Round Up

R.I.P. Jan Berenstain

Help save Jeju Island.

Good Grief-check out the very extensive Legacy Tobacco Documents Library.

Found yet another candle that I would like to add to my growing candle wants-Gritty City Prohibition Candle.

Digitized love letters of the Brownings-lovely.

Article on literary executors, "keepers of the flame."

I had no idea that Griswold cast iron is so collectible. If memory serves I think my mother has some of their pieces. More on the history of the Griswold Company.

How clever! I love the refrigerator at The Penguin Press.

I would love to have a jar of honey from the bees at the Paris Opera House.

I have been looking for just the right globe as a gift for my niece. The globes at ImagineNations are fabulous, way out of my price range, but they are so creative.

My dream purse-Proenza Schouler.

Heaven forbid, but if your house were on fire what would you grab? See what people would grab at The Burning House Project.

The Curiosity Shoppe has some delightful items. This pillow is adorable.

Love Canada and I am learning more about this country from the Canadian Encyclopedia.

P.O.S.H. Chicago has a very nice selection of restaurant china and dinnerware.

2 books have sparked an interest: Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms(Sterling Publishers) by Lissa Evans and Handheld Pies: Pint Size Sweets and Savories (Chronicle Books) by Sarah Billingsley and Rachel Wharton.

I adore the author Pam Houston, so much so, that I even read her short stories, and I am not a short story fan. Here is the Flickr set to her book, Contents May Have Shifted (W.W.Norton).

Good article on preserving Americans of African descent's academic library history.

That's all I have for this week. It kills me, but I a going to post a "spring" photograph. Have a nice weekend.



"Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life." Brian Andress

13 things you pay for that your library has for free.

ALA 2012 Notable Children's Books.

I love these adorable custom house portraits that Rebekka Seale does.

So much fun-Literary Tumblrs-my favorite thus fare is Awesome People Reading.

Wonderful items at Three Potato Four.

I would be quite content eating at an establishment that has pictures of pooches all over the walls-this is the White Dog Cafe in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

My love of costume dramas has me ga ga over Downton Abbey. Love these Downton Abbey paper dolls.

Hmmm the World Carrot Museum.

Jazz Quotes.

Very interesting stories behind publisher's animal logos.

This site should put all of the sterotypes about what librarians look like to rest.

If you are a fan of retro items, items that scream 1955 Retro Planet is the site for you.

Google Earth Cool Places.

That's all I have this week. Have a nice weekend.

(I keep posting these photographs of winter even though we aren't having a winter-it's going to be 75 degrees today-YIKES-I long for cold weather)



"To be meek, patient, tactful, modest, honorable, brave is not to be either manly or womanly; it is to be humane." - Jane Harrison

Round Up

First off-I hate banks. Parasitic institutions that take your money and then place all of these contingencies on it as to when and how much you can withdraw and on and on. That being said whatever happened to the friendly bank where you could go up to the juvenile cashier and ask for some change, without being asked if you have an account at that bank.

I knew I was going to need quarters for parking meters so I thought I could walk into "any" bank and ask for a roll of quarters-$5.00 or $10.00 worth. You would have thought I asked for a kidney. I kept asking the cashier/clerk why do I have to have an account with your bank for an even exchange of currency. On and on and one we went until finally her manager came over and asked, "Mam, is there a problem."

By that time I was boiling so I told him, "Your bank sucks and stop calling women Mam-we don't like it!!!" and stormed out of the bank. And the name of this bank-let's just say Regis Philbin (what's his purpose anyway?) is one of their boring spokespersons. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

And BTW-once again-Mam is not respectful. Sir is respectful. Mam is just a verbal indication of a visual calculation that wrinkles are apparent, the girls are sagging, and the caboose isn't as high as it used to be so Miss is not appropriate.

R.I.P. Wislawa Szymborska.

Congratulations Malachy.

Carpets made from using Google Earth maps.

Star Wars pancake molds.

Larson Juhl-wonderful framing for needlework.

Compile your own cookbooks with Tastebook.

7 amazing green bookstores and libraries.

12 creative business cards.

Brief history of blurbs.

Internet Pinball database-I used to love pinball. And if you want to find a place to play pinball use the World Pinball Directory.

Oh my, No-Stir Oven Risotto.

Fruity Pebbles Macarons.

These sound scrumtious: Sweet Potatoe Patties with Sour Cream and Chipotle Black Bean Salsa.

That's all I have for this week. Have a nice week and a wonderful weekend.

"I have sympathy for young people, for their growing pains, but I balk when these growing pains are pushed into the foreground, when you make these young people the only vehicles of life's wisdom. " Wislawa Szymborska

Round Up

Happy Birthday Charles Dickens (200th), Laura Ingalls Wilder and Sinclair Lewis.

I would love to have 1 or 2 of the Spineless Classics on my walls.

10 scientists robbed of a Nobel Prize.

6 bookcase wallpapers.

I made one New Years Resolution this year, and that was to make purchases from independent bookstores. I get books from various resources-Paperback Swap, I usually have books on hold at my local public library and I purchase books from various places. My resolution for 2012 was tomake a monthly purchase from an independent bookstore every month. And you know what I totally forgot to purchase anything in January. Good Grief!!!

I remembered this month and I purchased a tote bag from Misty Valley Books in Chester, Vermont. I'll keep you updated on my purchases.

Washington, DC is the most literate city in the United States.

50th anniversary of one of my favorite books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle.

Cakes throughout US history.

Foldable rain boots.

Surprising food origins.

Gorgeous business cards.

Heart-shaped balloons.

Fun book: Dogs of Central Park (Universe)by Fran Reisner.

That's all I have for this week. Enjoy!!!





"You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough, to be strong enough to shape yourself from what you actually are." - Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Round Up

R.I.P. Etta James-good grief it annoys me whenever someone other than Ms. James sings At Last.

R.I.P. Dick Tufeld, voice of The Robot.

Learn all about World Book Night.

Libraries on television and the movies.

Quiet a few books have caught my eye: The Knitter's Life List (Storey Publishing) by Gwen Steege, How Carrots Won the Trojan War: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables (Storey Publishing) by Rebecca Rupp, Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed (Sterling Publishing) by Carl Zimmer, Ice: (Stories Without Words) (Enchanted Lion Books) by Arthur Geisert-really any book by Arthur Geisert is tops with me, and What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors (Candlewick) by Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

A. and I got into a discussion about all the physicians who are also published authors. We attempted to see if we could name some, my goodness we didnt' even hit the tip of the iceberg with our paltry list.

Congratulations Felicity Aston the first person to ski solo across Antarctica alone.

Meet Qamar Hashim-What were you doing when you were 8?

Hyde Park Books has a wonderful author name pronunciation guide.

Love, love, love these artifact bags.

I have always wanted to take a calligraphy class, but have never gotten around to it. The Society of Scribes has some interesting classes.

Lots of good information on the Global Language Monitor.

Apparently Charles Dickens was very interested in interior decorating. Look at the slideshow of his 49 Doughty Street London rooms.

Humblebrag is hilarious.

Make some heart-shaped seed bombs.

That's all for now. Have a nice week.


"The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." - Aung San Suu Kyi

Round Up

R.I.P. Simms Taback and Reginald Hill.

New York Times candle-smells like newsprint. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

I love specialty stores like The Ribbonerie. (problem with the stores URL so I'm linking to Apartment Therapy's piece on the store)

Back in the day the placement of a stamp on a postcard or letter could send a message all its own. Very nice piece on this charming custom.

You have heard of ghost towns, what about ghost counties.

Grammarware.

Love, love, love these Shanna Murray wall decals.

Books I've spied: Menu Design in America: 1850-1986 (Taschen) by Steven Heller, Jim Heimann and John Mariani, The Chicken Encyclopedia (Storey Publishing) by Gail Damerow and Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World (Doubleday)by Richard Rhodes.

Push pins are passe-get a scratch map to mark your travels.

Here are some things librarians should do about SOPA.

I am ga-ga over Purina's dog breed library.

World's most expensive book-Good Grief!!!!

That's all for this week. Have a good weekend.

“Heaven preserve me from littleness and pleasantness and smoothness. Give me great glaring vices, and great glaring virtues, but preserve me from the neat little neutral ambiguities. Be wicked, be brave, be drunk, be reckless, be dissolute, be despotic, be a suffragette, be anything you like, but for pity's sake be it to the top of your bent. Live fully, live passionately, live disastrously. Let's live, you and I, as none have ever lived before. -to Vita Sackville-West, October 25, 1918” ― Violet Trefusis

Round Up

Happy New Year everyone!!! This is my first post for 2012. I just have a few items for this post.

R.I.P. Russell Hoban, author of the Frances series and many more books.

Did you know that there is a National Academic Quiz Tournament company? I found out about this company when I was trying to find out what happend to Mac McGarry who hosted It's Academic for many years. He's retiring from the show. One link led to another (as it so often does) and I ended up finding out about the Quiz Tournament company.

Have use of a list of windmills around the globe.

Walter Dean Myers is the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Yes, there is a Dr. Pepper Museum.

Two books that have sparked an interest: Quiet: The Power of Introverts (Random House) by Susan Cain and Dimity Dumpty: The Story of Humpty's Little Sister (Candlewick) by Bob Graham (I bet you thought Humpty was an only child huh).

What to do with all of those annoying packing peanuts.

Look at these wonderful literary dolls at Uneek Doll Designs.

Oh my, Paxton Gate has such lovely and unusual items.

I love all of these wonderful colors of masking tape-why wasn't this thought of years ago. Maybe it was a thought, but then the manufacturing of all the wonderful colors was found to be cost prohibitive. Who knows.

And speaking of colors, the color for 2012, according to Pantone, is Tangerine Tango. (just scroll down Apartment Therapy's entry about this. I liked their entry about the subject better than Pantones.)

That's all for this week. Have a good one.

"And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." Rainer Maria Rilke