Disapproval Partay! Friday Night!

Above is the man responsible for getting Disapproving Rabbits to the masses. That's Matthew who was my editor on the book. I got to meet him for the first time while I was in New York this week. It was about this time last year that he emailed and asked if we would like to turn our web page into a book. Thanks, Matt!

Speaking of which, it's time for the Disapproving Rabbits Party at DreamHaven Books--it's tonight at 6:30pm--there will be cookies! live bunnies! and Cinnamon! Afterwards, there's a group heading to Charlie's in Stillwater for some great music care of Lorraine and Paul.

While in New York, I met up with some great artist friends including Mimi Ko (on the left) and Kelli Bickman (on the right). Rumor has it that Kelli is going to paint a hive for us for next year...can't wait to see it. Here we were, three hot arty chicks on the town.

Our first stop was a place where Kelli did all the artwork--very cool. Any New Yorkers stopping at the new location of the City Gourmet, take note of all her art. If it's colorful, it's Kelli's.

We stopped at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square and I was excited to see the Disapproving Rabbits book on prominent display--face out and everything--and I didn't even do it, it was like that when I got there.

We found a copy at a Borders in Columbus Circle--they only had one copy left!

On our travels we found a Chet Baker purse. I was tempted to purchase it for Julie, but was worried the real Chet would chew it before she had a chance to use it around town.

Our travels eventually took us by the Colbert Report Studios and I couldn't resist popping in for a photo. I took a photo of the Colbert Report portrait just for Laura Erickson. I'm not sure what she would do if she saw this painting...or if it would be legal.

Workin' On The Books

Woof. I have a lot of signing to do. I bailed on Carpenter banding this morning because I'm behind on some blog posts, I'm going hawk banding this weekend and need to get some work done if I'm gonna sit in a blind for two days, and holy cow you guys are so cool and have ordered a lot of books for me to personalize. My goal is to get them done this weekend and to commence the shipping on Monday. But, really, holy cow, thank you to everyone who has ordered a book, it's an overwhelming and strange sensation that something that started as joke between my and my husband got turned into a book and so many people enjoy it. I am truly grateful and never cease to be amazed by what a strange and delightful trip life can be.

I haven't found an ink I feel safe using on Cinnamon's paw for her to do a "pawtograph" and she would not be happy to have Non Birding Bill and myself hold her down and mark a bunch of books. However, she seems to tolerate running a book across her back (see how thrilled she looks?) so I can get you some Cinnamon DNA on your book (or at the very least bunny fur) and your book will absorb a lot of disapproval. It should be palpable when you open the package.

Last night I picked up NBB from work to go out and do some celebrating of the book's arrival. When we pulled into the liquor store parking lot, I saw Leann and Jon who designed and produce our Disapproving Rabbit shirts (by the way, Carri Ann, they LOVED disapproval gate). I fumbled in the car for a book and went to personalize one for them. I was so flustered because it was the first official autograph, it's illegible, I made up a word, and when I got to the actual signature...well it was sad. They laughed and said they were honored to get the very first autograph. They were being kind. Leann mentioned that the brown women's shirt is being discontinued and Jon says he has a new design he's working on so be prepared for a new disapproval shirt, and if you want to be someone who has one of the original Disapproving Rabbit shirts (you liked Disapproving Rabbits before they were popular), you might want to get one fairly soon.

And don't forget, if you would like to meet Cinnamon in person and learn more about living with a rabbit and meet some foster rabbits looking for a new home, we are having a Disapproving Rabbits Party at DreamHaven Books on November 2, 2007 at 6:30pm.

Okay, now to work on the next blog entry--brace yourself for a super cute junco photo as well as lots of brown birds!

Birdchick Mention In The Wall Street Journal

Well, I was called perky and witty in the New York Times Last year, and now the Wall Street Journal confirms my status as falling short of geeky. So, if you come by my blog for the first time via WSJ, welcome! Here's the mention (and as luck would have it, I was getting a good whiff of red-tail this weekend and have a photo to go along with it) and I've linked to the entries the article mentions:

This blog by Sharon Stiteler, based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, aims to "show the world that you can be a birder without being a geek," according to its masthead. Her recent video of a Peregrine falcon tearing a piece of meat to shreds certainly falls short of geeky.

Ms. Stiteler talks about birding on a couple of radio shows in the Minnesota area, and her blog is packed with information about birds on the prairie and in more urban habitats. In one recent post, she explains how to tell the difference between a juvenile male cardinal and a female cardinal -- neither of which has the bright plumage associated with adult males -- by the color of their bills. A separate post describes a particular insight that comes from being close to wild birds: "I love the good, warm, feathery smell of a bird. Not all birds have this, eagles for example smell like an empty 35mm film canister. Great-horned owls frequently smell of skunk or at the very least three-day-old road kill. . . . Red-tailed hawks have a wild alive smell."

Congrats to Birds Etcetera, Bill of the Birds, 10,000 Birds, and I and the Bird for getting a mention too.

And to take advantage of the all the extra traffic and continue my usual shameless self promotion, I do have a book coming out October 16, 2007 titled Disapproving Rabbits, based on the website and my pet rabbit Cinnamon. We also talk about beekeeping and a favorite reader post appears to be my recent bee sting, so if you need a laugh, you might want to take a look at that.

A quick note

Hello, all, NBB here. Sharon's running off to her segment on Showcase Minnesota, but she wanted me to let you all know that as she was heading out the door, UPS delivered her advance copy of the Disapproving Rabbits Book!

I quote verbatim:

"It's soooooooo cool! I opened a page and, there's a picture of Latte (our first rabbit)!"

Sharon asked me to let you all know that. The book is being published in October, and the reason it's taken so long for us to get an advance copy is that as soon as they show up in the publisher's office, they disappear. Yay.