Kevin Travis, Author: The Early Years

In my previous blog, I shared my "first" book with you, "Big Bear." Surprisingly, I have yet to field any inquiries into turning the gem into a major motion picture. The book, that I wrote when I was in the second grade, was filled with not only words, but I also showed off my drawing talents.

Well, good news! I found another gem while going through some old papers that my wonderful mother kept for me.

I'm not sure I would classify it as a short story, or a poem. But, just like "Big Bear," this thing is a beauty. It shows off my writing (and illustrating) talents at a young age.

I perhaps wrote this after attending The Barnum and Bailey Circus in Cleveland as a youngster. I remember the clowns. (They kind of scare me.) And the elephants. And the smell. And the high wire acts. And, of course, Gunther Gebel-Williams (below), a lion-tamer and fancy dresser.

(Or I wrote it after eating wayyyy too much candy. Hard to tell.)

Anyway, the masterpiece is entitled: Kevins Circus: The Barnlum Bailey Circus.

The clown on the right is saying, "Hi!" and pointing at the other clown. The clown on the left is doing a handstand and either saying, "Cooo" or "Oooo"... or he's vomiting. I'm not quite sure.

Kevins Circus: The Barnlum Bailey Circus
He flew to space
with his funny face
tripping over his shoelace.

They were funny just
like a bunny and it
was very sunny
as the bear ate the
honey.

Then the man fell
in the can.

He was a funny fellow
and he said hello
And he was yellow.

He took a boy by the
hand and said let's stand.

I know!! I'm like Mozart, but only with pens and crayons!! To think, this boy (this handsome boy when he was 5 years old) could create such epics at such a young age.

Don't fret. I've got more gems like this one, including poems from Miss Mozingo's fourth-grade class in Hudson, Ohio!

SHOUTOUT

Today's shoutout goes to none other than Eve Torres, a WWE Diva. (Yes, I like saying, "WWE Diva.)

Deva... I mean, Eve, was the winner on the "Stars Earn Stripes" television show. I wrote about this awesome show in an earlier blog.

What's cool is that Eve won $150,000 for USO. That is really, really special. I hope they bring the show back for another run. Learn more about the charity here. (http://www.uso.org/)

Learn more about Eve here (http://evetorres.com/index.php) or follow her on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/EveMarieTorres).

SONG OF THE DAY

"Down Under" by the Aussie group, Men at Work. I loved that album when it came out. You youngsters wouldn't know what an album is, but it was a round, plastic thing that has music on it.