Of artists and inventors...

Kudos to Francesca Flores and Makena Ehnisz, students at Santa Catalina Middle School, who have been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers for their whimsical photographs and will be honored at Carnegie Hall. A pretty impressive feat, considering that a record 165,000 pieces of art were submitted for the competition this year.
Francesca, an 8th grader, will receive a gold medal for her photo Evening Windows. Makena, a 7th grader, will get a silver medal for her photo Wind Swept. You can see the photos here.

And speaking of geniuses -- artistic or otherwise -- the Monterey County Fair wants young inventors to come up with your most creative innovations for their fall fair. Grab a copy of Jo Mora's "Chippie de Munk: The Great Inventor" and get inspired to enter in any of the fair's five categories:
* Dude Beagle’s Nut Cracker – Build a Working Nut Cracker
* Grandpa Gopher’s Marshmallow Shooter - Build a working Marshmallow Shooter.
* Terry Pin the Turtle’s Wind Generator – Build a working wind Wind Generator
* Brother Jack Rabbit’s Ready to Launch Rocket – Build a working rocket. Rocket Launch will be held during the Fair.
* Chippie De Munk’s Flying Machine Contest – Build a working paper airplane/glider. Kit to be provided to entrant. Glider competition will be held during the Fair.
Fair promoters are adopting Tom Friedman's recent statements regarding our economy: "We might be able to stimulate our way back to stability, but we can only invent our way back to prosperity.” So boys and girls, go on and invent some prosperity for us!!!! For more information about the contest, click here.