On March 18, 2008, the book The Pout-Pout Fish swam into existence.To celebrate Mr. Fish's fourth birthday, I'm giving away four signed copies of The Pout-Pout Fish.
To enter the drawing for one of the four copies, just leave a comment on this blog post. You don't have to say anything particular in your comment, but if your comment includes a list of four things bookish (for example, "Four Things I Like About Books" or "Four Books That Have Changed My Life" or "Four Book Characters I'd Love To Have Dinner With" or "Four Books My Kids Love" or even "Four Books I Could Do Without"), I'll enter your name into the hat four times, thus increasing your odds of winning.
If you're a winner, I can sign the book for you or for a recipient of your choice. I'll ship the book within three weeks of receiving name and shipping info (probably sooner - but I just want to cushion the timetable in case anything wacky comes up). I'd prefer to keep my shipping to U.S. addresses.
I'll pick the winners on March 26, so you have until midnight March 25th to enter.
In the meantime, copied and pasted below, here's a re-run of a blog post Mr. Fish (that is, The Pout-Pout Fish himself!) wrote for this blog three years ago, on his first birthday. It's a "25 Random Things About Mr. Fish" post.
I hope you enjoy getting to know Mr. Fish a little bit better on his birthday!
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A big "Hello!" to the above-water-world from yours truly, Mr. Fish!
I’m grateful to Debbie for giving me this birthday present of a guest-blogger spot on Jumping The Candlestick. Very timely, too, because just last week Ms. Clam tagged me for the “25 Random Things About Me” meme.
So here goes, with 25 Random Things About Mr. Fish:
1. I can hold my breath above water for 1 minute and 2 seconds.
2. In high school, I was known as the Class Frown.
3. My favorite human is Jacques Cousteau.
4. For karaoke night, I always sing “I am the very model of the modern major general…” but I substitute the word “blub” for all the lyrics. Blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub!
5. When I was much younger, I wanted to grow up to be a Flying Fish, so I could fly to the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
6. I’ve never harbored a desire to drive the bus. I would, however, like to drive the sub.
7. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I’m a giant whale, but instead of a spout I blow water out my nose.
8. My birthday is March 18, which makes me a Pisces. I prefer not to tell you how old I am, but I was born in the Year of the Rat. I really wish there was a Year of the Fish.
9. Book I faked reading: The Old Man and The Sea.
10. I used to believe biology was destiny, but a certain shimmery friend of mine has caused me to reconsider that position.
11. I don’t mean to brag, but I can mambo like nobody’s business.
12. Sometimes I swim upside-down and speak backwards, like this: “Sehsif Tseb.”
13. I love card games, except “Go Fish,” which gives me the heebie-jeebies.
14. I do a spot-on imitation of Garrison Keillor. “That’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the swimmers are strong, all the fish are good-looking, and all the minnows are above average.”
15. My least favorite day of the week is “Fry-Day.”
16. I once ordered some Sea Monkeys from the back of a comic book, and they ended up being nothing but Brine Shrimp.
17. My favorite made-up words are “fin-tastic” and “fish-arrific.”
18. Someday I’d like to travel to Australia to find Nemo.
I’m grateful to Debbie for giving me this birthday present of a guest-blogger spot on Jumping The Candlestick. Very timely, too, because just last week Ms. Clam tagged me for the “25 Random Things About Me” meme.
So here goes, with 25 Random Things About Mr. Fish:
1. I can hold my breath above water for 1 minute and 2 seconds.
2. In high school, I was known as the Class Frown.
3. My favorite human is Jacques Cousteau.
4. For karaoke night, I always sing “I am the very model of the modern major general…” but I substitute the word “blub” for all the lyrics. Blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub blub!
5. When I was much younger, I wanted to grow up to be a Flying Fish, so I could fly to the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
6. I’ve never harbored a desire to drive the bus. I would, however, like to drive the sub.
7. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I’m a giant whale, but instead of a spout I blow water out my nose.
8. My birthday is March 18, which makes me a Pisces. I prefer not to tell you how old I am, but I was born in the Year of the Rat. I really wish there was a Year of the Fish.
9. Book I faked reading: The Old Man and The Sea.
10. I used to believe biology was destiny, but a certain shimmery friend of mine has caused me to reconsider that position.
11. I don’t mean to brag, but I can mambo like nobody’s business.
12. Sometimes I swim upside-down and speak backwards, like this: “Sehsif Tseb.”
13. I love card games, except “Go Fish,” which gives me the heebie-jeebies.
14. I do a spot-on imitation of Garrison Keillor. “That’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the swimmers are strong, all the fish are good-looking, and all the minnows are above average.”
15. My least favorite day of the week is “Fry-Day.”
16. I once ordered some Sea Monkeys from the back of a comic book, and they ended up being nothing but Brine Shrimp.
17. My favorite made-up words are “fin-tastic” and “fish-arrific.”
18. Someday I’d like to travel to Australia to find Nemo.
19. I’m a little bit scared of the dark.
20. I collect bottle caps. I’ve got 14,812 of them, but 14,804 are buried under the sand.
21. Once, on a dare, I fin-wrestled a shark.
22. I play slide trombone. I’ve got a great embouchure, but a limited note range.
23. I prefer boxers to briefs, though I don’t know what either one of them are.
24. At night, when it’s very quiet in the ocean, I like to lie on my back and count the star fish.
25. I don’t pout nearly as much as I used to.
21. Once, on a dare, I fin-wrestled a shark.
22. I play slide trombone. I’ve got a great embouchure, but a limited note range.
23. I prefer boxers to briefs, though I don’t know what either one of them are.
24. At night, when it’s very quiet in the ocean, I like to lie on my back and count the star fish.
25. I don’t pout nearly as much as I used to.
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And now, back to Debbie...
Happy birthday, Mr. Fish. It's been a great four years!