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