Doodlers Doodling

I am a doodler. Always have been. It made me a little self-conscious in school, like my teachers would think I wasn't paying attention-- but I WAS. I think I pay more attention when my hands have something to do! Imagine my relief when I learned that our President Elect Barack Obama is ALSO a doodler!

And then the loss of that relief when I saw that Sarah Palin is too:

(she's more of a word/number doodler, though, so that doesn't really count, right??)

I still feel like people think I'm daydreaming when I doodle away during meetings, but if anything it keeps me more in the present. My only problem is occasionally not wanting to turn the page in our progress reports when I'm in the midst of a nice sketch.

(yes, that's an email from THE Surly Temple, of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby! Emailing ME! ... and a bunch of other girls)

Which probably led to this doodle. Side bar: I LOVE ROLLER DERBY PRACTICE. I've only been to 2 and am pretty convinced I won't make the team on Dec. 6th, but it is SO FUN. And for me, anyway, doing things outside of my "comfort zone" (literally- I've been in DIScomfort since the first practice), I get all fired up creatively. The day after the first practice was when I finally started in on that new dummy I've been thinking about for months now.

Didn't Barack Obama's sketch sell for like $2000 on ebay? FYI- in case you like what you see here...

I'm still alive!!

The Marathon didn't get me, although it tried its darndest! You'll never get me, Marathon! Look, here's a picture:

That's me, right up front in the Xtreme Closeup. I'm moving so fast the camera can barely catch me! You can tell it's early on, because I'm a) still smiling, and ii) still in an upright position. I was downright Cro-Magnon by the end! I finished, though! In 4:53... EXACTLY the same time as my first marathon. EXACTLY. I am nothing if not consistent.

What else have I been doing with my time? Well, as a matter of fact I am working on my next book dummy! I am super-jazzed about it at the moment, but being superstitious I will keep those cards close to my chest for the time being.

In the meantime, why not enjoy these pictures I took at the Salt Lake City SCBWI conference this past weekend? This was truly a lovely conference- so well-run, and we were made to feel so welcome by this group. And I don't know what runs in the water in Salt Lake City, but there was an absolute slew of talented up-and-coming illustrators out there! And it was nice to see the illustrators banding together in a support group- I think it's so important to have a group of peers to turn to in times of need. Thanks for making me an honorary BIFF*! (*Best Illustration Friend Forever).

The Mountains Majesty were majestic:


Another glorious sight? My hotel room! A quaint B & B right by the capitol building- by far one of the swankiest places I've stayed in.


And what's this? Do mine eyes deceive me? Is that a jacuzzi bathtub I see?!?!

It is!!

The library where the conference was held was no less swank:

I felt like I was in the MoMA, with architecture like this! And I don't know how anyone could concentrate on the books with a view like this out the window:

(I mean the mountains, not the Bodyworks exhibit. Not my bag, baby)

A hearty thank you to the Utah SCBWI group, and I hope that you'll all keep in touch!