April Fools’ Day is marked by the “commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool’s errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.” (from wikipedia)

So for those of you reading this far into this blog, I guess this was my humorous attempt to fool you into thinking it was already April 1, 2010.

Frog and Toad are Friends book cover

Plan ahead for April Fools’ Day tomorrow. One of my best gags is to pretend you are sick (i.e. sore throat which no one can see) after you wake up. Tell everyone in your household, get a lot of sympathy from others, and then laugh and say “April Fools”.

Another funny trick I learned from reading that delightful “Frog and Toad Are Friends” book with my son, was to change the calendar or try to fool someone in your household to think it was a different month/day.

In that book, Toad is hibernating in the fall, and lonely Frog comes by and sees that the wall calendar is on November, so he rips off all the pages of the months till May. Then Frog wakes up Toad, and tells him to look at the May calendar as it is Spring and time to wake up. Poor Toad believes this hoax and gets out of bed. Thankfully they are best friends, and remain so even after Frog’s trick.

We can all afford to be a little foolish and learn to laugh more, especially in these dire economic times of the 21st century. After all, laughter is free.

Happy April Fools’ Day on April 1st.

If you have other April Fools’ Day experiences and/or tricks or tips, please share them below.

One night only (March 31), “Sizzle“, advertised as a global warming comedy will be at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway at 7 p.m., with writer/director Randy Olson in person. Dr. Olson is a Harvard educated Ph.D. in marine biology, who has turned into a filmmaker, whose previous film was the 2006 “A Flock of Dodos.”

“Sizzle” is a “unique hybrid of three genres — mockumentary, documentary and reality — that Variety called, “an exceedingly clever vehicle for making science engaging to a general audience.” It is the only U.S. movie that presents both sides of the global warming issue, and is more timely than ever given the rocky waters the global warming movement has recently hit.”

Copies of Dr. Randy Olson‘s new book, “Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style,” will also be available for sale and signing at this event.

UA faculty and Dr. Olson will do a Q & A after the film. He will be joined by UA climate scientists Julia Cole and Diana Liverman, biologist Lisa Graumlich, and journalism professor Jacqueline Sharkey.

Presented by UA School of Earth & Environmental Sciences. For more info:Gabriela Guglielmo at 520-621-2027, gbg@email.arizona.edu or log onto UA News at : http://uanews.org/node/30295

movie poster

Women Writing Mystery, a panel discussion featuring local women mystery authors will be held on Tuesday, March 30, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. hosted by UA library special collections, in recognition of Women’s “Herstory” Month (March). The UA Main library is at 1510 E. University Blvd., west of Cherry Avenue.

Featured authors are: Rebecca Cramer, Susan Cummins Miller, Margaret Falk (aka J. Carson Black) and Elizabeth Gunn.

This program will “highlight the valuable contributions women mystery authors have made to literature through their portrayal of strong female protagonists and their insights into contemporary society.”

I heard Susan Cummins Miller and Elizabeth Gunn speak on a mystery writers’ panel at the 2nd Annual Tucson Festival of Books on March 14. Susan and I reconnected after several years, as our sons went to middle school together.

Special Collections houses the Women Mystery Writers’ Collection, which has an emphasis on Southwestern women mystery authors, including papers and manuscripts of best-selling author J. A. Jance of Tucson.

For more information contact Associate librarian Veronica Reyes-Escudero at 520-307-2774, reyesv@u.library.arizona.edu, website: www.library.arizona.edu/speccoll.

For Women’s “Herstory” Month of March, I’ve blogged about a women’s self portraits art talk, a domestic violence center (Hands of a Friend) in Green Valley, an Every Woman event at Old Town Artisans, women politicians, and now about women mystery authors.

It’s been a great month for community events about women!