Roasted Marshmallow

Roasted Marshmallow has moved!

2011-09-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

The time has come for Roasted Marshmallow to be taken off the campfire.

I started a new blog: http://ginerbia.wordpress.com

All the posts from this blog have been transferred to the new blog and I'm in the process of cleaning up the tags and categories - this should keep me busy for quite a while.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Bed Bugs book trailer

2011-09-08T11:10:00.002-05:00

It seems like such a great apartment... until

They're all over the place!

Bed Bugs by Ben H. Winters is a great read - if you dare.

Bed Bugs by Ben H. Winters

2011-09-05T10:35:00.000-05:00

Susan, her husband, Alex, and their daughter, Emma, move into their dream home. Susan believes that this perfect house will be the inspiration she needs to pursue her artistic aspirations. Feeling slightly guilty that she gets to stay home while her husband has to work outside of the house everyday, she begins to get paranoid.
Does her husband blame her for having to work so hard?
Is he having an affair?
Do they have bedbugs?
Bedbugs become an obsession for Susan as her thoughts become more unstable and delusional. Everyone tries to convince Susan that the bedbugs aren't real and that she is just imagining them. Susan knows better; she knows these are not ordinary bedbugs and she knows what she must do to break their curse, even if it means murder.
Bedbugs is a horrific, suspenseful tale of mind-bending awesomeness. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes spine-tingling, white-knuckle reads.

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

How I make and use QR codes

2011-06-13T12:32:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I described what QR codes are and how we're using them for the library, but I didn't explain the process of how I made them in the first place.

After I saw my first QR code and realized what it was, my brain started working overtime, planning how I was going to use them to promote the library. They are so versatile in the information that they can contain, the only limitation really is your imagination. At first I was hesitant to start using them thinking that they can only be used for people with smartphones and we have a lot of patrons who don't yet have them. But then I thought, a lot of our patrons do have smartphones and why not take advantage of the technology and reach out to that audience. We're not leaving anyone behind since we're still printing out posters and newsletters, we're just creating more options for people who do have the technology. It's the same principal behind our entire digital branch; not everyone has a facebook or twitter account, but they are there for people who do.

Convinced that QR codes were worth looking into and to start using, I did quite a bit of research on them first. I followed various Linked-in conversations about them, read blog posts, etc. until I was confident I knew exactly what they were and had a few ideas on what to do with them once I started making them. Of course part of my research was to download a number of code readers to my Droid to experiment with the QR codes that are already out there. There are lots of highly rated scanners out there but the one I found that works best for me is i-nigma. This scanner seems to have the quickest response and it tells you what the link is before you actually go there. Some scanners will automatically send you without letting you know where you're going. i-nigma also works on my iPad2 so I'm sure it would work on other iDevices that have cameras.

When it came time to start creating QR codes, again, I did some research to find out what kinds of generators are out there and to find out what the best practices are. I came up with the following:

The QR code generator I use is: Kaywa for no other reason than it works, and it was one of the highly recommended ones. Again, there are tons to choose from so use whichever works best for you.

I also learned that when you use a url shortener, such as bit.ly, that your codes are less dense and are easier for your smart phone to pick up. Bit.ly also allows you to track the usage of your links, which is great for when you have to make that ROI presentation to your supervisor.

I save all the QR codes I create just in case I have a need for the same link again. For instance, the code that's on the Clues and Brews poster just takes you to the landing page where the events are listed so when the event changes, the link will not making the code reusable.

There is a lot of potential in the use of QR codes, we've just started with the basics but I hope to use them for more things in the near future.

What are QR codes?

2011-06-10T16:53:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that we have started putting these strange square black and white thingies on some of our posters and other printed materials. They are called QR codes, or sometimes 2D codes. These codes are filled with digital information and are scannable with a smart phone. Once scanned, the smart phone will show you what's in that digital information; it could be a web site, a phone number, a photo, a video, etc.
In order for your smart phone to scan these codes, you'll need to download a code scanner app. There are many to choose from for all brands of smart phones and even iPads and iPods (with cameras) and most are free. After you get your app downloaded, all you need to do is activate the app and then point your device's camera at the code and your phone will do the rest.
These codes give us the opportunity to link more information to a poster than previously allowed. For instance, I created posters for our upcoming fundraisers (Clues and Brews and the Ice Cream Social) and included a QR code that would take them to a webpage that described the event in a little more detail and also had a link for online registration.
Another example: our May newsletter featured a story that had a lot of photos. In the interest of space, we couldn't put all the photos into the printed newsletter so I added them all to a blog post. Then I created a QR code that would show that blog post to people who scanned in the code.
Yet another example: I put this QR code on the back of my business card.
For those of you who do not have a smart phone to scan it, this code goes to the Sqworrel page that contains all the links to our library's digital branch.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Random Riggs

2011-06-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best books I've ever read! Ransom Rigg's descriptive writing style was exceptionally well done. I will be coming back to this one again very soon. The first time I read it, I just gulped it down all at once because it was so thrilling. Next time, I will take my time and savor it like it deserves.
The pictures that the story was based on were so bizarre, I knew the story had to be good. I wasn't disappointed at all. Even though the photos were the inspiration to the story, I thought the writing was solid enough that the photos weren't even necessary, but they did make a great addition.
Two thumbs way up for this one! I highly recommend it!

The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair

2011-06-02T09:24:00.001-05:00

It was a privilege to read an advance copy of The Girl in the Garden and to meet the author, Kamala Nair, in person. Working in the Communications division of the library does have its perks. I met with Kamala in order to take some photos and to do some video interviews to help promote her debut novel which will be available on June 15th. She's going to be at Barnes & Noble - Apache Mall on Friday, June 17th and at the Rochester Public Library on Thursday, July 28th. Watch the library's YouTube channel for the series of interviews that will be posted throughout the month.
The first chapter of The Girl in the Garden pulled me right in; a mystery was afoot and I needed to know what it was all about. Rakhee, the main character, has decided that she cannot get married until she settles some issues from her past. The rest of the book is the explanation to her fiance of why she needs to go back to India... Eleven-year-old Rakhee accompanies her mother to spend a summer in India with her mother's family. Throughout the summer Rakhee realizes that the family has a lot of secrets to unravel and mysteries to solve. When the summer ends, things don't work out the way Rakhee planned or hoped they would and she goes back to America, burying the secrets once again. These secrets are what she has to uncover once and for all before she feels she can, in good conscience, move on with her life.
Kamala's descriptive writing style gives the reader a full sense of the colors, smells, and sounds of India; it makes me want to visit so I can experience it for myself. It was a good, plot-twisting read.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

2011-05-17T09:05:00.002-05:00

I absolutely loved this book. The story revolves around a cathedral, who built it, where it was built, how it was built and the joys and frustrations felt by all the characters in the story. The characters are brilliantly developed, humble monks, power driven bishops, simple builders, greedy lords, clever women, etc. It was filled with political intrigue, revengeful plots, and secret loves. Really, an amazing book! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an epic historical fiction novel.

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

2011-05-05T16:58:00.000-05:00

I've never read a Civil-War book from this point of view before. It was very interesting. Mary Sutter, a midwife from upstate New York, wanted so much to be a surgeon but there wasn't a medical school or doctor that would take her seriously. When the Civil War started, she followed her brother and brother-in-law to war. They went to Virginia to build a fort, she went to Washington to provide medical help. Medicine at this time wasn't very far advanced, they didn't know enough to wash their hands between patients and women were not known to be doctors or even nurses at this point. Mary struggles to find her place in the medical field and in the process sacrificing so much of herself.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was very well written and moved easily in time and place between the characters. I'm anxious to see what Robin Oliveira comes out with next.

Every little bit counts!

2011-04-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

The sweetest thing just happened!

Someone knocked on the office door (I was alone in the office so the door was locked - a girl can't be too careful!). I went to open the door and saw an elderly gentleman standing there. I apologized for having the door locked to him; he just waved my apology aside and smiled. He said he had a "rather unique" donation to make to the library. With a big grin on his face he handed me a plastic grocery bag with something fairly heavy inside. I looked inside and saw a jar of pennies. His eyes lit up when I pulled the jar out of the bag.

"Oh how nice!" I exclaimed. I asked for his name, he only gave me his first "Curt, just Curt." When I asked him if there was a story or anything behind the jar of pennies, he just shook his head and said, "No, no story. Just a donation to the library." Then he walked out of the office.

I don't know anything about that gentleman, whether he's wealthy or poor, and frankly, it doesn't matter. He took the time and energy to bring that jar of pennies to the library and proudly handed it over. That jar of pennies made me realize that every little bit helps and it means so much more when it's given happily. Thank you Mr. Curt! Your donation means a lot.

iPads are just really cool!

2011-04-28T15:38:00.001-05:00

I went to this iPad seminar this afternoon and am totally flabbergasted by how powerful it really is. Yeah, I knew you could use it to read books, play Angry Birds, take notes, watch netflix, keep your calendars, listen to music, watch YouTube, etc... I learned a lot in this seminar but am trying to figure out what would be best to take back to my work peeps. I'm supposed to present what I learned.

It was mostly about using iPads in education. How colleges and schools are using it in their classrooms now and how they believe this is going to change the way kids learn. Instead of forbidding the devices in the classroom, give them one and allow them to use it. A totally new concept. The speaker, Keith Mountin, had a graph that showed 52% of the kids who had iPads in class were actually using them to take notes. That was higher than the percent of kids who were playing games. (We were supposed to laugh here.)

The main point I think the library would be interested in was the accessibility features. Keith showed us how a college kid who was deaf used his iPad to communicate with people. There are apps that can translate spoken words into text and even an app for sign language. There are swipe features you can use to zoom in on the screen for people who are visual impaired. It really reminded me of our Adaptive Workstation except instead of it being so desktoppy huge, it was all in the iPad. I wonder how much difference in cost they are?

I can definitely see some great potential of using the iPad in the library setting. They can be used for research (there was an app that featured interactive textbooks, historical timelines, maps, art, etc), periodicals (there are apps that aggregate news feeds from various news sites), the adaptive workstation as I mentioned above, they could even be used for our computer classes (there were presentation apps that you could be roving around the room and use the iPad to show your presentation instead of being locked behind the laptop). I know we mentioned the prospect of having roving librarians. Armed with an iPad, this would be totally possible. They wouldn't have to go to the nearest computer to look something up, or they wouldn't have to carry around a heavy laptop.

Marketing could also be done by using the iPad using social media. It's now easier than ever to take a quick photo (with the iPad2) and post it on facebook right away. No more running back to the computer every time to post something. It's easier to type on the iPad than it is a smart phone, just because of the size of it. The portability, ease of use, and functionality really make the iPad a huge asset in anyone's hands.

I could really get used to this telecommuting thing!

2011-04-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

This whole telecommuting thing is working great. Well, for me anyway. I'm not too sure how it's working for my co-workers. I feel bad for the misunderstanding today, see, they thought I was going to come in today because I telecommuted on Monday too and I am only supposed to have one day a week. Well, Monday was a totally different story. My husband had an epileptic seizure so I stayed home with him. Even though he slept all day, he still needed someone there with him. So, I called in to work and told them I was planning on telecommuting. My supervisor said, "Do whatever you need to do." I was still planning on telecommuting on Thursday because of an iPad seminar I signed up for, but my co-workers didn't know that. They called me, all worried because I didn't show up for work. I hope this doesn't put a bad mark on my record now. This telecommuting thing started as a 6 month trial in which I'm only 2 months in. After the trial period, if things go ok, they said I may be able to get another day per week. I'm really hoping it works.

I like my co-workers, they're great people, but they are also the most distracting people ever. It doesn't help that my desk sits in a wide spot in the hallway. The desk next to mine is the Volunteer Coordinators' - they have people coming in to talk to them all the time. The next desk up is the, um, I'm not sure what her title is but she's the one everyone goes to when they have a question on their time card, all the new employees (and there are a lot of them) stand there and get the orientation speech. I can almost recite it as many times as I've heard it in the last 5 years. The door to the public area is by her desk too so she gets all the public interaction, complaints, people wanting to hang signs, renting meeting rooms, etc. The copy machine/staff mail room is next to me and it has glass walls so you can see/hear everything that goes on in there. Sometimes they like to stand there and chat when they're waiting for their copies to be made or for the laminator to warm up. It's really a busy area and it seems like everyone who walks by thinks they have to say something to us.

I get so much work done on the days that I don't go to my office, than the days that I do. There are so many distractions and interruptions at my desk that sometimes, I admit, I don't get a single thing accomplished. Not being in my office - no matter where I sit, I can concentrate on what I'm supposed to be doing and don't feel so overwhelmed by my to-do list. I get to sleep in until 7:30! That in itself is a great benefit. Plus it saves so much on gas if I don't have to commute for two hours a day. Even with a Hybrid car the gas bill is horrendous.

On days that the kids are home from school, I pack up my laptop and head to the library (free wifi). Nobody bothers me there, the phone doesn't ring, I don't have to drop everything and reserve a meeting room, or transfer a call. I don't have to plan my lunches around other schedules. In fact, I usually eat at my laptop, not really taking a lunch. The only obstacle I've found so far (for me) is that I don't have access to our servers. This forces me to plan exactly what I'll be working on and then save it on a flash drive or upload it to Dropbox so I will have the files I need to work. It has been working so far, but it's clumsy and slow. It would be more efficient if I could just have access to the servers, but that's a whole new can of worms.

Yeah, I really could get used to telecommuting. My to-do list would appreciate it too!

Identification please?

2011-04-26T08:15:00.000-05:00

I finally got the photos off my iPad. I couldn't upload them directly to the blog but had to upload them to the laptop first, then post them on the blog. I'm still trying to figure out a way to post them directly. If there is a way, I will find it. I'm that determined. Of course I really haven't tried that hard yet so give me some time.

Anyway, here is the photo of the purple flowers in my yard. I think they are crocuses but not sure.

I took these photos of some flowers in my mom's flower bed. She's not sure what these are either. The white ones look like daisies but they were only a few inches tall.

How do you keep track of what you read?

2011-04-25T15:31:00.000-05:00

Do you remember what you read last month? How about last year? A few years ago?
I remember when I thought I would be able to remember every book I ever read. Ok, I was probably only about 12 when I felt that way. Now, (not too many years later) I realize how foolish that idea was. I've read so many books since then only a few stand out in my memory. If only I had kept track of what I read then.
A few years ago I started a web 2.0 journey which taught me so many things about the online world. That was when I was introduced to a thing called LibraryThing. An online database that will keep track of books - what you've read, what you want to read and much more. Being a book lover this really excited me so I dug right in. Since then I have learned other online sites to help keep track of what you're reading. To name a few:

LibraryThing - LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account allows you to catalog any number of books.
Good Reads - See what your friends are reading. Join a book club. Keep track of what you've read and organize your books into virtual bookshelves.
Listology - a user-contributed, searchable collection of book lists.
Shelfari - Shelfari is a community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. Create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, connect with friends and learn more about your favorite books – all for free.

Many people keep track of what they read by blogging. Here are a few blogs that feature book reviews:

Minnesota Reads - a blog written by Minnesota writers about the books they read and local book events.
Friday Reads -a global community of thousands of people who come together each week to share whatever they're reading.
Friends and Friends' Bookstore - This site will share information about the Friends of the Rochester Public Library, Book sales and events, and the Bookstore. In addition, the Book Whisperer, a Friend of the Library, will make book recommendations.
President Ramaley's bookshelf -Judith Ramalely, President of Winona State University, shares her current reading selections and recommendations.
100 Best blogs for Book Reviews - It seems that a large number of book fanatics love to write about what they’ve read almost as much as doing the actual reading.

What method do you use to keep track of what you read? Where do you find good book reviews?

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:31:00.002-05:00

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday today! I went to my mom's house and had a great meal complete with ham, turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, etc. Needless to say, I left there stuffed to the gills. I only had three pieces of the fruit pizza. Argh! Really, it's time to start the diet. Anyway, all three of my sisters were there along with some of their kids and significant others. There were only three who couldn't be there. It was quite a crowd and the house was packed! Thank God for a beautiful spring day so we could put a table outside!

After we got back home I worked in the back yard for a while. I'm finding all sorts of flowers coming up. My yard is going to be full of peonies, irises, and lilies. I will post some photos as soon as I figure out how to get them from the iPad to the blog. I'm sure there is an app for that but I haven't found it yet.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

2011-04-19T14:28:00.000-05:00

The whole time I read this book, I couldn't help but think about a cartoon that I used to watch with my children, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It was about a house full of outgrown imaginary friends waiting to be adopted. Actually, the only similarity that cartoon had with American Gods was the concept that these imaginary friends became real because someone believed in them.
Neil Gaiman brought to life a world where gods, mythological and fantastical creatures exist only because people believe in them. In the early days of America, immigrants brought their beliefs with them, which then became embodied as living, breathing creatures: Leprechauns, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, etc. These gods still exist even though they are becoming old and weak. They are being pushed aside by new gods such as Media, Internet, Television, Interstate Highways, etc. The tension between the two factions increases as they compete for attention. Shadow, an ex-con, must decide which side to take as he is led by his new employer, Mr. Wednesday (Odin), across America trying to round up allies for the impending war between the gods.
I have to admit, I didn't know half the gods that were mentioned in this story and spent a lot of time on the Internet looking them up. Gaiman did an awesome job of bringing them all together and making them fit in the American landscape. A great book by a great author; well worth a re-read. I have no idea why it took me so long to get around to reading it, but I'm glad I did.
I hear they may make a movie or a tv serious out of this. I have mixed feelings about that after all the butchered books that were made into film in the past. Hopefully, if they do go ahead and put this on screen, it will follow the book as close as possible.

Book Trailer - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

2011-03-24T10:59:00.001-05:00

This makes me want to read the book again!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

2011-03-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

It was four years ago that Lizzy married Mr. Darcy. It was four years ago that Lizzy put down her katana to replace it with a wedding ring. It wasn't proper for married women to show their skills in the deadly arts. On occasion, Mr. Darcy would humor Elizabeth with private skirmishes against unmentionables because he knew she enjoyed them so much. Everything was going well until that fateful day when Mr. Darcy was attacked and bitten by an unmentionable.

Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to do what she knew she must - behead her husband before the sickness spread and he became one of them. Instead she called on the help of Mr. Darcy's aunt Catherine, the formidable woman who had tried to kill Elizabeth on a few occasions. Catherine takes Mr. Darcy into her care and sends Elizabeth on a quest to find the cure and in the process ruin Elizabeth's reputation and possibly her marriage.

Elizabeth, with the help of her father and two of her sisters, goes to London to find answers. As undercover agents they manage to find themselves mixing with London's highest society as they risk life and reputation in order to save Mr. Darcy.

I have read all the books in the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies series and enjoyed every single one of them. Exciting, suspenseful, witty, etc. Bravo!

Price and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith is the sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, both published by Quirk Classics. For more info about the series and other Quirk Classics, visit:http://quirkclassics.com/

Chance to win a prize!
Quirk will be giving away 8 antidote bottles at random to people who like the Dreadfully Ever After facebook page. An antidote bottle will be handy to have before the Zombie apocalypse starts!

I read around

2011-03-17T13:23:00.000-05:00

Really, I do.

I don't care who the author is, where the story takes place, how many characters there are. I even read books electronically! And listen to them as well. I'm shameless! I am never without a book for long and most of the time I'm in the middle of two or three of them at the same time. Fiction is what I prefer but I'll read non-fiction too. And magazines, newspapers, the backs of cereal boxes.

I read around. It's a confession that I'm proud to make.

Book Reviews

2011-03-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to post my review for Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith. It's the Sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What happens to the Bennet girls? I can't tell you until March 22. And I probably won't tell you either because then it will spoil the story for you. Heh heh. Not another word until then.

I also have some Terry Pratchet reviews to post as well as another Neil Gaiman review. Busy, busy, busy. At least I'm sleeping at night now. That was a crazy mixed up month or two there. I still prefer the night-owl hours but I like my day job and most of all my paycheck so I had to change things around a bit.

I'm able to telecommute one day a week now which helps a great deal. Still trying to sell my old house and there has finally been some action on it the last few weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that somebody that is as desperate as I was when I bought it 8 years ago will come along and think it's as great as I thought it was.

Can a night owl turn into an early bird?

2011-02-18T13:22:00.001-06:00

I'm trying as hard as I can.

Two weeks after visiting the doctor's office I actually feel pretty good. I was diagnosed with situational insomnia and was given some medication to help get my sleeping pattern straightened out again. I had strict orders to take the medicine every night before going to sleep for two full weeks and then I can take it as needed. I was also told to avoid caffeine (coffee, pop, and chocolate).

Today I am celebrating my end of two weeks with a Dt. Dr. Pepper and a dark chocolate brownie. Ahhhh... now I hope I can go to sleep tonight. Have to keep my new sleeping pattern going.

I still miss my nocturnal habits but getting to see the sun rise makes up for it (a little bit anyway).

Can I take a nap now?

2011-02-03T15:46:00.000-06:00

Quoting Devo "Lord I am so tired. How long must this go on?"

I've been so tired for the last few months and have been missing a lot of work. My husband brought me to the emergency room last week because this tiredness has been going on for too long. The doctor prescribed me something that was suppose to help me sleep but for some reason it doesn't work. I'm thinking it's because he prescribed the smallest dose and maybe I need a slightly larger one? I go in for a follow-up tomorrow. Hopefully they will figure out why I'm always tired.

New Year

2011-01-10T15:19:00.000-06:00

Whew! That trip to Branson really did me in. I have been running around like crazy ever since. With the holidays and fund-raising events for the library, I barely have time to breathe much less to blog.

My New Year's resolution is getting caught up with the Things on a Stick (web 2.0 tools for library use), and posting more book reviews - I've been reading, just not reviewing. I have quite a few to catch up on.

There, I put that in writing so now I have to do it.

Travelblog - Branson, MO Day 4

2010-11-07T21:21:00.000-06:00

5:30 am comes way too soon when you just get to sleep at 4. My eyelids felt like sandpaper and my head felt fragile.
Continental breakfast in the hotel at 6:00 am and on the bus by 6:45 am - ready for the long journey back home. I tried to sleep on the bus but didn't get much luck until the afternoon when they put in a cheesy movie that made me fall asleep within the first 10 minutes. I woke up stiff and sore about 2.5 hours later with no idea where we were at. It didn't matter though because we were still in the bus, that knowledge would have done me no good.
We stopped once again for dinner - I was so tired that I wasn't even very hungry so I just got an ice cream sundae for dinner. We were still about 3 hours away from home at this point so I cat napped the rest of the way home.
Ahh, finally, my own car!
One hour later - ahhhhhh, my own bed!

Travelblog - Branson, MO Day 3

2010-11-07T15:07:00.001-06:00

Same buffet at the same restaurant but this time we had to get up earlier because of a morning trip to "Old Branson" for shopping. Ugh, I only got a few hours of sleep thanks to the pacer upstairs.
We went to Old Branson and looked around at the "gotcha shops" for a little over an hour then it was back on the bus to go back to the hotel and lunch. I bought myself a pair of shoelaces at Dick's Five and Dime. Big spender.
After lunch we went to the first show of the day - Daniel O'Donnell. The look on my mom's face when he came out on stage was worth the whole trip. It was obvious she was enjoying herself immensely at this concert - it gave me warm fuzzies. I was able to nap a little during this concert so felt great by the time we got back on the bus to go to dinner at yet another buffet. I don't think I'll be eating at a buffet for quite a while now.
We had a long wait at the restaurant between shows and I ended up drinking a few cups of coffee and a very large iced tea which I found later was a huge mistake. The second show of the day was Shake Rattle and Roll at the Branson Variety Theater. I don't know if it was the coffee or the show, but I managed to stay awake for this one. The music was loud, the dancers were all over the place - I wondered how many cans of Red Bull they had before the performance. The show was ok but I thought it lacked direction - there were no segways between the songs, no interaction with the audience, I don't think they played an entire song before they went into another one, and they randomly threw a few Christmas songs into the mix. Bizarre to say the least. I think Mom fell asleep during this one.
The last song of the night - finally, they asked for audience participation. They wanted us to get up and dance - we did, all the way up the aisle and out the door. Thank God it's over!
Back at the hotel, the pacer was in full force - I wonder if the hotel was haunted? I can't imagine a human being being capable of pacing like that all night. Between the pacing, the coffee and tea I didn't get to sleep until after 4 am.

Travelblog - Branson, MO - day 2

2010-11-05T01:51:00.000-05:00

After a long night's struggle to fall asleep while listening to the person in the room upstairs do laps in their room, I did manage to get a few winks.It wasn't long before the mystery pacer started up again in the wee hours of the morning. We had breakfast at Granny's Resaurant, right across the street from the hotel (the one I mentioned yesterday as being alcohol free.) The breakfast buffet was interesting; evidently, down here, they put chocolate gravy over their baking powder biscuits. Normally the thought of anything chocolate makes me happy but this... well, I tried it and ... its not for me.Ick!
After breakfast we decided to go shopping at the huge craft store right next door. This store had so much stuff in it, it reminded me of Horsefalls in Lansing, IA. If you've ever been there, you would know what I'm talking about, if not, well, just picture everything from cat collars, luggage, quilts, wooden swords, rubber boots, tools, to doilies, books, t-shirts, and hillbilly bubblebath (a bag of beans that you're supposed to cook and eat one hour before your bath). There was a author in this store selling his books and my mom couldn't resist (my love of reading had a strong foundation from both my parents). I am ashamed to say that I can't remember what the author's name was but he looked like John Wayne and one of the main characters in his books is Ginny. Mom bought the first three in his series and told us she would love to have them all but she didn't want to pay for all of them right now. We shopped some more and when Mom got out of site we three girls went back to the man and bought the other books in the series for her as a Christmas present. As far as I know, she doesn't have a clue we did this so don't tell her!
After shopping we went back to the hotel and played 500 until we had to get back on the bus to go to the Shoji Tabuchi show, which was actually just across the street from the hotel. Once in the theater we had to go check out the bathroom. Seriously, everyone told us to go look at the bathroom. It was rated the best ladies bathroom in America and both ladies and gentlemen's bathrooms were featured on The Most Extreme show - bathroom edition. I didn't see the men's room (no ladies allowed) but I hear it had a billiard table and leather chairs to sit in. The ladies bathroom was all decked out for Christmas and there were fresh orchids on each sink. The stalls had real doors with doorknobs! And there was a fireplace in there too.
The show was entertaining. They had elves, santas, a panda bear, a racoon, some penguins... they played some Christmas songs, some cajun music, some big band music and western swing. I got hit by a wad of paper confetti at one point.
After the show we boarded the bus again and went to eat at a Chinese buffet, which was very good. Then on to the Welk theater to see the Lennon Sisters and Tony Orlando. The highlight of that show is when they were rapping to Yellow Ribbon. Yeah, anyway, that show was entertaining too, very patriotic and Christmassy at the same time.
I hope the nervous elephant upstairs will stop pacing tonight long enough for me to fall asleep.

Travelblog - Branson, MO - day 1, bedtime

2010-11-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

We're here now.
The hotel we're staying at is far from a five star, I'd say two star. The bathroom is tiny the closet rod is bent, and we can hear our upstairs neighbors walking around in their room. It is clean though, I will give it that much. The toilet lid was wrapped in paper together with the seat. The paper said something about sanitary and my safety. I'm not sure what it really said because I was in too much of a hurry to open the lid so I could use the toilet. I was fearing for the safety and sanitation of my pants.
The restaurant across the street is advertising the fact that it's an alcohol-free establishment. The beverage list in the restaurant we went to (down the street a few blocks) was under the title prohibition picks or something like that. Is this a dry county or what?
It's not even 10:00 pm and we're winding down for the night. Not by my choice, but when in Rome...
At least I'll get some good reading time in.

It's still day 1- breakfast

2010-11-04T07:38:00.004-05:00

We're not there yet. We just left. Clear Lake, IA where we stopped at Denny's for breakfast. The food was good but the service was slow and our waitress kept trying to blame other people for not getting our food or our checks at the end of our meal. We still left a small tip but then noticed that hardly anyone else did leave tips. I suppose gratuity was included on our bill - had we even seen our bill we would have known that.
OH, now we know- they just told us that Dennys had two new wait staff... no wonder.
Kansas City, here we come.

Travelblog - Branson, MO - day 1

2010-11-04T04:46:00.001-05:00

We're not there yet.
I'm sitting in the Walmart parking lot at 4:15 am waiting for the rest of my traveling companions to get here. I already did my shopping (toothpaste, gum and a bag of granola for breakfast).
People are boarding the bus now -assigned seats and country music (I forgot to bring my headphones-this is gonna be a looooong trip.). Everyone but my party seems to have name tags. I guess they forgot about us. At least our names were on the list. Ooh, wait, here is my my name tag. So far I am by far the youngest person here.

A personal message to Todd. I did give you a hug and kiss before I left this morning but I don't think you noticed - you were completly out. I already miss you.

People are still boarding the bus. I see some of my traveling companions now. Hi Mom and Brenda. We're still waiting for Rhonda. We figure she's still trying to get all of her luggage crammed in her car.

I am no longer the youngest person on the bus!

Picture Book Review: Andrew Henry's Meadow

2010-10-13T11:56:00.000-05:00

Andrew Henry's Meadow, written and illustrated by Doris Burn. I talked about this book before, but it's well worth another look.

Andrew Henry, a middle child, kept himself busy by inventing things; much to the displeasure of his family. They didn't appreciate any of the Rube Goldberg type creations that he would build in the house. After having his creativity stifled so many times, he decided to run away and build himself a home in a nearby meadow where he could invent anything he pleased without getting yelled at by his parents and siblings. Soon after he built his house, other misunderstood children came to the meadow needing a place to "be themselves." Henry built each child a dwelling that suited their eccentricities.

The story did end with a happy ending. The children went back home with their families who realized a new appreciation for their children's hobbies.

Andrew Henry's Meadow was one of my all-time favorite books as a child. The pen and ink sketches were so detailed I would get lost in them. I would study the machines that Henry made, following the ropes and pulleys with my finger, imagining the gears turning, and the belts pulling. I imagined making machines like that myself; my mom had a treadle sewing machine, just like the one Henry's mom had. And the houses he built for the children! What kid wouldn't want to live in a tree, on a river, in a castle, or underground? I wondered what kind of house Henry would have built me - if only I could find his meadow. Sigh.

I love this book! As an adult, I still enjoy reading it and studying the illustrations.

Thing #56 - Linked In (recap)

2010-10-08T18:11:00.009-05:00

I am guilty of being one of those people that started a Linked In account, because someone told me I should and then I ignored it because I didn't know what to do with it.

Well, now that I revisited my account, updated it, and joined a few groups, my opinion of it has done a 360.

What can I say, I love Linked In.

I'm still not in the business of looking for a new career, but if I were, this would be where I would go. It was the groups that changed my mind. I found some groups to join that matched my interest and have joined in a few discussions. Already I have learned some new things that I want to try for my library. I've always wanted to beef up our YouTube channel, now I'm in contact with people who have experience in that and are sharing their knowledge with me. Excellent! I'm in contact with other people that use social media in different ways to advocate their non-profit organizations. Awesome! When I have a little more time I'm going to find some graphic design groups to join, maybe there are some specifically for non-profits or libraries!
If you haven't given Linked In a chance yet, I highly recommend that you do. And don't just create the account and ignore it like I did. Use it, learn from it, make new friends, get and give advice, share knowledge, etc. That's what it's for!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

2010-10-07T18:42:00.001-05:00

This the first Neil Gaiman book I've read and I can assure you that it won't be the last.
Neverwhere is a fantastic story about those people we see out of the corners of our eyes and then forget a second later. They exist in the same world we do but on a different plane. They live and travel though the non-used part of our world and have their own rules and culture.
When Richard Mayhew sees and helps a girl from this underworld, he begins to lose his grip on reality. Encountering unspeakable barriers, he tries to regain his status in the above world. A great twisty, roller-coaster of a plot. I highly recommend it.

Thing #56 - Linked In

2010-09-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

My LinkedIn account has been pretty much stagnant since I set it up a long time ago because I didn't really know what to do with it. Sure, I can connect with other professionals and share my resume, get recommendations, etc. But I am perfectly happy at my current position so thought, why would I want to do this? I'm not looking for a job. Besides, the only people on Linked In that I know are a small handful of my colleagues whose profiles are as plain and boring as mine. The people who I would call for a recommendation - my supervisor or boss, do not have Linked in accounts (as far as I know), so, even if I wanted to get recommended, I couldn't unless I asked them to join Linked In too.

After reading Thing #56 I updated my account by adding a previous position and inviting three more people to be part of my network. I currently only have 5 people in my network. whoooo, impressive.

I decided to join some groups, that might jazz up my account a little. So, after what seemed like forever, I finally found three groups that I would fit into. I'm waiting to be accepted into the elite groups of my choice for Library Technology and Social Media for non profits. Another group for Social Media for non-profits accepted me right away so I started looking at the discussion pages.

There were discussions about getting your non-profit started with facebook and twitter. How to take advantage of applications to supplement your social media accounts. Hmmmm, this is interesting stuff. There were a couple of discussions I wanted to jump in on but noticed I didn't have a profile photo and didn't want to be one of those people, you know who they are. But time is short and I don't have time to find and upload an appropriate photo of me - I don't think my yahoo avatar will work for that if I want people to take me seriously. Time to grow up a little.

As soon as I am accepted into the other two groups, I'll upload a photo of me and start giving LinkedIn more of a chance than I had been giving it. I recognize the potential of this and want to tap in on it.

Thing # 55 - Google vs. Bing

2010-09-15T18:49:00.001-05:00

Humphf, I almost didn't want to do this Thing because I tried Bing when it first came out and wasn't too impressed with it. But, in the spirit of trying new things, I'll give it another shot.

First test: Search Engine's Home Page
They both have easy links for images, news, maps, etc. Both have large search field where its obvious to type in a search.

Google: I like the plain simplicity of their home page, I know you can select themes through settings but I prefer to leave it as generic as possible. I don't like all the "pretty" stuff getting in the way of my searches.

Bing: Oooh, pretty picture with hot spots on it that give you information about the photo. Um, I just want to search, I'm easily distracted as it is, I don't want all that extra stuff.

One point for Google on this one for being simple and less distracting.

Second test: Looking up "Rochester Public Library"
Google: Since it's what I use all the time, I only had to type in R- and Rochester Public Library came up as a suggestion. And it was the correct one too, not the other Rochesters in the world.

Bing: I had to type in "Rochester P" before Rochester Public Library was offered and even though Rochester, MN was selected as my location, it pulled up Rochester New York as a first option.

Another point for Google

Third test: search results
Again the search was Rochester Public Library
Google: About 1,170,000 results (0.35 seconds)
Bing: 12,800,000 results
With all those results, both search engines had what I was looking for on the first page. Google had it the first entry, Bing had it the second entry. I do like the way Bing has the instant preview of the page before you open it. Would be handy on questionable pages.

I have to give the point to Bing on this one.

Fourth test: Maps
I love maps, always been fascinated with them and could lose huge chunks of time just exploring them. Here is where I get easily distracted.

Google: I love Google maps and Google Earth. I have them on my Droid too and it's just really cool - when the GPS is working correctly - to watch yourself move around on the map.

Bing: I like the Bird's Eye view option. It shows a slightly different point of view than Google does. My only gripe on that is that it only shows small sections at a time and takes time to load the next views.

I'll give both of them points for their maps. They are different enough so that I can't really compare them.

Fifth test: Images
Again, Rochester Public Library was the search words.
Google: About 485,000 results (0.23 seconds)
Bing: 9,150 results

Both had a mishmash of photos, most of which were not my library, but then again, both showed actual photos of my library on the first page. I like how you can narrow your search for size and type of image with both search engines. I like the way Google has the option to show the actual size on each image and how it enlarges the image a little bit when you hover over it. Bing shows the size of the image when you hover over it but does not enlarge it. Bing does have other options to narrow down your search by layout and by people.

Again, they had enough different features that both scored points.

Sixth test: News
Search - Rochester Public Library
Google: About 116 results (0.31 seconds)
Bing: 43 results
I was impressed that Bing had the latest news article where the library was on the local news and Google didn't!
Bing had 4 out of 10 articles on the first page that pertained to my library.
Google also had 4 out of 10 on the first page but strangely enough, three of the four were different articles. This is an eye opener. It seems I would have to search for news with both if it weren't for the fact that I have Google alerts set for Rochester Public Library and I was already alerted to all of the news that both were showing.
I think neither gets a point for that. Bing had the latest news, but Google alerts covered with Google news didn't.But I have to give one of them a point... Hmmm. Ok, I'll give the point to Bing on this one because if I didn't have my alerts set, I wouldn't have caught the latest news.

Ok, I'm tired of all the comparing, I know I didn't do an exhaustive study on this, but time is limited and I do have better things to do at the moment so, let's summarize the results...

Google = 4
Bing = 4

It's a tie. They both do wonderful things - it just depends on what you're looking for and what you're comfortable with. I'll probably stick with Google but won't be so hard on Bing anymore.

Living in someone else's trash can

2010-09-12T09:21:00.001-05:00

It was such a beautiful day yesterday we decided to take a walk. We're still relatively new to the area and haven't had much of a chance to find a good walking route. The road in front of our house is fairly busy, enough that it's not an ideal path to take for long. We took the first side road and were pleased to find that it turned to gravel only about a quarter mile down the road and there was no traffic. The sun was shining, there were woods on either side of the road, it wasn't hot or buggy out. It was perfect. We thought.

Not too far down the road we noticed an area where it looked like they bulldozed some little trees on the side of the road. On closer inspection we figured they weren't bulldozed, they were dumped there.Then we noticed that the little trees were lilac bushes and we recalled that our next door neighbors, just a few hours ago, had sawed down the three bushes between our houses. I was a little disgusted in them that they cut them down in the first place because they really reduced our level of privacy, but they weren't on our property so we didnt have much say in the matter. After seeing that they just dumped them on the side of the road less than a mile feom our home made me even more disgusted. While standing there fuming about it I noticed a plastic bucket laying in the leaves further down the hill. Then some metal that appeared to be shed roofing, then a toaster, some more metal, some tires, and even a large chest freezer half full of black water, beer cans and other trash all over. The more I saw the further my heart sank. It was obvious this area had been used as a dumping grounds for quite some time.

It makes me feel angry that humans can do this and not even think about the damage they are doing to our environment. Don't they see how ugly they have made this? Don't the property owners care about it enough to clean it out? It makes my hope for humanity slip even lower than it already is. I want to make the people who did this pay for what they did. Unfortunately there is no way to tell who did it. We need to have some sort of environmental CSI to find these criminals and make them face their due punishment.

Litterbugs, you're wrecking our Earth and its the only one we have. Global warming, bad air, acid raid,etc., I'm blaming it all on you.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

2010-09-09T18:27:00.000-05:00

I can now officially retire my Blackberry. I finally finished listening to On the Road by Jack Kerouac which I had downloaded from Overdrive. I have to say, it's not what I expected. I don't know what I expected really but at least I wasn't disappointed. I did enjoy it.

The book kind of reminded me of my dad. Not saying that he was anything like any of the characters in the book, but my dad was a truck driver and some of his trucker stories came to mind as this story unfolded. My dad used to tell me about some of the hitchhikers he would pick up on his way across the country and he would tell me about other things he saw on the road. Some of my dad's friends though, did remind me of some of Kerouac's characters. Doesn't everyone know a person like Dean? It was a fun story of freedom and adventure.

I cleaned my Blackberry out - deleted anything personal on it and cleared out all the photos, videos, music, and of course books that I had on it. Goodbye Blackberry, you've been good to me but it's time to move on now.

Why hello there Droid! Time to start listening to The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
By the way, the Overdrive user interface is so much easier to use on the Droid than on the Blackberry.

New toy! A Droid!

2010-09-01T17:00:00.008-05:00

In a previous post I was celebrating the fact that I was finally able to download audiobooks to my Blackberry. Since then I listened to Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk and am in the middle of On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

But, I now have a Droid phone! WOOT! Happy dance! Oh yeah! Uh-huh!

One of the first apps I installed on my new Droid was OVERDRIVE!

Ok, I installed "barcode reader" first because I wanted to be able to use it to scan the funky barcode thingy on the Overdrive website.

The barcode reader read it and in less than 5 seconds I was downloading the Overdrive app. Amazing! it used to take my Blackberry forever to do something like this. I am in seventh heaven right now.

I'm in the process of downloading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It's 10 parts. If I were downloading this to my Blackberry, it would take about 3.5 hours (that's 20 minutes per part!). Painfully slow! The Droid downloads at a pace of 6 minutes per part. So much faster!

Love it!

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

2010-08-24T15:00:00.003-05:00

Survivor is a very twisted, dark, mind blowing book. I'm so glad I found it.

It's about this guy who was born and raised in a religious cult and how he deals with life after the mass suicide of his fellow cult members. His story is forever saved in the "black box" of the airplane that he highjacked. He made everyone get off the plane and had the pilot take off, set the autopilot, and then parachute out of the plane. Alone in the plane, he tells his life story while he waits for the plane to run out of gas and crash land.

This was an audiobook that I downloaded from Overdrive. The narrator was terrific and really brought the story to life.

I've never read (or listened to, as was the case) anything by Chuck Palahniuk before and after Survivor, I will pick up more by him. I really enjoyed it.

Get caught Listening

2010-08-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

I recently succeeded in downloading an audiobook from Overdrive to my Blackberry. The first time I tried it - a while ago, I didn't do it right. But with much patience and trial and error, I did, somehow, get Anna Karenina downloaded but not with the Overdrive app.

A few months later...

I'm still commuting about 2 hours a day back and forth to work and was getting sick of radio and music in general, so I decided to try Overdrive again. This time, it was a SUCCESS!

First of all, I had to upgrade the Overdrive app on my Blackberry - surprisingly this didn't take very long at all.

While this was downloading I was browsing the catalog for books that were MP3 compatible. I'm a little disappointed in our limited selection, but it's better than nothing. I was looking for something short to begin with because I wasn't sure what my Blackberry could handle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes volumes I & II came up and I thought that would be a perfect start. I checked those out with my library card and got to the point where you would normally download them to your computer. By this time the Overdrive App was finished so, with the browser on my Blackberry, I navigated to my Overdrive account. Viola! There were the two Sherlock Holmes books ready to download. I clicked on Download and the Blackberry started doing its thing - it took a while to download. The book was in three parts and each part took about 20 minutes to download completely. After they were downloaded, I plugged my Blackberry into my car and listen to the stories during my commute.

I'm Loving it! Now I'm going to try longer books. We'll see how that goes. I'll probably have all 415 MP3 formatted books listened to in no time. Hopefully by then we'll have a larger collection.

Jane Austen's Fight Club

2010-07-27T13:25:00.001-05:00

Ok, Now I really have to add Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk to my to-read list.

I thought this mashup was totally hilarious so had to post this on my blog so I could watch it again, and again.

Thing #54 - Hyperlocal Sites

2010-07-23T16:17:00.003-05:00

I was going to stop at Thing #53 today and get some other work done, but we were notified that our server was running out of space so I've been archiving lots of photos just to give the servers a little more breathing room. And while I was at it, I decided to clean my own hard drive off since it's loaded down with videos from our new flip cam! While my computer is burning discs it doesn't really like to do any graphic design work so I thought I'd continue with the Things while the discs were burning.

On to the wonderful world of Hyperlocal Sites. Ooooh.

I read the Thing #54 - Hyperlocal Sites blog entry from 23 Things and thought, well, they probably don't list anything from my city so why would I be interested? (I'm always skeptical at first but I always at least try it.)

First thing, I like that they let you look at them without creating an account. I have so many social network accounts right now it's not even funny.

I explored Charlotte, NC on Everyblock. I was impressed with all that they had available for this. I only wish they had more cities. I wonder how long it will take for our city to make it on this. I was impressed that it showed you current photos taken, news articles, police reports, real estate, and even what's new at the local library! The layout was easy to understand and navigate and the little map feature was pretty cool too. The red dots on the map showed local stories, you just click on the dot and it gives you a short blurb about what happened at that location. They even have neighborhood announcements like block parties, lost pets, things for sale, etc.

Over all,I was pretty impressed with Everyblock, but until they get something that's a little more local to me I don't think I'll use it. I will have to remember this if I ever plan on going to any of these places though, that would be handy to find out what's going on before we get there.

I tried Patch.com and wasn't as impressed with it - the layout wasn't as easy or attractive as Everyblock - yes, I'm a website snob - so I didn't spend too much time with Patch. Plus, they didn't have anything local to me either.

I breezed through Outside in when I noticed that the feeds for our area just came from our local newspaper - I get that through my RSS so wasn't anything new there.

Placeblogger may be helpful if I'm planning on going somewhere - like Everyblock - to explore the area a little before I get there. But again, they didn't have anything local for me.

The Examiner - I didn't like the look of it so didn't even explore it very much. It was too crowded with information it was hard to navigate.

American Towns.com did have my local area and listed local bloggers and tweeters. This was pretty cool! I noticed that our Friends Bookstore blog wasn't listed so I emailed them and asked for that blog to be listed on that site. I'll let you know what happens with that. They also listed some local events - including some that are happening at the library! I didn't put them there so they must take the information from some other source! Which is great as long as the information is correct. I'll look more into that tomorrow.

Overall rating of Hyperlocal Sites: Interesting, but not on my "Have to Have" list.

Thing #53 - Location Based Social Networks

2010-07-23T11:03:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I've fallen so far behind on the "Things on a Stick." I haven't posted about any THING since March. But it's not like I didn't have anything else to do! Work and life have been extremely hectic lately. More on that later - but now it's time for one of the "things."

Location-based Social networks... I admit, at first I was a little creeped out about this. I mean, what a great tool for a stalker or a burglar! Any burglar could make some friends on Foursquare and find out when they're not home... nothing like making it simple.

But after I created my Foursquare account, I realized that you can hide your whereabouts. Or even check in when you're leaving a place instead of just arriving. Just like any social network you can set the privacy settings to match your comfort level.

After playing in the Foursquare world for a bit and reading a virtual ton of articles on how businesses are using it for marketing purposes, I wondered if we could use it in the library. We could have a special prize or something for the Mayor of the library. But then when looking at who the Mayor was - it turned out to be someone on staff so that wouldn't work. Even after I told that particular staff person what I was planning, he stopped checking in at the library and gave up his mayorship - only to have another staff member take the role. Realizing that we didn't have much planned for this, I gave up trying to use Foursquare to promote the library other than putting up tips now and then for a special event that is coming up.

I allowed my Foursquare app on my blackberry to get outdated because I didn't really think it was that much fun. Maybe it's because I don't have the time to check in where ever I go? Maybe because I lack the ambition to make the time? Or Maybe it's because I really don't care to let people know where I am. Even on Twitter and facebook, I rarely give any indication of where I'm at.

My rating of Foursquare: Meh
But that's just me.

In light of this, I didn't even try Brightkite.

His Dark Materials

2010-07-20T00:22:00.002-05:00

Finally reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. They are wonderful! I should have read them years ago.

I write like...

2010-07-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

I kept seeing "I write like [enter author here]" in twitter and facebook so naturally I had to try it too. I started entering text from this blog and other newsletter articles I have written into the analyzer and was pleased at the results.

My writing was compared to Stephen King, Leo Tolstoy, Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnegut, James Joyce, Ray Bradbury, and Douglas Adams. All great authors - although I must admit, I'm only vaguely familiar with Chuck Palahniuk; that means Fight Club will be added to my to-read list.

Currently reading:
The Subtle Knife - book 2 of His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

on the back burner still resides:
Green Mars - Kim Stanley
Naked Empire - Book 8 of Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind.

Contest Winner!

2010-07-14T12:33:00.004-05:00

That photo I submitted of my daughter and her dog won the bluestocking contest!
My daughter chose the book Fablehaven by Brandon Mull as her prize.

Old Spice Man talks about libraries

2010-07-14T12:26:00.002-05:00

Bluestocking contest

2010-06-09T20:09:00.006-05:00

My daughter and I entered the Friends of the Library Bluestocking contest with this entry:

Jessica is reading Ink Heart by Cornelia Funke. Zeke likes the parts with Gwin, Dustfinger's pet.

Zeke says, "Keep reading Silvertongue, I want Gwin to come out of the book to play with me."

Android Karenina Book Trailer

2010-06-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

Android Karenina

2010-06-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

Ok, here it is! My review of Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters. (Find out how to win glorious prizes at the end of this entry!)

First of all, a confession... I haven't finished reading it yet. I have some things going on right now that are interfering with my reading time. (I close on my house on Friday! and right now, most of of my things are packed and I'm living on the barest necessities - almost like camping... but not.)

I have gotten as far as Part Four though and have been loving every minute of it.
I recently finished reading Anna Karenina and was impressed with the way that Leo Tolstoy developed each character but when I started reading Android Karenina... well, it totally knocked my socks off they way Ben brought in android companions enhancing each character even more.

In this version everyone gets a Class III android companion when they become of age. Each companion holds their master's/mistress's memories for them and is basically their best friend and confidant. Most androids have speech capabilities and reflect their master's/mistress's emotions. The companion of Anna's husband is actually an implant on his face (kind of like a phantom of the opera mask) and Anna finds it hard to tell the difference between the man and the machine.

Like the original, it's a beautiful love story that focuses on two couples. The addition of the steampunk atmosphere brings a whole new twist to our perception of the characters.

I give this one 5 gold stars! I love it! Way to go Ben H. Winters!

This is a great fast-read (must faster than the original)and I can't wait to finish it - even though I have a pretty good idea on how it's going to end.

For more info about Android Karenina and other Quirk Classics, visit: http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=androidkarenina

Here's your chance to win prizes!

Visit this link: http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_AK_Reviews, mention my blog (Roasted Marshmallow), and you will automatically be entered to win one of 25 Quirk Classics Prize Packs! (retail value of more than $100) described below:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

Dracula's Heir: An Interactive Mystery by Sam Stall

Extreme Encounters by Greg Emmanuel

How to Tell if Your Boyfriend is the Antichrist by Patricia Carlin

An Android Karenina Poster

And More!

May was Crazy!

2010-05-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

May was the craziest, busiest month ever! That quilt project really took a lot out of me and I'm trying to wrap it up. It's been on my desk for way too long. I have one final version to make - who'd have thought that the one we were sending out for professional printing would have such weird rules! They want the paper to be 8.75x11.25 instead of showing bleeds? They want the covers in RGB instead of CMYK? Interesting. But it's the only site that we've found that will allow us to print 8.5x11 in portrait layout so we're going with it. Thank goodness someone else has offered to take on the website version of the book! I'll post a link when it's available.

And on a personal note, my fiance and I found a house that we both love - actually it's the yard we absolutely love, the house... well. We have a five-year plan about that. We're hoping that in five years we can either add on to the house or just demolish it and build new. The house has very tiny bedrooms and we're not even sure my queen sized bed will fit! We still like it though! We'll just be awful cozy for a while. I can't believe that a family with 10 kids lived in that house.

Still reading Android Karenina - almost to part III! Remember, I'll be posting a review on June 8!

The whole month of May went by and I didn't get a single Thing done. Ok, I'm talking about the Web 2.0 project call Things on a stick. I'm hoping in June I'll be able to get back to that since I've been falling behind. But then again, maybe not June because I'll be moving then and will be taking some time off work for the move.

And oh, I have to say that I really want to win this Kinekt Gear Ring from sweeps4bloggers. My fiance and I both love this ring and are even thinking about getting these for our wedding rings. How geeky is that?

Typography is beautiful

2010-05-27T12:01:00.003-05:00

I just created this graphic in Adobe Illustrator for the library foundation and just had to share it.

Kinekt Gear Design Ring

2010-05-25T22:07:00.005-05:00

I follow an awesome sweepstakes site called Sweeps4bloggers. I actually won a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from them and have been following them ever since. I haven't actually entered any more of the sweepstakes until now. The Kinekt Gear Design Ring really caught my eye as I was scrolling through my facebook feed tonight.

I think this is the most awesome ring EVER! If I won, I would have to get it in a size for my fiancé (but I would definitely want to order one for myself if they would ever come in a smaller size, i.e. 5.5 - hint, hint!). Unless of course, smaller sizes are available by the end of the sweepstakes! 06/07/10.

Threads of our Community Quilt

2010-05-24T16:44:00.007-05:00

The Quilt is unveiled, the book is printed and the whole weight of the world is off my shoulders.

Well, some of the weight anyway. Now I'm trying to catch up on everything that got put on the back burner - you should see how many back burners I have going! It's a fire hazard!

Now, as promised, are photos of the quilt in all its splendor. These photos don't do it justice, you need to come in and see it in person. This quilt is 18 foot long!

The wooden podium was designed and hand-crafted by my supervisor - isn't it gorgeous? And the book sitting on it is what has been keeping me out of trouble for the last two months. We're working on getting a web site that will have all the pages of the book in it. But I've attached a couple of my favorites here.

An expensive get-in-shape plan

2010-05-23T21:21:00.004-05:00

I am so stiff and sore today from doing yard work at our future residence.

Yes, we're getting a new home!

A place where the family can finally be together! The family being: me, my fiancé, my two kids and his youngest daughter (every-other weekend).

This new place has a huge yard that I'm hoping to revive an old hobby of mine - flower gardening. I can't wait to get started!

The seller needs to put in a new septic system in order to sell it and while he's doing that, he said we could do some landscaping around the house while the machinery is there. How nice of him to allow us to do that. He could say we can't step foot on the property until closing. Anyway, the area around the house needs some landscaping to prevent water getting in the basement.

They did have cement blocks all the way around the house for this purpose but they were put there many years ago and have sunk in and slanted so the rain would go towards the house instead of away from it. So, we went up there yesterday and pulled away all the cement blocks so they can fill it in with dirt. We also bought window wells to put in before they piled dirt up. And we even bought a wheel barrow to haul the cement blocks in - I'll use it to haul garden stuff in later! We had to assemble the wheel barrow (we being me and two 10-year olds). It feels really weird buying this stuff when it's not our house yet.

After a full afternoon of assembling a wheelbarrow, lifting and hauling cement blocks we were all exhausted and I didn't even read Android Karenina last night. I slept like a rock and actually felt like one this morning. I could barely move. And then took a two-hour nap this afternoon. This is terrible, we're all tired and sore after only one afternoon of yardwork, I imagine that by the end of the summer - after the house is finally ours - we'll be on our way back to getting in shape. It's kind of an expensive get-in-shape plan but we all love it!

I'm hoping and praying that nothing goes wrong and for some reason we can't close.

Android Karenina

2010-05-20T09:49:00.004-05:00

Last night when I got home late from game night, I was very pleased to see a package on the kitchen table address to Roasted Marshmallow. I ripped the package open to find my copy of Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben Winters. After doing an arms flailing, legs-kicking happy-dance, around the table, (I'm sure it wasn't a pretty site, but everyone else was already in bed), I went straight to my room to start reading. Still wired from game night and with the added boost of adrenaline from getting my new book, I was awake until the wee hours of the night reading, reading, reading.
I will be posting a review of Android Karenina on this blog on June 8 so stay tuned! There is a chance you could win awesome prizes!

Quilt project

2010-05-04T14:50:00.005-05:00

I have been extremely busy on a project at work. This project has taken up so much time and has caused so many grey hairs since it started; I will be sooooo glad when it's over.

The Threads of our Community Quilt project- in a nutshell is collaborative community quilt. We asked members of the community to create a block that could be attached to a quilt that represents their culture, heritage, region of birth, etc. Originally the quilt was going to have about 32 blocks, it was going to hang in the library and that was going to be the end of the story.

HA!

The quilt is now 55 blocks large, we're going to have an "unveiling" ceremony, and we're making a book that describes each block and the artist that made it. Sounds simple enough but I'll let you in on a little secret... It's NOT simple.

First we had to decide how we were actually going to get these blocks from the community. We did this by sending out calls for artists to help with the project. Of course we didn't have enough blocks by the first deadline, but then had too many by the extended deadline. Then we had to figure out which ones to use. That was easy, we just used them all, with the exception of two people created two blocks, we only accepted one from each.

The volunteers that were in charge of putting the quilt together did an amazing job of piecing the quilt together. I'd attach a photo, but it must remain unseen until the unveiling ceremony.

While the quilt was being pieced together, a committee was working on gathering information for the book. This is like pulling teeth! The original deadline to get everything for the book was April 22, then it was April 26, now it's May 6. As the designer of the book, you can safely bet I'm getting anxious. We need to have the book printed and bound by the ceremony on May 16. YIKES!

The book, oh, the book.

It has taken many different forms since it's inception. Originally we were going to get it professionally printed and bound by an online service like Shutterfly. We wanted a fair amount of text to go with the photos of the blocks and we just wouldn't get that with Shutterfly's pre-existing templates. Then we found another online publishing service called Viovio. This service allows uploads of pdf files in portrait format! Perfect! So all we'd have to do is format the book the way we want it and then submit to Viovio, get it printed and viola! great looking book. Until we looked at the price... Ok. well, we can get one book.

We wanted to be able to give a book to each artist/volunteer/author/editor/ that had a part in its creation. A quote from the local printer proved to be way out of reach as well so we decided to print them in-house.

Binding was our next problem. We didn't want the black plastic comb binding, but the metal ring binding would do. We managed to get the binding paid for by Fed-Ex Printing as long as we put their logo on the back. Yeah, we can do that, but they haven't sent their logo yet.

The committee is still working on the introduction of the book. I'm afraid there are too many people with different ideas on what the quilt means. The introduction will either be 50 pages in order to include what everyone wants to say or it will be one sentence - all that's left after we take out what everyone thinks should be taken out.

While working on the book, I'm also working on the invitations to the unveiling ceremony and the powerpoint show that will be shown during the ceremony.

Meanwhile my regular duties are continuing to back up...

Book Reviews

2010-04-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting my reading list under control. I still literally have tons of books on my "to-read" list, but at least I'm getting the "currently reading" list down to a manageable number.

In the last few weeks I managed to finished The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and, Faith of the Fallen (Book 6 of the Sword of Truth Series) by Terry Goodkind.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart was indeed a sad tale. This book was based in medieval Europe and has an interesting point of view of the plague and how it was spread, of religion and the corruption of the church, and the grave-robbing brothers Grossbart who thought they were blessed by Mary and could do no wrong - even murder was in Mary's best interest. The brothers were on a quest to "Gyptland" where they thought there would be the mother load of graves and treasure that was theirs by right of inheritance. A strange twisted fairy tale for adults.

I loved it; I hated it; I would read it again.

Anna Karenina, set in Russia, early 19th century, was a soap-opera type story of two sets of lovers and the people they interacted with. Great character development - so great that I actually think I used to date Levin (quiet, set in his own ways, didn't understand the greater picture, and was quite chauvinistic). I used to be Kitty (change myself for the man she loved, only happy if her man was happy, yadda yadda). They were a perfect couple. Anna was an independent woman who turned quite needy and whiny when she found a lover. I'm hoping that she will have more spine in Android Karenina. Anna's lover Vronsky, poor guy, was hopelessly in love wtih Anna and had no clue what he was doing. Adultery, forgiveness, technology vs. farming, peasants, faith, and trains are recurring themes.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development and the writing style was really a breath of fresh air. I would definitely read it again.

Faith of the Fallen - The journeys of Richard and Kahlan continue in book 6 of the Sword of Truth Series. Richard and Kahlan get separated by Nicci, a sister of the dark, who puts a spell on Kahlen that bonds them together - when one feels pain, so does the other. If one dies... Nicci takes Richard to the middle of the Old World where she hopes to show him that the way of the Imperial Order is really the best for all people. In the end Nicci becomes convinced of the opposite and ends up in love with Richard.
Meanwhile, Kahlen is leading an army against Jagangs Imperial Order Forces in the New World. They capture a spy from the Imperial Army and find out that he knows where Richard is. Kahlen realizes that she is doing no good against the Imperial Forces so she decides to go find Richard in the Old World.
Oh happy, happy, joy, joy, they are back together, mushy mushy, *rolling of the eyes*

I'm not sure if I like it better when Richard and Kahlen are together (they share looks and wish they could be alone) or when they are apart (all they do is think about the other one). I'll continue reading the series - the action is still intriguing and someone's gotta kill Jagang sooner or later. On to book 7!

Now currently reading:
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind (book 7)

I've stopped reading Inkheart for a while. That's the bedtime story I read to the kids but we've been so busy right up until bedtime lately that we haven't read for a while.

I'm anxious to start Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but I'm waiting until after I read Android Karenina - if I'm on the review list. I can drop the other books I'm reading at any given time, I don't know if I could drop that one or not.

Oh yeah, I wasn't too late to claim my runner's up prizes for the photo caption contest! My prizes will be delivered soon!

And I entered another photo caption contest.

Unknown winner

2010-04-20T22:23:00.005-05:00

I've been away from the computer for a while. Ok, that's a lie, let me rephrase that.

I haven't been doing fun stuff at the computer for a while. Ok that's another lie.

Um, ok, here we go... I have been ignoring my personal social media for a while - there, that's the truth.

Since doing social media marketing for the library, I find that my own social media networks have been falling behind. I haven't written anything in this blog for a while, I haven't updated my LibraryThing, or haven't kept up with the Things on a stick. Sometimes real life takes priority over a virtual life - which I think is quite normal and healthy. It's only a problem when it's the other way around, in my opinion.

Anyway, since I've been away, I was unaware of winning a contest I entered almost a month ago. I finally took some time to admire the photos on Quirk Classic's facebook page when I noticed that I was a runner up in a photo caption contest, and I was supposed to email them to claim my prize.

I hope it's not too late! I loved Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

Strange day

2010-03-26T17:30:00.000-05:00

Are you sure it's not Monday today?

I couldn't get out of bed this morning; I'm still trying to get used to the time change. I don't like getting up when it's still dark out. I wish we could just leave the time alone - one way or the other.

Then I remembered it was Friday. We get to wear jeans on Fridays - that's worth getting out of bed for. Unless the laundry hasn't been done in over a week because it's been an extremely wild lately with zero time to do laundry. The only clean jeans I had were in the dryer - still damp from who knows how long ago. Just thinking of that feeling of cold, damp, clammy jeans when you put them on the in the morning was almost enough to make me go back to bed.

Almost.

I put the jeans on anyway and stumbled out the door to the car. The garage door was all freaked out and didn't want to close. It kept going back up, I suppose something was over the sensor. I kept pushing the button making the door go up and down, up and down, until finally it squealed its way to the bottom. Then out the driveway I went.

Looking at the clock I realized I was going to be late for work. Well, I may as well stop for coffee since I'm already late. Kwik Trip or bust! I get my coffee and continue on my way. When getting out of my car and picking up my coffee cup - I haven't drank any yet - I notice there is a puddle underneath the cup. Crap! A leaker!

Holding the cup well away from me, I still managed to get coffee all down the front of my jacket and pants. Oh well, my jeans were still damp anyway, what's the difference? I walk to my office as fast as I can while holding my coffee cup at arm's length away from me. When I get to my desk I pour what was left of my coffee into my to-go cup - the one I never seem to have with me when I stop at Kwik Trip. Then I noticed why it was leaking... there was a huge crack in the cup. I have no idea when/were/how that came to be but it was there all the same.

After I had the coffee situation taken care of, I tried to turn my computer on for the day and saw the blue screen of death! I rebooted and it seems to be working ok now. Hope it was a fluke!

After lunch, I went down to the little bookstore to hang up some posters and while I was there I noticed a Kim Stanley Robinson book. I picked it up and looked at it. The lady that was working there told me she had never heard of Kim Stanley Robinson and asked what kind of book it was.

Me "Science Fiction."

Her "Oh, I quit reading that stuff in High School."

Hmmm, I didn't know quite what to say about that. I was kind of shocked and felt I was being judged. My mom always told me if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything. So, I kept my mouth shut, put the book back and walked out of the store.

There is a silver lining on this black cloud that's over me today. I will have a quiet evening all to myself tonight - I hope - to finish reading The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington,to continue reading Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and to work on the dwindling collection of beer in my fridge.

Cheers!

Oh yeah! I just remembered some more silver lining!

I received my copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith that I won on sweeps4bloggers! I can't wait to start reading it but feel I should finish at least one of the other books I'm reading right now.

Currently Reading:
Inkheart
Sword of Truth Series Book 6
Anna Karenina
Green Mars
The Sad Tale of the Brother's Grossbart

Twapper Keeper

2010-03-23T16:00:00.001-05:00

I just found another cool twitter tool... Twapper Keeper.

This site pulls all the tweets that contain a certain hashtag, keyword or a person and puts them all together into a list, called a notebook, for you. I noticed that @rudibrarin made one from the #libtech2010 conference.

I tried to make a notebook with that hashtag but mine didn't work. I guess you're not supposed to put the # in when it asks you what you want. When mine came up, it showed ## so didn't pull up any tweets. I couldn't find where to delete that one either so it's just sitting there with 0 tweets and my twitter name next to it. I noticed that someone tried to get the notebook and noticed it didn't have any tweets in it.

Great, a non-deletable public fail!

My apologies to anyone who tried that notebook only to find nothing. I'll try to make another notebook with Twapperkeeper later, after I recover from my humiliation.

Here's a great Twitter cheat sheet created by @bananasuit.

Library Technology Conference 2010

2010-03-18T14:26:00.004-05:00

I learned a lot from this conference, even though I didn't attend it.

Thank you to everyone that was twittering while at that conference using #libtech2010.

Some of the things that I'm going to check out as a result of "hearing" about them from the twitter feed.

Hootsuite: I already checked this out and really like the potential. I love the fact that you can schedule your tweets and see your followers/friends and how many followers/friends each one has. I tried to send a few tweets with it, but for some reason it wouldn't work. I had to revert back to Tweetdeck to do that. Just a bug? I don't know. I also like that Hootsuite wasn't a download where Tweetdeck was. Sometimes I'm not too sure about downloading stuff from the internet.

Fences: Speaking of downloading stuff from the internet. I want to try Fences because it looks like a great way to keep the desktop organized and so I can see my awesome wallpaper better. But when I get to the download page there are all sorts of disclaimers that it's save to down load, no spyware, no adware, etc... for some reason that made me nervous. I haven't downloaded it yet. Still thinking about that one.

Friendwheel: interesting but not too excited about it. Not too sure what it really does.

Atomkeep: something to keep all social networking accounts in one place. I will probably check this one out later. I don't feel overwhelmed with my accounts - yet.

Scratch: This looks very fun and will probably show my kids this one. It's a site that allows you to make little animated clips.

Prezi: Awesome way to do presentations to get away from death by powerpoint. Will look into this one for sure.

Pachyderm: another presentation tool. I don't know what this one does but will check it out when time allows.

Google Wave: I'm waiting patiently for my invitation...

Second Life: I tried this the first time during the 23 Things and thought it was very cool and could see potential in it but it really creeped me out and don't think I'll ever use it.

Other things I learned:
One of the speakers sounded like Carl Sagan.
Someone was spotted wearing an argyle sweater.
There were plenty of bagels in the morning.

The Bennet girls are ready... Are you?

2010-03-15T16:32:00.003-05:00

Only a week left before this book hits bookstores: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith.

Thing # 52 - Putting it all together

2010-03-12T14:09:00.002-06:00

I did play with the iGoogle tabs but still prefer to use the tabs on my browser itself and get the full site instead of a smaller version of it.

I already have my Blackberry synced with many Google apps:
gmail: Love it!
calendar: I add my work schedule and my personal schedule to my Google calendar and then sync it to my phone. I really like this feature!
Google maps, I've used this quite often and even have my friends'/familys' houses listed as favorites.
Blogger: I found I don't do this because it's limited and not very fun.
Google Search: Of course I use that a lot.

4Square: Not Google. I tell my 4sQuare friends "where I'm at" and if you visit more often than any other person, you become "Mayor" of the venue. I was kind of creeped out by this at first, but there is an option that you can check into a place without actually letting your friends or anyone else know where you are. I'm still thinking of a way to use this to promote the library. The library does have a few people that check in. If anyone has any ideas about this, let me know.

Other Google sites I use on my computer:
Google Buzz I'm not sure what to think about this one. So far I haven't seen a use for it yet, but I'll keep an open mind about it.
Google Reader: I use this a lot!
Google Reader Play: I just checked this out today and found it fascinating. I can see this robbing hours of my time if I allowed it.
Google Earth: I took my mom on a tour of the Colosseum one day and she was just stunned by what you can actually see from a "map."

Thing #51 - Managing my PLN

2010-03-12T13:15:00.005-06:00

During the first 23 things I set up an iGoogle page and used it for quite a while, but eventually became bored with it. I admit, some of the applications that can be added to iGoogle are fun and I could spend hours just looking at all the options and playing the games. However, I found these gadgets too distracting and took them all off. Now my iGoogle page is dull and boring and I rarely visit it anymore.

I found that keeping the pages I most often visit open in the tabs available in my browser (usually Firefox or Chrome) works better for me than having them all mashed together on one page. I bookmark other sites I visit frequently but not every day, and then use Delicious for the lesser visited pages. As a result of having many tabs, I don't have a "home" page anymore. I usually use Firefox at work and Chrome at home, but am slowly using Chrome more often at work. I like the look and feel of it better than Firefox; you can personalize it more. But either is still better than Internet Explorer. I can't even remember the last time I used that - probably just to get to the Firefox download page. LOL!

The addition of Tweetdeck to my computer is awesome, as I stated in Thing #49! I really don't know how I functioned without it.

Sometimes with all this information coming in at lightening speed, I feel overwhelmed with it all, but I just remind myself, I don't have to read it all, I don't have to learn it all. Just let it flow and if I fall behind, I just mark them all as read and start over. The best things are always repeated anyway so chances are, I'll get another chance at reading it again.

I won a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter!

2010-03-09T12:00:00.001-06:00

My day was made at 6:30 this morning! Even the slow, foggy drive into work didn't bring me down. I spent the whole time day dreaming about my good fortune...

As usual, I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Being a night owl is a tough lifestyle when you have a day job. My alarm was ringing every ten minutes for the last half-hour and the bed reached it's most comfortable state. Flailing around on the nightstand for my glasses, I noticed the blinking light on my phone. Oooh a message!

Disregarding my glasses, I picked up the phone instead. The message was from Valerie from Sweeps4bloggers! I had entered to win a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith about a week ago. My interest peaked as I opened the email.

Joy of joys! I was being informed that I was a winner! This doesn't happen very often so needless to say I was beside myself with happiness and leaped out of bed and did a happy dance!

This will give me reason to check my mailbox every day! I can't wait until it comes.

My name is on the sweeps4bloggers list of winners!

Downloadable Audio books

2010-03-04T21:22:00.010-06:00

When I heard about Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben Winters coming out, I thought I better read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I was always slightly afraid of this one because of the length and I knew it would take me a while to read it. There are so many books on my to-read list that I'm anxious to get to, but I decided to go ahead and try it anyway.

First, I found the full-text version on Google Books and read the first few pages, I was hooked and knew I couldn't stop with that. Then, I downloaded a copy to my Blackberry and have been reading it every day during my lunch break. The story is so beautifully written it pulled me instantly into it.

Two days ago, I entered the "Biggest Loser" contest that the library staff are having for the next three months.

What was I thinking? Right?
Anyway, I entered the contest and weighed in on Wednesday.

At lunch on Wednesday, I found myself eating a salad and reading my book for the entire hour - how in the world is this supposed to help? The salad was a step in the right direction, but the sitting on my bum for an entire hour? Wasting the only time I actually have get off my bum all day? I vowed to do better.

Today, at lunch, again, sitting on my bum for an entire hour reading when I could have been walking for at least 30 minutes of this time.

Addictions are hard to break and I'm totally addicted to the wonderful world that Leo painted. What to do? What to do?

Then I had a Eureka moment! I'm reading it on my Blackberry, why couldn't I listen to it on my Blackberry? I could download it straight from our downloadable collection. DUH! Why didn't I think of this before? Well, I did think of it before, kind of, but I lost my little MP3 player a while ago and never thought that I could download books on my Blackberry from Overdrive.

I sent a quick email to Kim, the head of our Readers Services division... Can I download audio books on my Blackberry?

Her reply, in short, was maybe the MP3 versions...

I decided to see if I could get an audio version of it so I could actually walk around during my lunch hour and still get my daily fix.

First of all, I had to see if the library's collection even had that title in MP3 version. It did, so I immediately checked it out and started the process of downloading it. I successfully downloaded the Overdrive software to my Blackberry and followed all the rules and instructions. Then commenced downloading the file to my Blackberry... not so successful!

It said it couldn't find the license for it. Hmm... After a few more tries, I was convinced it wasn't going to work that way. Not giving up, I tried another way - downloading to my computer so I could transfer it later. It said that it would take several minutes and it wasn't lying! I just left it go for a while and came back to it about half an hour later - almost done!

After this, I tried to transfer it to the Blackberry and it worked great... except when I tried to play the file it said it was expired! I looked at the details and it showed that I checked it out today - March 4 and it would expire on March 18. Ok, this didn't make sense, why does it say expired? Hmmm... After a few more tries, I was convinced it wasn't going to work that way.

Not giving up, I tried another way - downloading the files to iTunes. Yes! Success! Now, to get it on the Blackberry.

After a little more trial and error... I am now, as I type, listening to part 1 of Anna Karenina on my Blackberry while the other 29 parts are downloading.

Look out fellow Biggest Loser contestants, now that I can listen to Anna Karenina on my blackberry, I will be walking every day during my breaks and lunch.

I hope my persistence in getting the audio book to work on my Blackberry will carry over to the Biggest Loser contest and help me win. Well, even if I lose the contest, I'll still win if I actually lose any weight during this three-month period.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

2010-03-03T06:00:00.002-06:00

As you may know from a previous post (Hunt for Zombies), I requested a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith, to review. When the copy arrived, I was so excited about it, I started reading it right away!

Yes!

I was drawn in from the very first page. Mr. Bennet and I share the same feeling when it comes to funerals: revulsion. It's my belief that funerals bring out the worst in people. Take Mrs. Bennet for instance. She was commenting on the quality of the casket and busy making sure her eldest daughter, Jane was displaying herself properly. Never know when one might meet a prospective husband. Then of course there is Mr. Ford, the guest of honor at the funeral, who didn't even have the social grace to stay put in his casket. When Mr. Ford started thrashing around, the whole congregation went berserk, mostly Mrs. Bennet.

Then things get interesting. Mr. Bennet tells Elizabeth and Mary to follow him towards the zombie. This is the girls' first exposure to the undead and they ultimately fail to put it out of commission. Mr. Bennet, trained in the deadly arts, quickly dispatches the zombie and realizes that he must train his girls in the deadly arts as well. They need to be trained not only for their own protection, but also to repair a vow he had broken to a secret league of warriors he used to belong to.

Throughout the story, the girls learn all sorts of fighting moves and how to use various weapons, much to the displeasure of Mrs. Bennet. Not only are the girls fighting zombies, they are also becoming social outcasts. They have to deal with stares and whispers from their neighbors and even get uninvited to a ball. This doesn't seem to bother the girls very much as they have realized what is most important.

One of my favorite lines from the book is when Elizabeth is debating with herself if she should follow her father towards the undead Mr. Ford. "And then a third voice chimed in, one Elizabeth didn't even recognize at first, so well trained were proper young ladies in ignoring it. The voice of Self."

I think this is a great "girl-power" story where zombies are metaphors for anything that would traditionally be considered a man's job. Personally, I wouldn't want the job of dispatching zombies, but I do enjoy my freedom to have that choice. The Bennet girls had to break out of the mold society and their own mother made for them.

This was an excellent story and I enjoyed reading it. The story line flowed quite nicely from one event to another. Witty, exciting and liberating would be how I would describe it.

Here are a few more of my favorite lines from this book:

"A battle cry shatters the shackles of good manners and gentility"

"Ladylike be damned!"

and last but not least...

"You're all so quick to point out what you can't do. The time has come to learn what you can."

For more info about Dawn of the Dreadfuls and other Quirk Classics, visit:http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=dawnofthedreadfuls

Chance to win prizes!

Dear readers: Visit this link: http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews, mention my blog, and you will automatically be entered to win one of 50 Quirk Classics Prize Packs! (retail value of more than $100) described below:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Sense and Sensiblity and Sea Monsters

Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Thing # 50 - Personal Learning Network (PLN)

2010-03-01T09:45:00.007-06:00

I often get asked, "where in the world did you learn that?"

Lately, most of the time I answer - "Twitter." I never thought of it as my PLN before, but I guess it really is. Facebook is pretty close, I follow lots of library advocacy pages. My favorite page lately is the Quirk Book pages. I find out when the next cool books will be published and recently even got an opportunity to read/review one! Watch my blog on March 3! Hint, hint!

I never realized how much I actually do pick up just from the two second glances at my twitter feeds once in a while. When I find an article that was posted from someone I follow on Twitter, I usually add that blog or site to my RSS and follow it myself.

My RSS feeds now consist of graphic design sites, sites that offer free fonts, tutorials, tips, tricks of the trade, design inspiration, etc. Things I've learned on these sites, I have used at my work at the library when creating posters for events, logos, etc. I also follow library sites and learn how other libraries are marketing their services. I take what I learn and turn it into something that works for me and the library I work for.

I recently found out that my library is now on the top twitter lists of libraries!

Here is a mosaic of my personal twitter friends.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Lost States and Android Karenina

2010-02-26T22:13:00.004-06:00

I'm crossing my fingers for a free copy of Lost States by Mike Trinklein. Once again, Quirk Books has put a call for bloggers on their facebook page to read and review a book. I signed up for it and am really hoping I get it, this one sounds awesome!

I'm not usually into non-fiction books, but this one looks right up my alley. It looks to be a story of all the states that could have, and maybe should have, been. It appears to be jam-packed with historical and geographical trivia.

Meanwhile, I have also signed up to read and review Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben Winters. I'm waiting for the UPS man to bring that one! I'm currently reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy on my Blackberry. I can't believe I haven't picked this one up before, it's truly a wonderful story - and easy to read, unlike War and Peace. I think it's because the cast of characters in Anna Karenina isn't nearly half the amount that War and Peace has, so people and events are easier to keep track of.

I'm looking forward to see what the addition of Steam Punk will do to it. I'm not one of those people that think classics are sacred and shouldn't be touched. Personally, If I had written a book and someone wanted to add to it, creating a new incite to the story, I would be honored that my work was chosen for it. Besides, I wonder how many new copies of Anna Karenina have been bought by people like me that are reading it in order to compare the the two. It just made it popular again.

Look for my review on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls on March 3!

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton

2010-02-23T21:06:00.011-06:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Masha Hamilton yesterday when she came to Rochester. Masha's book, The Camel Bookmobile, was chosen as the 2010 Rochester Reads adult title so we invited her to come and share her experiences with us. A bunch of us from the Rochester Reads committee had lunch with Masha before her public presentation.

Masha is a very personable and intelligent woman, I liked her instantly. Her stories of her journeys as a corespondent in Russia and Afghanistan were jaw droppingly fascinating. I've never known anyone that has traveled so much and has seen so much than her. Masha's presentation of the Camel Bookmobile and her experience in helping Afghan women tell their stories (two totally different projects) were utterly amazing. She is a truly brave, charismatic, and compassionate woman, the world would be much better off with more like her.

Masha Hamilton signing my copy of The Camel Bookmobile.

I read the Camel Bookmobile after it was chosen as the title and I have to admit, I wasn't really drawn into the book. It's just not my favorite genre, I guess. I prefer Fantasy or Science Fiction, mainly because I'm an escapist and like to read about things that aren't so real. Where as the situation of the people in this book were a little too real. Her presentation made me change my mind about the book and really appreciate it.

The whole idea behind the story is very inspiring. Masha told us about the people in the nomadic villages that get visited by the camel book mobile. How, for these people, the books are their only window to a world that is totally different than their own. That more of the youth of the villages are going to the cities to have a higher education.

This poses a question, we all agree that education is a good thing, right? But what is this doing to their culture? As the young go off to get educated, who will carry on their traditions, their history, their way of life?

We don't have to go to Africa to see lost traditions. Let's look at our own lives, say 20 years ago before all the fancy technology that was supposed to make our lives easier. Instead of going visiting, we now email or text people. Instead of playing board games or making up games to play with your family, now we play online so we don't even have to be with each other anymore. We used to apply for jobs by filling out paper applications and handing it in. Now it's all done online and the people that don't have that option have to either get that option or be left behind. Is this really fair? What are we doing to ourselves?

Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

2010-02-13T17:45:00.002-06:00

A great story of colonizing Mars in the not-so-distant future. It describes the hardships the scientists went through when they were going through training in Antarctica, during the trip to Mars and when they finally get there. It also gets into the political impact colonizing Mars has on Earth. The different viewpoints of how to use the resources on Mars, whether or not to terraform and the inevitable revolution that occurs as a result of the many opposing views.

Definitely worth reading the sequel Blue Mars - where the terraforming and revolution continues.

The Hunt for Zombies has started!

2010-02-12T16:48:00.005-06:00

We heard the doorbell ring so my son went to answer the door. He came back in the living room and said, "We did hear the doorbell didn't we? There wasn't anyone there!"

Then I heard it - the sound of an UPS truck taking off from in front of the house. I leaped out of my chair - where I had been reading a Marvel Spider Man comic - and ran to the door.

I pulled it open and ... THERE IT WAS!

The manila-bubblewrap envelope.

I read the address label.
To: Roasted Marshmallow From: Quirk - Marketing Dept.
(see Hunt for Zombies)

I picked it up and ran into the living room, holding the envelope triumphantly above my head, doing a little victory dance. My son looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "What is it Mom? Can I open it?"

I gave him the envelope and told him, "This is the book I've been waiting for! When you open it don't be scared of the cover."

"I won't, Mom."

He proceeds to open the envelope and takes out the book, looks at it and said "Eww! Is she a Zombie?" Then he takes out a sheet of paper - the instructions on when and what links I'm supposed to post along with my review on March 3. The last thing he took out was a large sheet of folded paper - he opens it and says, even louder, "Eww!"
He was looking at a poster of the book cover.

The cover features a little girl, but her hands are all bloody and her eyes are red and her face appears to have a pallor of death. A little bit of blood is running out of her mouth. Yes, I do believe she could be a zombie. But then again, do Zombies bleed? I don't think so. Maybe she's not a Zombie. I'll have to read it to find out, and you'll have to read my review to find out...

As for the poster - I think I'll hang it in my library.

Thing 49 - Tweetdeck

2010-02-11T08:59:00.003-06:00

So I FINALLY installed Tweetdeck. I've been meaning to for quite a while but just never got around to it.
And.... now I'm kicking myself for not doing it before!
Eureka!
Before Tweetdeck I was going back and forth between my personal account and the library account all the time. Yes, sometimes I talked to myself between the two. The thing's I'll do just to promote the library...
Anyway, now it's so much easier to tweet something from the library, then retweet it from my account, and then watch the "Mention" column for other people re-tweeting.
The mention column is very cool because you can tell at a glance when other people are talking about you, or to you.
I did have to turn the notification sound off - very annoying.
I tried to upload my Facebook account in there as well, but didn't quite like that as much. I couldn't find how to post on the wall of the Library page that is tied to my Facebook account, and that would be the main reason for having it on there.
If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know and I'll try it again. But for now, I just keep Facebook out of Tweetdeck.

Waiting patiently for Thing #50. What's it going to be? Google Chrome? 4Square? More "fun generator" sites?

LOL4RPL

2010-02-08T13:25:00.004-06:00

A poster I created for our new fundraiser for the Rochester Public Library Foundation.

Thing #48 - Twitter Again

2010-02-04T10:25:00.003-06:00

I received a newsletter from Things on a Stick News and was pleased to see that the "Things" are still coming - although not in the previous format. This blog was born during a project called 23 Things on a Stick, a fun and unique way to learn web 2.0 tools. Tools which I now use both for personal use and for the library that I work for. After each "thing" we were to blog about what we learned. If you search the archive of this blog, you can see my progress through the "things."

After the first 23 things were complete, they came up with "more things on a stick" which I also completed and blogged about. After I was finished with the program, I continued using some of the tools I learned about for the library (and some for personal too!)

Social Media Update: I set up Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter accounts for my library last March. So far we have 519 Facebook fans, 228 Twitter followers and only 31 MySpace friends. As a result of the low numbers and lack of interactivity on MySpace, I have to admit, I haven't given it much attention as of late. But Facebook and Twitter has taken right off.

I post things like library events, services, relevant articles, photos, and other library related topics and it seems to be popular with our patrons. We get comments and "likes" on Facebook and we have Twitter followers that faithfully retweet some of our tweets. We do have a Flickr account that I post photos on and a YouTube account that I hope to be utilizing more in the future with a marketing campaign that's brewing in my mind - but I need some video equipment before I can get started on that.

I think this is a great way to learn new things and greatly appreciate the efforts of all the people who set up this program and made it available for us.

The hunt for zombies!

2010-02-02T20:29:00.008-06:00

On January 29th, I saw on my Facebook newsfeed that Quirk Classics were giving out free copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls to bloggers (big and small) to read and then post a review.

I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so I immediately sent them a request for a copy of the prequel. I have my fingers crossed that I get one.

If I do, I'll be posting my review here on March 3.

I wonder when/if it will come. I'll be checking my mailbox everyday!

Compliments from my Supervisor

2010-02-02T20:01:00.003-06:00

I had the best compliment ever today.

We had our staff recognition today - which consisted of a light breakfast, certificates for the people that have milestone years, door prizes, and year-in-review words by the division supervisors.

When my supervisor went up he thanked his staff and then said, "without Ginny, I'd be screwed." I was taking a sip of coffee at the moment and almost sprayed it all over but was able to hold it in - even with a big grin on my face.

2010-01-29T16:47:00.001-06:00

This is gonna be awesome!

2010-01-29T16:46:00.001-06:00

Success! Oh yeah!

2010-01-29T16:45:00.001-06:00

test blog from my phone!

I'm a coffee snob

2010-01-28T19:38:00.005-06:00

I'm going to have to break down and get a coffee maker. I usually wait until I get to Kwik Trip in the mornings, but that's a whole 1/2 hour after I get on the road because my home town doesn't have a Kwik Trip. Sometimes that's way too long to go without coffee in the morning.

This morning, I stopped at Kwik Trip to get my coffee and I actually remembered to bring my cup with me this time. I carried it into the store in my left hand. With my right hand I pulled out a 20 oz coffee cup from the dispenser, walked to the creamer stand and put the cream into the cup. Then I walked over to the other end of the coffee counter and started pumping the Hawaiian Macadamia Nut coffee into that cup. I had the cup almost full and started reaching, with my left hand for a lid when I realized I still had my to-go up in my other hand. DOH!

If I weren't such a coffee snob, I'd stop at the local Amoco before I left town but I have to have that flavored coffee. No other coffee will do. Starbucks, Caribou, and the other coffee houses are great, but I can't see spending over 4 dollars a day for a cup of coffee when I can fill my to-go cup at Kwik Trip for $0.95.

I'm not really a pyromaniac, but...

2010-01-11T09:14:00.004-06:00

I received my flame thrower in the mail and Holy Crap that thing is awesome!

I live in a small town that doesn't have postal delivery to our houses so we all have to go to the post office to pick up our mail. I remember to do this about once every 2 weeks except when I order something off Amazon, then I go every day. On Friday I received the red card in my box that said I had a parcel at the window. Oh BOY! I crawled out of bed early Saturday morning (10:30 am) and drove to the Post office to pick it up. I almost cried when I pulled on the door to the office and it wouldn't open. I read the hours sign - they close at 10:30 on Saturday mornings. But wait - there's still someone in there.

I knocked on the door pressing my face against the glass with what I hoped was a poor, pathetic look on my face. Please feel sorry for me and let me in.

"We're closed."

"Can I just pick up a package? Please?"

She turns and looks at me. Then sighs and gets my package and gives it to me. I thank her profusely and had to restrain myself from skipping out the door.

As soon as I get home I rip open the package and hold the flame thrower up in triumph and glee. My children and I hurried out to try it out.

First we tried it on the hinges to our front gate. They had frozen open and our dog kept getting out. I had the gate thawed out in a matter of minutes and now it's able to shut! Next we went to Mt. Everest at the end of my driveway. We found that things worked excellent if one person holds the flame on the ice, another person starts chipping, and the third person scrapes away the chunks. Without the flame, the ice just broke off in microscopic dust shards - it would have taken forever to get rid of it, but with the flame, it softened the ice up so that it broke off in pretty good sized chunks or turned it to slush so it was easily scraped away.

My driveway no longer has a mountain on the end of it - until it snows and the snowplow goes by again. I was able to drive my car out without scraping all the underside off.

Things are good!

Amazon Treasures

2010-01-05T20:55:00.005-06:00

I love Amazon.com!

Lately, I found that you can get almost anything from Amazon. (and don't forget to use the link on the Friends of the Library page when ordering your treasures! When you do, the Friends receive about %5 of the sale!)

Speaking of the Friends, they purchased a new laminator for the library - from Amazon. The price (for the same laminating machine) was remarkably less than we found it from other vendors, plus it qualified for FREE shipping!

The laminator arrived today much to our delight. My co-worker and I were dancing around like two giddy little girls who got their very own ponies for Christmas.

Other treasures I found on Amazon (but didn't order) are snow blowers, pickled cabbage, and dog food. You know how sometimes you can find used stuff on Amazon for a bargain? Well, there was that option for the dogfood, but I don't think that would have been much of a bargain. *shudder*

Recently I upgraded my phone and received a $100 rebate card. I was totally disappointed in the rebate card because I was expecting a check I could just deposit back into my account. I tried to use the rebate card in some stores but for some reason it didn't work! So, naturally, we thought, why don't we use it on Amazon! So, today I ordered a textbook for my fiance, a flame thrower and a Stargate DVD. All with the free 2-day shipping! I can't believe that by next weekend I'll have a flame thrower and a DVD of one of my favorite movies! I feel that giddy little school girl scream working it's way up. aaaaah!

Best of all... since I ordered a movie, they gave me a promotional coupon for $5.00 off eligible TV show seasons. I went and looked to see what was available and OMG! I can't decide which to get. Should I get Hercules - The Legendary Journeys? Xena - Warrior Princess? Warehouse 13? I just can't decide! I have a few weeks before the promotion expires so I'll think about this one for a while.

So far the New Year is starting out totally AWESOME!

Christmas trees are highly flammable

2010-01-04T12:44:00.001-06:00

The look my daughter gave me after giving her a box of matches and telling her to start the tree on fire was priceless.

After taking the decorations off the tree and having needles fall off everywhere, I decided to move the tree outside to take off the lights. So, I pick up the tree and carry it outside - dropping needles the whole way. Once outside it was really easy to take off the lights and not have to worry about how many needles we had to pick up. My fiance keeps telling me - that's why I get an artificial tree. Even with the needles, I still want to have a real tree, but that's a discussion for later...

Anyway, after taking the lights off, I moved the tree to where I thought the fire ring was in my back yard. There was so much snow it was hard to tell. I stood the tree up in the snow and told my daughter to start it on fire. Which she did, quite gleefully.

She was quite impressed with what one match could do. She lit the tree and it went up in flames. To make it even more impressive, I put the box and all the cardboard packing material that came with my new snow blower on the tree as well. For about 5 minutes it was blazing awesome and even warmed up the -6° day.

Thank goodness our little town allows bonfires - as long as they are in a fire ring. Turns out - after the tree was burned and melted some of the surrounding snow - we missed the fire ring by about a foot. Oops!

It's Twenty-Ten!

2010-01-04T12:26:00.001-06:00

A new year, a clean slate.

Wish I could say the same for my driveway...
Right before Christmas we get this huge snowstorm then we get freezing rain on Christmas day. The snowplows still went out on Christmas day but I wasn't home in time to shovel the big mess at the end. By the time I did get home, the end of my driveway was completely blocked shut with a huge mountain of ice.

I bought an ice chipper and was out there chipping until my arms were rubber. I salted it so much I'm afraid that there isn't going to be anything left of my driveway when the ice finally does go away. But still, 2-weeks later there's still a cliff at the end of my driveway.

Good thing I have a Jeep - my Honda Civic has been sitting in the garage since the first storm.

I did purchase a snow blower so that the next snow we get I'll at least be able to move that. I'm tempted to purchase a flame thrower to melt the big mess at the end. I"m afraid that will be there the entire season if I don't get rid of it soon. My poor Honda will have to spend the winter in the garage. My poor wallet - forking out the money to pay for gas for my Jeep!

test post

2009-12-31T14:21:00.000-06:00

Checking out the posting schedule.

New year already?

2009-12-30T14:13:00.003-06:00

Is Thanksgiving over already? Christmas too? WTF?

I guess it's time to make up some New Year's resolutions.

1. Gain weight
2. sleep more
3. drink more
4. be selfish
5. get disorganized

There, that outta do it. I'll feel totally accomplished by this time next year.

The Library Experience

2009-12-07T10:58:00.002-06:00

‘Tis the season for family gatherings, food, and gifts. No matter how or what you celebrate, just being surrounded by holiday decorations, sounds and smells can bring those warm fuzzies of holidays past.

Kind of like when you walk into a library... You know what I’m talking about.
The rows of bookshelves, the feel of the book spines when you run your hand across them, the smell of paper... doesn’t that bring back memories of your first visit to the library?

The seasonal warm fuzzies are just that ... seasonal. You can get that warm fuzzy library experience all year around (except, of course, when we’re closed on holidays).

Remember when you entered the library and the first image you saw was the librarian sitting behind the big desk with her glasses hanging around her neck on a chain. The only sound you heard was the librarian’s rubber stamp clunking back and forth from the ink pad to the check-out card, on which you actually had to write your name. “Shhhh,” occasionally echoed through the whole library making heads turn to see who was getting shushed.

Those too young to remember the card catalog, don’t know what you missed. Sure, finding titles and subjects is quick and easy using the online catalog but sometimes it seems a little distant and detached. There was a more intimate connection when you actually had to flip through the cards, smelling the paper and typewriter ink. You could tell which were the most popular by the slightly ragged edges that would stick out just a little further than the rest.

Ah, those were the days.

The sights, sounds and smells of the library have changed through the times. The card catalog has been replaced by computers. It’s no longer a surprise to see a librarian wearing jeans and sneakers; maybe even having facial piercings and tattoos. When is the last time you have heard, “Shhhh,” in the library? OK, there are times when some people get a little too noisy and they need to be reminded not to yell or scream in the library.

Books no longer show only their spines; now there are displays of books showing their covers - bookstore style. The shelves hold more than just books printed on paper; they include electronic versions of books on CDs and cassettes. They even include computer software, videos, music CDs, etc. We still have magazines and newspapers but we also have online databases to get the same information - paperless. We also have online resources to learn how to fix cars, learn different languages, take practice tests and even find out how many McDonald’s vs. Subways there are.

Just think, the next generation of library lovers will probably remember the library as a place to get free wi-fi, or to download audiobooks to their iPods and MP3 players, play Guitar Hero, etc. No matter when they occurred or what they are; your fondest library memories can be brought back by visiting the library.

We still have rows of shelves full of books and story times. We still have information and entertainment resources. We still have library lovers of all generations coming and making more memories.

How did you become a library lover?

Raffle Unbaffle

2009-12-01T10:56:00.002-06:00

Eureka! I have done it!
The successful raffle ticket numbering template. *Happy Dance!*

Once I figured out how the Word "Merge" thing really worked, it was really quite easy.

I still have to print out the un-numbered raffle tickets with Indesign, but then both sets of numbers can be printed from Word with only one run through the printer. That way if there is a jam, which is very likely, it doesn't cause any problems with the numbering.

MS Word and Adobe Indesign don't usually play well together, but today they made a huge breakthrough on teamwork.

Raffle Baffle

2009-11-30T16:49:00.002-06:00

Our 9th annual fund-raiser for the library is coming up and once again, I'm making raffle tickets for the event. We've only had a raffle for the last three years though. Each year I'm trying to be more efficient, because these raffle tickets are a buggar! Of course we have to print them in-house and according to the Minnesota Gambling board the raffle tickets need to be numbered both on the stub and the tear off part that the person gets.

Ok, so, first year: I use Indesign and set up a layout of 6 per page horizontally. I manually numbered each and every ticket (twice). The first page had #s 1-6, the second page had #s7-12, etc... Then after printing, we used a sewing machine to perforate them. Then cut them apart and collated them and stapled them in books of 10. Whew!

Second year: I used the same template but I got "smart" and numbered them differently. Instead of consequentially, I numbered them like this: first page - 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51. second page - 2,12,22,32,42,52, etc... After they were printed, they didn't have to be collated! But I still had to hand number them, cut them and staple them in books of 10. Oh yeah, I also bought a perforation wheel for my paper cutter. That was so much easier than the sewing machine.

Third year: I thought I was being very smart this year and by all logic it should have worked excellent. I thought it would be very easy if I could get Word to "merge" the numbers to the tickets. So, after some trial and error, I finally figured it out. Since the tickets need to be numbered both on the stub and the tear-off part, I made two different templates with the numbers in the correct spots. I did have to make an excel spreadsheet with my numbers (one long column of 1,11,21,31,41,51,2.12.22.32,etc up to 60). Now, on screen it works great! Except now I have to run my paper through the printer twice to get the numbers printed. Usually that's not a problem. First run through went great! YES! But hold on now, the second run-through, not so great. Paper jam! Crap! It ruined two of the sheets and therefore threw all my numbers off.

Back to the drawing board.

Three Cheers for the Veterans

2009-11-11T10:17:00.003-06:00

I went to a Veterans' Day program at my children's school and as always, everyone is politely grimacing during the band piece, and pretends to hear and understand what the students are saying when they are reciting their poems. It's all sweet and we're all proud of our children for standing up and taking part in the program. But the best part of the whole program is when they ask the Veterans in the audience to stand up so we can all give them a resounding applause. Today there were Vets from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. There was only one active duty military person in attendance today. She is in the Coast Guard and just graduated high school last year. Her mother still lives next door to me. I couldn't help but feel a little proud of her coming back to her high school to talk part in the program. She looked very grown up in her uniform She wasn't the giggly little high school girl anymore.
My thanks to you Veterans, and those still in active duty, for everything.

V - the new series

2009-11-04T16:17:00.003-06:00

I was a total V fanatic in the 80s. I never missed an episode of the TV series and had a lot of the books. When I heard that they were re-making V I said to myself - yeah, it was a great show, but why is everything from the 80s coming back now? I'm just glad that the overly large shoulder pads aren't back yet. I hated them then and still rip out any shoulder pads that come in my jackets now.
But I digress.
The pilot for V aired last night and I planted myself in front of the TV to watch it, just as I did over 20 years ago. And just like then, I had homework in front of me that I was trying to get through. This time it was my children's homework I was checking.
Was it just me or did it seem like they crammed about half the TV series into less than one hour? The time line went so fast it was hard to keep up with what was going on. If I hadn't seen the original, I'd wonder, WTF? actually, I'm still wondering that.
Everything happened so fast. I don't think they had enough background - they didn't leave you wondering about them for very long before you knew they were nasty reptilian creatures looking for a good human lunch.
I do have to say that I think they chose a good cast and it wasn't nearly as cheesy as the original. But I wish they would SLOW down! Good science fiction shouldn't be rushed like that. They missed out on a lot of good suspense opportunities.
oh, and one more thing. How come none of our space probes warned us of their arrival? Why was everyone so shocked when they just appeared over the cities?

Sword of Truth series

2009-11-03T14:23:00.002-06:00

I've been hammering through the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I started by watching the Legend of the Seeker on Hulu and decided I better read the books.
The books and the TV series are totally different - as usual. But that's ok, I didn't expect them to be the same - a person can't, really.
I really like the books, except it seems like Terry keeps switching his writing style all the time. Every once in a while I feel like I'm reading something simple enough that my 10-year-old son would enjoy and then he gets really deep and philosophical.
The character of Kahlen really bugs me in the books. In the TV series, she's a strong, independent woman but in the books she started off that way, but as soon as she met Richard she turned into a whiny little weakling.
I'm on book 4 now and I believe there are 11 in the entire series? I plan on getting through all of them because they really are a great story. They remind me a lot of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time though.

Napoleon Who?

2009-10-28T09:10:00.002-05:00

What are kids learning in school?

It's a sad thing to know that my daughter thinks there's only one Napoleon and his last name is Dynamite.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-20T09:35:00.002-05:00

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

I totally loved Where the Wild Things Are as a kid (and still do). So naturally I just HAD to go see the movie as soon as I could. I wasn't disappointed. The monsters were great, Max was totally believable. I loved the way the whole monster part drifted between nightmarish intensity and warm fuzzies, just like real dreams (well, my dreams anyway).
My kids didn't really get it though. I had to explain it to them. But then again, they never stayed up late at night reading that book, turning the pages back and forth studying the illustrations the way I did as a kid. I never had cable TV or Internet - I hate to say it, but I think things were better back then...

Riese the Web series

2009-10-14T14:47:00.002-05:00

This looks like a totally awesome web series. Starting November 2.
http://riesetheseries.com/

Christina Katerina and the Box

2009-10-13T16:19:00.003-05:00

Another childhood favorite of mine: Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch and illustrated by Doris Burn. This is about a girl that gets a huge cardboard box and all the creative things she does with it.

I was reminded of this story today because there was a huge cardboard box in the office. I thought, "Wow, that could be a great space ship or a raft or some other vehicle to take me away on a marvelous adventure" but of course, at work, I can't do that so I reluctantly let it go down to the garage where the box graveyard is.

They want me to think out of the box but sometimes the best ideas come from the box itself.

Andrew Henry's Meadow

2009-10-07T16:18:00.005-05:00

One of my all-time favorite books as a child was Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn. About a boy who like to invent things and was totally misunderstood by his family. He decided to run away and build himself a home in a nearby meadow so he could invent without getting yelled at by his parents and siblings. Soon other misunderstood children came to the meadow needing a place to "be themselves" and Henry built each child a dwelling that suited their eccentricities.
I won't put any spoilers in here so I'll stop now.
I see that this title is up for a possible movie and I totally hope it makes it so the book will become popular. But I hope, if they do make a movie out of it, that they don't screw it up like most movies based on books are.

Time Warp

2009-09-17T16:53:00.002-05:00

Why is it that when you get some time out of the office, your first full day back seems like an eternity?

When there is 15 minutes left of the day and the clock has been running backwards all afternoon, the eyes are rolling towards the back of the head, the strongest drowsiness hits.

10 minutes left of the day, all the projects have been put away and the desk sort of cleaned off.

5 minutes to 5:00 ... I just remembered I needed to take care of something, it will only take a minute.

5:20 - Time to go home now. What? 5:20? How did that happen? A minute ago it wasn't even 5 yet.

Just another day at the office

2009-09-11T10:44:00.002-05:00

Right now, if someone would walk into the office, they would see, my co-worker wearing sunglasses and putting on lip stick. Me, with a huge TV stand in my cubicle watching what looks like court TV. Actually its the city council meeting and I'm recording it... well, who really cares about that. Anyway, then they will see the maintenance guy laying on the floor with a jug of what looks like peanut butter and from this angle it looks like he's smearing it all over the carpet.