ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY: Walt Disney with 28 Oscar Awards and 48 nominations.

NOW FOR EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY:

180 million Valentine’s cards are given out in the U.S. every year—and this doesn’t include those given out by children in their classrooms. About 65% of American households join in the fun by giving cards, going out to dinner, exchanging flowers or other gifts. This year why not try something different?

With Valentine's Day upon us, I thought I'd suggest an alternative florist shop for the holiday. Why not buy organic flowers?

Or, if you can't get flowers delivered in time, buy local. You'll do the Earth a favor by using less fossil fuels for flower transportation.

Consider making your own card, using recycled products: lace, ribbons or even family photos. You can take your photos to the copy shop and make color photocopies and make a collage-card.

Or, how about a quiet evening at home watching a romantic comedy? You won’t waste gas getting to an overcrowded restaurant, you’ll save a little money and probably end up being more relaxed at the end of the night.

But, whatever you do, I hope you have a Valentine's Day filled with love :)

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

QUESTION: What one person has won the most Oscar awards?

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY-Answer

Word: DLS

Meaning: Dirty Little Secret, according to Urban Dictionary.

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Well it's not really a word, it's really an acronym:

WORD: DLS

Do you know what it means? Come on, take a guess.

Pop back around 3:00 p.m. to find out if you're right or wrong.

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY:

Juices flow best without barriers. It’s true. Writers can get so focused on goals, limits, and restrictions that they can’t even write.

This horrible affliction is called: "Writer’s block" and it's an actual affliction that saps self-confidence from the best storytellers.

Setting goals is great. But don’t be so concerned about staying within borders – after all, walls are meant to keep things inside.

So, writing about something you know nothing about might be the surefire path to publication.

We all have things we’ve wondered about. Some people pay thousands of dollars to enroll in classes, later in life, just to learn more about these subjects. Why not offer this information to readers, in an article?

Editors are always looking for interesting stories. So step outside the box and take a chance.

Think back. Remember the exhilaration of jumping off the ledge into the deep-end. Writing should give you the same thrill. When you write about something you know nothing about, you’re taking that daring dive into the writing waters. So, just tell the story and you might get lucky and end up getting your feet wet in the wonderful world of publishing.

CRAFT - Hearts for Valentine's Day

The first mail-posted valentine on record was in 1806.

If you'd like to read some history about the special day of love, click here.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we have one craft we've been doing since the kids were little. It's easy - it's fun - and it's super duper cute.

You need a piece of red construction paper and a white sheet. Fold the paper in half. Leave the fold on the straight edge and the round part is the top, and it should be able to open. The paper should be cut as shown:


Then you weave the pieces together, like shown:


Then tie a ribbon on the heart, or even glue a piece of paper for a hanger, as shown:


On Valentine's Day, you fill the heart with a cookie or a special candy.

Happy Valentine's Day.

CORALINE - The Movie

Coraline by Neil Gaiman, is an animated motion picture in the style of A Nightmare Before Christmas.

I really enjoyed the film but had to look it up to see what Coraline is rated, because it was so creepy: it’s PG (Parental Guidance suggested). My suggestion is no young kids because this film is seriously creepy. And, I know people say that later in the show it is too creepy for little kids but I disagree. I say the show is the most creepy in the beginning scene.

SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to know, stop reading NOW.

The first scene where you see the dolls being cut open and stuffed, felt extremely dark to me. It seemed a little too real. At least, I think it would seem too real for young children.

Of course, this movie was meant for middle graders and above and that’s fine. There’s no real violence, blood, or any gory graphics. It’s just, like I said, seriously creepy. So, if you like something on the darker side, this is perfect. And for kids older than 10-12, it would be a fun film to see with friends because it will definitely give them a few things to talk about.

I read the book, before I saw the film. So, I would have liked the cat to have a larger role in the movie rather than WhyB. But, I think the film stuck to the heart of the book very well. I loved how the Other Mother and her world started to unravel when Coraline (not Caroline) decided she’d rather go home than have a perfect life.

So many interesting conflicts going on in the book and the movie.

The creepiness of the hand was better in the book-but then I’m definitely a geek girl, who loves books more than movies so maybe I’m a little biased.

I would love to cyber-chat with others who see the movie. So, if you’ve seen it, let me know what you thought.