My Book House

Happy New Year (!) of the Water Dragon Book List

2012-01-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

2011 was a year of professional renewal for me. The biggest change was a lateral promotion to a smaller library in an urban, economically-challenged community where I have had a chance to pull out my old social worker skills and put them to use again. I have had the opportunity to connect with and be inspired by lots of folks working on the front lines of the struggle to improve all aspects of community literacy; reading, information, health, financial, workplace, etc. I am looking forward to 2012, the Year of the Water Dragon, the end of the Mayan calendar, and any other thing this next 12 month period is labeled as because I have plenty of work to do, places to go, and people to meet. (QUEUE sparklers and fireworks)

My Reading Resolutions are to read (or finish reading) the following books:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - I am savoring it like fine wine (or a cask of Amontillado...)

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - Won the 2011 Booker Prize

The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

War and Peace - Pevear / Volokhonsky translation

Cheers!

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POV: Dewey Meditations

2011-11-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

If in fact we are, as the Flaming Lips say, "floating in space", are we residents of the North Hemisphere, in the words of The Carpenters, really "on top of the world"? The Dewey is based on this assumption. The Dewey comes from a Eurocentric perspective and sequences the continents in order that they were "discovered" by Europeans (940 Europe; 950 Asia; 960 Africa; 970 North American; 980 South American; 990 Australia, Antartica, and everything else).

So why does this matter? Basically it can influence users in the way they perceive the importance of the value of one culture versus another. Perhaps the Dewey 940-990s could be revised to reflect the timeline of human cultural development with Africa, the cradle of human origin listed as 940, followed by Asia, Europe, etc, reflecting the spread of human culture across the Earth.

To take this a step further, Norman Davies' massive tome, Europe, which covers the history of the alleged continent in exquisite detail, starts out by pointing out that Europe is in fact a peninsula attached to the much larger Asia. This brings up the idea that the separation of Europe and Asia is cultural not geological. Just as Pluto lost it's planetary ranking, why not drop Europe as a continent and just meld it with Asia and call it Eurasia or something like that? It would make total sense geologically and make it easier for students coloring maps to just color it one uniform shade.

Hanami: Flower Viewing

2011-04-05T09:36:00.000-04:00

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"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance." - Japanese Proverb

Black History Month

2011-04-02T18:22:00.001-04:00

Chris Rock's Nat X character is right; February is too short for Black History. I have lived in the Charleston, South Carolina, area for most of my life and in the last 20 years, I have found more and more opportunities to study local history from an African-American perspective. My awareness of African-Americans as key players in local and national history really started when I saw an exhibit at the Charleston Museum in the 1990's highlighting the significance of African-American labor in historical South Carolina. It showcased the multitude of skilled labor jobs held by African-Americans in antebellum Charleston; wood carving, carpentry, bricklaying, fishing and oystering, etc. I came to realize that all or almost all of the beautiful buildings and furnishings that make Charleston so appealing as a tourist destination were in large part produced by slaves. Sounds like a big "Duh", but I grew up in the "60s and early '70s going to plantation tours and candlelight house tours where slave labor was barely mentioned.

After seeing this exhibit, I could clearly envision black hands building the entire city and all the outlying plantation homes, chapels of ease, etc. It was like turning on a light. My previous concept had been that enslaved people were just forced to farm rice, indigo, and cotton and to cook and take care of homes and children. I became aware of these black pioneers and colonists as key foundations of the society and I began to see their cultural legacy more clearly.

Edward Ball's book, Slaves in the Family, provided another clue to this hidden past that really intrigued me; the historical fact that enslaved people engaged in day-to-day travel around the community on their owners' business, the men going up and down the local rivers on boats. I had never before pictured African-Americans moving around the community on a regular basis prior to emancipation. I always thought of them as confined to their owners' homes and property. An account that I recently read of Harriet Tubman hiding in plain sight from a former owner while on one of her "undercover missions" also underscored this fact. She hid behind a newspaper knowing that the former owner had no idea she could read. Reading, by the way, was one of the most supremely subversive acts a slave could commit in many pre-war Southern states including South Carolina.

Ball also talked about the place in Charleston where slaves were sent for "correction", which meant being beaten, tortured, and possibly maimed by having toes cut off among other things.The Sugar House, also known as the Charleston Workhouse, was where these corrections probably took place. The Sugar House has no historical markers. I recently visited the site where it stood. I found the location in the book, Charleston, Charleston by Walter J. Fraser. It was next to the old City Jail on what was then called Mazyck Street, now Magazine Street. Knowledge of the treatment of captured runaway slaves while incarcerated in the Sugar House was a prime factor in Sarah Grimke's decision to leave behind a life of wealth and privilege for a more spiritually fulfilling life as a Quaker abolitionist activist in the North.

This February while planning a Black History Month event at my library celebrating the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry , I learned that Harriet Tubman was with the 54th Massachusetts at the Union assault on Battery Wagner in 1863. She also led a Union raid into "enemy territory" in the Lowcountry in that same year (around Hampton County) and is the first American woman to lead an armed assault. Before last month, I had no idea that Harriet Tubman had even been in South Carolina, much less made military history here. I always have room to learn something new. Other things on my Black History "to do" list are visiting the recently renovated Old Slave Mart Museum on Chalmers Street and learning more about the Reconstruction-era Cainhoy Riot and other significant post Civil War events in local African-American history.

The Charleston Museum exhibit that sparked my interest 20 years ago also included Denmark Vesey's drum. I found it to be a powerful symbolic object, even if Vesey was just a scapegoat, as some believe, and not the freedom fighter of popular history. For me, the drum symbolizes the call to action to examine historical facts as closely as possible and not try to sanitize or pretty them up. There is nothing warm or fuzzy about most of Black History, just accounts of individuals struggling alone or in groups, trying to make headway against injustice and human rights abuse, real stories that are more inspiring than any fiction. It is important to make sure those stories get told.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

2011-01-18T15:43:00.001-05:00

I am in my second year of messing with Twitter and I just can't seem to get comfortable with it. I tweet so infrequently that I linked my Twitter to my Four Square account. Unfortunately, the only thing I really use Four Square for is noting when I go to the gym, which is at best two or three times a week.

I feel pretty comfortable posting on Facebook where I actually know the people I am "friends" with or have some kind of connection with them through mutual friends or a legitimate organization that we both belong to. Strange, random people and businesses make up most of my few Twitter followers so I am hesitant about tweeting any personal stuff. It also seems kind of redundant since I already do that on FB.

For some reason, I still want to try to use Twitter so I decided I would try something else. I am going to try tweeting "Booktweets", mini-reviews of books I like and include links to Library Thing and World Cat. I have my Twitter account linked with FB so the Booktweets will show up there as well. My goal is to tweet a book review daily and see how it goes.

The Mortal Instruments and a Murakami Murder Mystery in 2011

2010-12-28T22:40:00.002-05:00

While on a Hunger Games hiatus (I am currently number 62 on the waiting list for Mockingjay), I have been convinced by the high praise of fellow lovers of YA fiction to start the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Claire. I am just a bit past the 2/3 point on Book 1, City of Bones. Pretty engaging stuff, nicely done with assorted magical beings with a goth-y touch and ... angels. Interested to see if I have reached the "sticking point" and persevere.

What gets me really amped right now, bookwise, is the upcoming release of the English translation of Haruki Murakami's lastest work, 1Q84. I have to wait until September of next year to get my hot little hands on that. It has been out in Japan for a while and was super popular when it was released.

Also listening to the audio of David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I bet this book will be fabulous, when translated into Japanese. Not that it is not awesome in English. Loved the galley and have a copy of the published book to read but I'm glad I chose the audio. I thought "Zoet" was pronounced "Zoh-et" instead of "Zweet". I looked up the meaning of the word in Dutch and it actually means "sweet" so that makes sense.

The Mortal Instruments also has a little Japanese anime sensibility to it. I can easily see the characters in a manga-style action/adventure fighting demons, a stock plot line of anime/manga, and there are several references to anime and manga in the book. Nice to have good things to entertain me while I wait for Murakami's book to be released. I even have William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's The Difference Engine to read, too. I don't think I'll be bored.

Oh Susanna: I Am Loving the Hunger Games

2010-12-12T16:59:00.000-05:00

Just finished book two of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Game series, Catching Fire and it had such a great cliff-hanger ending that I can not wait to get my hands on book three, Mockingjay. I am 101 on the waiting list at the library so I will just keep reading through Cory Doctorow's fantastic sci-fi. I am currently reading his latest YA novel, For the Win, as well as Terry Pratchett's last book in the Tiffany Aching quartet, I Shall Wear Midnight. I am also waiting to get my hands on Sapphique, Catherine Fisher's second book in the Incarceron series. I am number one on the list for that one so it is only a matter of time.

On the downside, I gave up on China Mieville's Kraken about half-way through a couple of weeks ago. Had a lot of fantasy elements that I love; London, magic, adventure, etc, but was just not my cup of tea. It was a bit dark and winding without going anywhere quickly enough for my liking. I am interested in the Lovecraft meme but this book just didn't hit the right notes for me so I set it down in favor of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, a nice ray of sunshine.

I really would love to find another book that could make me feel as literarily (a word of my own invention) satisfied. as Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. If I could say that I loved one book best of all, it is very likely that that would be the one. Still, there are so many books that I haven't read yet or finished that I know I can't decide just now. I'll have to keep on reading.

Ugly Betty: Flat Finish

2010-12-08T10:47:00.003-05:00

I finally watched the end of Ugly Betty, IMHO one of the best TV series ever made. I was a little disenchanted with the ending, where Betty meets up with Daniel, her old boss, in London where she is starting her new life. There seemed to be an implication that they could embark on a romantic relationship. This just didn't ring true to me. Betty is way too smart and fresh to end up with such an emotionally needy, flawed character as Daniel. Besides, Daniel just took a break from his on and off relationship with Amanda, Betty's former nemesis now friend. Betty is not the type of girl to hook up with a friend's ex.
Daniel and Amanda ending up together; okay that would make sense. Daniel and Betty... no way! They never had any romantic chemistry during the whole series so why on earth would they suddenly click at the very end. You need sustained Mr. Darcy-like romantic tension in a story to make that kind of ending feel exciting and plausible.
I think it would have been better if Betty had run into Matt Hartley, her last steady beau, at the end of the story rather than Daniel. The idea of Betty Suarez ending up with Daniel Meade is kind of like... Harry ending up with Herminone.

Rapunzel's Salad Mix: Letting It All Hang Out

2010-12-03T12:55:00.001-05:00

I am currently doing what I consider one of my better programs for kids using several books about Rapunzel. I serendipitously happened on this theme, completely oblivious that Disney was in the process of releasing a Rapunzel of its own, Tangled, which I hope to see later today. I actually picked this story because of my library's abundance of copies of Paul Zindel's beautiful, Renaissance-style, Caldecott-winning take on this Grimm (grim) classic which contains lots of horrible stuff; baby selling/abduction, the weird co-dependent relationship between the old witch and Rapunzel, child neglect, attempted murder, separated families, etc. I am pairing the Zindel with Rachel Isadora's Eric Carle-inspired African version and doing a split reading of a bit from one and then a bit from the other till the tale is told to it's happily-ever-after-a-lot-of weird-and-disturbing-stuff finish. I conclude my program with the more light-hearted parody version, Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox, where the prince ends up riding off into the sunset with Rapunzel's maid, leaving Rapunzel free to style her hair without interruption.

I finally watched some of the popular MTV show, 16 and Pregnant, and something about it reminds me of the darkness of the Rapunzel story. Maybe there is a link between our cultural fascination with Rapunzel's tragedy and the stories of the teen-aged moms and their boyfriends/husbands/dads-to-be on 16 and Pregnant. IMHO Rapunzel's story would make a pretty good episode.

Think about it. Rapunzel's guardian/abductor, the evil sorceress, does not recognize or respect the vows of two teenage lovers and kicks Rapunzel out of the house/tower once she finds out that Rapunzel is pregnant and then tries to do in the prince when he shows up to visit his wifey. At least the Prince doesn't cheat on Rapunzel like the dad in one episode of the show that I watched. But then the Prince was blind because he cried so much or got thorns in his eyes depending on which version you read. A person now-a-days that cried that much would probably be treated for depression.

Lots of the Grimm stories are fairly unpleasant, cautionary tales directed principally at young women. According to Valerie Paradiz's book, Clever Maids, this is because Jacob and Wilhelm's principle sources for their stories were their sister, Lotte, and her friends, who told these stories as they sat together sewing, the classic work of women (check out Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years by Dr. Elizabeth Wayland Barber for more on that). Lotte ended up stuck at home caring for her brothers (a total of 5 guys) after their parents died. Lotte is the real Cinderella because taking care of a houseful of guys was a lot of work for a woman in those days and supposedly Lotte was less than thrilled to be stuck doing it. Maybe she really did hope that one day a prince would show up and take her away for real. At least the girls of 16 and Pregnant have more opportunities open to them than Lotte did, even if their lives would probably be easier if they had waited to become parents when they were older. Hopefully, like Rapunzel, they will have happy endings, too. Bringing those babies to Story Time at their local library would be a great start.

Revamp: Barcamp

2010-11-14T16:46:00.004-05:00

I attended the second Barcamp Charleston yesterday. Had a full day, consuming about a week's worth of fully caffeinated coffee and 7 diverse, educational, entertaining, and inspirational workshop/sessions. Session #6, A Button By Any Other Name: Symbolic Imagery in Interface Design inspired me to redo my blog; new template, change of layout, clutter reduction, etc. The presenter, Giovanni DiFeterici, a web designer and artist, gave a wonderful talk about use of symbols and art, layout arrangement, and other graphic elements of web design. My blog is not as stripped as some of the ones he used as examples, but I am satisfied that it feels a bit fresher.

Session #5, the Google Q and A session also gave me some ideas about my blog. Bottom line: post more frequently. Mostly the Google session was about what goes on at Google's Berkeley County data center. Apparently knowledge of Linux and data management are key skills for potential employees. Not in my skill set so I don't see a job at Google in my future.

Session #3, was an introduction to a great tool for learning foreign languages or vocabulary; MemorizEasy, that lets you make reference cards for your vocabulary words. These cards are structured to help you easily learn new words while retaining knowledge of previously learned words, especially synonyms. MemorizEasy also has features to help you test your knowledge to help prepare you for quizzes. Plan to try it with Spanish.

I also learned about geocaching, the basics of coding, the history of hacking, and zombies. Apparently I need a zombie plan. Good to know since there is a lot of interest in zombies in my house. I can't wait to go back to Barcamp next year!

The Brillig Career of Tim Burton's Alice: Lucy Honeychurch Meets Drop Dead Fred

2010-09-06T15:14:00.015-04:00

Tim Burton likes tweaking old stories and sending them off on a different trajectory than the unaltered original versions. Like his version of Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow, Burton's take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is par for the course. Burton's tale is of a teen-aged Alice, who returns to a Wonderland that she visited previously as a tween but has forgotten. This Alice is on the verge of marriage, the societally preferred fate of all respectable, upper class Victorian ladies. Wonderland intervenes and empowers Alice to break off her engagement to a young man that she obviously has no chemistry with. Alice sails away, escaping the clutches of her clingy family, free to explore the world as a liberated, single lady (shades of Kate Winslet's character, Rose, in Titanic, sans diamond as big as the Ritz).

In Burton's tale, Johnny Depp, as the Mad Hatter, acts as a sort of impish animus, spurring Alice on and encouraging her. They are deeply connected and Alice must save him to save herself. Burton's Hatter is highly reminiscent of Drop Dead Fred, played by the wonderful, Rik Mayall, of the Young Ones, in the eponymous 1991 film which also starred Phoebe Cates as Lizzie. Lizzie, who has lost her sense of self in a bad marriage, is very like Burton's Alice and also has an overbearing mother who pushes her to remain in the marriage. Fred, Lizzie's imaginary childhood friend, returns to save her by pushing Lizzie to stand up for herself and break free from her abusive, cheating husband and her controlling mother.

This Alice is also a love letter from Burton to Lady Helena Bonham-Carter, who plays the Red Queen. In real life, Bonham-Carter is Burton's companion and the mother of his children, who famously has her own London home side-by-side with his. Burton's Alice character is very like Lucy Honeychurch, Bonham-Carter's 1985 breakout role in the lovely, oh-so-British, Merchant-Ivory film of E.M. Forster's novel, Room With a View. In the story, Lucy breaks off her loveless engagement to the wealthy, supremely superficial, close-minded Cecil Vise (played pitch perfect by Daniel Day-Lewis) because she has fallen in love with her "room with a view" guy, the free-thinking, office worker, George Emerson (Julian Sands). Room With a View ends with Lucy married to George. Burton's Alice goes further by simply breaking the engagement. Alice at the close of the film is free to live her own life rather than going from an involvement with one man to an involvement with another.

Tim Burton's choice of a "modern" ending for Alice also brings to mind another wonderful Victorian period-piece from Australia; Gillian Armstrong's 1979 film, My Brilliant Career. The main character, Sybylla, another well-brought up girl whose family has money issues, in this film based on the novel by Miles Franklin, chooses to be a writer over becoming the wife of a rich man who truly loves her. Perhaps Burton agrees with Virginia Woolf as well as E.M. Forster, that women not only need a "room with a view" but also a room of one's own in order to reach their full creative potential.

ALA 2010 Revelations: Steamy Summer City, New Murakami Book, Urban/Street Lit Fiction Nebulousness, Stolen Dreams, and More

2010-07-05T15:03:00.006-04:00

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I returned to my day-to-day life from the 2010 American Library Association Convention a week ago and am still processing all the heady stuff that I was immersed in for 5 fabulous days. First off, DC is just as hot and sweaty as Charleston. Next year the convention will be in NOLA and maybe it will be hotter but probably not much.

I picked up a lot of good info and ideas. I was very excited to learn that a new Haruki Murakami book has been released and will be coming out in English in September of next year (approx). I was disappointed that someone stole the two copies of the new David Mitchell book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet from the Random House table. I was hoping to buy one before I left DC but sadly they disappeared sometime on Sunday, apparently.

One of the more interesting workshops I attended was on "hip hop" or urban literature. This workshop had a panel of librarians, authors, and professors and one of the main things I came away with is that this genre is still undefined and a bit too fluid for my liking. The authors on the panel appeared to all be writers of YA fiction about African-American teens in urban settings. To me this kind of writing is more YA than "urban" if "urban" includes writers like Kwan. Kwan is more like Mickey Spillane to me, a kind of urban noir that is about folks with issues and criminal lifestyles and how they got that way, sexy crime thrillers. The YA urban books are more "Up the Down Staircase" with African-American kids instead of inner city white kids. Then there is Zane. Zane is a completely different genre; soft-core erotica/chick lit. Zane reminds me of Fear of Flying by Erica Jong, which was just as hot when it was published. Zane has been more successful than Jong in following up on the popularity of her initial books, IMHO. Zane's characters may be AA and they may live in a city but her fiction is a completely different thing from the Kwan-style thug life action dramas. The only thing these types of books have in common is AA characters and a liberal dose of sex. The settings and life-styles of the characters are so different that I think it is way too much over-generalizing to stuff them into an "urban" fiction box. You might as well just put them in an African-American fiction box because that is the biggest thing they have in common.

I really wish that there had been some writers like Zane and Kwan on the panel. It would have been interesting to hear them speak. I got the impression that some of the YA authors were a little irritated to be stuffed into the urban pigeonhole because some of their writing is focused on showing alternatives to the choice of thug-lifestyle that is glamorized in the adult novels of writers like Kwan.

All in all, it was really interesting because it showed how diverse current AA lit trends are despite the limits of the urban label. Genre naming is supposed to be helpful to the reader. Here's hoping that some more succinct labels become popular that better identify these strains of AA fiction. Cheers!

SC Libraries Are In Danger: CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR NOW! (yes I am shouting)

2010-06-12T15:04:00.000-04:00

Below is the call to action from Cynthia Bledsoe, the acting director of the library where I work, written as a response to two budget vetoes by Governor Mark Sanford; Budget Vetoes 31 and 92. If these vetoes are not overturned, we are going to lose the SC State Library and shut down small branches across our state in rural areas where library service is desperately needed. My library system and other metropolitan and suburban systems will be severely crippled. This is as bad for our state as Governor Sanford's refusal to take the federal stimulus money.

Please let your legislators know where you stand on this issue. SC folks are using libraries now more than ever. Cutting out a public service that does so much good, so efficiently, for so many is a terrible mistake in these difficult financial times, IMHO.

Link to SC State Legislator's "find your legislator" search - http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/zipcodesearch.exe

Post and Courier article on Budget Vetoes 31 and 92 - http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jun/12/library-officials-fear-vetoes/

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TO HELP SAVE FUNDING FOR CHARLESTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Gov. Sanford’s vetoes Wednesday include two line items that cut $6.5 million in State funds for libraries and jeopardize the receipt of an additional $2.7 million in Federal LSTA (Library Services and Technology) funds. Effectively, if these vetoes stand, public libraries in South Carolina will receive ZERO dollars from the state.

It’s imperative residents contact their legislators immediately to let them know how vital libraries are to their community and ask that the Budget Vetoes 31 and 92 be overturned. The State House is expected to vote on this issue Tuesday, June 15.

To find contact information for your Charleston County legislator, visit http://www.scstatehouse.gov/countydelegationinfo/cnty10.htm.

South Carolina libraries are already being forced to cut hours, cut staff, cut purchases for materials and shut buildings to deal with the existing financial crisis. These further cuts could be devastating and, ultimately, hurt the state’s most desperate residents – those who are turning to libraries for educational and employment help because they’ve been laid off, displaced, furloughed or in need of assistance. Since the economic crisis began, South Carolina’s libraries have faced record-breaking, double-digit increases in the demand for services. In many communities, libraries are often the only resource for residents needing help with job searches, resume writing, skills training, career assessments, etc. Libraries also are often the only place where people can get free access to computers to search and apply for jobs. Many employers now require applications be filled out online.

In Charleston County, the loss of state funds will drastically impact the library’s ability to keep its’ collection current and buy needed materials, such as books, DVDs, CDs, etc.

Sanford’s logic and comments show a lack of knowledge about the real crisis facing individuals in South Carolina and about the importance of public libraries.

· Libraries in South Carolina lost millions in State Aid over the past two years, a result of a 41 percent cut in funding from the General Assembly.

· Sanford misrepresents the funding now being received by libraries, saying libraries receive Lottery funding. Two years ago, libraries were cut as a funding recipient of the S.C. Education Lottery, despite libraries specifically being listed in the lottery’s enabling legislation.

· Sanford said counties should step up to fund libraries, but counties statewide have slashed budgets in recent years, including funds for libraries.

· Sanford inaccurately minimizes the importance of libraries in South Carolina, saying they don’t “rise to the level of many of our other core services such as law enforcement and heath care.”

o Sanford rallies around the importance of education, yet libraries are a core component of the educational system in every community. What could be more of a core service than helping people find employment or helping them get the training or retraining needed to find a new job or keep the job they presently have?

o Studies also repeatedly show that libraries play a key role in business and economic development, and libraries are referenced as a key service measured by businesses wanting to invest in an area.

o Getting people employed or re-employed will help lead to economic recovery and could help prevent increases for other state-funded services, such as unemployment and potentially impact law enforcement and health care.

Gaga Librarians: Don't Forget the Databases

2010-05-30T07:48:00.001-04:00

So awesome... Thanks Boing Boing.

Moving On: One Blog(ger) to Rule Them

2010-05-26T19:22:00.000-04:00

I am going to post all future Library 2.0, techie, and blog related stuff on my main blog, http://www.mybookhouse.com. Thanks for stopping by!

My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster: Can't Wait For This!

2010-04-10T14:37:00.001-04:00

This is the book video for My Fair Lazy, Jen Lancaster's upcoming book. This book chronicles her quest for cultural enrichment. Jen Lancaster is a great writer, funny, acerbic, and a diet inspiration (Such a Pretty Fat rules). My Fair Lazy comes out in May and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Jen Lancaster's excellent blog, Jennsylvania, is found at http://www.jennsylvania.com

The Picture I Didn't Take

2010-03-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

(Captain Rattan on right)

This morning I read about US Army Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan, the first Sikh allowed to complete basic officer training while wearing a full beard and turban since the Army first allowed Sikh enlistees to keep this traditional attire in 1984. Captain Rattan's promotion reminded me of a trip to Disney World about 3 years ago where I saw a large Sikh family enjoying themselves. The men in this family group were wearing their customary beards and turbans. The oldest man, who I imagined was the patriarch, possessed a magnificent, silver handlebar mustache and sported a turban with a US flag pattern. This fashion choice touched me deeply because I was unsure whether the patriarch's patriotic display meant that he was showing pride in our country or letting the world know that he was patriotic or perhaps both at once.

A large part of the reason I found this encounter so moving was because I had seen another eastern family, while on a previous trip to Orlando, whose traditional dress had also triggered an unexpected strong reaction. On that trip, in 2004, I was visiting Universal Studios when I passed an Arab family. As they walked toward me, I was suddenly gripped with a sense of fear. I immediately felt an equally great sorrow because on a rational level I was, and am, opposed to racial profiling and had been deeply disturbed by the way darker-skinned eastern people were being indiscriminately mistreated and subjected to civil rights abuses after September 11th, 2001. I believed then as now that fear can never justify the erosion and violation of civil rights and that no one should be judged based on appearances.

Yet anxiety arose uncontrollably like a malevolent cloud from my subconscious at the sight of this Middle-Eastern family; two men in thawbs and bishts wearing keffiyehs on their heads, two abaya-clad women, two young children, and a baby in a stroller. I made a conscious effort to smile at them because I thought that perhaps they didn't always get a friendly response from others and might appreciate it, especially if other Americans were having the kind of inadvertent reaction to them that I had. This group was most likely a couple with their adult child and son or daughter-in-law and their grandchildren and just like the Sikh family in Disney World and so many other families visiting Orlando that day and every day before or since, having a once-in-a-lifetime vacation that centered around the children. I felt shame at my reaction and it brought tears to my eyes because I felt like I had been somehow corrupted by the culture of fear that arose after 9/11. September 11th had damaged me, too, and I hadn't even known it until that moment.

Seeing that red, white, and blue turban three years later was somehow redemptive and I wanted very much to take a picture but I was shy about asking permission and I thought it would be rude to sneak a photo. I carry the picture in my mind and think about it often whenever I think about prejudice and fear and their emotional consequences. Captain Rattan's promotion is especially inspiring because it seems to me to be an action taken against that subconscious cloud of fear of the "other" that dwells in the human mind, which I now recognize within myself. Dr. King's concept of judging based on the content of a person's character is always a sure fire way to keep that dark cloud in check. I am glad that we allow citizens the freedom to wear traditional dress and still serve our nation. Increasing our national acceptance of diversity can only make our nation stronger.

Picture from http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-coalition/28503-second-us-army-victory-captain-tejdeep.html. Accessed 3/24/10.

Gadgets - Labels: Lost In a Cloud

2009-12-28T14:26:00.000-05:00

Blogger labels now have a setting for "cloud". Don't know how long this feature has been available but I really like it. I like the way tag clouds look. I find this to be one of the most attractive features of Delicious widgets, as well.

June 29, 2010: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

2009-11-21T15:46:00.000-05:00

Finally, the release date for David Mitchell's next book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, has been announced.

I found a description on an English website, http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Deshima+-9780340921579.html ,:

'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet' Description

In 1799, Jacob de Zoet disembarks on the tiny island of Dejima, the Dutch East India Company's remotest trading post in a Japan otherwise closed to the outside world. A junior clerk, his task is to uncover evidence of the previous Chief Resident's corruption. Cold-shouldered by his compatriots, Jacob earns the trust of a local interpreter and, more dangerously, becomes intrigued by a rare woman -- a midwife permitted to study on Dejima under the company physician. He cannot foresee how disastrously each will be betrayed by someone they trust, nor how intertwined and far-reaching the consequences. Duplicity and integrity, love and lust, guilt and faith, cold murder and strange immortality stalk the stage in this enthralling novel, which brings to vivid life the ordinary -- and extraordinary -- people caught up in a tectonic shift between East and West.

I just noticed that the UK release date is April15th, 2010. Amazon.uk... so tempting...

Update Your Facebook Status Using FB Notes With Blogger and FB's Twitter App

2009-10-05T17:44:00.000-04:00

Facebook's Notes application makes posting your Blogger posts (or any type of blogging platform posts) super easy. You just add the Notes app to your FB account using your blog address and everytime you post on your blog, your FB status updates a few minutes later. Simple.

The weird thing is that Blogger links are now completely blocked by MySpace. That is a complete mystery to me. The answer I was given when I inquired was that MySpace feels that Blogger is full of spammers or something like that.

Facebook also has a Twitter app that posts your tweets as an FB status update as well. Also very nice and easy. I tried a Twitter widget on one of my MySpace pages and it works occasionally. Personally I feel that MySpace's failure to integrate other 2.0 social networking apps is going to be it's undoing. Facebook is mastering this really, really well, IMHO.

Update 10/7/09: Just discovered that Twitter now syncs with MySpace. Will have to investigate further. Now if only MySpace would sync with Blogger.

Lolchair Is My Friend

2009-06-22T01:19:00.004-04:00

I am fascinated by anthropomorphism and simulacra, and the mysteriously whimsical workings of the human brain that engenders them. Lolchair is the perfect example of the way the mind "humanizes" the nonhuman. For more "object-oriented" fun, visit the Lolchair website at http://www.lolchair.com.

I am still dipping my toes in Stewart Elliott Guthrie's deep tome, Faces In the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion, which covers this subject as it relates to religion. This book puts forth the theory that early humans with anthropomorphic tendencies had a better chance of surviving. Simple example of this theory: If you see a shape and you think it looks like a bear or some other threatening creature, then your survival chances are better than if you think it is just a rock. If it is indeed a rock and not a bear, no harm done. However, if it is indeed a bear and you don't interpret it as a potential threat, then your chances of survival go down.

I have also been sampling a variety of other thought-provoking books on evolving scientific perceptions of human mind and consciousness.

When They Severed Earth From Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber - Dr. Barber, one of my favorite authors, who co-authored this book with her husband, also a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, explores the way myths preserve historical truths.

Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett - Computers, brains, and more! Older book, with lots of geeky, mathematical goodness.

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf - Questions the notion that humans are really "born to read".

Outliers and other books by Malcolm Gladwell - Gladwell makes interesting assumptions and turns common perceptions of reality inside out in an interesting way.

Quirky Roadtrips for Armchair Travelers

2008-12-29T12:18:00.016-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite nonfiction travel books with a focus on the humorous and/or meditative by some great writers.

Travels With Charley: In Search of America - John Steinbeck
The classic of this genre, which debuted in 1962, Steinbeck and Charley, Steinbecks's standard poodle, lead the way.

Blue Highways: A Journey Into America - William Least Heat-Moon
Another classic published in 1982, chronicles the author's atmospheric travels down two-lane, back roads in an old van.

Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War - Tony Horwitz
Horwitz explores the physical and cultural landscape of the Civil War with lots of weirdly funny sidetrips, which include the consumption of raw bacon and an interlude with a master Scarlett O'Hara impersonator. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is also the author several other literary travelogues including Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before.

Notes From a Small Island - Bill Bryson
Bryson, a master raconteur, recounts his humorously poignant, final tour of Britain, mostly by foot and by rail, just prior to returning Stateside after living in England for a number of years. Bryson is a prolific writer with great comic wit whose booklist includes the wonderful A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.

Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America - Steve Almond
A slightly edgy, humorous memoir-travelogue of the author's quest for elusive sweeties.
Click to visit Steve Almond's website.

Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell
Vowell, an NPR This American Life contributor's, comic/noir take on pilgrimages to the sites of presidental assassinations.

Keep on Tech Trekkin': Yammer On

2008-12-20T10:39:00.002-05:00

In the year since I participated in Tech Trek, Web 2.0 technologies have exploded. Barack Obama's amazing electorial success was due in part to the use of a MySpace-clone website, which helped build an extremely dynamic ground campaign. This landmark use of technology in American politics underscores the way that web applications have become customizable conduits between individuals and/or organizations that allow for rapid communication and response.

The latest app that I'm playing with is Yammer. Yammer is basically a microblogging service (like Twitter) with a business app. I heard about Yammer on NPR's tech segment, signed up, and coaxed a couple of co-workers into signing up, who coaxed some other coworkers into signing up. It is fun and easy to use (IMHO) and useful, according to the NPR segment, because it cuts down on email by letting people in the business or organization that uses it know what other folks within the org are doing in real time (like Twitter does with friends).

You sign onto Yammer with your work email and it connects everyone whose work emails have the same ending. Unlike Facebook and other public social-networking web apps, only your co-workers can see your Yammer posts. This cuts down on exposure to distracting, non-work related posts and keeps everyone focused on company business while staying connected. Very cool.

Santa's Little Helpers

2008-12-06T22:23:00.003-05:00

Happy St. Nicholas Day (December 6th)!

Here he is in la belle France avec Pere Fouettard, a mad butcher/priest dude who will get you if you are naughty. (Click link to see the French website where I found this cool picture.)

In Switzerland, St. Nick hangs with Schmutzli, a sooty, nasty dude who will carry you off in his sack if you don't watch out. (Click link to see Flickr with this great pic).

The devilish Krampus is part of Austrian (and other eastern European nations') winter holiday traditions that have merged with St. Nicholas Day and Christmas. Krampus, which means "claw", is another bogeyman to make sure that the kiddies don't get out of line. Click here for more about Krampus.

In the Netherlands, Santa, known as Sinter Klaas, is accompanied by Schwartz Piet, an African helper in Renaissance style clothes. Schwartz Piet is more of a friendly helper than a threat to kids. (Click here for more on Sinter Klaas).

Have these kids been naughty? Only Krampus knows.

Have a cool Yule!

Big Sticks: Pink Saris and The White Tiger

2008-12-05T07:13:00.017-05:00

Serendipitously, a day or so after finishing Aravind Adiga's wonderful, Man Booker Prize-winning novel about a down-trodden young man's path to becoming a successful entrepreneur through dubious means in contemporary India , The White Tiger, I heard a fascinating story on NPR about a group of vigilante Indian women called "The Pink Saris".

The Pink (Gulabi) Gang or Pink Saris, are led by Sampat Pal Devi and wear, what else, bright pink saris, and carry a leki stick, the weapon of choice for Indian police. The Gulabi Gang goes around and attacks dishonest and bad folks who avoid punishment by the Indian criminal justice system through the payment of bribes and influence. The average target of Pink Sari attention is a male who has victimized someone poorer and less powerful, often a woman.

I find this interesting because the term "thug" originally comes from India, derived from the term "thugee", which is a kind of organized crime, Kali-worshipping cult, who were feared bandits and thieves. The idea of this women-only group, who wear such distinctivly feminine clothing, banding together, getting thuggish for justice like a band of Wild West vigilantes, and openly taking on an unresponsive, male-dominated justice system is pretty interesting stuff.

The White Tiger has a similar theme of the weak against the strong, but Balram, the protagonist, takes on the system in a covert, murderous way rather than through direct action like the Gulabi Gang. Balram, a Dickensian anti-hero, is a young man working in the Indian capital of New Delhi as the personal driver of Ashok, the soft, Westernized son of the family that has Balram's rural village and entire family locked in a merciless, feudal grip. Balram, the white tiger, seeks to survive the corrupt, injust world he has been locked into from birth by striking out at his employer.

Balram is a true, old school Indian Thug, which comes from the Sanscrit word for "conceal", "sthag". Balram hides his true feelings beneath a submissive exterior, bowing and scraping and obediently performing all the menial tasks set for him by Mr. Ashok and his family, who Balram calls animals, no matter how horrible or degrading. Balram's spiritual link to the Thuggees is underscored by the presence of a Kali magnet on the dashboard of the car that Balram drives for Mr. Ashok.

Picture from http://www.shivani.com.au/Media/picture-galleries/Trip-to-India.aspx?imagepath=%2FMedia%2Fpicture-galleries%2FTrip-to-India%2FIndia-and-Diwali-07-080 . Accessed 12/8/08

Arviga's novel combines an amoral protagonist a' la Camus with elements of Poe ("The Casque of Amontillado" first comes to mind) and a touch of Shakespearean tragedy (I seem to recall a reference to bloody hand-washing). The upstairs/downstairs contrasts of Indian life in the rural "Darkness" versus the "bright lights, big city" of Delhi are sharp and startling. T

his novel smoothly transitions from the first world, high-rise apartment where Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madam, Ashok's overly-sexy, spoiled American wife, reside in air-conditioned comfort to the third world, bug-infested, squalor where Balram and his fellow drivers spend their nights without missing a beat. This clear and shocking dichotomy is as strong a call for social justice as anything Charles Dickens ever wrote or any picture Jacob Riis ever took. The novel's gruesomeness and the author's use the first-person frame tale of a series of letters to a Chinese bureaucrat, among other things, also echo the building, Gothic horror of Poe's, "The Tell-Tale Heart".

Ms. Sampat Pal Devi's autobiography has been published in France.

DIY Book Bag

2008-10-25T12:41:00.003-04:00

Cool idea from Boing Boing: a book purse made from Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Nice to find a use for them other than decorating chain restaurants and bars.
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/25/howto-make-a-puse-ou.html

Reader's Digest Condensed Books are fairly useless to most readers mainly because the idea of "condensing" literature is somewhat unsavory and anathemic to real readers (think Cliff notes). If you look at reading as a pleasure to be savored, why would you want to snip away at tasty bits and pieces of a good book just so you could plow through it more quickly to the "main idea". Condensing periodical articles is cool. I totally dig Utne Reader and Reader's Digest, but forget condensing novels. If it is worth reading, it is worth reading in its entirety, IMHO.

Freedom to Savor the Salacious and Sample the Staid

2008-09-26T10:37:00.006-04:00

I went to see my cousin's CofC class production of the play, Quills. The play is about the Marquis de Sade and is quite provocative. It was made into a movie starring Geoffrey Rush. It brought to mind discussions I had in library school with fellow students about censorship and "thought crimes". Banned Books Week starts tomorrow, too, so the subject of intellectual freedom is at the forefront of my mind.

Personally, I don't think that knowing and thinking about things is the same as doing them. Thought crimes don't exist in my world. Even thoughts/concepts that may be unpleasant to me are fodder for books, articles, and discussion. I believe people should be free to think and write about anything they like as long as they are not planning or inciting crimes. Not everyone agrees with this and I do find hateful pundits to be extremely unpleasant but I think that holding the ideal of intellectual freedom above all my personal inhibitions and preferences is essential for my practice as a public librarian.

To paraphrase Ranganathan, "Every book its reader and every reader its book." Yes, indeed!

Picture from http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/23/115523-004-FA619CA3.jpg . Accessed 12/8/08.

Blogger Gadgets: So Many To Choose From

2008-09-08T15:15:00.000-04:00

Blogger Gadgets (widgets) are quite a jump from the "Page Elements" of the earlier versions of Blogger. First of all there are tons of apps to choose from. Sometimes finding one to do what you like is a bit overwhelming because there are so many, some of which are not in English.
For example, I found a really great Youtube widget in Chinese or Japanese. I didn't add it and was looking for an English version. I didn't find anything comparable and decided to use the non-English one and couldn't find it a second time.

Here are a few that I really like.

Fluff: Fluff is a newsreader widget. It comes preloaded with six gossip and topical blog feeds but you can change the feeds to fit your taste. You can also adjust the size of the widget, the number of posts from each feed url, and I used a lot of Fluff widgets on my newsreader page, http://randomlibrary.blogspot.com/ .

Peter K's widgets especially for searching: Peter K has got to be a librarian. He has some great search widgets that incorporate Google and other types of searches. I am using his "Libarian's E-Library" search widget that uses the ALA website.

The Digg Widget: Good for seeing what is hot on the net at the 'mo.

NWS Weather Radar: Shows the radar map for the area you select. Click on it to see the full size map. Very useful this time of year.

Speed Loader: Chrome Shines

2008-09-02T22:30:00.000-04:00

I have downloaded and am test driving Google's Chrome browser platform and I definitely notice a big increase in speed. I can't wait till I have used it enough to have my "windows" fill up with my most frequently viewed sites. I am liking the Chrome.

I try to use Firefox more, just to show it some love, but my blog pages frequently look lousy and it is sort of disheartening. Chrome is a Google app so my Blogger pages look as good or better than in IE, even the ones that have user-generated CSS templates that I downloaded from http://btemplates.com/ and modified.

My Life Post-Harry: What I Am Waiting For

2008-09-02T12:28:00.003-04:00

I am not exactly "waiting" for The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the way I waited for Deathly Hallows, but I will buy it and I will read it, mostly for background info. My capability for anticipatory zeal is not piqued in the slightest by any of the HP movies. They have not been all that great with the exception of the Cuaron effort.

Here's what I am waiting for.

*David Mitchell's new book about Dutch traders in Japan in the 18th or 19th century on the island of Dejima (or Deshima).

*A new book in Holly Black's Modern Tales of Faerie series or any YA book or any book by Holly Black.

*Wendy McClure's promised tome about disturbing children's books.

*The movie version of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

*Another season of Flight of the Conchords.

*Finding a copy of Sarah Kider's Mermaid Song to purchase on CD or by audio download.

The waiting is not the hardest part. The real problem is that a good "wait" is hard to find.

Blogger versus Blogger In Draft and Blogger Changes

2008-08-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

I learned the hard way that "Blogger in Draft" does not automatically save posts. You must save and then reopen the draft of your post to "save as you go". I guess another option would be to write the post as a text-only draft and then paste it into Blogger.

My post bugged out when I was pasting in a link. Perhaps saving after posting a link might also be a way to deal with this issue.

Blogger has also made some changes. "Page Elements" (what Wordpress calls "widgets"and Facebook calls "applications") are now called "gadgets". I have updated the sidebar accordingly. The design of layout section of Blogger where you add your "gadgets" is a little more snazzy and user-friendly looking IMHO.

Random Reading: Bookmarks and Books

2008-08-22T15:09:00.005-04:00

While reading a great article in the Charleston City Paper (I really have to give props to their Web 2.0 skillz) I found a new bookmarking site, Mister Wong. It appears to be a multi lingual version of Del.icio.us, which I find really interesting. I like messing around with languages, words, idioms, etc, and I don't mind subtitles.

During the process of importing some Del.icio.us bookmarks into Mr. Wong, I found a new Library 2.0 site, Open Library, which wants to create a web page for every book, according to their site info. Looks like an interesting site to keep an eye on and play around with.

I must say that Del.icio.us' new look is much more graphically appealing. The import/export process was also really easy. This was the first time, I tried that, too. I went ahead and imported all my random Del.icio.us bookmarks into one account, as well. Now to trim the tags.

Fine Tuning: Blogger In Draft and Importing/Exporting

2008-08-17T16:26:00.000-04:00

I have finally discovered how to import/export one Blogger blog to another. Unfortunately this is only possible Blogger-to-Blogger. I tried to move some content from Wordpress to Blogger and it did not work. Maybe this will be a future Blogger fix.

The first thing is to switch your Blogger blog to the "Blogger In Draft" setting. This was the hardest part for me because the link to the page which will turn on the option for "Blogger in Draft" is buried in Blogger's buzz blog. Click here to accesss the link. I found it by searching the Blogger Buzz blog using the term, "import export".

Once your blog is on the "Blogger In Draft" mode, you select Settings - Basic and then choose "Export" and save your blog onto your hard drive as an XML file. Then you can upload it on your new blog (which must also be in the "Blogger In Draft" mode) using the "Import" link on this same page.

Meme Streak: The Day After Caturday

2008-08-17T15:20:00.005-04:00

I have memes on the brain.

While reading a William Gibson novel, Pattern Recognition, a virtual, semiotic funfest, I wanted to refresh my understanding of the word "meme". Discovering that my bed-worthy Webster's Collegiate, circa 1977, was too outdated to help and my newish Websters 3rd too heavy for horizontal use, I decided take the contextually-appropriate Google/Wikipedia route. This led to more info grazing and I found this online Time article about 4chan, an "off the chain" website, where users share assorted visual tidbits and other stuff.

According to Time, 4chan is a meme hothouse which started out as an anime/manga fan site modeled after a Japanese site called 2chan. At some point, 4chan had a Saturday thing called "Caturday", where users posted funny pictures of cats. This in turn spawned the LOLcat phenom. Interesting stuff.

Lately I have been really interested in the whole viral info transmission concept. It figures in several good nonfiction books I have been reading; The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. The internet is a great place to see it in action because it happens so quickly and so visibly.

It is also interesting to me that 4chan is a mostly unrestricted website that allows for a high degree of anonymity. I think that theoretically, at least, information evolution/transmission probably occurs more rapidly in this kind of open environment (the watched pot and all that). I found the anime/manga connection interesting too. Otaku figure heavily in Pattern Recognition as well. Just another drop in the meme pool.

Internet People by Dan Meth

Weezer's Take

A Little Tab'll Do Ya!

2008-07-14T21:13:00.007-04:00

I am really lovin' the tabs so now I am converting the library blogs that I work on to tabbed versions using the CSS stylesheets from http://www.btemplates.com/ . I can see possiblities for major improvements in navigation and access to info using these templates. Click the links below to see what tabs can do. Please note that these are still under construction.

http://standrewslibrary.blogspot.com/

http://standrewslibrarychildren.blogspot.com/

Picture from T.J. Wagner's Tab Gallery. Available at http://home.epix.net/~tjwagner/myfulltabbottle.jpg. Accessed 7/14/08.

Clonification and My Year of Blogging Dangerously: Faux Wordpress Templates

2008-07-13T07:58:00.007-04:00

Exploring the options of Wordpress has pushed me to expand my knowledge of Blogger. I have decided to stick with Blogger as my primary blogging platform for this blog. My horizon has definitely been expanded by interacting with Wordpress. I really liked using Chris Pearson's Cutline Template (Wordpress.org) on my own site but find the Wordpress.com version too constraining to use as my only blogging option primarily, as I mentioned before, because of the banning of Javascript.
I googled to see what other people were saying about the topic of Wordpress versus Blogger and found a great blog, Smithereens, with a pretty clear discussion of the limitations of Wordpress.com. I also found out that just like MySpace, Blogger has inspired folks to create CSS layouts/templates so that users can customize their blogs.
I have always used the templates that come with Blogger and have never tried actually loading my own. Apparently interest in Wordpress clone templates for Blogger is a hot and happening thing. I have tried three templates so far and I found....tah dah!!... a Cutline clone template. The tabs are web addresses not pages like the Wordpress versions and the instructions in the code are written in Spanish, but that is okay. I am plowing ahead.
I paid for a year of web hosting for my birthday last year and created a blog using Wordpress (the dot org CMS - content management system - just learned that term yesterday ; ) ) This really pushed me to learn more about the mechanics of independant blogging, which was a good thing, I think. It was very technical; not infrequently over my head. Everytime I see "MySQL", I think "my squall" and "perfect storm".
In the end, I have learned that the biggest thing about using a free blog host versus DIY blogging is that free hosting saves a lot of time and brain power. Like Lyle Lovett said in the song, "one wrong move will turn your world upside down" when you are hosting your own blog. Fixing mess-ups was frustrating and took time away from the actual process of writing something. Using these custom Blogger templates is allowing me to get under the hood and tinker around without having to do too much. It is kind of like putting on some rims versus rebuilding the engine.

Samurai Night Fever: Two Guys and a Girl

2008-07-09T12:31:00.006-04:00

I have totally gotten into the Samurai Champloo anime series. I am now on Disc 5. Two guys, Jin, a ronin, and Mugen, a thief, are traveling with a fifteen year old girl, Fuu, who is searching for the "samurai who smells of sunflowers". This is a great anime series for adults. Highly recommended!!

Negatory, Good Buddy: Things Wordpress Won't Do and Some That It Does Better

2008-06-22T20:32:00.004-04:00

Exploring Wordpress.com and comparing it to the wonders of Blogger has been added to my way lengthy list of current geekoid interests. I have been using Blogger for about 3 years and the full version of Wordpress on a paid host for 9 months. I just started messing with Wordpress.com and am learning the limitations of the free version as well as how it differs from Blogger.

I really like the fact that Blogger is pretty user-friendly and free-and-easy with the Javascript widgets. Wordpress.com is also user-friendly and has some awesome features like built-in stats but sadly it is not welcoming of widgets from other sources and Javascript widgets are strictly verboten (click here for more on that and again here for a bit more). This means that some of my all-time favorite, most visually interesting, widgets don't work on Wordpress.com's blogging platform with free hosting.

In the immortal words of Jeri Blank, "Sad."

A Few of My Favorite
Widgets Which Won't Work in Wordpress.com
(Sorry, I could not resist the urge to alliterate. It's an English Major thing.)

*Library Thing Book Covers
*Twitter Badge
*Del.icio.us Tag Clouds
*Photobucket Slide
*Project Playlist Player

Methinks Wordpress may be too serious for some of my intended audience (families with young children and teens who are more likely to respond to an eye-catching visual like a slide of movie posters than a lot of words describing the actual movie).

Wordpress.org, the platform, will let you do anything you want because you are paying to host it yourself. If you crash, get hacked, whatever, it's on you. The dotcom free hosting site is another deal entirely; a very safe, secure place to engage in serious blogging.

I do love the tabs, on Wordpress.com, though. I can see some real use for that - more static info, like library location and hours, program and event schedules, on the tabbed pages and reviews on the front page (where the blog is) sorted by categories and tags.

The categories and tags feature of Wordpress appear to offer an especially efficient way to organize and sort posts. I plan to continue to work with Wordpress to increase my proficiency with these and other features. The Trek continues.....

Happy Trails!

Wordpress

2008-06-20T17:27:00.004-04:00

My blogs are in motion. I have combined all of my "professional" blogging for the last two years into one big ball of bloggishness. I am playing with Wordpress and checking it out. It has a nice import feature that I used to add the stuff from this blog

Posting My Secret

2008-06-11T07:57:00.004-04:00

I am addicted to PostSecret. My daughter turned me on to it a few years ago and I have it on my My Yahoo page (my home page) and I check it each week for the new secrets. I have "read" all the books, too. It is one of the most moving art works/projects I have ever experienced.

PostSecret now has a some extra content; audio secrets, YouTube videos, a Facebook group,etc.

Trawlin' the Net For News: The Dredge Report

2008-06-09T18:09:00.008-04:00

While looking for info on a recent political scandal in my home county (not Charleston), I discovered a wealth of SC political blogs and a social networking site devoted to user-driven newsleads. Here are some tasty samples.

FITSNews - "Conservatism with an edge" blog of Governor Sandford's former spokesperson, Will Folks/

The Palmetto Scoop - A conservative blog run by several folks including a moose. (Click here for more info.)

South Carolina Hotline blog - the SC Hotline sites are apparently by Jeffrey Sewell

South Caroina Hotline website - Really, nice directory of SC news sites and blogs.

SC Yellow Dog Democrats - Blog of SC Democratic party members (click for their "about" info)

Click here for SCIWay's directory of SC Political blogs.

More political blogs and pundits - click here.

Click here for SCIway's directory of blogs about life in South Carolina.

For news with a social networking edge on the local, national, or world level, check out NowPublic.com.

Anime for Adults

2008-06-07T13:41:00.006-04:00

I have been really getting into the anime thing thanks to Ms. Amanda, whose business-like exterior hides mad anime/manga skillz, and Ms. Tama from JOH, Crazed Babe of Anime and Teen Anime Club sponsor at Johns Island Regional Library.

I prefer to watch in Japanese with English subtitles. I have picked up a little Japanese doing this.
I find it fasinating how much English has infiltrated Japanese. Here are a selection of some of the best stuff I have seen so far.

Anime From Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation by Susan J. Napier is an excellent reference work for more info on anime. (Click title for catalog info on book.)

Click here for anime related items from the CCPL collection.

Movies

Akira - The classic anime movie. Extremely powerful futuristic fantasy with shades of Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Brave New World.

Steamboy - made by the same director as Akira with some similar characters. Anime Wild Wild West meets Victorian England/Jules Verne with a dash of Greek tragedy.

Whisper of the Heart - Sweet Studio Ghibli teen romance/feel-good movie. Wonderful portrayal of family life in urban, mid 20th century Japan mixed with fantasy.

Paprika - Futuristic fantasy thriller. Awake, she's a prim and proper therapist but, when she's snoozing, she transforms into Paprika, a spicy, secret psychological superheroine battling monsters from the id.

Tokyo Godfathers - A Japanese Christmas story featuring a stolen infant, a tough, runaway teen girl, and an odd homeless couple composed of a hopeless alcoholic with a secret, sad past and his best friend, a transgendered, cross-dresser, who dreams of being a mother.

Series

Cowboy Bebop - (Bladerunner + Star Wars) X cool tunes = Cowboy Bebop. This is a great series.

Samurai Champloo - Even greater series by the creator of Cowboy Bebop. Hiphop cool in samurai-era Japan with great tongue in cheek humor and wonderful characters on a quest. Visually, this is the best of all the anime movies or shows that I have seen. Incredible stuff.

Witch Hunter Robin

- Beautiful, atmospheric future fantasy with witches. Has an X-files vibe plus Gothic Lolita cool clothes.

Book TV and Booknotes on C-SPAN

2008-05-30T19:42:00.004-04:00

I don't have full-strength cable at home, just a diluted el cheapo version that costs about $10.00 a month. I get good reception of the basic local channels, which I want, plus some junky shopping channels, that I block out. I read alot and watch videos so I really don't need more TV channels to tempt me.

Yesterday, while pulling an all-nighter with my successfully post-operative parental unit at the hospital, I encountered Book TV, a C-Span 2 channel that broadcasts nonfiction book authors giving talks about their works. Thought it was pretty interesting stuff, well, interesting to me, anyway. Tom Wolfe was talking about trophy wives and corporate culture at Enron and Silicon Valley and so forth. Apparently there is a related show called "Booknotes" that has been on C-SPAN since 1989. Who knew?

Booknotes offers hundreds of streaming video interviews of authors. Click for link to Erik Larsen's 2003 interview about The Devil in the White City.

I plan to take a closer look at Booknotes and the online version of Book TV. I am going to check out Book TV again, too, the next time I have "real" cable access.

Monkey Shines

2008-05-28T11:18:00.005-04:00

Monkey was truely awesome: incredible acrobatics, sets, music, everything. Sun Wu-kung inspires and amazes. Xie xie! Namaste.

Workplace Marginalia: Stuff I Learned From Helping Patrons

2008-05-27T15:20:00.005-04:00

Laki or Lakagigar , a fissure type of volcano located in Iceland, erupted in the 18th century and caused world climate change.
The Drinking Gourd is the Big Dipper.
Flying Foxes are a type of fruit bat and many of them live in Australia.

Picture from http://www.naisections.org/AAE/drinkingourd.jpg. Accessed 12/8/08.

Reading By Example: We Both Read Series

2008-05-19T14:50:00.001-04:00

I really love the We Both Read series of beginning reader books. These books come in several reading levels and when opened, the left-hand page is for the adult reader and the right-hand page is for the beginning reader, which makes reading a shared experience. These books are incredibly popular and more titles are being added to the CCPL collection all the time.

Click here to see the We Both Read series!

Pictures Speak: Wordless Books

2008-05-19T14:48:00.001-04:00

Wordless books let the pictures tell the story. Older readers and visual learners will pick up more "cues" from the beautiful artwork in these stories.

Un Brella by Scott E. Franson

The Red Book by Barbara Lehman (Caldecott Honor)

Author/Illustrator David Wiesner has created many beautiful award-winning wordless books

Flotsam (Caldecott Winner)

Tuesday

Sector 7

Free Fall (Caldecott Honor)

For more wordless books from the CCPL collection, click here to search for the subject heading, "stories without words - juvenile".

Pictured is Yellow Balloon by Charlotte Dematons

Ambiguities: Gender Flexing

2008-05-16T11:03:00.019-04:00

I have been reading the wonderful, Borges-influenced, Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami's, novels lately and have found it very interesting how he handles GLBT issues. I wonder if this is partly the influence of one of Japan's greatest twentieth century writers, Yukio Mishima, a bisexual, whose work I haven't read yet BTW, or something attributable to Japanese culture in general. All of the Murakami novels, I have read so far contain characters who are GLBT in part or whole.

I have discovered similar, generous treatment of gender ambiguity in Japanese manga and anime, which even have a special genre called "yaoi", "boys love", whose target audience is tween/teen girls, "shojo". Even the muy macho Naruto inadvertantly kisses the equally macho Sasuke in what I interpreted as a humorous reference to yaoi style anime/manga. Yaoi is like a much, much, tamer version of slash fan fiction (longer paper on slash)but with a similar esthetic. (Slash is another fascinating literary subject IMHO.)

The Fruits Basket manga and anime series contains several sexually ambiguous characters, particularly the cross-dressing characters, Ayame, an adult who is the "Snake" of the Zodiac and who takes narcissistic pride in his attractiveness to both sexes, and the younger, more innocent Momiji, the "Rabbit", who risks getting bullied because he prefers to wear a girl's uniform to school. I also felt like there was also a subtle yaoi undercurrent between the two main male characters, Yuki and Kyo, which was expressed in the story's plotline as constant fighting and bickering.

In Western literature, depictions of ambiguous sexual orientation, by which I mean characters or themes having any sort of GLBT overtones, have traditionally been very controversial and potentially career-dampening for the writer (think Radclyffe Hall). Leading a GLBT lifestyle with any sort of openness was even more risky (think Oscar Wilde). Lately I have found more GLBT characters, who are out, literarily speaking, in the books that I read. I have been really pleased by the treatment of these characters by the authors as multi-faceted people and not just sterotypes.

Here is my short list.

Ironman by Chris Crutcher (2000 Winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award)

The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips
Prague by Arthur Phillips (his website)

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize - click for Guardian interview)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize)

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (He did not win the Nobel Prize in 2007.)

Momiji picture from a fansite, Aucifer. Available at http://fruitsbasket.aucifer.com/character_profile.php?ID=8. Accessed on 5/16/08.

Fine Tuning: Sizing Header Pictures

2008-05-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Some Blogger templates allow you to add photos to the header. If you choose to add a photo to your header, you may want to note that the size of the photo will affect the size of the header. Optionally, your header photo will be be a slim rectangle. If you modify the blog template to reduce the size of your header, your header photo will have to be sized correspondingly to keep the header narrow.

Example:
http://charlestonhomeschool.blogspot.com/ - Template modified to reduce the size of the header. If I used a narrower picture, the header would be even smaller, but I am satisfied because I wanted use enough of the picture to show some roofline and sky in it.

Fine Tuning: Captioning Photos and LOL Cats

2008-05-13T07:35:00.000-04:00

I used Big Huge Labs captioning tool to caption these photos and then added them to a photobucket slide to promote branch programs (I used the "action line" option rather than the "speech or thought bubbles"). Big Huge Labs has a Flickr connection; they create Flickr photo editing tools. There was an option to upload my captioned photo directly to my Flickr account. I tried this but it did not work after a couple of tries (I think I need to make sure that I complete the authoriztion with Flickr to upload stuff directly from Big Huge Labs) so I just saved the captioned images on my PC and uploaded them to my Photobucket account and added them to my slide.

Please note that the top picture is the clearest in the slide. This was the first time that I had done this and I was in a hurry to finish so I did not look around to see if I could move the text to go in a straight line. There did not appear to be an option for this. I am sure there are other online captioning utilities but I chose Big Huge Labs because they have the Flickr seal of approval.

I created this "LOL cat" picture of my cat, Katie, using http://www.iwantcheezburger.com/ . Note that they put their web address on the photo. This is one of the things that I liked about Big Huge Labs; they did not alter my pictures. One way to get around issue of having your picture branded with the website address is to create a larger picture and then shrink it. http://www.iwantcheezburger.com/ allows you to adjust the size and type fonts. One downside was that they did not offer an option for manipulating the caption. You have three placement options for the text. Big Huge Labs has a LOL cat captioner, too, but I haven't tried it yet.

Fine Tuning: Widgets Left By the Wayside

2008-05-06T09:59:00.001-04:00

I like to try alot of different Web 2.0 sites, most of which have social networking features and widgets. Some I have ended up dropping because they didn't work consistently. Some simply didn't fit my needs.

**Mashable - I liked the idea of gathering all the social networking sites in one place and it had the option to create a beautiful page with the links to all the sites (the pretty background pictures that I uploaded are now gone). Unfortunately sometimes the badge widget was really slow loading or would not work so I let Mashable (click here for the St. Andrews Mashable) fall to the wayside in favor of Del.icio.us, which does the same thing in a fast, functional manner even if it does look quite utilitarian. I do like to check out Mashable's web page for social networking and web 2.0 news and info.

**Rollyo - I tried Rollyo as part of the Tech Trek 2.0 team. Rollyo lets you create your own search engine. I could never quite figure it out. Again Delicious (the St. Andrews Del.icio.us) does the job better for me. I guess like finding good sites and saving and organizing them than searching over and over for stuff on the same topic. I think Rollyo might work better for people looking for news on the web.

**Technorati - Another Tech Trek experiment that lets you put a button-link on your blog and then tracks your blog views or something like that. It doesn't work with MySpace and I just didn't find it useful for my own purposes. Technorati seems to be more about keeping up with the "buzz" (news and gossip) and tracking your blog's popularity.

**Meebo Chat Box - I liked Meebo and used it for Tech Trek but I don't sit at the same desk for most of the day and I get up and move around alot so using the Meebo chat box widget on my blogs was sort of a waste of space because I am not available to chat enough. I would use it if I was more stationary, though. Email works better for me.

**Dizzler Music Player - I encountered a Dizzler player on another librarian's MySpace page. I really like the variety of music Dizzler offers and the beautiful "skin" selection for the player widgets. The downside is that I think their player is a little trickier to use, I can't arrange the playlist in the order I like, and the Dizzler widget is pretty big and can't be downsized and still be useful like a Project Playlist player. So I am sticking with Project Playlist.

**Twitter - I have signed up for Twitter but I am not sure I will be using it because I am always at the same one or two places most of the time and have disbled texting on my cell phone to save money (Twitter lets you send in updates (twitters) about what you are doing using your phone). I think it would be useful if I was younger and dashing about and trying to keep up with friends. I like the logo. I am trying it out with NPR's Bryant Park Project, a blogish news program, which has a Twitter news feed. Twitter allows you to "follow" fellow users. That aspect would be useful if I could get some friends and family to use it.

**Yahoo Pipes - I really really wanted to use this for...something. I just could not figure it out. I am posting the link to this site in hopes that someone will be able to do something with it cause it looks so darn cool.

Fine Tuning: Widgets

2008-05-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

(NOTE: Blogger now calls its widgets, "gadgets". They used to be called "page elements")
For the purpose of blogging, "widgets" are pieces of java script, html code, etc that, when added to the code of the blog, put a (hopefully) visually interesting piece of programming on your webpage or blog that shows pictures, plays music, or has some other functionality that is usually linked to another site, often another social networking site. Most social networking sites offer widgets, which may be called "players" if they show videos or play music or badges if they are merely visuals, so that fellow users can connect with the person displaying the widget on their site, too. For the widget provider, a cool widget basically serves as an advertisement for their site. (more about widgets)

Youtube Widget (To add it to a blog post, click on the embed code next to the video you want to post and copy the embed code. On Blogger, click the "Edit HTML" tab of your post and paste the code where ever you want the widget to appear. If you click the "Compose" tab to proof your blog post, you will not be able to see the widget. It will be visible in your published post.

To add a Youtube video widget as a page element of your blog, click the layout tab and "add page element" and then select the "Add HTML" page element and paste the code in the element and save it. Note: You may want to resize the widget if you plan to use it in your sidebar.

Youtube offers social networking and you can set up an account and creat playlists to display as widgets.)

Flickr Badge
Flash Badge with tag, charlestoncountylibrary see page element in sidebar - I could not get it to work in the post.

HTML Badge with tag holidays

www.flickr.com

More of My Book House's stuff tagged with holidays

Go to your Flickr account and select "Tools" from the "Help" section at the very bottom of the home page. On the "Tools" page, select the "Build a Badge" option on the bottom right and follow the steps to build a badge. Note: make sure that the tag you use to select the photos for your badge is working. For example, I tag all of my work photos "Charleston County Public Library" but when I make a badge using this tag, I will have to put charlestoncountypubliclibrary (no parentheses or spaces) in the field for tag.

Fine Tuning: Limiting Descriptive Text in the Header

2008-05-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

I prefer to have my "About" section in the sidebar in a page element rather than in the header in the blog description section. I think this makes the blog look more like a webpage. If I write in the header section below the blog title, I try to make it a really brief statement more like a slogan than an explanation.

Personally, I think it makes the blog more engaging if the changing content (posts, links, slides, etc) is viewable and clickable as soon as the viewer accesses the page. Reducing text in the header gives the changing content more real estate at the top of the page. I have not done any research as to whether or not this makes the blog more "effective", so this is mainly just based on my esthetic preference.

Widgets: Shrink to Fit

2008-05-05T14:21:00.000-04:00

Playing with the HTML code that determines the size of the widgets can make them fit into your blog better. I try to make sure that I use the same ratio to reduce the size of the heighth and width. You have to go through the code and change the ratios in at least two places most of the time. Sometimes there is a third setting, generally larger, which is for the border or frame of the widget.

PROJECT PLAYLIST - Full Size Player-450px frame(px is pixels) and player 435px by 270px

50% Smaller - still have visible controls - 225px frame and player 217px by 135px. If you go much smaller than this you don't have the play/pause and forward and back buttons visible. This is small enough to fit in the margin of a blog, easily.

NOTE: If you set the player widget to autoplay, you may want to place it high on the page with instructions on how to shut it off so that users who don't care to listen to music can stop it quickly.

Widgets: Project Playlist Music Player

2008-05-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

Player from Project Playlist

Step 1 (after setting up an account) is to create a playlist and add music.

Step 2 is to add the playlist to blogger by creating a widget.

Step 3 is to paste the code for the playlist widget into a blogpost like this one by selecting the "Compose" tab or to post the playlist on the blog in a Page Element - HTML Code box.

This player was customized with a picture ("custom skin"), which was stored on Photobucket.

*The picture is a clip from the cover of the magazine Amazing Stories found on Google Images and saved on a PC and then uploaded to Photobucket.

*The picture was edited on Photobucket using the resizing and cropping tools.

*The picture link from photobucket was inserted on Project Playlist after selecting the option to "post a playlist on MySpace" and then selecting the option to create a custom skin and then generating the code.

Last step same as Step 3: Post the code on the blog, either in a post or in an HTML-enabled page element.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I GOT AN HTML ERROR MESSAGE WHEN I TRIED TO POST THIS BUT I CHECKED THE BOX TO IGNORE THE MESSAGE AND POSTED IT ANYWAY.

NOTE 2: Sometimes I have to make and post the player more than one time to get the picture from Photobucket right and the player to work. This may be because this option is supposed to work best with MySpace.

Widgets: Del.icio.us Links

2008-05-05T14:15:00.000-04:00

Del.icio.us is a social networking bookmarking site. Instead of saving bookmarks on an individual PC, users save bookmarks on their Del.icio.us page. Del.icio.us users "tag" their bookmarks; a tag is the equivalent of a subject heading. Del.icio.us has a feature that allows users to create visually-pleasing (IMHO) "tag rolls" .

I really love Del.icio.us for several reasons; it is graphic free which makes it fast-loading; it allows me to create, organize, and easily access a wonderful assortment of websites from any PC; and it allows me to share my links in a variety of ways. (Click for more info on "tags" and tagging also known as folksonomy.)

Del.icio.us links can be used as a link to all sites that share a tag. http://del.icio.us/standrewslibraryinformation/blog.tool or as a tag roll.

Widgets: Photobucket

2008-05-05T14:12:00.000-04:00

I use Photobucket to host images for all my blogging. I have a paid account (about $25.00 per year), which allows me to store lots of graphic files (especially slideshows) without fear of getting the "exceeds storage limit" message. If you set up a free account for your blog, keep the storage limit in mind, when adding images to your Photobucket account. (more about "hosting")

To use Photobucket - Upload an image from your computer to your Photobucket account and then copy the HTML code for it into a Blogger HTML Element widget or copy the URL for a Photobucket picture link in the Blogger Picture Element widget. (click for more info on Photobucket) (click for info on "widgets") There are other free image hosting sites available besides Photobucket like Slideshow, Snapfish, etc, that may work better for you.

One option if you want more free hosting is to use more than one account. Personally, I find that being able to work on slides and images for several different blogs in one place to be a real time-saver and worth the yearly expense.

Note: I also use Photobucket to host the backgrounds for the MySpace pages for myself and my branch. I have found that MySpace photo hosting does not let me store an image big enough to cover the whole background. MySpace - http://myspace.com/kathy_the_librarian

Posting Tips: Tagging Your Blogger Posts

2008-05-02T13:30:00.000-04:00

Blogger has a label/tagging feature (click for more info on tags) that allows you to label and access your posts.

To label (tag) your Blogger posts, add your labels in the white box at the bottom of your post while in "Create" mode. Labeling posts allows viewers to find posts on a particular topic easily.

Blogger has an option, which I used in this blog to add an element/widget to show the labels for the blog posts.

First Steps: Setting Up Comment Preferences

2008-05-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

I would highly recommend changing your blog comment settings on the front end. You will need to decide whether you want blog viewers to be able to comment or not and if you want to accept comments, I recommend that you select to moderate them before they are posted on your blog. Enabling comment moderation prevents spamming on your blog.

Personally, I like to allow comments on my blogs but blocking them removes the need for moderating them. You can always ask patrons who are viewing your blog to contact the your library branch with questions by email or phone if you block comments.

To modify comment preferences, select the "Settings" tab on the Blogger Dashboard and then click on "Comments".

Posting Tips: Removing the Posting Date

2008-05-02T12:27:00.000-04:00

Removing the posting date keeps your posts looking ever-fresh. Thanks to Ms. Lee for this great idea!

The way to do this is to select the "Settings Tab" on the Blogger Dashboard and then select "Fonts and Colors" and make the post date color the same color as your page color. You can also downsize the post date font to tighten up the space between posts. The post dates will still show on your Archive links. You can delete the Archive Element widget if you like, too. This would be useful if you are trying to create a blog page that functions more as a web page.

First Steps: Setting Up a Gmail Account

2008-05-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

Setting up a Gmail account to use with the Blogger account is the first step I take when setting up a new separate blog on Blogger.

I like using Gmail with Blogger because it allows me to forward blog-generated emails to my work email at no charge. This allows me to easily keep up with blog comments from my work email account, while keeping the work email address private. I have also set up an iGoogle page with useful blog related widgets and links. I just find that using Google tools gives me more bang for my buck.

If you set up a Gmail account and then add Blogger, Youtube, and an iGoogle page you can log into all the accounts with one password.

First Steps: What is the Focus of Your Blog; Professional, Shared, or Personal?

2008-05-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

One of the first things you will probably want to think about is the focus of your blog.
Initially when I started blogging at work, I had one account and I had my personal blog and my department blog on that same account. Later, I realized that it would work better to have them on separate accounts. That way if I go to another department or job, I will leave the department blog behind and take the blogs that are "mine" with me. Sorting out the blogs after-the-fact was messy and time consuming so I strongly recommend thinking this stuff out in advance.
NOTE: Don't be afraid to have "too many" blogs. The only blogs you have to update frequently are the professional ones that you are using to provide patrons with info about events at your branch.

The name you choose to identify the blog account author should match the focus of the blogs on that account.
Professional Blog Accounts - These blogs are for posting current information about events and services at our library. Because these blogs are primarily about promoting events they require regular maintenance.
**The blog for my branch is published under the name of the branch manager. This is the person ultimately responsible for all things at the branch so it made sense to us to put this blog account in her name.
Note: We had a 2-month long Harry Potter program the summer of 2007 and I created a blog for it on the branch blog account, but in retrospect I would have used the shared blogs account for this type of programming.

**The blogs for my department are published under the name of the department staff. These blogs are for branch programming or services.

Shared Blog Accounts - These blogs are for reader's advisory, media reviews, long-running individual programs, etc. These are more traditional blogs, whose content is primarily posts about library materials that generally do not need to be updated once posted.

**The shared blogs account is published under the name of the library branch staff. Anyone on staff may add reader's advisory info to them if they choose. This is also a good account to use for special program blogs.
Creating a special blog to promote a program allows patrons to participate in programing online and is paperfree. We count the folks that enter contests online in our stats just like the folks that enter in the branch. The links to the special program blog can be removed from the ongoing branch blogs at the end of the program.

Personal/Professional Blog Account - This is the place for you, as a professional, to air your work-related thoughts. The professional aspect of this means, IMHO, keeping ranting in check and keeping the tone light and moderate. Save intense and/or questionable stuff for your private blog that you don't link to your work blogs.

My Library's Blogs

My Personal/Professional Blogs

Note: I like using Del.icio.us to organize links for my blogs.

Template HTML Changes

2008-05-02T06:37:00.000-04:00

Template - Sanddollar

Reducing the Size of the Header
I wanted to reduce the area between the Blog Title and the top of the page so I modifyed the HTML. I selected the "Layout" tab on the dashboard and clicked "Edit HTML" and I scrolled halfway down the template code to the section marked "h1" and changed " padding-top:25px; " to " padding-top:10px; " (see below).

h1 {
padding-top:10px;
padding-$endSide:0px;
padding-bottom:10px;
padding-$startSide:5%;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
background:$pagetitlebgcolor;
font:$pagetitlefont; letter-spacing:-2px;

Making this change puts the title higher on the page and pulls up the stuff on the bottom of the page so that you can see more of it when you first open the page. I want to show as much "content" at the top as possible so that viewers can get a maximum of info without having to scroll.

Enlarging Blog Description Font - I wanted to increase the size of the blog description font to make it more visible. The HTML code for this is found just past the halfway point beneath the sidebar code sections. I increased the font from 100% to 110%.

BEFORE
.description {
padding:0px;
margin-top:7px;
margin-$endSide:12%;
margin-bottom:7px;
margin-$startSide:5%;
color:$descriptionColor;
background:transparent;
font:bold 100% Verdana,Sans-Serif;

AFTER
.description {
padding:0px;
margin-top:7px;
margin-$endSide:12%;
margin-bottom:7px;
margin-$startSide:5%;
color:$descriptionColor;
background:transparent;
font:bold 110% Verdana,Sans-Serif;

First Steps: Picking the Template

2008-05-02T06:23:00.001-04:00

I like to use the Sanddollar, Herbert, Jellyfish, and Stretch templates the most. Sanddollar is particularly advantageous because it has individual settings for the fonts for various parts of the blog. If you pick a template that uses a general font-size setting for several separate text elements (post text, sidebar links, blog post titles, etc), you will have to manually change the font settings by altering the blog's template html.

If you choose a template that is heavily formated or has few formatting options, it is harder to customize it.

If you change templates, you will keep all your content but lose all customized colors, fonts, template html changes, etc.

Example-

My Book House - Tekka - I shrank the header and I think I also adjusted the font sizes on this one.

6/2/10 currently using the following -

Blogger Template Style
Name: The Morning After
Author: Klodian
Website: www.deluxetemplates.net
Date: December 2009

Witch One Do I Choose?

2008-04-30T14:32:00.002-04:00

So many witch books so little time! Most of these books are series books and like all YA series, can be found in the YA paperback section at all CCPL branches. YA paperbacks are not linked to the catalog so you can't look online and see what is there. You have to go directly to the shelves and uncover the magic yourself!

You Are So Cursed by Naomi Nash - You don't need real magic if you can use your mad sleight-of-hand skills to fool all the kids that bug you at school.

Sweep by Cate Tiernan- What meeting the hot new guy at school led you to suspect that everything you thought you knew about yourself and your family was totally not as it seems?

Witch Child by Celia Rees - Historical fiction set in 17th century England and America from the author of Pirates!

Circle of Three by Isobel Bird

Daughters of the Moon by Lynne Ewing

Rhymes With Witches - Lauren Myracle

Monkey Business: The Last Remaining Ancestor of Salazar Slytherin

2008-04-29T07:32:00.017-04:00

Hippity, hoppity, Spoleto is on it's way! For the first time since 1989, when I saw the awesome Laurie Anderson, I am actually going to one of the big events; Monkey's Journey to the West. This brings full circle a serendipitous series of personal literary/artistic/spiritual events that began with, what else, Harry Potter.

It all started when I was re-reading the Harry Potter series last spring in anticipation of the release of Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I noticed two odd references (in Book 2 and in Book 6) to the Slytherin family members looking "monkeyish" and "simian". This really intrigued me and I started investigating for monkey myths and discovered the story of the Monkey King, Sun Wu Kong, who tried to conquer death.

Further investigations of the Monkey King led to the story of the 16th century Chinese novel, Monkey: Journey to the West. This book, written by Wu Ch'eng-En combines the story of the mythical Monkey King with the story of the real Buddhist monk, Xuan Zang (also known as Tripitaka). Xuan Zang is famous for making a secret, forbidden fifteen-year journey to India and back in the 7th century in search of more Buddhist sutras to answer his spiritual questions. He is also famous for his travel diary, which provided China with valuable real information about the world beyond its borders.

Xuan Zang hailed from from Chang An in Shaanxi province, which is home to the famous Qin dynasty army of terracotta warriors and the start of the Silk Road. The Wild Goose Pagoda, which still stands in what is now the modern city of Xian, is home to Xuan Zang's library; the Buddhist texts he brought back from his quest.

Xuan Zang passed through an area that has fascinated me since I read Dr. Elizabeth Wayland Barber's Mummies of Urumchi and became intrigued by the Beauty of Loulan and the other mysterious, European Silk Road travelers, who were buried by the salty wayside in what has become one of the fiercest desert regions in the world, the Taklamakan.

One of my personal literary goals is to read the entire four volume epic, Monkey: Journey to the West. I have done some research and selected the Anthony C. Yu version as my translation of choice. It is a complete and faithful translation according to the reviews.

But there is more...

My random ramblings prompted, Ms. K8 to recommend the wonderful YA graphic novel, American Born Chinese by Gene Yang, which also draws upon the Sun Wu Kong story.

As part of Tech Trek, I got back into messing about with MySpace and made friends with The Gorillaz and discovered a related MySpace page for the production of Journey to the West that members of their group were involved in creating in the UK. I wished so much too see it....

To the present...

I noticed the eye-catching, beautiful cover of Where, a new free entertainment info magazine, that Ms. Vickie had requistioned for our branch, and discovered that the Monkey is coming to Charleston. So now we are full circle and I get to see the monkey at last.... but.... I still want to see where he lives, so....the journey continues!

www.flickr.com

More photos or video tagged with biggoosepagoda on Flickr

Big Goose Pagoda in Xian: Now That's a Book House!

Some More Choice Monkey King Resources

Monkey King Lesson Plan

Power Point Slide with Links

Picture from the opera, Journey to the West, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/image_galleries/280607_monkey_gallery.shtml?10. Accessed on 4/30/08.

Should Wikipedia Be Labeled "Warning: Use of This Product May Be Damaging To Your Crediblity"?

2008-04-22T09:38:00.009-04:00

A couple of disturbing things came to my attention in the last week regarding the alarming trend/misperception that Wikipedia is a reliable source of credible factual information. Wikipedia does contain facts, but those facts are tainted with opinion, hearsay, and just plain jokiness in some entries.

The first thing that I learned was that an acquaintance's doctor's office had given him/her a printout of medical information from Wikipedia to use as a guide. (Sacre' bleu!) Even if the doctor wrote the Wikipedia him or herself, unless that doctor reverifies the info in the article every time it is printed and issued to the patient, the possibility exists that the Wikipedia entry might have been tampered with and contain useless or even hazardous information at the time it was printed.

I discovered the second thing the day before yesterday when I was googling and I went to an About.com entry and discovered that the About.com post was using Wikipedia for its information source. Somebody better warn the teachers.

Apparently About.com relies on "guides", experts in a field, to gather information from the web on their area of expertise and post it on About.com for random internet users to access. About.com is now owned by the New York Times. You think they would know better; journalistic integrity and all that.

The latest thing I came across is the news that Google is creating somthing called knols (apparently a "knol" is a unit of knowledge comparable to the "util of satisfaction" from the utility theory of economist, Thorstein Veblen , the guy who invented the term "conspicuous consumption") Google wants to use the knols concept to move into the Wikipedia -About.com field of intenet user-generated information; experts contribute their knols or something like that. I just hope it is not just another pile of Wikipedia-style truthiness.

All this just goes to show that alot of people simply believe anything that comes off the internet if it is packaged nicely. I plan to keep on pushing the electronic databases and googling with the +edu to try to get better info for my patrons.

Here are my multi-disciplinary "explanations" for what is wrong with using Wikipedia for a reference source.

In mathematic terms -

Wikipedia =Facts + Nonfacts

Facts + Nonfacts = Nonfacts

Therefore Wikipedia = Nonfacts

In literary allegorical terms -

Using a quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth to make an allegorical reference to the above mathematic explanation of what is wrong with Wikipedia:

"No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas in incarnadine, making the green one red."

Symbolic Meaning: The blood on the hand of Macbeth symbolizes the taint of nonfact, which makes the green sea of fact one big red nonfact. (I'll let you figure out where the commas can go in that statement.) (English Major Joke Alert)

In historical/social science terms -

The fierce tribe of nonfacts with their superior weapons of confusion are always able to overcome and conquer the delicate, social order of the tribe of facts. Nonfacts efficiently subjugate and absorb the fact tribe members so that the nonfact tribe becomes even stronger. Even though the former fact tribe members sometimes appear unchanged, close examination reveals that facts act as nonfacts as long as they merged.

In philosophical terms -

Unless you are an expert, you can not know with certainty that the info in a Wikipedia entry is factual.

If you are expert enough to know the info you find on Wikipedia is factual, then you don't need to use Wikipedia to get info on the area of your expertise.

Therefore people who use Wikipedia are not expert enough to know they are getting bad info.

In conclusion people who want to get facts about a subject that they are not experts about should use a credible source (like an encyclopedia or electronic database) rather than Wikipedia.

Philosophy is not my strong point so my logic may be flawed. Perhaps I should consult Wikipedia...

Macbeth is contemplating washing his hands in the photo from the Creation Theatre Company's 2006 production of MacBeth in Headington Hill Park, in Oxford, UK. Available at

http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/images/theatre/macbeth-creation-blood.jpg . Accessed 4/22/08.

Tea Greenish: Upping My Game

2008-04-21T07:40:00.012-04:00

I worked at Charleston County Recycling's Earthday Festival this past weekend. It was an awesome event; bigger and better and greener than last year. Personally, I have been trying to get greener, too, by trying to generate less non-biodegradable waste, especially plastic (even #1 and #2) and styrofoam as I go about my day-to-day life.

On the homefront, this means going back to using powdered detergent and dishwashing powder (these come in cardboard containers), avoiding purchasing and ordering foods that are served in styrofoam containers or completely avoiding restaurants that use styrofoam containers as well as generally eating out less. I have started looking for juices sold in glass bottles (Earthfare's 64 oz apple juice bottle is the bomb!) and refill them with homemade tea instead of buying soft drinks. I like the Pom teas because they come in a reusable glass. I am now using Pom glasses to carry water instead of plastic bottles. My husband has graciously acquiesed to my wishes to pass on plastic and is now getting groceries in paper bags (which actually hold more!).

I was interested to see the Slow Food folks at the Earth Day Fest. I want to get more into the Slow Foods thing myself; making time to prepare good food from fresh ingredients (I use a lot of canned vegies and beans at present). Slowing down my cooking to a snail's pace is looking like a prime candidate for the top of my green resolutions for next year. I am sure I will get no complaints from my family on that one!

Here's my recipe for ice tea made with bulk loose tea. I get mine at Earthfare, which has opened a "tea room" with all kinds of cool bulk teas (many are Fair Trade) as well as all kinds of boxed teas. (Earthfare graciously donated some bags for the St. Andrews' Green Skillz Prize Drawing, by the way.)

*I use a 64 oz (8 cup) Pyrex microwave-able mixing bowl with a handle and spout for this. (see picture above)
*I spoon in 6 heaping measuring teaspoons of loose tea (I use black tea like Assam, Darjeeling or Earl Grey) into the bowl. (Green or herbal tea my require a different quantity or brewing method).
*I fill the bowl with 6 cups of water and swirl the tea around washing the tea that is stuck on the sides of the bowl down into the water. I have found that it works better to put the tea in first but it will still work the other way around no problem, I just have to stir the tea a little more to disperse it.
*I nuke the Pyrex bowl of tea and water for 10 minutes on high (I have a wimpy microwave so a more powerful microwave may need less time).
*I let the tea sit in the microwave and steep for at least an hour or two (sometimes much longer if I forget about it!)
*I slowly strain the cooled tea into my 64 oz bottle using a funnel with a cup sized tea strainer (this is a stainless one, mine is plastic) sitting in it.
*I top off the bottle with water and put it in the fridge to cool.
*The used tea leaves go into the compost pile.

If I wanted to make it sweet, I would probably add sugar at the point when I added the tea leaves at the beginning because the sugar should dissolve into the tea when the mix is heated in the microwave. Some of my co-workers make sun tea which is even more Earth-friendly. I will have to experiment with that... maybe next year!

(picture of Taian Teahouse, one of the oldest in Japan - click to go to webpage)

Here is a link to a Japanese-American tea classic, The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura from Project Gutenberg.

South Carolina Tea Links

Tea in South Carolina from South Carolina Magazine

Tea in South Carolina from SCIWay

Andre Michaux Biography (planted the first tea in America in the Charleston area)

Middleton Place (site of first tea planting in America)

Pinehurst Tea Plantation (Tea Farm) in Summerville, SC

Charleston Tea Gardens (now owned by Bigelow, this tea farm produces American Classic Tea)

Book Connection: Ish by Peter Reynolds

Nice, upbeat kids book about being in transition. Very wabi-sabi.

Connecting to Literature: The "Aha" of Passover

2008-04-20T19:26:00.007-04:00

Books have been a major influence on my thinking and some have changed my life. I was taught in library school that connecting to books and literature was the highest goal of reading. The use of books in counseling to foster mental wellness is called "bibliotherapy" and reading books and listening to stories have led to radical social change (think Gutenberg and Voltaire).

Today's topic was Passover at my church. I missed most of the service because I was teaching a Sunday school class. However, the bit that I did get to hear was about the connection between the Passover story in the Bible, which ends in the liberation and exodus of the Israelites, and the hopeful possibility it contains, that one day, all enslaved people will win release. The spiritual that we sang, Wade in the Water, reminded me of something that I think about as I go about Charleston looking at all of the beautiful old "pyramids" built by African hands; how the literary connection they made between those Biblical stories and their own situation of slavery became an impetus to push for freedom. Moses and the Egyptians was more than just a tale, it was an inspiration and a plan.

Books, and the stories and ideas they contain, are powerful things. Stories speak to us in the language of the unconscious. New ideas are like a strong wind to push us forward, sometimes to unexpected places. Literacy and freedom go hand-in-hand.

NoveList Is Now Linked to the Catalog!

2008-03-31T12:46:00.007-04:00

Note (4/20/08) - Sadly I haven't been able to get the PURL to work in a blog post. The good news is that you can go directly from the book entry in NoveList to the item in the library catalog. I am going to play with this some more.

When you look up a book in NoveList it now has a feature that will check the CCPL catalog for the book and take you to it so you can request it. To find this link, scroll down the page and look for the heading, "Database and Persistent Link" (The persisent link (PURL) allows you to link the NoveList entry on a book to a blog or web page which is also a great feature.) There is a pink book icon labeled "Check the Library Catalog" which, if clicked, will trigger a search of the CCPL catalog for the book described in the article. Sweet!

Here is the purl for Shoeless Joe and Me by Dan Gutman. Check it out!

http://web.ebscohost.com/novelist/detail?vid=3&hid=116&sid=6537be48-8535-4bca-b06e-9bf459412079%40sessionmgr106

To log into NoveList outside the library click here for instructions. To see why I like NoveList, click here.

Bigtime Thumbs Down: Harry Potter V

2008-03-29T18:59:00.008-04:00

Japanese cover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I did not like the move version of The Order of the Phoenix. Maybe it was the fact that the waltzy John Williams' theme used in the earlier films was not that present. (I do like waltzes.) Maybe it was the fact that the broom flight from Little Whinging to Grimmauld Place was so low to the ground and obviously exposed to random Muggle and Death Eater eyes (I was surprised JK Rowling let this one "fly"). Maybe it was the fact that this big scene had all the hallmarks of a cheesy advert for ye old London town (I was surprised that Harry and his guard did not swoop through "The Eye" or make a pitstop on the hands of Big Ben). The fact that it was accompanied by the most BORING music possible made it completely intolerable.

There was just no spark in this movie. The DA practice scenes were as tired and dull as Rocky's workout. In contrast to the overzealous faithfulness of the first two movies, this movie varied too much from the book in several key plot areas to be forgivable. (Blasting your way into the Room of Requirement! As if.)

The script also seemed really limp and hollow. The snappy wit of JK Rowling's dialogue from the book just wasn't there. The sappiness of the final moments of the film were almost unbearable. I felt so sorry for Daniel Radcliffe for having to utter such drecky lines. I held my tongue when I saw this movie last summer in the theater but I must let it out after a second attempt to watch it on DVD. HP and the OTP (the movie) is a monumental stinker.

Maybe the next three films will be better. Frankly, I am not that hopeful. I personally think that Alfonso Cuaron's masterful version of Book 3, The Prisoner of Azkaban, is going to remain the best movie of the lot. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix proves the point that it is always better to read the book.

I like actually like this version better than Warner Brothers'. At least it is amusing. This Harry Potter parody is from the activist group, Walmart Watch.

Sci Fi for Kids

2008-03-22T13:26:00.001-04:00

I originally posted this on the St. Andrews Regional Library Children's blog in response to the yearly sci fi reading assignment at Ashley River School of the Arts Elementary but since it is technically a book review post, I am reposting it here, as well.

What is "science fiction"? Answer: fiction that contains some plot elements based on actual or imagined science. Examples of science fiction plot elements include space exploration, "mad science" using chemistry, "time travel" using machines (if time travel occurs through magical means then it is not "sci fi"), and sustaining life despite adverse conditions in the future or in unusual places like outerspace or underground without "magic". Dystopian, futuristic fictions of society gone awry also fall into the science fiction category because they often describe the societal impact of fictional government sponsored eugenics or communities surviving some sort of cataclysmic breakdown that may have resulted from overpopulation, disease, or war.

Most sci fi for younger readers is silly stuff like the Captain Underpants series by Dave Pilkey where two friends use a machine to hypnotize their principle to turn him into Captain Underpants. The darker, more intense sci fi novels are for older children, teens, and adults.

Sci Fi Series for Younger Kids (9 and under)
Franny K. Stein by Jim Benton
Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader by Lawrence David
The Zack Files by Dan Greenburg
Andrew Lost by J.C. Greenburg
Magic School Bus Chapter Books
Ricky Ricotta by Dave Pilkey

Sci fi Series for Older Kids (ages 9 to 12)
The Tripod Series by John Christopher
Butt Wars by Andy Griffiths
Star Wars: Junior Jedi Knights by Rebecca Moesta and Nancy Richardson
Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice, Jedi Quest, and The Last of the Jedi by Jude Watson
Danger Boy by Mark London Williams

Sci Fi Series for Young Adults (ages 10 and up)
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfield

Science Fiction Novels for Older Children and Young Adults
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Giver by Lois Lowry
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
The House of the Scorpion and The Eye, The Ear, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

Classic Adult Sci Fi Novels
(author bios are from Biography Resource Center (a CCPL database)- click here for access instructions)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
War of the Worlds and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Deliciously Clean Reads: A Great Book Review Blog!

2008-03-22T13:22:00.001-04:00

Deliciously Clean Reads is a blog that reviews books that are free of sex and profanity for all ages including old favorites and new publications. If you are looking for some "family friendly reading", you might want to check this blog out!

http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

People Are Strange: Mockumental Quirk

2008-03-13T16:08:00.008-04:00

I am a big mockumentary fan from way, way back. I am not sure who started the trend but am guessing that Monty Python and the National Lampoon Radio hour, and later Saturday Night Live played a part. I am pretty sure that Rob Reiner's This Is Spinal Tap is the first full length feature film mockumentary. It is pretty funny, but I love Christopher Guest's films, especially Best in Show, more.

I like shows about strange people in general. I have been hooked on The Office for some time now (the BBC version is also excellent ...with subtitles "ON") but due to the writer's strike and the release of last season's TV shows, I have fallen under the spell of Ugly Betty.

Why do I like this stuff? There are so many reasons; lack of an irritating laugh track is a big one. Excellent character development, witty intertwining plotlines, snappy dialog, and edgy humor are also biggies.

The HBO series, Flight of the Conchords, is my latest discovery. The plot revolves around Brett and Jemaine, two 20-something New Zealanders, who play in a band together and who are trying to make it in NYC. The deadpan humor, flat-accented New Zealand speech, and random segues into music videos of the duo singing oddly humourous songs about whatever is transpiring in the plot, with passerbys becoming backup singers and dancers, are part of this show's strange allure. This show might not be for everyone, but for me, it is just right.

Spare Us the Clutter

2008-03-06T10:36:00.006-05:00

The word "clutter" is related to the word for "clot" according to Merriam Webster's online dictionary. As a verb it means "to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things". Clutter in my life is definitely a "clot" that blocks my "flow".

Some of the best help that I have found for dealing with clutter is the "Flylady", Marla Cilley. She has a book (Kitchen Sink Reflections), a website, and a Yahoo Group that sends its members regular email reminders.

The Flylady says that you can't organize clutter. Her prime directive is to get rid of the attitude of perfectionism. The Flylady's system includes a variety of strategies to get rid of the clutter and home-disorganization by tackling messes frequently in small doses ("baby steps") until they dissipate and by establishing routines to increase home efficiency and to make domestic management a reality, rather than an ongoing battle. The Flylady has solutions for putting out "hotspots" (small areas where stuff accumulates) as well as for for snuffing out full scale conflagrations (junk rooms and overflowing closets). Flylady is assisted by "Kelly", an early follower of her system. Together, they dispense tips and encouragement to "Flybabies" everywhere.

Flylady (Marla Cilley's) book - Kitchen Sink Reflections

Flylady's web page - www.flylady.net
Flylady's Yahoo Group, Flylady Mentors page - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlyLadyMentors/
Wikipedia page on the Flylady
DIY Planner - Flylady Planner pages

Putting My Tags in One Basket

2008-03-05T15:33:00.004-05:00

One of the biggest things I got out of my Tech Trek experience was getting into Del.icio.us and seeing ways that it would be useful as part of my job as a librarian. Tagging, the heart of using Del.icio.us, is, IMHO, one of the hottest things in the online marketing world. Barnes and Noble just sent me an email that they have up-graded their site to include tagging features. Photobucket has also added a tagging feature. I am now focusing my Del.icio.us efforts on my library branch del.icio.us, St. Andrews Library Information ( http://del.icio.us/standrewslibraryinformation ). I am trying to add all of the great CCPL websites of the week to it as well. It has been a really thought provoking experience, figuring out the most useful tag names, trying to be consistent in my tagging, making meaningful tag bundles, etc. The Tech Trek quest continues on!

Exposed and Undercover: Great Documentaries

2008-02-05T11:14:00.006-05:00

I like documentaries. Some of my all time favorites are by British archaeologist and world class hand-talker, Michael Wood. He hooked me from the start in In Search of the Trojan War. I really loved In Search of Shakespeare but Legacy is still my all time favorite. The scene where he is quoting Gilgamesh in the commentary while the film of him sharing a fireside meal amid the ruins of Uruk with the Iraqi caretaker and his family is especially poignant.

Here is a list of some "classic" and/or award-winning documentaries and documentary makers as well as some of my personal favorites.

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski - Culture, History

Civilization by Sir Kenneth Clark - Art, History

Michael Moore, documentary maker of Sicko, Bowling for Columbine, etc

Ken Burns, documentary maker of The Civil War, Jazz, etc

Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel - Anthropology

Tupperware! - History, Business

Jesus Camp - Culture, Religion

Slavery and the Making of America - Culture, History

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Business, Environmental

Occupation, Dreamland - Culture, Military

Maxed Out - Culture, Business

Super Size Me - Culture, Health

Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Price - Culture, Business

Bittersweet: Funny Valentines and Heart Throbs

2008-01-30T15:29:00.000-05:00

My all-time favorite romantic movies are:

Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain en francais - sorry I don't have an accent ague on my keyboard or a cedilla, either) - Audrey Tautou stars in this quirky, French, and fun movie. Paris and a gnome. It doesn't get any better than this.

Room With a View - Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter) decides between propriety (Daniel Day-Lewis) and passion (Julian Sands) in this Merchant Ivory masterpiece.

Runners up in no particular order

Truly, Madly, Deeply - Weepy, spooky, funny flick directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Alan Rickman and Juliette Stevens

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Lasting love: Gary Oldman is a way stylin' Vlad with the shades, the fog, and the bouffant in this Francis Ford Coppola pic. It's knife-lickin' good.

Blade Runner - Replicant love: real or artificial? Harrison Ford and Sean Young give mini-blinds maximum cache' in this Ridley Scott sci-fi classic.

Boomerang - Eddie Murphy finds that perfection ain't what its cracked up to be. Perfect comedy with lots of laughs and lots of big names (Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Tisha Campbell, Eartha Kitt, Grace Jones, and more) directed by Reginald Hudlin.

Out of Africa - Sidney Lumet's biographical tale of grand passion set against a backdrop of colonialism, natural resource exploitation, infidelity, and war with Meryl Streep in the leading role as writer, Isak Dinesan (Baroness Karen von Blixen). I've never been that attracted to Robert Redford but he is pretty hot in this movie.

Persuasion - Ciaran Hinds (Caesar in Rome, the HBO mini-series) is nautical hotness in this film version of Jane Austen's novel.

Urban Cowboy - Bud and Cissy (John Travolta and Deborah Winger): a juke joint lovestory for the ages.

Lovely Filth: Sweeny Todd's LDN

2008-01-21T06:43:00.000-05:00

I saw the Tim Burton movie version of Stephen Sondheim's musical, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", over the Christmas holiday and I enjoyed it in a cathartic sort of way. This thought provoking, Gothic tale of revenge, as overwhelmingly dark and bloody as Shakespearean tragedy, triggered a bit of Googling on my part. My search for background knowledge led to the reading of the ubiquitous Wikipedia article on the subject, which now appears to have changed since I looked at it about three weeks ago. Wikipedia is a flighty temptress, too, IMHO.

The story of Sweeney Todd is apparently an urban legend which incorporated another popular contemporaneous urban legend of human remains being used for foodstuff in Victorian London. I found this cannablistic cookery angle interestingly referenced in the Japanese anime film, "Steamboy", also set in Victorian London. The movie has a scene with a newsboy yelling the news that bones had been found in a baker's bread, which also references Jack and the Beanstalk's giant's rhyme. This seems to me to be a country mouse metaphor for the out-of-towner's fear of being killed and eaten by the big city literally and spirituality.

The Leviathan, London, like Jack's Giant, "ate" the lives of its swelling lower class population during the industrial revolution as they became human cogs in factory sweatshops, those "dark Satanic mills", in their efforts to support themselves. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, a history of the London Cholera Epidemic of 1854, details many even more unsavory job choices available to London's lower classes, such as "night soil man", "bone picker", and "tosher", trades that specialized in profitting from the mountains of waste that London produced.

Contemplating Victorian London's sanitation issues brings to mind "Oliver!" , the 1968 movie version of the Lionel Bart musical, which starred Oliver Reed and was based on Charles Dicken 's Oliver Twist, which appears to be a major influence on the musical and film of "Sweeney Todd". I was particularly reminded of two scenes at the end of "Oliver!" where Fagin is digging in the muck for his lost treasure and where Oliver witnesses Nancy's death at the hands of Bill Sykes.

Like Dickens' work, "Sweeney Todd" captures the urban despair of Victorian London, which Todd's character describes at the start of the film, as having two tiers of society; a heavenly zenith filled with successful, well-off people and a dark netherworld where the gin and opiate numbed masses of the poor struggle to survive. An evil beadle figures in both stories as well. In both cases he is a power-corrupted lackey from the lower world, who profits from his relationship as intermediary through abuse and extortion.

I also made a connection to the song, "LDN", by UK pop star, Lily Allen, which contains the line, "if you look twice, you'll see it's all lies", talking about the way London, or any city, looks great at first glance, but when you look closer you see the urban problems; crime, poverty, etc. I also found it interesting that barbers were historically sources for medical treatment, including amputations of diseased limbs, prior to the rise of modern medicine and the establishment of the MD as prime arbiter of body health. I can't help wondering if the urban legend of Sweeney Todd isn't partly an echo of that past when seeing the barber may have meant losing more than just your locks.

The sewer scenes and urban filth, the violent serial killings, the visit to the Victorian mad house in "Sweeney Todd", and the subject of urban legends and historical mysteries also brought to mind several related subjects, as well, and books about them.

Nonfiction

The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson - A history of London's 1854 cholera epidemic and the quest for its cause by John Snow and others.

London: A Biography by Peter Ackroyd - A thorough history of London from pre-history to the present day.

Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell - Did Patricia Cornwell unmask the man behind Jack the Ripper?

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles by Martin Gayford- Did reading newspaper articles on the Jack the Ripper murders play a part in triggering Van Gogh's self mutilation?

The Air Loom Gang: The Strange and True Story of James Tilly Matthews and His Visionary Madness by Mike Jay - Spies, madness, machines, and a 14-year stay in Bedlam, London's most notorious madhouse. Yes, Virginia, truth is stranger.

The Gangs of New York and The Barbary Coast by Herbert Asbury

The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase - It can happen here and it did.

Fiction

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman by Eleanor Updale - Montmorency, as his alter ego, Scarper, uses the London sewers to rob the rich in Victorian London in this YA series.

Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

*****

Picture at top of post, A Gin Shop (c 1809) by Thomas Rowlandson from Museum of London website.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/EventsExhibitions/Virtual/SatLondon/London/AGinShop.htm

accessed 1/21/08.

LDN by Lily Allen

Curiosities and Wonders: Attention Grabbers Prompt Reading

2007-12-31T14:56:00.000-05:00

One of the hottest books in our library is the Guinness Book of World Records. Elementary and middle schoolers, boys and girls, are particularly subject to its freakish charms. This is a great book for reluctant readers. Current circulating copies of the Guinness are usually in short supply but copies from previous years or other books on the subject heading "curiosities and wonders" can be found under the Dewey Decimal Call Number of 032.

Pictured is Guiness World Records: To the Extreme, a circulating juvenile book. Click here for the record and put it on hold!

Click here for Ripley's Believe It or Not books, a strong second runner up!

Family Literacy: Families Read Better When They Read Together

2007-12-29T17:25:00.000-05:00

Family Literacy helps boost a child's individual literacy skills.

For tips to increase your family's literacy from the NCFL (National Center for Family Literacy), CLICK HERE.

More ways to build family literacy:

Listening to audiobooks with your child(ren). Audiobooks allow families to listen to the same story and then to practice the skills listed in the NCFL tips website. Time spent in the car or preparing meals becomes a rich literary experience when audiobooks are added to the mix. Audio books are great for reluctant readers and help "hook" them and keep them engaged till the end of the book. They also increase listening comprehension.

Have siblings (or other family members) read to younger siblings or to each other. We now have a new series of books at CCPL called We Both Read that is perfect for this kind of activity. These books come in a variety of beginning reading levels, from pre-kindergarden to Level 2-3. The left hand page is for the adult or fluent reader and the right hand page is for the beginning reader.

Read poetry with your children. Poetry helps engage younger children and reluctant readers. Short humorous poems are fun and appealing to children and can be easily memorized. American poetry is found under the call number, "J 811" and British poetry, such as the classic, A Child's Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is found under "J 821" in the Children's section.

Get Graphic! Graphic Novels Are Good Reading

2007-12-29T11:46:00.000-05:00

"Graphic Novel" is a term used to discribe books that use a comic book type of format. "Grapic Novel" describes ficion and nonfiction works of this type.

Why are graphic novels such a hot print format?

1. They are great for reluctant readers, visual learners, EFL (English as a Foreign Language) readers, and readers who read below the reading level of the text for any other reason.

2. They provide visual information about the setting of the text. This is useful with graphic novel histories and biographies where readers are able to get more information about the clothing and environment of the time period of the work. This is especially nice for student reports requiring a visual display.

3. They are fast, exciting reads, full of color and action.

To find graphic novels on the shelves at CCPL branches, just look for the light blue "Graphic Novel" label on the spine.

In the library catalog search under the subject heading, "graphic novel". Use the subject heading "graphic novel and juvenile" to locate graphic novels in the Children's area.

For great reviews of graphic novels visit the website, No Flying No Tights (www.noflyingnotights.com).

Click for 2005 Newsweek article on graphic novels from the CCPL Electronic Databases. You will need your library card to access this article if you are at home.

(CLICK FOR GENERAL CCPL DATABASE ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS)

Source Citation: Foroohar, Rana, Tracy McNicoll, Mary Acoymo, Mark Russell, and Kay Itoi. "Comic Relief; Take that, batman. Graphic novels are moving out of the hobby shop and into the mainstream." Newsweek International (August 22, 2005): 58. General OneFile. Gale. Charleston County Public Library. 29 Dec. 2007 .

Guys Read

2007-12-29T11:27:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite literacy websites is author, Jon Scieszka's, Guys Read. Guys Read has reading suggestions for guys of all ages and links to author websites and more. The site is also extremely visually appealing with bright graphics and moving pages that help keep the user's attention.

Dr. Jean's Got the Prescription for Childhood Literacy!

2007-12-29T11:02:00.001-05:00

Dr. Jean Feldman is an awesome educator, artist, and source of emergent, family, and pre-school literacy goodies. She did a wonderful presentation for Charleston County Library Children's Services staff members several years ago where I picked up a lot of tips and tools for improving my story time techniques.

CCPL has added a nice selection of Dr. Jean's CD's to its collection. Supplement these with her website (www.drjean.org) in order to get the maximum mileage from her fantastic compilation of songs, games, etc.

Severus Snape: The Hanged Man

2007-12-27T22:41:00.005-05:00

The motif of the Hanged Man is a constant thread in the Harry Potter series. Numerous games of hangman are played throughout the series and the Gaunts and the Riddles live outside of the town of Little Hangleton, which is home to the Hanged Man pub.

The Hanged Man tarot card literally symbolizes the state of attentive waiting. The hanged man represents suspended action and is poised, ready for the correct moment to make his move. He hangs upside down by one foot and when inverted appears to be dancing a jig.

The symbol of the hanged man describes the role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series perfectly. Snape waits through out the whole series to atone for his crime of unintentional complicity in the death of Lily Evans Potter, his only love. He maintains an unflinching mask of composure and remains ever ready to strike at Voldemort when the time is ripe. He has only one significant moment of weakness; at the close of Book 6 after Dumbledore's death in the scene when Snape prevents Harry from following him. Severus Snape endures having his actions misinterpreted throughout the series in order to keep his mission on track. He is the true anti-hero of the Harry Potter series, not Sirius Black.

Idiomatic: Harry Potter's Journey to the West

2007-12-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

I wrote most of this earlier in the year not long after Deathly Hallows was released.

Translation has always been a literary topic of interest to me. In high school I decided that I would only read literary works that were originally written in English because I was afraid that significant linguistic nuances would be lost in translation. I felt that I would be wasting my time reading translations because I would never be able to get the full weight of the symbolism if I couldn't read the work in the original language. The idomatic German expression, "Gemuetlichkeit" (I am subbing "ue" for the uemlatted "u"), was the word that prompted this decision. I was told in German class that this expression had no exact translation in English but that it meant a feeling or atmosphere of having a really good time. The idea that a word could be untranslate-able totally blew my teen-aged mind and I decided to stick to English lit only at that point.

I continued in this vein for the most part, until, post-college, I happened to read Madame Bovary with its lovely up and down perspectives and I fell back into reading translations of world classics. The lost-in-translation excuse caused me to avoid reading Russian novels and so I have never read War and Peace or Dostoievsky. I have never read Faulkner either (except for the short story, "The Bear"). I like to think that I am "saving" myself for Faulkner. Ok, yeah right. *wink wink*

One of the things about the Harry Potter series that astonishes me is the wonderful way that it has been assimilated, translated, and embraced by non-English speaking/non-English cultures. It really speaks to the truth of Jung's collective unconscious and it would be interesting to know how much world myth J.K. Rowling knowingly drew upon and how much just entered the text serendipitously/synchronistically.

One use of myth, which appears to be conscious, was the linking of Salazar Slytherin with the eastern Monkey King myth cycle. I first happened on this when I noticed that the statue of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets was described as "ancient and monkeyish". The Gaunts, his decendants, were also described as simian in appearance. I was intrigued by the description in COS but I really took notice when this monkey business reared its head again in Half Blood Prince so I investigated and learned about the mythical Monkey King.

The core of the Legend of the Monkey King, which relates to Harry Potter, is that the Monkey King fears death above all things and goes to all sorts of lengths to cheat it including various unconscionable nastinesses, somewhat like Voldie. The Monkey King is overcome when a mountain is dropped on him. This image of the nasty monkey Loki trickster/overlord is reflected in lots of anime and cartoon characters like Mojo Jojo in Power Puff girls. He is a classic Jungian shadow figure.

Perhaps the Monkey King's greatest literary appearance is in a 400 year old Chinese novel, titled Monkey: Journey to the West, where he is resurrected and goes on a journey with an actual historical figure, a Buddhist monk, Hsuan Tang, who traveled from Xian, China, to India and back in search of precious Buddhist texts and learning. This story has recently been made into a Chinese opera with help from the British pop group, Gorillaz.

J.K. Rowlings' allusion to the Monkey King, who is an unknown literary figure to most westerners, in the Harry Potter series, makes the translation of the series into languages where he is a familiar stock character, an enhancement rather than a dilution of the subliminal richness of the storytelling art.

Tech Trek Flashback: I Want My MP3!

2007-12-13T21:23:00.002-05:00

The MP3's are on the way! I am pretty excited about getting mine. I plan to try to learn more about podcasting.

Tech Trek got me into the Library 2.0 groove. I am putting the things I learned from my TT2.0 experience to good use, especially Del.icio.us. I feel really fortunate that the powers-that-be in my world of work (St. Andrews Regional Library/Charleston County Public Library) were willing to let me learn in such an open-ended way. Knowing that they were behind the program gave me a real boost of confidence in my ability to master all of the new technologies I encountered. If there is a part two, sign me up!

Thanks to Ms. Rose Mary for sharing the cool cat graphic with me!

Drawing a Blank: Dangerous Memories

2007-12-11T00:47:00.000-05:00

Memories can be dangerous in these novels for teens. Check them out!

What happened to Paul's eyes? Find out in Tangerine by Edward Bloor.
Adam is on the run, looking for answers. What happened to his family? Read Adam's story in I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier.
Margaret's memories threaten her and her mother. What would happen if you were hypnotized and remembered more than you knew you could? Find out in Escape From Memory by Margaret Haddix.

The 3 Letter "F" Word

2007-12-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my favorite YA books about body image, sizism, weight issues, and that big, bad, little word; F-A-T.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler Virginia Shreves, a NYC sophmore's, world is turned upside down when her best friend moves away and her perfect older brother gets in trouble at college and has to move back home. Constant pressure to lose weight from her parents just adds to the pressure Virginia feels.
Edginess Factor 3 - Located in Y Fiction and YA Paperbacks
(I listened to the awesome audio through the magic of ILL aka Interlibrary Loan).

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L.GoingThis book realistically portrays the ordeal of Troy Billings, a very heavy teen-ager living in New York City, whose struggle to find himself is made harder by his size. A happenstance friendship with another kid, a skinny teen rock legend, who is even closer to the edge than Troy, changes and challenges Troy's life and relationships with the world, his family, and his self.
Edginess Factor 3 - Located in Y Fiction and YA Paperbacks (I listened to this book on audio, read to perfection by Matthew "Shaggy" Lillard, through the magic of ILL aka Interlibrary Loan).

Blubber by Judy Blume Yeah, I know it is in Juvie (the kid's section) but this book is heavy for real. Jill Brenner, the main character, and the other girls in this book are way mean and down-right deliquent. They single out Linda, a heavy set girl, a torment her unmercilessly.This book came out in 1974 and it is really very subversive on a lot of levels. Primarily because the girls in it act like real middle school girls (and boys), who are capable of heinous cruelty and a pack mentality, unlike many sugar and spice girl characters in other books for YAs of its time. This book stays on the American Library Association's Banned Books list. Don't let its age stop you from reading it cause it is still a fresh read 30+ years later.
Edginess Factor 2 - Located in J Fiction and J Paperback

Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie BennettWhat if you got sick and gained a lot of weight? Would the kids at your school even care or would they dis you and subject you to sizist torment just like any other fat kid? That is what happens to Lara, a teen queen, whose picture perfect appearance falls by the wayside along with the picture perfect illusion of a happy homelife. Read and find out how Lara deals.
Edginess Factor 3 - Located in Y Fiction

Bending It Like a Girl

2007-12-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

What do Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks and Me by Lisa Papademetriou, Down the Rabbit Hole (Echo Falls series) by Peter Abrahams, and Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee all have in common? Soccer-playing heroines, that's what!

Soccer means different things to each of these girls, however. For Allie Kimball, the main character in Papademetriou's novel, soccer is an escape from the social pressure of starting sixth-grade. Allie's biggest worry is the change in her best friend, Tam, who morphs into a glommer, a girl who has to be with another girlfriend all the time, and Allie is not the friend that Tam is glommed onto.

For Ingrid Levin-Hill, another athletic teen heroine, her favorite red pair of soccer cleats play a major part in pulling her "down the rabbit hole" and into the heart of an adult-sized murder mystery. Ingrid is confronted with a lot of "mysteries" in Abrahams' novel, not all of which get solved, very much like real life.

Yee's eponymous heroine, Millicent Min, an athletically-challenged, eleven-year old high school student and all-round brainiac, finds herself being forced to play soccer by her well-meaning parents, who want Millicent to interact more with kids her own age.Whether you play soccer, or like Millicent Min, are completely clueless, you'll find something familiar about the situations these girls face. Figuring out how to handle family issues, friends, school, extracurricular activities, and the challenge of "fitting in" and becoming an adult are pretty mysterious to most people!
Millicent Min, Girl Genius (Edginess Factor 1) and Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me (Edginess Factor 1) were on the SC Junior Book Award List in 2006 and 2007.

Down the Rabbit Hole (An Echo Falls Mystery) (Edginess Factor 2) was recommended for YAs on NPR.

Fairy Tales for Teens

2007-12-11T00:40:00.000-05:00

Irish writers, Eoin Colfer and Herbie Brennan, have revamped the fairy tale genre into a high action/suspense fantasy for guys.
Colfer is the author of the Artemis Fowl series, whose eponymous anti-hero, is indeed a foul, sneaky genius. The fairies are the good guys in this story.
Brennan is the author of Faerie Wars, a contemporary, high-action fantasy, with epic overtones full of magic and battles like Tinkerbell crossed with the Terminator.Artemis Fowl and Faerie Wars -
Edginess Factor 1

Female writers of this genre, Holly Black, author of Tithe, and Francesca Lia Block, author of Weetzie Bat, both focus on contemporary, urban, outsider teens dealing with serious real world problems. Block is in L.A. and Black in N. J. They take the fairy tale to a different, darker, but no less fascinating place.Tithe and Weetzie Bat -
Edginess Factor 3

The Pig Man by Paul Zindel

2007-12-11T00:39:00.000-05:00

Read this book. Teen-agers, love, death, and delinquency. This is a genre-making, all time great YA novel that has been on reading lists since it was published. A classic. End of rant.The Pigman by Paul Zindel

Edginess Factor 2

Slam by Walter Dean Myers

2007-12-11T00:37:00.000-05:00

Getting into a magnet school across town is supposed to be an opportunity for Greg "Slam" Harris, an artistically-gifted, star basketball player. Greg's mom is happy but Greg feels like it is just another problem for him to deal with.Greg has to work to fit in with the more affluent student body at his new, mostly white school, where his agressive individual style of play gets him in trouble. Meanwhile, Greg's old friends from his the neighborhood are slipping away from him, some of them into real trouble, and Greg doesn't know how to handle the trouble he sees coming.Slam by Walter Dean Myers (a Margaret A. Edwards award-winning author) is located in Young Adult Fiction shelved under "Y Myers" and in Y Paperbacks) .

Edginess Factor 2

Bluford High Series: The Bully

2007-12-11T00:34:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the bullies you face aren't only school. The Bluford High Series books are in Y Fiction and Young Adult Paperbacks. Most are written by Paul Langan, author of The Bully, and Anne Schraff.
Edginess Factor 2

Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper

2007-12-11T00:33:00.001-05:00

Romeo and Juliet in Cinci with high school gangbangers and online chat. Sharon Draper, a former teacher, shoots and scores again! Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper is available in Y Fiction and YA Paperbacks Edginess Factor 2

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson

2007-12-11T00:32:00.001-05:00

It's your senior year, you are trying to remember, that "the tassle is worth the hassle", and deal with boyfriend issues, a job, life, family stuff, and being on the prom committee 'cause prom is something you are really looking forward to, and then your prom advisor/teacher turns out to be a total prom thief! How would you deal? Can the prom be saved? Read Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson and find out!
Edginess Factor 3

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt

2007-12-11T00:30:00.001-05:00

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, winner of the Newbery Honor Award and Michael Prinze Award, is an historical fiction inspired by real events in turn-of-the-century Maine. It is an interesting read about a friendship between an free-spirited African-American girl, Lizzie Bright Griffin, and the new kid in town, Turner Buckminster, whose dad is the new minister and who is a convenient target for the local bullies. Lizzie shows Turner that life on Maine's rocky coast can be exciting and fun. Turner tries to help Lizzie and her family when their community, which was founded by freed slaves, is faced with eviction off the beautiful coastal island where they live because the town elders want to make the island a tourist resort.
Southerners are used to hearing about prejudice and discrimination set in the South. This story, set in the Northeast, makes an interesting contrast to stories like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, which are set in the South. This book helps remind readers that prejudice is a national issue, not just a regional one.
Edginess Factor 1

Storytime by Edward Bloor

2007-12-11T00:29:00.003-05:00

Take a pinch of Lemony Snicket of the Roald Dahl derivation, a dash of Louis Sachar, and a dollop of Edgar Allan Poe and mix with a base of Orwellian distopic angst to get the flavor of Storytime by Edward Bloor.

Author Bloor acknowledges the Orwell connection in his post-script about this story of two interestingly-related teens, George and Kate (he's her uncle but she's older), in this story of a magnet school gone wrong. Mandatory testing, Mother Goose, Peter Pan, and a haunted library also figure in this humorous noire satire.

Included on the Blessed Sacrament summer reading list (2007).

Bloor is also the author of Tangerine (a SC Junior Book Award nominee) and Crusader.

This title is available in Y Fiction and Young Adult paperbacks.

Edginess Factor 2

Edginess Factor: How I Rate Books

2007-12-11T00:27:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, when I was a YA, I liked to read edgy books about teens engaged in risky behavior and the consequences they faced. Things have not changed. These types of books are still popular and some of the books that I read and liked are still on reading lists today.However, it is important to remember that not every book is right for every reader. Some families don't feel that teens should read about adult issues and themes until they are older. Some families are not comfortable with certain types of books. As a librarian, I respect the wishes of families to make decisions about what their members read. Families generally want their members to read books that reflect their own family's values.In order to make sure that I am not making blanket recommendations for the books listed on this site, I have rated books by what I call their "edginess factor". This is a purely subjective determination on my part. In other words, it is just my opinion.I am using a rating from 1 to 4, with 1 being the least edgy and 4 being the most.Edginess Factor of 1 - Contains 1 or more of the following: conflict, making or almost making poor choices, some risky behavior, tragedy, exposure to bullying, etc.Examples - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer CholdenkoEdginess Factor of 2 - Contains 1 or more of the following: conflict, characters making or almost making poor choices, some risky behavior, tragedy, graphic violence, sexual overtones, etc.Examples - Pirates by Celia Rees and Eragon by Christopher Paolini Edginess Factor of 3 - Contains 1 or more of the following: high level of conflict, teens making poor choices and/or engaging in risky behavior, tragedy, violence, minor use of drugs or alcohol, some sexual themes, etc. Ending is redemptive and positive and shows negative behavior consequences.Examples - Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas and Prom by Laurie Halse AndersonEdginess Factor of 4 - Contains 1 or more of the following: high level of conflict, deliberately making poor choices, highly risky behavior, tragedy, violence, high level of use of alcohol and drugs, strong sexual themes, disturbing images, etc. Ending may or may not be redemptive.Example - Gossip Girl SeriesA book with an Edginess Factor of 4 is basically an adult book.

Facing Bullies

2007-12-11T00:10:00.000-05:00

Can there be a school without bullies? Bullies are a real problem for kids; some kids face them and some kids are them.5th grader, Gabe, in The Liberation of Gabriel King, by K.L. Going, gets help facing his 6th grade tormenters from Frita, a whip-smart, outgoing African-American girl who is Gabe's best friend (courtesy of integration), in rural 1976 Georgia.In The Revealers, by Doug Wilhelm, Russell bands together with two other victims to take on and expose the bullies in his seventh class using the student email system despite the insistence of the school's principal that bullying is not an issue at "Darkland" Middle School. Visit author, Wilhelm's, Revealer's website (click here) for more info on the impact of this book.Both books appeared on the 2007-2008 South Carolina Junior Book Award List. These books are recommended for ages 9 and up.