As promised here are some photographs from behind the scenes at the Peabody Museum. I asked permission to take the photographs. The woman said yes, but only if they are not for commercial purposes. They okayed them for a blog so I am posting them, but I added an unsightly total pain-in-the-butt watermark to prevent their commercial use by anyone else.

In the back room they have these special filing cabinets filled to the brim with stuffed birds, feathers, and even extinct birds like the Ivory-billed woodpecker in the top photograph. It made the news not long ago when someone thought they spotted it--alive. That sent a bunch of researchers hunting for the bird and recording its call. Sadly, it turned out to be a sneaky pileated woodpecker. The Senior Collections Manager opened a jar and uncoiled an octopus' arm. I really wanted to touch it to feel how gushy it was, but I was so busy trying to take the picture that by the time I was all set the arm was getting coiled back in the jar of liquid and it was too late. Artists sometimes come in and use these birds as models for accurate scientific drawings.

Today, I volunteered at the CT Children's Book Fair. I had a fun social task of asking everyone how they heard about the book fair. The majority said "we come every year." One Italian lady totally cracked me up. When she saw Clifford, the big red dog, she squealed with delight. I couldn't help but say, "now who is more excited here?" It reminded me of something I might of done when my kids were little. I also ran into a couple of people from town and I spoke with a woman from the New England Independent Book Association who happened to have positioned herself by the door where I was standing. I was heartened to see an entire table of nonfiction books.

Today I spent four hours volunteering at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair at UConn. It was somewhat dismal to hear that the number of people attending had dropped significantly from last year despite what looked like a lot of people in the ballroom. I met a writer who lives in the adjacent town and also an illustrator who lives across the river. Unfortunately, I didn't give myself much time to pour over the offerings. I picked up an autographed "aggressive read" for my niece for Christmas. Hope she is not reading this!

Through Facebook, I was invited to join a social networking site that high school students from Silver Creek High School in Indiana are part of. I'm not quite sure what this means, but it sounded like a really good way for students and writers to converge in cyberspace. I was glad to help. What a great idea!

Aside from that I have got to get looking through online supply catalogs for weird things like plaster, magnet sheets, and an ink pad or two.

I am itching to get back into research and writing which I've put aside for a while. I've also been contemplating whether I should delve into the work-for-hire stuff that everyone else does. But, I am not someone who does thing just because everyone else does.

Tomorrow, I'm volunteering again at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair up at UConn.

I found this very unusual, but attractive dragonfruit at the grocery store so yesterday, it turned into a breakfast of exploration. How does one eat this thing? I could have cheated and gone on the internet and looked it up like I do everything else, but it was more fun to figure it out. First I tried peeling it, but that didn't work. Then I sliced into it and ended up with two speckled eggs with fuschia shells. The shells easily peeled off. Despite its flare, the fruit was rather bland, like a kiwi soaked in water. You have to admit, that is one neat looking fruit with a cool name.

On the writing front, we're finally narrowing down a crit date, hopefully next week. I've signed up to help with the Connecticut Children's Book Fair held at Uconn November 14-15 from 8:30-5PM. Currently, I'm reading some interesting recently published nonfiction written as a story.

More on the book fair.......Dressed as Strega, I shook Jerry Pinkney's hand and he let out a hearty laugh. Maybe my chin was falling off. At one point, a coop worker whispered that to me. At the end of the evening a woman was needling me about who I was. Are you an author? Do you work for the bookstore? Who are you? As Strega I was not supposed to talk, but finally, I admitted I was a writer and that I write science articles. Her husband had self published a book and had no idea how to get it into bookstores. Don't look at me, I haven't a clue (but I could find out if I needed the information). Anyhow, I mentioned SCBWI, NESCBWI, and google searches. Based on that conversation, I don't think I'd ever suggest to anyone that they self-publish. I feel I've learned so much over the years that if I'd have done that right off the bat, the book would likely be ok at best.

Today I combed through a hardware store and a party store in search of ways to do that last activity for my jellyfish class. I can't just do the paper/paper plate stuff that everyone else does. Oh no, that's too normal. When my daughter played soccer, all the other moms brought grapes and sliced oranges. If it tells you anything, I was the one who brought the fruit kebabs.

Volunteering at the book fair turned out to be a good time. If I'm free and I remember, I'll volunteer again next year. I handed out programs and counted people as they entered. When two guys said they didn't want a program because they were "doing something in the back of the room," I knew I tried to pawn off a program on a couple of authors. Oops. Little did I realize I'd get recruited to parade around as Strega Nona (the portly one on the right). Real attractive, let me tell ya. The job consisted of waving, shaking hands, and hugging kids. Not too tough.
Later in the event, the room emptied, so I sought out the arts and crafts table. I found that surprising a kid by tapping him on the shoulder doesn't work. The kid started crying. Oops. Some kids recognized my character and gave me big hugs while others sought refuge behind their parent's legs. When the clock struck 5:00, Strega turned back into Linda. This was not an easy transformation. The helpers were gone and I was alone with this hot costume and a myriad of hooks and snaps on my back that I couldn't reach - trapped as Strega! Finally, I got some help and went in the "makeshift changing area." I purposely waited for a guy in the hall to clear out of the way before quickly changing. Sure enough, he walks by just as I finished. Phew!

As for nonfiction books - I was dismayed to find very few being offered. I tried to find out why that was, but didn't really get a good answer. As far as science offerings, I don't believe I saw any books.

I holed up in my bedroom for an hour this evening and spent the time thinking. It was time well spent. I came up with two ideas for my jellyfish class. The first is a matching game where the kids will become molecular biologists. They'll find a certain glowing gene in a jellyfish's DNA, then they'll insert it into a mouse's DNA. Sounds complex, but really it isn't. The second idea will give them the capability to bring disease to a mouse, then cure it. Still thinking about how best to do this one - as in what materials to use.............

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair for a few hours. I took my kids there once and it was mobbed. I'll be the door greeter and working at the arts and crafts table. I'm actually looking forward to being among similar minded beings. After reading about the participants, I was disappointed to see there doesn't appear to be a single nonfiction author attending. I will have to find out why that is.