Round Up

Hey,coffee drinkers. There's a new brew in town.

This week I seemed to find a lot of sites concerning words. Like Wordie, which lets you make lists of words -- practical lists, words you love, words you hate, whatever. See who else has listed the same words, add citations and comments, and discuss. Or Take Our Word for It, which is a word-origin zine and so much more. And last, but certainly not least World Wide Words. One could literally spend hours on any of these sites.

The Laundress has tagged me for this meme so here goes:

1. Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog?Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Oh wraps them and loves doing it. I used to wrap everyone in the families gifts, plus all of the gifts we were giving out. Loved it.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colors!

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Yes, every year.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Wreath on the door December 1st and different items throughtout the house the first week in December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
I don't really have one. I don't eat meat, so probably some side. Maybe mashed potatoes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory? My brother and I waking up going to get my parents on Christmas. Then my dad would run down to the family room and start a fire in the fireplace, turn on the tree lights. Then my parents would lead us down the stairs (they had to we always closed our eyes) and voila-we would then open our eyes and see all of the presents under the tree. After my maternal grandparents moved next door, my mother would call them to come over and then we would all sit around and open our gifts. It was wonderful. It's especially poignant because both of my maternal grandparents are gone now. Oh, how I much I miss them.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Dale McKeever told me in second grade.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Never

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Lights, Icicles,which I am not allowed to put on the tree-I've always been a thrower, bulbs.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
LOVE it.

12. Can you ice skate?No, but love to watch it, and would love to learn

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Not really.

14. What's the most important thing?
Sharing with those you love.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Cookies and homemade candies-fudge, divinity, etc.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Growing up we went caroling, but I haven't done that since I was in high school. I don't think I have any now.

17. What tops your tree?
This scary-ass angel that I keep meaning to replace. I swear her eyes follow me around the room

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
Giving. By far. Actually, discomfitted with gifts. (I am not changing a word that the Laundress has here) I have always felt the exact same way.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
I love them all, but it's not Christmas for me unless I hear Nat King Cole sing The Christmas Song.

0. Candy canes, Yuck or Yum?
Yuck

Thanks Laundress. That was fun.

I thought that I was fairly knowledgeable about Geography. I know that I always did well in it in school and I have a general liking of the subject. I also thought I knew where things were in the world. Boy, was I wrong. Take this addictive test and see how well you do. I must, must, must learn where all of the 'stans are and Turkey.

The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library(Kansas)is ranked as the number one library in the state. What is so unsual (to me) is that they mail their holds. Yep, they MAIL them to patron. And they have done this since the 1970's. This service is budgeted for every year and the library says that
patrons love it. (via Superpatron)

In the last couple of weeks author Bebe Moore Campbell and actor Peter Boyle have passed away. I just found out that early this year Eddie (nee Moose) the Jack Russell Terrier from the television program Fraser also passed away. He was 16 years old.

This will probably be my last entry before the holiday. I hope you and your loved ones have a very happy holiday.

"No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood" Francis P. Church, Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus, first published in The New York Sun, 1897

Friday Round Up

So you have heard of the human genome project. How about the music genome project?

In my never-ending quest to locate cool online maps I came across the Yes Map. This is a map of American radio stations that shows the songs they are playing in real-time. One of my favorite magazines is Geist, a Canadian magazine. They include very interesting maps in each issue. Here is a listing of them.

Every few years I go back and re-read all of my favorite Jane Austen books. I'm glad to see these very well written Jane Austen blogs. Here's one, two , and three.

So you all no my chocoholic tendencies. Well, I was at a friends and she gives me a bag of these. Milk chocolate with a white chocolate(which we all know isn't really chocolate, but it's wonderful) filling. I know I don't need to say anymore.

There are times when I am in a self-imposed blog reading marathon I will read all of one kind of blog-food blogs, librarian blogs, etc. I found this very nice academic blog portal that makes my addiction so much easier to manage.

Still not in the Christmas spirit. Here's 24 films to get you to feel Christmasy.

At one time I had a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. I ended up giving a lot of them away so now I am down to just a few. Maybe I'll start collecting again. I could use the best 20 cookbooks of 2006 list as my guide.

Take a look at this very interesting blog on landscape architecture. (thanks Katie)

At first I thought this Datamining blog was not going to be my cup of tea, but I really like it.

Katie also turned me on to Pop Candy. This is probably one of the best pop culture blogs I've read in awhile. (of course that's just my humble opinion).

I have been finding lots of end of year lists, but I am not going to go crazy and keep posting them. I think there are other bloggers who actually compile lists of everything for that year. I think the fantastic fimoculous does this every year if I am not mistaken.

Have a good weekend.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin

Volvelles

I have quite a few small collections of things, but the one that I seem to have the most fun with is my collection of volvelles. Volvelles are also called circular charts, slidable information wheels, information rotating wheels or wheel charts. I think they are a wonderful interway to present information.

I thought I was alone for my love of volvelles until Jessica Helfand came out with her book, Reinventing the Wheel:Volvelles, Equatoria, Planispheres, Fact-Finders, Gestational Charts .. Helfand donated her collection of 371 volvelles to the Yale Arts Library. Here is the finding aid to the collection. (It's in PDF)

Here are some wonderful examples of volvelles from an exhibition at the Grolier Club.

A grammar/punctuation volvelle.

Here is a list of the volvelles I have collected. Maybe I'll be able to reach 300 some day.

1.50 States of the United States (Wonder Bread)
2.101 Civil War Battles with Union & Confederacy, Dates of Battles
3.Care First Blue Cross/Blue Shield Physical Fitness Wheel
4.Citigate Mortgage Payment Calculator
5.Dog Breeds (in Russian)
6.Eating Smart Restaurant Guide
7.Encore Travel Planner
8.Expo 67
9.Fireglass
10.Guide to U.S. Warships (Wonder Bread)
11.Investment Planner
12.John Welsh Grocery Store/Aunt Jane’s Secretary
13.Johnson’s Wax Calendar Wheel (1958-1985) (this is a very tiny metal wheel)
14.Know Your USA and the 48 States (Wonder Bread)
15,Merriman Brothers Speed Indicator
16.Mortgage Payment Calculator
17.Planisphere
18.Pocket Color Wheel
19.Putnam Benefit Calculator
20.Scandinavian Winners of the Nobel Prize
21.Seagate Disc Products for Personal Storage
22.U.S. Pollen Predictor Wheel
23.Warner Swasey Company Pin Drafter
24.Whitsinville Ring Company Diamond Finish Rings Count Inicator
25.Wildlife Spotter
26.Wine and Food Matching Wheel

"No, Watson, this was not done by accident, but by design." Sherlock Holmes

Round Up

I'm doing the round-up early this week. I'll be too busy on the rest of the week.

If you would like to help break the World Record for the most people reading aloud simultaneously in multiple locations join libraries, schools and other organizations on December 13, 2006 at 12:00 noon (EST). And what is everyone going to be reading. The wonderful story of Wilbur and Charlotte. Yes, Charlotte's Web. There's more information here. BTW the current record is 155,528 readers. Nice book choice to coincide with the opening of the Charlotte's Web movie in a couple of weeks.

The New York Times has come out with their 100 Notable Books of the Year List.

I was reading Vertigo Books blog and found out some interesting information about Sonia Sanchez. Along with being an incredible poet and professor I think everyone knows that she has been a civil rights, peace and social activist for years. She also belongs to a group of incredible women who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade. What an incredible group of women.

Back in the day my friends and I use to "go exploring". Nothing excited us more than to climb off of the "hill" at Seton Hill and see what mischief we could find. Besides cemeteries, we loved abandoned buildings. One of the other things we loved (we never found any of these abandoned in our neck of the woods though) were sanitariums or asylums. Southwestern PA has a few and I was always quite fascinated with them. Now I have lived in the WDC area for 22 years and just found out about Chestnut Lodge. Where have I been? Must explore.

Another wiki-Scholarpedia.

For your daily dose of haiku.

A friend mentioned this blog to me because she knows of my distaste for CILANTRO. Ewww.

For years I would by an Advent Calendar. I stopped buying them a few years ago because I found Leslie Harpold's online calendar and liked it so much more than the paper variety. Here is the calendar from 2005.

The Sunlight Foundation was founded in 2006 with the goal of using the revolutionary power of the Internet and new information technology to enable citizens to learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing, and thus help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and accountability by government, and foster public trust in the vital institutions of democracy. They won the best blog in the International Weblog Awards 2006 contest.

Okay. I know that I shouldn't have bought this, it's bad for me, it's expensive. But, oh my goodness. This stuff is incredible. I made the secret family brownie recipe and put a dollop (yeah, sure a dollop)in and pure bliss.

"Be obscure clearly." E.B. White

Friday Round Up

In lieu of the upcoming holiday.

Clever Alton Brown. Why oh why did I not think of this. I watched him do this,and could not believe how simple this is.

I may have linked to this before, but it's so great, I'll take a chance and provide the link again. The Artists for Literacy have created a very nice, searchable databaseof songs inspired by literature.

Time has the 100 all-time albums list. See if you are surprised by any of the picks.

Really cute and informative blog Things I Have Learned the Hard Way: Female Folk Widom for Life, Love, Work and Play."

For a few chuckles view the Trapped on An Escalator video. Make sure your sound is on.

Now, I am not a fan of puppets. They just freak me out. Love the Muppets, but then they are real. But puppet libraries. Hmmmm. If I'm ever in the neighborhood, I may have to cowboy up and visit. Here's one and another.

The Association for College and Research Libraries has a blog.

I know we have all received paper money that has some cryptic writing on it. Well someone has a site devoted to this phenomena.

I won't be posting next week. For all of you that celebrate, don't celebrate, or are lucky enough to have the day off-enjoy.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-- Melody Beattie

Wooden Churches

There was eerie ground-level fog on the way to work this morning. It's still dark when we start out, and the fog just made everything seem mysterious and magical. If I looked close enough I know I could have seen all sorts of fairies along with Mole and Mr Toad flitting and frolicking around in the fog. Whenever it's like this it always reminds me of one of my favorite illustrators Arthur Rackham. More on him here.

Sorry. This entry was supposed to be about wood. I got sidetracked. Wood, well I love it. In particular I like wooden structures like churches. It's sort of a cognitive dissonance thing with me. I love trees, and would fight to save a tree, but I also love wood. Yeah, I know. Hypocrite!!!!

Russian and Scandinavian stave churches have always been one of my favorites types of wooden structure. Most church architecture fascinates me. Love looking at the architecture. I just don't want to go inside and listen to what's being said.

In fact most of the stave churches are found in Norway. They get their name from the load-bearing posts called stavr, which means stave in Old Norse.

I came across a website for Fort Ross. Fort Ross is a former Russian fur trading post located in what is now Sonoma County, California. Most of the buildings that are presently there are recreations of those beautiful Russian wooden chapels and other buildings, but I would still love to see them. The website has some nice images and there is more information here.

The king (IMO)of all wooden structures is located at the Kizhi Open Air Museum in Kizhi, Russia. Kizhi is an island located on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia. This open air museum has an absolutely breathtaking array of wooden churches including the 22-domed Transfiguration Church built in 1722. Here are some panoramas of the island. Here is an entire page of images. The island in winter is particuarly beautiful. And a Wikipedia entry. And get this, these structures were built without nails or any other sort of metal ties. Incredible.

There is even a wooden church not too far from my home. It's located in Ashton, Maryland (even though I think it's listed location is Silver Spring, MD). The name of the church is the Holy Trinity Particular Ukranian Catholic Church. Trying to find a link or a decent image of this church is proving dauting. Here's a small photograph of the church. It's sort of hidden behind trees, but you get the idea. It's located on very lengthy New Hampshire Avenue. We found this section New Hampshire Avenue too not only have many churches, but also a llama farm and someone has a sheep farm. Plus, it's a really nice ride.

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do." Willa Cather (1873 - 1947

Lack of Grace

Inside me lurks a 12 year old boy and a 25 year old burlesque dancer. Which might explain why I decided to dance my way down our top flight of stairs to the tune of Hollywood Swingin'. I was doing fairly well, I even did a few kicks when-boom. I still don't know what happened or how I didn't knock out any of the balusters or hurt myself. Well, my pride is hurt, but thanfully that is all. With my delicate back and bad knee I could have really done my damage. I guess I'll have to keep my burlesque routines on flat land.

At different times in my life I thought my name was a bit unusual. Not my last name, but my first name. The Internet changed all of that in so many ways. I was playing around with my wishlist on Amazon (yes, it's ridiculously long and is getting very DVD set heavy). I thought I would just put in my first and last name and see how many people would appear with MY name. 59. Can you believe it?

A friend of mine sent me this tidbit. If you were a fan of Lost in Space or maybe even the movie The Sound of Music then perhaps you remember Angela Cartwright. Well, she has a blog.

If you have 12 minutes to waste please check out the Fastest Librarian video. It's a hoot.

I read that some folks in Detroit wanted to call attention to the hundreds of abandoned houses. These abandoned houses become drug dens and prostitution hubs, therefore becoming a blight to the neighborhood. They painted the houses a color called Tigerrific orange, which they say is absolutely blinding. So far 4 out of the 11 houses that have been painted have been demolished by the city. I wanted to check out the paint color. It's a Disney color. (via Good Magazine)

Of all of the fried goodies that are out there I must say I would have never thought of frying this.

And for major cuteness.

If you haven't already voted please make sure you do.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." - John Quincy Adams

Round Up

Oh no, the NPR blog is gone.

I have been a fan of composerLeroy Anderson for quite some time now. Of course he is most famous for Sleigh Ride, but I also love the The Syncopated Clock and The Typewriter. If you are a fan of his you might want to click on the link on his site to urge the U.S. Postal Service to honor this incredible composer's centennial (2008) with a stamp. What made me start thinking about Mr. Anderson was coming across the Boston Typewriter Orchestra.

If you have any interest in ephemera you must check out the Ephemera Blog. It's a treat.

Another bookstore with an interesting blog.

Wearing Propaganda isthe first major exhibition of propaganda fashion designed and produced in japan, britain, and the united states during the years of conflict in the asia-pacific war and World War II. Here are some more links for this intriguing exhibition.

Pretty incredible hat huh? This hat was crocheted by a man from the Bamileke Tribe in Cameroon. The men crochet these hats for various ceremonies.


Humpty Dumpty
Assis sur une butte*
Humpty Dumpty
Fit une grande chute

Tous les chevaux du roi
Et tous ses servants
N'ont pu remettre
Humpty comme avant

Some how Humpty Dumpty in French just doesn't seem as sad. Mama lisa's world not only has nursery rhymes galore; she also has a blog.

Nice to see someone else shares my love of doors.

And cupcakes.

This Tuesday, November 7, 2006 is election day. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE!!!! I can't stress that enough. I get choked up every single time I vote. There isn't an election that has gone by when I don't think about the people who have fought and died for this right that we tend to take for granted. I have been terribly nervous about this election, and I hope that all of my candidates get elected. If they don't I also hope I can deal with the disappointment.

"Lower voter participation is a silent threat to our democracy...It under-represents young people, the poor, the disabled, those with little education, minorities and you and me." Nancy Neuman, Editor (1837 - AFT. 1860)

Round Up

If you are on the look out for an unusual job, I think I may have found something for you.

I'm not all that much of a team sports fan, but I have been to quite a few Pittsburgh Pirates games. This was many years ago when they were still playing at their former home Three Rivers Stadium. That was also back when I was absolutely ga ga over Roberto Clemente. I was absolutely crushed when he was killed.

Me going to any sports venue consisted of me people-watching, eating, running to the rest room and usually reading my latest Nancy Drew or some other book. Perhaps if I had been reading some baseball fiction, while watching the game I would have had a better time.

Another photograph and search site-Pixsy.

I think most of us have a Pyrex measuring cup or possibly a Pyrex casserole hiding out in our kitchen cupboards. Well, in my web wanderings I found a Pyrex blog. And after looking at this woman's collection I am green with envy. There's even purple pyrex. MUST GET SOME!!! And also Flickr Pyrex. Hey, where have I been? There's a Flickr blog.

The Elder Wisdom Circle was founded on the premise that people over 60 have wisdom to impart. Its 250 members nationwide offer advice to thousands who e-mail the group's Web site. These self-described "cyber-grandparents" even have a column that appears in several small newspapers.

Many Circle members are computer-savvy seniors in their 60s, 70s and 80s. But the network also taps residents of nursing homes and old-age centers who may not be computer literate. Facilitators meet with groups of these elders, reading aloud letters and taking notes on the combined comments. The group's advice is later e-mailed back to the sender. I think this is just a wonderful idea. Here's the NPR story on the circle.

For those of you who celebrate Halloween have a spooktacular one!!



I was going to leave you with Robert Burns poem Halloween until I saw how long it was. I still think it's worth the read though.

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and
tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's
sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm
of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and
bubble." William Shakespeare, Witches in Macbeth

Secretary of State and Gilmore Girls

I'm beginning to think you must have an unusual name to be Secretary of State. For instance the present Secretary of State is Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Unusual first name. Here are some others:

Dean Gooderham Acheson 1949-1953
Cordell Hull 1933-1944
Bainbridge Colby 1920-1921
Philander Chase Knox 1909-1913
Elihu Root 1905-1909
Hamilton Fish 1869-1877
Elihu Benjamin Washburne 1869
Jeremiah Sullivan Black 1860-1861
Abel Parker Upshur 1843-1844


Two with unusual middle names are Edmund Sixtus Muskie was Secretary of State from 1980-1981 and Alexander Meigs Haig was Secretary of State from 1981-1982.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am getting tired of the Gilmore Girls. Not the show so much, and I'm not tired of any of the other characters, but I am tired of the Gilmore Girls. Lorelei and Rory are just getting on my last nerve. I know the show has new writers, but, I don't know what the problem is. All of the things that I used to find so charming about both of the lead characters, now get on my nerves. And by the way, I hate Christopher and Logan. Okay. I feel better. I just spent a bunch of energy commenting on two people who don't even exist.

How would you like to have another woman from a different country come and stay in your home for a couple of days and experience your home and work life? Pretty cool huh??? Or you could go to another country and do the same thing. Women Welcome Women World-Wide has been providing this sort of opportunity for women since 1984. Very nice way to foster international frienship and goodwill.

I appear to be a little late in discovery Jacquie Lawson, but check out her clever, fun cards. It's a bit (just a little bit)early for Christmas, but access the last card on the left-hand side. Too cute.

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." - Albert Schweitzer

Round Up

Perhaps you were thinking it would be nice if Fortune magazine would come out with some sort of nifty database that contained every year of their listing of America's largest companies starting in 1955. Okay, maybe you weren't thinking that, but they did it anyway.

Powerful short film that every woman should watch. Now lets hope we see this when all the shows aimed at the teen to 35 year old female demographic are being televised.

Nice listing of films that prominently feature food on the Gastronomic: The Magazine of Food and Culture site. Can you think of any other foodie films?

It would be nice if we didn't need such things, but the Anti-Racist Parent Blog is great. It's for parents committed to raising children with an anti-racist outlook. Lots of good things on this blog.

To scare myself even more about what's going on the world I spent the better part of an hour on the Nuclear Weapon Archive.

Love this alternative to candy for Halloween.

So the population center for the United States is Edgar Springs, Missouri. This is all according to the U.S. Census Bureau (not my favorite government organization).

Once again, I want to thank the Laundress for mentioning, not only mentioning, but saying such nice things about Fig Newtons and Scotch in her blog Dirty Laundry. All I can say is thank you and right back at ya. I have learned so much from reading your blog and you have made me laugh on many an emotionally gloomy day.

Instead of a quote I will leave you with some fall splendor.

Library Stuff

October is American Archives Month.

List of libraries that use virtual reference or live reference or chat reference. Oh, how I wish I worked somewhere that used modern capabilities. I wish I worked somewhere that didn't have loud-mouthed, rude, common,competitive jerky women too, but that's another rant. Hopefully my situation will be soon changed.

Damn fine science librarian has a damn fine blog.

Most library folk are nuts about signage, yours truly included. Check out these library signs.

I have problems with this on so many levels, but here goes anyway. Looking for a Halloween costume? Look no further. I understand that Target is also selling these.

The United Nations Dag Hammarskjold (yes, there is supposed to be an umlaut over the o in Hammarskjold)Library has a blog.

The British Library's Collect Britain website is awesome. The site showcases thousands of items from the British Library. You can browse the collections, tours and exhibitions, or search the site in many different ways. Register or log-in to enjoy more features.

Great medical librarian blog.

Apparently Henry Ward Beecher loved libraries.

"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life." Henry Ward Beecher

"A little library growing each year is an honorable part of a man's history." Henry Ward Beecher


"A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of shadows."Henry Ward Beecher

Worry/Envy

I think one of the things I envy the most about people is that some of them appear to not have any worries. Now, I know that the majority of us have worries, but at times I am very tired of my worries and would gladly trade them in for some others.

The majority of the people that I work with appear to have nice lives. Most of them have nice incomes and more than likely have a financially secure future. They have their nice home, vehicles, take their expensive trips, and probably have enough money in the bank to choke a horse. I wonder if they worry about retiring. Or worry if they'll ever be able to retire. That is something I worry about all of the time, 24/7. Here's how it works-you make a good salary and then you are able to stash some of that money away in a 401 K, savings, whatever. If you don't make the money, you can't save anything. If you are never able to get promoted into positions that pay a good salary then you are SOL. (for those unhip folks-that's Shit Out of Luck-real old school)I just chuckle to myself when people tell me their big retirement planes. A. and I will both be working until we are both quite old. That's the way it is, and it's of no fault of ours. We both have masters degrees. A. has 2. Does it matter? No.

I think that there are a lot of folks out there who really don't have any clue of what it is like to work-while black. Most people have heard of driving while black, well guess what, there's vacationing while black, shopping while black, choosing somewhere to live while black and working while black. These are things that I have to consider and have had to consider every single day of my life. As do most people of color. Unless you are rich because, oh yes, money is the great equalizer in so many cases.

I could go on and on about all of them, but for now I will focus on working while black. Yes, it's government-mandated that minorities are hired, but it is not government-mandated to promote people of color once they are on the job. Myself and so many persons of color I know are in this boat now or have been in this boat. It has nothing to do with work habits, efficiency or anything else. It has to do with these offices being minefields and no matter how mentally prepared or psychologically savvy one is, one can stil get blown to bits.

I can remember growing up I was taught that I would have to work twice as hard, twice as much as a non-person of color. I always knew that and still subscribe to that today, but I thought that working twice as hard would at least get you somewhere. I have found out time and time again it does not.

I could go on and on and on with this, but I just needed to rant. I'm tired of being a minority female, but there's not too much I can do about that except suck it up and keep on keepin' on.

Friday Round Up

Whenever we have our first cold morning (to me it's just perfect, but already people are complaining about it being cold) I always think back to when I was a teenager. For some reason whenever we had our first cold spell someone would always say-Jacks back or the hawk is out. Does anyone else have some similar weather-related saying?

One of the wonderful the Internet has done is opened the world up for people. Even though you will probably never meet these people, it is still interesting to read about what some people have done and are doing with their very interesting lives. The Vanilla Queen is one of these people. Here are some links for this amazing women and she is also looking for folks to donate working laptop computers to send to vanilla farmers in Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda. If anyone can help her email is rain@vanilla.com. I read about the Queen on the Smallfarms site.

If anyone is old enough to have seen some of the Blackplotation films you may have seen Tamara Dobson's portrayal of Cleopatra Jones. This 6'2''former fashion model was absolutely stunning. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 59 after suffering from multiple sclerosis for the past few years. Here is an image of her from Wikipedia.

I remember when I worked at the EPA Library we were always getting a lot of inquiries about Freedom of Information(FOIA)information. I knew that all federal agencies are required by law to disclose records to the public that are requested in writing. We referred people to the FOIA office and that was that, but I always found it fascinating that there is a Freedom of Information Act and that people do make use of it. Now people are also blogging about it. Scott Hodes, a FOIA attorney has a blog called The FOIA Blog.

This citation creator would have made my life so much easier when I was in school. All one needs for this one is an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

When I first saw this word I had to stare at first of all to try and figure out how in the world to even begin to pronounce it. Here goes-Uitvlugt. I'll give you a hint-it's Dutch. It's also where my sweetie was born and that's how I found out about this place.

I will admit I have been very, very good. Ordinarily by this time of year I would have chowed down a couple of pounds of Halloween candy. So far I have had very little. I was even in the drugstore today, and looked over and saw Snickers pumpkins and I didn't buy any-none at all. However, after perusing the Ultimate Guide to Halloween Candy of 2006 I may be forced to indulge.

The groundbreaking events for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial will take place on November 12-13. It appears that the actual groundbreaking will take place on the 13th. I may have to take a very long lunch and wander over to the events.

I probably spent a good hour on the National Atlas of the United States website. If you are like me and are endlessly fascinated by maps then this is the site for you. I'm not even going to tempt you by talking about some of the features. Take a gander and explore.

"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." Malcolm X (1925 - 1965), Malcolm X Speaks, 1965

Friday Round Up

Okay, one more Wikipedia list. Car-free places.

I was reading the excellent Boomer Chronicles blog and got the shock of my life. Donny Osmond is a grandfather. Yep-you read that right. The only magazine for grandparenst Grand has a feature on Donny and his thoughts on grandparenting. Thansk Boomer Chronicles.

I came across Gush magazine by accident and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at items like the celebrity weight scale, massive jean ball art and timestrips.

Sadly I have found that the little village where I reside has not been the site of any films or documetaries. Check out Movie Mappr to see if Hollywood has come to your town.

Bet you didn't know that Henry David Thoreau has a blog.

I have been endlessly fascinated with nuns and was pleasantly surprised to see that there are some blogging nuns in the blogosphere. Nunblog, Sr. Marianne Lorraine, Sr. Bernadette in Rome and Sr. Helen Prejean's Blog.

Trying to find a B&B to escape to for the weekend. Pillows and Pancakes should be able to help you with that. Love the name.

I am not even going to introduce this next link. Just go to the Generator Blog and get ready to have some fun.

Growing up in rural America I think I just took for granted being able to see tractors, hay wagons, balers, etc. Most of the kids had miniature versions of these farm mainstays and would spend hours pretending that they were working on their own farms even if their farm was only in the family room or in the back yard. I can picture spending hours in the National Farm Toy Museum. Tractor heaven.

It's National Medical Librarians Month and Canadian Library Month. If there are any medical librarians reading this yours truly would love a medical librarian job (WDC area)so please give me a shout if you know of any place that's hiring.

Have a wonderful weekend.

"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau

"The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way." Henry David Thoreau

Company Blogs

Yesterday I was reading NPR's blog Mixed Signals and I started to wonder what other companies have blogs.

I knew that Google, Yahoo, Starbucks and FedEx all have blogs. There's even a Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki.

However, I am more interested in small companies that have blogs. I started researching this and this is what I have found so far. (i am staying away from my usual alphabetical order. These are listed in the order in which I found them).

Timberlines Blog

Carolina Adirondack

Nathan's Restaurant

Green Cine Daily

Mothership Barbecue

Cakelove

Larabar

Residential Landscape Lighting

One Black Bird Pottery Company

Eli's Cheesecake Blog

Two Maids

The Bees Knees Diner Ware

Far Flung Crafts

The publisher Raincoast Books has a wonderful blog, but for the life of me I can't seem to link to it.

I know there's many that I have missed. If you know of any other blogs feel free to let me know.

"Most people in big companies are administered, not led. They are treated as personnel, not people." Robert Townsend,
Further Up the Organization

Friday Round Up

Why it's taken me so long to provide this link is beyond me, but here it is. I don't think I have to say anything more.

Wikis-Wikitravel, Muppet Wiki, Fluwicki,Cookbook Wiki, Sailwicki and Wookiepedia-a Star Wars wiki.

Fantasies-I have many. A fantasy that I have had for a very long time has me and Mon driving down the road in a candy-apple red convertible, great music wafting through the air-Nat singing Route 66, a little Brubeck, a little AWB from back in the day, and the Mother Road-Route 66. I have always had this thing for dirt roads, two-lane roads, the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. How cool would it be to own some property along this treasured-route?

And speaking of Route 66 these women have lived out my fantasy. Monica, you and I should have done this. Maybe in our retirement we can get that red convertible, put our old AWB and Barclays music on and make this trip.

The weather is cool and wonderful and it's the time of year when I love to explore cemeteries. And speaking of cemeteries who knew that Costco has caskets.

People have a lot of time on their hands and are very clever. None more so than the person who has this website. Oh yes, cats that look like Hitler. Now there's something I never thought I would be typing.

I came upon my admiration for Winston Churchill sort of in a roundabout way. I read a mystery where his mother Jennie Jerome was featured many years ago and that caused me to find out more about her famous son. The Library of Congress has an excellent exhibition about Winston Churchill.

A friend told me about Norma Valentines photographs on Flickr. That's all I am going to say.

Go here and set yourself free. Click your mouse to change colors.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."
John Muir (1838 - 1914)

Last Lists

Tomorrow is the beginning of Banned Books Week. Amnesty International also has a page devoted to Banned Books Week.


More lists.

Journey Woman is compiling of list of Great Antagonists of Children's Literature.

Jen Robinson has two lists going. 200 Cool Girls from Children's Literature and 175 Cool Boys from Children's Literature.

This list has nothing at all to do with books, but I think it's interesting-list of camouflage patterns.

“Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.” Alfred Whitney Griswold quotes (American Educator, 1906-1963)

Friday Round Up

It's Friday and I thought I would provide us with some cuteness. Check out the Tai Shan (Butterstick)gallery. And not to be left out tiger cubs Maharani, Melatii and Gunter also have a gallery. Ahhhh!!!!

Argh!!! How in the world did I miss talk like a pirate day on the 19th. I'm sure it was a fine day me missed, but, never fear me mateys there is always next year. Here are some pirate phrases to be keepin' ye entertained until next year.


The MacArthur Fellows list was announced and the magnificent David Macaulay was on this years list. Here is a gallery of this years fellows.

The Center for the Study of Political Graphics collects, preserves, and exhibits posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. Through its varied programs, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to inspire people to action. The CSPG also has a shop on their site where one can purchase some of these very cool posters.

There's a huge part of me that just refuses to accept that Kermit, Miss Piggy, Oscar, The Count and Statler and Waldorf aren't real. I had to give up my fantasy for just a split second when I saw this book in Borders the other day. . My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me about Life, Love and Laughing Out Loudby Kevin Clash.

Have a very nice weekend.

"Never eat more than you can lift." Miss Piggy

Stuff and List

This is my 150th post. It just doesn't seem like I could possibly have that much to say. This has been a lot of fun. I'm learning a lot and I've met some very nice folks through this blog.

Now that I have said some nice things I'm going to whine a bit. For the past week I have been having some blogger problems. Apparently I am not the only one. I have been attempting to edit different things on my template and after much trial and error, andtips from all and sundry on the forums most of what I have done has worked. All except the date on each entry. WHY IS the FONT SO FREAKIN' BIG. I have decreased the percentage-it looks great when I preview my blog, but when it's published, the date is in its giant font. I was told to change the percentage to pixels-same thing. Preview-I do my happy dance because it's a nice small font, but when I publish-giant font. If anyone has any other tips let me know. And remember-I am just learning a smidgen of html, so if you have to, dumb down for me please.

Now, here is the list. I said this was going to be list week, and I was having a wheeze-fest at home yesterday and I didn't feel like making lists-I know-that should give you a clue as to how badly I was feeling.

This is a list culled from the Wikipedia. This list is a list of lists contained in Wikipedia. (i wanted to see how many times I could say list).


List of ACLU cases

List of Admissions Tests

List of Amtrak Stations

Birdwatching-List of Journals and Magazines Relating to Birding and Ornithology

List of Bond Girls-I had forgotten Diana Rigg, excuse me Dame Diana Rigg was a Bond Girl

List of Cocktails

List of Cowboys and Cowgirls

List of Fictional Psychiatrists

List of Game Show Hosts

List of Isms

List of "M"Series Military Vehicles

List of River Name Etymologies

List of Swords (divided by country-very cool)

List of Timelines

I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop here.

"Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?"
Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

Meme

The Laundress has tagged with the Seven Songs I Am Into Right Now meme so here goes.

Gnarls Barkley-Crazy from the St. Elsewhere CD

Vivaldi-The Four Seasons (I was home dealing with asthma nonsense yesterday and I listened to this most of the day)

Miriam Makeba-what is left to say about Mama Africa

Celtic Woman-I can listen to Celtic/Irish music all day long

Renee Fleming-if I had half the voice that this amazing woman has I would feel that I had died and gone to heaven

Jock Jams-yes I know-I can't help it-I started exercising, which amounts to me dancing my heart out to this, and I love it.

K.T. Tunstall-Black Horse and the Cherry Tree-I heard her sing this on that A& E Arts program awhile ago and I was hooked. The imagery in this song is great.

Lila Downs-another incredible set of pipes

"If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die."-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

I just realized I have 8. Math never was my strong suit.

Pears

Making lists has always been something that I find very comforting and this week I could use some mental comforting so this is going to be the week of lists. These lists will by no means be comprehensive,but I will do my best.




Kingdom: Plantae; Division: Magnoliophyta; Class: Magnoliopsida; Order: Rosales; Family: Rosaceae; Subfamily: Maloideae; Genus: Pyrus

SPECIES
Afghan Pear
Algerian Pear
Almond-Leafed Pear
Austrian Pear
Callery Pear
Cacasian Pear
European Pear
Iberian Pear
Nashi Pear
Oleaster-Leaf Pear
Plymouth Pear
Sage-Leafed Pear
Siberian Pear
Snow Pear
Wild Pear
Willow-Leafed Pear
Ya Pear

Varieties: Alexander Lucas,Arriang, Atago, Autumn Sweet,Aylton Red, Bartlett, Belle Julie, Bergamote de la Pentecote, Beth, Beurre, Beurre Bosc, Buerre Diel ,Bosc, Callery,Chasseurs, Chujuro, Clapp Favourite, Comice, Concorde,Conference,D'Anjou, Conseiller a La Coeur, Dasui Li, Delicious,Doyenne Boussack, Doyenne d'Hiver ,Doyenne de Juillet, Durondeau,El Dorado, Flemish Beauty, Forelle,Glou Morcelle, Gorham, Green AnjouJargonelle,Hardy, Yosui, Josephine de Malines, Kaiser, Kam-Chun,Louise Bonne de Jersey,Kieffer, Merton Pride,Nouveau Poiteau,Packham, Olivier de Serres, Onward,Passé Crasanne. Red D'Anjou,Red Bartlett or Red William,Rocha, Saint Ghislain,Seckel, Shinko, Shin-Li, Shinseiki, Shinsui,Stark Crimson,Sweet-N-Sour, Thompsons, Warden,Williams Bon Chrétien and Winter Nelis Young San

Very cool that pears are members of the rose family.

I have never been much of a fruit lover, but I am getting a bit better. Right now I'm imagining sitting in the back yard on a night when there's some chill in the air, fire pit crackling, me sitting by the fire and sipping some nice pear wine. Mmmmm!!!!

"I had a little nut tree, nothing it would bear
But a silvery nutmeg and a golden pear;
The king of Spain's daughter came to visit me,
And all for the sake of my little nut tree.

Her dress was made of crimson,
Jet black was her hair,
She asked me for my nut tree
And my golden pear.
I said, "So fair a princess
Never did I see,
I'll give you all the fruit
From my little nut tree." Nursery Rhyme

Bibliographies

I think I have finished my "Mouse" bibliography. It's 79 pages long and contains children's books that have a mouse, mice or rat as the protaganist. I know there are titles that I have missed, and some I excluded-like all of the Mickey Mouse titles on purpose. I don't know why I didn't include Mickey, I like Mickey and his wife Minnie. Did they ever get hitched? I had a huge meltdown when I got to books about Mickey and I just didn't include them. I will more than likely go back and include them, because I want to stop feeling guilt about it and I also want to be as thorough and accurate as I can. And if you are old enought to remember you may recognize those two cuties above-that's Pixie and Dixie of course.

I think anyone that compiles a bibliography has that nagging feeling, that doubt, that SOMETHING IS MISSING.

I have now decided to start compiling another bibliography again on children's literature, but the subject is jazz. The impetus for this is Wynton Marsalis' book on jazz Jazz ABZ and also the book Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers. I'm not so sure Ms. Cruz was a jazz singer, but she sure was amazing.

If anyone can think of any titles please let me know.

"I don't like the sound of all those lists he's making - it's like taking too many notes at school; you feel you've achieved something when you haven't." Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle, 1948

Friday Round Up

Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania-beautiful little corner of Southwestern, PA. Filled with rural beauty and a host of critters. Wild turkeys, rabbits, possums, deer, pheasants and skunks all call this bucolic place home. I don't recall ever actually seeing that many skunks, but every once in awhile you would catch the aroma of one, or one of the poor things would get themselves squashed on the road. These skunks were the black and white variety. Speaking of that someone should write a children's book on all of the black and white animals-skunks, orcas, magpies, zebras....Anywho-back to skunks. I didn't know that there were other varieties of skunks until I visited the Skunk Haven website. Any and everything one could possibly know about skunks is on this site. Scroll down to the Skunk Colors link (it's PDF)and see the variety.

Any event that I have attended for the last couple of years has had a plethora of cupcakes. They have been all of the rage. And why not. There are hundreds of recipes, thousands of different types of icing or frosting and loads of ways to decorate cupcakes. Plus they are perfect for kids parties. What might have proved tricky is transporting these babies. Not anymore. Meet the cupcake courier.
Here's Linens N Things version.

Some very cool and helpful knitter has created a Random Stripe generator.

I'm a sugar addict all the way, but every once in awhile I get a hankering for potato chips. My favorite from when I was a kid was Wise Barbecued Potato Chips. The couple times a year I "need" to nourish my salt craving I usually end up with Pringles or whatever I can find in the drugstore. The Chippie might assist me in broadening my salty horizons.

If you are in the market for ribbons, buttons, any sort of bric-a-brac then visit the Tinsel Trading Company website and if you are lucky enough to be in New York City give them a visit. There story is just as charming as their website and I'm sure their store.

Belly timber, hissian and betokens aren't words you hear very often. Twould though it should be. After perusing the list of words on the How to Speak 19th Century site I was surprised and pleased to see how many words are still used in every day language.

I sometimes wonder where I have been to have missed certain things in life. Even though I do relish in these discoveries, those moments when it seems like the universe is really a great place and is even focusing on you for a millisecond. That is how I felt when I discovered these Enid Collins purses. I love folk art, more so than any other type of art. These purses just blew me away. There are quite a few on eBay, most out of my price range. Here are some that have been lovingly placed on Flickr.

And speaking of things I have never heard of vist Dirty Laundry's wonderful blog and see her post and image of the Silkie Chicken. Who knew????

If you have small children or if you are just a children's literature nut like I am you must, must read Alphaoops!: The Day Z went First by Alethea Kontis. I have a thing about alphabet books anyway and this one is just adorable and very clever.

Have a wonderful weekend. (I'm so excited it's finally getting to be my type of weather-YIPEEE!!!!)

"Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?" Stephen Wright

Friday Round Up

This round up is mostly devoted to library information.

I came across two very interesting articles about libraries and librarians. The first article was in The Nation entitled Librarians at the Gates. Author Joseph Huff-Hannon speaks out about the courage of librarians. Excellent article about what some librarians go through to ensure our rights and freedoms as citizens of the United States.

The other article is about public libraries and librarians. It's been a long time since I worked at a public library. I go to my neighborhood public library all of the time and I see how the library is being used as a babysitter,etc. And this is a mid-size suburban library. Public libraries are being asked to provide a multitude of services and their budgets are always decreased. Drafted: I Want You to Deliver E-Government is on the Library Journal website.

Speaking of public libraries, the Waterboro, Maine Public Library blog (h20boro lib blog)has links to recommended fall books.

The August 30, 2006 entry of the h20boro lib blog contains links to sites that feature series books. I hadn't thought about these childrens series books in years. Not until I started compiling a bibliography of aviation-related childrens books for work. I used some of the links covered for my bibliography. Take a trip down memory lane or perhaps find some series books that you have never heard of like I did like the Girl Aviator books by Margaret Burnham.

I said that this entry was going to be devoted to books and libraries, but with the primaries coming up next week I would feel remiss if I didn't urge people to vote-maybe not urge-just a bit of a nudge. It is so important and in these times I feel that it is crucial. Here are some interesting films to see before you vote.

Have a good weekend.

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." George Jean Nathan editor and drama critic

"No right is more precious in a free coutnry than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws... [because] other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right ot vote is undermined." Justice Hugo L. Black, Feb 17, 1964

WARNING: Liberal Talk

Yes, I am a liberal. The bleeding heart kind. When I started this blog I thought that I would keep my political views out of it, but I also like sharing information. I read quite a few excellent liberal blogs and I thought I would "get the word out" and list a few here.

Lefty Blogs lists all of the latest postings on more than 2,000 progressive blogs.

Americablog

Booman Tribune

Cathie from Canada

Crooks and Liars

Daily Kos

Hullabaloo

The Left Coaster

Talking Points Memo


"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people~their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties~someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our politics abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say I'm a LIberal." John F. Kennedy

Friday Round-Up

I was at Montgomery Mall last weekend and noticed they had one of the Wi-Fi zone signs. I've been seeing these all over the place. I knew it wouldn't be long before someone mapped all of these zones out for us. Check here and here.

I had heard of the Seed Savers Exchange and now the Norwegians are promoting their Arctic Seed Vault. Kudos to both groups for their work.

In honor of Ben Franklin's tercentenary, Vivisimo, Inc., has created a Ben Franklin portal. Use the portal to locate any and everything about this interesting man.

Has your teenager sent you an email or a text message and you had problems deciphering all of the emoticons and other jargon. Have no fear. Transl8t is here.

If you have some time to waste, I mean spend, and would like to see your name or any word spelled out in images check out Image Speller.

My love for Government Documents has transported me to some interesting websites, and while spending some time on GPO Access I found the Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects. For example, I performed a simple search on the word aviation. Here is the result.

Time magazine has come out with its annual 50 coolest websites list. See if your site made the list.

Have a nice weekend.

"The charm, one might say the genius of memory, is that it is choosy, chancy, and temperamental: it rejects the edifying cathedral and indelibly photographs the small boy outside, chewing a hunk of melon in the dust." - Elizabeth Bowen

Friday Round-Up

This Caress Tahitian Renewal Body Wash is summer in a bottle. It's at least what summer should be-warm ocean breezes, beautiful sandy beaches and that wonderful smell of coconut and warmth.


I'm sure by now everyone has visited Zillow.com. It was loads of fun typing in my address, my parents address and spying on a few other addresses. I find this site enthralling and terrifying at the same time. One problem I found is that when citing the number of bathrooms my home has and my parents home they were off. They have 1.5 for my home and we have 3. Otherwise I found most of what I found to be spot on. The Zillowers also have a blog.

For those fans of Rick Steves , and I count myself as one he also has joined the blogosphere.

Oconomowoc, Ashwaubenon, Potawatomi, and Chequamegon. I guess you are asking yourself why has she listed these interesting names and what are they. Well, they are all cities and Native American Tribes located in Wisconsin. The problem is how in the world do you say these words. Miss Pronouncer to the rescue. I was doing fairly well until I got to Chequamegon. Geez!!!

Okay, this is just too much fun. Go to Song Tapper and use your space bar to tap in the rhythm of the song's melody. I keep trying to stump it, but I haven't yet.

Sad goodby'es to Susan Butcher. I always have mixed feelings about the dog race-I adore dogs, love anything to do with Alaska, but I still don't know if it's such a good thing to drive those dogs so hard for the Iditarod. Anyway you have to admire Susan Butcher for her achievements. She passed away at the age of 52 on August 8, 2006. She was suffering from acute myelogenous leukemia and was awaiting a bone marrow transplant once her cancer went into remission. More on Susan Buthcher here.

Barns are something that I have always loved. Mail Pouch tobacco barns (there was one in my rural hood in Pennsylvania), barns with mansard roofs, bank barns and round barns-I love them all. I have never seen or ever heard of cantilevered barns until I came across an image of one in my web wanderings. Apparently these barns are prevalent in Tennesee and there's a move on to preserve these remarkable structures. More on the cantilevered barns here. Another image. And another.

Many, many, many librarians, technicians, library school students and catalogers have blogs. The Anecdotal Archivist, is the first blog that I have seen by an archivist. If anyone knows of any other archivist bloggers let me know.

I feel like I am the last to have heard of Andreas Viestad. I ended up watching his program New Scandinavian Cooking last Sunday. I was beguiled. I just found him to be so refreshing. I am getting very tired of some of the folks on the Food Network (Rachael Ray for one-she's like fly doo-everywhere and is she really that good-I just don't see it). Apparently New Scandinavian Cooking has two chefs Andreas and Tina Nordstrom. If you can find this program take a look.

Have a great weekend.


"Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see it could be a scent - perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches the autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any time...it can all be taken away."
The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester.
Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook. Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone.

For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -Anon., from a story "The Teacher" (A Powerful Lesson)

Librarian News

Dr. Mayme Clayton has at long last found a home for "the largest collection on the West Coast of African American works in literature, music, and movies as well as photographs, manuscripts, and memorabilia."

Dr. Clayton spent 40 years while working as a librarian at USC and UCLA libraries collecting and her collection has finally found a home. The Mayme A. Clayton Library in Culver City, California (part of Los Angeles) will be a research based library and cultural center. This dream has come to fruition aided by three generations of Claytons, including Avery who is the Executive Director of Western States Black Research and Educational Center (WSBREC), which maintains the Mayme A. Clayton Collection of African Americana as well as the cross-university cooperation of Pepperdine, UCLA and USC. USC will work on digitizing the collection.

Dr. Clayton has collected some astounding items including the first published book to be authored by an African American writer, Poems on Various Subjects, Religous and Moral by Phillis Wheatley. Ms. Wheatley wrote this book in 1773 and the largest black film collection in the world. Learn more about Dr. Clayton here and here.


Sad goodbyes to Fred Kilgour. Fred Kilgour was a pioneer in the field of library databases and the "father" of OCLC-originally the Ohio College Learning Center, now Online Computer Learning Center. Mr. Kilgour passed away on July 31, 2006. He was 92.

"Most people don't realize how important librarians are. I ran across a book recently which suggested that the peace and prosperity of a culture was solely related to how many librarians it contained. Possibly a slight overstatement. But a culture that doesn't value its librarians doesn't value ideas and without ideas, well, where are we?" Neil Gaiman
(The Sandman. Line spoken by Lucien, Librarian of the Dreaming.
Submitted by Trey Bunn.)

Friday Round Up

I'm BACK!!!!

Well, Archie McPhee has done it again. Look at this cool action figure.

Michael Wolf is an amazing photographer and he has come up with an ingenious project. One Hundred Slices of Life is photographs of a public housing estate in Hong Kong that has 100 rooms that are 100 square feet. Mr. Wolf has photographed each room and its occupant. I found some of this a bit heart-breaking, but it's such an eye-opener. I have always had a problem with folks and their conspicuous consumption, their McMansions, Hummers, etc. Seeing how these people are living is very humbling indeed.

Are you a pet lover? If you are you might want to set your radio dial to Dog-Cat Radio.

There are people that recycle and there are people who use recyclables to create beautiful items. Holly Anne Mitchell is one of these people. Look at her beautiful and unique jewelry. I will never look at barcodes the same again.

I was thrilled (and a bit apprehensive) to learn that my favorite childhood book The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is being made into a movie.

Sunshine Farm and Gardens is having a name that hellebore contest. Just fill out the very convenient form, create a name for that particular hellebore and if your name is chosen they will send you a free 4 inch pot of that plant. Fun.

I have always been interested and yes, fascinated by groups of people who choose to live differently than the majority. Shakers, Hutterites, communers, etc., have always held a lot of interest for me. Learning about the Amish and Mennonites has always been a huge interest of mine. I was surprised and charmed to find this tutorial on the internet.

Does your little girl fancy herself the next Janis Joplin? Does she even know who Janis Joplin was? Anywho-if she does want to be a rock and roller you might want to send her to Rock & Roll Camp. Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in particular.

Have a great, hopefully cooler weekend.

"O for a lodge in a garden of cucumbers! O for an iceberg or two at control! O for a vale that at midday the dew cumbers! O for a pleasure trip up to the pole!" Rossiter Johnson
Source: Ninety-Nine in the Shade

Taking A Break

Fig Newtons and Scotch will be taking a break for the rest of July. See everyone in August.

I leave you with two poems of summer from two of my favorite poets.

A Summer's Night
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The night is dewy as a maiden's mouth,
The skies are bright as are a maiden's eyes,
Soft as a maiden's breath, the wind that flies
Up from the perfumed bosom of the South.

Like sentinels, the pines stand in the park;
And hither hastening like rakes that roam,
With lamps to light their wayward footsteps home,
The fire-flies come stagg'ring down the dark


Summer Night, Riverside
by Sara Teasdale

In the wild, soft summer darkness
How many and many a night we two together
Sat in the park and watched the Hudson
Wearing her lights like golden spangles
Glinting on black satin.
The rail along the curving pathway
Was low in a happy place to let us cross,
And down the hill a tree that dripped with bloom
Sheltered us,
While your kisses and the flowers,
Falling, falling,
Tangled my hair. . . .


The frail white stars moved slowly over the sky.


And now, far off
In the fragrant darkness
The tree is tremulous again with bloom,
For June comes back.

To-night what girl
Dreamily before her mirror shakes from her hair
This year's blossoms, clinging in its coils?

Friday Round Up

Trying to find something creative to put on my walls has been a lot of fun and I have found quite a few ideas. Since I have been collecting quotes since I was in high school wonderful graffiti is perfect. I would like to go crazy with this and have something in every room. Our steps are carpeted, but I always thought it would be great to have something on the back of each step (that's called something-not the riser that's the vertical portion-Hmmm). For now I have an idea for something for my kitchen using wonderful graffiti.

During my youth I attended quite a few protest rallies for this and that, but now I am more of a send an email, a letter-virtual protesting. During my wanderings I came across Protest.net and the old placard carrying juices started flowing-GIVE TO THE NEEDY, NOT TO THE GREEDY.

Interesting article in the National Archives and Record Administration's (NARA) magazine Prologue on reclaiming artifacts and papers of John F. Kennedy's years in the White House.

Love these notecards.

And yet another cool Flickr group.

And this is via Yahoo picks-a list of problems solved by the fictional character MacGyver. I love that people do things like this.

Have a great weekend.

"I just got a new white dog. Spitz? No, but he dribbles a lot." Steve Allen

Muffins

I attended a children's tea this weekend and I ended up making the following recipe. I made it into mini-muffins and they were a big hit. Not just with the kids.

SNICKERS AND PEANUT BUTTER MUFFINS

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
3 1/2 full size (2.07 ounces) Snickers bars,
chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder,
and salt. Add the melted buter and egg to the
milk, and then stir this gently into the bowl.
Mix in the Snickers pieces and dollop into the
muffin cups/pan.

Cook for 20-25 minutes, when the tops should be
risenm, golden and firm to the touch. Let the
pan rest on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before
taking out of the pan. If you aren't making
mini-muffins you should get 12 muffins. I got
24 mini-muffins out of this recipe.
The only tips I have are the same tips I have for everything I bake: room temperature ingredients, I used organic flour and peanut butter and I make my own baking powder. I generally check before I take food to different places to see if anyone is vegan, vegetarian, nut allergies, etc. I also have been known to put out my food with a listing of what ingredients I use. As someone who has had extreme allergic reactions to different foods and has seen horrible reactions from people who are allergic to nuts and ended up eating something that they didn't know contained nuts, I would rather be safe than sorry. Also, I am just a bid noid.

I was thinking of trying this recipe with some organic candy bar and substituting the sugar with Splenda and the milk with soy milk. I might have to try that.

Have a great day and if you celebrate the 4th-Have a good one.

"The bagel, an unsweetened doughnut with rigor mortis." ~Beatrice & Ira Freeman

"The woman just ahead of you at the supermarket checkout has all the delectable groceries you didn't even know they carried." ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Friday Round Up

I could have definitely used this Library Grants blog when I was in library school.

You are doing time at the Reference Desk, I mean, you are sitting at the Reference Desk and you receive an inquiry about movie scripts. Someone desperately needs to know where a script for Desk Set is located. Voila!!! The Motion Picture Scripts Database to the rescue. And by the way, Desk Set scripts can be found at the following institutions: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California(USC)and the Writers Guild Foundation.

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls. If you are a doll collector you might want to add these to your collection: RuPaul and the Marie Antoinette Action Figure.

So you are getting tired of wearing your Aunt Iphigenia's old brooches on your lapels and you are looking for something, Oh, I don't know something scientific perhaps. How about a solid, lead-free pewter microscope. Lapel Pin Planet has microscope lapel pins and many more.

A. and I have been looking at different bird feeders and bird houses and trying to decided what we want to put in the back yard. I would love, love, love to have one of Lynn Peer's birdhouses. Plus, he's from my neck of the woods.

I think all of us young and not so young have a favorite Sesame Street character. If you are having some problems remembering any of these wonderful creations visit the Sesame Street Encyclopedia. I actually love them all, but I am particuarly partial to the Count.

Have a great weekend. If you are in the Washington, DC area remember the Smithsonian Folklife Festival starts today.(6/30/2006).

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain

Friday Round Up

It's so good to see that both NPR and National Geographic now have blogs. Check out the entry on National Geographic's blog about Chinatown buses. Fascinating.

Have you seen the Google Shakespeare Database or the Google Alphabet?

Every morning before I do anything else I make sure I go to the Hunger Site and click for charity. Now there's an entire search engine where users can perform searches and the money that is generated goes to charity. What's really fun about this is that the user can pick their favorite charity. Goodsearch is a Yahoo-powered search engine. The user can help fund any of a thousand different charities. This week I have been performing my searches for Doctors Without Borders. Next week-who knows? The possiblities are endless.

I have found another periodic table.

Bad teeth, malaria, dysentery, smallpox, quinsy and pneumonia looks like a portion of the list you either check off yes or no to when you go to the doctors. In this case it's a list of maladies that George Washington, you know the country's daddy, had. Look out some of the other maladies the presidents had/have.

I came upon the blog Damn Interesting and I must say it is "Damn Interesting". While I was persuing the blog I came across this "damn interesting" story about the Glacier Girl and the Lost Squadron, which led me to this.

Have a nice weekend.

"Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge—broad, deep knowledge—is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man’s progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life." - Helen Keller

Friday Round Up

Before I get to the round up I just have to say I fear for the citizens of this country. With the latest shenanigans of that kangaroo court we call a Supreme Court I don't know where this country is headed. Frightening!!

I just found this to be highly un"ewe"sual.

I was glad to see that my neck of the woods (Pittsburgh) at least got an honorable mention in the Top 15 Skylines of the World.

I just thought this was the coolest item. Out of my price range, but still very nice. (via Design Within Reach)


I have always been a sucker for timelines. Check out this elevator timeline.

The Aria Database allows the user to search for, you guessed it, arias.

The Literature Map allows you to type an author's name and a conceptual map containing more author's names that people who read your search term author also read (confusing-to use no; me explaining it-yes.

Much to some of my friends' chagrin I love Renaissance music, Celtic music, etc. Someone had a very good idea with these Renaissance Festival podcasts.

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

"Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people, by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison