World Book Day
Mar. 3rd, 2005 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenToday is World Book Day. One may remember last year's event of doom. This year the committee decided to avoid the assembly route, and consequently, for the last few days Mrs Barry has been gathering items for a book treasure hunt for the first three years. Obviously I agreed to help - my job, blah - and went out for sherbet lemons yesterday. She spent last night putting the clues all round school, photocopied the forms (they're bright pink and now haunt my dreams) and waited for people to arrive.
Which they did, with a vengeance. The seventy forms disappeared and more had to be photocopied. At break I went out to look at the clues. There was a pair of green glasses in the library itself (The Demon Headmaster), an alarm clock on the periodical shelf (Peter Pan), a wedding invitation from "Mr and Mrs Bennett" on the payphone (easy) a jar of marmalade on the lockers (Paddington!) and a jar of honey in the Derby Wing (Winnie-the-Pooh) and a single rose hanging off the balcony in the main corridor (one guess). The sherbet lemons were in a bag stuck to the head's office door, and from a distance everyone thought they were grapes. I didn't get it, so I stalked out to have a look with the mini-Scoobies trailing after me.
They were definitely sherbet lemons. The headmistress emerged, blinking, and gave me a Look. "Come in here and explain this."
Well, what do you do? I went in and attemped to explain it. She's never read any of the Harry Potter books (she's an English teacher). I explained the reference as clearly as I could, she told me I was terrific and tremendous and threw me out. I went back to the library and moaned at anyone who'd listen.
They calmed down a bit when they had to go to lessons, and I sat around in my free and didn't do anything. Mrs Barry was working on stuff from the school archives, and she showed me the school's very first admissions book, complete with pupil number one. Her name was Florence Lester and she was a pupil in 1888. The first girl, of course - the boys are from 1620 - and it went on from there. I found it interesting, to see all these girls who are from Bootle and Crosby and their fathers are described as "dairy farmer[s]".
Anyway. Later, the madness began again as I had to go round the school with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
quackaquacka, checking all the clues were in place. Unforunately, some of the first-years twigged what we were doing, and reasoned that if they followed us, they'd see all the clues. And they were bloody obvious about it, too. We had to relocate marmalade. Is it any wonder that I am entirely sick of this?
Ah, well. They have to finish by tomorrow, and that's the last time I ever get to do something like this. And I want the sherbet lemons. Someone has to eat them.
That's today. I never got to update yesterday because of being insanely busy, but it was fun. School, work, and fun stuff, in that order - Hannah and Clare arrived at about six-ish and took me to Colleen's, where we ate pizza, took pictures for Colleen's media, and according to her, Hannah and I were "woobly." I have no idea what this means.
Anyway, it was fun. I can't post the pictures in this entry - they have to be friends-locked, again - but I may do so later. Also, and this is entirely unrelated, what do people do on dates?
Which they did, with a vengeance. The seventy forms disappeared and more had to be photocopied. At break I went out to look at the clues. There was a pair of green glasses in the library itself (The Demon Headmaster), an alarm clock on the periodical shelf (Peter Pan), a wedding invitation from "Mr and Mrs Bennett" on the payphone (easy) a jar of marmalade on the lockers (Paddington!) and a jar of honey in the Derby Wing (Winnie-the-Pooh) and a single rose hanging off the balcony in the main corridor (one guess). The sherbet lemons were in a bag stuck to the head's office door, and from a distance everyone thought they were grapes. I didn't get it, so I stalked out to have a look with the mini-Scoobies trailing after me.
They were definitely sherbet lemons. The headmistress emerged, blinking, and gave me a Look. "Come in here and explain this."
Well, what do you do? I went in and attemped to explain it. She's never read any of the Harry Potter books (she's an English teacher). I explained the reference as clearly as I could, she told me I was terrific and tremendous and threw me out. I went back to the library and moaned at anyone who'd listen.
They calmed down a bit when they had to go to lessons, and I sat around in my free and didn't do anything. Mrs Barry was working on stuff from the school archives, and she showed me the school's very first admissions book, complete with pupil number one. Her name was Florence Lester and she was a pupil in 1888. The first girl, of course - the boys are from 1620 - and it went on from there. I found it interesting, to see all these girls who are from Bootle and Crosby and their fathers are described as "dairy farmer[s]".
Anyway. Later, the madness began again as I had to go round the school with
quackaquacka, checking all the clues were in place. Unforunately, some of the first-years twigged what we were doing, and reasoned that if they followed us, they'd see all the clues. And they were bloody obvious about it, too. We had to relocate marmalade. Is it any wonder that I am entirely sick of this?Ah, well. They have to finish by tomorrow, and that's the last time I ever get to do something like this. And I want the sherbet lemons. Someone has to eat them.
That's today. I never got to update yesterday because of being insanely busy, but it was fun. School, work, and fun stuff, in that order - Hannah and Clare arrived at about six-ish and took me to Colleen's, where we ate pizza, took pictures for Colleen's media, and according to her, Hannah and I were "woobly." I have no idea what this means.
Anyway, it was fun. I can't post the pictures in this entry - they have to be friends-locked, again - but I may do so later. Also, and this is entirely unrelated, what do people do on dates?
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no subject
on 2005-03-03 07:16 pm (UTC)Thank you for reminding me! *goes to snag Garth Nix's book off eBay, as I am apparently too impatient to wait for it to get released over here in, like, August*
The US, of course, does nothing for this event as far as I can tell... cue much eye-rolling on my part.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:07 pm (UTC)THE CREATURE IN THE CASE
This was originally going to be a short story to be included in my forthcoming collection of stories ACROSS THE WALL: TALES OF THE OLD KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE (USA August 2005, dates TBC for Australia/UK) but it turned into a 25,000 word novella. It's set six months after the events of ABHORSEN and is about Nicholas Sayre, who in order to get permission to cross the Perimeter and go back to the Old Kingdom, agrees to help some Ancelstierran researchers who are looking into Old Kingdom 'phenomena'. This story will also be a World Book Day book in the UK, and so will be available by itself (not as part of the story collection) in April in the UK for World Book Day. ACROSS THE WALL has a cover by the Dillons based on a scene from 'The Creature in the Case'.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:14 pm (UTC)I still have twelve vouchers to use. I'm using 'em.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:23 pm (UTC)I hope I can get a copy soon... am craving new material. At least I can go home and read Drowned Wednesday in the meantime. It's on my coffee table, demanding attention. ;)
no subject
on 2005-03-03 07:32 pm (UTC)Sorry I'm addicted to them *toddles off to find some*
And what you do on a date.....yeah I'm not the person to ask as all my dates have ended horribly.
Maybe thats just me. The again- Things not to do on a date:
Spill your hot coffee on your date.
Thats about it.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-03-03 08:03 pm (UTC)I'm not the best person to ask about dates either, because my sense of romance is... I'm trying to think of a clever analogy, but I can't. It's that bad: there is no applicable clever analogy. What I've done is go to movies or plays (I still insist that going to see a Beckett play is so a valid date) and then usually dinner and conversation afterward. That's probably a really casual definition of a date, though.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:10 pm (UTC)I actually think Hannah would like going to a Beckett play, or indeed any sort of play, on a date. I'm tempted to take her to see Noises Off next time it's on at the Empire.
Dinner and conversation, however, are more likely. *nods*
Oh! Oh, oh, oh - while I'm here, and while you are, happy birthday! You are more fantastic than fantastic, and I hope it's been a good day.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 08:40 pm (UTC)More specialised? Firstly, Orange Wednesday is cheap for both parties and quite fun. Films are a very good idea. Going out for food is good, too. If you want the really 13 year old experience, go to the cinema and then go to MacDonalds. *grins*
Or get out a film, and cuddle up and watch it. That's always fun, too.
Seriously, just do what seems fun, y'know? And if you have any other suggestions, pass them on for the times when the cinema is once more showing crap.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:11 pm (UTC)Getting out a film seems like a really sweet idea. *takes note* And I'll keep you posted.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 09:48 pm (UTC)Completely aside, this reference has bypassed me. Help?
no subject
on 2005-03-04 07:59 am (UTC)That didn't help- think god awful Jane Austen books.
no subject
on 2005-03-03 11:03 pm (UTC)But you already knew my opinion on the matter =p
no subject
on 2005-03-03 11:14 pm (UTC)