Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Talking Trash

A main part of my job is laying out and designing multiple city newsletters. I really enjoy doing the newsletters, they are quarterly and it's fun to see what the different communities are doing. I work closely with the cities and they give me the information and we go back and forth until the articles and pictures I find for them are just perfect. For the one I am working on right now they want to do a column that will be in every issue called "Talking Trash." The lady I work with was wondering if we could come up with some sort of character to always go with the article.
  We have a stock image library that we use and I thought... what the heck why don't I draw it?! I can come up with something better than what the stock image library has! (I would hope!) I drew a few garbage cans while I was sitting at my desk. I didn't have any good pens so I went home and worked on it a little bit and while trying to think of trash images my mind instantly thought of my favorite poem by Shel Silverstein. My first grade teacher would read it every day. I memorized the poem, and I think my parents probably did too from hearing me recite it so much. My parents bought me the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" way back then and when I reached for it on the book shelf this morning... I remember the page number my favorite poem was on......71! What part of my brain was that stored in?? Seriously? I remember the page number?? I was six in first grade and I'm 27 now! I didn't think that was possible! Pretty fitting since today was garbage day too, and I'm always the one to take the garbage out! Here's my talking trash dudes!

















 And my favorite poem from "Where the Sidewalk Ends!"

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out! 
By: Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out! 
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams, 
And though her daddy would scream and shout, 
She simply would not take the garbage out. 
And so it piled up to the ceilings: 
Coffee grounds, potato peelings, 
Brown bananas, rotten peas, 
Chunks of sour cottage cheese. 
It filled the can, it covered the floor, 
It cracked the window and blocked the door 
With bacon rinds and chicken bones, 
Drippy ends of ice cream cones, 
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, 
Gloopy glumps of cold oatmeal, 
Pizza crusts and withered greens, 
Soggy beans and tangerines, 
Crusts of black burned buttered toast, 
Gristly bits of beefy roasts... 
The garbage rolled on down the hall, It raised the roof, it broke the wall... 
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs, 
Globs of gooey bubble gum, Cellophane from green baloney, 
Rubbery blubbery macaroni, 
Peanut butter, caked and dry, Curdled milk and crusts of pie, 
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard, 
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard, 
Cold French fries and rancid meat, Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat. 
At last the garbage reached so high That finally it touched the sky. 
And all the neighbors moved away, And none of her friends would come to play. 
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said, "OK, I'll take the garbage out!" 
But then, of course, it was too late... 
The garbage reached across the state, 
From New York to the Golden Gate. 
And there, in the garbage she did hate, Poor Sarah met an awful fate, 
That I cannot right now relate 
Because the hour is much too late. 
But children, remember Sarah Stout And always take the garbage out!




Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!


1 comment:

  1. what an awesome job you have! i want to read the newsletter with talking trash in it. love the drawing!

    ReplyDelete