Round Up

Listen, I understand that people are basically nasty. With their suspect hygiene and barely legal proclivities human beings are a decidedly smarmy bunch. With that being said what is with this cleaning ear with keys. I was on the subway yesterday and watched a man do this. This wasn't the first time I saw such a display on the train. What is that about??? First of all, do that sort of thing at home, and use a wash cloth or a q-tip. Gross, just gross I say!!

Omniglot-guide to world writing systems and languages. And a very nice index. (love indices)

Poetryvlog-a poetry video blog. Very cool.

Dial-a-Poem ((215) 746-POEM(7636). If memory serves there used to be quite a few dial-a-poem lines, but this is the only active one that I could locate. If anyone knows of any others please feel free to leave a comment.

Wonderful interview with Dame P.D. James, one of my favorite mystery authors.

There's a book entitled 100 Essential Lincoln Books, by Michael Burkhimer.

Someone beat me to this blog idea. I am always looking to see what people are reading. I might not look at their faces, but if they have a book or a dog, I'm bound to notice both of those. Seen Reading is a blog about just that. The blogger writes entries about what she observes people reading.

I am not really a newspaper person. Books and magazines, yes. Newspapers-not so much. That being said there are a couple of newspapers that I like, the New York Times and LA Times are my favorites. After that the Valley Independent (local newspaper from where I was birthed and grew up), the old Grit newspaper-not the newer version so much, and this very unique Amish newspaper called The Budget (if you link to this make sure you have your ears on). Oh my, it looks like The Budget now has an online prescence-it's just not the same.

Anyway, I got so distracted. Back to my point. Even though I am not a newspaper person, and I am not a huge fan of the Washington Post, I was still ticked off when I read that they are killing off Book World. The last issue of Book World will be in the February 15th edition of the newspaper.

Use this handy Library Use Calculator to see what you would be paying for all of the services your library provides.

ABE Books has a blog-Reading Copy.

Nice article on the Barilla's (the pasta maker) Cookery Library.

The Vatican has a You Tube channel. So does the Smithsonian, Queen Rania, Wilford Brimley-Liberty Medical, The White House, Mitzi Gaynor, Queen of England, Stanford University, American Council on Exercise, BBC Worldwide, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and U.K. Parliament.

What a great idea for a book. There's nothing like hearing a child's take on the world to put things in perspective. All proceeds from the book are going to 826 National. You can hear some of the kids read their entries on This American Life. I have a feeling I'm going to be getting teary-eyed again.

Neil Gaiman's book The Graveyard Book won the 2009 Newbery Medal. Oh how I wish the ALA would do something about their site. Here is some more information on the book.

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

I thought the following quote was appropriate for me considering how I get carried away with exclamation points!!

"Cut out all of the exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes." F. Scott Fitzgerald

Round Up

R.I.P. Andrew Wyeth, Donald Westlake and John Mortimer.

Inaugural speeches

And for cocky Chief Justice Roberts-how about some cue cards next time-Good Grief man!!!

Elizabeth Alexander's inaugural poem is going to be published in a chapbook by Graywolf Press.

Two interesting blogs: Salt News and White Readers Meet Black Authors.

The word on my Forgotten English word-a-day calendar is brum. Brum means without money.

Can you belt out the National Anthem? I used to be able to, but as everything does ,my voice has also changed. I use to be 2nd soprano, sometimes 1st. Now I'm probably an alto. If you have the pipes to belt it out you should enter the National Museum of American History's National Anthem Singing Contest.

1000 Novels everyone must read. Even though I rhave always been a prolific reader, I bet I haven't read a good portion of what is listed. DRAT!!! While I am in the confessional mood, I also don't like Twitter. There I've said it.

Who Writes Wikipedia Anyway?

10 best (library) stories of 2008.

By now we all know that Shepard Fairey is the artist behind these iconic posters of Barack Obama (before he was President). Well, now Mr. Fairey is helping the pups.

Love the Candy Dish Blog, the blog of the National Confectioner's Association.

Pig candy-You have to see this to believe it.

Snore and Roar-a sleepover at the National Zoo. What a great idea, and what fun for kids (0f all ages)

Piddix: high quality, royalty free pages.

I love Wynken de Worde, a blog about books and many other items. Wynkyn de Worde was also a printer and publisher who worked with William Caxton.

The wonderful Utne has a blog. I subscribed to Utne when it first came out in 1984, and I was a subscriber for years. Oh, how I wished I had saved all of the issues. Now, I pick it up occasionally when I am standing in the Whole Foods checkout line and the magazine seems to call out to me, " L., you know you've always loved me, buy me, read me, don't leave me here in the store."

Scientific Commons wants to provide the most comprehensive, free access, scientific information on the Internet.

Have a good weekend.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show." ~Andrew Wyeth

Round Up

No matter how many times I see this, it still cracks me up!!!

Oh goody! NPR's Science friday has a blog.

Michael Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture.

Cute things falling asleep.

Washington, DC is crazy, crazy with excitement. I had to laugh yesterday as I was taking my commuter bus home. The bus goes down Constitution Avenue and I look over to the right and there is the White House, and I look over to the left and there is the Washington Monument. There's temporary fencing everywhere, and literally hundreds of port-a-potties. It just cracked us up on the bus. We were all commenting on the potties, when lo and behold, here comes a truck with more of them.

See how artists, writers and other folks organize their daily lives at Daily Routine.

It's official! U.S. News and World Report finds that being a librarian is one of the best careers for 2009.

Lovely photographs at Daily Dose of Imagery.

Obama mania has hit Etsy.

FORA.tv-videos covering todays top social, political and world stories.

2009 is the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Elizabeth Ann Seton (I'm partial, my alma mater Seton Hill College-now Seton Hill University) is named for her, and Edgar Allan Poe.

2009 is also the International Year of Astronomy.

Europeana provides acces to millions of digitized items from European libraries, museums, archives and various other institutions. (it's still a bit clunky, but give it time).

The Tomorrow Museum is a collection of images and speculative essays exploring how technology, science, and economics are affecting the fine arts.

I just started reading A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink. Daniel Pink was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. He is a contributing editor to Wired, has written articles for various magazines. He also has a very cool blog.

Yum-homemade Girl Scout cookie recipes. Samoas, Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Tagalongs. Listen, I was a Girl Scout for years and sold and ate many a cookie. You can still make these healthier versions, and then contribute some cash to the Scouts.

I think these Houndsley and Catina books are so cute. Houndsley is a dog (of course), and you can guess what Catina is (a cat). I love these two characters created by James Howe (you know, Bunnicula's dad).

If you aren't reading The Elegant Variation literary blog you should be.

Dr. Johnson's Dictionary is a word-a-day collection of Samuel Johnson' s word definitions.

So next Tuesday (1/20/09) is the day. I hope that those of you that can't make it to WDC will watch television and see history being made.

"I've always felt like an American, but I finally feel like I can put my suitcase down." Whoopi Goldberg

Round Up

Happy New Year everyone!

The magazine The Nation's blog The Beat has an excellent entry entitled the Most Valuable Progressives of 2008. Great reading.

I've been reading about recycling different products of late, and it reminded me of when I worked at the EPA HQ Library over ten years ago, and we were trying to find someplace that recycled the plastic rings that hold a six-pack of canned soda, beer, yogurt, etc. together. At that time there was only one place that would take them and our whole office would save them and send them to this place in big boxes. Now I see there is a Ring Leader Recycling Program. This seems to be just for schools, but I am going to contact them and see if individuals can send them rings. Not, you know, one at a time. Who wants to be nickeled and dimed like that? Perhaps an individual could save them for awhile and then send them to them.

I hate those damn things. They end up harming wildlife, and that is a huge no no in my book. We tend to not buy items that have the rings, but whenever I see them on the ground, I pick them up and cut them into as many small pieces as I can and then throw them away.

Here is the information if you are interested in recycling Tyvek envelopes.

Delta Airlines has a blog.

Haper Collins imprint, Fourth Estate, has created the most wonderful video to celebrate its 25th anniversary. You may want to view it a couple of times to catch all of the covers. Make sure you have your volume on so you can hear the trippy music too.

I'm always trying to find the correct pronunciation of things, especially people's names. Just in case you were wondering how to pronounce author Joseph Finder's last name-it rhymes with hinder not binder. Also, I don't know how accurate this is, there isn't any attribution on the site, but here is how to pronounce NewfoundLAND.

The 2008 Falsies Awards.

Check out this toast messenger.

I'm a few days late, but look at this list of objects dropped on New Years Eve.

Interesting collection of government documents at government attic.

Big listing of the 2009 Commemorative stamps.

Is your city listed in America's Most Literate Cities? If not, maybe next year.

A list of the top 90 (yes, 90) design blogs.

Wonderful talk by inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander about the very literate President-elect.

Sorry for the reason, but glad to see that more people are using libraries.

I'm sure everyone has had enough sweets and other goodies, but I thought this snowperson was just too cute. Nice to make them for a kids party with a limited amount of guests.

Have a good first week of 2009.

"A grapefruit is a lemon that had a chance and took advantage of it." Oscar Wilde