Poetry Friday: Anne Bradstreet

The Author to Her Book
by Anne Bradstreet

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
The visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

Button, Button, I’VE Got the Button!

You may recall my plea a while back for someone out there to design a nice button for the Carnival of Children’s Literature. Well, Alice Cantrell (author of the lovely book Sewing with Saint Anne) graciously obliged, thus making my day.

Do you see it, there in my sidebar? Isn’t it scrumptious? And if you click on it, you’ll go to our archives at BlogCarnival, where you can see all the past editions of the Carnival of Children’s Lit—and (hint hint) can also submit a post to the next edition, which will be hosted at Wands & Worlds on Sept. 23rd.

Alice, thanks so much for your beautiful contribution to the kidlitosphere.

*Meant to say: feel free to grab the button for your own sidebar!

WikiMapia, or Yet Another Way to Spend Half Your Morning on the Computer

Ohhhh, this is too much fun. Scott sent us a link to the WikiMap view of the house we’ll soon be renting, and just like that, a new addiction is born. The kids and I just spent the entire morning looking at aerial views of, well, everywhere.

We found our current house in Virginia and Scott’s new California office. Look, girls, there’s Daddy’s roof! Beanie was pretty sure she could see him waving. We scouted the whereabouts of parks and libraries in the neighborhood we’re moving to next month. I may not be packed yet, but doggonit I know how to get to the library in my new hometown. And the Target, and the nearest Catholic church. Yes, we have mapped out our own little baseball diamond of essentials: first base, second base, third base, home plate. Best part: there’s a Schlotzsky’s in the infield.

And the outfield? Great googly-moogly!

Coast2

And because it’s a wiki, you can add your own labels and landmarks to the map, too. People from all over the world are entering the names of churches, schools, hospitals, parks, recreation areas,  and stores. Oh, and also: Ashley’s house. I don’t know which Ashley. But her house is in my outfield.