Round Up

Look who showed up last week. The forsythia has bloomed.

Look at this back of the envelope design contest for Dubya's library. Here's another article about the contest.

Ninja words-a really fast dictionary

In July of 1942 American magazines displayed the American flag on their covers. Explore the online collection of the various covers.

Last month the Polaroid Corporation announced that they will no longer produce instant film. This site is about saving instant film; not necessarily about the Polaroid Corporation.

Look at all these cute pails at the bucket outlet. Can't you just see the kidlets loading these up with sand at the beach and creating all sorts of things. They also carry holiday themed pails and prints.

It took me years to find an eyelash curler that I liked. And I do mean years. I have a heated eyelash curler that I am very fond of, but my favorite, the one I use everyday is my Shu Uemura eyelash curler. Shu Uemura passed away in December at the age of 79. I wanted to give him a mention because I have gone on and on about him for years to my friends who are all cosmetic hounds like me.

And the winner for the archives that has the best total web experience is-(drumroll please) The National Archive of the United Kingdom. Here is some of what they have on their fabulous site: podcasts, a wiki, rss feeds, online exhibitions, a virtual tour, resources for archivists and social bookmarking links. The website ArchivesNext had people leave comments about their favorite archive. Honorable mention for the best web experience went to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Archives Division, Ulster County Clerk, Ulster County, New York. And for all of the other archives with a web presence-Get with It.

I am thrilled to say the the Whole Foods in Silver Spring, Maryland is no longer providing plastic bags for their customers. I was in their Saturday morning and was just thrilled to see that. Now the rest of the stores need to jump on the bandwagon.

I was watching BBC news the other night and they have a reporter who is reporting from Midway Island. Midway Island is famous for lots of reasons, but my interest lies with the island being the home of the Laysan Albatross.

It sickened me to see all of the plastic that washes up on the island. The report indicated that every albatross on the island has ingested some plastic. Here's a diary kept by a BBC correspondent that spent time on Midway.

Do you live in a Sundown town? Sundown towns are/were towns where once the sun went downs ethnic minorities had to leave. Let's put it this way-we were allowed to come in a clean homes, dig the ditches, etc., but we certainly couldn't live there and couldn't be there after dark if we knew what was good for us.

James W. Loewen author of Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of Racism , also has a very extensive website.
You can also search the Sundown Town database to see if you are living in a Sundown Town. What's great about this is that you can leave comments about the different towns.

Keep track of book events and your favorite bookstores at Library Thing Local.

The Civil War Preservation Trust has a map with the most endangered battlefields. The National Coalition for History has links to the pdf report History Under Siege: A Guide to America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields

What a great idea. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is using a blog to share their findings while processing the Chew Family Papers.

Remember while reading the following quote that today is April 1, 2008.

"This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." - Mark Twain