It's Over Between Us

Okay 23 Things it's over between us. I really learned alot from you but I am not sorry to see you go. Next time we meet I hope you come armed with a translator who can help me understand you better. Then our relationship will be even stronger and maybe I can even introduce you to my friends. Goodbye.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg has actually got some books on it which are retrievable. I tried all the others to no avail. They had never heard of John Grisham or Harry Potter. Inconceivable.

Podcast-Schmodcast

I went looking for a podcast and what did I find? Not much. I found it all very difficult to use and irrelevant to my lifestyle.

Oscars for Library2.0

So, what I want to know is what will 2.0 be wearing on the red carpet this season?

Online Word Processing for the average bear

How great that the average bear can access online spreadsheets and word processing.
It makes the internet truly a practical tool.

Wiki here and Wiki there

Wikis can be very useful if you are working on a group project of some sort and everyone can go to the same site to post ideas and questions. But as a source of information I think they're just too suspect.

It's just delicious

So, now I know all about tagging things. I have tagged my own blog and tried to lure unsuspecting readers in to my web. Unfortunately I see that some wacko person in Canada has tagged his site for anyone in the world who types the world avatar into his/her site. Then this Canadian feels compelled to comment. PULeeze. This is why I do not like the whole internet "thang." No privacy. No thanks.

News Feeds

I think it's great to keep up with the times: the New York Times, the L.A. Times and maybe even the London Times. But you know what? I still don't have time to read these feeds.

rss feeds but who's hungry?

Sorry about that title but it's late and I'm just trying to get this done. I did set up a bunch, a gaggle, a whole herd of rss feeds to my bloglines account because that was the assignment. And guess what? I haven't checked them - not even once. I simply don't have time.

But I'm starting my own website and I have asked my web developer to include rss feeds from my site. Folks will be able to get the feed from the entire site and also from various genres or age groups from within the site.

So, I see the value of it all. And once my site is up and running, maybe I, too, will have a chance to read some rss feeds.

Lifelong learning

As I raised my two children now ages 24 and 29, my husband and I always told them, try new things or TNT. Now that they are grown up we see them practicing the TNT method of living on a regular basis. It is very satisfying. They are truly life long learners and I believe in it myself as well.

As an Army wife, you find yourself constantly on the move and constantly re-inventing yourself and having to learn new roadways, new teachers, new coaches, new procedures for just about everything. It's very challenging and demanding but it keeps your mind sharp and it keeps you open to new things.

Lifelong learners all.

You Tube Meets The Howard County Library

Just went and visited You Tube land. I really like the Community section. I think it's a great tool for people to connect to information when they have the time and when they're thinking about specific issues.

As for the library, well I think You Tube is a natural for us. We could have our author interviews published on You Tube and we could have librarians doing book recommendations on You Tube. How great to be able to bring your librarian into your home through You Tube just before heading out to the library. You could write down some titles that sound good and then head over with a goal instead of just floundering in the bookstacks. I talk to plenty of parents who are overwhelmed by the number of books on the children's shelves. So much is new and they haven't read them and don't really know what's there. Sort of a mining for treasure among the books sort of experience. When the children are young, the whole run in and grab a book before the child escapes experience is stressful. Picture books are spine out. Who knows what lies inside those covers?

So, I say, let's get in the game and start putting our expertise out there for our patrons to tap into. You Tube meets the Howard County Library.

As for the two videos I chose to post, well, how fun to be able to listen to one of my favorite songs and watch one of my favorite artists perform it??? And how delightful to be able to watch and hear one of our best children's authors talk about saving our natural heritage for our children. Such excellence at the push of a button.

If you're going to glue yourself to this machine, it's nice to stumble on some worthwhile sites.

T.A.Barron: Let's make the world wonderful for children

What a Difference A Day Makes- Jamie Cullum

Technorati- where the minds of those under 30 go to be lost

All right my little party animals. I was fair. I looked at Technorati. I looked at the most popular blogs and I looked at Boing Boing. What can I say?

The day I was looking at Technorati I had the sorry misfortune of reading of the demise of some one who had been spending time having surgery to try to look like some other person. Okey-dokey. They were having breast implants and hair issues or something. They were going to be pandrogynous. Uh huh. They had even chosen a name to share I gather.

There was another article about the Bible being translated into some bizarre language which I think had something to do with LOL. Yeah, I do know that means laugh out loud.

I took a look at the world's most popular blogs according to Technorati. Now, the first ten all had the word gadget in them.

Look folks, there is a group of people who wants to spend time reading about these meaningless, worthless undertakings. Hey, I used to read Harlequin romances when I had babies and I wanted to escape. To each his own. (I always preferred the historical Harlequins myself.)

But let's not kid ourselves. If you are spending so much time online that you find this entertaining then I will put a question to you: What are you escaping from? You might want to take the following quiz:

1. I have had a meaningful conversation with a family member
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last Month e. Last Year f. Never

2. I have done something to help someone else
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

3. I did something to save the environment
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

4. I cared about the feelings of someone else
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

5. I did something to put a smile on someone else's sad face
a. Today b. This week c. This month d. Last month e. Last Year f. Never

It's a short quiz. If you answered never more than once, you need to get a grip on yourself and start living in the real world. Connect with someone else in a good way. Get out there and do something to make everything around you a bit better. It really is up to you.

The gadgets will come and go. None of them will show up for your funeral.

woman's best friend

Rollyo

And so I see the value of making your own search engine and having instant access to info on the topics that you search frequently. I made my rollyo search the best books for kids. I'm still looking for good books for kids.

More Good Books

Just finished reading three good ones:

1. Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt

Yes, that mistress of storytelling has a new delightful book out for us. Jack Plank's days of being a pirate have come to an end. He has washed up on the shores of Saltwash, a town on the Caribbean Sea, and has dropped anchor at Mrs. Delfresno's boardinghouse. The task of finding him new employment is at hand. Each night at dinner the residents propose various possible new paths for Jack but each suggestion meets with a reason why Jack can't do that and a story to back up his NO. The stories have great imagination and will take young listeners to wonderful places. Mermaids, the hand of a mummy, treasure and knaves...it rings of days gone by and stories gone by. Good stuff.

2. When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach: Too much fun. Today while running errands, our young hero and his mother learn that at the bakery a dozen doughnuts will get you a free dinosaur. At the doctor's office being brave enough to get a shot will also get you a free dinosaur. Imagine the mother's face as she is trailed home by a motley crew of dinos...
Fabulous.

3. Ivan the Terrier by Peter Catalanotto: Ivan keeps getting into the story and turning it on its head. The three bears are terrorized and the girl with the red riding hood will never be the same- neither will the three pigs. Fun.

The Wonder of a Monarch Butterfly

It's one of those glorious summer/fall days in September and I've just come in from a trip out onto the Eastern Shore. It's the kind of day where the sunlight seems a bit lower than you're used to and it always makes me want to bake an apple pie or make oatmeal raisin cookies. That's what I've evolved to as a a member of my species. So, my oven is preheating and the Granny Smith apples are sitting on the kitchen counter. The pie cloth is spread out and the rolling pin is waiting to be dusted. Yes, I still make my own crust and I cut up my apples and I throw in however much butter and cinnamon I deem appropriate. No canned filling for this girl.

On the trip we headed out to St. Michael's with a stop along the way for oyster stew at the Fisherman's Inn. This time of year and all through the gray days of February that stew is a joy to inhale. They have the best saltines there, too. Not the oyster crackers but the square saltines made by Westminster. Just the right crunch and right amount of everything.

We drove through St. Michael's and on out to Tilghman's Island. If you keep going all the way out to the tip of the island you'll find yourself in full view of a Naval Research Lab that appears to have been taken over by a family of osprey. Then, if you're really determined to keep going, you can park (or drive which I don't recommend) by the Lab and walk through the daunting gate. The water is on your right. Today it was choppy and gray. There were some committed fishermen with their hoods up around their heads facing out to the water as though they did not want to be seen. It reminded me very much of Inchon in South Korea. The earth around them was disturbed by construction vehicles and due to the rain yesterday there were some puddles, some mud, and some just moist red dirt.

On the left side of our rutted path were native bushes - some multi-flora but I'm pretty sure some spice bushes. Beyond them were the skeletons of trees topped with osprey nests. The osprey were coming and going and truly putting the human fisherpeople to shame. Talons clutched gleaming fish headed to the nests. Persimmon trees marched along the way.

It was a magical place - totally unexpected and most magical when we found the Black Walnut Inn at the end of the road and stopped short to watch the jewels glittering on the spice bushes that edged the driveway coming and going to the inn. The jewels were monarch butterflies, and perhaps a red admiral, and a small one we couldn't name. You know all of those National Geographic specials you've seen where the flock of butterflies dances down onto trees and then quivers all over the leaves? Yep. That's it. It was real and it was right in front of us.

I was so thankful that we had found this very special moment in the monarch world. They sipped water from the mud and they feasted on the tight blossoms of the spice bush.

I have to tell you that I am currently re-reading SARAH PLAIN AND TALL to prepare to interview Patricia MacLachlan. The power of that little book is coming back to me. There is such strength in Sarah. She is so willing to risk loving life in spite of the challenges that come her way and she shows us how valuable the simple things like shells and sheep and hay dunes truly are. I look at the world around us and I wonder: Will our children carry on this wonder? As a PTSA president when my kids were in high school, I used to write a column for the school newspaper and I asked the parents to think ahead to Thanksgiving in 10 or 15 or even 20 years. You are sitting down with your children who are now grown. Who do you want to have sitting across from you? A child who has grown into someone you can love, respect and admire? Of course. How do you do that?

Well, one way, for me at least, is to share the wonders with children. And to preserve those wonders for those children. In his latest book, THE DAY THE STONES WALKED, T.A. Barron tells a story of a boy who lives on Easter Island. There is a wonderful bond between that boy and his mother and especially with his father. The boy feels his heritage very strongly. He feels his natural world very strongly. Then danger strikes and what will reach out from his world to save him?

In the author's note, T.A.Barron talks about the importance of teaching our children to safeguard and cherish our natural wonders. A child who can do that will grow to be a man or a woman that you want to eat your turkey with. They become wonders in themselves.

So, I cherish my time with the monarchs. They knew to migrate down through the Eastern Shore and the spice bush knew to be ready with the banquet. Civility at its finest. As for me,
my family just noticed the pie makings on the kitchen counter and I'm going to go finish slicing apples. Lucky to have had a such a day.

Madeleine L'Engle

I'm sure you've heard by now that Madeleine L'Engle just passed away. Another grand spirit marching on. Thank goodness we can hold onto her in her books. "The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it" says James Bryce. When you read Madeleine L'Engle's books you carry away questions and ideas and you feel you have taken your brain and your spirit on an adventurous journey to places where no one else dared to go. I think she lived in and out of dimensions that we don't all get to experience and she was willing to open them to us all.

A book isn't just something printed on paper. It's energy and vibration and thought and connection. Hers were vivid and sparkling.

Whatever dimension she's in now, I'm sure she can still see us. She knows she made a tremendous contribution. Let's keep the books flowing into the hands of young readers. Something more than hot dog heroes and tv scripts. It's a glorious world out there in the land of literature. Keep the spark alive.

Library Thing

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=langridb&shelf=shelf

I have 5 thrilling titles on my shelf at Library Thing. I'm working on developing a website to recommend children's and young adult books. Library Thing is giving me some good ideas about linking recommendations.

Frankly, though, I don't know what My Sister Ate One Hare has to do with Bright Shadow.
I think some people have a little too much fun with the concept.

Wandering with an avatar? Where would we go?

Allrighty then. I have now explored the warm and cozy world of image generators online. My reaction: disgust. Sorry, but it's just not for me. It's not for me the same way comic books and graphic novels are not for me. It's flash in the pan and airless. It's an image that floats in cyberspace with no dimensions and no connecting ports. Yikes.

I just read a book review in the Washington Post about reading and the brain. The book is Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf - it explores what parts of the brain need to operate to make reading a possibility. The book sounds way beyond me and was a self-admitted stretch for Michael Dirda, the reviewer. But what I culled out of it was the simple fact that it is important to read or tell stories to kids when they are young because the brain needs to start developing the physical pathways that will enable reading. It turns out those pathways to reading may also be pathways to empathy and critical thinking. Dirda poses the possbility that it "may already be too late for many young people. They will never be able to read with the same thoughfulness and comprehension as their parents. Think about that."

I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Yes, I know the computer has wonderful possibilities and potential and yes, you're all correct - how wonderful that we can all connect with each other on such a grand scale. I guess it's those smaller scales that I value so highly. A cup of tea and a chance to hear about someone's life from across the table. A smile at a stranger whose face lights up in return and you know you just gave that person a gift at a time when he/she really needed it.
A journey through the pages of a book that takes you inside your own brain perhaps via your own heart for a bit of a tune-up.

No avatar will take me there.

Nice work if you can get it

Chicory- My favorite flower. Linnaeus created a wildflower clock back in his day. Each hour had a flower. Chicory opens up around 5:00am and then closes for the day at noon. Nice work if you can get it. Watch for it along the roadside. On cloudy days it doesn't obey its own rule!


Flickr: What a wonderful place to find other people's photos. I don't want to put my personal photos on the web however.

Great books for kids- what's new

I've been reading like a fiend lately to be ready to booktalk teachers and students as the new school year approaches. I've found some absolute gems.

Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan - coming out on Aug. 28 is a DO NOT MISS! It's great reading for kids who are 8-12 who love reading about families and people and who care deeply about others (and for most grown women.) A heartwrencher. Don't hand this to boys who just want action and adventure.

Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett- Already published and a really good time will be had by all. Johnny has enough of Everyman in him to make you care about him. His friends are wacky enough that you want to see what they'll do next. Time travel and a bit of history intertwined with his wonderful humor. Here's the book for those boys who don't want to see Edward's Eyes.

Getting Air by Dan Gutman-hmmm....maybe it's a possibility for boys ages 7-10. They would get skateboarding, terrorists, a deep discussion of religion, some education on how to survive in the great outdoors...

Schooled by Gordon Korman - here we go...this is great stuff for males/females alike - ages 9-13.
Our young protagonist is coming off a "farm" where he's lived with his grandmother. He's completely disconnected from the big, wide world until his granny falls from the branch of a plum tree and catapaults him into middle school -8th grade to be exact. Ripe for the plucking himself he is spotted by an alpha male in the school...can you really be yourself and survive in the 8th grade?

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie - Jordan Sonnenblick - FABULOUS - great pick for girls about 10-14. Meet our protagonist who is really tired of being tagged after by his younger brother.
Until his younger brother has leukemia. The whole world tilts. He still loves to play the drums and he still thinks that girl who sits in front of him is very hot...what a great job Mr. Sonnenblick has done to draw you into this young man's world and make you want to know him.

Technology

Technology. The word itself is cold and impersonal. Doesn't say much for the process. I am a people and nature person. I think we're on the Earth to connect to living things- plants, animals, people. I looked out my French doors yesterday afternoon and watched a small chipmunk scurry around my deck in search of food. He was soon joined by a hummingbird. The chipmunk ran around the perimeter of the deck and at one point he stopped just under where the hummingbird was hovering. The two were maybe 24 inches apart. They looked at each other. Communication took place. I wasn't sure if it was have you found anything good I should know about or whether it was hey, who are you and are you going to eat all the good stuff? They didn't engage in any sort of warfare. There was just a sort of acknowledgment that each other was there and then the one chipmunked off in search of cherry tomatoes and the other whirred up to milk the anise hyssop.

I stood mesmerized and filled with joy. I planted those plants. I created that world of connections. It was all I could ask for in a day. Not one of us required a machine to accomplish our goals. I guess technology is good because I can share this with others.

Lost in the library

You know, I really love books -especially books for children - and I really love to share them with children and parents and families that come to visit the library. Everyone I talk to is so pleased to get some guidance on how to pick out decent books for their significant little person.

Recently I had lunch with a good friend who is the former principal of my own children's high school. She is a grandmother of 3. A highly intelligent, highly educated woman. She described trying to go into the public library in the San Francisco area with her two grandsons, ages 18 months and 3 years. Well, one little guy went one way and the other little guy went the other way and here was Grandma trying to pick out a picture book. Picture books are spine out and the titles are disguised. So trying to ferret out a winner proved to be nearly impossible.

She needed a librarian.

So where are the librarians? Well, they're over there putting some young person on NickJr.com or trying to help them print outfits from the Barbie website. They're trying to help someone forward an email or print from their Yahoo account. They're cleaning the pee off the chair at the children's computer.... today we're expected to major in technology.


I think of the little minds who are consuming cheese curl computer games. I would much rather be feeding them something truly nurturing- something that will build them from the inside out. A book.