Susanna's Sketchbook

New Roof in October - A Book Giveaway!

"...the attic door rattles as the night

eager to enter (but unhanded)

leaps down the stairs and waits

not ten feet from our bed..."

I've always like how my friend, Elizabeth Wix, sees the world. She has a smart, slightly dark wit and her observations on the everyday in life (spoken with a long British accent) often has me smiling, if not laughing out loud.  In her new book of poetry, New Roof in October, Elizabeth writes of the everyday from her past: memories of a house renovation, a childhood game, a letter she received from her father after he died, and more. The poems are personal, written straight from her heart, and the details of the places and the people instantly create visuals in my mind. I want to look up through that hole in the roof and see the eyes of aeroplanes, pick blackberries in her father's back yard, and meet "Granny [who] had a bullet in her neck for forty years".

And I want you to read her book, too!

Elizabeth has kindly given me two signed copies of New Roof in October to give away to two lucky winners. It's simple to enter: Just leave a comment on this post between today and next Sunday, May 27th and on Monday, May 28th I'll draw two winning names from a hat.

May 14, 2012: Bloggers in NYC

It seems like weeks since I last wrote a blog post and not the four days it's actually been. Time really does fly when you're having fun! 

Last Wednesday, I caught a train into New York to meet up with my blogging friends, Elizabeth, Karen and Eb, who I hadn't seen in ages, and to finally meet Seth for the first time. We had fun catching up first at Elizabeth and her husband, Robert's place and then over a memorable lunch at ABC Home. "Remember" was displayed in one of the store's windows.

Karen, Eb and Seth are all visual artists, creating beautiful artwork out of found objects. Karen's artwork brings to mind rich textures, (art) history, and spirituality.  Eb's artwork is (often literally) steeped in nature. I'm fascinated with her "rusties". You may have heard of Seth's recent book, The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed. It's an inspiring book filled with insightful interviews and beautiful artwork.

Elizabeth, who always cracks me up laughing with her observations on the world, signed three copies of her new book, New Roof in October, for me and I'll be giving away two of the books in my next post!

April 13, 2012: Mark Twain's Grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, NY

One of the best things about my husband's job is that it often requires him to travel to different parts of the north-east and when I can, I like to hop into the passenger seat and visit small town America with him.  This week, we traveled to upstate New York, into Mark Twain country and J surprised me with a little side trip to the small town of Elmira - specifically, to the Woodlawn Cemetery.

Yep. The man knows me well. I have at thing for old cemeteries. The history of a place - the old names on the grave stones, the years of their lives (where did they live, what did they do?), the last words carved into stone that give clues as to who they were in life - interests me.

Woodlawn Cemetery has several famous residents, including John W. Jones, a former slave who escaped from Virginia to Elmira, NY, and then joined forces with abolotionists in the area to save over 800 slaves via the Underground Railroad; Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy and Samuel Langhorne Clemens who we all know as the American writer, Mark Twain.

Twain's wife, Olivia Langdon, and her family were from Elmira and it surprised me to learn that the writer wrote a good portion of his books, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while vacationing in this small little town. You can visit his study!

Close to Mark Twain's family plot is an unusual gravestone that immediately caught my attention. Instead of a gravestone, there sits a boulder. I quite like it! The blue patina is absolutely beautiful and haunting. And mournful.