4th of July Bits and Pieces…

4th of July in 2007

Shirts. Grandma (my mother) loved to buy Old Navy Independence Day shirts for the grandkids (my kiddos). I don’t know how many we have, but they came in handy two years ago. My second child had a little thing going with a teacher one year where he’d earn points for wearing an American flag shirt. One time, he wore at least three them to have fun with his teacher. This isn’t the kind of kid who likes school — quite the opposite. It warmed my heart to see him having fun with a teacher like that. I also have a daughter — the oldest of the three — but never got a pic of her in a flag shirt. She was usually away at camp.

4th of July in 2004

Living in DC. Living in Washington, DC had one cool benefit — July 4th. Husband and I didn’t fight the traffic or try to go to the Independence Day celebration on the capitol lawn. Instead, we went to a special spot next to the Anacostia River and caught the fireworks there. No traffic. I lived in DC the year that Patti LuPone did the show — man, I would’ve loved to see her in person. Me + crowd = disaster.

Traditions. On 4th of Julys while growing up, my family went to a good friend’s house with a huge backyard, swimming pool and gazebo. Sadly, my family doesn’t have any Independence Day traditions. Our town has a parade every year, but kids don’t care to go. We went once and that was that. At least, we experienced it.

To celebrate our country’s 234th, we’ll probably grill some food, swim and go to a parking lot that has a good view of the fireworks without the traffic.

Cool Mental Floss factoids:

• “AEGILOPS is the longest English word spelled in alphabetical order. In a sentence: ‘Wow, the letters in Aegilops are in ABC order!’” It’s a genus of plants.
• “In a 2003 Deloitte survey on business speak, ‘leverage’ was voted the most hated word, followed by ‘bandwidth’ & ‘touch base.’ I always try to find other words to use besides “leverage” and those aren’t great options either — “maximize” and “make the most of.” Ick.

LOTS of links this week since many folks are taking a long weekend.

Brain food…

• Ask Not What Your Novel Can Do For You: Fabulous tips for authors on blog tours. [Link: Elizabeth Craig]
• Features and Benefits Are So 2009. Sell To Driving Emotion: I love the hole / drill analogy. This tells me I need to finish reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion [Amazon affiliate link]. Keep getting busy with book club books.
• Memoir Tip: Lose the Play-by-Play: Superb advice. It is hard to avoid I did this, then this even if you tell it like a story. [Link: Jane Friedman]
• Summer Reading Picks from various authors: Not your usual or expected reading list from Harvard Business Review. I read Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning [Amazon affiliate link] in college. Maybe it’d have more meaning today as I’m older and not facing a thousand pages of required reading per week. Of course, I have Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write [Amazon affiliate link], but haven’t read it yet. And of course, a newly revised edition came out in May after I got my copy.
• 50 Things You Can Control Right Now: We experience days when something throws a wrench in our plans that we think our lives are spiraling out of our control. This is a great list to review whenever you feel this way. [Link: Susan Fletcher] And 50 Things to Love About Life That Are Free.
• 57 Power Words for Writing Brilliant Headlines: Organized by theme, too.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 of the Weirdest Soccer Goals of All Times: In honor of World Cup even though USA lost.
• Passion and Imagination in African Football: Incredible and moving pictures. [Link: Nieman Story]
• Imperial Tea Time: Just an awe-struck photo of two Darth Vaders during tea time. Or perhaps, you prefer Star Wars Lego Foosball Table?
• 15 Hilarious Dogs in Costume: Oh my gosh… some creative ones there.
• Gorgeous Red Color Inspired Photography: I love red.
• How 7 Summer Barbecue Staples Got Their Names: Hamburgers were not originally made with ham.
• Name All the States That End with “A” in four minutes. Dang it. I missed six <pout>.
• 8 Countries with Fascinating Baby Naming Laws: ‘Cuz I love anything names.
• 10 Hilarious Amazon Reviews: Gotta applaud these folks for creativity.

What country holiday traditions do you have?

Meryl's Dad with his parents

My dad wasn’t an outdoorsy beyond playing sports. Yet, he once took me fishing at a nearby lake. I don’t recall the lake or the actual time spent fishing. The picture that comes to mind is us leaving our home and getting in the car. We also had a great conversation because he taught me a new vocabulary word. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the word — just the experience of being with him and learning something.

I asked my mom about it. She said he took me to Lake Weatherford to swim and maybe Benbrook Lake to fish. (Both in Fort Worth, TX, area.) I learned something new about my dad. He liked fishing and used to go deep-sea fishing with his Uncle Abe and David in Atlantic City (Dad was from Brooklyn).

Brain food…

• What It Takes to Be an Agent: Love books, but don’t want to be an author? Learn about agentdom (or agenthood?).
• 4 Detective Tricks to Find Your Customers in Social Media: One of the key things businesses need to do before diving in social media is know where their target market hangs out online. Of course, you can jump into something and be an early adopter, but you still need to know this information before you plan.
• Pros and Cons of an MFA: Cute cartoon. I’d love to get an MFA or MLA in the future. I hope by the time I’m ready that there’s a local program or an online program (without video lectures) that fits. Why do I want to do it? Practice, feedback, challenge and education. [Link: Elizabeth Craig]
• How to Stand out on LinkedIn: Authored by LinkedIn VP, Steve Patrizi. Meryl’s LinkedIn here.
• A Writer’s Serenity Prayer: Rough day? Read this inspirational post.
• 5 Lies Unpublished Writers Tell Themselves (and the Truths That Can Get Them Published): #3 is my favorite.
• 12 Ways to Market Your Book by Giving Away Free Stuff. It can work… when done right and the article gives great examples. I don’t fall for those $300 worth of freebies, which includes a bunch of ebooks, articles and other stuff I never get around to reading.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Rubikcubism: Space invaders, Pac-man, Mona Lisa… who knew the befuddling Rubik’s Cube could do so many things. Beware that some of the pictures may not be safe for work. [Link: Bit Rebels]
• 65+ Incredible Soccer Action Shots and Portraits and World Cup Stop Motion Made with Lego – USA vs England: In honor of the World Cup action. [First link: bkmacdaddy]
• Super Mario Sticky Note Stop Motion: Wow, that’s patience.
• Hello Kitty Now in Star Wars and Star Trek: Amazing what adding a little ribbon does for Darthy’s personality. Too cute. My husband — father of our three children — loves Star Wars and Star Trek. So here’s 18 Astonishing Star Wars Sand Sculptures from BitRebels (obviously, I love this site) in his honor.
• A Geeky Stop Motion Animation Created With Fire: Cool. Just cool.

Share a memory of your father or a male role model.

This review covers two children’s books based on the movie of the same name: Kicking & Screaming: The Comeback Kids and Kicking & Screaming: My Dad, the Coach. The books target kids ages four through eight, use color photos from the movie and readable text for emerging readers.

In Kicking & Screaming: The Comeback Kids, the Tigers soccer team loses every game and have few skills to help them win. To make things worse, the dad who becomes coach knows little about the sport. Dad gets lucky because famous football coach, Mike Ditka, lives next door and agrees to help coach the team. After giving motivational speeches and putting the team through drills, the Tigers still lose games.

Ditka has an idea. He introduces the coach Dad to two kids who work in their uncle’s butcher shop. Soon enough, the team learns the new kids play well and begins winning games. The coaches tell the boys to get the ball to the two kids and let them take care of the rest.

Kicking & Screaming: My Dad, the Coach begins with Sam’s grandfather trading him from the first place Gladiators soccer team to the worst team in the league, the Tigers. Team doesn’t have a coach. So Sam’s dad steps into the coaching role and recruits two talented players who lead the team to its first win. Soon, Dad becomes all about winning just like his father, Sam’s grandfather.

The story is similar to The Comeback Kids except it focuses on Dad’s coaching and his growing desire to win while sacrificing teamwork. The Comeback Kids highlights the team and the road they take to start winning games.

The books, like the movie, won’t be classic. They’re somewhat awkward as the author has the challenge of translating the movie into books for easy readers. They teach about competition, good sportsmanship and teamwork. The two books are much alike, so one or the other would be enough if you want to invest in an average children’s book.

Though Meryl was a competitive athlete while growing up, as a parent, she’s appalled by what’s happening in kids’ sports and how parents have become obsessed with their children excelling. Hey, remember, “Fun?”

Title: Kicking and Screaming: My Dad the Coach
Title: Kicking and Screaming: The Comeback Kids
Author: Catherine Hapka
Publisher: Harper Kids Entertainmnet
ISBN: 0060772557 (My Dad, the Coach)
ISBN: 0060772549 (The Comeback Kids)
Date: April 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 32
Recommended ages: 4 – 8
Price: Cover: USD$3.99 Amazon: $3.99 (Dad)
Price: Cover: USD$3.99 Amazon: $3.99 (Comeback Kids)