Up In The Air Junior Birdmen - Girl Scout Camp

After many decades, I still have fond memories looking back on my scout camp experience. I was probably 10 or 11—at that vulnerable age just shy of the terrible teenage years.

I went to camp two years in a row and the first year was, by far, the best. Although, the 2nd year taught me much more about life and relationships.

The first year, four of us friends who grew up together, went to school together and played sports together, resided for two weeks in a three-sided Gypsy Camp cabin. While there was some mild bickering amongst our quartet, we remained fiercely loyal to each other and pretty much stuck together. As I remember, we came in 2nd in the end-of-camp talent contest performing a skit to the tune of Junior Birdmen.

This is the way I remember it:

Up in the air Junior Birdmen
Up in the air upside down
Up in the air Junior Birdmen
Keep your noses off the ground

When you hear the doorbell ringing
And you have your badge of tin
Then you know, Junior Birdmen
That you sent your box tops in.

(If you have another version, please post it!)

The 2nd year wasn't quite as much fun. We graduated to the next level; a full-size cabin with 8 scouts, one of which was the daughter of the head counselor. "Lynn" (not her real name - I'm afraid she'll find me and beat me up, again) was a real, uh...snot. It was either done her way or she ran to her mother to squeal on how mean we were being to her. Like the four of us who grew up together, "Lynn" had 3 life-long friends in the cabin with her. Only difference was, they couldn't stand her either.

As stressful as that was, I learned some valuable lessons:

1) Those in charge are not always kind to the masses.
2) Life is not always fair.
3) I'm never going to be able to get along with everyone.
4) I can rise above injustice and have fun in spite of disagreeable people.

So, to all you Junior Birdmen out there..."Keep your noses off the ground!"

I have no idea what that means, but it seems like a good way to end this blog post.

I'm the author of the 'Tween time-travel series, Cynthia's Attic.

Download the series on Kindle today!

Mary Cunningham Books
Amazon
Kindle
Fictionwise
Quake/Echelon Press

Daily Thoughts 6/30/2010

Cover of the pulp magazine Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror (October 1932) featuring "The Hunters from Beyond" by Clark Ashton Smith.

Daily Thoughts 6/30/2010

I recommended Swann Galleries as an auction house for rare books. They have an excellent reputation. http://www.swanngalleries.com/index.cgi

Stores See Google as Ally In Ebook Market. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/business/30books.html?scp=1&sq=google%20e-books&st=cse

Today has been an interesting day. There are budget problems where I am and I waiting to see what will finally happen. It is not pleasant. I am trying to maintain my focus today.

I am starting to come to terms with it and think of next steps along the way. It is a matter of deep and abiding patience.

NEW BOOK COVER!

My publisher just sent me a copy of the book cover for my upcoming tween novel, Back to Bailey's Chase. It is the sequel to The Secret of Bailey's Chase. In case you haven't read it, it's about the adventures of two pre-teen cousins with super powers. Sparky and Grey Bailey live in Bailey's Chase, a town named for their great-great-great grandmother. It is her special gifts the girls have inherited, but they didn't realize it until tragedy brings them together.

The girls love to play detective and solve crimes and having magic at their disposal certainly helps. In the new book, the girls are a year older and their powers have grown with them. Now they find they have the ability to travel into other dimensions.

By the way, one of the main characters is a boy, Newt, a boy genius/scientist. He doesn't have special powers, but he goes along on their adventures with them.

Hopefully, the book will be available soon in paperback or an an E-Book. Kindle anyone?

You may visit me at http://www.marlisday.com/ or check out my blog at http://wwwmarlisday.blogspot.com/

or order my books at http://www.quakeme.com/

Daily Thoughts 6/29/2010

The New Novel, Winslow Homer, 1877 Museum of Fine arts, Springfield, Mass

Daily Thoughts 6/29/2010

We spent some time talking with a gentleman from GO2 media design about redesigning our website. They have designed a number of other library websites. http://www.go2mediadesign.com/taxonomy/term/49

I spent some time reading Jason Shhhh! an almost silent comic with a variety of slice of life scenes. They are curious with black and white line art. It is hard to describe the exact nature of the art. I rather like it. This is a link to an article about it. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Jason-Almost-Silent-100129.html

Two new books came in for to read, Deank Koontz's Frankenstein lost souls and Fitzpatrick's War by Theodore Judson.

Today has been fairly quiet. It was a chance to look at the displays and put some orders together as well as get ready for some meetings on telephone customer service, a staff meeting, and a meeting on using electronic ordering for our library this week.

I also had a chance to read some more Harry Mintzberg's Managing. I am reading a bit about the concept in leadership of moving away from I to we. The point is to be more team oriented and speak and identify as part of a community. This is difficult in some ways. He uses the word communityship which is a concept which I'm trying to get my mind around.

In Between Condom Sizes

discrete (EACC): "An end prelude" domiciled

To all first he comes to an end. A prelude order and, to date, unclear and mysterious, which has earned me my adventure by "discrete domiciled." Never before had I felt so immersed in a project as usual, and so I wanted to thank all our readers for having made this, because without them we would not have been possible to build this exhibition under a common language.

cultural practices have evolved over these weeks, no doubt, have succumbed for the purposes of relocation and continuing diversity based on the artist's nationality as well as all of our intrepid participants. We have taken over the time and space, we have learned to do ours, to enjoy and appreciate it. But mainly we have fun, I must admit I've enjoyed every issue we have shared with you through this unique and particular cultural space called notebooks. I have faced a projected realities, dreams and thoughts reflected floating, to finally reach the center of this exhibition. I tried to tell from all sides and viewpoints as possible, and at the same time, guide a través de un recorrido fascinante lleno de intrigas y preguntas sin respuestas o respuestas sin preguntas. Hemos denunciado el abuso de la velocidad generalizada en nuestra sociedad, nos hemos enfrentado a un nuevo concepto de práctica artística que interactúa con su ciudad, que invita a reflexionar, a retroceder, a ralentizar, a denunciar, a participar y hasta a jugar en un ámbito de multiculturalidad.

La creación de “Avecindamiento discretos” nos ha brindado la oportunidad de viajar a través de “los no lugares” y de “espacios liberados”. Se han abierto todas las fronteras de proteccionismo y de reagrupamiento, negándose a la clasificación and rewarding the participation and dialogue between citizens and their city.

Undoubtedly, the EACC has surprised us again with a project that builds a social network, not just a display of products, no participation in that there is no voice. Therefore it is not only to accept or reject the proposal, but to live it, experience it and share it. "Avecindados discrete" sets its own rules, ie not stipulate any, is released into the audience of potential biases and commitment to a joint collaboration between our protagonists. We navigated through a maze of infinite innate ideas which emerges in each of the cohabitants. The ambiguity of this project as significant and, while bizarre and delusional, questioning the here and now, and socio-cultural patterns dictated by globalization. So we are invited to awaken our most primal instincts and feelings that are rooted, to internalize and deliver us from our social and political burden, in order to advance along the path of aesthetic experience. They tell us what to think, or how we act, what to do or ask, do not provide solutions but plant and raise doubts. So our artists pave the way for dialogue and action inherent in one of the neighbors.

From here, I take leave, without delay, of these five artists: Antonio Ortega, Bernard Bazile, Denicolai & Provoost, Cesare Pietroiusti and Jordi Vidal its mediator, capable of creating an atmosphere transgressive and revolutionary urban space.

Selinho - presente da Cin

Recebi esse selinho da queridíssima Cin, do Casa Suess, um blog incrível, cheio de idéias legais! Não conhece? Corre lá pra ver o que você está perdendo!

Sobre o selo:

O Prêmio Dardos é um reconhecimento dos valores que cada blogueiro emprega ao transmitir valores culturais, éticos, literários, pessoais, etc... que em suma, demonstram sua criatividade através do pensamento vivo que está e permanece intacto entre suas letras, e suas palavras. Esses selos foram criados com a intenção de promover a confraternização entre os blogueiros, uma forma de demonstrar o carinho e reconhecimento por um trabalho que agregue valor à Web.

Regrinhas:

- Exibir a imagem do Selo no Blog
- Exibir o link do blog que você recebeu a indicação

- Escolher 10, 15 ou 30 blogs para dar a indicação e avisá-los.

E o selo vai para: (que rufem os tambores!)

1 - Priscila, do Um lar, simplesmente um lar...
2 - Vanessa Biali
3 - Paty, a Dona Amélia
4 - Ly Mello, do Design My Life
5 - Renata, do Rerossini
6 - Carmem Rubim
7 - Sônia Facion, do Nana's Patch
8 - Cinthya, do Fala Mãe!
9 - Ju, do Decore Ju
10 - Elisângela, do Cantinho da Eli

Beijos!

Die blaue Brücke

Daily Thoughts 6/28/2010

cover scan of Old Sleuth Library, no.40, from the collection of Larry Latham

Daily Thoughts 6/28/2010

I took some time to read Iron West by Doug TenNapel. It is a graphic novel set in the old west. The style of the story is very tongue in cheek. The drawing is a bit different. Doug TenNapel uses a very loose style with very wide brush strokes. I liked the storyline far better than the art. It is very cartoonish. The drawings contain a lot of humor.

It is cowboys versus robots. The robots are replacing people. It is rather silly to look at robots with sixguns. There is also a sasquatch and an old native american medicine man. This makes for a kind of mixed up story. It is very much a mish mash. It seems to be drawn more for the action and humor than a coherent storyline.

There is a fight between the loch ness monster and a giant robot made from an old west train. Ultimately, it does pull together in the end, but not before a lot of silliness. If you want to relax and read something for lighthearted humor and action, this graphic novel would fit the bill.

There is a map of the pattern of library closings here. It shows a steady increase in library closings between 2008 and 2010 http://www.losinglibraries.org/

Today was the opening day for Summer Reading, June 28, 2010. We sat in the lobby next to the gallery and handed out flyers to sign up for the teen summer reading program and the adult summer reading program. We also signed people up online on a laptop. We are planning on having a raffle at the end of the summer for people who sign up and read books or listen to audiobooks. I also handed out flyers for events associated with the summer reading program.

It was a pleasant thing to do. We answered peoples questions and had cookies for people to snack on. I think I handed out a little over 45 signup sheets for adults and signed up a few more people online as well. The childrens signup was downstairs.

This is It

Não, este não é um post sobre Michael. Pelo menos não da forma como você pode estar pensando...
Ontem, assistindo ao especial exibido pela Globo o que mais me chamou a atenção não foi o desempenho, o talento, nem a comoção pela morte do astro. Dormi sem ver todo o documentário, mas pensando nas sensações que ele me despertou.
1) Como somos insignificantes. Tudo bem, você escuta isso a cada desastre, mas...
2) O que é que escutamos todos os dias que precisamos fazer para sermos uma pessoa saudável? Se manter magro e ser praticante de exercício físico. O cara era magro, praticava exercícios e tinha ótimo condicionamento aeróbico. Do contrário não teria conseguido ensaiar por 10 horas seguidas meses a fio cantando e dançando daquela forma.
3) Por mais que a gente pense que sabe sobre a vida de uma pessoa, não sabemos nada. Era comentado o vício dele em analgésicos e a dificuldade para dormir. Mas alguém poderia imaginar que ele precisasse de uma anestesia geral?
4) A gente sonha, planeja, trabalha, se esforça e... não tem nenhuma garantia! Michael morreu uma semana antes da sua tão sonhada volta aos palcos!

This is it.

Beijos

SOMETHING AWFULLY BIG ABOUT YOU TOO.

Daily Thoughts 6/27/2010

Profile of Adam Smith authors of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Etching created by Cadell and Davies (1811), John Horsburgh (1828) or R.C. Bell (1872). The original depiction of smith was created in 1787 By James Tassie in the form of an enamel paste medallion. Smith did not usually sit for his portrait, so a considerable number of engravings and busts of Smith were made not from observation but from the same enamel medallion produced by Tassie, an artist who could convince Smith to sit.

Daily Thoughts 6/27/2010

I have started reading Henry Mintzberg, Managing. Harry Mintzberg is a professor of management studies at McGill University in Montreal in Canada. This makes the book have a different perspective. The author writes about Canadian, British, French, and Dutch companies which gives a more international perspective to his writing. He also talks about the Harvard Business Review. This comes across as more international in flavor.

His focus is on practice, not just theory. The focus of the program he teaches at is practice. He covers the day to day activities of what happens inside organizations in private corporations, publicly traded corporations, government, and nonprofit sector. There is a focus on tracking what actually happens in the day to day activities from line managers all the way up to chief executives.

I took a brief break from reading and watched a bit of James Cameron's Avatar which is quite interesting. I am enjoying the film so far.

If you have time, and are in the United States, Tuesday is Library Advocacy Day, call or write your senator or congressperson about libraries. http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/student-member-blog/take-five-minutes-make-difference-libraries

A Portrait of Amy

I think I am getting back to normal now with a new computer, no 'flu and school holidays.

The school holidays are nearly two months this year because of the World Cup (though why the two are connected, I don't know!), so I'm not teaching and there are no art groups.

I have, however, taken advantage of all the workshops that our society organises during the Winter months, and last Tuesday did an oil portrait workshop with one of our top portrait artists, Lesley Charnock.  For the first time I worked with just 3 colours and white - it was a revelation and something I realise I should have done 3 years ago when I first started painting.

Amy was a superb model and I think I caught her likeness quite nicely.  So here she is - in ultramarine, cad red, cad yellow and a bit of titanium white!

The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half: The Strategic Shopping Method Proven to Slash Food and Drugstore Costs- Stephanie Nelson

The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half: The Strategic Shopping Method Proven to Slash Food and Drugstore Costs by Stephanie Nelson

This book exists to sell a website http://www.couponmom.com/ . The website collects personal information then gives out online coupons. It is a trade off. I saved about $7 from the online printable coupons when I went shopping this week.

It also reminded me to check the grocery circular at my supermarket and my local drugstore while I was there. Money is tight so I tried it. I saved some more money at Walgreens on a few items like toilet paper and hand soap. Another $3.

While I was at the produce store, I got a few things which were cheaper at the produce store than the supermarket; yogurt, hummus, vegetables and fruit are cheaper at the local produce store than the supermarket. The reason it is this way is they don't spend as much on advertising and other things. The Coupon Mom book reminds you to comparison shop. There was probably a difference of another $10.

While I was at the supermarket, I bought a case of diet coke. It is cheaper than buying it from the vending machine at work. This probably saved me another $5 this week. The book reminds you to eat at home more. I have been packing a lunch starting last week. This probably saves me another $10 for the week.

I had a few coupons left over which I will keep in a folder for when I will need them.

There is nothing brilliant or new in this book other than the online printable coupons. I went shopping on Saturday so I did not get a chance to look at the coupons in the Sunday paper. This might have saved me a little bit more money. I saved $35 this week. I won't say it is half of my grocery bill, but I am just starting. It could add up to a decent amount of money over time. This is a solid guide on how to comparison shop and use coupons. There is a lot of hype in it, but it also has some good advice.

The real question is how much money is your time worth. It takes a little bit of effort to do this.

The book is easy to read. It has an index, basic charts, and lots of testimonials from people who have used her website. The testimonials are not that believable. There are also numerous shopping tips which are much more useful than the testimonials. For example, it is cheaper to buy spices and bulk dry goods from the produce store most of the time than the grocery store.

Stephanie Nelson has appeared on Oprah, CNN, and the Today Show. She comes across as practical and personable. There is something satisfying and practical about an Assistant Professor of Classics at Boston University writing about coupons.

Daily Thoughts 6/26/2010

17th century bronze lectern, Notre-Dame-la-Grande church, Poitiers, June 2008, Danielclauzier, own work, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, Found on Wikimedia.

Daily Thoughts 6/26/2010

I finished reading Much Fall of Blood by Dave Freer, Mercedes Lackey, and Eric Flint. The Heirs of Alexandria series started with The Shadow of the Lion a fantasy set in a magical Venice. It was followed by This Rough Magic which was set in the Isle of Corfu. There was a standalone book by Dave Freer called A Mankind Witch that was set in Iceland. This book was quite entertaining because of Dave Freer's sense of humor. Much Fall of Blood could be considered the third book in the series, or the fourth book in the setting.

I have very much enjoyed reading this alternate history/fantasy. The magic is done well, so are the villains and heros. They are mashups of figures from history that are given magical powers; Countess Bartholdy, Duke Vlad of Valahia, Prince Manfred, Bortai from the Hawk Clan of the Mongols, Jagiellon Grand Duke of Lithuania, and others.

The settings are Aquitaine (a magical France), The Holy Roman Empire (think christianity with contact with angels and the forces of light and darkness), The League of Armagh (a kind of mystical Celtic state), the Territories of the Knights of the Holy Trinity (think of the knights Templar), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland (controlled by the dark forces of Chernobog), and the Kingdom of Hungary (influenced by the wicked Countess Bartholdy). There are also cities in Italy, Milan, Venice, and Rome. With Much Fall of Blood, we get introduced to Prince Vlad, Duke of Valahia, grandson of the dragon, as well as characters from the mongol hordes. The setting is fantastic.

The breaking point in the series, The Heirs of Alexandria, with actual history is the survival of Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria creating a very different world filled with magic.

Music to Get You In...The Mood

Usually, I'm either writing in a notebook between patients, or dropping into my desk chair at night after a long day at work. Either way, I can't just flip a switch in my brain to put it into writing mode. Usually it only takes reading the last page or so of what I've written, but sometimes my mind is just a little too buzzy, and won't settle down.

In those cases, I have a backup plan. For most books I write, I make a soundtrack of songs that specifically remind me of the emotional climate of the book. I found out I wasn't the only one it worked on when I shared the soundtrack of a work in progress with a friend, who was pregnant at the time. The soundtrack, which was full of breakup and "goodbye, I still love you," types of songs, left my friend, in her vulnerable hormonal state, crying for 45 minutes afterward. Oops.

Other days, I sit down to write with no distractions but the ones I end up creating. That's when I love using soundtrack music. There are actually albums exclusively made up of driving, emotionally exciting soundtrack music, the best of the best, and I can tell you, this stuff is pretty much perfect for any project you're working on. Kerry Muzzey and Corner Stone Cues are some of the best of these, in my opinion.

Well, now you know all my secrets--make sure to check out the soundtrack music, you won't be sorry!

Jacquelyn Sylvan is the author of Surviving Serendipity, a YA fantasy containing absolutely NO damsels in distress. Click the link to buy on Amazon!

Daily Thoughts 6/25/2010

English writer Neil Gaiman. Photograph taken at the 2007 Scream Awards. Source is Neil Gaiman. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 from Wikimedia.

Daily Thoughts 6/24/2010

Neil Gaiman on closing libraries being a terrible mistake. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7852404/Neil-Gaiman-says-closing-libraries-would-be-a-terrible-mistake.html He is a wonderful author and has done a lot to support libraries and intellectual freedom. My favorite of his books is Neverwhere and my favorite of his graphic novels is Stardust. The Graveyard Book is also an excellent read.

Ebooks Libraries at the Tipping is $20 for early bird registration it is on September 29 http://ebook-summit.com/ Hopefully, I should be able to attend this. It should be very interesting.

Today has been quiet. I spent some time updating the displays and looking at items that need to be processed to be added.

I also read some more of Much Fall of Blood by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. I am enjoying the mix of history, fantasy, and magic.

Meu presente chegou!

Olá meninas!
Eu quase não acreditei quando recebi a notícia, bem no dia do meu aniversário, de que tinha ganho a promoção feita pela BlogArte em parceria com a Provence Home & Banho! Gente, eu nunca ganhei nada, nada mesmo! Sabe aquele tipo que compra 29 bilhetes de uma rifa com 30 e o sorteado é justamente aquele 1? Sou eu!
Não! Era eu! Agora isso mudou!
Fato é que ganhei e ontem recebi esse maravilhoso difusor de ambiente com cheirinho de maracujá. E quem disse que tive coragem de deixar em casa? Veio comigo pro trabalho!
Marido chegou agora a pouco e falou: "Que cheiro diferente é esse?" E eu: "Meu presente." "Muito bom!" Pra homem prestar atenção já viu, tem que fazer diferença mesmo!

Aqui ele na embalagem:


E eu feliz da vida!

(foto muito mal tirada pelo filho mais novo, mas foi o que deu pra arranjar...)

Morreu de inveja? Vai lá na loja virtual da Provence Home Banho e compra o seu.
Eliane e Andrea, mais uma vez, muito obrigada! AMEI!

Beijos

Daily Thoughts 6/24/2010

Heyman Dullaert. A trompe l'oeil with plumes in an ink bottle, a letter, a seal stamp, a delft pot and a bottle, arranged upon a wooden shelf. Oil on Panel

Daily Thoughts 6/24/2010

The Westchester Library System where I work is facing cuts. This is an article on the cuts.
http://chappaqua.patch.com/articles/librarians-to-albany-stop-shelving-our-funds-3

I am looking at a graphic novel called Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush. It is beautiful in its style. The story is about a man who writes graffiti about the lives of people in a small Mexican town. The artist Christopher Cardinale is a muralist. His website has some very interesting artwork. http://www.christophercardinale.com/ The story and artwork are wonderful to look at. The writer, Luis Alberto Urrea has written many novels including Into The Beautiful North and a pulitzer prize finalist for The Devil's Highway. His writing is very entertaining and relevant. http://www.luisurrea.com/home.php

I wrote a flyer for The Summer Reading Events that are coming up at our library this morning. Mostly, I have been planning things like meetings. Tomorrow I am calling Poets House to see if they can help us with working on poetry at our library. http://www.poetshouse.org/

I am checking out Henry Mintzberg, Managing as the next book I will read. It is a book of theory. It looks quite interesting. He focuses on management in practice and is critical of a purely numbers oriented approach.

Daily Thoughts 6/23/2010

Reading In The Forest, Oil On Canvas, 1880, Paris, Public Domain, Wikimedia, Eva Gonzales

Daily Thoughts 6/23/2010

I have been reading more of Coupon Mom's and looking at the website. There is a little bit of money to be saved, not a huge amount for the effort involved. The online coupons are kind of interesting. I don't buy most of this stuff.

This book is proving to be about much more than coupons. She describes the advantages and disadvantages of shopping at big box stores, supermarkets, discount stores, health food stores, wholesale clubs, and bare bones stores. I liked some of her ideas.

She reminds us that it is not good to buy giant packages of junk food from wholesalers, this leads to overconsumption and an unhealthy lifestyle. She also tells us that it is cheaper to buy fresh herbs and bulk food products like nuts from produce stores and healthfood stores than supermarkets. Stephanie Nelson follows the maxim that we must watch what we put into the refrigerator to make sure we are buying what we need, 15%-40% of food in refrigerators goes to waste in the United States.

The author tells us that it is cheaper to eat vegetarian on occassion. Vegetables, rice, and beans are cheaper than meats or cheeses. I am about half way through the book and am enjoying reading it. I have sent ten online coupons to my email inbox for things which I purchase regularly.

There is something different about writing about practical books. Most reviewers will not describe their experience using practical books; books on homeownership, power tools, carpentry, plumbing, personal finance, and other practical subjects are often not reviewed enough. Maybe, there isn't enough intellectual cachet in it.

Today has been quite busy. I have been working on a few things. The new display advertising for the playaways came in. We now have new bookmarks, signage, and posters for our playaways section and will soon have new packaging for the playaways. I also printed the Chick Lit bookmark today.

We are almost ready for the Adult Summer Reading in July and August http://www.summerreadingnys.org/. We just put together a banner for adult summer reading and I am working on creating a flyer for the events associated with the summer reading program. We have two author events in July, two brown bag book talks, and a literary tea planned so far.

One of my colleagues suggested a graphic novel, Rabbi Harvey vs. the Wisdom Kid, A Graphic Novel of Dueling Jewish Folktales In the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin. It came out in March 2010. Another book came in for me, Much Fall of Blood by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. I especially like the writing of Dave Freer. I put in a request for a weird western graphic novel, Iron West by Doug TenNapel which I saw from this list http://www.morevikings.com/recs-and-rants/weird-west-reading-list/

On another thought, acccess to our library catalog will soon be available as an Iphone App http://www.sirsidynix.com/iphone/apps/bookmyne/

I finished reading The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills In Half by Stephanie Nelson. It has an old fashioned thriftiness to it. The author tells us she uses baking soda, vinegar, borax, and rubbing alcohol for her cleaning needs. She also makes a recommendation that you should grow your own vegetables, even using the term "victory garden". It has a homespun feel to it in parts even though it is very much touting coupons from major brands.

I started reading Much Fall of Blood by Mercedes Lackey, Dave Freer, and Eric Flint. Each author has numerous fantasy novels to their name and a decent following of readers. They somehow mesh well writing this novel. This is the third novel in a series. The first two are The Shadow of the Lion and This Rough Magic. It is set in a medieval Europe filled with magic both black and white. The characters are drawn from historical figures like Madame Bathory, Prince Manfred, and Prince Vlad Duke of Valahia. It starts nicely, moving between Venice, the Carpathians, and the tents of the Golden horde.

REFLECTIONS IN THE MUZZY MEADOW

 It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

 

POTPOURRI OF OLD PHOTOS (reboots from archive)

ENJOY!

This week we are comparing 2 different versions of a story. The story we have chosen is The Pied Piper. 3C have been getting into role to better understand the story and the characters. Here is a snippet of what they've performed:





Mr. Cusack

Daily Thoughts 6/22/2010

Design on Page 123 of The Library by Andrew Lang, c1881

Daily Thoughts 6/22/2010

This morning I read some more of Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron on the train to work. The characters are quite interesting. There is plenty of tension in the story because the author includes bits on sexism, racism, and homophobia. She writes about peoples prejudices and fears and has some quite interesting conversations between characters. It may make some people uncomfortable, but it has a direct feeling to it missing from many other novels.

I put The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half by Stephanie Nelson on hold. I don't usually cut coupons, but I've noticed that food prices are rising and I think I might need to start doing this. It came in this afternoon for me to read with another book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. The Last Lecture is a lecture by a college professor from Carnegie Mellon who was dying of terminal cancer. It was a bestseller.

There is a new teen novel which looks like quite interesting called Go Mutants! by Larry Doyle. Universal pictures has already bought the film rights. It is a mix of teen angst and aliens and monsters from 1950s B Movies. It sounds very good.

Today has been a day to schedule and arrange for programs. We are working on a Brown Bag Lunch book talk series that will be tied in with the Adult Summer Reading Program.

The shifting in the storage area is moving along very smoothly. Tomorrow, I think I'll ask to have the Chick Lit bookmarks printed.

I finished reading Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron. I enjoyed reading it a lot. I am not going to review it. It feels strange thinking about reviewing something that you have to read for a class. I also logged into the Readers Advisory 101 class for the first time. It is being presented by the RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) division of the American Library Association.

I have started The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills In Half. It seems like a lot of hype. I have managed to find four online coupons so far to print. There are a few strategies in it to reduce grocery bills. This is the kind of book where the results you get from reading the book are what matters. It is a practical book. The only way to know whether it works is to try out what Stephanie Nelson practices.

I also donated $5 to keep the Ning Book Blogs network going. They need $500 in total to keep the network going for the year. I find it quite useful. They are using the Paypal donations system.

CALPIX

Altamont Pass 1938. Long before we were puzzled by the nature of HIS game.

Daily Thoughts 6/21/2010

Lesestunde, Pastell-Gemälde von Carsten Eggers, 80 x 110, 1988, Own Work, Eigenes Werk, Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.5, Found on Wikimedia

Daily Thoughts 6/21/2010

Lerner Publishing sent four books to my library as a prize from Book Expo America, Draw In The Dark by Ilsa J. Bick, Traitor by Gudrun Pausewang, I-1I by Steve Brezenoff, and The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston. These are all young adult titles.

Today was a very busy day. The shifting in the storage area is moving along nicely. We also have to work on the Adult Summer Reading Program. The Evance website is moving along nicely. There are several events that are associated with adult summer reading including some author readings, two brown bag book discussions, and a literary tea for the finale. We are going to be signing up people via our website soon. The Friends of the Library will be helping us with putting together the literary tea for adults.

We also have to work on creating a display for summer reading. I have a few ideas for bookmarks, a brochure, some signage, and a flyer. It is a lot to plan on.

We put up a new sign for the foreign language books and I finished creating a bookmark for Chick Lit.

On the way home, I read some more of Margaret Maron Bootlegger's Daughter. The main character, Deborah Knott's father sold bootleg whiskey and went to jail then was pardoned. The novel has a lot of politics in it. Deborah Knott is running for Judge while she is finding out a mystery. There is a lot of southern culture in the novel which is set in North Carolina. I like it.

Rebecca Brothers sent a comment recently about her charity to help people in Nashville, Tennessee get books. There was serious flooding in Nashville. It got into many of the schools. Rebecca is an english teacher. Her charity is A Dry Read: New Books For Nashville.

I remember her at the Book Bloggers Convention. She was very pleasant and mannerly. She made little individual lemon cakes with yellow bow ties for her charity and left them as a dessert for lunch with a card. Information about her charity can be found at http://www.rebeccabrothers.com/

E que venha Portugal!

O primeiro jogo do Brasil não me empolgou. Tanto que nem toquei no assunto da Copa... Apesar de torcedora incondicional, assisti a um jogo tão decepcionante que tive medo. A Coréia do Norte, o adversário mais fraco, desconsiderado no grupo conseguiu impor dificuldades ao Brasil. A seleção não se acertava, errava passes, e o homem do gol não marcava nada.
Veio a Costa do Marfim. Temidos, respeitados. Considerada a melhor seleção da África, com vários jogadores atuando na Europa. E o nosso futebol apareceu! Apareceu a arte, a ginga, a vontade de jogar bola, de vencer. E surgiram os gols: de direita, de esquerda, de braço...

E a Costa do Marfim mostrou que sua maior habilidade não é o futebol, mas a luta livre. Usaram da força, da maldade, da falta de respeito.

Provocaram até que Kaká perdeu a cabeça e foi expulso.

Atitude de um juiz que não soube controlar o jogo. Que foi omisso em muitos momentos e tentou se impor à força no final. Um francês, que atuou tão bem na partida quanto a seleção de seu país na Copa.

Mas não são só os brasileiros a pensar assim! Garanto que Maradona deve ter gritado: Ah, deixa pra expulsar o Kaká quando o Brasil for jogar com a Argentina! E deixa a "Mão de Deus" só pra mim!!!

É Maradona, é duro ser o segundo...