‘Let It Snow’ to become a movie

This posting is in celebration of 199 more days until Christmas 2011…..those of my friends know of my love of of all things Christmas.

Paramount Pictures-based Fake Empire  movie production company has acquired the right to  Let it snow : three holiday romances ,  an anthology of three intersecting short stories by young-adult novelists John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. The script is to be written by Jordan Roter (fingers crossed that he will be true to the original  novel which so many of us have come to love).

In this charming trio of interconnected novellas, a massive snowstorm on Christmas Eve acts as a catalyst for romance in the lives of three teens. In Maureen Johnson’s tale, Jubilee Express, after Jubilee’s train becomes snowbound, she seeks shelter at a nearby Waffle House, along with a squad of hyper cheerleaders. In John Green’s story, A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, a guy summons three friends to the Waffle House, where the combination of cheerleaders and cheesy waffles prompts big realizations. Finally, in Lauren Myracle’s entry, Patron Saint of Pigs, self-absorbed Addie atones for cheating on her boyfriend (who was stuck on Jubilee’s train) by proving she can be an angel for someone else, even if that someone is only a pet pig. Johnson’s playfulness, Green’s banter, and Myracle’s sincerity mesh well here, resulting in a collection that is imbued with optimism and warmth. The plotting is tight, and each end loosed by one author is tied up by another like a bright Christmas bow. It is a great read at anytime of year,  though one of my favorite books due to the team work of three creative young adult writers who tightly control their characters and setting  into one cohesive story.

No release date set for the film.

as cited from http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/paramount-and-fake-empire-buy-let-it-snow/

Blue Ridge Parkway Post Drive and Farewells

Saturday July 12th, 2008  was a day of quickly packing up the remains of our dorm rooms, of saying goodbye to some, for others it is a ‘see you at the next NEH workshop’.   We packed up,  had a quick breakfast and then boarded the bus for a final  drive along the parkway. We re-visited several of the stops we made on our first night here.  Obviously the weather was a major difference We enjoyed sunshine and bright weather today.  We recorded our impressions in our journal ( which was submitted once we returned home).  We reflected on the various lectures from the past week and how it affected our enjoyment of this road.

Amy from Philadelphia and I on the BRP

We then returned to the Campus to complete a on line evaluation for the NEH.  After that, I snuck out to take a few more snaps of campus and the pretty area.  I think that if I had the opportunity, I would love to spend four years studying for a degree here.  The opportunities to learn and grow would be invaluable.

By 2.30pm, I was on the road with a few other participants to the Greensboro Airport , in Greensboro, North Carolina for a 8pm flight. perhapss a long time to wait in an airport, though it was lovely to have the quiet time to sit and read quietly.

My airplane in Greensboro, North Carolina

Blue Ridge Parkway and its origins….

The morning of July 7th, 2008  began with a breath taking vista as I left my dorm to go to breakfast on the campus of Appalachian University, here in Boone, North Carolina. I am amazed at the state of ‘pretty’ which exists on the campus. Perhaps that is a generic term, though the university has been well thought out and is moving towards a definitive direction to stimulate learning in this area.

I cannot go any further before proclaiming my delight ….a brand new library facility has improved the campus and student’s access to information.

Belk Library, Appalachian University

Opened in 2004, Belk Library consists of five floors, a central rotunda which funnels light to the main floor, fireplaces, coffee shoppe and technology to optimise learning ( abundant computer terminals, on line databases, projection devices, wired auditoriums etc.) Of course, I gravitated to the basement level, which was anything but damp and dingy, lower level windows brightened a children’s collection space.

Main Lobby Rotunda, Belk Library

This facility not only services university students in the school library and elementary education programs, but also the Town of Boone’s children. Traditional story times and other such programming bring the local children into this building and exceed their information needs.

The morning began with a lecture by Dr. Anne Mitchell Whisnant, author of Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History . Dr. Whisnant produced an over view of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the reason for it’s being, history of its creation and touched on the notion of framing views of nature by taming the natural world. What is the public good? How do you identify it and achieve it fairly? Is imminent domain fair for who exactly? All environments and landscapes have an arena of politics behind it. Existing interpretations and stories should be looked at with a critical eye. This discussion touched on the creation of the parkway for the good of certain parties, though with power, such as Hugh Morton, owner of Grandfather Mountain a privately owned piece of land with a right of way to the BRP.

Proceeding this , a small break out discussion group met to look over further primary sources, including a handwritten letter from Mr. S.A. Miller, an Appalachian farmer pleading to President Roosevelt to save his farm land. Again, the theme of imminent domain and fairness came into play.

After lunch, we departed for a tour of Grandfather Mountain to admire the

Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor's Center, North Carolina

views and better understand the shape of the landscape. A stop at the Linn Cove Viaduct Center documented the final section of the BRP, completed in 1987. This viaduct, near mile post 290 ( or known as Section 2H) was estimated to cost $4 million to construct, though came in at $10 million. Part of the delay in completion of this final section of the parkway was the debate over the routing of the Parkway to Grandfather Mountain.

Sarah Potwin, Grandfather Mountain, 5200 feet above sea level

We then returned to campus for supper and time to read. As part of my course requirements, I am to write a lesson plan which will include material from this week’s workshop. Currently, I am playing around with a theme of fairness (imminent domain might be a big word for my elementary students) and how fairness cannot be achieved for all. I am also looking at incorporating a geographical element into my lesson, though at this point these are simply vague notions.

A Falcon’s summertime time plans….

What are you doing this summer? Many of our Falcons are traveling this summer. Many have sent postcards back,listing their tales of adventure. Please  feel free to send a post card to :315-41st Street West, Bradenton, FLA 34209.I shall add it to our library display in September.

Summer time is here and a number of us are on campus, working hard to make the 2008/2009 school year a wonderful  year for our students.  Personally,  I am  on campus  for the first three weeks in June, cleaning and compiling an inventory of our 15 078  library items ( books, videos, DVDs etc).   In  the middle of July,  I will have a week to place orders for new books, AR tests, renewing our online databases and such.  I shall also be ordering our birthday books for our 2008/2009 school year.  This is a fun program in which we celebrate a student’s birthday by purchasing a new library book for all chidlren  to enjoy.  These special books are given out in chapel and have a bookplate announcing the child’s name and birth date.  Every attempt is made to meet the child’s interests and reading level. (If you would like to enrol your child in this program, please  contact me for more information, or click on our birthday book web link.)

Luckily,  I will be able to spend four weeks with Eoin.  I anticipate that we will hang out, go to the beach, swim in our community pool and other summertime fun.  The Potwin clan is eager for  a few days in Orlando: to hang out by the pool and perhaps visit the Magic Kingdom.  Mickey Mouse here we come!

In a future blog, I shall be documenting my adventures in Boone, North Carolina.  A wonderful National Endowment for the Humanities grant has been bestowed upon me. During the week of July 7th, I shall be in the Applachians  studying the history, the culture and the economic impact of the Blue Ridge parkway.  While this might appear to be a leap from children’s literature,  I am interested in the natural world.  While living in Vermont and New York State,  it was common for me to spend my weekends in the Adirondack Mountains of Northern New York.  I am eager to experience the Appalachians and draw upon its similarities to the ADK.  (See link to Paul Smith College, Saranac Lake, New York) .

Friends, please keep reading this summer!  See you on campus on August 20th.