At the Rumpus, Jason Novak presents an illustrated version of where letters got their shapes. One of my favorites:
Make sure to check out the whole alphabet.
Category: Humor
Lip-Reading Twilight
Bella and Edward’s relationship is fraught with tension, especially when it’s presented in bad lip-reading form:
That cake’s my most bestest creation!
Jazz Up Your Quotes
A couple of fun blogs that take on literary quote matching. I’m feeling the synesthesia!
I’ve mentioned before that I like to create playlists for my various literary projects. But I’ve never tried matching songs to previously created works from the literary canon. Enter literary jukebox, which pairs famous quotes with thematically similar songs.
And this tumblr might leave you craving a sugary treat, but I think Dough Country for Old Men, which pairs pictures of donuts with literary quotes, is pretty fun. The title puns alone get my approval. My own attempt at donut quotes:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.–William Shakespeare
(via Bon Appetit)(image: OSU Special Collections & Archives : Commons)
A Series of Personality Traits
Love this list of what your favorite YA series says about you. So glad to see so many awesome series (not just ultra-famous ones like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games) included. A few of my favorites:
Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, Francesca Lia Block
You were a pretty weird teenager, and you’ve grown up to be a pretty weird adult. But you’re pretty happy with that (as you should be).The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede
You’re a smart aleck and kind of a badass — that is, you know all the places where a young lady is supposed to scream for help, but you generally prefer to rely on your sword hand. Also you make a killer cherries jubilee.The Time Quintet, Madeleine L’Engle
You are an epic nerd, but that’s how you’re going to save the world.
One I’d add:
The Song of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce
You’re a kicking-ass-and-taking-names kind of person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also enjoy a good make-out session.
Go find your favorite series!
Twice as High
Two parts of my childhood–Reading Rainbow and the Doors–come together care of Jimmy Fallon:
It sounds so perfect, it’s kind of eerie.
I’m on a Reblogging Spree
From Hank Green, a musical video about how great/crazy Tumblr is:
So…I still want to say it “gif” with a hard g. As in “reblog.”
At the January SCBWI conference, lots of people asked what Tumblr was and if they needed to be on there for their writerly platform. I don’t think you need to use any social media platform you don’t feel comfortable using, but I will argue that Tumblr is filled with Doctor Who and kittens and coffee and pretty pictures–aka, it’s a good time.
Feel free to scope out my Tumblr too!
Cover Stories
Love this six-year-old’s description of classic novels based on their book covers. Her version of The Great Gatsby sounds pretty exciting:
“I think it’s a book about a haunted theme park and it stars a magical magic guy and he’s good and evil and he’s trying to get rid of the ghosts. And I think at the end, since it’s haunted by a ghost, he tried to make the park go on fire and it did.”
Not gonna lie–I’d read that.
When I was little, I thought To Kill a Mockingbird was about a girl who got bitten by a rabid squirrel. Why did I think that? I guess it had to do with the rabid dog. But squirrel?
(H/T bookshelves of doom)
To Boldly Go Where No Poem Has Gone Before
Klingon poetry readings get out of hand very quickly.
Poetic form or Star Trek villain at McSweeney’s.
Way harder than I assumed it would be. I mean, Luc Bat? I totally saw that episode!
Once you take the quiz, you could write a poem in a specific poetic form about one of the Star Trek villains.
The Personality of a Semicolon
Punctuation mark personality? Yes, please! My favorite is the semicolon, so apparently this is me:
“Semi-colon (;): You’re well-read and urbane. You knew where this was on the keyboard before it became part of the winky emoticon. You’re more easy-going than Colon or Period types, but you’re still put together and usually organized. People are comfortable around you and tend to like you, though they may not be able to say exactly why.”
You could also read this as “you have a hard time committing to a real colon.” But I’ll stick with “well-read and urbane.”
Sadly, this list is missing some of the more unusual punctuation marks, but how often can you really use the interrobang, anyway?
All the Literary Devices You Need to Know
Who’s using their Foreshadow Puppets today?:
Also, Onomatopoeia Engine would be an awesome band name. Musicians, get on that.
(image: Incidental Comics)