My Life as A Mermaid

"Riding the waves, this mermaid knows she can find her tranquility at the crest of a frothy wave."

So says Lisa Victoria on the back of the painting my good friends gave me for xmas. I love the optimism captured in this piece. And I love mermaids. And I love that Lisa Victoria illustrates children's books. Wouldn't you want her to illustrate yours?

Indeed, someone put it to me recently: why don't you write children's books. I do have an undying appreciation for them. The main reason I don't write such things, is I fear that I lack the illustrative powers that I think are so essential for a children's book. So if you would like to team up with me for such an adventure, consider yourself cordially invited.

On a side note, I think it's a shame that many stories and books are so dumbed down for children nowadays. For example, the Little Mermaid fell from Hans Christian Andersen's heavy-hitting, intricate, eloquent masterpiece to a simplified version of itself with a happy ending. Try this beginning on for size:

FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen.

And now. If you want to read more, find yourself here.

On an unrelated note. I had a dream, two nights since, where my husband and I were living in a giant shell. It was sort of a cross between Doctor Dolittle's pink snail, a nautilus, and an urchin. It was constantly changing, but we enjoyed the change. And incidentally, if you really want to see a shell-house look no further.

And because I could never tire of Laura Veirs and her many sea-songs, please enjoy!