Besties

I do not intend on making a best of list for this blog.  I am not the kind of person who makes best of lists based on years.  Probably because I forget lots of things, and I couldn't tell you most of the goodies I watched and/or read this year.  Perhaps that's why I keep a blog-- to remind me.  I also do not make resolutions.  Making a resolution to me feels like you were doing something that you were unhappy about, so you are planning to change it just because it's the new year.  Why not just change it NOW?  It reminds me of when I was a chubbier person, and I was eating some Dots.  I turned to my friend, Liz, and said, with a green one in my mouth, "I eat all the ones I don't like first."  Liz said to me, "Why don't you just not eat the ones you don't like?"  Genius.  On the same tip, why wait until the beginning of a new year to do things you feel good about?  So that's why I don't make resolutions.  I'm a relatively proactive person, and I like to get it done, good or bad.  Speaking of bad, I am on the verge of a cold, so I may or may not be able to taste tonight's celebratory ice cream cake.  Wouldn't that be a shame?  And I also may not be able to stay up until midnight, as I recently promised my husband.  I hope everyone out there has super fun, exciting plans that will trump my ice cream cake and falling asleep ones. 

I still have more to say about sexy stuff in books, but I think I'll wait until another day.  I wanted to talk about how being home from work has now allowed me to read books for older teens, thus reintroducing me to the possibility of sexuality in teen books.  And I want to talk about a survey of sorts I sent to a group of my past students, asking them how they would have felt if their librarian (me)wrote a book with sex in it while they were in middle school.  I've gotten some amazingly thought out replies.  Also, this weekend I'm having lunch with another local YA author, and I'm stoked.  Matt, my husband, has recently built up a rock star group of local illustrators (we're talking Caldecotts and accolades, people) to hang with, and I would love to do the same with YA authors.  It's been hard to find takers, though.  I can't wait to hear about her process, chat about the business, and get any good gossip she wants to share.  If I forget to blog about these things, remind me.  But above all, Happy New Year!