When Is It OKAY Not To Tell?
Dear Writers,
For the last thirty-six hours, I’ve been wrestling with an ethical dilemma. Even as I type this, I’m incredibly uncertain about whether or not to hit Publish. But one of the hardest things for me as a child was learning that my parents didn’t tell me everything. So here goes:
Early yesterday morning, the blogger/writer/illustrator known as Writer Fellow, a.k.a. Mike Allegra, launched one of his famous doodle contests. Anyone at all can enter to be in the drawing to win a doodle. All you have to do is put a comment on his blog telling about your best or worst vacation. Whoever wins the drawing not only gets an original doodle, they get to say what the doodle will be! It could be a Caffeine Gnome, a Great Dane Protecting Puppehs, or even a Writer in the Sunshine in a Yoga Post petting an Angel Dog—just about anything you can dream up! How awesome is that?
The one and only Sully the Salamander by Mike Allegra
However, telling you about this seriously lessens my chances of winning. Already, word is getting out on Facebook and other media and several careless bloggers have reblogged his post, thereby further reducing my chances of winning the drawing. There’s no way to stop these leaks, and there will only be one winner of the next Allegra doodle. So you can see why I’m struggling with whether to let this post see the light of day.
Yes, you might say I’m a greedy person because I already got a truly fantastic one-of-a-kind doodle of a salamander named Sully. But c’mon, that doodle wasn’t for me specifically. It was for the highly important cause of children’s poetry and it belongs to every person in Whatcom County and beyond who helped to harass and badger Mike into doing it sweet talk and charm him into creating one of his amazing doodles to inspire the kids of Whatcom County to write poetry for SpeakEasy 16. (If you read my blog and haven’t met Sully, which would be odd because I can’t help but mention the little fella in every other post, Sully has his own web page now.)
Today my friend and talented local poet Susan Campbell Cross e-mailed me to say she’d learned about the Allegra doodle contest through a typical Facebook leak and that she’s already written her holiday memory on Mike’s blog. And that she had a great time doing it because she wrote it the way she writes poetry, using the artistic side of her brain. Well, that just wasn’t fair at all because how can I withhold such fun from other friends? After thirty-six hours, the guilt is becoming overwhelming, so here’s his dang Win A Doodle! Hooray! post link to go try to win a doodle for yourself.
Read “Harold’s Hat” by Mike Allegra in Highlights!
By the way, mad props are in order to Writer Fellow for having his children’s story “Harold’s Hat” published in the latest issue of Highlights, the acclaimed magazine for children.
If you win a doodle instead of me, please break the news to me gently, and also don’t bother correcting my syntax.
P.S.: Spooky Dolly says hi.
XO Laurel Leigh
Dear Writers 
I have to tell you—I love that salamander! 🙂
Oh, thank you! It’s the cutest, isn’t it? He is so talented. We love Sully the Salamander quite a lot out here in Whatcom County!
You did the right thing in promoting my contest, Laurel.
Now stop hacking my blog.
Sigh, if I were a better hacker, I would now own all the ballots for the doodle contest. Every last one! This Doodle Domination Plan isn’t going so well yet, but I have three days left.
If you lose, you could always send your minions to harass me.
No! Please don’t! Pleeeeease.
This might be a job for Spooky Dolly! She is only a few feet away and beneath a few layers of fabric in her trunk.
A woman can never have enough doodles! Why is banks don’t ask before canceling a card? Mine gets cancelled every other time I travel because of suspected fraudulent activity. Um, thaaaaaanks for protecting me from eating and stuff. I think their security button must be really fun to push. Good luck!
Doodles are like shoes, right? Oh, my gosh, the whole canceling your bank card thing is unbelievable. On that Mexico trip, I had even notified them beforehand that I was leaving the country and they still turned off my card. I did learn that to call and use the magic words “traveler emergency,” which eventually led me to the right department to turn my card back on.
Are you back home now? I loved your SF post.
Thank you! Yup. Back in steamy, sticky Brooklyn. I miss SF already!
I’ll remember the “traveler emergency” magic next time. That sounds way easier than changing banks.
Steamy, sticky Brooklyn nonetheless sounds like a simply wonderful place to live. Not to mention it’s romantic name.
It’s not as ahhhhh as the west coast, but Brooklyn has its moments fall-spring. Summer here makes me want to grind my face against a brick wall. Yes, summer in the city is a steamy, sticky face-grinding affair to me. Only 2 months to go!
You are hilarious. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard of grinding your face against a brick wall, but I fully intend to use that expression and will of course do it with heart and balls. You are teaching me so much!
Girl, you are tooooo hilarious! And yes, I’ve written a very bad vacation memory on his blog in hopes I’ll win a doodle!!!!!
Tee hee, I’m glad you liked it! Okay, I have to go read your vacation story before I try to hack his blog and delete it. 🙂
This could get ugly.
Seriously ugly! Your vaca story is great, by the way!
Thanks, dahlink!