In the twenty plus years since I returned from teaching in Japan, I have had exactly one vacation that wasn’t related to a conference, a wedding, or visiting family. People always assume that teachers get oodles of free time during the summer, but that is only true in opposite proportion to how much money I have. So normally, in May and June and the end of August, I sit around the house or in cafes and write. Back in 2004, however, I got really crazy and went to the Arts and Crafts conference set in the A&C redecorated Disneyland Hotel. I attended talks and workshops about the A&C Renaissance, bought a piece of original art by Laura Wilder, had drinks with a real, live homicide detective, and on the day after the conference, spent the entire day in Disneyland. I even met Pluto, who dipped me.

Probably the most fun I had was as I was getting to the font of the line, there was a little boy and his mother behind me. He kept sealing looks at me and finally, in great confusion, asked, “Who are you here with?” I said, “Oh, I was going to bring my parents, but they’re in Connecticut.” His mother laughed. He just looked confused. My evil side is narrow, but it’s deep.

I tell you all this because that crazy writer guy, Mike Allegra, is doing his Win a Doodle Contest again, and he is (after Laura Wilder) one of my favorite artists. (I also like Patrick McDonnell, Sandra Boynton, and Ando Hiroshige.) And I would like to win a doodle by him.

After all, to quote Willow Rosenberg, “You do it too. You do doodle too!“