a few photo moments from days past

In my hurry through life I have, in some ways, been neglecting this blog and my blogger friends.  For that, I ask forgiveness.  This morning I'm about to head off to the library to collect a good dozen new books, but before I do I wanted to stop and share these moments from the past few weeks.

The first several shots take place at the Exton Barnes & Noble, where K.M. Walton brought a number of area YA and children's book writers together for what was a genuinely good time.  We're all together in that first shot—K.M. Walton, Elisa Ludwig, Amy Garvey, E.C. Myers, Monica Carnesi, Ame Dyckman, Dianne Salerni, and me.  And then there's Ame (who got a fantastic New York Times Book Review assessment of her Boy + Bot just last week), Elisa, and Eugene.

The next three shots were taken this past Tuesday, during my travels down Locust Walk and toward my classroom at 3808 Walnut Street.  The final image in that series is deliberately blurry; suffice it to say, we had a party and we celebrated with a little food and a handmade book containing the images and words of each student.

Finally, here is Cyndi Reeves, an expert on the novella form and a professor at Rosemont College.  She invited some of us to celebrate the author and professor Michael Martone, and that was where I was Tuesday evening, after hugging my students goodbye.  Cyndi is an extraordinary hostess and cook, and I thought of her eggplant, lamb, asparagus, salad, and pine-nut cookies long after the night was over.