This is not my usual blog post, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up about an exciting event.
This Sunday, November 1, 2020 a video Mom made of me will air on the TV show America’s Funniest Videos. ME! ON TV! Yay! It’s about time!
The show is on ABC at 7:00pm. I hope I don’t get edited out. I think I will be fabulous. Move over Lassie. Step aside, Clifford the Big Red Dog. Outta my way, Benji. This is happening. #callmehollywood #nopawtographsplease #wherestheredcarpet
Some of you may have watched the show TMZ on TV and already know that I didn’t win the final Best in Show video competition. I am happy to have the consolation prize for finalists which is $500. Woot!
Today, Mom and I went shopping at Petco to spend some of my winnings. I got a new hoodie, a teddy bear, a cookie shaped like an ice cream cone, and some chicken flavored toothpaste. Yup. That’s worth $500. I’m sure Mom wouldn’t embezzle any of my money….. But just in case, I’m keeping an eye open for a new iPad, shiny new boots, or anything cashmere.
Hi Blogville friends!
Hollywood has finally recognized me for the talented doggie that I am. I’m a finalist in the TMZ Best in Show Challenge. If you have a minute (It actually takes less than a minute), click the link, pop onto the website, and vote for me! Thanks!
Click here to vote for Cupcake! Ballerina Doggie.
Today, I picked out 5 words from one of Mom’s old stories that she’s working on again. She’s making it new. And better. And shorter. And better…
6. Pets – Mom has always had pets – even before me. (What a shocker that life didn’t begin with me, #amiright ) She grew up with a Myna bird that talked, a couple of other birds off and on, tropical fish, baby turtles, and of course doggies always.
Sandy
Smoki
92. Basement – Mom got a score back from a story she had rated. She said her score was “in the basement” which is confusing because our house doesn’t have a basement – unless you count where Mom parks the car. It’s just as well. I am already afraid of the parking garage, the fire extinguisher, the elevator, the trash room, and the hallway. I do NOT need a basement to worry about on top of all that.
Yikes! A mirror dog on the ceiling! I’m pretty sure he’s trying to kill me….
14. Grass – When I am not taking a street nap or a sidewalk nap,
I will sometimes lie in the grass for a change of pace.
That said, if the grass is damp for any reason – rain, dew, sprinklers – I will not step in it. Mom says, “Come on, weirdo.” and “I don’t like it either.” and “You can’t walk the tightrope forever.” But yes I can…
#curbwalker
27. Crab – When she was a 3rd grade teacher, Mom had hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, newts, goldfish, mealworms, a turtle, sea monkeys. hamsters, tadpoles, butterflies, frogs, ants, and a parakeet in her classroom at one time or another. Once when I was sleepy, Mom called me the name of Crabby, so in a way, she STILL has a crab.
#sideeye
8. Sweat – Whenever Mom is working on a new story or waiting to hear about something she submitted, she says she is “sweating it out.” I don’t think she knows from sweating while she’s typing and talking to herself in the nice cool house. I know sweating better than she does. I do it through my paws and my mouth. I do it when I’m hot and I do it when I’m nervous. And sometimes, I do it for no reason at all….
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
John F. Kennedy
I always try my very best. Well, maybe not my very best, but I always try hard. Well, maybe not hard, but I always try. Well, maybe not always, but sometimes. So, yeah – Once in a while, I try a little bit.
I try not to get caught in the soccer net.
Close enough…unless…
NO!
I try to figure out how my bed works…
Nailed it.
And the chair at the library…
Backwards? No. This seems right…
I try to stay where Mom can see me so I won’t get lost.
And I try to play gently with my toys and not accidentally rip their heads off.
Mom tries her best waaaay more than I do. She has to! That’s what writers do. She writes, revises, submits, mind writes, edits, gets ideas, rewrites, reads, critiques, does author visits…
…drinks coffee, takes me to the park,
cuddles with me, teaches me, goes shopping, talks on the phone, throws my baseball, has lunch with her friends…. Wait. What? I think I got off the topic there for a minute….
Huh???
Anyway, The point is – she tries, just like she’s supposed to. She also hopes for the best and prepares for Book2 and/or Ebook2.
Now I’m going to try and get a few treats out of my Petzi Treat Cam…
Hello in there….
It’s a new season around here. Fall. Also known as Autumn. Also known as Pumpkin-Freaks-Are- Everywhere-Trying-To-Kill-Me.
They’re watching me…aren’t they? *shiver*
Today, we’re counting down about seasons.
What I Know About Seasons
3. Napping. Something I like about fall is that it’s still warm and sunny enough for street naps and sun-puddle naps. I love a good nap.
2. Next. The next season will be winter. That means jackets (Mmmm. Toasty.)
and boots (*gulp*)
and snow (Yikes! I hope it doesn’t touch my belly!).
1. Halloween. Fall is Halloween time. ‘Nuff said.
What Mom Knows About Seasons
3. 9-Months. Fall means Mom is 9 months into her 12×12 challenge. She could’ve had a baby in all that time. Maybe a book-baby…?
2. Visiting. Back-to-School-Season means Back-to-School-Visits-Season. I’m still not allowed to go along, but I’m getting better at watching and waiting for Mom to come home.
1. Clothes. Sweaters and sweatshirts are warm and cozy and Mom will wear them a lot this season. Ditto boots and jackets. I sure hope Mom can walk better in her boots than I do in mine.
Help me….
Otherwise, no matter how many book-babies she has, she’ll never even make it to a school visit!
Mom has to take her time when she makes a story. It’s OK to write it quickly, but then comes the hard work, which is revising, and that part is slow. Fixing the word choices in poems or stories makes the right mood and the right voice and the right feel. In her Lyrical Language Lab Class, Mom learned to look again at every word in a story to make it sound better and flow better without slowing the story down or going off on a tangent.
Sometimes I get off on a tangent when I’m checking my pee-mail.
When I’m sniffing out a message, I will say, “This is from my friend, Mocha.” and “I wish I could jump on his head right now.” and “His mom always says the furs on my head are soft.” and “My squirrel toy is really soft.”
and “I wonder if that laughing monkey toy is out of the toy box waiting for me.”
and “Squirrels look like monkeys running around in the trees.” and “Trees are…..”
And then Mom says, “Let’s go.” and “Let’s GO!” and “LET’S GO!!” Apparently, sniffing the same blade of grass all day is not an option for me.
I am learning to take my time when I eat my dinner. I didn’t learn it in Lyrical Language Lab – it’s because of my new slow-feeder bowl!
There has been some learning going on around here lately. Mom taught me the word, “Roll over.” It’s something like, “Down.” But more squiggly and flippy and thumpy and spinny. At first, Mom grabbed as many of my little legs as she could and twisted them like spaghetti till she got me upside down. Then I learned to tuck my back legs under and make myself turn to stone, so she couldn’t roll me. 
Eventually, she learned to show me a treat which made me melt into submission. That is called Learning. Plus Bribery. Mom said, “Whatever works.” and “By the time you learn this, you’ll be too fat to do it.” and “I need a break.” Then she made a s’more and didn’t share it with me. 
Mom will be learning around here, too. She joined Summer School! 
She’ll be studying online with two amazing teachers, a talented group of guest teachers, and a Facebook group filled with classmates. In Summer School, she’ll think up new characters. Then, she’ll grab their little legs and twist them like spaghetti till they squiggle, flip, thump, and spin. 
Then she’ll make a story about them. The bribery won’t work, so she’ll have to read a lot of posts, talk to herself, pay attention to her teachers, and be inspired. After that, she’ll probably make a s’more and not share it with me.
Seriously??!
Today’s 5 words are about rest.
1. Couch-Nap – I like a good couch-nap. When Mom leaves me alone, the couch is my napping area of choice. Also the floor, my bed, the rocking chair,
and the butterfly rug in the bathroom.
2. Street-Nap – In the summer the asphalt in my neighborhood gets blazing hot. Those are the perfect days for a street-nap. I lie on my belly and my side and sometimes I flip over and squiggle around like a wiggly worm.
Aaahhhh…
3. Laziness – Mom has been kind of lazy lately. She hasn’t been sitting at her computer and talking to herself! That means no writing in a few days. I thought she was a “full-time” writer. This week, she’s been a writer at rest.
Z-z-z-z-z-…
4. Excuses – She makes excuses like, “I have an appointment.” and “I’m swamped. It’s a super-busy day.” and “How can I write if you drink all my coffee?” I can make excuses, too. “You left your cup right where I can reach it.”
and “I couldn’t decide which toy to play with.”
and “I was lonely eating in the kitchen by myself.”
5. Back-on-the-horse – Yesterday, Mom sat at her computer and said she was getting back on the horse. I have never seen a horse. Mom saw one in Manhattan and showed me the picture. It looked like a big dog. A really, really, REALLY big dog. I hope she doesn’t love that big guy more than she loves me.
Woof!
Sometimes stories get stuck. Mom likes the rule of three, so if there are only two good obstacles in her story, she can be Stuck-and-Waiting for one more good idea. Her other choice is to use an obstacle that isn’t her favorite and worry about it later. Then she is Stuck-but-Moving.
If a character turns boring halfway through the story, Mom can be Stuck-and-Waiting. A story that is Stuck-and-Waiting can die a miserable death. Her other choice is to go back to her character sketch and add some flaws, quirks, oddities, and traits to bump that character up. Even if he or she isn’t perfect, Mom can go back to work and worry about it later. Then she is Stuck-but-Moving.
When I come inside, I need to get the rock salt (and snow and mud) cleaned off my feet with a baby wipe. Sometimes, I am Stuck-and-Waiting.
Wipe my feet, please….
When the snow is really deep (and touching my belly *shiver*) my legs can’t reach solid ground. Mom says, “I am not carrying you anymore.” So I get busy – Stuck-but-Moving.
Inside a snow bank, there could be something fun like a ball or something yummy like a piece of bread that the birds dropped. There’s one way to find out – drill my nose in as far as I can. Then I am Stuck-and-Searching. That’s my favorite way to be!
Sometimes, when I play with my monkey in a barrel, it puts me into a frenzy. There’s just too much going on! Too much to do. Too many possibilities. Bite the barrel? Tear off the lid? Growl at the talking? Rip the monkey’s face off? Chew his arm till he stops laughing? Shake the whole thing till I’m dizzy? I don’t know what to do first.
Since NewYears, Mom has also been in a frenzy. She’s not biting, tearing, growling, ripping, chewing, or shaking, like me. But she does have a lot going on, a lot to do, and a lot of possibilities. She may have bitten off more than she can chew. I’ve done that occasionally, too…. (And by “occasionally” I mean every day.)
Gah! Why is my mouth so tiny?!
Mom has entered a ton of challenges, and made a bunch of goals for herself this year. She will read 200 picture books in the Goodreads Challenge again,
she joined 12×12 for 2014, which means she needs to write a new first draft in the next few weeks,
she’ll get 30 new ideas when PiBoIdMo starts,
and she will write 30 poems this year.
In between all those jobs (and a bunch of others – if you can believe such a thing), Mom decided to enter the Highlights Annual Fiction Contest this month, AND take Susanna Hill’s Making Contest Magic class this week.
So Mom is learning, mind-writing, registering, paypal-ing, reading, commenting, revising, studying, listing, rhyming, critiquing, and ….do you see what’s missing here??
Snow pea?? Blech! I may have bitten off more than I can chew again.
Rocky, over at my friend Bacon’s blog told me that January 6 was National CuddleUp Day. So I made sure Mom took some time out to celebrate. Actually, I will make sure we celebrate that thing EVERY day!!
Cupcake Speaks 