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Here is a phrase whose origin seems to be known, but, as this does not mean that everybody knows it, a short discussion may not be out of place. I have such a huge database of idioms that once in six weeks or so I am seized with a desire to share my treasures with the public.

The post By hook or by crook appeared first on OUPblog.

So, I think I can safely say that today, I was one hot chick!

Anything over 75 degrees is too hot for me. So let’s just say today’s weather topping off at 109 really ruffled my feathers!

I don’t want to count my chickens before they’re hatched, but IS IT FALL YET?!!

EXCUSE ME, BUT I DO BELIEVE AN ANT’S IN MY PANTS!

There is an excellent chance that a situation such as this could cause a wee bit of anxiety and might even make a person feel, ahem, well… darn right antsy.

So one must remember to remain calm. You see, the attention span of an ant is quite short so feigning nonchalance is best. In roughly 10 to 15 minutes the novelty of wearing  your jeans will have warn off. The bored ant will soon run along to find spilt milk or some sugar to walk through.

Possession of your pants and your sanity, regained!

Maybe.

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Reworked an old bit of silliness in honor of the ant trails now taking over our home. They might as well be giant, as intrusive as they are.

Oh well, at least the flies (Amityville Horror) are gone.

Bugs, eh? So rude!

Sheila finally solved the mystery of that wet dog smell in her closet.

Felt like it was time for a nice animal idiom.

“Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing:
One would use this idiom to describe a person or thing appearing to be good but is, well, not so much. There seems to be a few different ideas about it’s origin, but here is what Wikipedia has to say about it.

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So, I seem to be continuing on a bedtime theme here. It’s wishful thinking, no doubt. This chilly weather puts me in a mood to kick off my cloven sheep slippers and curl up in bed with a good book.

Ah, but I have sketches to catch up on! Missed another two days. Oh for shame! But wait, that’s right, there are no rules. No harm done!

Anyhoo, stop on over here and let’s see how the other SkADaMo participants have been doing.

“Hot Dogging”

Well the only thing about Boswell that’s hot dogging is his tubular physique. He’s much more familiar with the snow plow than any sort of shredding.

Why not schuss on over here to check out my fellow SkADaMoers at work.

“Hot Chicks”

A little rougher sketch today. Probably so I can hurry and run to the window to stare at the rain. We finally got some of that ole precipitation today! I’m feeling rather hydrated and very energized.

But memories of the long, hot summer still haunt me. So much so I remembered an old drawing I did a few years ago depicting the heat and redrew it.

So here are some hot, hot chicks for your animal idiom pleasure. Of course, last time I posted these hot chicks, I got some… shall we say… interesting hits on my blog.

Go figure.

So for some hot, hot sketches go here and check out what my fellow SkADaMoers are doing today.

“Car Pool”

Cruise on over here to see some of the other SkADaMo participants.

“Doggie Bag”

Beulah was bullish about hoity-toity bags.

Wow, it’s the SkADaMO 2013′s two week anniversary eve! You should check out what the other doodlers are doodling here!

“Pig Skin”

In an effort to avoid a leathery hide, Winona slathered on the sunscreen!

Come on over here to see what the other SkADaMoers are up to.

Whoops, missed a day! I guess I’m was just a little low “energy”. So don’t get all up on your “High Horse” about it!

Get it? High horse… I was late… and you’re…

It’s funny, trust me.

Cornball jokes aside, why not cruise on by here and check my fellow SkADaMoers!

Just wanted to mention that I seem to be keeping up with PiBoIdMo, a picturebook idea a day so far! Nothing earth-shattering yet, but some fun ideas to riff off of and those daily post on Tara’s blog, “Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) are so inspiring and fun to read!

Also, I tried to slip in a reason to post to Illustration Friday this week, where the word of the week is “energy.”

oIn an effort to assuage the annoyance of my cat Iggy towards all the doggies I’ve been drawing lately, I present to you:

“Cat’s Pajamas”

So, when you get a chance, swing by here and check out my fellow SkADaMoers (yes it’s a word. I know because I just made it up.)

Cheers!

“Dog Eat Dog”

… and the puns and idioms just keep coming!

Trot on over here to see what the other SkADaMo participants are up to today!

“Pollen.” Mz. Buzzbee, the second grade teacher called out to Beep.

“Pppollen.” Beep stammered. “Can you please use it in a sentence?”

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UPDATE Aug. 24 2012

I woke up this morning to find my little bee was pick of the week on Illustration Friday. How exciting!!! Woooo hoooooo!!! Weeeeeeee!!!!!

Hey, you guys are awesome! Word about our blog is getting around and it even attracted the attention of an author---specifically, Lee Wardlaw, author of 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents. Let's hear what she said:

Hi Guys! Thanks so much for mentioning my novels 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents and 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher. I'm honored! And it's true: I have a son (he's almost 12) and two younger brothers (yes, as the Big Sis I bugged them too), so I definitely know that Boys Rule and Boys Read!
My son is a big fan of the Rick Riordan books. Some of his other favorite books are: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman; The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver; Enders Game by Orson Scott Card; The Artemus Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer; and, oh yeah, he kinda likes my books too.Keep you eyes peeled for my next book, coming next year: 101 Ways to Bug Your Friends & Enemies.

Catch that reading bug!-Ms. Lee Wardlaw

Thank you so much, Ms. Wardlaw. We're honored that you wrote to us. Please feel free to write to us again--and tell your son to write to us! I'm glad your son is a fan of Rick Riordan's books. I am, too! In fact, I've got a special something to tell you and all the other Percy jackson fans at the end of this post.

We also had a comment from a fellow blogger, Chris Everheart:


Hey guys. Groovin' on your blog. Keep up the fun. Chris


Thanks, Chris! We're definitely having fun here. Chris is an author of YA thrillers. (YA stands for "Young Adult") He used to be a reluctant reader but then he "caught that reading bug" and now writes books that boys, especailly middle school and high school boys, would like. He wants to inspire a million boys to read. If you'd like to read his story and see what he says about our blog, check out the site below:
http://millionboysread.blogspot.com/
Our library system does not have any of his books, unfortunately. He's got some good links to other sites about books for boys, so take a look---and all you parents, teachers, and librarians take a look, too!

And now for a real treat! I just came off of Rick Riordan's blog and heard and saw him read some of the opening to his new Percy Jackson book, The Battle of the Labyrinth. This book has one the best first sentences I ever heard: "The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was to blow up another school." To hear the rest, click here.

All right, guys, keep up the good work!

Carl

PS--In all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to get cyber kid 303 his free book. Come and get it next time you're here. And we still have your free T-shirt, Will. If you live in the Charlotte area, come to the library in Imaginon and pick it up.

Hey everyone, we had a great time at our Heroes and Villains festival. I don't have time to write much, but I'll show you some pictures and Bill will say some more. As I said, it was a great time. We had Guitar Hero: That's cyber kid 303 in the middle with the baseball cap. We also had some actual fire fighters come here and let some kids get on the fire engine:

Bill, I mean, Captain Bootstrap Bill is with them. He burns the port cities and they put out the fires. Here's the fire engine:

We also had a portable basketball goal so kids could be a Basketball Hero:

That's Bootstrap Bill again--he said he wanted to "burn one in." We tried to tell him that when you steal the ball you don't really steal the ball.

But finally the Hero Avengers of Imaginon Library (or HAIL) caught up to Bootstrap Bill and paid him back for his dastardly deeds:

As I said, we all had a lot of fun. And, guess what---cyber kid 303 was there to get his free Rick Riordan T-shirt:

Hey, Mr. Riordan, any chance cyber kid could be a Demigod of the Week?

Well, I'd put up more pictures, but Blogger is telling me I've used up half of the capacity already. So I'll see if Bill wants to make another post. By the way, I told you all that I'd post cyber kid's and Will's new comments, so here they are:

101 Ways to Bug Your Parents by Lee Wardlaw. Mrs. Wardlaw is another author I met at Novello (in 2006). She has a son, so she knows how to write books that are interesting to boys. This is a good book and it really does teach you 101 ways to bug your parents. I've tried a lot of them. She also wrote 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher.

That's from cyber kid. Did you really use some of thsoe on your parents? Did they write a book called 101 Ways to Ground Your Kid?

Here's from Will:

Otis Spofford by Beverly Cleary is a good book because Otis always gets in trouble and always gets an excuse to get out of it, but he gets paid back from his prank....two girls get him back by playing a prank on him.

Very good, Will. You've really made me want to read the books you write about and that's the sign of a good book reviewer. I've got Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary checked out and I'll let you guys know how it is.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

Carl