Dinosaurs (Fist Pump!)

We recently returned from our annual trip to DelMarVa. I was fortunate enough to attend the ALA conference in Washington DC on June 24th, so we built our trip around it.
On our way home, we stopped in New Jersey so we could visit the site where the first partially complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered. Prior to this discovery, dinosaurs were known only from scattered bone fragments and teeth.

Amateur naturalist William Parker Foulke heard that local workmen digging in a nearby marl pit had unearthed several gigantic bones. Organizing his own team of diggers to investigate, he soon discovered the fossilized partial skeleton of a bipedal creature with features similar to both a bird and a reptile.

The strange prehistoric beast was later identified as a dinosaur by Joseph Leidy, a naturalist from the nearby Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Leidy gave the fossil the taxonomic name Hadrosaurus foulkii, after its discoverer.

We found out about this site from Atlas Obscura, and Johnny loves his dinosaurs!

I MET RL STINE!

Be Still, My Horror-Loving Heart!

So yesterday I was at ALA in Washington DC. I was glad to be there, and I picked up a lot of good stuff in the exhibit hall. I was a little bummed that some things had run out because yesterday was the last day, but I stumbled into a line. It was supposed to be a closed line, but then a woman came around the corner with a handful of ARCs, so I assumed she was letting a few more people join in.

I asked if this was the case, and she said yes. I looked at the book in her hands, and it was the newest RL Stine!

In case you live under a rock, RL Stine is a horror master. He creates the future Stephen King fans by thrilling us and enticing us back again and again. I spent my youth reading Goosebumps and Fear Street and watching Goosebumps every Friday afternoon and watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? every Saturday evening.

So I waited in line (maybe 30 mins total) to get a not-yet-published book signed by one of the authors that shaped my reading identity.

And when I finally got to meet him, I brought up the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Documentary, because he was interviewed in it. I told him I'm also interviewed in it, so we chatted for  a minute about how much work the creator put into it, and how good the animations in it look.  .  .

It was the highlight of the conference.

Just Hacking a Greeting Card

I'm gearing up to bring my dollhouses to the NH Children's Museum Mini Maker Faire again.

I've been trying to work on them whenever I have the chance because I want to bring some that have never been displayed before.

I've been wanting to add some sound to my Beetlejuice dollhouse for a while now. I was looking at some micro sound systems that utilize bluetooth, but I wasn't sold on the one I found.

Then yesterday I was in Hobby Lobby with my son and he pointed out a funny greeting card. I looked at the cards that come with sound, and I found one that plays "Day-O" by Harry Belafonte. It was much cheaper than the the other option, so I bought the card, and took it apart at home, hiding the sound mechanism behind the fridge in the kitchen:

I love it when I'm able to be innovative with this hobby.