Blue

My favorite color has always been blue. I love bright, royal blue and I also love turquoise blue.

There’s nothing more beautiful than a blue sky.

Blue makes me happy.

But, for some strange reason, our culture associates blue with sadness. 

People feel blue when they are sad or sing the blues about sad things.

Why in the world is that so?

How did the happiest, most beautiful color become associated with sadness?

If you know, I’d love to hear the answer.

Naomis Two

I always enjoy books with original concepts and Naomis Too certainly has that.

It’s about a blended family with two girls, both named Naomi, who are about the same age and in the same grade at Middle School.

But one is African-American and the other is White.

The book was written by two authors, each one writing from the point of view of one of the Naomis in alternating chapters. I sometimes had difficulty remembering which one was which, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

And the authors, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick are also of different races, so they know what they’re writing about.

I was drawn in by the plot, and was surprised to learn it was the second one in a series because it certainly stands alone.

It's A Sci-Fi World

A few decades ago if you saw people walking alone down a street talking out loud you’d have assumed they were insane. 

Today you just assume they’re using a cellphone.

Back in the 1930s when George Orwell wrote 1984 it was science fiction that someone could watch you in your home from far away, or that you could cook a meal in a few minutes. 

Today those things are the norm.

In the days of my youth if I sent a letter to someone who lived on the other side of the continent it took at least a week for them to get it and another week or so for me to get a reply. 

Even expensive long distance phone calls took a while talking with the operator and waiting for a connection. If the other person wasn’t home there was no way to leave a message.

Today we can send messages to each other in a matter of seconds and people can receive them at their convenience.

And I remember when fabric that didn’t need to be ironed first became available. Today most of our clothes are made of synthetics.

Maybe eventually instead of cellphones we’ll have brain implants. Then some evil world government will use those to control us all.

(Can you tell I’m a writer?)

Story Time

When I was a little kid my parents read to me every night before bed.

Of course I read to my own kids, too.

And, as a preschool teacher I often read to my students.

Years ago I read of a study where scientists tried to find out the best method for teaching reading. They interviewed the highest functioning students at the best universities in the USA.

To their surprise, the only thing those students had in common was that their parents read to them often when they were kids.

I’ve told this story before because I think it’s important for everyone to know they should read to young kids as much as possible.

New Website Appearance

My new website is finally up and running. It's the same address, www.janetanncollins.com, but has a completely new look. I'd love to have you leave a comment or send me a message and let me know what you think of it. Thanks.

Earliest Memories

I remember meeting one of my cousins for the first time just before my second birthday. I also remember many visits to my grandmother, who died a few months later, and other things from the year I was two years old.

Bu I know other people who can’t even remember major things that happened when they were four or five years old.

What is the earliest thing you can remember, and how old were you when it happened?

Hattie Ever After

I love reading about San Francisco history, and this book by Kirby Larson does a wonderful job of bringing that era to life.

The book takes place in 1919. It’s about a girl who comes to The City hoping to become a newspaper reporter.

In an era when women were expected to be humble, submissive housewives, that was extremely unlikely.

But Hattie is determined to succeed and takes lots of daring chances.

She discovers things aren’t always what they seem. I won’t spoil the book by giving away the plot secrets, but I will say it’s exciting and the story is surprising.

This is the second book in a series, but I hadn’t read the first one and didn’t miss any information from that. However the writing is so good I’ll look for more books by the author, including that first one in the series.

My Webpage

My webpage, www.janetanncollins.com, is being redone and I  believe it will be up and running by Monday Evening.

If you get the chance, I’d appreciate having you check it out.

Please let me know what you think.

It will still link to my blog, http://onwordsblog.blogspot.com.

I share all of my blog posts, like this one, on Facebook and would appreciate having some comments on the actual blog.

Thanks.