SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

and i'm very proud of myself on this one, because i think i sound much more intelligent and knowledgable than i actually am

until only 4 or 5 days ago, i knew nothing of babylon. i mean nothing. -except that it's in the title of one of david gray's songs..

but in a recent conversation with my neighbor, when i shared with her my personal financial strategy:

"hit it big!"

she ran inside her house and brought me back a book off her shelf called: the richest man in babylon.

i read it in 1 day; soaking up as much financial wisdom as i could.

but where it really came in handy was with the issue of the new yorker that showed up in my mailbox, like, that day!

i went straight to the cartoon caption contest.. and i do not come write out with 'em like my daughter, i had to play around some with the order of the words, but check it out:

"once used, i'm told, for handwriting on the wall papers of babylon"

-not bad, huh

First time off the couch?

so i called my daughter in my room, showed her the cartoon caption contest in the back of the new yorker. said, "you have a thought for this one?" -and in no time, she was out with a winner. -i laughed on the spot. "write that down, i'll frame it for you!"

i've been getting my new yorkers from the pleasanton library. at the library i can stack up on the new yorker and smithsonians for only 25 cents each, and it does my heart good to purchase anything these days on the honor system.

a small treasure chest with a slot for inserting coins or folded bills sits next to the rack of donated magazines and they just trust you to put a quarter or more in for each magazine you take home.

that part is wonderful, the bummer part is that when you are paying a quarter for donated magazines, they are often a bit outdated, and it was too late to send in my daughter's winning entry.

but it is so much fun, the cartoon caption contest. i've decided to subscribe today, in large part because i want to challenge and excite my daughter this way..

"we'll get you in the new yorker in 2008!" i've proclaimed. and already i can't wait for our first new yorker to arrive in the mail. my own goal is the publication of one of my poems..

the bar is set very high for both of us..

we wouldn't have it any other way.