i totally hate wearing glasses. but mine are kinda funky, so im cool with that. but there are people out there that really need them and cant afford them. celise is donating a book this cause, so if shes willing, then all you other childrens book authors should too. check it out:

Please join our celebrity donors Paul Newman, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Dillon in helping us transform lives. New Eyes for the Needy helps the less fortunate see clearly by providing new eyeglasses to poor Americans and distributing donated recycled glasses overseas. We are proud of our 75-year legacy of providing clear vision to those in need. The prescription eyeglasses we provide enable children to succeed in school, senior citizens to continue living independently, and working-poor adults to maintain employment.

In the past year, New Eyes has purchased more than 5,500 pairs of eyeglasses for poor Americans. In addition, we distributed 350,000+ pairs of recycled eyeglasses to indigent people around the world. We will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of New Eyes with our “Hocus Focus” gala on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the Beacon Hill Club in Summit, New Jersey. The evening features dinner, live musical entertainment, and live and silent auctions.

Our auction will include autographed children’s books, and we respectfully ask you to contribute a signed copy of one of your books. Gala proceeds will be utilized to purchase prescription glasses for needy Americans, helping them attain clear vision and self-sufficiency.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Pamela DePompo-Klein, Executive Director, New Eyes for the Needy
549 Millburn Avenue, PO Box 332
Short Hills, NJ 07078
973-376-4908

cmon, come in. im on the case.

sorry this hasnt come sooner but ive been way too busy for my own good! you’d think being a teenager is all fun and dandy,  just full of house parties and countless hours wasted in front of the tv; but that’s not the case when you have a job (the real job, not the secret job)!! anyway, i did get to break away from the working world a couple of weeks ago and i went to my prom. it was at this beautiful hotel here, the Sheraton Cresent. sadly i didnt have a date so i went with Party Gurl and Rico Suave!! my dress was white with black polka dots, it fell right above the knee and had this fishnet lace thingy at the botton to make the dress all poofy! (wow i sure do have a way with words huh!! lol!) there was black lace around the upper stomach area that wrapped around to the back as well. it had one inch thick straps (dont dig the strapless). and my hair was in a million curls of all different sizes. i know that sounds kind of weird but i actually looked cute!! my shoes were all blinged out and the matched my “beyonce bling” i had on my wrist and around my neck!! but let me tell you five minutes into the dance those puppies were OFF!!!!  lol!!!!

i had alot of fun but i wouldnt have minded better music though. i mean the only music djs play at dances is mostly rap. and our prom was no exception!! but this rap wasnt the okay-this-has-a-beat-i-can-follow-without-looking-like-the-hoochies-in-the-videos rap. no this was the type of rap music that sounds like they are speaking in tongues for the holy ghost, except with every curse word you could think of! the kind of songs that you can dance to in your car but when you stand up, your feet have no idea whats going on!!! needless to say i didnt dance as much as i wanted to. but when i did dance…I GOT DOWN!!! LOL!!!!  no one really expects that from the “innocent girl” but as you and me both know….im not that innocent!!! overall the prom was hot, sweaty, crowded, but it was the most fun ive had in a while!!!

Celise had a booksigning today, so I hung out with her and her best friend , Amy. It was hosted by the Arts Council for Youth and she thought I might like it.

She was right.

We had a primo spot by the Main Dance Stage. We saw:

~ several performances by different dance studios.

~ Japanese drumming. Which was way fun because they let people come up and bang on the drums when they were done with their demonstration.

~ Capoeira demonstration. It’s like martial arts but without any physical contact. And the instructor was a dead ringer for Vin Diesel. I kid you not. That was also fun because they let people come up and they showed us how to do some stuff.

~ A really lame juggling act.

~ An even lamer version of one man’s version of ‘Stomp’.

~ A tap dancing routine by a little girl who was shyer thatn a mouse. Truly, I would’ve felt the same way because that stage (read: basketball court with special flooring taped down) was HUGE. And she was the only one out there.

~ A cute swing dance routine by a young boy and girl. It was very cute.

~ A traditional Indian dance by a 12 yr old girl. Very cool costume. And I mean ‘Indian’ like the country, not Native American.

There was other stuff, too, like choirs, middle schoolers playing music, art displays, etc. And there were these two girls, Jonnie and Brookie, that made me think I was watching ‘Hannah Montana’. And then whaddya know, they bust out a song from the show. It was too cute. Really. They had pink guitars (yes, they were really playing them) and were selling their CD’s at a nearby table. I have to laff because these girls truly belonged on the Disney Channel. Or Radio Disney. The Disney set would eat up their stuff.

I was the photographer of the day and you can check out the pictures HERE. Surprisingly, I somehow missed getting a picture of Celise behind her table. She was probably roaming around or taking a potty break. And then I just completely forgot. Especially towards the end of the event. We were kept busy making sure the bookmarks and postcards didn’t fly off the table every time the wind picked up. 

I think the hi-lite of my day (and I say this with complete and utter sarcasm) is when our tent almost blew over. Sandbags are useless. We didn’t have them anchored right–so that could’ve been the problem–but that’s beside the point. All in all, it was a good day. The hurricane-type winds winds kept it from getting too hot, we sold 3 books, 4 keychains, and were thoroughly entertained.

Yeah. Good times.