Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet, artist

Apr 29, 2020 9:11 AM EDT

O.M.G. Too much fun, Robyn! It's a good thing there are only a few days left this month because it's going to be pretty hard to outdo this little piece of video art. Still, you could try... maybe The Scream? ; )

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Apr 29, 2020 8:41 PM EDT

Hahaha, Michelle - (wheels turning... --- naaa.) ;0) Who knows what I'd be posting if Poetry Month went into May, too! ;0) Thanks for your wonderful anthologies!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 24, 2020 12:28 AM EDT

Oh Robyn. You are so funny! Excellent poem and video, and I love Rita!

- Sally Murphy

Apr 24, 2020 7:46 AM EDT

--Hi, Sally! Thanks, and glad you enjoyed. Rita sends her love...

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 24, 2020 9:21 AM EDT

I love the way you staged your last video with your adorable pup, your hat, the teacup etc. So engaging and funny!

- Janice Scully

Apr 24, 2020 9:25 AM EDT

--Thank you, Janice - It was just two takes with Rita involved - I was afraid to push my luck! ;0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 24, 2020 10:39 AM EDT

Your videos are a welcome treat, Robyn. If I read Snack Rules earlier, I didn't remember it & it is hilarious! Fun to have some laughs in the poetry, right? Happy Friday!

- Linda Baie

Apr 24, 2020 11:12 AM EDT

Love your video!

- Amy

Apr 24, 2020 11:53 AM EDT

Your videos make my day! Of course your tea time with Rita made me laugh (much needed). She kissed you right on cue, didn't she? And then your lovely haiku -- so calming. You are too adorable (and now Mr C's crush on you is bigger than ever).

- jama

Apr 24, 2020 12:23 PM EDT

--Hi, Linda - Glad you got a chuckle! We all need a little silly lightness in the midst of these dark times - I know I do! Thanks so much for coming by.

--Thank you, Amy - :0) :0) :0)

--Dearest Jama, please give Mr. C. a big bear-hug from me. Tell him mistletoe will be back up in .. 8(?!) months. Thanks for pulling up a chair and joining Rita and me for tea! XO

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 24, 2020 12:26 PM EDT

How do I get a pair of bluebirds to move in to the house on my back porch? That's what I'd like to know! Your Snack Rules video is a hoot. So sweet how Rita was sneaking in kisses at every opportunity. xxx

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Apr 24, 2020 2:38 PM EDT

That is a gorgeous photo - and perfect to pair with your haiku. We've enjoyed the ebb and flow of many birdsongs this spring. And the second poem gave me a much needed chuckle today.

- Kay Jernigan McGriff

Apr 24, 2020 3:53 PM EDT

Your pup was so focused on those peanut butter crackers until he finally got to lick the knife! Loved watching him (and you were aokay, too!)

- Buffy Silverman

Apr 24, 2020 5:23 PM EDT

--Howdy, Michelle! And they have two big dogs, too. But it's a nice big yard with lots of trees and such. My folks down your direction have wrens this year. :0) (& Rita appreciates the mention….)

--Kay, I have especially appreciated all the bird sounds - and frog sounds - this year! Comforting to have them all being themselves in the midst of these surreal times. And, always happy to provide a wee laugh. Or even a smirk - we can use it all right now!

--Buffy, ever the naturalist, keenly observing the critter....;0) Rita was definitely wanting that peanut butter. If left to her own devices, she would weigh more than her 3 1/2 pounds!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 24, 2020 10:25 PM EDT

Robyn, what a fabulous post today. Of course, I loved the haiku and the video that you so generously offered to my gallery (thank you for the shoutout, too. I was so touched that you added the information to your post. And then you added your next darling tea time video poem dressed like a Southern Lady at tea. Yummy peanut butter talking.., Thanks for the fun.

- Carol Varsalona

Apr 24, 2020 11:51 PM EDT

Thanks so much, Carol - and thanks for ALL you do to celebrate and inspire with poetry - and imagery! You offer a lovely landing spot for so many folks to share words that resonate. :0)
(Glad you enjoyed a little poetic peanut butter mischief, too.) Have a great weekend!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 25, 2020 7:08 AM EDT

I already enjoyed your bird song video on Facebook and I love tea time with peanut butter and Rita. Looks like you're having fun and spreading poetry! What could be better? Thanks!

- Molly Hogan

Apr 25, 2020 7:40 AM EDT

I love your silly tea time with Rita! What a lucky girl to have a bit of peanut butter with you, even if it makes it hard for her to carry on a conversation. Our Smidgey girls like PB too, but cheese most of all. Loved your haiku as well. Thanks for all your offerings. :)

- Bridget Magee

Apr 25, 2020 9:05 AM EDT

--Thanks so much for checking out the poem movies, Molly! It's been a fun project this month. (I'm chuckling at your 'spread' image with the PB - ha!) Have a poetic weekend! :0)

--Happy you enjoyed, Bridget! Thanks for coming by. Give your doggies some Lowcountry love from us - and a piece of cheese!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 25, 2020 11:39 AM EDT

Love the poem haiku with the bluebird, especially since I've been watching a pair of bluebirds in my back yard. There is a nest with five eggs, and yesterday I watched the pair sitting on top of the house sharing a snack. Wish I could have gotten a picture! Now I'm off to check out your videos.

- Rose Cappelli

Apr 25, 2020 7:58 PM EDT

Your poem videos are entertaining and inspiring. I've done a few, but I'm not committing to make up every day, so that means no video each day. Your image haiku is beautiful. I am wishing for bluebirds, but in the meantime, enjoy the hummingbirds, a cardinal couple, and wood ducks.

- Margaret Simon

Apr 25, 2020 8:46 PM EDT

--Hi, Rose - Thanks so much for coming by! I read about your bluebirds yesterday somewhere, and I made a note to go visit them before this weekend's out - my kind of "tweeting"!

--Hi there, Margaret - many thanks. I've enjoyed your video-ing, too - whatever day you do it! (And, psst… I made a few of mine on the same day, actually - just with different locations and slight 'wardrobe' changes!) ;0) Have a great rest of the weekend!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 26, 2020 8:42 AM EDT

Fun post - thank you!

- Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com

Apr 26, 2020 9:43 AM EDT

—Thanks for popping in, Ruth, for a sip of silly tea! :0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 26, 2020 10:37 AM EDT

That peanut butter poem is very cute, Robyn. We sat outside long past dusk listening to "the ebb and flow/of birdsong." It was the perfect way to end the day.

- Catherine Flynn

Apr 26, 2020 3:49 PM EDT

--Thanks, Catherine, and thanks for coming by! That DOES sound like the loveliest way to end a day. I am so appreciative of the birds this year!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 20, 2020 9:25 AM EDT

Oh, Robyn, you're such a ruthless chomp-chewer! Keep up the good work with these awesome videos. And thanks for the smile this morning. :)

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Apr 20, 2020 9:35 AM EDT

Glad you enjoyed, my mysterious Michelle... thanks for all the poetry deliciousness over at your 'plot'! :0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 23, 2020 12:17 AM EDT

Charming reading Robyn, and enchanting staging… in a graveyard I think, eerie music… Smiling from your ending chew too, thanks!

- Michelle Kogan

Apr 23, 2020 1:01 AM EDT

Aw, thanks so much, Michelle! We recorded this in the cemetery of a 300-plus-year old church in the middle of town. It's a fascinating place, and we had to duck into a corner to not be in the way of a few folks meandering about. ;0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 16, 2020 8:41 PM EDT

What a treat! Thanks, Robyn :-) You picked a perfect topic, both for the book and for these times. Nice job on the face mask!

- Tabatha

Apr 16, 2020 10:30 PM EDT

A perfect poem to match your mask adventure! Thanks for sharing it--will have to come back later and hear the video.

- Buffy Silverman

Apr 16, 2020 11:42 PM EDT

A perfect poem for the times Tabatha. And you may have inspired me to have a go myself. I've been thinking of getting my machine out, but keep hesitating because I'm so rusty and an adequate seamstress at best. But hey the fun is in the trying, isn't it?

- Sally Murphy

Apr 17, 2020 5:35 AM EDT

I love all the sounds in your poem and those final two lines capture so much. My grandmother and mother were both proficient seamstresses, but sadly that's a skill I lack. I'm impressed by your persistence and your masks!

- Molly Hogan

Apr 17, 2020 8:45 AM EDT

You captured the sounds and emotion involved in sewing perfectly! I struggle with directions and often find a different, but strange, way of doing things. You face mask looks good.

- Janice Scully

Apr 17, 2020 9:35 AM EDT

Ha! I can SO RELATE to your sewing poem, Ms. Do it Your Own Way. :) :) And there you are again with that mischievous Robyn-look in your photo. Love! xo

- Irene Latham

Apr 17, 2020 9:36 AM EDT

--Thanks so much, Tabatha - and thanks for such a wonderful book/resource for everyone who makes the, er, occasional mistake. Like I did reading the last couple lines of my own poem here. But, seemed appropriate just to leave it... ;0) HAPPY POETRY MONTH to you! XO

--Thanks, Buffy! This video was pretty fun to make. Mistakes and all.

--Thanks, Sally - "so rusty and an adequate seamstress at best" is the perfect description of MOI. But while I might labor endlessly over one word in a poem, when it comes to sewing, "good enough" seems to work for the masks. I say, go for it! ;0)

--Molly, another perfect description of my own situation! My mother made my wedding dress, and my grandmother's quilt covers our bed. I did take a class or two when my kids were little and enjoyed making some of their clothes and Halloween costumes. I was shocked this week to find that I could put my hands on my sewing machine instructions after moving several years ago... and more shocked that I didn't really need it. :0) Thanks for hosting everyone this week!!

--Thanks, Janice - you and I must be "cut from the same cloth"! (Sorry. Couldn't resist.) Have an inspiring day!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 9:39 AM EDT

--Hi, Irene - so loved "seeing" you in your SCBWI Southern Breeze workshop last night! Glad you enjoyed. And, I would NOT be willing to compare my seams with yours, Missy. XO

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 9:39 AM EDT

Such fun, from such frustration (in that moment.) Sounds like my sewing process. A poem I take to heart.
And I appreciate your including it in words. I love hearing your voice, but sometimes (as this very moment) it's not convenient to raise the laptop volume) & then I fail to get back to the enticing listen, be it within a post or shared other ways. Your poetry month projects are so energizing! Brava!

- Jan/Bookseedstudio

Apr 17, 2020 9:56 AM EDT

--Hi, Jan - Thanks as always for your encouraging, light-filled words! This one you might want to listen to later, as I attempted to actually proNOUNCE all those garbled sounds I included in the poem - ha! Hope all your stitches hold tight today, with just the right amount of 'give'. XO

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 10:13 AM EDT

Those masks are looking good! My daughter has been making ours (my sewing experiences usually end in disaster--your poem leaves out the part about throwing things across the room and raging thunderstorms). I did enjoy the poem, and have witnessed these stages in my daughter's sewing through the years.

- Kay Jernigan McGriff

Apr 17, 2020 10:27 AM EDT

Yes, I've had a few mishaps, too, including the sewing then realizing that I placed the fabric one sees backwards. Oh, well, still works! It is certainly a timely poem to make all of us who are opening up the machines again & trying! Happy Friday, Robyn!

- Linda Baie

Apr 17, 2020 10:29 AM EDT

Yikes, meant to say to "make all of us who are sewing feel better"!

- Linda Baie

Apr 17, 2020 10:32 AM EDT

--Haha! Too funny, Kay. I'm going to try to get a few more made. (None of them are actually looking the same - I keep tweaking as I go!) Can't promise something won't fly across the room...

--Thanks for joining in, Linda - the poetry party and the mask-sewing. Rusty sewing peeps, unite! (extends power fist into the air....)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 12:16 PM EDT

Ha! I love this. I have been such a poor sewer and repeater of all your steps except the last that I gave my sewing machine away! Ack! I could have used it these past weeks. Thank goodness for Etsy! There are sewers that sell masks there. Never would have thought of Etsy if it hand't been for Artsy Letters.

- Linda Mitchell

Apr 17, 2020 3:29 PM EDT

I wish I was better at undoing knitting mistakes, so I could hide them! Fun poem!

- Laura Purdie Salas

Apr 17, 2020 3:30 PM EDT

I wish I was better at undoing knitting mistakes, so I could hide them! Fun poem!

- Laura Purdie Salas

Apr 17, 2020 4:25 PM EDT

Testing blog comments

- Hector / AG Web Services

Apr 17, 2020 4:33 PM EDT

Another test comment

- Hector / AG Web Services

Apr 17, 2020 5:02 PM EDT

Your poem videos make me so happy! Today's poem is perfect for today's mask making frenzy. Great use of onomatopoeia! Like your face mask model too. :)

- jama

Apr 17, 2020 5:03 PM EDT

I admire all of you with sewing abilities. My daughter took a class and has sewn several things. Reading and listening to your poem is like listening to her work, too :) Thanks for sharing.

- Kimberly Hutmacher

Apr 17, 2020 5:11 PM EDT

Your poem is sewing machine music to my ears. My daughter sees, and it all sounds so familiar. Thanks for sharing, Robyn.

- Kimberly Hutmacher

Apr 17, 2020 5:29 PM EDT

test

- test

Apr 17, 2020 6:19 PM EDT

--Hi, Linda - Ha! Understood. And, I'm glad you had success finding masks on Etsy. There has actually been such demand that we (sellers) all received emails asking folks to make masks and offer them for sale if possible to help out. (My 'skills' are not at all consistent enough for that, but I'm glad folks who do sew regularly have answered the call!) :0)

--Haha, Laura - and, HEY - at least you can knit! Once upon a time I knew the simplest crochet stitch, but....

--Aw, Thank you, Jama! And I'll pass your compliments along to the 'model,' who has generally been behind the camera for most of my videos! ;0) Stay safe and well and covered up! XO

--Hi, Kimberly - thanks so much. I am quite out of practice! And thanks for the extra effort re. blog comments... which brings me to:

--Thanks, Authors Guild folks leaving the test comments, for trying to fix my 'comments' section issues! Virtual tangles, I guess... ;0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 8:20 PM EDT

Robyn, I went to the YouTube link before reading your poem and loved your presentation. It was filled with the "perfect" facial gestures and sounds. What a great poem and final product.

- Carol Varsalona

Apr 17, 2020 8:28 PM EDT

Thanks so much, Carol - glad you enjoyed it! Have a great hunkered-down-with-poetry weekend. :0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 10:33 PM EDT

How brave of you to record a poem with so many "sound effects." LOVED your animated reading, Robyn!

- Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

Apr 17, 2020 11:27 PM EDT

Haha, Michelle - that's what social distancing will do to you! ;0) Thanks for coming by!

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 18, 2020 5:37 AM EDT

So fun, Robyn! Your reading had me in 'stitches'. I still haven't gotten past my initial sewing mishaps...untangling the thread/bobbin has been a nightmare. Luckily, my 16 y/o daughter knows her way around the machine. :)

- Bridget Magee

Apr 18, 2020 7:48 AM EDT

Ah yes, we've all been there! And how great to see that acknowledged so perfect. I absolutely love all the sounds. Who knew so many of us would be sewing again.

- Liz Steinglass

Apr 18, 2020 7:49 AM EDT

Ah, yes, we've all been there and how wonderful to have the experience acknowledged so perfectly. I love the sounds! Who knew so many of us would be sewing again.

- Liz Steinglass

Apr 18, 2020 8:35 AM EDT

Sounds (literally) just about like MY process!

- Mary Lee

Apr 18, 2020 6:13 PM EDT

Your poem resonates with me and the process my sewing projects go through! We made masks, and it took a while to smooth out the process. I have discovered your poetry moments through the SCBWI gathered links. You're doing a fantastic job with the readings, the variety and the beautiful and meaningful locations of your filming. Thank you!

- Joyce Ray

Apr 18, 2020 11:03 PM EDT

--Hi, Bridget - Ha! That's funny. And it's interesting to read about another mom listening to her daughter zipping along on a sewing machine. I was not patient enough to learn from my mom while growing up, but then took a lesson or two - after a couple of college-era attempts - after having kids years later! ;0) Thanks for coming by!

--Glad you enjoyed, Liz! And isn't that something? I was pleasantly surprised I remembered how to turn on my old machine, and more or less operate it!

--Ha, Mary Lee! Well, I'll take the company....

--Oh, Joyce, what a very kind comment! Thanks for taking the time to check out the little videos, and I'm glad you found them on the SCBWI resource. And, the "smoothing out" of the process has definitely taken me several runs! I'm not sure any of the ones I made are really alike, though I did come up with a quirky design on the fly that I started adhering to, mostly. ;0)

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 19, 2020 11:19 AM EDT

Keep sharing, Robyn. I love it all! My first attempt at masks (cutting up old flannel sheets) resulted in some rather odd, yet incredibly soft masks for the two of us. No sewing involved. I so love that you are helping keep your neighbor safe. Be well!

- Christie Wyman

Apr 19, 2020 12:54 PM EDT

The zip, zip, zip, and the pin, pin, pin, I love the rhythm. I am not able to sew masks as my machine is broken. I love what you are doing for NPM!

- Jone R MacCulloch

Apr 19, 2020 12:58 PM EDT

Zip,zip,zip and pin, pin, pin and Chikita, chikita, chikita, chikita...love it! the rhythm. My sewing maching is broken so I can't use it and it's old so not worth fixing. I love what you are doing for NPM. Very fun to see each dat.

- Jone

Apr 19, 2020 10:40 PM EDT

--Hi, Christie! Good for you for the re-purposed flannel. Sounds cozy! (And, actually, it was our neighbor who gave US a couple masks that she'd made, before I got my own machine out! She's who we all want to be when we're in our 90s!) Stay safe & well!

--Thanks so much, Jone (& looks like my comments gremlins are still gremlin-ing. Hopefully that can get fixed soon!) - thanks for taking a look a the videos. And, THANKS for sending the wonderful kid's poetry postcards! Got mine! :0) Take care of yourselves. XO

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 20, 2020 5:12 PM EDT

So fun a poem, so true an experience, so useful a skill and an attitude! Your videos are looking quite professional!

- Heidi

Apr 20, 2020 7:52 PM EDT

Aww, thanks so much, Heidi - I'm having fun with them! [ And have had to untangle thread MANY times during this mask-making process... ha! Plus, a blooper reel will be coming at the end of this month's adventures....]

- Robyn Hood Black

Apr 17, 2020 4:29 PM EDT

Test comment

- Hector / AG Web Services