In which my mind splodes

Long time, no see! In the span of time since my last post, I have traveled the world (or at least, southwestern United States), turned in a draft of my thesis, attended a writing conference, and discovered a mind-boggling literary connection! I will deal with these exciting things in that order.

1. In May, I went home for baby sister Ashley's high school graduation. She led the tassel turn; thus, it was made of awesome.

She is a lot smarter than she looks in this photograph.

But before that sensational ceremony, Grandpa (my travel buddy) and I got diverted to Phoenix, Arizona. Flight cancellation blah blah blah. Moving on.

After graduation, we drove to Ogden for my cousin's wedding open house, which was very lovely. I wore purple. Like an old woman.

Then, (and this is the most important part) we drove to Disneyland! More on that forthcoming, but here is a teaser.

2. Draft #1 went out and came back, so now revisions revisions revisions for draft #2!

3. I have been attending WIFYR (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference) this week. My forearms hurt from all the driving back-and-forth to Sandy, but my brain is sploding with awesome ideas! Which leads me to my next point...

4. Oh. My. Gosh. Charlotte's Web is the Lady of Shalott.

This requires some explaining. I came upon this idea while reading Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Lady of Shalott," in between sessions at the conference today. I have a secret project that I am working on which involves the Lady herself. Anyhoo, I couldn't help but notice that whenever Tennyson mentions the Lady's weaving, he calls it a web.

There she weaves by night and day,

A magic web with colors gay.

Essentially, the Lady sits in front of a mirror all day and weaves the reflections that she sees. She has been cursed to always weave, to always view the world through the mirror. What a terrible view! Eventually, she cries, "I am half-sick of shadows." She finally leaves the mirror to look out on the world with her own eyes. And then, she dies.

So, Charlotte. She weaves what she sees. "Some pig!" She must stay in the shadows. When she finally leaves the barn to go to the fair with Wilbur, she dies. And...Shalott....Charlotte.... Very mysterious. No? Food for thought.