Carpe Diem -- or "brain engaged... please call back later"

Among the many stories you no doubt heard while growing up is one from Aesop's fables, "The Ant and the Grasshopper." (The illustration shown here is from a book retold and illustrated by Amy Lowry Poole.)

The characters, hard-working ants and a laid-back grasshopper, demonstrate different philosophies of life. The ants collect, save, and store for the months of not-so-plenty while the grasshopper takes it easy.

The idea behind this story is that you must plan for the future. Even when life is good and the going is easy, you should plan ahead. Make sure you have the necessities of life for the times when the going gets rough. Because you can probably guess who was watching out for the grasshopper's well-being, come winter.


On the other hand, we also have stories like that of Frederick the mouse, as told by Leo Lionni.

Frederick's family is gathering food to prepare for the hardships of winter. Frederick, in the meantime, spends his time observing. One fears for the little fellow, seeing a parallel to the above mentioned grasshopper.

Yet when winter comes, Frederick is with his family, sharing their stores. When food becomes scarce and the future seems cold and bleak, Frederick shares what he has been gathering: memories, the colors of spring, the warmth of the sunlight, the smell and feel of a kinder environment. He transports the others through words, imagination, and hope, helping them all to survive until spring returns.

And so we see both sides of the story: planning and practicality are necessary, but imagination, creativity and hope are no less essential.

As we in the northern hemisphere reach the middle of the summer season, parents and children alike are nudged to get ready for school. Autumn will be here before we know it! Get those books and pencils, notebooks, school clothes. I begin to have mental images of leaves changing color, football games, and plaid skirts and knee socks. Hmm. P.L. needs a new sweater, and maybe a different winter coat, this year. I wonder if it's too soon to go shopping.

Yes, we need to be thinking ahead. But it's still July. Summer thunder rumbles through the windows some nights as we go to sleep. During the day, the sun is shining through the leafy green trees. Squirrels are playing in the back yard. Wild strawberries are blooming, and honeybees are buzzing through the clover growing along the path. And in the evening, we sit on a swing in the back yard to talk, listening to the gentle chorus of crickets and cicadas, complemented by the occasional young frog.

This season has certainly not been all fun, but it will never be here again. This will be our last chance this summer to dig in the garden, splash in a kiddy pool, wash the dog in a tub with the garden hose. It'll be the last chance to walk to the library down the street to check out a family movie and/or a storybook before it's time to worry about homework and soccer practice. It could be the last time to get away from the phone and the TV, and to read Pride and Prejudice on a quilt under the old oak tree.

Be an ant and collect the tangible treasures of the season. Be like Frederick and store the best memories of another beautiful year in your life. But don't be pressured into wishing your life away. Today is the only day you can be sure of having, so don't forget to live it.



As you can see, on this sky blue t-shirt from Artist at Work, our girl P.L. is planning to seize the day by reading a book out under the tree, smelling the freshly-mown grass, listening to the mockingbirds in the branches nearby. She says it's a good vacation for her brain. And I know it's a summer memory she plans to savor for years to come.

Choices: Edward or Jacob?

It's at least another month before "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" comes to P.L.'s favorite theater. In the meantime, she's been keeping herself occupied reading the Twilight series. There are only four books, and she just finished book three, Eclipse.

The series is strange and moody and supernatural, yet it has a down-to-earth feeling that appeals to P.L. A teenaged girl who loves Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights, Bella Swan is comfortable telling a story -- in first person, in this case. Set in the woodsy little town of Forks, in the north-Pacific state of Washington, her story tells of her life as the new kid in town. Bella is a quiet girl and a bit of a clutz, yet she is a fresh face that appeals to several of the local residents. One of them is Edward.

Without giving away too much of the storyline, we'll just say that Edward and his family are amazing (even at playing baseball!), they lead us (through Bella) to heart-stopping adventures, and Bella would give up anything to spend the rest of eternity with Edward.

Not everything is as it seems, though.
Bella and Edward are separated early in book two, and she becomes dangerously depressed. Of course, we know she'll be fine, because she's the one telling the story. But we feel for her as she describes a kind of madness she experiences and finds one ally to save her -- Jacob.

By book three, we become torn between these two young men. They are natural enemies, supernatural beings doing their best to protect Bella from danger. That includes each other. Both represent some kind of threat to Bella's well-being, family, and way of life, not to mention (possibly) her very soul.
They could both be the bad guys, yet they are both the good guys.

So, if we had to choose one guy for this Everygirl to love and live with forever, would we choose Edward Cullen? He is handsome like a Greek god, cool beyond belief, with a family whose close-knit love extends to Bella. Or would we choose the noble young Jacob Black, whose father is Bella's dad's best friend, and who loves Bella like a brother until he is mature enough to vie for her heart?
(No spoilers, please!)

Yes, based only on this information, P.L. asks you -- which team would you choose? Cool blue Edward, or vibrant red Jacob? The crystal heart or the wolf from the woods? Vampire or werewolf?

Choose a t-shirt that supports your team. One for Team Edward or one for Team Jacob.




But what if you don't want to choose? Just keep rereading this romance with two young men who love the girl enough to give up everything for her... and get yourself a t-shirt commemorating both of them. What a team!

For more gear about your new favorite hometown, Forks, remember to visit Artist at Work.

A Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils...?

1998. Ten years ago: it was a simpler time, the end of an era.
(Work with me; I'm trying to set a mood.)

The story is a timeless one, of competitors caught up in the rat race of the business world, who fall in love in their own spare time. (See? People had spare time, ten years ago, I promise!)
The tale has been passed along by many skillful storytellers. This particular one happened to be from a very talented movie screenplay writer and director, Nora Ephron.

In the story "You've Got Mail," the protagonists are both in the book business, something very close to my heart. They are also really into their personal computers. (Need I say more?)


Yet the way they become involved in one another's lives is by sharing things that have so little to do with the A/S/L-type chat room talk. They share thoughts, personal moments, humor. The philosophy of Starbucks customers, the mysteries of bagel flour, the love of the small-town-within-a-city where they both live, the anticipation of opening email from a dear friend.

One of my favorite email exchanges is near the beginning of the story, when Joe (NY152) is saying how he loves New York in the fall (autumn). It makes him feel like buying school supplies. Joe tells Kathleen (Shopgirl) that he would send her a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if he knew her name and address.

A man after my own heart! As an artist and a writer, I have a special love for pencils, myself. But he really had me at "school supplies."

Who doesn't love getting new paper, new notebooks or binders, folders, pens, pencils, crayons, erasers? Years of memories crowd into my mind.
As an adult, and especially as a parent of three children, I saw Back-to-School season in a different light, too. Yet when I went back to college and got my degree in elementary education with my minor in art, I went to a whole new level. I could have spent hours in the College Heights Bookstore, looking at acrylics and oils, Arches watercolor paper, bamboo pens, sable brushes, drawing pencils, painting canvas and stretcher bars, mat board... ah. Even now, a dream-like feeling of contentment steals into my psyche as I remember browsing the art department. There were so many things to see and dream of, I felt happy just looking, even if I couldn't afford everything I liked.

Wouldn't you love to send that bliss to someone you know?



I drew pencils and added colors, then tied them up with a red ribbon to create a bouquet. The scent of the freshly-sharpened wood is exquisite.

I created more than one text option by using one cursive font for a more grown-up look on some items, but a hand-drawn manuscript font on others, for a fun graffiti effect.




If it hasn't yet, wherever you are, school will be starting soon. You can get or give these happy colored pencils with either Our Favorite Teacher or one of the Happy School Day designs.




Pencils are a tool of creativity. Remind teachers, students, and parents that school is a time of new beginnings and infinite possibilities.


Some parents may even be so happy at the prospect of school that they would consider putting this sign in their yard to celebrate the season.

In the meantime, I'll be using my pocket-sized journal --



-- to draw and to make notes of new ideas for TeachersPets.com ...

Harry Potter and the Final Chapter

No, that isn't the name of the upcoming book. A good thing, too, as that sounds so very -- final. Yes, it's the end of an era.
P.L. has been waiting in agony for the publication of book seven. She needs to know how it will end, but she desperately wants it never to be over....

Will the Trio survive? Will Voldemort (oh, stop, Ron!) be vanquished? What about Malfoy -- will his be the next death?
And, of course, there's the matter of Severus Snape.
What a sniveling, sneaky, two-faced, evil sorcerer he is. But Dumbledore trusted him implicitly, so that should be good enough for us....

As we look back on our good times, reading all the books in this series, we have several favorite moments.
One of our favorite bits came from one of the movies, rather than the books, when Ron makes the observation that Hermione "needs to sort out her priorities."
Hermione had just made a statement that was a bit over the top in itself, but Ron's was a classic. After all, how many boys think that girls have a tremendously skewed perspective on life? If they're smart, they eventually realize that girls pretty much have a handle on reality and what matters most.

Then there's a big black dog that we miss greatly -- Snuffles, more commonly known as Sirius Black. We think he's gone, but we're not sure. (And didn't Luna think she heard him, too?)

Everywhere we go, we still expect to see him. And, taking into account the mysterious ways of the magical world, would we be surprised if we saw him again someday?


In the fifth year, we met a teacher we might actually have detested worse than Snape. The so-called "Professor" Dolores Umbridge was a real joke, politics interfering with education at its very worst. She tried to coerce and brainwash students, punishing independent thought and action, forcing the government's agenda on everyone in the school. When Harry rebelled against her propaganda, he was called a liar. The mark he wore on his hand branded him in more ways than one: I must not tell lies. Instead of an admonition, it became his mantra. He must represent truth, fighting the lies and misconceptions.



In book six, the truth about Voldemort became widespread. Amidst the fear and unrest, rumors circulated about Harry. Was Harry the Chosen One, the wizard who would end Voldemort's reign of terror? We know the truth of the prophecy. We despair over the obstacles that must be overcome if Harry is to rid the world of this mass murderer. How will he find the Horcruxes he needs in order to break the dark magic spell? What will be sacrificed -- and who will make those sacrifices? Dumbledore was so very right... "dark and difficult times...."



Throughout it all, we love reading about Harry and his friends, whether they are happy, sad, triumphant, or grumpy. He has become one of our best friends, too. And as long as we have him on our bookshelves, we'll never have to tell him goodbye.


This July, be sure to get a copy of J.K. Rowling's book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Don't miss the excitement of the concluding book. The series may finish, but the adventure will never end.

And don't forget to visit the Cupboard Under the Stairs....