rants, raves, and the sheerly ridiculous

"I personally believe we develop language because of our deep need to complain."

- Jane Wagner

Ridiculous Rant: On my way to work everyday, I drive past a local eatery(an eatery that shall remain nameless in a modest stab at decency--best to wield one's fork gently) with a sign posted out front that reads, "Ciao down at ...". I'm almost ashamed to admit that it never fails to irritate the bejesus out of me, and yet it does. Makes me feel like a member of the grammar police, a fact which is comical in and of itself, considering that when it comes to puncuation, I much to prefer to follow my own rule book. Used to drive some of my English profs nuts. Guess what goes around, comes around, eh?

Alas, I'm often forced to fill out order cards for music CD's with titles that are rather creative takes on standard language. Intentionally illiteracy is a trend, or so it seems. Needless to say it also drives me bonkers. Still, nothing trips my trigger quite like the power to order materials for the library's teen collection. Talk about fun research. And today, I had the added bonus of discovering that I had more green in my account than I'd thought, so I get the joy of purchasing anew before the fiscal years bleeps out.

Journals such as VOYA and School Library Journal are amazingly insightful sources of information, but my personal favorites are the teens themselves. There's no audience better than the intended to tell ya what's good, and there are two sites in particular that I've had especially good luck with:

http://www.teenreads.com and http://www.flamingnet.com

Both are incredibly user friendly as well as a grand-old time to surf, but what's really cool is how well the teen reviewers write--they often prove as equally versed as their professional peers, if not more so. As a behind-the-scenes writer (& teen fan) I think that's the bomb.

Oh, and one more site that I highly recommend is http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/ if you're ever in the mood to whip a batch of 'edible eyeballs,' which I include in honor of tomorrow's baking date with my little sister. It's a great place to visit if you're the kid-friendly sort.

(Or, enjoy ingesting edibles that resemble eyeballs).