Little Bits of Randomness

I've been hit by the flu train and am not very coherent at the moment. So I'm going to just offer a few links today without much exposition. (I ended up with more than I intended.) Then I plan to go imitate the above painting to the best of my ability for the rest of the day.

First, Anne Fine has responded to the brouhaha over her comments about hope in childern's literature that I used as a jumping point last week for another post. Her letter to the Times is here. My thoughts have mirrored hers many times. I do not think grittiness or realism should be avoided--I wouldn't embrace fairy tales if I did--but I prefer a sense of hope to pervade at some point.

One of the greatest ironies of my life is the pop culture definition of "fairy tale" versus the reality. Just do a news search to see that fairy tale in general means a fantasy, happy story while the real ones, the tales that have been around for centuries tend to be about horrible things happening until the final paragraph when good triumphs over evil. And not always--just usually and in the most popular tales. I grow weary at times of trying to explain to casual acquaintances that I work with fairy tales. Folklore is a little more acceptable. "Fairy tales" as a term gives the impression that I eat dainty little pink cupcakes, dance around in rainbow shimmery tulle skirts and wish I inhabited Never Never Land. It's enough to make one claim bookkeeping so that eyes will go dull and rapidly move on to the next topic. :)

Next, please don't miss Once Upon a Blog's Science of Fairy Tales series. I'm enjoying it and wishing I'd thought of it myself. I've always loved the debunking of movie physics in classes and on tv. (Doesn't hurt that I started out as a physics major long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away.)

Also, Diamonds and Toads: Enchanted Conversation has an interview with Jack Zipes. Don't miss that either.

Finally, the nail polish giveaway has ended. The results on the contest machine box are WRONG. I used Random.org to select winners throughout the month until the end of the contest due to the limitations of the contest application. I will announce a new giveaway for September tomorrow, so stay tuned. This one will be open internationally as promised.