It Is Finished

Well, NaBloWriMo has officially come to an end and I did it! Okay, I kind of did it. I think I missed two or three days in here, but overall I'm pretty happy about posting nearly every day.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by during the month. It was fun to meet all of you and find some cool new blogs to follow!

Now, onto NaNoWriMo (yikes!).

-- Lisa

PS - If you want to add me as a NaNo writing buddy, check out my icon on the sidebar!

Nice Sunday

After 11 hours of sleep, the day couldn’t have started better. Overall, this Sunday has been pretty nice actually. Sleeping half the day. Putting some effort into reducing my pile of homework. Facebook-ing (we addicts can’t get enough ^^). Going down to town to celebrate mum’s belated birthday with a good dinner. Getting home to watch Gossip Girl…

And the best part - no school tomorrow! :D

My look of the day

Daily Thoughts 10/31/2010 (The Story of Stuff, ebooks)

Image from The Book of Hallowe'en. Caption "A Black-Cat Table.", 1919, Author Ruth Edna Kelley

Daily Thoughts 10/31/2010

Have a happy Halloween.  The kids were out early today while it was light trick or treating.  We gave out candy.

I've been reading more of The Story of Stuff.  I agree with the author that stuff should be more durable, repairable, recyclable, and upgradable.  Too much stuff which you can buy nowadays is poor quality and easily broken.  I have had the same car for ten years and the same computer for six years with upgrades.  I just fixed my watchband yesterday.  I have had the same watch for over ten years.  I also agree with the idea of reducing the amount of material which we use to make things.  Packaging is getting lighter and more recyclable lightly.  I wish this was true of many other items.

Web Bits

Lynn Abbey, CJ Cherryh, and Jane Fancher have an ebooks site where all the proceeds go to the authors.  They are all excellent fantasy writers. http://www.closed-circle.net/

I took a few minutes to go back and check who was linked to my blog.  There is Publishing Perspectives http://www.publishingperspectives.com/ and Meditative Reading http://meditativereading.blogspot.com/

Blameless An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger

Blameless An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger.

This is a wonderfully silly fantastic novel. It manages to mashup steampunk with werewolves and vampires in a comedy of manners. It is quite fun to read.

The main character who is pregnant by a werewolf travels to Italy where she meets the templars and learns a bit about her fathers history.

Lots of silliness ensues. Alexia Terrabotti endures ornithopter rides, angry vampires, and pesto in her travels in Italy. She wards off villains with her weigted dart shooting parasol with the help of her trusty footman Floote and the cross dressing hatmaker Madame Lefleux.

The writing is lighthearted and fun. It is well worth following the author, Gail Carriger. Her blog is quite fun to read with its pictures of parasols and other victorian and steampunk fashions. http://gailcarriger.livejournal.com/

The Junior Officers Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey

The Junior Officers Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey.





Patrick Hennessey describes his infantry and officer training in Britain. Then he describes his tour of duty, first as an honor guard for Buckingham Palace, then his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is very much a story about being a soldier willing to fight in hard circumstances.



Mixed in with his descriptions of of every day soldiering are descriptions of his reading. One of the books he is reading in Iraq is The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thessiger. Another book is Allan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty which he reads in Afghanistan. He also writes about some of the films he watches in basic training like Band of Brothers, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan.



The writing is thoughtful, analytical, has a touch of black humor, and throws in some strong language. The strong language is appropriate for some of the muddy, dirty, sandy places in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also fits in the leave time where soldiers drink hard, read, and think.



The writing swtiches between thoughtful stretches and lulls between combat. The combat scenes are fast, people get killed, ambushed, blown apart by IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and are wounded. The author is up front about his desire to get on the ground and destroy the enemy.



The description of the ANA (Afghan National Army) and the Iraqui guard are not very flattering, but the enemy taliban and Al Qaedar are described as being far worse. You get a sense from the book that the fighting in Afghanistan is much more intense than in Iraq.  Also the descriptions of our allies in Afghanistan was quite eye opening.  He does a good job of describing how different their thinking is than people in the west. The one thing which he does say that is intriguing is that the Afghanis don't want doctors and aid, they want teachers and learning.  Patrick Hennessey also describes without hesitation how the taliban often use Chinese and Russian small arms and rpgs and are trained by Iranians.



I like the ending where Patrick Hennessey is sent to the United States to train marines to fight the taliban. Patrick Hennessey was promoted in the field to become the youngest frontline captain the United Kingdom's army. This book is honest, well written, thoughtful, often uncomfortable, and bloody.  It is a memoir.

Daily Thoughts 10/30/2010 (The Story of Stuff, Library Funding)

Geokeys, Globalization

Daily Thoughts 10/30/2010

Sometimes things are a bit tense.   Six people have been offered retirement packages.  There is no way to know if people will take them.  There are added years of service but no additional severance being offered.  With this comes a statement about peace of mind.  Apparently, this is in preparation for further budget cuts from the city.  There is a lot of hearsay flying around so I don't know the exact figures being given.  The final budget for the city is being prepared.  I could guess that we will experience another round of reduction in force, possibly with deeper cuts than before.  It is tiring and uncertain.  Currently the library is $400,000 in debt which is 10% of our current budget.  An easy way to say this is that the city has no money and it is very likely there will be considerable additional cuts.

We will be having a book sale in November on November 5th and 6th to raise money for the friends.  This usually brings in a couple of thousand dollars in total.  It also generates a lot of goodwill.   There is also the annual gala which is going to be hosted in the library on Thursday, November 11, 2010.   It is put together by the library foundation. Tickets are $50.  The foundation raised $20,000 for the childrens room last year.  Hopefully, they will do better this year.  In addition, there is the donation form on the library website.  But, it probably will not be enough. 

It would be nice to see a larger donor step up to the plate and for corporate sponsorship to happen as well.  We have had the Women's Enterprise Development Center, the African American Chamber of Commerce, members of the Chamber of Commerce come in to do programming, and will soon have SCORE counseling.  We also plan on working on a separate small business collection.

I spent some time looking for leads early in the year for prospects and the library recently updated our email list by over a thousand people.  It might help a little bit.

It leads me to thinking about my own future.  I have to consider different options.  The economy is in fairly bad shape. I'll probably be going to Thinking Outside the Library: Non-traditional Careers for Information Professionals  http://mysite.pratt.edu/~sla/ .  There are other programs as well.

My watch band broke so I had to go and get it fixed. I took the bus downtown because it is very hard to find parking without paying. I read some more of The Story of Stuff. She is describing problems of countries which rely on mining, oil, and other extractive resources. Because these pay for the government and the citizens often don't, there are problems. It is interesting enough. Once again, though, she annoyed me by saying we could just use wind and solar to power our future. Wind, solar, solar towers and concentrators, biodiesel and other biofuels, geothermal, run of the river hydroelectric, wave generators like pelamis, waste to energy like plasma gasification, highly energy efficient devices, and advanced energy storage devices like flywheel energy storage together might completely power our future but not just wind and solar.

Why It Seems Like I've Been Ignoring You

I just figured this out...

I love getting comments. And I love to respond to comments. I tend to do this in the form of email. Someone leaves a comment on the blog, it gets emailed to me, I hit reply and send a response back. I do this for almost every comment.

Now, I don't expect people to respond every time I write, "Thanks for entering!" or something mundane like that. But there have been times I've typed out a whole response and sent it off only to get nothing back from the commenter.

No big deal, I told myself. Maybe not everyone wants to email back and forth with a crazy wanna-be-writer girl they've never met. Then I realized today that not all my email replies make it back to the original commenter. If the person doesn't have a publicly viewable email address, the replies go to noreply-comment@blogger.com.

Oh, noreply-comment, how many of my witty remarks and Harry Potter-induced squee-fests have you intercepted? Somewhere there is a massive inbox of emails about Jane Austen and Halloween costume ideas that no one will ever read. Sad lonely emails just floating around lost in cyberspace.

I'm mainly posting this for other bloggers who, like me, didn't know they were replying to a non-person (if the address in the To: window comes up as noreply-comment, then your emails are all for not). Or for bloggers who would like to make their email addresses public (just go to your Dashboard, click "Edit Profile," and then check the box the box that says "Show my email address"). Or for my many loyal commenters who continue to visit and read my posts or, even worse, asked me direct questions I failed to answer. I'm sorry! I assure you all, I love and appreciate you and would love to chat it up with you online. If only there was a easier way!

Any other bloggers have suggestions on how they reply to comments? Do you do it all through email? Do you reply directly in your comments thread? Are there other secret options I just don't know about yet?

-- Lisa

I'm So There!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to attend LeakyCon 2011. I talked to the husband a few hours ago and he agreed to go so... I just signed us up!

Now please excuse me while I explode with joy!

-- Lisa

Friday night...with mami ;)

Tonight I decided to stay at home and just take it easy. And since my sister is out on a date, it’s only me and mami. ;)

Nevertheless, since my mum has errands to run early tomorrow, she‘ll soon be off to bed…But since I’m a night owl, I think I am going to watch a movie and eat some more candy…a habit that has to stop. Hehe. ^^

I've Always Wanted to Go to a Harry Potter Fan Conference

And this one looks amazing: LeakyCon 2011.

It's being organized by the same people who do The Leaky Cauldron website. It's in July of 2011 in Orlando, Florida, which means many fun-filled days spent at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

There's going to be lectures and presentations on Harry Potter as well as wizard rock bands, Quidditch games, vendors, balls, costumes, and more. They're also going to arrange for everyone to attend a showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which will be released that week. I think I'm hyperventilating a little.

Oh, and this is really cool (and also writing-related). The conference will feature a Lit Day with a panel of guests who will discuss the world of children's literature. The panel will include writers, editors, and agents. Some of the names I recognized right off the bat were Maureen Johnson, Libba Bray, Rebecca Sherman, and Kate Schafer Testerman.

See, I have to go. Not only is it a fan conference, it's also a writing conference. It's being held at my dream vacation spot and I'd get to see the final Harry Potter movie along with 1000+ other hardcore fans.

I just talked to my husband about the whole thing and he surprised me by actually saying he thought it might be fun to go. He's a fan, but not a mega-fan like me, so I was prepared for him to tell me it sounded lame or something.

Now, the only hang up is our budget. The whole thing is kind of pricey. The conference is $350 a person and then you have to pay for admission to the park, the hotel ($200 a night, but you do get to stay on Universal Studios property), and airfare for two people. And don't forget the several thousand dollars I'm going to spend on Harry Potter souvenirs (just kidding... well, probably not).

Fingers crossed. We're hoping to make a decision within the next few days. I really, really, really want to go!

What do you guys think? Is it worth it? Doesn't it look like the best HP fan conference ever?

-- Lisa

PS - The Harry Potter Puppet Pals are going to be there!

CSA Weeks 5 & 6

Can you believe it's week 6 already?  I feel like I just started.

Last week was butternut squash week.  I was making the J&G soup from Metrocurean like it was my job.  It was so delicious, I even brought a lunch starter portion for EM.   Sweet potato found its way into an Indian simmer sauce TJ dinner, and everything else was eaten raw.  I did use some apples for my two batches of Smitten Kitchen's apple cheddar scones, which were well-received each time, to say the least.  I did find that putting the butter in the freezer for a little bit to really chill it helped keep the dough from getting a little melty/soft in shaping the scones.  Also, trying to cut 8 instead of 6 was an error in round 1--making them thicker and only making 6 made round 2 way better.

 Also above with last week's haul was pear cider.  J has been drinking the cider in the morning.  We used to always have Light Chocolate Silk (soymilk), and it was a go to just-before-leaving-the-house thing for both of us when you just need a litttttle something to hold you over til breakfast (we both eat at our desks).  You need a taste in your mouth, not minty toothpaste.  We've been Silkless for a while now, for no particular reason, so J is digging the fall cider.  He reports that this one totally tastes like pear.   (What else would it taste like?)

This week the market was DARK.  Of course, out of a 4-7pm or so pickup I'm there at 6:40 (thanks traffic!), so that's what I get.  I crouched and squinted to catch the names of the apples.  I got a few apples, a pepper, two tomatoes, a couple small zucchini, green beans, a small eggplant, a medium butternut squash, a medium spaghetti squash (can't wait, our first of the season!) and cheddar cauliflower.  Simply roasted of put into a casserole type situation with actual cheddar, that baby should be yummy.  I'm thinking of spaghetti squashing (roasted) with some freshly grated parm and halved grape tomatoes, simple but effective.

We're still doing a great job finishing everything up before it goes bad, and I definitely see a difference in our visits to the supermarket.  We're working around what we've got and being creative.  We aren't aimlessly picking things out that we forget to use.  When you have a true limit (what fits in a tiny basket), you really have to be thoughtful in your choices!  I am so so so thankful that at Norman's I actually get to choose what I'm getting.  I don't need a lot of onions and potatoes, and sometimes I want to make butternut squash soup, but other times I want all acorn squash for a particular recipe.  And sometimes I don't want any apples, I want all pears!  I'm not sure I could go for a CSA where someone else chooses for me.  I want it my way, darn it. 

Daily Thoughts 10/29/2010 (Business Books, The Story of Stuff)

Interior with poppies and reading woman (Lizzy Hohlenberg), 1905, Oil On Canvas, by Anna Ancher, Skagens Museum

Daily Thoughts 10/29/2010

This morning, I started reading The Story of Stuff How Our Obsession With Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health by Annie Leonard.  It is very much an environmentalist and anti-consumerist book.  It follows the path of our stuff from when it is made to when we use it to when we throw it away to when it ends in the dump.

This morning we talked about possibly merchandising (creating a separate collection) for the small business books.  I am looking at the Gaylord catalog which is a label catalog for business labels.  We also talked a bit about business dvds.

I did a little bit of weeding in the oversize books and a bit of shelf reading in the 800s.

In the New York Times book review, one book caught my attention; The Gun, The AK-47 and the Evolution of War by C.J. Chivers. 

On the way home, I read some more of The Story of Stuff.  The author is using a lot of liberal causes in her writing.  It feels very politically correct which can be annoying at times.  However, the sympathy there seems to be right.  I am not sure that I agree with everything she is saying.  I am reading this book because it is printed on recycled paper.  Ecolibris is doing a campaign to get people to read books printed on recycled paper.

Web Bits

All Hallow's Read http://www.allhallowsread.com/

If you get a chance take a look at the New York Librarians Meetup blog, it is well worth going to their events.  http://nylibrariansmeetup.blogspot.com/

A Review and Some Thanks

First, the lovely Editrix of AustenBlog posted my review of Cora Harrison's I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend. Stop by and check it out and then enter my contest to win the book!

Second, I need to say thanks to the awesome Abby Minard of Above Water for honoring me with The Versatile Blogger award! Thanks, Abby! That was so sweet of you! I'm really touched (And, you're right, I did need the encouragement!).

I think I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself now. Here it goes:

1) I've never travelled out of the U.S. (sigh).
2) My daughter was adopted and my husband and I are currently in the process of adopting again.
3) I can't sing or dance but really wish I could.
4) I never go anywhere without a tube of chapstick in my pocket (or purse).
5) I love shopping at thrift stores. I try to get all my clothes there.
6) I am the oldest of two kids, but my husband is the youngest of ten children.
7) I am a Catholic convert.

And I'm going to pass the award onto some of my favorite blogs (even though they may have already gotten this one before):

• Katie at Creepy Query Girl because I, too, am a creepy query girl and hate revisions :)
• Jen at Unedited because, even though she's got about a million followers, she still finds time to visit other people's blogs, leave awesome comments, put up her own great posts, oh, and write, too! She's my hero!
• Scoot at See Scoot Read because she's got a Jane Austen quote on her sidebar and she's a ferocious reader. Check out her great reviews!
• Bethany at Aspirations because I always find myself drawn to whatever she's blogging about.
• Melissa at Through the Looking Glass because we both love Harry Potter (and I'm still jealous of her trip to HP's Wizarding World!)
• Theresa at Substitute Teacher's Saga because (even though I know she already has this award) I always enjoy reading her blog. She's also hosting a cool "Blog Haunting" event right now (go check it out!)

Thanks for being awesome, ladies! And thanks again, Abby!

-- Lisa

Daily Thoughts 10/28/2010 (The Junior Officer's Reading Club)

U.S. Army Spc. Michael Perkins, right, assigned to 1st Calvary Division, hands boxes filled with books to a fellow soldier in Kirkuk, Iraq, April 26, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gustavo Olgiati, Government Photo, Public Domain.

Daily Thoughts 10/28/2010

I read some more of  The Junior Officers' Reading Club.  I like the description of how it was so hot in Iraq  that the pages were coming unglued from The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger's.  I also liked the authors decision to stop reading Don Quixote by Cervantes.  Most of the book is about soldiering.  There are a few literary references as you go through the book.

I did a little bit of weeding today in the oversize books and printed more copies of the Internet Marketing bibliography.  I also checked the displays to make sure they are in order.  The new website is starting to shape up nicely.  It is done with Drupal which is an open source system. http://drupal.org/

On the way home I read more of The Junior Officer's Reading Club.  It is interesting contemplating Patrick Hennessey reading Ayn Rand in Afghanistan.  For some reason, I find it utterly appropriate.

Web Bits

American Library Association Book Donation Programs List http://delicious.com/alalibrary/bookdonations

Ethiopic

I'd been wanting to go to Ethiopic for months--ever since I heard a delicious newcomer was on the Ethiopian scene, and in a funny spot, too.  On H Street NE, but not quite in the Corridor with Sticky Rice, Rock & Roll Hotel, etc).  Nope, closer to Union Station and the totally charming-looking Ebenezer's Coffeehouse, which was brand spanking new around the last time I worked near the Station.

Anyway, you know how it is.  I'd get home from work, not feel like schlepping across town, and then it was too hot to even think about eating saucy spiciness.  Then I had to read about Olga's adventures on the Little Ethiopia tour.  And Angela & Mark finally found some injera, et al that pleased both palates.  Last but not least, Top Chef featured Marcus Samuelsson for an Ethiopian quickfire in episode 8. So off we went (this was a while ago, I'm dreadfully behind).

I like to have new beers when I can.  This time, it was the Ethiopian beer St. George, recommended by the server.  It was cool, refreshing, with a nice fruity/floral finish.  I love it!  Jeff had Meta, but I liked mine better. 

For the uninitiated, Ethiopian food is often lots of spiced herbed deliciousness  (mostly vegetables) served on a platter covered with injera, a flat, spongy bread-like friend of yours.  Not only is it a fine canvas for your piles of delicious food, but then you get to EAT the canvas.

 Vegetarian Sampler:  Ya gotta go sampler, people.  If we had another couple with us we'd probably just get two big samplers.  Spicy chickpeas, cabbage, yellow split peas, cabbage and carrots, collards, red lentils...basically if you like warm, flavorful, comforting foods, then you need to get yourself a vegetarian sampler. 

Ethiopic Signature Tibs:  Hello boneless leg of lamb. 

Beware: this place gets packed (because it's great), and it's not so big.  The bar is tiny, but we sat there originally until a table (quickly) opened up.  But if more than a few people are waiting for a table it gets tight--fast.  And they are CLOSED on Monday.  Just like my favorite LYS. 

I'll definitely go back to Ethiopic.  If it were closer--let's say, as close as Pete's Apizza---I'd be there all the time. 

Ethiopic
401 H St NE
Metro: Red Line to Union Station

If it wasn’t transparent…

I would so show it on me. Just because I love-love-loved the color, I had to buy it! :D

Daily Thoughts 10/27/2010 (Bibliography)

We can talk over Sops-in-wine. And drink to our next meeting. Children's book illustrations / Illustrations -- Crane -- Floral fantasy in an old English garden

Daily Thoughts 10/27/2010

Today has been quiet.  I finished printing up a new internet marketing bibliography.  We are having an internet marketing class by a gentleman affiliated with the chamber of commerce.  Hopfully, it should have a positive impact for our library.

I also did a little work on my ordering today.  It is something I try to do every single day.  I am also thinking about the databases for musical; Naxos, Freegal, and Alexander Street.  I think it might be interesting to have music downloads at the public library.  We already have Overdrive for ebooks and downloadable audiobooks.

November Contest - Win I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend

I'm giving away my copy of I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison. It was recently released in the U.S. and I snagged a brand new copy from Amazon. If you want to see my review, you can check it out on AustenBlog.

No, I didn't really like it, but hey, everyone wants a free book, right?

More about the book:

When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen, she knows nothing of the world of beautiful dresses, dances, secrets, gossip, and romance that Jane inhabits. At fifteen, Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship. So when Jenny falls utterly in love with Captain Thomas Williams, who better than Jane to help her win the heart of this dashing man?

But is that even possible? After all, Jenny’s been harboring a most desperate secret. Should it become known, it would bring scandal not only to her, but also to the wonderful Austen family. What’s a poor orphan girl to do?

In this delicious dance between truth and fiction, Cora Harrison has crafted Jenny’s secret diary by reading everything Jane Austen wrote as a child and an adult, and by researching biographies, critical studies, and family letters. Jenny’s diary makes the past spring vividly to life and provides insight into the entire Austen family—especially the beloved Jane.

The contest will run through November 15th at midnight EST. The contest is open to everyone, not just blog followers. Everyone gets one entry for leaving a comment, but you can earn extras by being a blog follower, following me on Twitter, or tweeting, or blogging about the contest.

Just remember to leave your total in the comment.

+1 for leaving a comment
+1 for being an old or new blog follower
+1 for being an old or new Twitter follower
+1 for tweeting about the contest
+1 for blogging about it

Thanks for entering and good luck everyone!

-- Lisa

PS - Sorry, the contest is only open to those with a U.S. address.

The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules Live The Life You Want and Change the World by Chris Guilleabeau

The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules Live The Life You Want and Change the World by Chris Guilleabeau

The contents of this book like the books title suffers from excess verbiage.  The message of the book could have been written in half the number of pages.  This makes the reading a bit distracting.

The Art of Non-Conformity starts with a series of exercises focusing on what you want to do with your life. Then it has no written exercises until the end of the book.  This creates a book too focused on telling you what to do, but not showing you how to do it.  This is a bit disappointing.

Chris Guillebeau spends most of the book talking about his own life and what he did to make himself able to live free from punching the clock.  His life is interesting and has some examples of how to be different; however it is more about telling you how he lived differently than showing the reader how to do it themselves.

The chapters on how to build a following on the internet and self education are quite good.  This book is designed to motivate you to do something different.  The motivation would work better if the book was shorter and more focused.

I learned something new, but would have been more satisfied if the book was shorter,  more focused, and showed you how to change, instead of focusing too much on the authors life.

Comfort eating

Yup. I am sitting in the couch, comfort eating Exotic Snacks while trying to finish my Economics IA. I can't asy that it's going well though since all I can think about is far away from school. Gaaah, I feel sorry for myself.

Daily Thoughts 10/26/2010 (The Junior Officers Reading Club)

Poster announcing the publication of Les Mystères de Paris (1843), a French language novel by Eugène Sue (1804-1857)




Daily Thoughts 10/26/2010

I did a little bit of weeding this morning in the oversize collection.  I also did some spot checking for the 800s in the poetry section.  I have also been looking at my planned orders for next month. 

This afternoon, I finished working on a bibliography for internet marketing which would be used in a program tomorrow.

On the train home, I started reading The Junior Officers' Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey.  It is about a tour of duty in the British army in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I am enjoying reading about British boot camp and officer training camp right now.  He talks about some of the films they watch including Band of Brothers, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan.  I saw Gladiator which was enjoyable but not the other two films.  The book is quite thoughtful.

Web Bits

20 Heroic Librarians Who Save The World http://io9.com/5671047/20-heroic-librarians-who-save-the-world?skyline=true&s=i

Danny Devito is going to be the voice of the Lorax in a new live action Dr. Seuss film.  I am looking forward to it.

Zombies in the library calendar. http://www.redbubble.com/people/salin/calendars/6062484-15-zombies-in-the-library

Gleeful Tuesdays

This is all I have to say today...

-- Lisa

A glimpse of light

Sleep deprived, cold, stressed, and Facebook addicted is what I have been lately and let me just tell you that that combination is not very pleasant. On the other hand, I have fall break coming up next week - so I can still say that I see a small glimpse of light in the very dark tunnel. (Thank God for that!)

But now I have to run, because me and mum are going…shopping. Hehe. ;)

Music

I figure everyone out there has that one band/artist that has their devotion. Well, here's one video I like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHODhTIvgo. It's a Stones video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed36UQX8kXQ
If you watch this video, some would think the lead singer is gay, he's not! Both of these links are for videos by The Stones.
If you wonder why I put these on here, I just now figured out how to add video to these things! I feel like a caveman, not knowing how to do stuff.
Here's another one, for this realy awesome music video by Aaliyah, she is AWESOME!
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--2138592. It has Jet Li in it, he's soooooooooooooooooooooooooo sexy!


I figure music is like an international language everyone can connect on.

Advertising myself

How would one advertise themselves? When it comes to products, you have to show and tell all the good stuff about it, and I guess the same applies to people. Let me introduce myself again, I guess. My name is Caitlin Clark, I'm now 20, I recently had my birthday and I'm in my final semester at Gateway Comm. and Tech. College. I'm going for an Associates Degree in Graphic Design.

Outside of school, I'm totally different. I read a-lot of books, and listen to a lot of music, mainly R&B, jazz, Latin, rock, British Invasion-era, you name it, as long as it appeals to me, I like it. I have a dad named Steven, he works as a sorter machine operator at US Bank, he sorts checks all day and makes them go to where they are needed. He works crazy hours, sometimes 7-3 pm, sometimes 8-4pm. My mom Brenda works for Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC, basically it was bought out by Fifth Third. My step-dad Greg works the third shift at US Bank, 5-3am sometimes, he does reconciling, basically prepares checks to be sorted. My sister Jessica is in her senior year at Bellevue High School.

At home, there's a-lot of jokes made about my tastes in music, movies, etc. When I'm not doing homework, I watch TV at night and usually record stuff on TV when I can't watch it. One of my favorite TV shows is Top Gear, a TV show out of England my step-dad got me hooked on. As if it wasn't painfully obvious, it's a British car show. Here's the guys on the show:

My step-dad got me hooked on it! It's totally awesome! My favorite one is the one in the brown leather jacket on the far left, the one with the short brown hair he's cute! But I'm a pretty simple person. I have simple goals: mainly to graduate. Nothing more. I want to travel the world as well, go to places like China, Japan, Italy, London. I want to learn how to speak Chinese, Japanese, Italian. I guess you can say a lot of the stuff I like is out of England, but that's who I am, if you don't like it and you don't want to accept me for who I am, sorry about your luck!

When it comes to reading, I like to read books about people I like because I love to learn interesting things about people, murder-mystery stories, they fascinate me! And my mom recently got a new car. It's a 2010 Kia Forte, it's gunmetal gray and she is in love with it, she always finds excuses to drive, she loves it!

Here's what it looks like:

And how everyone has that one fave actor or actress, here's my 2 fave actors:
          
 Jet Li and Chow Yun-fat. I figure using pictures would help people out there in the blogosphere know what I like.

It's Monday! What Am I Reading?

About to start:

Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu

(Still) listening to:

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

I finished:

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison (I hope to have a review up on AustenBlog in the next few days!)

What are you reading?

-- Lisa

My Beloved Jane...

...was a reviser. And she couldn't spell either.

-- Lisa

Daily Thoughts 10/25/2010 (online music, blameless)

Samuel Beckett, Playwright.

Daily Thoughts 10/25/2010

I started reading Gail Carriger's Blameless on the train to work this morning.

I did some spot checking in the 300s, fiction, and mass market paperbacks today.  I found a few places where people took the plastic covers off the books so we have to put on new covers. 


The visit to The Bliss Music Center at the New Rochelle Public Library was very interesting. It is a new music center at a public library. They have a number of different services. There are two services that streamed music to the library and allowed you to listen at a computer or login at home. The first was Naxos http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/home.asp?rurl=%2Fdefault%2Easp . The second service was Alexander Street Music Online http://alexanderstreet.com/products/music.htm  . It was interesting listening to the music from the database. The sound quality was good for both databases.



We also talked some services that let you download music. The first was Freegal which allowed you to download a certain amount of music each month and then put the music that went over the limit in a cue for the next month. It looks quite interesting. http://www.freegalmusic.com/users/inlogin  . This would supplement our downloads of ebooks and audiobooks from Overdrive. People also come in to use Pandora which is a set of online radio stations with a variety of different music.  http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/create/  . It was an interesting experience.


I spent the rest of the afternoon updating the displays and spot checking the 800s.


I am enjoying reading Blameless by Gail Carriger.  The author adds some new elements;  first there were werewolves and vampires, now there are templars.  It has become an even more complex mashup.  Now the main character is pregnant by a werewolf, pursued by steampunk vampires, and traveling into Italy.

A simple interview form which I filled out.  http://www.whohub.com/bookcalendar#

Sticky Rice

With a deal in hand ($25 for $50, I believe), we headed to Sticky Rice for my very first H Street NE experience.

This joint is hipster heaven.  Before buying the deal, I read a review that called it "reminiscent of a tattoo parlor's secret bordello."  When I walked in I was like, "Yeah, I see that."  This place is known for having a mishmash of American and Asian foods.  Sushi?  Check.  Lots of fried stuff?  Check.  Tater tots?  Double check.

We had a good time here.  At the least the food is entertaining and a little silly, and at the most it's tasty and comforting.  Our bill was bigger than I would expect if I hadn't seen the prices.
We shared the following: ribs, Jolly Green Wontons (vegetarian soybean wasabi wantons), Sticky Balls (sriracha rice, tuna, crab, etc) , the Chili Roll sans jalapeno, sesame chicken with udon noodles (my least favorite, it wasn't very sesame-ey), and PBR.  Well we didn't share the PBR, we sprung for separates.

 

The Sticky Balls are fun to order and eat.  I didn't love our apps, mostly because it was fry city.  I'd go back and do sushi and beer only.

Sticky Rice
1224 H St NE
Metro: Schlep from Union Station or take the bus.  We drove because I came straight from work in outer Mongolia.

The Glamour of Grammar a Guide to Magic and Mystery of English by Roy Peter Clark

The Glamour of Grammar a Guide to Magic and Mystery of English by Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark makes grammar entertaining.  He brings out the glamour (as in magic) of the english language.  He asks you to immerse yourself in thinking about language.

This is not a dry and pedantic book.  It does not follow a prescriptive pattern with exact descriptions of how you should use language.  Instead, the author attempts to show you a variety of ways to use punctuation and grammar for different outcomes.  He even describes how and when to use taboo words and sentence fragments.  This was surprising and enjoyable.

For Roy Peter Clark grammar is a tool for self expression.  There are many different examples of how periods, colons, apostrophes, points and other punctuation is used.  My favorite example of grammar is the use of the punk rock band, "? and The Mysterians."

If you like language and word play: You will like this book.  There is a lot of lighthearted self referential humor in the writing.  I like how he describes Appendix A ( Words I Have Misspelled), and Appendix B (Words I Have Confused.).

This book gives grammar that zing which is missing from most grammar texts.  I enjoyed the book enough to want to read Roy Peter Clark's other book, Writing Tools.

Poking Around in Startup Space In New York City

Poking Around in Startup Space In New York City

I've been poking around a bit in startup space in New York city lately.  I find it entertaining.  It is much like this blog in a way.  I like doing it, but I am not quite sure why yet.  Sometimes you don't know the results until you take a look.  The habit came from when I worked at an ISP.  I always found the tech mixers to be very entertaining.  There is a kind of freedom in these places to talk about things which I don't find anywhere else.

Venture capital in New York City has been growing. There are a lot more companies starting up right now. People have been out of work so long, that many of them have decided to try new things. (Article from Crain's New York) http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100716/SMALLBIZ/100719881


For example, there are startup weekends where computer developers are willing to start running a company in a weekend. http://nyc.startupweekend.org/

I checked New York Area Startups a few days ago. There were 1345 companies now there 1360 companies. http://newyork.areastartups.com/  New York Area Startup is also on Linked In. On Demand Books which makes the Espresso Book Machine which is a print on demand machine is listed as one of the startups. http://www.ondemandbooks.com/




At the same time we are seeing a resurgence in spaces like NYC Resistor http://www.nycresistor.com/  and a rebirth of many hacker and maker spaces.  I have not gone to look at a hacker space yet.  It is something I plan on doing.  It is much like my urge to go visit The Soho Gallery for Digital Art, I will get there eventually.  There could be some very intersting new technology coming out at the community level by small companies and groups of individuals. Part of this growth could be because of new technology, specifically open source 3d printers.(New York Times Blog). 
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/the-rise-of-the-3-d-printers/



I see the possibility of some of the three dimensional print on demand technologies being eventually fused with paper print on demand technologies.  I do not think this is that far away in the future. Incorporating designs made of plastic, metals, and other materials is going to become fairly common in hardcover books.




Incubator spaces for green technology are also growing as well. This has been getting into the news. NYC Acre http://www.nycacre.com/ is an interesting example. There is also Green Spaces. (Article from Crain's New York Business) http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091120/SMALLBIZ/911209993

There are also new ways people are finding to fund these ventures. Everything from Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com to lending social networks like Prosper (Article from Mashable.com) http://mashable.com/2007/06/20/prosper/


There is a different feel to the ventures being formed than the dot com boom. The companies are lean in low rent areas. They use open source software, focus on customers, and are often tied in with social networks. There is less of a focus on earning massive amounts of cash, but instead making people a living. (Article from New York Times Blog). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/business/25unboxed.html



The lean startup fits perfectly into the concept of coworking and many small startups are using coworking spaces like New Work City. http://www.nwcny.com/  I visited this space to see how it looked.  Over time I will also take a look at some of the other spaces as well.



In my own field, I follow http://www.twitter.com/mbstartuups  which covers startups in the media field.  Also O'Reilly publishers sponsors the Maker Fair which is very much a hacker or maker space. http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/10/innovation-education-and-the-m.html



I can see a resurgence for the United States economy coming, it will not come immediately, it will not come from the government, or big business.  It will come from innovative spaces which need to grow and be supported.

No Post Tonight...

...I'm reading.

-- Lisa

PS - I suppose this is a post though. Damn. Foiled again.

The Bridge tonight

Tonight me and my girls are hitting the capital for some PARTYING! :D

Isadora Graffiti Nails

After seeing my friend’s awesome nails the other day, I couldn’t resist not going to the store to get my own Graffiti Nails. Although I don’t use nailpolish that often (it somehow tends to come off within 24 hrs every time I wear it…:o), I just had to try this new one since it really makes your nails pop.

I bought the colors Masterpiece Pink and Subway Green. I think I will try the green one (that looks very blue on the picture, haha) tonight...;)

Daily Thoughts 10/23/2010 (The Night Book Mobile)

Wise Owl On Books

Daily Thoughts 10/23/2010

I finished reading The Art of Non-Conformity.  The last chapters end with a couple of exercises in not doing things.  The first exercise is choosing what you do not need to keep.  I am going to give away some of my books, old clothes, old toys, and clean up some of the paper around the house.  The second action is choosing not to do certain things.  The habits which I could probably eliminate are playing video games and buying snacks.  I already am pretty watchful of how I spend my time.

The new website for our library is up.  It is much better than the old one.  The webmaster still needs to transfer some images over.  I did a little bit more weeding today.

We're putting together a bibliography on internet marketing.  This is for a class which is coming from the local chamber of commerce at the library.  We are going to use the cover art for each book and match the picture with the words for a dozen books.  Internet marketing is a very hot topic right now.

On the train home, I read The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger.  I found it to be a beautiful, but very sad book.  It is partially about the dark places where books can take you; the escape they bring to people in sad places.  Although, it was a book about a bookmobile, and libraries, it had a very dreamlike quality to it.  It is not something which I really want to review. 

The art had a very kind of outsider art feel to it.  The kind of feel of someone who has raw talent, but very little training and a slightly different outlook on the world.  The librarian who ran the bookmobile reminded me a little bit of William S. Burroughs for some reason.  It does take you to the places you may have read or been.  There is a feel of the old world library in the book.  The place with red carpets, tall bookcases, and a kind of otherworldly charm.

I don't want to reveal too much.  It is a sad, beautiful, a bit disturbing, and bookish tale.

The Writing Blues

I've been kind of suffering from what I've decided to call "The Writing Blues" lately. You may know the feeling. Everything you write seems like crap. Every scene, every line, every word is pure horror. You're convinced that you'll never be as good as all the other writers out there. You're not as creative. You're not as clever. You're not as talented. You'll never get an agent. You'll never be published. You wonder why you even keep trying. You might as well give up.

When a have periods like this, I just have to remind myself of one thing: I can write. I'm actually a darn good writer. I think of all the positive encouragement I've gotten over the years. I think of my former college English professor who told me I was "the best student poet he's ever taught." I think of the advisor on my graduate thesis who remarked several times throughout our sessions, "Wow, you really can write." I think of the writer's workshop I attended this summer where Jess Walter told me, after reading the beginning of my adult WIP, "This is something that could be published," and encouraged me to start looking for an agent. I think of the writing prize I won a few years back. The judges said my work was by far the best of all the submissions, and then they awarded me $1,500 in prize money. That's the most that's ever been won in that competition.

So, I tell myself, I know I can write. I know I can write well. I just have to keep at it because writing is hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. Revisions can make our work better. Negative feedback can lead to a better solution. Rejection helps us grow. This is how we learn.

Any writers out there feeling The Writing Blues? What do you do to stay sane during these down times?

-- Lisa

Daily Thoughts 10/22/2010 (The Art of Non-Conformity, Acquisitions)

"The Chap Book--Thanksgiving no." "Art nouveau illustration showing two women holding trays of food.", 1895 by Will Bradley

Daily Thoughts 10/22/2010

Today has been quite quiet.  I did a little weeding in the oversize books, checked on the displays and looked over a few things which needed to be done.  I am going to be meeting with BWI this afternoon.  I am also going to be talking to Ingram next week.  Ingram offers a discount of 5% on video games which other vendors don't offer.  I am also planning a visit to a technology center at another local library with a colleague.


I also did some more reading through Booklist this morning for things to order and read the email newsletter Shelf Awareness which is interesting.  Shelf Awareness is well worth subscribing to http://news.shelf-awareness.com/signup.jsp?appid=411 


The BWI visit went well.  We cleared up some issues and the sales representative offered us their free alert service for childrens and young adult books.  I put holds on I live in the future & here's how it works : why your world, work, and brain are being creatively disrupted by Nick Bilton and The master switch : the rise and fall of information empire by Tim Wu.

The book, The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger came in for me to read. If you are interested in biographies in graphic novel form, there is a book called Ethel and Ernest A True Story by Raymond Briggs which is a very sweet tribute to the authors parents.

I spent some time reading from my Fundamentals of Acquisitions class.  I learned that there was an Association of Subscription Agents and  Intermediaries http://www.subscription-agents.org/about-asa which was kind of interesting.

On the ride home, I read some more of The Art of Non-Conformity.  It has slowed a bit.  Some of the things he says are on target.  I especially like his view on self education often being more important than a university education.  He skipped out of high school and started community college when he was sixteen.  I tested out of high school when I was seventeen and went into community college. I don't regret it at all.  Right now, I am reading about how to gain followers and lead. It is a slightly different take than usual.


Web Bits 

Library Inc. From the Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Library-Inc/124915

Booksellers on owning a cafe bookstore. http://bit.ly/dnLD2H

Light and Shadows

3C have started their new topic on 'Light and Shadows'.

Already we are turning into budding young scientists, investigating ideas and developing conclusions from our observations. Here are some pictures of 3C using straight and bent tubes to test if light can travel around corners.






We've also been learning about light sources and investigating if we can change the direction of our shadows.

More Roman shields

3C worked so well to make their Roman shields look as authentic as possible. Using their Design and Technology joining skills they added 'metal' plates to the front of their shields and brackets to the sides to create the authentic curved look.

Day Off

So, I'm taking a day off tomorrow (from work), partly because I don't have much to do until next week and partly because I just need a break from this crazy week.

I'm not planning on taking the day off from writing though. In fact, I'm hoping to get some serious work done. I'd also like to finish the book I'm reading this weekend so I can write a review on it. Oh, and I'm putting together my writing resume for the freelance class I'm taking. All-in-all, I probably won't be getting much rest but, hopefully, I'll be having lots of writing fun.

But, if you find me in the fetal position sobbing under my desk, you'll know why!

-- Lisa

Two kinds of…

…cake is what I have been having for dessert tonight. Unsurprisingly, my mum wanted not one cake, but two, and for that reason she came home from the bakery with a raspberry mousse cake and a raspberry & blueberry one. What can I say besides the fact that we are cake-o-holics in my family? :P

AIL's Lunch in Chevy Chase

Hot off the presses, folks, from my Aunt-in-law:

The Red Hook Lobster truck came to Chevy Chase at lunch today and it was not to be missed. Lots of really, really great lobster with some shredded lettuce for crunch and a little paprika, sliced spring onions and almost no mayonnaise. Just as good as Maine and Nova Scotia. I just need a scenic ocean view and I am transported.

And may I note that she recently vacationed to Nova Scotia, so that's a fresh comparison.

Red Hook Lobster Truck