Hello Ello 2

Funniest commercial of the year

2009-12-16T00:10:00.002-05:00

As soon as you watch it, you will know why the Oh family finds it so funny. And that is all the warning you need to know what it is about. he he.

PS - I'm dedicating this video to Mike Jung cause he didn't pick me to win his best title contest even though I had the best title for him. "The Gastacular MagnaniAnus SplendifOdorous Poopoobah Mike Jung." I was robbed I say! Robbed!!!! So I dedicate this video to the Poopoobah.

Tis the season to be grading

2009-12-14T00:10:00.000-05:00

Fa la la la la, La kill me now...

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 36

2009-12-08T00:10:00.000-05:00

One lone, white, fluffy, white rabbit still hops around our neighborhood. The girls have nicknamed him Mimsy. The last Mimsy has graced us with a huge pile of rabbit poop on our little lawn. Hard to believe such a small rabbit could leave behind such a large pile of poo. The girls, of course, thought it was funny, until the other morning.

All three girls were eating coco puffs, letting the round brown balls get soggy in their milk.

Angus - I love coco puffs but they get soggy real fast.

Youngest - Yeah, and they look like rabbit poo poo. (she begins to laugh hysterically and smushes them down in her bowl.) See? They look just like the big pile of poo poo Mimsy left out front.

Oldest - I just lost my appetite.

Angus - Me too.

Youngest - Look, I'm eating rabbit poop! (Opens her mouth filled with brown sludge.)

Oldest and Angus silently lift up their still full bowls and scrape them into the food disposal as Youngest continues to munch on her coco puffs. That's my girl.

Rain/Colbert Dance-off

2009-11-30T15:10:00.003-05:00

Pacatrue reminded me of the Stephen Colbert show's episode with Rain from last year. The background on this, for those who missed it, is that last year Stephen Colbert came in 2nd behind Rain on Time's 100 most influential people in the world. So he challenged Rain to a dance off. Even if you don't like Rain, you gotta love this skit.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Rain Dance-Off

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

U.S. Speedskating

Ninja Assassin

2009-11-30T13:01:00.004-05:00

Just saw Ninja Assassin this weekend. Bloody awful gorefest with some sickening violence that even made me flinch and squirm. But it was all worth it to watch Korean pop singing sensation Rain in his first Hollywood lead role of a major film. Da Man hit me a couple of times when my drooling and deep breathing got a little out of hand.

But then my friend sends me this picture of Rain at Dulles airport in DC.

I'm sure those flowers are for me...

Am in a Monty Python Mood

2009-11-23T14:10:00.002-05:00

I remember watching Monty Python and the Flying Circus on PBS growing up. This was my absolute favorite sketch next to Spam and the Ministry of Silly Walks sketches. And I don't know what would have happened to my sense of humor if I had never seen The Holy Grail or Life of Brian. I wouldn't be half as funny without their influence.

Pete Dudley just linked me up to USAToday articles celebrating their 40th anniversary. Thanks Pete!

Congratulations to the Monty Python troupe for celebrating 40 years of the funniest shows and films ever made!

Lost in Inertia

2009-11-17T12:40:00.006-05:00

For the past few months my blogging activity has been sporadic and my google reader has been set to 1000+ but is more accurately over 5,000 which makes me want to roll up into a fetal position and suck my thumb. I've not been really making rounds to my blogging buddies because it's been feeling a bit overwhelming. Too many posts to read. Too many people to see. Too many things to do. I should just overcome it and attack my google reader but inertia has set in.

So I've been pondering this, wondering what's going on. Used to be the highlight of my week was making the rounds and reading everyone's blog entries. And I know it isn't that I don't care anymore. I'm still intensely interested and I'll find myself clicking over for a quick read here and there. But I'm not commenting a lot, feeling like I don't have much to say. I'm just not as active as before and I don't know if it is laziness or something else.

The more I thought about it, the more I came to a realization that I'm feeling a bit lost. In part it's because I've been trapped in revision purgatory for a year, with this continual feeling of 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I just haven't had anything good to report in so very long. Yes I'll blog about something funny every once in awhile but making the rounds is a conversation. And my conversation has been one note. I can't even say I'm almost done or I hope to be done soon, because I've thought I've been done before and found that I wasn't.

So this is where I'm at. Not bad, but not great. Feeling trapped and wondering if I'll ever get free. Anyone else feel like this? Lost and a bit helpless? And it doesn't help that we are coming up on to the busy holiday season and the busy final season at school. Usually around this time I feel like I'm treading water and I know I'll be busy til the New Year. But until I can finally say I'm done revising and the MS goes back out on submission, I think I'm going to continue to feel trapped in limbo.

But it wasn't all bad. This revision process has been the greatest learning experience of my life. Working with my agent, my wonderful freelance editor, and my crit buddies, I've grown so much as a writer. My MS keeps getting better and better with each revision. I still love it. I can't even say I'm sick of it. I love it cause I basically created the kind of story that I want to read. Mythic, historic, magical, violent, brutal, tender, tragic and uplifting. I'm hoping that one day others will read it and love it too, but until that day, I just have to keep working.

Oldest had to work on her story for her 5th grade writing class the other day and she said to me, "Mom, revising is the hardest part of writing." I said, "You're absolutely right, but revising is where you take your lump of coal and polish out your beautiful diamond." I've been seeing my diamond shining through the coal. I still have a layer of black to polish through, but I know I'll make it. I just have to.

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 36

2009-11-06T10:20:00.004-05:00

I finally caved to all of Oldest's pitiful pleading and allowed her to watch Twilight the movie. The caveat was she had to watch it with me. So I have to admit to finding the movie cheesy and entertaining all at the same time. I think it will be less painful than I thought to watch the next in the series. But there were several points in the plot that I could see Oldest getting squirmy.

Me: What's the matter?

Oldest: It's so much creepier to see it.

Me: See what?

Oldest: He's watching her as she sleeps and she doesn't even know it. That's so creepy. Plus he's wearing pink lipstick.

Me: Yeah, how embarrassing - especially the lipstick part. In fact, I think I have that exact lipstick shade. How embarrassing for me!

Oldest: I would hate having someone staring at me while I sleep. It's too weird and creey.

Me: Not to mention uncomfortable. What if you snore or fart in your sleep?

Oldest: Or pick your nose or scratch your butt or drool all over your pillow, like Angus.

(both of us begin to giggle madly before we are silent again.)

Oldest: Hey Mom, can you do me a favor?

Me: Yeah?

Oldest: Can you promise to never talk like this in front of my friends, ever?

Me: Oh no, are you saying I embarrass you now?

Oldest: Yes, but don't worry, you're not alone, all parents are embarrassing.

Me: I'm hurt.

Oldest: Get over it, you're a grown up.

Me: (sigh) And clearly so are you.

Random Funny Things My Mom Says - Part 3

2009-11-03T00:10:00.002-05:00

I used to date a boy that worked in a pizza parlor.

Mom: Who are you going out with?

Me: Tom

Mom: Pizza boy?

Me (annoyed): At least he's Korean American. Dad threatened to disown me if I didn't date a Korean boy.

Mom: Yes. (long pause) But he's a pizza boy. Why can't you go out with a doctor or a lawyer or ... Well, a doctor or a lawyer.

Me: Sheesh, you're so prejudiced!

Mom: That's not true! I said a lawyer is ok! And you know everyone hates lawyers!

Me: Nice to know how you really feel about lawyers. (I was in law school at the time.)

Mom: They are an unnecessary evil.

Me: Uhhhhhhh, never mind.

Mom: You should have been a doctor.

When Harry Met Sally - vignettes

2009-10-26T00:10:00.001-04:00

My favorite part of When Harry met Sally were the little vignettes of old couples talking about how they met. Two of my favorites are the "We never met" and the "I sneak into her willage" couples. Too cute for words. For years I've been quoting these vignettes all wrong. It's nice to see them again and remember their original charm.

Mr. Nerd

2009-10-23T10:12:00.002-04:00

When I was in college, there was a boy who was possibly the biggest nerd on campus. I use the term nerd in the most affectionate manner for he was a nice nerd. Needy and ugly, but nice. He was especially needy for female affection and would latch on to girls like a crack addict sucking on his crackpipe. He was a true nerd, extremely smart, coke bottle glasses with black frames, button down short sleeve shirts with high waisted pants, and a humongous Frankenstein head. He even had a suitably nerdy name - Eugene. There was no doubt that he was the smartest kid on campus, he physically had the biggest brain.

I'd gone to high school with Eugene and had tolerated him in my half nice/half sarcastic bitch manner. But in college, I didn't have a class with him again until my sophomore year. The first thing I noticed was how big his head looked, but he was still the overly anxious nerdy nice guy that I'd teased before. Not unexpectedly, he latched on to me that semester, even going so far as to take the train home with me and getting off at my station, although I knew he lived 2 stations back. He'd bring me candy and constantly ask me if I were hungry. I sympathized slightly for at the time I was madly in love with Eddie, my Cuban American lab partner in Organic Chemistry. I hated Organic Chemistry but I adored Eddie who was just about the sexiest thing I'd ever seen in my whole life. It was also the start for my love of Cuban food as Eddie would take me to these delicious little Cuban joints in the city. But Eddie was already dating some beautiful theater major over at the Tisch School of Arts, but that didn't stop me from flirting madly with him over our bunsen burners and through our steamy goggles. I never had a real chance with Eddie, his girlfriend was way too possessive, just like Eugene never had a shot with me. But I always thought of Eugene as a nice guy, no matter how irritating he could be.

Fast forward nearly 20 years later. I'm at a reception and I notice a humongous Frankenstein head. There can only be one other head that big. I wander over and lo and behold, it's Eugene. He's gotten stouter and I don't know if memory is playing me false or what but his head looks even bigger. You've got to have some pretty strong neck muscles to hold up a head that big. His glasses are thinner and more fashionable and he is wearing a nice suit, although it doesn't fit him that well. But otherwise, he looks exactly the same. Still ugly.

I smile and saunter over to say hello.

"Eugene!" I say.

His large head swivels over with an imperious twist and he stares at me down the side of his nose. "Yes," he says with quite a sharp and impatient tone."

"It's me, Ellen, from NYU. How are you?"

"Ellen, Ellen, Ellen," he says in this really unctuous tone. "How are you? What do you do now? Did you go to med school?"

"No, I went to law school," I respond, not sure how to take him. He immediately launches into how he went to medical school and has a thriving practice in the area and how his son is a genius pianist who'll probably go to Juliard and his other child will definitely go to Harvard or Yale and then introduced me to his third wife. Yes he told me she's his third wife. All the time, speaking in this arrogant, offensive and belittling manner towards me.

His ego had finally surpassed his ginormous head.

As soon as I could, I extricated myself from him and his third wife and fled the scene thinking my friendly nice nerd had turned into an unbearable jackass. This saddened me and I started thinking about how when you practice law, you come across so many assholes that you know were most likely nerds when they were younger. What caused them to change? What makes a nice person turn into a jackass? I don't know, but I definitely don't want to remember this new Eugene. I prefer the old one, with his sweet demeanor and ugly face that grew on you. Too bad that Eugene is gone forever.

Random Funny Things My Mom Says - Part 2

2009-10-21T00:10:00.001-04:00

My Mom - You know, you have to be careful now. Oldest is ten. You have to watch out. Start reading her diary or journal. Sneak and look at everything in her room. Watch out!

Me - Errrrr, ummmm, ok... But I don't think she even has a diary.

My Mom - Buy her one! And then read it everyday when she's sleeping so you always know what's on her mind. I did this to your sister. That's why I know your sister's mind so well. I know everything. She couldn't hide anything from me. (My poor sister)

Me - I never kept a diary or journal growing up.

My Mom - That's why I didn't know who you are. I still don't know who you are.

Me - I'm your daughter.

My Mom - You are a stingma.

Me - A stigma?!!!!

My Mom - Yes, a stingma - a mystery.

Me - I think you mean an enigma.

My Mom (looking all affronted) - That's disgusting! Why would I call you that?

Me (puzzled) - What are you talking about?

My Mom - Why would I call my own daughter something dirty like that? So disgusting. I only did it once in my life after I had your sister in the hospital. It was so terrible!

Me (choking) - That's an enema, not an enigma.

My Mom - Disgusting...

Me - No more wine for you!

Funny Asians in Slo Mo

2009-10-19T00:10:00.000-04:00

I have stolen this video from the Angry Asian Man blog because I laughed so hard I cried, coughed out a lung and peed myself and then immediately wanted to share this moment with all of my wonderful faithful blog readers.

WARNING - You may need to put on a pair of Depends protective undergarments before watching the following video. And if you don't laugh in the first 3 minutes, I guarantee you will be snorting coffee up your nose when you get to 3:46 on this video. Guaranteed.

You have been warned.

PS - it's a fish not a gun.
PPS - yes, I'm pretty sure he's dancing with yellow underwear on his hands.

Ploppy the Penguin

2009-10-13T15:59:00.007-04:00

I was completely out of ideas for a blog post when I asked the girls if they wanted to put something up. They made me take this picture and then made up a story to go with it. So here it is. An Oh girls original.

Ploppy the Penguin
By the Oh girls

Once upon a time there was a little penguin named Ploppy. He had two friends named Pinky the pink mermaid and Penelope the purple dragon. One day Ploppy was thirsty and looked in his refrigerator but there was nothing to drink. Then he looked in his cabinet but all that there was was bags and bags of Funyuns and on the top shelf in the farthest corner there was a bottle of Frank's Red Hot hot sauce. So he decided to drink it.

At first he turned very pale. Then he turned bright red, then dark red, then red orange, then purple, green, blue and all the colors of the rainbow. His throat was burned and his tongue was on fire! He ran out into the snow and screamed "HELP!!!" Penelope the dragon and Pinky the mermaid were outside. Ploppy screamed "Help" again and fire shot from his beak. The fire burned off all of Pinky's beautiful pink hair.

"Quick!" Penelope said. "Eat the snow!"

Ploppy began gulping down piles and piles of snow until finally his throat no longer burned. He sighed in relief.

But Pinky was furious and hit Ploppy in the stomach with her strong tail.

Ploppy went "Ooooooof!" and then his stomach began to rumble louder and louder and faster and faster like a motorcycle. Then he said "Uh Oh!" Suddenly, the rumbling stopped and a humongous fart blasted him into the air, melting away all the snow, and burning off all of his feathers.

Pinky was satisfied and jumped into the ocean, away from the terrible smell. Penelope caught Ploppy before he hit the ground and took away his bottle of Red Hot hot sauce. Because only dragons should be allowed to breathe fire.

The End

The Hwacha - Korean Rocket Launcher

2009-10-08T00:10:00.000-04:00

I do a lot of research for my books. In fact, I adore research. So imagine my surprise when one of the coolest weapons in Korean history was not discovered by me and my nerdy library research skills, but by Da Man. Da Man who hasn't been inside a library since law school. Yes him. He found this genuine artifact of Korean history. On TV. How funny is that? So what is this thing? It's the Hwacha - a Korean rocket launcher. Below is a model displayed at the Seoul War Memorial. The Hwacha is this really awesome, really cool weapon invented in the 1400s by Korean scientists. But it doesn't really look that impressive right?

It's basically a two wheeled cart with a launch pad with 200 holes filled with ammunition. Ah, but there in lies the beauty of this weapon. The ammunition is made up of small rockets attached to iron spiked arrows, each with a small paper bag filled with gunpowder attached to its fletching. Once the weapon is ignited, it fires off all 200 arrows in mere seconds with a trajectory of 500 meters. That's more than five football fields, folks. To really have an idea what it would look like, here's a very short clip of an actual hwacha in action.

Da Man caught this on The Discovery Channel's Mythbusters show and yelled at me to come down and watch it. I was blown away. Mythbusters made their own replica and tested it out to prove that it actually worked and would be deadly against a large attacking army. Score one for Da Man.

So why am I bringing it up? Well first of all, it's cool as hell! Secondly, I plan on using the hwacha in my books. I couldn't fit it into my current book but I plan to use it in the final book, where an all out frenzied battle royale will see 50 of these in play against a large demon army. Course this all depends upon selling the first book. So be patient my lovely little hwacha. Your time will come soon. And the world will know the power of your awesomeness. Cue evil laugh.

Black Eyed Peas

2009-10-05T22:59:00.002-04:00

Really liking this Black Eyed Peas video with Oprah. It's quite cool. You can see she's totally shocked by what's happening. FYI - that's 21,000 fans/dancers in the crowd!

Still Growing

2009-10-01T09:01:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! Thanks for the welcome back! And to answer the question of whether or not I'm back, the answer is, well sort of. I'm so off my blogging game that I haven't caught up to touring the blogosphere - more like random drive bys when I have a moment. Part of the problem is that I'm in the throws of paper hell right now. The other problem is that my brain has taken its semi-annual vacation. And as usual, it didn't warn me that it was leaving until it was too late and stupidity was unavoidable. I'm just a tad nervous about teaching without a brain today, but not having a brain isn't always a handicap. After all, some famous no brains have even become President...

So I went to Target with Oldest and Youngest to buy a tennis skirt. Something I swore never to do because skirts accentuate my Popeye the Sailorman like legs of sausage link beauty. Especially tennis skirts which seems to work under the philosophy that shorter is better. I've seen grandmothers in skirts so short I can see their grannypanties and other things they should be ashamed of flashing. But I find that people reach a certain age in life and they just don't care anymore. I once watched as an old lady adjusted her sagging girls on line in the supermarket, fondling them like she'd fondled the tomatoes and peaches not 2 minutes earlier. I had to turn away when she slung one long breast over her shoulder and scratched under it for what seemed like 5 minutes straight. But I digress...

What the hell was I talking about? Oh yes tennis skirts. Skirts have never ever been my thing. But lately the indoor tennis court I play in has been a sauna and my cool athletic pants have been as comfortable as leather pants in the Sahara desert. So I went shopping for a tennis skirt. I grabbed a few and tried them on as Oldest and Youngest decided to critique my fashion choices.

Oldest - Why does it have a big white line over your butt? It looks like someone tried to circle it and ran out of white paint.

Youngest - I can fix it for you Mommy.

Me (ignoring them and trying an all black one instead)

Oldest - That's better but why is it so short? You want everyone to see your underwear?

Me - It's a skort, see. Shorts underneath.

Oldest - Those shorts are too short. They're more like underwear.

Youngest - I need a tissue for my boogers.

Me (wiping a huge ass booger from Youngest's nose and trying another skirt)

Oldest - That's better but still too short.

Me - Hmmm, it's a little big at the waist. I'll have to get a smaller size.

Oldest - Just get that one cause you know you'll grow into it.

Me (blinking) - What are you trying to say?

Youngest - I farted.

Oldest - I mean not that you are still growing but you know like when you eat and your belly gets too big...

Youngest (reaching over to pat my muffin top) - And it goes down again when you go the bathroom!

You seriously can't have an ego around these girls. It's just not allowed.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-26T12:01:00.002-04:00

Finished my revisions and sent them in to my agent!!!!

WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Happy Dance! Do the Hustle! It's my birthday!

So how do I celebrate? By drooling over the most beautiful man in the world, Mr. Daniel Hunky Henney. God he's beautiful. As I drooled all over my laptop the girls came over to see what Mom was fussing about and this is what they said.

Oldest - Control yourself, you're married.

Angus - He's not beautiful, Daddy is more beautiful. (Da Man, who has had the flu for 2 days and has been the biggest baby, walks by with a dazzling display of bed head at the moment.)

Youngest - Mommy, boys can't be beautiful. They're only handsome. Girls are beautiful.

Oldest - Stop drooling, you're grossing me out...

It's ok Daniel, no matter what my kids say, you're beautiful to me.

Having an Interjection for a Name

2009-09-14T00:10:00.001-04:00

Recent phone call with credit card company.

Me - Hi, I need to check on a recent transaction on my credit card.

Rep - Can I have your Name?

Me - Ellen Oh

Rep - what?

Me - Just Oh.

Rep - You mean the letter O?

Me - No, it's spelled OH.

Rep - Ohhhhhhh! Ha ha!

Me - That was my maiden name.

Rep - Huh?

Me - No Ha. Ha was my maiden name.

Rep - You're shitting me.

Me - Look on my statement.

Rep - You're not shitting me. It says Ellen Ha-Oh.

Me - Yeah, hyphenating it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life time. People don't know what to do with hyphenated interjections.

Rep - (Silence. Giggles. Horse laugh.) I'm so sorry, but you just made my night.

Me (sarcastic) - Oh good.

Rep - Oh yes.

Me - Uh huh....

Rep - You mean 'Oh huh.'

Me - I think that's enough with the Oh cracks.

Rep - Oh K.

Me - Oh my God!

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 34

2009-08-25T12:00:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone! Have you missed me? I'm still not back but had to break blogging hiatus for another random kids day.

The girls have watched Coraline for the 10th time and were talking about the movie while I was driving to Krispy Kreme for an emergency donut run.

Oldest - So if the other mother kidnapped our parents what would you do?

Youngest - I would grab her arms and bite her really hard.

Angus - You can't! Her hands were made of metal and her arms are real skinny. You'd break your teeth!

Youngest - I would kick her in her butt!

Oldest - Um, hello! Monster, remember?

Angus - Well I would bring Daddy and a nose pin. And then I would aim Daddy's butt at the monster and put on my nose pin. Daddy would fart aaaaaaannnnnnnd. The. Monster. Would. DIEEEEEEEEE!!!! Dun dun dun.

Oldest - But Mom and Dad would be kidnapped by the monster!

Angus - Oh yeah! Well I would poop in my pants and then I would take off my poopy pants and throw it at the monster's face.

Youngest - YUCKY!

Oldest - You would be half naked!

Angus - Well, that way I could also fart as I run away. And. She. Would. DIE!!!!! Dun dun dun!!!

Oldest - You're disgusting.

Youngest - I have to poop now.

One of these days I've got to record them secretly. I can't really capture the true essence of how funny they are by words alone.

OK - now back to frantic, feverish revising!

Checking out...

2009-07-24T11:34:00.002-04:00

ME + SUMMER + REVISION = BAD BLOGGER

Summer is more than half over and my revisions aren't done. Since I took the summer off for this very reason, I am now kicking myself hard and vowing to focus myself. So that means, I gotta disappear for awhile.

I've not been around that much as it is, but now you may not see the little piggy at all for at least a month. If for some reason, piggy forgets and sneaks out into the blogosphere, please remind her that she will be turned into fried rind chips if she doesn't get her work done. Virtual kicks in the butt will be effective so don't let the piggy procrastinate.

School starts up at the end of August. I've got one more full month of summer to get it done! Wish me, and little piggy, luck! We're gonna need it!!!

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 33

2009-07-16T15:49:00.004-04:00

Angus and Youngest were goofing around the other day while Oldest just listened to them and shook her head. I came over and heard the following:

Youngest: Angussayzwhat?

Angus: What?

Hysterical laughter.

Angus: Youngestsayzwhat?

Youngest: What?

More hysterical laughter.

Me: What are you doing?

Angus (still laughing): Mommy said what...

Still laughing.

Me (thinking they are weird): You kids are doing it all wrong. You have to use an insult and then say what. Not your name!

Angus: huh?

Me: Like "Losersayzwhat?" And then say "What?"

Angus: Oh - LIke Stinkybuttsayz... (pauses with a curious look on her face)

Me: What?

Angus and Youngest shriek with laughter: Ha Ha! Mommy's a stinky butt!

Only then did I realize that this was an elaborate scheme just to get me to say "what." Clever girls. Oh they got me good.

Demon's Lexicon Author Sarah Rees Brennan

2009-07-14T23:15:00.002-04:00

Interview with the lovely and tremendously talented Sarah Rees Brennan over at the Inkpot by the famous, amazing, frighteningly smart, and world class celebrity interviewer - ahem - yours truly. (preens for a moment) Seriously, I had a blast interviewing Sarah because she is sweet and funny and just a lovely human being! Plus her book kicks ass!

So do take a gander at the interview and then go get her book! You won't be disappointed with either! And if you are disappointed for some strange reason, then feel free to blame it all on Da Man. Everything is always his fault, you know...

And the Winners are...

2009-07-13T00:10:00.002-04:00

This time Oldest demanded to handle the drawing. Since she loves this book, she felt it was only fitting that she picked the winners. We wrote all the names on little slips of paper which Oldest then folded into tiny squares. We had 2 drawings. The first drawing was a smaller group of entries for those people who had provided extra promotion for Grace's book. The prize for this drawing is Grace's book, a signed bookplate and a signed picture of Minli, the main character. Oldest put all the entries into a canvas bag and shook them hard. She then pulled out an entry and read out the name.

"Cindy Pon."

"Oh boy! I hope people don't think we rigged this drawing," I said.

"Why," Oldest asked.

"Because Cindy is a friend of mine."

"Well, that's who I pulled and that's who won!" Oldest said in a "don't argue with me manner."

"Yes, ma'am." I said.

We then put all the names for the second drawing in the empty canvas bag. Oldest shook it extra hard and for a very long time.

"All right, I think that's enough," I said.

Oldest reached in and pulled out another piece of paper and read:

"Cindy Pon -- hey did you put her name back in?" she accused.

"Well anyone who promotes the book gets to be in both drawings. That's the rules for the contest. Funny how you picked her for both, huh? She was clearly meant to win this book! But pick someone else since she already won."

Oldest shook it even harder this time and read the new entry:

"March to the Sea. What kind of name is March to the Sea anyway?"

"That's his blogger name, silly. Like mine is Ello"

"How are you going to send a prize to a person who you don't know their real name? That's sort of fishy to me..."

"Well I know his name and he will email me his address."

"Oh ok, well tell Cindy and March man congratulations from me since I chose them."

So congratulations, Cindy and March to the Sea from Oldest and me! Thank you everyone for participating in the contest! And a special thanks to Oldest for making sure it was a completely fair and amusing drawing.

PS - I couldn't help myself and I sent in my entry to Jason's fantastic writing contest. The contest is open til this Wednesday and there are great prizes! My entry is here. Please let me know what you think. I always love to hear all of your thoughts and comments!

Interview with Grace Lin

2009-07-08T22:57:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! My interview with Grace Lin is posted over at the Enchanted Inkpot.

Please pop by over there and read about how Grace came up with her wonderful book and her illustrations.

Contest will run til this Friday and winners will be picked this weekend. So tune in on Monday to see who wins! Thanks everyone!