And the winner of the Bliss shirt is...someone! Yaaaay! +mad applause for someone+

But really, why rush to the good part, especially when I have so much to say?

Like:

--it is cool to have an on-line community. it is, despite the pooh-poohing of some. yesterday in Starbucks i heard someone saying, "the next generation is going to be socially dysfunctional because they never interact with real people." i disagree. i'm real, you're real, we're all real. and hopefully we hang out with people who are breathing in addition to our on-line hanging-out-friends. who are also breathing. but not in our ears.

--y'all made me feel supported during this whole ttyl debacle (don't you love the word "debacle"?), and i thank you. truly.

--some of you book readers and book sellers and librarians have reached out to me in other ways (phone calls, emails, semaphore), and i'm grateful for y'all, too. i mean, dude. i do so many nice things in my head that don't ever end up getting done in reality...but y'all did them for real. you took your own time and ACTED, and i just think that's cool.

--i also thought that ALL of y'all were right in your smartio analyzes of truth versus fiction, otherwise titled "Lauren Learns the Basic Lesson that Not All Journalists *Are* Out to Report the Facts." i feel like y'all should print out your responses and give them to your English teachers for extra credit or something, because what y'all did in pointing out the differences between the full interview and the edited interview is exactly the kind of critical thinking that English teachers salivate over. and sometimes they think their students CAN'T do it, when really, they're maybe not just interested in thinking critically about, oh, i dunno, global warming. not that global warming isn't a worthy topic. but you know what i'm saying.

so, yeah. i feel very lucky to have my bloggie peeps in my life. that, post-turkey, is what i'm thankful for.

and now! the winner! i wrote down everyone's names on edible parchment paper, balled the pieces of paper up, and stuck them into the cavity of our turkey along with the actual stuffing. then, over dinner, i told my oldest son to randomly throw a roll at me. a homemade yeast roll, to be specific. when the roll hit me, i spit out the bite of turkey in my mouth, and the name of the winner burbled up through the, um...yeah.

and it is Valeria!!!!!!

her brilliant and concise words about the myracle banned are as such:

I think if viewers watch the full interview they might get a brighter look on TTYL. The two-minute interview airs arguments from both sides which brings a little darkness to your own: (one example only O:) Noah Bryde, I think his name is, was accused of an affair with a student right after your book was banned, which can be easily judged. Some might not think "Oh, these things happen". Instead they'll say, "It happened because of Lauren Myracle". They'll hate your book because they don't realize some areas of the world and don't understand their children. Parents should ask their child about TTYL, instead of bashing it because they themselves think it's an abomination.

i love the idea of people all over the country shaking their heads and saying, "it happened because of Lauren Myracle." that just kills me. (in a good way)

so! Valeria! i know not of where you hail, so figure out a way to hail me, will ya? and not on the blog comments itself, cuz you don't want to go giving out personal info to everyone, natch. you can message me on LJ or you can send an email to lauren@laurenmyracle.com. for the subject line, put, "you spit me out, you somewhat disgusting writer-person!" give me your snail mail addy (if yer a youngen, make sure it's cool with your parents first), and i'll mail you a shirt!!!!!

congrats, sweetie.

Remember the parable of Jesus and the Crossed-Out Myracle?

Well, I've got a new chapter for you.

I went to Austin to do an exclusive interview with NBC...and confused eye-blinking ensued. The confused eye-blinker was me. Why? Well, I think I'll let YOU weigh in. Heck, I'll even make a contest out of it!

What you need to know:
*the interview was 13 minutes long
*the portion NBC aired was 2 minutes long (remember, if you choose to watch it, to hit the "video" button above the picture of ttyl)

What you need to do to enter the contest:
*watch 'em both and tell me a) whether or not you think they send different messages, and b) if so, what?

Link your response to this entry by Sunday, November 30th, if you want to play. I'll put everyone's name in a bag (or something...maybe a turkey carcass?), and one randomly-picked contestant will win a BLISS shirt!

Does reading a book that has references to sex have the same impact on a child as being sexually molested?

Go here to find out!

Although, truth be told, I'm underwhelmed by the evidence Mrs. Jennings offers to support her position...

But only if you're a book banner, that is. I'm not, but I *am* the writer of banned books. Weird, eh? ttyl was one of the TOP TEN banned books in 2007, and at first I cried, and then I laughed. And then I went to Chicago for the Banned Books Read-Out, where lots of bad banned authors congregated and acted naughty above reproach!

It was sooooooo fun, in part because I got to meet one of my idol-iest idols ever, the magnificent Judy Blume. Everybody say, "Hiiiiii, Judy!"




The "meeting Judy" part happened at a reception the night before the event, where we ate bizarre food and for some reason had to wear extremely strange glasses. Those intellectual freedom folks, I just don't know. They're an odd bunch if you ask me...




Then, on Saturday, we went to the Read Out! event, sponsored by this dude:




His name is The Chicago Tribune. He was quite pleasant, though he took up more than his fair of seats.

Then I said witty things about the dubious honor of having my book be banned SO FRICKIN' MUCH...




and then I signed books...




and then I saw an apparition...




And then I went home!



OH, but Sarah M.: I *did* wear my kick-booty boots AT THE AIRPORT. (Learned from the best, babe!)