It’s that time of year again - time for the Summer Blog Blast Tour!  I’m not interviewing anyone this time around, but I’ll be posting links here daily.  To whet your appetite, here’s a list of planned interviews:

Monday

Adam Rex at Fuse Number 8
David Almond at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast
R.L. Lafevers at Finding Wonderland
Dave Schwartz at Shaken & Stirred
Elizabeth Scott at Bookshelves of Doom
Laurie Halse Anderson at Writing & Ruminating
Susan Beth Pfeffer at Interactive Reader

Tuesday

Ben Towle at Chasing Ray
Sean Qualls at Fuse Number 8
Susane Colasanti at Bildungsroman
Robin Brande at Hip Writer Mama
Susan Beth Pfeffer at The YA YA YAs
Debby Garfinkle at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy

Wednesday

Delia Sherman at Chasing Ray
Ingrid Law at Fuse Number 8
Polly Dunbar at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Tera Lynn Childs at Bildungsroman
Siena Cherson Siegel at Miss Erin
Barry Lyga at At Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Thursday

Elisha Cooper at Chasing Ray
Dar Williams at Fuse Number 8
Jennifer Bradbury at Bildungsroman
E. Lockhart at The YA YA YAs
Mary Hooper at Miss Erin

Friday

Varian Johnson at Finding Wonderland
Jincy Willet at Shaken & Stirred
John Grandits at Writing & Ruminating
Meg Burden at Bookshelves of Doom
Gary D. Schmidt at Miss Erin

Vergil’s Aeneid, Book I, Lines 8 - 11

LATIN (from The Latin Library):
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores               10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?  

ENGLISH (from Me!):
Muse, remind me of the reasons, by what slight to her divinity,
or grieving what thing, the queen of the gods drove a man 
distinguished by his piety to undergo so many misfortunes,
to undertake so many labors.  Is there such great anger in heavenly hearts?

Other Vergil posts:
Aeneid I.1-7
Aeneid I.12-18

April is National Poetry Month, and during this time many bloggers celebrate NaPoWriMo: National Poetry Writing Month.

I, however, will be doing NaPoTraMo - National Poetry Translation Month.  I will be giving you an excerpt from Vergil’s Aeneid each day throughout the month of April.  First I’ll post the Latin (from The Latin Library) and then give you my English. 

LATIN:
 Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,               5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.

ENGLISH:
I sing of arms and a man, who first from the shores of Troy
came, exiled by fate, to Italy and the Lavinian
shores, that man much tossed about on both earth and sea
by the force of the gods on account of the remembering anger of savage Juno;
having suffered much also even in war, until he could found the city,
and bring his gods into Latium, from whence came the Latin race,
the Alban fathers, and the walls of lofty Rome. 

(, this should look familiar; they are lyrics in "Spring Awakening.")

Other Vergil posts:
Aeneid I.8-11
Aeneid I.12-18

Let's say I wanted to gain expertise in a certain area of children's/YA lit.  Say, I don't know, modern books about the ancient world - especially Greece and Rome.  Mythology and history both.  How would I go about staying abreast of new releases that would fall into my area of expertise?  Catalogs?  Reviews in the Horn Book?  Something else?  All suggestions are welcome!  Also suggestions of older books that fall into this domain are GREATLY appreciated.  (Already know Percy Jackson etc, plus Nobody's Princess and related books.  Oh, and Iris, Messenger.)

I just finished reading The Lightning Thief.  I won’t be reviewing it here, as I’m saving it for my new project in media res (more to come on that later), but I love it.  Rick Riordan is my hero.  I want to write books like THAT.  Also, I think I maybe would like to work with middle school students.

I knew I would love The Lightning Thief, because of the premise, and then because of the first page, but I really truly loved it on page 2, when Percy Jackson declared his Latin teacher cool and confessed that Latin was the only class in which he could stay awake.  As a “cool” Latin teacher of students with ADHD, I was so there.

Also, I like to pretend I’m a descendant of Athena.

Also also, it made me immensely happy that Rick Riordan’s description of Hades sounded just like my boyfriend, except  with long hair.

So, yeah.  That is my PERSONAL response to The Lightning Thief.  You can expect my professional response mid-July, when I launch in media res.  At that point I’m hoping to have some lesson ideas - not full on plans, but ideas - related to the book, as well as my in depth “How useful is this for teaching kids ancient culture?” review.

Tomorrow is March 15, which on the Roman calendar was known as the Ides of March. Now, the Ides are only on the 15th in March, May, July and October. The rest of the year, they are on the 13th. But in March, they are the 15, and it was on March 15, 44 B. C. (709 AUC, for those of you using the Roman calendar) that Gaius Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times at the foot of the statue of Pompey, his rival in the Civil War.

William Shakespeare was a Latin teacher before he was an actor or playwright, and as such he was no doubt well-educated in Roman history. So he had a lot of knowledge to draw on when he wrote his play, Julius Caesar. Today, in honor/mourning of the death of a man who was at least very smart, if not very nice, I give you selections from Shakespeare’s play.

Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; * * Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.

• Act II, Scene 2.

  I could be well mov’d if I were as you; If I could pray to move, prayers would move me; But I am constant as the northern star, * * Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are painted with unnumber’d sparks, They are all fire and every one doth shine, * * But there’s but one in all doth hold his place: So, in the world; ’tis furnish’d well with men, And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive; Yet in the number I do know but one * * That unassailable holds on his rank, Unshak’d of motion: and that I am he, Let me a little show it, even in this, That I was constant Cimber should be banish’d, * *

And constant do remain to keep him so.

• Act III, Scene 1

If you haven’t been watching it, you should check out the LiveJournal community . This is a community for writers of urban fantasy/horror. Recently they’ve focused their discussion on the topic of why they write about the creatures they do. I’ve really enjoyed reading their responses.

Last week I tried to have a kick a day.  I’m going to go for the same thing this week.  We’ll see how it works out.

1. On Sunday, I got out of rehearsal an hour early.
2. On Monday, I did really well in dance class and my parents brought me hushpuppies.
3. On Tuesday, I had no meetings.
4. On Wednesday, we only had students for half a day. And when you’re used to a 90 minute class, 55 minutes flies by.
5. On Thursday, I gave a test in two of my classes, which is always nice because it makes for a low-energy day.
6. On Friday, I saw The Princess Bride on the big screen at the Carolina Theatre.  And found out they will have Space Balls, The Secret of NIMH, and Terminator showing in the near future.  Also a friend was working the concessions stand.
7. Yesterday, I spent $4 and got a whole pizza for it, because Will’s dad gave him a gift card and we ordered 3 pizzas and I only had to pay the difference on the order between the gift card amount and the total.

That is all.

1. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston
   2. Craft, Inc., Meg Mateo Ilasco
   3. Indigara, Tanith Lee
   4. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
   5. Jessie’s Mountain, Kerry Madden
   6. Finding Serenity, Jane Espenson and Glenn Yeffeth, ed.
   7. Valiant, Holly Black [Audio CD] 

Seven good things this week:

1. At last week’s music rehearsal for my current production, I was ready to put down my score and sing from memory.  This meant I was ahead of the game, as we didn’t have to be able to do that until just today.

2. I got to rehearse my half a line on Monday night.

3. On Tuesday, I relaxed in the afternoon.

4. On Wednesday, I had a very productive meeting with some colleagues from across the whole school system.

5. Also on Wednesday at a curriculum fair, I talked to several potential new students and their parents, as well as meeting some parents of former/current students.  What was especially nice was being able to talk to a parent of a student who struggled in classes with me last year who is doing very well with the other Latin teacher this year.  It was nice to be able to tell her how genuinely pleased I am that he’s doing so well.

6. On Friday I had some amazingly delicious vegetarian pot pie.

7. Last night I went to the theatre and it was phenomenal. 

I could actually list more: standing up for myself in a situation I wouldn’t have a year ago, the fact that my roommate and his colleagues had an article published which meant they celebrated which meant he brought home cake…  Lots more.  Yay for good weeks, especially when it looked like it was going to be a stressful week.