Kibbles From Heaven

Washed and dried my cat boys' stainless bowls.

Tizzy waiting, so I measure his kibble first. 

He dives right in.

Suddenly, a change in the weather. 

Hailstones the size of kibble!

Tizzy heads for the hills.

Doling Fred's portion, I had hit the canister edge, 

broadcasting cat food all over the kitchen.

;-o

BOO!!

(click on images to enlarge)

What do a Farmer, a jar of pickles and an old 

lady ghost have in common? 

The answer is Tony Johnston's delightful, 

spooky story, BOO! A Ghost Story That 

Could Be True, that I illustrated for Edie 

Weinberg at Scholastic/Cartwheel.

Thrills and chills and laughter as well as a 

surprise ending for young readers. 

A treat to illustrate. As I laid out the pages 

and began the drawings, I discovered the trick. 

The story begins at night, ends the next 

morning...... as it began... sort of.
(read the book, look at the pictures) ;-)

Rainy Days And Wednesdays

Just now: Among items I'm 
sorting trying to make some 
studio order out of studio 
chaos. Poverino!  =^..^=
;-)

Trick or Treat

My illustration from QUESTIONS,by Lee Bennett Hopkins

The smell of the greasepaint (literally), cold cream,

spirit gum, horse hair wigs and beards and false 

mustaches and black out wax for teeth. A beat up 

top hat and Mom's old black velvet opera cape and 

assorted old clothes, accessories and sheets as needed. 

Greasy faces, painted freckles and scars, blackened 

teeth, red lipstick, itchy wigs. I longed for a glitter 

mask, a little tulle, perhaps a magic wand. 

Something pretty.

One year when  I was 5 or 6 and had a Halloween 
party to attend, our next door neighbor, Ann Roth 
made my costume. A modern dancer with many 
beautiful costumes and accessories.

Ann Roth and me 

Over my blue cotton leotard a long swirly dance skirt 
pulled up under my armpits and tied at the waist 
with a long silk scarf. Pinned with a perfumed 
nosegay of handmade silk pongee roses. More on 
the skirt, another on my shoulder and some on my 
hair. Pink lipstick and cheeks.
So pretty I walked on tiptoes.  :-)

Birthday Boy, Oh Boy!!

Sister Susan and I were already here when
brother Ted arrived. I tease Mom that we 
two sweet obedient  little girls deceived her
into having an other child, Ted (and even one 
more after THAT! brother, Jonathan).
I recall the color draining from her face
watching 2 year old Ted hanging by his knees
from the top bar of the backyard swing. Too
afraid to shout, lest he fall.
Chaos, his milieu. Couldn't stay still or
stand peace and quiet. Yet never mean.

Growing up, a few broken bones, many practical jokes.
Second grade teacher didn't appreciate his iconoclasm
or my Mother defending his creativity.
So many stories, now family legends.
These days he's also a husband and Dad, a most respected
Children's Dentist, an inventor, writer and infamous punster.
My dear brother and friend.


So on the sixty first anniversary of his arrival, 
wishing my dearest brother Ted, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

(you can click on photos to enlarge)

Freddie Rothko Abstract

(click on image to see paw, whiskers and chin more clearly)

Marc Rothko?

Try "Freddie Rothko".

Took me a minute or two to figure out what

this was..........

Looking more carefully noticed 3

cat toes next to a whiskered chin across the

middle near center.

A Freddy cat game. Pushing his paw under my drawing 

board/lightbox until I pat it and he pulls it back. Red at

the bottom, the cover of a paper pad.

Variation: pushing what he finds back there, pencil, 

ruler, plastic triangle through until I grab it (or it falls).

Automatic Dish Washer

This morning followed Fred into the kitchen. 
He went right to his food bowl quickly gobbling 
down the remains of last night's meal.
Then he cleaned out Tizzy's bowl as well. 
Ready for breakfast......

Fall Back

Started the new season with a bang.

Off early to a medical appointment.

Before leaving, noticed I'd put on a

black sock and a navy sock. (not the

first time.... went off once, long ago,  

for a day of showing my portfolio 

to publishers in NYC this way.)

Changed my left sock for black and

caught the bus. On board, sat down

next to an old friend.

Glancing down at my feet as we

greeted each other, I still had 2 different 

colored socks on.

(Originally had both socks been blue?
We'll never know.....)

Off the bus and a block to the doctor's.

Waited while the receptionist finished

on the phone. Gave my name.

Not on the list.

Are you sure? They had called to verify

yesterday. 

Here, I printed this out from my calendar

entry...uh....uh, oh.

In black and white, September 23, Wednesday.

Tomorrow!

Ugh!!

Caught the bus back. 

"That was fast." The driver said as I 

climbed aboard. Same guy, same bus, on their 

return leg.

I confessed my error.

"I see a lot of this." He smirked.

Alighting at my stop. I inquired whether he 

was on tomorrow.

"Yeah, I'm on everyday." He joked. "But I'm 

not picking YOU up."  ;-)

Johnson & Hodge

(Samuel Johnson by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Tate Gallery, London)








Today marks Dr Samuel Johnson's 300th birthday.
Best known as the lexicographer of the Dictionary
of the English Language and as the subject of 
James Boswell's biography. 
My attraction to Johnson stems from his
affection for cats, particularly Lily, a well behaved 
white "kitling" and Hodge, described as having sable fur.
Boswell records how Johnson went himself to the fishmongers to buy oysters for Hodge as he didn't trust a servant to show the cat affection after having been sent on such a lowly errand.
 
A statue of Hodge, sitting on Johnson's dictionary
with an open oyster at his feet, stands in front of
Johnson's house at 17 Gough Sq, London.

http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/

Beamed Up - Part II

The 2 Liberty place sky hook
was at it again yesterday. This
time I've got pictures.
top left- gondola rising 
top right - gondola at top perpendicular
to boom
lower left - gondola parallel to boom
lower right - detail, boom w. gondola
moving into building
(click on image to enlarge details)

Beamed Up

arrow points to boom window
(click to enlarge)


I saw a metal gondola with several men slowly

rise up the south side of 2 Liberty Place, 

while I was on the phone yesterday.

When they passed the railing at the top of 
that portion of the building (40-some stories 
high) I suddenly realized that the platform 
could not be hanging from the roof nor 
attached to the side wall, because the next 
building section stepped back from the 
lower one.

"Sky hook?", crossed my mind as I looked 
up under my window shade.

Indeed, there was a long steel boom

sticking out of a large window opening

just under the triangular peak at the top.

The gondola rose slowly until it was just

under and perpendicular to the boom.

Gradually it turned until it was still

under but parallel to the boom
and away from the building.

Now for the BEST part.

Almost imperceptibly, the boom w/gondola

fastened beneath swung to the left.

When it reached a certain point the boom began

to move bit by bit lengthwise into the opening

in the building until it and the gondola

disappeared from sight.

And the glass window descended and closed.

(Sorry, no pictures. Too busy narrating the action 
into the phone.)

Hoping for a next time!

PS I've since been told there is a
"boom"on each of the 4 sides of the building.

Happy 75th Birthday, Tomie

Tomie dePaola in Ravenna 1984, ©ccroll

 With hugs and love, XXXXX and purrs, 

Carolyn, Tizzy and Fred

Class Act

Carolina e Tomasso a Roma 1984

Hard to believe its been 25 years since

Tomie De Paola led that gruppo to Italy 

and the Bologna Book Fair.

My idol from the moment I "discovered"

Strega Nona at a school book fair where 

Jane Flory and I were speaking years ago. 

Still skint from a trip to Russia, I signed on. 

Couldn't pass up the chance to see Italy,

visit the Bologna Book Fair and possibly

chat with Tomie a time or two. (I knew

he'd never do it again.)

We all met at JFK. Soon Tomie appeared, 

greeting each individually. 

My turn.

I held out my hand, reminding him that

we had met briefly before at the Free 

Library in Philadelphia.

Tomie responded that he had something for me.

(Perhaps, the signed copy of his St Francis?

An expected souvenir for signing on)

From his pouch,  a copy of my Too Many Babas.

"May I have your autograph?", he asked.

Still gives me a lump in my throat.

Tomorrow is Tomie De Paola's 75th birthday.

Buon Compleanno, carissimo Tomassino!!

Con amore, abbraci e baci.

Carolina di Filli

Peppermint Roses

click on photo to enlarge

Blooming today in St. Mark's Church garden, 

         on Locust St between 16th and 17th Sts.

Fall Faux-liage

Windows closed. The tale told. 
Opening doors to new ideas. 
And old hall furniture, it seems.
A temporary grove of artificial trees 
has sprung up this afternoon at the 
end of the elevator hall.
The fall faux-liage began early this year.

What's In A Name?

 

(click to enlarge)

Fred jumped on me at 7:46 this morning. 
My living alarm clock. Impatient that I slept
an hour more than usual.
I dressed. He lead me to his empty bowl.
Fred doesn't know his name. 
The one I gave him.
Tizzy comes when I call, not Fred.
Neither one of them knows my name.
How could they? It doesn't matter.
I must be pictures, sounds and 
smells in their minds. 
She who serves food, cleans the box, 
scratches ears, rubs bellies, clips claws, 
flashes the laser light. Who comforts 
when it thunders.
Anxiety when I leave. 
Relief when I return.
And never forgets their snack before bed.
(They don't let me).
             =^..^= =^..^=

I Spy A Fly, Oh My

(click on photo to enlarge)


Some how a fly made it up to the 
37th floor yesterday.

The cat boys took turns stalking 
and chasing it all afternoon
and into the evening.
Don't know which one got it, 
but its gone. Game over.

Comes September

                   from What Will The Weather Be?, by Lynda DeWitt

The first of September always feels 
like New Years to me.

Cool breezes and a cerulean sky with 
high cotton wool clouds. 

Can't wait for sweaters, socks and 
turning leaves.