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