Tweets

Last month, under gentle pressure from colleagues in children's books, I signed up for Twitter.

I still haven't figured out the nuances of "tweeting." TweetDeck appeared to slow down my computer, which is, I understand, the exact opposite of what that program's supposed to do. And I have a habit of following someone's link and then losing it to "RT/retweet" with credit. But I'm feeling a little more comfortable.

Here are most of my recent tweets pertinent to Oz and Ends, edited for format and clarity:

• Hits as house gifts: Pierce's BEKA COOPER: TERRIER and Childs's OH. MY. GODS. Did I mention there were 12-year-old girls in the house?

Background: I'd heard that both girls liked Twilight. So I hunted for other recent fantasies told from a first-person female point of view--with more female empowerment. Result: carsickness from reading too avidly. Score!

• Oz Enthusiast Bill Campbell on a source for Lewis Carroll's illustrations of Alice.
• Gracious! It appears that the HARRY POTTER movies are set in Europe! What butterbeer and other beverages say about American culture.
• @saintz "Holy Moley!" was a common expression of Captain Marvel/Billy Batson. Robin would say it only when confronting dangerous moles.
• Report from last night: Little girls with sparklers run around being fairies and fireflies. Little boys with sparklers have Jedi duels.
• BOOKLIST's Bookends blog has a category for "Kick-ass Heroines": Should it pay similar attention to kick-ass heroes?
• Now that's a bad review. RT @bnreviewer: @MaudNewton unearths an arrestingly nasty swipe from Ambrose Bierce.
• Hits as house gifts: Spiegelman & Mouly's LITTLE LIT: STRANGE STORIES and CALLING ALL SUPER FRIENDS. This time it was eight-year-old boys.

Result:

• Least necessary apology: young British actor Jamie Waylett to "all HARRY POTTER fans". As if kids were seeking moral guidance from Crabbe.
• "Folsom Pwison Bwues"? Five-year-old does Johnny Cash. Not well, but at all. [Original tip from Vast Public Indifference.]
• Large but watery tom yum soup for lunch, followed by a blood donation. So I figure my fluid level is back to where I started.
• Planned videogame of O'Malley's SCOTT PILGRIM comic makes sense: Fighting Ramona's 7 levels of ex-boyfriends is the only part of his life Scott can grasp.
• "What kind of story are you looking for?" Editor Nielsen Hayden's real answer: "one I didn't know I was looking for."
• Chuckled at bookseller Josie Leavitt on how kids handle cash.

More on that last topic way back here.