Thoughts from Places Spotlight: London As Seen Through 13 Little Blue Envelopes

(Please beware: this post contains 13LBE Spoilers)

Standing in front of Harrods

My beloved copy of 13LBE opened to the
Harrods chapter!

As long time readers of my blog will know, Maureen Johnson's 2005 novel 13 Little Blue Envelopes inspired me to travel. One of the most important places that the main character, Ginny goes to is London. There she follows the directions in envelopes 2 and 3. The entire adventure her Aunt Peg leads Ginny on comes to an end in London as well.

When I went to London I knew that I had to try and see some of the places that Ginny went to. First on the list was Harrods. Harrods is where Ginny's uncle Richard works and where Aunt Peg ultimately led Ginny to find her paintings. When Ginny first gets to London Richard takes her to Harrods. So of course I wanted to make sure that one of the first things I did was head to this huge department store. I underestimated it's size. This place is almost too big. I don't think I seen even a quarter of it because it was getting very late and my mom and I were exhausted. Originally, I was planning on finding Mo's Diner, where Richard and Ginny eat in the novel. I didn't though. Honestly, I'm not 100% positive it existed. I could have been searching for a fiction, but I didn't mind.  

Ginny "looked left" but in front of Harrods
you must look right! These were very
helpful in London.

The Egyptian Escalator

I also wanted to find the chocolate counter that Ginny went to so often in the novel to have the woman working there page Richard for her. I found it and was extremely pleased with myself. I didn't buy any chocolate there though because I had already bought a bar from another shop just in case the counter was a fiction too. The chocolate bar I bought even had a picture of Harrods on the wrapper (which I saved and pasted into my copy of 13LBE). I was amazed by the sheer size and weirdness of Harrods, just like Ginny was. They really do have a escalator that looks like it was ripped out of stereotypical ancient Egypt. I was so astounded by this that I stopped dead in my tracks and some guy bumped into me! Harrods was a strange, sort of wonderful place and I could see why Aunt Peg liked it so much!

Envelope #3 instructs Ginny to “become a mysterious benefactor.” Aunt Peg tells her to give an artist she likes £500. I do not have that kinda cash so I settled on a fiver. 

Alex and Jim!

I wasn't kidding about all
the sheep!

Richard tells Ginny she should check out Covent Garden and while Ginny didn't find her artist there I did. Jim and Alex performers who haunt the Garden regularly. They were fantastically entertaining and I wished I had more to give them. They did everything from juggling to unicycles. I really liked how they asked a young boy from the audience to help. I encourage you to go on youtube to look those two up. Covent Garden itself was a strange place though. It is an indoor/outdoor market type place where a lot of artists busk for a living. Among Jim and Alex there was also a man playing this crazy multi-piece instrument, a man who could make a creepily accurate sculpture of you in a half hour, and for some very odd reason a hundred or so Shaun the Sheeps. I could have stayed there for hours just watching all the people perform.

Standing in front of Aunt Peg's favorite painting.

My small tour of Ginny's London also took me to the Courtald Gallery where they have in their collection a very important painting to Aunt Peg, Manet's The Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Aunt Peg loved this painting so much she had a print of it on her wall where ever she lived. She also hid the key to the cupboard that held all her paintings under the left top corner, directly under the famous green slippers. I needed to see this painting for myself and so very early on our last morning in London I made my mom go to the museum when it opened. I was a girl on a mission! I was here to see Peg's favorite painting (also to see Van Gogh's Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear but that is another story). I am so glad that I went to see this painting in person. I never really understood why Peg loved this painting until I went to London. You stand looking at it like you are the artist, facing the bar. It portrays a young woman who looks terribly bored despite all the action that is happening in front of her (we see what is happening behind us through the mirror behind the woman). All of this excitement is happening and yet the girl is not enjoying it. That was sort of me in London at times. I was doing exactly what I had always wanted but I wasn't enjoying it, more like checking it off a list. However, here in this gallery with only my mom, the guard, and this painting I was finally seeing. I was seeing Peg's love of this painting and my own love of London.

My copy opened to the page the painting is first mentioned.
I pasted in a print of the painting ages ago. MJ herself took
a picture of this page when she saw what I did to it.

13 Little Blue Envelopes came alive for me in London. This year I plan to follow more of the envelopes as I backpack across Europe almost like Ginny does in the novel. I encourage you to read this amazing book if you haven't already. You can read my semi-incoherent-because-I-was-too-excited review of the book here, and my post about meeting the book's author, Maureen Johnson here.

More to come soon, 

~Laura

Wanderlust Fuel: London Part One

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson – After receiving all 13 little blue envelopes from NYC Ginny’s first stop and last stop on her European adventure is to London, where she meets Richard and Keith, and has her life changed irreversibly.

• Harrods- my first stop when I go to London has to be Harrods because of this book. I also might try to eat at Mo’s Diner where Richard tells Ginny the story of how he had to bag up the Queen’s pants. And I’m going to search for the chocolate counter and dog coat fitting!
• Covent Gardens- where Richard tells Ginny to find her artist.
• ‘Look Left’ crosswalks- as silly as this sounds I can’t wait to see one because in the book Ginny originally doesn’t, almost gets hit by a car, sees the sign, and says “it’s like they know me.” I think that that’s probably going to happen to me at some point.

Sherlock Holmes- In all his many forms, from page to screen he inspires me to wander around London. 

• The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street- for obvious reasons.
• Speedy’s Café- BBC’s Sherlock’s 221B door is right next door. 
• St. Bartholomew’s Hospital- Because of the Fall of course! 
• The Sherlock Holmes Pub- mostly because it shares the name. 
• Russell Square Gardens- where BBC’s John and Stamford met up.
• New Scotland Yard- where Lestrade does his business 
• South Bank Skate Park- where BBC’s Sherlock and John look for the cipher in ‘The Blind Banker. 
• Chinatown- where BBC’s Sherlock and John search for Soo Lin

The Infernal Devices- Cassandra Clare’s trilogy that brings Victorian London back to life with a supernatural twist.

•  Hatchards- London’s oldest Book Shop where Will bought Tessa a copy of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ 
• Blackfriars Bridge- where Jem and Tessa would meet.

William Shakespeare- the Bard who is so hardwired into English culture that for me to think of one is to think of the other.

•  The Globe- even though it is just a reconstruction since the real one burnt down I don’t care. This is so incredibly cool and there is no way I will miss it. No respectable Shakespearean scholar would pass up this chance.
•  The George Inn- where Shakespeare probably went during his time.
• Southwark Cathedral- here there is a statue and a stain glass window honoring the Bard and many of the players of Shakespeare’s time are buried here such as Will Kemp and Philip Henslowe.
• Westminster Abbey- also has a statue honoring Shakespeare.
• British Library- here they have another statue of Shakespeare, as well as a copy of his First Folio (this would be the second copy I would see!). 

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places: BookCon 2015

BookCon

Sunday, May 31^st 2015. Javits Center, NYC

I found out about BookCon when Maureen Johnson tweeted that she would be signing on the second day of the convention. There was no way I was going to miss meeting my hero. About an hour later I had bought an Adult Sunday badge and a Megabus ticket to NYC.

I got on the Megabus Saturday night at 10pm and got to NYC at 8am (an hour late because a couple people got off in Syracuse when they weren’t supposed to and we had to go back for them. Lesson learned). Doors to the Queue Hall of Javits Center opened at 8am. I got there at about 8:30, was handed a lanyard and an Epic Reads tote bag, then went straight to the WORD bookstore to buy a copy of Royal Wedding and From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess for Meg Cabot to sign later (her signing required purchase at the store), and then into the Show Floor line that was already at least 150 people deep. BookCon started at 10am and when those doors opened there was a flood of people streaming in for a day of books and fun.

I started my day at BookCon with the First in Line Red Carpet Event & Author Breakfast held by Penguin Random House. After waiting in a very long line for 45 minutes that was relocated several times and wrapped around various booths and through lots of different doors, I made it to the red carpet. My hand was stamped and I was allowed into the curtained off area. I was immediately handed a tote bag and a silver sharpie. The bag said “I read ____ before you” wherein we were asked to fill in the blank using the sharpie. I wrote 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Next I was given a copy of All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. I then met both of those authors! I also received a copy of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars and an ARC of Illuminae. While I am grateful to Penguin for holding this event, the whole time I couldn’t help but feeling like I was being herded through it as if I was cattle. I think it was poorly organized. The idea was that this event would last from 10-11:30am and that the first 500 people in line would be let in. I was probably about 200^th or so in line and at 10:30 a man came around saying that the chances of people that far back in the line meeting any author was slim. How they expected to have 500 people go through this event in an hour and a half, when they didn’t actually start letting people in until about 10:15 is beyond me. I got in at 10:45 and E. Lockhart had already left (which was sad for me because she was the reason I went to the event at all). However, it was a unique idea and perhaps next year they will improve it.

My BookCon haul

The next event I was planning to attend, Sarah J. Maas’s signing was already full, so I wandered around the show floor for a little while. It was here that the size of the Con was fully drilled into my head. On a piece of paper I had written the booth numbers of the publishers that I definitely didn’t want to miss. 18 booths in total and barely any of them were close together. If I ever go to another BookCon or anything involving booths I’m writing my notes in order of booth number instead of alphabetically. I searched out about half of them, then accidentally stumbled upon a couple others. It was during this aimless wandering that I was able to get advanced copies of The Diary of a Mad Brownie by Bruce Coville and Another Day by David Levithan. I was handed a copy of Outlander by some random person and I somehow was able to snag a Shadowhunters poster and tote bag. At about 11:30 though I went back to Penguin Random House’s booth to get in line for the MAIN EVENT A.K.A. MAUREEN JOHNSON’S SIGNING!!

Set the scene: I am so excited I may jump out of my own skin. I am sitting in the line, flipping through my worn and annotated copy of 13 Little Blue Envelopes. This is the book that inspired me to travel, that is one of the few books that I think changed my life, and the book that I take on every trip. I come across a passage in the book that describes the main character, Ginny’s backpack as a huge and green. I look down at my own backpack that fits that exact description and I start to laugh hysterically. I am about 10 minutes away from meeting my hero and I’m losing it. The line starts moving and I am bouncing up and down trying to get a glimpse of Maureen Johnson. Then I see her and all thought leaves my head for about 10 seconds. Then, like a tidal wave hitting the shore, a series of basic thoughts, such as “Oh” and “Whoa” and “MAUREEN JOHNSON!” enter my head.

Me and Maureen Johnson

When it was my turn the first thing Maureen did was STARE at me and my shirt, which was a picture of Maureen staring above the word STARE (which you can buy here). I handed her my book, she opened it to the title page, and shook her head when she saw what Hank Green had done to it last month (he crossed out her name, wrote his own, then hanklerfished it). I told her that I had spent last night on a bus from Buffalo so that I could meet her. I tweeted that to her a couple weeks ago and she responded. She remembered that tweet! She thanked me for coming all that way and asked if we had good chicken wings. However, before I could answer she was noticed something. As we were talking she had been flipping through my book and saw the writing, coloring, and photos. She was astounded and I guess pleased. She asked if she could take a picture of it! She took a picture of the page that I pasted a print out of The Bar at the Folies-Bergere by Manet on, a very important painting to the plot of the book. The girl who was standing behind me agreed to take our picture together and then I went to leave, but Maureen was still talking to me about my copy of her book. I felt a little bad because I didn’t want to hog her time. I think she realized this too and she thanked me again and I thanked her, then left.

I walked away from the table, took out my phone, noticed that the hand holding it was shaking rather violently, dialed my mom, and started to cry. I could not believe what had just happened. I still cannot believe that I finally met Maureen Johnson and that she kind of knew who I was. I wandered around in a bit of a daze for a little while after that encounter. At one point I saw James Patterson walking around the show floor and barely noticed. I decided to make my way down to the Queue Hall to get in line for Meg Cabot’s signing, even though it didn’t start for another hour and a half. After what happened with the Maas signing I didn’t want to miss it. Besides, after meeting Maureen I needed to sit down and reflect a little bit.

Me and Meg Cabot

Meeting Meg Cabot was another dream of mine. I credit Meg as being the author who got me into Young Adult Literature with her Princess Diaries series and into book blogging when I won an advance copy of Abandon (when I met her I told her the former. She said “I love to hear that! Thanks!”).  I thought it was appropriate that the book she signed was the first adult book of the series Royal Wedding since I am now an adult like Princess Mia. The crown I am wearing in the photo was given to me by one of her helpers. Almost everyone in the line was wearing a cardboard crown very proudly.

After meeting Meg Cabot I took to wandering again. However, this time I had a goal in mind. I was going to try to find Maureen Johnson and talk to her again. I failed, but I did score an ARC of Libba Bray’s Lair of Dreams, as well as the first volume of The Golden Compass graphic novel. I also at one point thought I was going crazy when I hear the Sloth from Ice Age talking. Turns out John Leguizamo was doing a panel at the time and I am not crazy (which is always a relief to realize). I went to the Lithograph booth and got a temporary tattoo of a line from Cinderella put on my arm. Throughout the two days of BookCon the story of Cinderella was basically walking around on the arms of everyone who visited the booth. I also went on the hunt for as many free bookmarks as I could possibly find to add to my ever growing collection (I got 25 in total). By that time I was becoming truly exhausted so I went to get into the line for Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York.

Brandon Stanton

I was really looking forward to this panel because I had missed out on his signing earlier in the day. I love HONY and one day I hope to do something similar in Buffalo, but I didn’t go for tips on how to do my own thing I just wanted to see the man behind such a powerful and humbling project. I didn’t know what to expect of him, but it wasn’t what I eventually saw. He looked comfortable on stage, but also a tad shy. He was extremely friendly and eager to answer questions. I am so glad I got the chance to see him speak. If you haven’t checked out Humans of New York you really should.

Overall, my experience at BookCon was as amazing as it was utterly exhausting. I was also sore for a couple days after due to all the books I was lugging around! BookCon 2016 is being held in Chicago, I hope many of my readers will get the chance to go!

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places/Nerdy Review: Tour Because Awesome 2

Tour Because Awesome 2 

April 26^th at Gramercy Theatre, NYC

 In my last blog post I wrote about the first two missions I had when I went to NYC by myself last month. This blog post is about that third mission I promised to tell you about.

Eilidh Reid's Poster!

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The real reason I took a nine hour bus ride by myself across the State of New York was to see Hank Green in concert at the Gramercy Theatre. I’ve been a Nerdfighter for about 5 years now and I had yet to go to a gathering, or to an event in which John or Hank would be in attendance. (For those of you who do not know what a Nerdfighter is please refer to this video.) When Hank announced that he was going on a North Eastern tour in April I knew I had to go. I looked up the tour dates, decided to go to the last show in NYC, bought my ticket immediately, and then booked a seat on the Megabus. Simple, right? Wrong. It was only after I did all that that I realized that while I had a ticket to the show and a ride to New York I had no place to stay while I was in the City. That’s when the idea hit me. Who are the people who would even go to see Hank Green in concert? Well, fellow Nerdfighters of course! And where are Nerdfighters found? The internet. And so I joined the Nerdfighters of NY group on Facebook and asked if anyone had a couch for me to crash on after the show. Ultimately, I ended up staying in a hotel instead, but just the knowledge that there would be several hundred fellow nerds at that concert made me feel 100% more confident about going.

Misson Three: Go to the Tour Because Awesome.

After leaving the Library I made my way to the hotel I was staying at a few blocks away from the theatre. Some of the Nerdfighters in my group were planning to meet up in front of the theatre at 5 to go get something to eat before the show started. When I got to my hotel it was about 4 o’clock and I was exhausted. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go an extra two hours early to the theatre to meet people I didn’t know or if I just wanted to take a nap. I was seriously considering the nap, when I thought about how the whole point of me coming to NYC at all was to go to the concert and meet fellow Nerdfighters, so I dragged my butt out of bed and walked to Gramercy Theatre. In hindsight that was the best move of my life thus far. If I hadn’t gone to the theatre when I did I would not have met the man I was there to see, Hank Green.

Me and Craig!

I approached the theatre and took a picture of the marquee sign. At first I didn’t even notice that there was already a line forming from the theatre to the end of the block. As soon as I did I went to get in line, but there was a guy standing outside the line talking to the people in line. That guy was Craig Benzine (WheezyWaiter on Youtube and lead singer of Driftless Pony Club) and I was startled! I waited until he was done talking and then asked him if I could take a picture with him! Then I turned around and WHAM! Who was standing behind me? HANK GREEN!  He was standing in the middle of the line making his way through, signing things and taking pictures and being a genuinely awesome person. So once my brain started functioning again I speed walked to the end of the line. And after about ten minutes I met Hank. I asked him to sign my copy of 13 Little Blue Envelopes (he crossed out Maureen Johnson’s name to put his own and then hanklerfished it), talked a little about how I was from Buffalo, and then I asked if I could take my picture with him. I took out my camera and turned it around so I could take the photo myself and Hank got so excited that I was using an ACTUAL camera for a selfie instead of a phone that he HUGGED me and did a really happy squishy smile. Hank Green is an amazing person.

Me and Hank!!

He wasn’t the only amazing person I met that night though. I met a ton of amazing Nerdfighters. I met some from my facebook group, I met a group of teens from New Jersey, and I met two awesome girls, M. and B. who I hung out with during and after the show. We made a group standing on the corner of 23^rd and Lexington, we made a circle and just sat down. We talked about how we found out about John and Hank, where we were from, whether we were still in school or not, and which Hogwarts house we would be in. As we sat there, the line got longer and Hank eventually went back inside (with his dad! Who we surprised by one) knowing who he was and two) making a point of saying hello to him).

Me and Sam!

A little while later, Sam from DPC came out to take pictures of the crowd and somehow I was the only one who knew he was and asked for a picture with him as well. People kept walking by and asking us who we were waiting in line for and every time we said “Hank Green” we would get a blank stare and then an “oh,” which made me sad. Hank should be just as famous as other artists who have played the Gramercy, but at the same time I am glad he isn’t. He has a loyal, nerdy following that truly care about him and people in general. For example only at a concert as nerdy as this one would there be people kind enough that if someone from the very front of the crowd needed to go to the bathroom there was no hesitation that of course your spot would be saved. When the actual concert began there wasn’t that huge push of people from behind trying to get closer that usually happens at rock shows. This turned out to be a very good thing for a couple reasons. One was that it's always really annoying and the second is that standing right in front of my group was a little boy and his mom who no one wanted to squish against the gate. That little boy was Hank's nephew, his mom was the Katherine's sister in law. There was a lot of family love going on in that audience and I loved it! The Tour Because Awesome crowd was honesty the best crowd of people I have ever encountered.

As for the concert itself, it was the greatest show I have ever been to. The lineup was incredible. First there was Rob Scallion and his wicked guitar skills, then Andrew Huang with his infectious energy. After them it was Harry and the Potters, a band that both wizards and muggles alike cannot help but love and Driftless Pony Club who I absolutely adore. And finally Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers the band we were all there to see. They were all exhausted but every single one of them gave their all during that last show. Being there felt like I was a part of one giant inside joke. From the surprise visit from famous Youtubers like Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Tyler Oakley and one of the Gregory Brothers to Hank throwing a giant stuffed snake into the audience during Harry and the Potters’ “Save Ginny Weasley,” and from the chants of DFTBA to Hank’s encores of the theme from Ghostbusters and the Batpeople song. 

Thank you to everyone I met that night for making Tour Because Awesome truly magical and of course awesome! 

~Laura!

My Ideal Bookshelf

I got the idea for this post from the book, My Ideal Bookshelf. It asks readers to think about the books that shaped their lives. Each contributor writes a few paragraphs about why the books they chose mean so much to them. The writing is accompanied by amazing drawings of the spines of the books. I cannot do that. I tried and failed so instead I took a photo of them. 

I had to think about this for months. Finally, I decided on these 6 (I count HP as one) because without them I wouldn't be me. I decided to keep my reasons short because it seems more powerful, if that makes sense. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

P&P was the first “classic” I ever read. I love everything about it.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

84CCR is everything I want in life.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Before I read 13LBE I never wanted to travel.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart's main plot is that characters come out of books; it is my imagination in book form. 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

TFIOS is the only book that has simultaneously made me laugh and cry hysterically in the same sentence.

Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Harry Potter is the reason I am the person I am today.

~Laura!

Review: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Hi!

I LOVE Maureen Johnson! She is absolutely one of my favorite authors. She is SO funny!

I’ve read this one before but its so good I had to re-read it!

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Author: Maureen Johnson

Summary (B&N.com):

Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.

Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him again?

Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.

My Review: I am pretty sure I can read this book a million times and never ever get sick of it. However, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know how I’m going to review it without giving something away! MJ, if your reading this…I hope you don’t mind that in way of reviewing this I’m going to bullet point my very favoritest parts! Here we go (SPOILERS: STOP IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK…at least I think they are spoilers they aren’t very LARGE spoilers. I don’t think MJ will kill me if I put these but just in case!):

During envelop #4 when Ginny and Keith go to Edinburgh to see Peg’s favorite artist. I loved what Mari drew for Ginny. That for some reason just struck me as inspiring (that may make no sense but that’s how I describe it).

I giggled immensely during #7 “JUST GET ON A TRAIN!” I have been a follower of MJ on twitter for a while now and she never fails to make me fall out of my chair laughing. And this part was just so HER. I finally saw *her* coming out through her books.

MJ has a great way of describing things…this is the kind of imagery I love and that I don’t see too often… “Some jiggling surfboard sticking out of the wall”.

This may not have been my best review, but I just can describe my love for this book. It's so powerful. Ginny is a character full of so much emotion and she's so brave! I don’t know if I would have been able to follow all the directions in the 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but given the chance I’m sure I would at least try (I think I would break the no Music rule though because that’s just WRONG!)