Category Archives: Uncategorized

Poetry — or rather a close facsimile thereof

Just wrote a poem in 15 minutes with an awesome seminar sponsored by the Modernists exhibition at the Susquehanna Art Museumhttps://www.susquehannaartmuseum.org/gall…/the-modernists/Albert Bloch’s Duell was my inspiration… Needs polish, but here it is:

Thank you Maria James-Thiaw for leading this amazing workshop! Also thanks to Dauphin County Library system for letting me know about it!

In Reaction To Duell

The men stood facing their ends
Anger and arrogance lends
The woman whom both desire
The source of their fire
the source of the rage.
Three, two, one! Called at last
The roar sounded, then the echoes of the blast.
The men remained standing, in the dust.
Their love, the trophy of their lust
Lay dead, with one shouting agony.
And the other feeling “I won.”
The watchers loiter and depart
and sadness grips their heart.

Duell by Albert Bloch 1912

John Connolly is coming to BAM in Harrisburg, PA (my backyard)

John has a great track record of coming into the Harrisburg area, and I met him in 2003 when he was promoting Bad Men. I enjoyed spending time with him and talking about Trinity College, Temple Bar, the Botanical gardens, and Irish expatriates in Germany.

His latest Charlie Parker novel, The Wolf in Winter is what he is promoting and I am very interested in reading this one.

He will be at BAM (Book A Million) in Harrisburg at 7:00pm pm on 11/24/2014.

 

Rain Dragon Rescue Releases January 28th 2014!

Suzanne Selfors has a new book coming out, and my son is pretty excited! This is book three of the Imaginary Veterinary series, which started with the Sasquatch Escape, and was quickly followed by the Lonely Lake Monster.

My son and I first read Smells Like Dog a couple of years ago. It is a wonderful book with interesting quirky characters, mysterious places, adventure, and yes, treasure. We were both hooked on her writing from there and read the next two books in that series Smells like Treasure and Smells like Pirates. All outstanding books, and I think that there may be a fourth book on the horizon in that series as well.

One of the small things which caught my attention was the introduction to Smells Like Dog, Selfors assures the reader that nothing bad will happen to Dog, which is a very calming thing for younger readers of an tale of adventure and misdeeds by the villains and sometime friends of the hero, Homer. It was an endearing statement.

Regardless, if you have kids (or even if you don’t 😉 ) this new book will be out soon, so if they haven’t read them, pick up the first two and get ready to explore the world of Buttonville!

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More information is on SuzanneSelfors.com

Cub Scout Pack project – Rocket Car!

I have found this cool project on Home Science Tools  and was really pumped to share this with the Cub Scouts for which I am the new Cubmaster. Here’s a quick step by step for how to build a balloon powered rocket car.

First off we need a plastic water or soda bottle (500ml or 16.9 oz depending on your favorite measurement system).

You will also need 5 beverage straws, one wooden shish-kabob skewer, 4 water bottle caps (wheels), a balloon, and duct or masking tape.

Tools will be a nail, hammer, knife, and scissors.

First step is to cut one beverage straw into two bottle width lengths.

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Second step is to use a hammer and small nail to put the hole in the wheels (bottle caps).

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Make sure the nail is a bit narrower than the skewer.  If it is not, you will need some modeling clay, or some form of glue to adhere the wheel to the axle (skewer).

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After putting one wheel on each axle, you will then attach the cut straws on the bottom of the bottle and attach the other wheel on each axle.

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Following this, you will then stretch out the balloon a bit, by pulling it, and then inflating/deflating the balloon several times to prepare it.DSCN0656

After doing this, you will insert four straws into the balloon and then tape them together.

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After this you will cut a small x in the bottle about 4 inches from the mouth of the bottle and then insert the straws from the cut through the mouth.

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You will then blow into the straw, between breaths pinch the balloon above the straws to seal it and let you inflate another breath into the balloon.

After it is full, set it on a hard surface and let her go.  She should move along the ground powered by the air from the nozzle you built with the straws and the balloon.

Your rocket can be decorated with stickers, paint, or other light weight objects.

Send me pictures of what you have made here