a sleepy cottage, named "Golden Slumbers," after the lullaby-like song by Paul McCartney, from the Beatles' Abbey Road album.

Keep "listening." There'll be more.

A Family Tradition - the American Vacation

Whatever happened to "the American Way"?
It must've gotten lost in the shuffle, somewhere between here and the cold war.

But be of good faith! We've found it. While some Americans are defending their way of life by threats of force and violence, others are still opening their arms to the homeless, the lonely, the poor, tired and huddled masses -- and to the occasional lost animal who is just too cute to ignore.

This is the real world, and we know that wild animals are meant to remain wild. But moments like this make you long for the purity of a child's heart.

Whether you enjoy the parody of "Lock & Load - Board the Seal" or the charm of children adopting a sea lion on their own beach, take an American Vacation today.


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