Monday, April 04, 2011

History of Cheese

This past weekend (last weekend?  Why do those things always trip me up?), my family visited the most excellent Milwaukee Art Museum for their Art in Bloom event.  People (florists?  And maybe others with floral gifts) design flower arrangements based on works of art, and the flowers are displayed near their inspiration.  Romy's favorite part was eating at the museum.  Here's a sweet picture of the two of us from the day:
On our drive to and from the museum, we passed by the Mars Cheese Castle.  For anyone who has read an ARC of Don't Stop Now (out June 7!), you know that the characters visit the MCC, and one of the funny bits, that even travels further in the book than just that chapter, is that the MCC does not look like a castle.  The narrator, Lil, sort of goes on about it.  It's funny, and it was true.  WAS.  The Mars Cheese Castle must have finally got the memo because on the same plot of land as the original, non-castle-like building they built a gigantic (wait for it...) castle.  Poof.  That's not the only castle in the book that is wrong.  Lil references the MCC when she visits another castle, the Enchanted World Doll Museum in Mitchell, SD.  As I wrote the book I learned the museum, a favorite of mine when I visited Mitchell several years ago, had closed the previous year.  Now TWO locations in my book are wrong!  Who knows?  Maybe there are more.  I have decided right now that the book is historical fiction, set in the ripe, ol' year of 2006.  I think that's going far back enough.  That way, both of the castles are as they should be.  I hope no one calls me on it.

And now for a contest!  The paperback of Into the Wild Nerd Yonder comes out in stores on April 7.  Why do you need this paperback?  Because:
  1. It has a purty new cover!
  2. It contains a hilarious (I totally laughed when I read it) interview with me!
  3. You can read the first chapter of Don't Stop Now at the end of the book!
If you'd like to win a copy of the paperback, comment on this post (with your email addy, please) by this Friday, April 8 with the nerdiest thing you do.  I'll randomly select a winner some time on Friday.

25 comments:

jpetroroy said...

I DVR Jeopardy :)

jpetroroy at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Hmm. Well, I watch Doctor Who and I often pretend I'm a companion. Oh God, why am I admitting this?

lilrongal at gmail dot com

carey said...

i spent last night, the last night of my spring break, watching the civil war on pbs for the hundredth time and singing the words along with all the instrumental versions of the civil war songs.

carey dot farrell at gmail dot com.

Brian James said...

I watch Doctor Who and pretend I'm the doctor.

I love the photo, I like how neither of you seem to be looking at the artwork.

Oh, and now I want a cheese castle of my own.

Kristan said...

Hmm. Nerdiest thing I used to do was write Star Trek fanfic. Now I'd have to say the nerdiest thing I do is obsess over Apple products...

(Also, I don't know if this counts, but I eat Kraft singles really goofy/nerdy. Fold one single into fours. Fold each four into fours. Make four stacks of fours, evenly spaced and centered on the plastic wrapper. Eat one piece (1/16th) at a time, one from each stack, until they are gone.)

Reece said...

I posted lyrical praise of the new Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition on Facebook. I actually posted the words "Oh Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition how do I love thee!" just because I looked up a tricky usage case at work one day...

reece dot hanzon at gmail dot com

Abby Stevens said...

Nerdiness runs through my veins, methinks, but I'd say the nerdiest thing about me is that I LOVE learning, and I'm proud of that!

abby@abbystevens.com

Sophia Bronwyn said...

I spent a whole school day referring to myself as the Doctor's faithful companion.... :)

sophia dot bronwyn at gmail dot com

Anna Gailey said...

My phone is currently decked out in all awesomeness that is Doctor Who. A doctor who wallpaper on my phone, a Starry Sky cover (which is a reference if you've seen the 5th season) and phone charm of a Tardis that spins and lights up when someone calls.

luckiestxclover [at] hotmail [dot] com

Teenage Librarian said...

I visit libraries around the world and take my picture in front of them. I'm a little library obsessed...

Jenna St. Hilaire said...

A BOOK ABOUT NERDS! Must. Read.

I'm a wizard rocker. I write songs about Harry Potter and sometimes get up and sing them in front of people.

Also, I have a telescope. And I use it.

Nerds are the greatest!

librarylily at gmail dot com

Renata said...

I worry that I'm not nerdy enough to consider myself a nerd, and am trying to improve my nerd status.

StarryCatastrophe@gmail.com

Aleeza said...

nerdiest thing i do? open up calenders of years gone by and 'oh yeah remember that?!' to every other day i did anything mildly interesting.

also, i take pictures of books i like. no clue why, just like to. and i also love going through random bookish pictures of books from weheartit and saving them.

and because this is kind of fun, i've dreamed of interviewing my favorite cricketers in my head around 73 times. about the same stuff. can't help it--cricketing nerdism runs in my family, heh.

here's my email id!: aleeza876[AT]yahoo[DOT]com

AlexisKG said...

Doctor Who is clearly a common denominator, so we'll move on:

I listen to the Nerdist podcast when I go to the gym, and keep track of my gym trips with a homemade post-it note calendar that collects all my favorite Nerdist jokes.

Amy Laurens said...

Hehe. My fav ap on my smart phone is Google Star Map. But the one that annoys people around me most is my insistence on plausibility in films, ESPECIALLY in sci fi and fantasy. Be consistent and have a better reason than 'because it's pretty', worldbuiling peeps! O:);)

Amy Laurens said...

Oops, forgot my email *blush*

blot.of.ink at gmail dot com :o)

Teenage Librarian said...

Apparently I fail. I forgot my email address.

teenagelibrary at gmail dot com

Natalie Sams said...

Hmmm...well my dad and I have contests to see who can solve the word jumble in the paper faster...it's gotten pretty heated haha. I love the history channel and can sing all the states, their capitals, and the elements, thanks to an annoyingly long term memory from 2nd and 3rd grade.

softballgrrl743@aol.com

Jenny said...

My husband, our wedding party, and I entered our wedding reception to Weird Al's 'White and Nerdy' wearing nerd glasses.

We also played the following Jonathan Coulton songs during our wedding reception. Some of the older relatives mentioned later that the music wasn't their "cup of tea". Whoops!
- Still Alive, from the game Portal end credits
- Code Monkey
- Re: Your Brains

Also, I built my own PC if that counts for anything :) Luckily, I have my husband to help troubleshoot issues...

Jenny said...

Whoops, forgot the e-mail. deinkenj [at] gmail.com

K. Marie Criddle said...

Oh! I loved GET WELL SOON and I've heard nothing but beautiful wonderful things about YONDER. Yay books! Yay you!

Kmcriddle at gmail dot com

K. Marie Criddle said...

Oh, and the nerdiest (really just one of the nerdiest) thing I do is make my husband watch Star Wars with me, putting it on pause every few minutes to explain an entire character's backstory: "Now that's Wedge Antilles as played by Denis Lawson. He's actually from Corellia, like Han, but he joined the Rebels because his girlfriend..."

Julie H said...

I had my daughter roll a twenty sided die, and it landed on 20! Taking away the double comments for those who forgot to leave emails, the twentieth commenter is... K. Marie Criddle! Congrats! I'll email you, as well. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Sophia Bronwyn said...

I know the contest is over, but I just want to share with you another nerdy thing that I do. It's also from Doctor Who. :)

My favorite drink is the Virgin Sonic Screwdriver!! It's cool because the sonic screwdriver is a tool that the Doctor uses. It's whatever flavor clear Soda you want plus blue food coloring, and crushed ice. Sometimes if my brother and I don't want to have the same drink we will put in different colors. Like if we put in yellow, it would be the Master's(one of the Doctor's many villans) sonic screwdriver. Or if we put in red, it would be Sarah Jane Smith's(one of the Doctor's many companions) sonic lipstick. And then, once the Doctor's sonic screwdriver regenerated, we decided that the drink had to be green, instead of blue.
It's weird, but fun. :D

Anonymous said...

I religiously quote "The Big Bang Theory", have read the Harry Potter books more than ten times each, and have watched every Vlobrothers video. Ever. :)

nicolelmathias(at)gmail(dot)com