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)