Today was the first time I ever flew on a propeller plane. On our way back to Madison from North Carolina, the second leg of the trip was on a little Jetstream 41. Every other small plane I had been on before that one had jets. It was a different (loud) experience. The plane flies at a much lower altitude, and since it was such a clear day today, we could see the ground the whole way. Cailin pointed out a lot of interesting geomorpholological features in the landscape, which added some intellectual interest to the inherent visual beauty. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera, so there are no photos to share of the experience.

Being in North Carolina was fantastic, too. I hadn’t seen my brother- and sister-in-law, Jon and Joanna, since they drove through on the way to Minnesota last Christmas. That visit was so short, it hardly counted. This trip more than made up for that, with three-and-a-half solid days of hanging out. Their house is great– very cozy, very welcoming. Since Cailin and I were the only ones actually staying at the house, we got to spend some time alone with them, which I loved. I got to just sit and talk to them, which Joanna and I used to do quite a bit when we were at Carleton, but it was kind of the first time with Jon. I only started to get to know him at the end of school, and then we all graduated. Anyway, this whole weekend I felt like I was surrounded by one of the most supportive groups of people in my life right now: Cailin, Joanna, and Jon were all there when I first was working on children’s books, and they know it is something I really want to do. Not that other people don’t know, it is just that they weren’t *there* when I started. It reminds me that I am not starting from scratch.

It was fun to see everyone else, too. There were, of course, the typical family fuses that sometimes got a little short, but overall, everyone got along really well, and it seemed to me that everyone enjoyed themselves. Besides, none of them are my “immediate” family, so there was nobody around to push my buttons.

I did some doodling, of course, which included some sketches for Jon and his brew crew friends’ brewing label, “More Smarter.” I will probably post something when I have something more polished to show. And I thought more about book ideas. Always thinking about book ideas.

Oh, yeah! Dinner! Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic! Jon’s older sister’s boyfriend’s cousin has a turkey farm in NC called Matzah Rising Farm, where they bought a 19 lbs. turkey that had to be about 18 lbs. breast meat. Not that I ate any, but that was some good turkey. Joanna had made some yummy cranberries with pears and apples earlier, and she also made some great, fresh green beans with sautéed onions. Julia (Jon’s younger sister) made two kinds of dressing, which were both incredible: one was a sausage dressing with fennel that tasted really good, and the other was a chestnut dressing of which I probably ate half over the course of the weekend. And there were some team-effort sweet potatoes that Cailin and Joanna’s step-mom put together with some chipotles and cinnamon. Those were really good. I made the rolls, which I thought came out a little dry, but everyone else complimented them profusely. I’m probably paranoid, but it sounded like a lot of talk. It’s okay: I like to make bread enough that I’ll do it again regardless of the paranoia.

I got to meet Eric Rohmann Monday night. Cailin emailed me (subject: “You HAVE to go to this”) about a talk he was giving regarding the process of making a children’s picture book. If you don’t know Rohmann’s work, there is a lot of super-quality stuff to look at:

• Time Flies was his first book, which won a Caldecott Honor medal
• My Friend Rabbit won the 2003 Caldecott Medal
• Pumpkinhead is his latest book, and it is a beautiful, dark, intimate little book that appeals to my printmaking leanings
• See a more complete list on Amazon

He was a great speaker, very funny and engaging, and he made himself very accessible, especially for a man who recently won the Caldecott. After his talk he laid out a bunch of originals and some of the plates from his block-printed books. I stared for a while, drinking in the simplicity of the process. He just makes stuff the same way I make stuff: you paint something or carve a block, you fix it or tweak it or start over until you have something you are satisfied with. Then you do it again. Okay that is oversimplification, but the point is this: it is not magic.

After he was done signing books and chatting enthusiastically with each person as he did so, he took some extra time to look at some books that a man has brought for him to look at. They were his students’ books, but he thought Eric Rohmann might have advice as to what to do with them. Rohmann took a good 15 minutes to discuss things with the gentleman, and then I bent his ear for at least another 15 minutes while he packed up his originals and got ready to leave.

I wasn’t quite out of questions, so I screwed up my courage and offered to buy this 2003 Caldecott Medal winner a beer. He said sure! So he and a very cool woman named Anna (who was his contact with the sponsors of the event) and I went over to the Great Dane for some brewpub beer and more shop talk. It was awesome!

I took a few important points away from the evening. One thing that Mr. Rohmann kept saying is that there are two major barriers to getting a children’s book published: 1) not writing it down, and 2) not sending it in. I’m making headway on (1), and as soon as I have it written down in a mock-up (a.k.a. “dummy”), I’ll start in on (2).

Another important point I took away is that everyone has a slightly different process, and you have to let whatever works for you be your process. I think he was saying it was Eric Carle (it may have been Maurice Sendak) who has to write the whole story first, then work on the images. Otherwise, if he does a good painting, it may mask the some not-so-good writing. That is most likely the way I would approach a more traditional book, and it is the process I am working through right now with my latest idea. Though for my Dickies book, I think the medium (my old pants) dictated a lot about how the story would be told. The pictures and the story were tied to each other. That is the way the Rohmann said he has to work– the story and the pictures in his books are intertwined. His visuals often drive the story.

Anyway, this is a way of publicly thanking you, Eric Rohmann, for being a real person. It was fantastic to meet you, and inspiring and encouraging, and I am sure I will never forget it.

Okay, now that I have resurected the blog, I thought I’d lay out some background for this project:

• I am trying to record some of the things that make my life interesting. My goal is not to tell you how much I loved that Kit Kat bar I had after lunch, but rather to keep a record of some the events that make what I am doing worth remebering. Or funny– I’ll do funny if it is something that makes me laugh.
• In my world, funny may include puns. “The lowest form of humor, and the highest form of wit,” as they say.
• I work as a web programmer for Planet Propaganda, in Madison, WI. While I am in good company, I do not really get to do any design here. I am surrounded by fantastic designers, and fantastic people in general, and it makes this job a great one to come to every day. But I don’t do the pretty stuff; I make the pretty stuff work. Mostly ASP, PHP, SQL Server, and MySQL. Some (x)HTML, CSS, and JavaScript thrown into the mix, too, of course. I may use some acronyms from time to time.
• I am also an aspiring children’s book author and ilustrator. I know that doesn’t make me that special, as there are many aspiring children’s book authors and illustrators out there, but as a part of this Storytime blog, I intend to document my progress in this endeavor.
• I am also a children’s book reader. I love picture books and novels for children. Yes, I am a lemming: I read the Harry Potter books avidly. But I also genuinely enjoy J.K. Rowling’s storytelling ability, so I am not all lemming. The His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman series is another favorite.

Well, that is a little bit of background, but it is not my entire life’s story. I probably won’t get into all the gory details, but you may piece a little more of me together over time as you read. Thanks for coming.