This and That

We're very happy about the election results for the most part. For some reason, my area elected Erik "Whackjob" Paulsen over Ashwin Madia, which was pretty annoying. And it seems to me that Coleman is making such a fuss because he knows the votes aren't really there for him.

When we were in Ireland, once people heard our accents, they wanted to talk to us about the election. Once we hastily reassured people that we hadn't voted for Bush, (either of them) they were very happy to talk with us. :-) Everyone wanted to make sure we would do the right thing and "put Mr. Obama in." And, of course, since they get real news in the UK, everyone was well aware that Bush wasn't legitimately elected either time. As my cousin said "It was bloody obvious!" Yes, it was.

One older gentleman in Ballyhaunis shared with me that he had known my Great-Grandmother's family, and evidently one of my great (Or great great?) uncles was able to cure cancer. He had a special concoction that he mixed up, but unfortunately the secret died with him. Who knows? Chemotherapy is concoctions, when you think about it...

I will recommend having crutches when you're traveling by air. It got us to the head of the lines, I got rides in the airports...if I had had to walk in the Amsterdam airport, I'd STILL be trying to get to the gate a month later. Schipol is a humungous airport - we landed, and then taxied about a half hour to get to our gate. (Well, maybe not a full half hour, but at least 20 minutes.) We were joking that we got to see half of Amsterdam just out the window of our plane.

I am down to one crutch now - but am still doing PT and such. Even a month later, I still have a good sized goose egg on my shin, (and a dent, even) and all the other fun things that go with "injuring everything in the knee that you can injure." I guess I tore everything, but didn't totally tear anything. So hopefully I won't need surgery. Well, as I told the Doc "I don't like doing things halfway, y'know." He started laughing and told me that my dad had "said the same thing when he tore his shoulder all to hell." Like father, like daughter!

Scotland part 3 in which I fall down and go boom!

Wednesday I fell on the stairs as I was heading down. It was in the morning, so no, I hadn't had too much! I bruised my left ankle and foot and hurt my left knee (kind of bent back behind me at a funny angle). I scratched and bruised my right arm, too. It could have been a lot worse...

Andy and Kristina and Frankie and Aiden and Darce and I all jumped into two cars (Andy kept the "car for hire," a nice little Volkswagen Polo another day) and drove to Glasgow.

We really enjoy the scenery here. All the highways are paved, but there are no wide ditches like we have in the States, and in fact, no shoulders, so the roads are very narrow, with rock walls or bushes or houses or fences and five to twenty cattle or sheep right up next to the highway. We drove through rolling pretty hills again with lots of sheep and cows, though we got on a busier wider highway once we got closer to Glasgow.

We went to a big museum called the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I was pretty sore, but hobbled along and took elevators rather than stairs. We really enjoyed it, it had such a variety of objects to view. It wasn't your standard "art" museum or "history" museum, but had a bit of everything - dinosaurs, paintings, sculpture, ancient scottish animals...The first floor was like a natural history museum and/or science museum, with lots of big stuffed animals and many "hands on" displays. Other exhibits included "people and society" displays, such as historical violence against women, Glasgow cowboys and line dancing clubs, an Egyptian display with stella and real mummies, etc. There was a huge pipe organ in the main hall, and a concert at 1:00. Frankie danced to the tunes. We recognized many of the songs and they kept going through our heads the rest of the afternoon.

We ate a nice lunch in the museum restaurant. Kristina and I had fish and chips, (we both thought it was kind of flavorless) Andy had the chicken of the day dish, and Darcy had Scottish rump steak with a haggis stuffed portabella mushroom (and "chips" of course -- almost every meal here has french fries, even with spaghetti and Chinese!). It was all good.

The upper 2 floors were more traditional art, paintings and sculptures (with Medieval armor and other odd items mixed in). We really liked some of the paintings. The Glasgow Boys gallery (painters from Scotland) was especially good; we'd happily hang any one of those paintings in our house. Darcy liked the French Impressionist gallery, too but I didn't go up there.

It rained hard on the way to the cars, but later cleared up and was prettier than ever. K took the kids home, but Andy took us to the Glasgow Harley Davidson store. Darcy bought a T-shirt, but I didn't find one I liked. Oh well. (I tend not to like most of the women's Harley stuff.) Then he drove us on to another nice department store and entertainment area on Loch Lomond, at Balloch. The lake and the surrounding Trossachs National Park forest and mountains in the distance were beautiful. We bought more over-priced souvenirs of course, but that's okay.

We ate carry-out Chinese supper (with chips!) then just hung out. The best thing of all the walking we've done, we've had to tighten our belt a couple notches. Hope we can keep it up!.

I couldn't straighten my left knee Thursday morning and was in lots of pain, so Darcy watched the kids while Andy took the rental car back and Kristina took me to the doctor (then to pick up Andy).

I ended up on crutches. The diagnosis is possible ligament and cartilage damage to my left knee, but it's too swollen to be able to do a catscan or MRI, I told them to patch me up enough to get home. :-) I have quite a bruise on my ankle but it's not broken. So, I hung out at the house to keep Kristina and kids out of trouble.

Going to Oban, Andy and Darcy saw beautiful scenery up and back. They stopped briefly at Kilmartin to see ancient standing stones. Oban was beautiful by the water (as were multiple sights on the drive, too many to mention).

The Oban scotch whisky distillery tour was EXCELLENT; they really enjoyed it a lot. Scotch is kind of a hobby for Darce, and Oban is one of his favs, so it's neat he could go there.

Scotland /Ireland part 2

It rained all day Friday in Ireland, but the weather after that was great. After the stop at the Ballyhaunis library, we drove to Knock. We couldn't find the B&B, so finally had to stop at a store and ask. The lady knew my third cousin (one removed) so called her, and she drove up to lead us. It was a really nice, new house with B&B rooms upstairs, modern with private bathrooms, very nice. My cousin, Kathleen, made us tea and biscuits. She's a nice woman in her fifties, very friendly as if we had known her for years. It's interesting - she's only 5 years older than me, but a generation ahead. I suppose the Minnesota Hoban's had to find some way to occupy themselves...After settling in, we had a light sandwich and a beer at a local pub.

Saturday morning started with a full traditional Irish breakfast (cereal and tea, then eggs, link sausages," bacon" more like thin ham, broiled tomatoes, "black pudding" sausage with blood/liver/oats (white pudding has no blood but more livery spicy flavor), breads and toast and jams).

Kathleen led us back to Ballyhaunis to see the church where my great grandmother was baptized, (beautiful stained glass windows) then out to their original farm in the countryside, and met her brother, John. We browsed some shops afterwards then drove west towards the coast to Castlebar, where we looked through the Irish National Museum of Country Life. We loved it, really well done and very interesting. We headed back to the B&B for lasagna and salad, then watched the British version of American Idol in her nice sitting room. Darcy also went for a long after-dark walk around Knock (famous for its Catholic basilica pilgrimages because of an appearance there by the Virgin Mary in the late 1800's -- there are many shops selling Catholic statues and rosaries, etc.; the Pope even visited in the 1980's). He must have looked like he knew where he was going because a couple of people asked him for directions. :-)

Sunday morning started with the same big breakfast, then the three of us drove back to Ballyhaunis for Mass. (We aren't Catholic but the cousins there are) Several more cousins met us after the service. We eventually drove on to Strokestown to see another third cousin. Jim is a retired astrophysicist professor, was born in the US but has dual citizenship so lives half a year in California and the other in Ireland. He and his wife Grace rent a nice apartment in a beautiful park that used to be an English estate.(They're the ones I first wrote to when I was trying to figure out where Ggrandma was born.)

We strolled through the beautiful formal gardens (with a cute kitten chasing after us the whole way. You KNOW I was trying to figure out how to get that kitten back to the States!) Organic vegetables are grown there now for an on-grounds restaurant; the flowers and bushes were beautiful. They were also super-friendly as if we had known them for years. Nice! We drove on to Dublin to our next B&B, recommended by Jim and Grace. In fact, Grace programmed the coordinates in the GPS for us, or we might not have found it! After checking in with tea and cakes, we ate at a nearby pub (Irish corned beef and a burger and Bulmer's hard cider). We later shared a bottle of wine with the lady Patricia, who ran the B&B before hitting the sack.

Monday started again with the identical full Irish breakfast, then we caught a double-decker bus downtown. We strolled thtough Trinity College and toured the Book of Kells exhibit( famous ancient illuminated Latin bible) and the Long Room library (VERY old books on display, the oldest Irish harp, busts of famous Irish). Really good. We toured the Irish National Library and a Yeats exhibit. We strolled through a pretty park, then had cider in a pub, then caught the bus back to our rental car ("car for hire" as they call it) to run to the airport. We got back to Glasgow late, but Andy was there to pick us up.

Tuesday, Andy rented a car so we'd have room in their car for Kristina, me and the kids and in the rental car for Darce, Andy and his parents. We went to Luss (without his parents) to stroll by Loch Lomond and to buy some souvenirs in a nice shop, then picked up his parents to first shop in a big outlet-type mall, followed by High Tea at Cameron House. Very nice. Tonight, we're hanging out -- did some laundry, watched some TV.

Back from Scotland part one

I'm on crutches, though. I had a run-in with my niece's stairs and lost. Fortunately for me, it was toward the end of our trip, and not before! On the bright side, it did get us to the head of the lines at the airports...

Our flight over was good, up front (not first class but that's okay), 2 seats by ourselves. It's handy that Darce is an elite member - he could pick our seats. It was an 8 1/2 hour flight to Amsterdam, (Breakfast was served at 10 om Minnesota time!) We watched a movie (Get Smart- we both liked it more than we thought we would ), listened to music, read.. Breakfast was served at 10 pm Minnesota time!

Our flight from Amsterdam to Glasgow was about an hour and a half - more munchies served on that one. The Amsterdam terminal is huge, and we had to go through security again, then take a bus to our plane, then taxi forever to get to our takeoff point. Our nephew Andy was waiting for us at the airport in Glasgow and managed to get our luggage into the car. :-) I, of course, tried to get in on the driver's side - Scotland drives on the other side!

Our niece Kristina and Andy have two kids. Frankie is 3 1/2 and is fun to watch as she gets excited about little things. Aiden (6 mo) is a barrel full of SMILES, good kid. Kristina has cooked good food.

After we got there, Monday was spent walking around downtown Helensburgh with lunch out and pushing the stroller. Helensburgh is about a half hour or so from Glasgow, and is on the river Clyde. We walk down about a half hour walk, to the shops and restaurants in town along the water. We had to come back and take naps after lunch, since Scotland is 6 hours ahead.

Tuesday Darce and I walked around Helensburgh again. Wednesday, Andy drove us past his work area then on to Stirling. We walked about 10 miles straight up a hill to get to the William Wallace memorial, and then Darce walked the scary spiral staircase to the top of the Wallace monument. We then had excellent fish and chips and haggis, (well, Darcy had haggis...) then we toured Stirling castle. Some parts of it were built in the 1300s!

Thursday was a train ride, just Darce and I, to Edinburgh, again lots of walking but enjoyable. I think Andy was very sneaky - after the hill to the Wallace monument, we laughed at other hills we encountered! After getting off the train right downtown, we sat in a shopping mall to read the tour books, then of all things, ate at McDonald's! It was different though - Darce had a burger called the M and I had a chicken sandwich we don't have in the States. We went to the National Gallery of Scotland and took our time walking through a great temporary exhibit of Impressionism in Scotland. Lots of great paintings well worth the time.

We walked on to the National Library of Scotland and walked through an excellent 500 Years of Print exhibit. We WALKED a lot, taking pictures of the outside of the castle and other buildings, then ate a fantastic meal on Rose Street at the Mussel Inn. The mussels and scallops in cheese appetizer, Darcy enjoyed his huge seafood in white sauce dish and my scallops on risotto were soooooooo good!

We didn't tour Edinburgh castle, but it's pretty hard to miss! It was pretty neat to be standing outside a department store and look up to see a castle looming.

We got back LATE that night, repacked a smaller bag, got only a couple hours sleep, then got up very early to fly from Prestwick to Dublin.

We rented a nice Toyota Avensis (?) and Darcy had the thrill of sitting behind the steering wheel on the right side, driving in the left lane. Fortunately we rented a GPS - otherwise we'd still be trying to find our way out of the Dublin airport! We drove on many narrow country roads, exciting...The roads there are narrow, with little or no shoulder, and the trees, fences, stone walls are right up against the road. Lots of pastures with cows and sheep, close enough to almost touch them. (Scotland is like that too.)

We stopped at the Ballyhaunis Library (of course, since I had to go to the library). We then drove on to Knock, to find my third cousin once removed's B and B. It's about five years old, and it's really nice.

More later!

Going to Scotland

Darce cashed in some of his frquent flier miles, so we're going to Scotland Oct 5-18! Our niece and her family live in Helensburgh, near Glasgow, so we'll stay with them. We're also making a side trip to Ireland Oct 10-13.

I knew my great-grandmother (Della - mom's dad's mom) was born in Ireland, but I wasn't sure where. I found them in MN censuses, but it only said Ireland as birthplace. Noodling around some of the genealogy chats, I saw a few postings about someone who turned out to be Della's aunt - her father's sister. I wrote to them, and voila - turns out he's my third cousin once removed! Della (called Delia there, plus Delia is a pet name for Bridget, which explains why some of the censuses sometimes said Bridget.)

Mom always called us Moi Cushle, which in Gaelic means "My Heart" - she said her dad had called her that. :-) I'll bet Della called Grandpa that, too. (He died before I was born.) I was pretty tickled when I figured out what it meant - it's a pretty nice thing to be called!

So, I know now that Great Grandma (who died in 1929, before Mom was born) was born in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, Ireland. They emigrated about 1873 :-) Another third cousin once removed owns a B and B in Knock, so we'll stay there a couple of nights, driving there from Dublin. It will be a lot of fun to meet them.

I also have ancestry from Scotland and England, but they came over in the 1600s and early 1700s, so it would be pretty difficult to find a relative. Or, maybe, pretty easy - but they'd probably be 15th cousins or something like that.

Sarah Palin vs The Librarian

This sums it up pretty well....

Jane Smiley on Sarah Palin:

Nothing to Offer

Last night, Sarah Palin got her once in a lifetime moment, the moment where she introduced herself to the nation at large. She had a choice about how to reveal herself. We all know she could easily become president, so we were looking to see what kind of person she is, and we saw it. She's mean and shallow and aggressive. She thinks being a leader is about tearing down your rivals. She lies about her own actions and she demeans the more generous actions of others. She goes for the easy laugh, but doesn't even make up her own jokes. If there's a low road, she will take it. If she can pander, she will do it. Her performance recapitulated her actions as mayor and governor in Alaska -- holding office, for her, is about keeping as much power as possible and using it for her own selfish ends. This woman is small small small. She demonstrated that with every word she spoke.

But she inspired the base of the Republican party, all those white folks visible in the audience in St. Paul, so they must have seen themselves in her. I often wonder how, after the Bush years, anyone could be a Republican. It's an ongoing mystery, but Sarah Palin demonstrates who they are. They are small small small. They are obsessed with power. Whatever they have, they want to be sure that they keep it. They don't mind if the pie is shrinking through their own actions -- they will just employ the police state to keep their portion and get more. All other factions of the Republican party -- all the ones who once had and still have any vestiges of kindness and morality and (God forbid) altruism -- have drifted away and only the narrowest are left -- the out and out racists, the sexual opportunists, like McCain, the operatives who do it for the money, and the knee-jerk haters, the folks who leave destruction all around themselves and never even say they're sorry. It's not that they don't believe in, say, global warming. It's that they don't care about any larger issues at all as long as they get theirs.

It's obvious to everyone that Sarah Palin's life is chaos. Her record as mayor and governor is chaotic and her personal life is chaotic. Could she have orchestrated and survived two years of campaigning for the presidency with the panache, the energy, the organization, and the personal growth that the Obamas have shown? Of course not. How the campaign goes is how the administration goes. Palin is showing stress, desperation, and vindictiveness already. And speaking of that -- Obama extended respect to her and she returned contempt. Is she a mean girl? Not as harmless as that. She's more a Lady MacBeth. She IS the Republican party. She shows as clearly as anyone ever that if we as voters embrace something small, we get what we deserve.

What would you eat??

I found this on my friend's blog (http://floatinglush.blogspot.com/) and thought it looked interesting. She's quite a bit braver than I am, but here goes....

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding ( I suppose I'll have to try this in the UK)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht I've had it but that doesn't mean I had to like it.
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari I make my husband eat the parts that LOOK like calamari. :-)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes I don't eat raw tomatoes, although I do eat them cooked, sundried, etc.
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras Do you know what they do to make this???
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese tasted it to say I did.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters My husband loves them, so if I don't eat them, it's more for him. I'm being very unselfish, aren't I??
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl I did live in San Francisco, after all.
33. Salted lassi I've had lassi but I don't know if it was salted.
34. Sauerkraut Even though I have German ancestry, I don't have to eat that stuff.
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects Does chocolate covered ants count?
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu Hey - one false move by the chef and you're dead. Nope!
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut Yuck - nasty.
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin I have no idea what this is.
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis We're going to Scotland in October, so I'd better not rule this out.
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini Took a bite to say I did, so I don't have to any more.
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Maybe when we're in London in Oct...)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare I took one bite once, but since I had a rabbit (Shilo) I won't again. Pets are not for eating!
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse see HARE
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab If my husband gets it ready for me....
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee I HATE coffee. Blech.
100. Snake I'm scared to death of snakes, but that doesn't mean I want to eat them.

I had to look up some of these to see what they were. I guess now that I look at it, I'm braver than I thought, but picky, too. Let's call it discerning, shall we??

This is really cool.

Wildlife

Not mine, unfortunately! I saw a fox on my street on the way home from work tonight - I was pretty excited. There's a small pond at the end of my street, about 3 blocks up from our house, down a small hill with lots of trees. S/he was sitting in the street. I saw something in my headlights and slowed down, and saw the fox! I'm thinking s/he was fairly young, because s/he wasn't very big. Hopefully s/he he won't sit in the street so much - someone might not be as careful as me!

When we lived in CA on the Oakland Navy Hospital Base (even though we were Air Force - long story) we fed a fox every evening for awhile. We were out in the front of our house, grilling, and had the cats (Allegro and Toccata at that time) out on leashes hanging out with us. We noticed that a little fox was sitting a few feet away, watching us. I put the cats inside, since they were curious, and went back outside. I opened up a couple cans of cat food and put them on a paper plate, and she thought that was pretty good. So every night for quite awhile, she'd come by for dinner - I bought canned dog food. If we were out, she'd be waiting for us. :-) We called her Zorro, which is Spanish for fox. Gorgeous creature!

Of course, we never tried to pet her, but she'd let us get fairly close and it was fun to watch her. She'd usually clean herself a little before sauntering down the street - almost as if she didn't want to eat and run. She limped a little, so I wondered if she had trouble catching anything while her foot hurt. After awhile we didn't see her as much, since I suppose her foot got better. She'd still drop by once inawhile for old times sake.

The bunnies and squirrels seem to be enjoying the garden - if I walk out there in the morning someone is usually there. I guess I'll have to spray some of the repellent and see what that does. I do like seeing them though - maybe I won't. We have one squirrel that likes to sit in the tree outside our bedroom (second floor) and laugh at the cats. The squirrel obviously knows they can't get out the window, and the cats do not appreciate that being rubbed in!

I like having critters around - I've always thought it was pretty arrogant for people to move into a wilder area and then complain that animals are around. They were there first - either leave their habitat alone or learn to live with them. It's not like we don't have plenty of places to live already!

Ready to Mulch...

I think. I still have 4 smaller, two toned hostas to plop somewhere, but overall I think I'm done - at least with the front bed...for now...lol. It looks so totally different from when I started it's hard to believe it's the same yard! If I have to work this hard every year, it's going to go back to weeds. I still have the tendinitis (that'll teach me to try to keep up with a 23 year old!) so hope that clears up. Fortunately, I'm ambidextrous!

Here's the view from the front, near the street:



Next year I most likely will move some of the front hostas further back, since they have gotten pretty big. Then the coral bells behind them will be more visible. I've used about 10 different coral bells so far in the bed (plus one the Peach Flambe, on the other side of the driveway, and another, Amethyst Mist, that I'm going to put beneath trees in the back yard.) I hope they all live, since I like the various colors and textures. I also have used campanula for some flowering, and impatiens and begonia. The begonias are mostly in pots in the front beds. I also used coleus in various spots, with mixed success.

I'll probably fool around more with the sides and back later - the south side gets more sun, so the plants on that side are doing better than the identical ones on the north side. If I get ambitious, I can move the north plants over and do something else on the side by the statue. If I don't get ambitious, it can wait until next year.

I have my favorite garden stores now, and will use them all again. Especially at sale time! I got a lot at Chaska Farm and Garden, Malmborgs, Tonkawood, and a little Farm and Garden Store called Marshall's in Eden Prairie. I also had good luck at one of the Linder's satellite stores. I was not impressed with Halla - didn't buy a thing. I ordered some perennials from Bluestone online, and nothing made it. Humbug. I'd rather buy local, anyway.

I didn't start out with a specific plan, other than the basic shape. I just bought things I liked, and thought would work, and then decided where to put them when I got them home. I just set pots around and moved them until I liked how it looked, then dug. Occasionally I had to shift a little because of all the tree roots - if I buy things next year, I'll buy them smaller so I don't have to try to dig such big holes!

Life's a Beach

Just finished "Life's a Beach" by Claire Cook. She also wrote "Must Love Dogs", "Multiple Choice" and "Ready to Fall" (which I haven't read yet.) I really enjoyed it - I'll use it for the Senior Booktalks I'll do in the fall.

41 year old Ginger Walsh isn't where she thought she would be at this age - she's still living in an apartment over her parents garage, unmarried, and not sure of her career path. Her mother wants to sell the house out from under her, and is dragging a parade of "Red Hat Ladies" through for selling advice. Ginger's father isn't so sure he wants to move, though....Her longtime lover isn't necessarily ready to commit - he doesn't even use a phone much - and how mature is it anyway to throw pebbles at her window? Her married older sister is having a crisis over turning 50, and really thinks it's time Ginger got her act together.

Moviemakers come to town, (a shark is stranded in the harbor, and it's better than a fake shark!) and her nephew turns out to be a natural. Who better to chaperone than Ginger, who really hasn't got anything to do anyway? She has a chance to find herself, her path, and what she wants after all.

I liked this - I've read two of her others and enjoyed both of them. I suppose I should see "Must Love Dogs" since I liked the book, and like John Cusack and Diane Lane...although movies usually aren't as good as the book. (An exception to that rule is "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" I think it's Leonardo DiCaprio's first movie, and he's really good. Johnny Depp could read the phone book and I'd be interested, and Juliet Lewis is good as usual. And the Harry Potter movies... )

I'm watching the news and they're talking about the tornado that hit Rolla, ND. It's pronounced RAH LAH, not ROH-LAH. My husband grew up about 20 miles from there, so I know! lol. I'm sure my mom in law knows someone who was involved - no matter where we go in ND, she runs into someone she knows. (My sister in law is like that in Richfield - it's pretty fun. )

This and that

Wow - it's been awhile since I wrote here. I suppose that's because I haven't had much excitement lately - and if you know me in real life, I'm quite happy about that. July 21st is the 3rd anniversary of my Mom's death, which still doesn't seem quite real to me. May 5th was 2 years since Dad died, which also is weird. The shock has worn off, and I'm getting used to not being able to pick up the phone and call them, Mom popping in to go to lunch with me, Dad and I smart-alecking each other to see who gets the last word...

It hit me Monday when I was on the escalator at Penney's at Southdale - Mom wasn't along! She and I did that kind of thing all the time - if one of us had errands to run, we often did that kind of thing together. This whole orphan thing is for the birds. I know they're happy - it was so hard for Dad to be without Mom, and they're hanging out with my brother, but I miss them.

I'm going to the Normandale Bandshell tomorrow night with my nephew - he knows the guy that's playing there so I wanted to hear what they sound like. Hopefully we won't get rained on. They're a country band, and I guess they just released a cd, although I don't know if it's on a label or self produced. So, we'll see what the diva has to say!

The garden is coming along nicely - someone in the neighborhood asked me who "did my plan" so I was very pleased. There really hasn't been a plan - I buy something I think will work, and then plop it in and hope for the best. The hostas that I moved from under the trees like it better where they are now; so much so that I may move some of them further back next year since they seem to be taller than the coral bells and cover them up. I got lots of different coral bells, and hope they all do well.

I found some things at the Linder's garden mart for half price - some of the Flame Astilbes that have burgundy and green foliage - I sure hope they do well because they're really neat. I also got a couple cute plants that have little white flowers. Can't remember what they are but I might have to get more. I've gotten a lot of campanulas, too, so hope they bloom. I guess the test will be how much of this stuff comes back next year. I have to sketch out what's where so I don't think they're weeds next year when they're just getting started!

I wasn't too impressed with what I got from Bluestone - some of it was half dead, and didn't revive, and the columbines aren't doing too great, either. I threw the scabiosa away - looked sickly and I didn't like it after all. I put another couple hosta and - surprise - more coral bells (Peach Flambe) in the side bed, with some Burgundy Glow Ajuga.


I found another garden store I liked - Marshall's in Eden Prairie. I was on the way to Halla (not worth going back to, I think) and stopped there. Lots of nice things - plus! I found the perfect statue, for a third of what it's selling for online. Is this not perfect for a librarian's garden? This picture is from a catalog, but I put some vinca vine and a few flowers by her. I put her to the left rear so we can see her when we come in the driveway.

I will admit that I'm more interested/willing to work in the garden now that I actually have something to maintain and play with. But I sure hope I don't have to work this hard next year...although there is still the back yard to do....uffda.

Getting there

I've been working like a dog on the front yard - this stuff had better grow back next year! I still have a few more things to plant, and some planters to throw stuff in, but overall it's actually starting to look like I had a plan! Not that I did, mind you... I was a but intimidated by the idea of an entire garden plan, so I've been doing little "vignettes" or just planting an area at a time instead of

The coral bells are in, replanted most of the hosta I dug out, threw various coleus around, and put in some astilbes that are supposed to be more tolerant of dry/sun with a few forgetmenots to fill in the spots between. I found some yellow columbine that were on sale, so I put 4 of them in, too. I ordered some half-price perennials from Bluestone, so am waiting for them. I ordered some more columbine - really cute blue and white, and pink and white. Also some pink pincushion flowers (scabiosa - what an awful name!) to stick in the bed beside the driveway. This bed just has some weeds, a few hostas and some scilla that are done on one side, and a lot of iris and tulip that don't really bloom much - I think they need to be thinned out. I've also used various impatiens, and some begonias, etc. I've gone through 15 bags of soil, which will hopefully help keep the plants happy.

Once it's all planted I'll have to start figuring out maintenance, I suppose. My idea is that putting all this work in this year means less in the next few years. (I suppose real gardeners reading this are laughing right now!) If most of the perennials come back, I can then add more stuff if I need to, and throw annuals around. I'm even thinking of growing the coleus from cutting so I don't have to buy so many. I'm not sure where I'd put them in the house, though - the cats might think they were a tasty snack.

I rehung our birdfeeder in the back yard - we had been hanging it off the deck last year. It was a lot of fun watching the birds, and fun watching the cats watch the birds. We gave up on it, though, because a 700 pound raccoon decided that it was a great place to have a snack. He'd just knock it off the deck, and amble down the stairs to have his munchies. I hope I've outsmarted him - we'll see if the squirrel/raccoon repellant spray works! If not, I'll have to be even sneakier.

Good Start

I've gotten quite a bit done - my nephew and I moved the blocks around and dug up dirt and grass last week, and my sis in law and I did more on Friday. She loves doing stuff outside so was chopping roots, moving and digging and setting the rocks, etc. She also potted the two hanging baskets for me. No one seems to want me anywhere around axes and power tools, I hear. Hmph. She even warned Brian - not that we used any power tools.

I dug up the hostas around the trees to put them somewhere else. I also dug up some Pink Pewter and White Nancy Lamium and put that around the trees instead. (I"m very impressed with myself for knowing what they are.) I haven't replanted the hostas yet, and still need to plant the coral bells and other things I've gotten, but I did get some of the planters planted. I put marigolds in the front beds, and hope they get enough sun. We plan to trim the fronts of the flowering crabs in front, so maybe the marigolds will get enough light to keep them happy. I love marigolds so hope they do okay there. I did find an astilbe that says it's more tolerant of drought and light, so will put those in too. We've always kind of wanted a bench, so if we find one that we like, I'll put it in, and scatter plants around. I also got some columbine for height, too.

I found some Rieger begonias and put them in some pots - maybe they'll be high enough up the squirrels won't notice them. (good luck with that, I suppose...) I always put coleus in the pots by the house since there isn't much light there. I'm also going to cheat and use fake plants in the basket by the door, since that gets no sun. If someone is close enough to the door to notice they're fake, they're apt to be someone I've invited, so they won't care if they're fake!

I hadn't been to Malmberg's yet, so went there Thursday. Lots of nice stuff there, so I'll add that to my list of places. It's not far from work, which is an added bonus.

I'll have to start doing things left-handed out there - I seem to have given myself "garden elbow" which is the same as "Tennis Elbow" without the tennis. That's what you get for being too enthusiastic. :-)

Here goes

Well - I've gotten a bunch of plants to start planting in my yard. I got several different heuchera because of the neat colored foliage, and may end up getting more, plus impatiens, begonias, and several varieties of coleus. I figured out that I can grow them from cuttings, so hopefully I won't have to buy as many next year. I did make it to the Bloomington Garden Club sale and the Edina garden club sale last week, and went to Chaska Farm and Garden store this afternoon. I left work a little early, so I told my boss it was her fault I spent so much. But, if it turns out well, she gets some of the credit too!

My nephew and sis in law (his mom) are coming over Tuesday to help me move stuff around and plant some, so hopefully it won't rain while we're digging around out there. I have edging stones to move around, and we'll try to add more soil. Hope the hostas that are there won't mind.

The house painting turned out really well. The neighbors like it too, which is good, since they'll have to look at it for quite awhile! It's different from everyone else's, but not obnoxiously so. Anyone that's been to the house before will drive right by, it looks so different. The painters thought the cats were cute - they would try to catch the brush with their paws when the guys were doing the windows.

Brandi suggested that I post before and after pics, (good idea!) so here's the before: The house has been painted, but I haven't planted any of the new stuff. Anything growing is stuff that was there before. (Some of it may be weeds - I have to figure out which is which!)

I want to combine the ring in front with the edging in front of the house to make one big patch. Grass doesn't really grow, so I'll try something else! There are two smaller rings in front of this with the flowering crab trees, but I'll just plant annuals or something in there to go with the lamium I put in the last couple of years.

Plus, I bought two of these and the tags aren't in there, so I don't remember for sure what they are! Aaargh. Any ideas?

Florida etc.

Hmph. No, I'm not the one there. My nephew, sis and bro in law, and his little girl (my nephew's step sis) are. It's 86 and sunny, and my bro in law texted me to ask "beach or pool first?" I may have to shoot him. :-)

I'm babysitting my nephew's cats, and have already spoiled them. I gave them "gushy food" on Sat, and when I went over again Monday, Jack let me know that he really would like some more of that stuff, right away, fast as I can, soon as possible. He was literally beckoning me to follow him to the kitchen. >^..^<>

One of my colleagues is getting married in August and I'm singing for them. I made sure they know "NO PAUL STOOKEY'S WEDDING SONG" I hate hate hate that thing....."oooh- goodie - 10 bars into the song I get to a new note." Blech. Plus the whole "man and wife" thing is archaic - I always just made it a triplet "husband and wife." If someone really really wanted it, I'd sing it, but I charged them an extra $30. There are a lot of songs out there that are infintely better than that dreck.

I may even make my husband sing with me. :-) You know the old saying ..."the ladies swoon for the tenor, but go home with the bass" - well, I went home with the tenor. I like to be different.

Of course this means I'll have to practice more than I have been , which is good incentive. Plus it's ooutdoors, which means acapella. I get to sing in whatever key I want to, instead of having to transpose something if I don't like it in the key it's written.

I googled Wedding Songs and one site says "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a good wedding song - um - hello - that song is about missing someone. Probably not a wedding song...Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" is nice - people are always surprised about that one until I read them the lyrics. Bruce Springsteen wrote a really nice one, "Wait for me." Gordon Lightfoot's "Beautiful" is one of my favorites. It can be fun to think outside the box a little, and do something people don't necessarily associate with weddings.

Ari Hest

I first heard this song on one of the Paste magazine samplers. I liked it so much I bought the CD.
"They're on to me."

Paint

We finally decided on what colors to paint the house. It's this strange green color now, and neither of us really like it, but that's the color it was when we bought the house. We need to redo the siding someday too, but that will probably cost an arm, leg, and our first born cat, so we'll wait on that. Besides, if the house is painted gorgeously, (is that a word?) maybe it will distract from the siding! (which is only on the sides and back, anyway.) Then it will be the perfect backdrop for the wonderful garden I'm going to put in. I am determined.


This is the background color. It goes on the front of the house and garage.



This one is the trim color - around the windows, etc.

Of course, I couldn't find an uploadable sample of the other color, but it's Essex Deep Green by Pratt and Lambert, which is a really dark dark green. This one will go on the doors, and eaves. Hopefully the paint chips will be close to the real thing. My husband is going to Alaska this morning - if the weather cooperates he'll come home to a different looking house - might even drive right by, if he's not paying attention!

Airbags Rock

My nephew was in an accident early this morning, and is okay. (I told my sis in law that next time she calls abut this kind of thing, to say that "he's okay" immediately after saying "I need to tell you what happened to B.) Anyway, he was working at his second job, got off at 2 am, went home to feed his cats and grab some stuff, then headed over to his mom and step dad's. He was heading east on 66th Street at Lyndale, when some moron on a cell phone, driving way too fast, T-boned him in the intersection. Fortunately there were witnesses who saw the guy run the red and saw that he was on his phone. I will confess I occasionally talk on my phone when I'm driving, but I still pay attention to my driving and what's going on around me.
The guy claimed he wasn't going "too fast", but having seen pictures of my nephew's pickup, a 4x4, extended cab, with the BENT FRAME, I would have to call him either a liar, or totally delusional. That, and the fact that the guys engine almost entered his passenger compartment, would tend to prove that he was going a TAD too fast.
I am not amused. I am quite fond of my nephew, and enjoy being his aunt. This clown (a euphemism for what I'd really like to call him) could really have messed that up. Poor B is pretty battered up and sore, and will probably be shaking airbag dust out of his hair for awhile. But he's okay. Which is what matters in the end.

Medieval Helpdesk

Got this from my supervisor. :-) This is too good!

Garden plotting

Plotting - get it? :-) I think I found a "plan" to build off of and fool around with in the yard. Of course, once I find/buy/plant stuff, it won't look anything like the one in the magazine, but I suppose that's half the fun. :-) We have a lot of trees in our front yard - two large maples, and 4 flowering crabs in front of the house. On the other side of the driveway there's an ash, and a red maple. Needless to say we rake a lot. Uffda.
Shade gardening is me! We bought the house nearly 5 years ago. The last few years have been rough, so hopefully I'll be able to get a start on making the yard look better. Or at least like I have something planned and in process.
A lot of garden publications say to just use ferns and hosta. I like ferns and hosta, but not enough to use them exclusively! The yard does get some afternoon sun, so I think that gives me more options anyway. I went to the Friends Garden sale last year at the fairgrounds, but by the time I got there much of what I was interested in was gone. I do like their catalog, though, so will use that to plan. There are some others I like too - Chaska Farm and Garden has some neat lists that have color, height, growing season, etc, all in one place. I got quite a bit of stuff there last year and it did well. I also tend to just buy stuff that looks neat and plop it in and hope it does well. So much for planning!
I might just plant something as a distraction for the squirrels to eat - maybe they'll leave my "expensive" plants alone. Yeah. They will!

Chez Dentist

Ugh. I spent another hour and a half in the dentist's chair Monday, and I'm still not done. I would really like to get my hands on the dentist of yore who did the incomplete root canal that put me in this mess. This time she nicked a capillary when giving me the novocaine, so I look even more like a chipmunk than usual. Oh well - for as many novocaine shots as I've had this doesn't happen very often, and I can milk it for sympathy.

It's a zoo here again at the library - school is out so we have kids and teens camping out here all day. Heaven forbid someone else should get to use a computer - their sense of entitlement is annoying. I have no problem asking them to log off so someone else gets a chance, and for the most part, they go along with it. They know I'll log someone else off so they can get a chance too. It does get annoying though - I often feel as though I'm just a babysitter, and that gets old. And now we'll get to be open Sunday. Oh joy of joys.

Full Moon?!

My co-worker and I are convinced there must be a full moon. Somewhere, there's gotta be a full moon. Many of our customers seem to have turned into werewolves.
"No, you can't eat your salsa and chips in the quiet study room."
"No, you can't look at porn on the word processors. Nope, not that one either. I don't care if it's research. Just.... no. Yes, I'm in charge, and....no."
"No, it's not okay to drop sunflower seed shells on the floor. No, it's no better to put them in the pencil cups."
"Sorry, you won't have time to print your airline ticket - the printer and computers shut down in less than a minute."
"Yes, the computers are working the same as they always have - I don't know that the heck you did to it. Probably hitting cancel 3 times didn't help."
"No, I'm not being mean when I ask your child to stop climbing on the shelves. You should be the one doing that, really."
"No, I won't loan you $5 to print off your myspace pictures. "
"No, we don't know where your son went after you dropped him off. We haven't seen him since, and he didn't tell US where he was going. No, that's not my responsibility."
"Sorry, we close at nine. We can't wait for you until 9:30 to pick up your hold that came in a week ago. "
"Well, if you want us to print off the whole tax instruction booklet it'll cost you ten cents a page. That would be....19.50. Thank you for blessing me with a crown of stars when I reach Heaven, but you still have to pay for your prints. "
"Oops - if you want to take a bath you can't do it here. Sorry."

One of my other co-workers would assume this was all the work of Zombies...but we haven't seen any. Or any we didn't recognize, at least. Which brings to mind a new research question....does Lutefisk ward off Zombies?? It sure scares everything else away! I'll use ELM to track my research...maybe do a podcast! :-)
On the other hand, our Children's advocate group left us cake. It's in the back room, so we can eat it THERE. Zombies and werewolves aren't allowed, so we don't have to share. We're really ready to go home.

23 Finale!

I'm finished with 23 things. I don't know that anything has changed, but I really enjoyed playing around with some of the things. I was aware of some of them, but had never bothered to look at or use them, and this gave me the incentive. (Or excuse, if you'd rather!)


My favorite things were Project Playlist, playing with the image makers, and I've actually enjoyed the blogging parts more than I thought I would. I may just keep that up. I enjoyed reading other participants blogs, and I hope some of them keep it up as well. I'll miss reading them!

Some of the links didn't work when I tried them, and some weren't available anymore because of time limits. That didn't bother me, but might be something to think about next time. I would participate in another program like this - I enjoyed it. 23 Things reinforced concepts I knew, and introduced me to a few sources I wasn't aware of.

Thing 22 Keeping up

I think I'll probably continue to do what I've been doing - I bookmark things of interest to look at later, and use a category "What's New" for blogs and sites that talk about new tools/things/ideas/technologies. I tend to look at things like this when I'm on the Ref Desk - I can interrupt it and come back to it later. I also like using bloglines for this purpose - I can read what I'm interested in and skip the rest, and save what I want to keep.

To be perfectly honest, I doubt that I'll do much with webinars - I can get more by reading and playing around with things on my own. I can see the value of them for long distance teaching, but I prefer other ways of picking things up if I have the choice. I already tend to keep up fairly well with what's going on, and intend to continue. It's always fun to find new toys.

In the meantime..

Instead of thinking about what to say for thing 22, I've been thinking about what the heck I'm going to do in the front yard this year. We have a lot of trees, so it gets dappled (I think) sun. I also like color, so that limits me. I like begonias, but so do the neighborhood squirrels. Unfortunately begonias don't seem to rebloom, so once the squirrels have their snack, they aren't so nice.

The other thing, is that I want a garden that looks nice but isn't a lot of work. Which means perennials. So, I think primroses would work, if I could find them. I've had luck with lamium in a few spots, and I may use that as groundcover where grass isn't happy. I've pretty much decided to move some of the stones around to create a bigger "garden" in one area than the smaller ones there are now.

A problem is, though, that I get all excited and buy plants and then don't get them all planted. Or put the wrong thing in the wrong place, or plant a lot of squirrel and bunny food. Which isn't a crime - they've got to eat too - but I'd like less eating and more blooming. The squirrel that ate the begonia was actually kind of cute - she'd pick off one bloom at a time and nibble it, and pick a new one when she was finished. At least she enjoyed herself, and didn't waste her food.


Thanks to photorose for the perfect picture.

I have hosta, and they're happy. I like astilbe, but they seem to think I don't water them enough. Picky, picky. I like hanging baskets by the front door, but that area gets NO sun, so I'll try to find some fake plants that don't look obviously fake and use them. Wish me luck!

Thing 21

I went ahead and joined Ning - I've been aware of it but haven't done anything with it. One thing I'd like to do is add/join different groups, and find people without having to email them. Maybe there is a way and I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe I won't bother...I did go ahead and upload a profile picture and add a badge to my blog.

I checked out Gather, and while I might not join, I do think I'll go back now and then and read what's going on there. I found a few interesting articles and read them.

So far I'm really enjoying Project Playlist. I've heard of it but never bothered to check it out. The first thing I did was read a few of the playlists, and was pretty..um...discouraged? irritated?? (How could someone put Madonna in the same playlist as Prince? What could they be thinking??) BUT - then I started looking for music that was available, and had a pretty good time. I have pretty eclectic taste, so I think I'll set up a few lists myself. Throw in some Prince to cheer me up if I'm crabby, Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" to get me ready for the drive home, some Gordon Lightfoot just because...the possibilities are endless!! Oh my gosh - there's even some Brahms. I'm set.

Craftster looks like it could be fun, once I get time again to start crafting. I do have to teach myself to knit (long story) so could maybe find some projects to work on. Fuzzster is fun to look at, but I won't sign up. What the girls don't know won't hurt them. >^..^<

Thing 19 Podcasts

I've listened to Podcasts off and on for awhile. Usually if I'm listening to something, music is my first choice. :-) (Imagine that!) I don't care to download the software on my home computer, which is one reason I like Podcast Alley -some of them are streamed, so it's easy to just click and listen. I like using Bloglines for this reason, too. Since I already use Bloglines, I added a few casts to my account there to check out occasionally. I click on the Play button and I'm good to go. I think some of the more interesting ones are the language ones - very helpful to learn, brush up, or just get the flavor of a language. I found a great cast for one of my colleagues - unfortunately it's in Swedish.

I listened to an Italian language podcast, a few political ones, and a few comedy ones. I found Podcast Alley easy to use, and I liked Podcast.net, when I could get it to work. It was pretty slow to load, and I don't know if it was because of the site itself, or because I was going in through work. There are a lot of blogs to choose on ITunes, if you already use it. Many of those are free as well. I'll probably just keep using Bloglines, since it's easy.

I don't really have an interest in producing my own podcast, but I think it could be very handy for educators to assign casts for students to listen to, or even to put a lecture or two on a podcast for students to be able to listen to - to catch what they may have missed. (Of course, a student would NEVER skip a lecture in favor of a podcast, would they??)

Thing 20 Social Networks

(I'll come back to 19 Podcasts) I joined both Facebook and MySpace some time ago. I check both daily, but if I had to choose, I think I like Facebook better - easier to use, and I like the applications you can add. I've mentioned before that I use Iread, and I also like one of the cd applications. I keep in touch with old friends, family and have made some new friends. And as they join, I've friended classmates from high school and college. With some of my younger family members, I generally either facebook or text them first when I want to get ahold of them. They like it, and I do too. It seems to me that Facebook is growing rapidly; I'm finding "new" people on it all the time. It's probably growing because it's fun and easy, and a nice way to reconnect. Besides, where else can you throw a cow at someone, and not go to jail??

I also have a MySpace account. More of my friends seem to be on Facebook than MySpace, but it's kind of fun to noodle around with the html, although there are tons of sites out there with codes you can use to bling out your page. I do check it often, but I mostly use it to send funny pictures to my friends in the comments field. (LOL cats are good for this!)

It's a good way for libraries to have a presence for teens to see - (facebook doesn't let "organizations" have a page, but they can form a group.) There are fewer limitations on what you can post on MySpace, which can be a reason for concern sometimes. As one of my teen customers said, "there are more cooties on MySpace." One is supposed to be 14 to have a MySpace account, but we all know that is easily sidestepped.

Libraries are using it to promote the library, programs, materials, and anything else the organization wants to promote. When users "friend" a library, the library is able to send bulletins to its friends alerting them to what's going on, or what's new in the library. If nothing else, it can raise awareness for the library. People like to have lots of friends, so they'll probably add the library to their list, accidentally finding out about what's going on there. :-) I will continue to use my own page as I have - to communicate and goof around with my friends and family.

Online Videos

I think YouTube is a lot of fun, and can waste a lot of time looking for/at things that are posted. There are even some Library Training videos to be found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Jud4b9ik0&feature=PlayList&p=2D6285151E99F565&index=2 I think this one should be required viewing for all library staff. Seriously, though, I did see various training materials on YouTube that could be used at work.

The library system I work for has used YouTube with Teens, and posted some of them.

I didn't see anyone from Minnesota, but I may have caught a glimpse of a librarian I knew in CA. At least it looked like her...Does that count? :-)

I'll use the next video as my "official" uploaded video - I've liked Aimee Mann a long time. This song is by Til Tuesday, (of "Voices Carry" fame ) and this is one of my favs of theirs. I also have her solo cds.



I find YouTube easy to use, and it's a fun way to noodle around. Joking around with my boss, I said that I would look for some Zombie cat videos. I was surprised at how many there are.... I was just kidding! I didn't watch any of them, but some of them looked interesting. Obviously, there's a lot of stupid stuff on YT, but I don't have to watch it, so I don't mind. Since there is so much to find, you could probably find nearly any topic you wished to share.

Making a video might be fun, but that would involve getting a camera. Being a librarian, I'd have to research all the options first, and then I'd miss the deadline for finishing, and not get my prize. What fun is that???

Thing 17 ELM

I've been aware of the extra things you can do here, but hadn't done them very much. I would use the "Folder" functions to save searches I"m doing for customers, and then send the whole thing to them. The webpage idea in Academic Search is fun, but not so useful for me at this time. I didn't see a way to send the whole webpage to anyone - when I emailed it, there was the "content" part and the "page background" part, so it didn't function as a regular webpage. Any additions would have to be saved again, rather than as you're doing it. Saving it to my harddrive was easy, but it's only available within the library I'm at. I think I'm more likely to send a folder full of articles rather than construct a webpage.

The RSS function is nice for someone who is starting research more than a day in advance...:-) We do actually get some kids like that, and if they have a reader they use I'd recommend this to them. I'm not sure how many of our kids do that, though. They always are pleasantly surprised that they can find articles online....

Proquests "My Research" is very handy,(you have to click on marked items to see it) but again, I would most likely send the links in an email, or create a bibliography, rather than creating a webpage. I think the webpages would be very useful in a school setting, where students would have access to the webpage within the building. This could also be used in the work setting to share articles and information.

I've used NetLibrary, and like it. The book in the example doesn't seem to be there anymore, but I find the notes function to be pretty handy.

Thing 16 Student Tools

These could come in very handy. One of my friends is in Nursing School, so I sent these to her to see what she thinks. Generally when we help students at the public library, they're more interested in the materials that they need to write their papers, rather than a time line or planning help, but I do like the explanations and further helps for each stage, and may use those. I could use them as handouts, or adapt them as handouts. I have a feeling college students may find these more useful.

Although I must say, most of the kids that come in need something, like, um, yesterday, so I don't think they would appreciate me mentioning an assignment calculator. Maybe I could stick a printout with the websites inside one of the books they get so they could keep it for future reference!

Thing 15 Gaming

Hmph. I read/looked at the Second Life and Pirates stuff, and one thing that struck me right away, is that to have the full experience of a "fake" life you have to pay "real" money. As one of my colleagues says, "you have to pay real money for fake stuff." I watched Visit to Info Island, and while it was probably fun to create, it did nothing for me. (And why do they always have to use such boring music? Have they ever heard of Modulation??) I see no reason that my library should have a presence, at quite a cost, on Second Life, when they can't seem to come up with enough to pay us a decent salary, or to support a decent collection. The Pirate Puzzle might be interesting, but I prefer puzzles just for their own sake. I can't see myself paying to advance beyond cabin mate, so probably wouldn't stick around there long. This topic kind of annoys me so I'll stop here.


We don't seem to have any demand for Second Life at my library - in fact, I've never even been asked about it. We do have a lot of kids playing Runescape, and lots of the games on Nick and Disney. While they may teach some hand eye co-ordination, the jury still is out on what benefit there really is. One can find all sorts of research to support either position. We have kids here all day playing Runescape, and our internet service really slows down when school is out. I have no problem with kids using the computers, but I do have a problem with the behavior that seems to accompany a lot of the online games. "yes, you do need to let someone else have a computer now" "No, you can't call me a B...." Who knows whether it's because of the game, or just the person?

Our library has had gaming afternoons, and those have been kind of fun. Kids I know have been impressed with how good I am at Guitar Hero - (after all, I'm a music major!) and DDR looks like it would be fun, too. I haven't seen that it brings in kids that don't already come, but that may not be the case everywhere.

I do enjoy online games such as Bookworm, TriPeaks, Bejeweled, and 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, although I'm stuck on the building that looks like an anchor. And I keep wanting to organize the little Egyptian guys into their own local. I think they work too hard. :-)

Thing 14 Things about Thing

I already have an account set up on LibraryThing, but I tend to use IRead on Facebook more, mainly because I use FB daily, and also because I like it. I also still like to jot down what I'd like to read in a notebook - I still like the feel of pen on paper. In fact, I just like pens and paper - I have more than I'll ever use.

I do find LT handy to use, but I'm going to have to upgrade to a paid membership soon if I keep this up. I like the tagging and headings functionality, and the ability to see reviews. I especially like the Librarians who LibraryThing messageboards - they're always fun to read.

LT would be a lot of fun to use for sharing booklists, displaying new books, and the like. Our customers here love the paper booklists I create, and it would be fun to have duplicates online as well. (It certainly would be easier to update them in a timely fashion!) I do some of the online booklists and blogs for my library and think it's a great way to highlight something I just read, or different categories within a genre. LT could be used this way as well. Then a smaller library might not have to cut a librarian position for coders. (That was something in the 2.0 readings that I thought was really silly. I mean REALLY silly. But, just wait until I post about Second Life...)

Thing 13 Productivity is me!

I set up my page in igoogle and yahoo. I didn't do anything with pageflakes since I wouldn't be likely to go back to it. With yahoo or google you can do more from the page, so it seems more useful to me. I preferred igoogle, and will probably use that more. I 'm having fun looking through the gadgets you can add, and have put a few in. Quite a few, actually....I found igoogle easier to use, and I liked the functionality of setting up the tabs. This is the one I'm most likely to use.

I looked quickly at Backpack and some of the other calendars in the article. Backpack had a lot of functionality that I probably wouldn't use - and, of course, a fee if one wanted the interesting stuff. :-) One of them looked like it was pay-only now. So, I looked at google and yahoo calendars. I use Outlook extensively at work - I'll put things I want to remember to do in, and it pops up to remind me. I also make lists of tasks to complete, etc. I probably won't use the online calendars much, since I mostly use that type of thing at work, and I can do it in Outlook. I also use the calendar in my cellphone to remind me of things - appointments, something I want to remember to do tomorrow, etc.

I looked at the Stickies, and since I can't download at work, didn't try them. I did run across another similar site, Diigo.com that looked interesting. I think one can do a lot of the same things in google notebook, so I may download that at home. It would be interesting to see how the stickies work on a webpage, especially since I tend to bookmark a lot of interesting things. I have been known to change the name in a bookmark to something more descriptive of what I want to do there....

Zamzar and PDF converter and nice to use - didn't try CutePDF since I can't download anything like that at work. We get a lot of people who need to open a document that isn't supported - WP, or different versions of Word, and Excel, mainly. Zamzar could really help with this.

I don't think I'd use most of these applications much - but they're handy to be aware of to recommend them to someone who asks. The list applications are nice in theory, but it's a lot quicker to stick a note in my pocket, or write it on my hand than to bother with going online.

Thing 12 I can Digg it

I've been reading on Digg and Reddit for quite awhile. I also like Fark just for the funny titles and interesting, offbeat things that turn up there. I looked at Mixx and might check that again, but I don't know that I'll use Newsvine much. I've never bothered to register for any of them, because I just like reading the submissions, but am not interested in voting up or down, etc. I've definitely read a lot of things that I might not have otherwise seen, which is both good and bad, I suppose. I tend to just copy and paste urls to send articles on via email, since most of the people I would send things to find this easier. I'd rather do that than sign up for yet another service to remember - especially since I can get what I want out of them without signing up.

It could be useful to save articles and/or websites for customers and students that are doing research - a library could set up one or more reference accounts, and students could then check the reference profile(s) to see what they've saved. Some of the services allow for blogging, and that would be useful as well.

Depending on the day, these services can be both productive and distracting. Some days there are many articles or postings I want to check out, some days none. They don't always have much to do with work, but since librarians are supposed to know what's going on, that's my excuse. :-) Let's call it cultural literacy, ok??

Thing 11 Tags!

I've been using del.icio.us for quite awhile - although it's taken me almost as long to type the address properly. De.lici.ous and various combinations don't work. It seems to me that my computer(s) should realize what I MEANT to type after all this time, instead of what I did type, but no such luck. This is why book marks are so great - if I can't type that one, just think what I'd do with something REALLY complicated! I'm not always at my own computer when I want to show someone something - so I appreciate being able to log into Del. etc. and get to my links.

I use de. to keep track of things that I'm interested in, or things I come across at work that I may want to look at at home. Librarians and teachers could use it for projects - for example, a teacher could use de., furl, etc to save links and research they want their students to see and/or use. Librarians could do this as well for subject and research guides. (pathfinders, anyone?) Some of the libraries we saw link by general topic, others by Dewey categories. Personally I prefer Dewey, but it works either way.

Thing 10 Wikis

I'm pretty familiar with Wikis - I'll occasionally use wikipedia as a starting point, and have seen quite a few wikis on a variety of topics - some better than others, of course. I did find some of the readings interesting, and enjoyed checking out some of the wikis mentioned. The idea of anyone being able to contribute is fun - everyone has their own expertise and it can be valuable to see more than one viewpoint about a topic. That being said, the age old question remains though - authority. This isn't such an issue for every wiki, but of course librarians are concerned about this, and rightly so. There is a lot of bad information out there, and I can understand a teacher's concern about using Wikipedia as a source. I use it as a starting point, but don't rely on its information without double checking.

It seems to me that a teacher has to be careful about limiting sources, but we are all well aware that information found out on the web sometimes must be taken with a grain of salt - if at all. That's where authority control can be important.

Wikis can be very useful for many different organizations - libraries, schools, families....One of my friends set up a wiki for family pictures, and we even taught her grandma to log in. A great way for her to be able to keep up with those grandkids! Those working on group projects might find a wiki very useful as well. Class assignments could even be done as a wiki since modifications are tracked. Each person/group could work on an aspect of a topic, and the information can be shared. The teacher could be the moderator, and update/correct as needed.

I just noodled around a little on the front page of the 23 Things wiki to see how it works. Didn't have much of interest to say! :-)

Thing 9 Sharing

I played around with the document in both Zoho and Google. It was easier to just "get right to work" on the google document, but to start editing it in Zoho I had to copy the url into the search window to bring up the document. I found them both easy to use - although I found I had to do a lot of scrolling with the zoho since the display was in such a big window.

I think for ease of use I would send customers to Google - especially those who aren't experienced using word. Perhaps Zoho is more "powerful" but the average user may not need that.

I think the Founding Fathers would be rolling over in their graves, but that's a whole other post!

While I'm waiting...

to get permission to play around in Google docs and Zoho - some advice, critiques, and assistance!

Thing 8 again

I played around with Lazy Base and Zoho. Zoho's database looked familiar to me, so it was fairly easy to use. When I was going to LazyBase, I thought to myself, "oh, no - not another login and password to remember!" I was very pleased to see that there wasn't one. That in itself makes it worth recommending. I found that one a little more cumbersome, but certainly easy enough.
For most of my recordkeeping, I find it just as easy to use Excel to keep track of things vs setting up a database and entering information there. I can just re-sort the spreadsheet to see what I want rather than having to query a DB. For example, I've done some of our CDs on a spreadsheet - mainly to have something to take along if I go to Cheapo's or somewhere like that. Having the spreadsheet (many pages, now) helps keep me from buying something I already have. When you have well over 2000 (at last count) CDs it's hard to remember what you have. Perhaps I should weed! Now - there's a novel idea. :-)
I certainly would use Zoho or lazybase for customers. I think since Zoho has more functionality, I would recommend that first, since there generally is more need for word processing, etc, than databases here.
I think Efolio could be very useful, especially for jobseekers or artists seeking work. It's easy to just refer someone to a website so they can see what you've posted for your portfolio, resume, etc. I think some of our customers might find it too challenging. but those with a little tech savvy will feel right at home. A library could even use it to show customers what they can do there.

Cats Picture Trail

Thing 8 Pic Trail

I used Picture Trail to create a "peel" and will post it above. It's too large to comfortably fit on the side of my blog - that might work better on one with only two columns. Again, I used the cats. I like the result, but getting it done was a pain in the neck. When you sign up, you have to go through at least three "Offers" (which of course is why this is free, but it's still annoying). I didn't find PT particularly user friendly at first - to look at or do something in the album you save, you would think to click on albums, but it's manage pictures. Little things like that. You make an album first, and it wasn't immediately obvious to me how to just move the album over to use for the effects. Once I saw it, though, it was pretty straightforward.

Thing 8 Girlz in the House

I did a quick slideshow using Zoho - of course, I used the cats. They don't need releases, for one thing! I found Zoho quite easy to use, especially for a quick presentation like this. I was able to figure out how to upload it fairly quickly, too, after I figured out that I couldn't seem to just plop it into the body of the post. I put it at the bottom, and made it a little smaller by changing the settings in the html. I was careful to keep them proportional so it wouldn't get skewed. Perhaps I'll use the same pictures and try them in Picture trail - I like the look of it on 23 Things, but am dreading the ads!

Toccata

Toccata June 1, 1989 - Feb. 10 2007

He made sure those rowdy little girls would be good cats before he left. He taught them the basics such as "Bedtime" and "Gotta go to work!" means "run downstairs as fast as you can." He also taught them that flopping over on your side meant you'd get rubbed with a foot. Fermata and Fantasia soon learned that sitting politely on a chair at the table was better than jumping ON the table. We used to say that he was so smart that if he got our PIN number, we'd be in trouble; but perhaps we should have let him handle our investments - we would probably have been able to retire by now. He carried on intelligent conversations with anyone who was here, and sang duets - with a name like Toccata, you know he had perfect pitch! We know he's sitting on Buddy Holly's lap teaching him the "right" way to do "That'll be the Day." Meeowww!

Fermata, Fantasia and Toccata

Thing 7 part 1

For this one, I didn't have to do much extra reading, since I've had email for over 10 years, and at present have - let's see - 4 various email accounts. I only use two for "everyday" and the Yahoo and Google basically came with the package of what else I'm doing with Yahoo and Google. I love email and use it all the time. We use it now to keep in touch with far-flung family and friends. I also use my work email to keep up on some of the listservs I belong to, and to communicate back and forth with colleagues both in my building and in other branches of my library system. My library uses email reference extensively and customers love it. We answer questions from all over the world. It saves customers time, but limits do need to be put on how many requests/questions etc can be submitted in a day.
I've been using IM for years too, and still use it almost daily. It's a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, again. We have the capability here at work, but sometimes it's easier to just shoot off an email, so I can remember what we were talking about - especially if it's planning something. Some of my library school classmates and I im regularly to keep up with each other (we also use facebook for that...) IM for reference is good for quick questions, but usually ends up being quite cumbersome for involved or lengthy questions. It also may depend on the customer's computer skills and capabilities. I haven't installed Meebo yet but probably will.
I use text messaging every day. In fact, I had to go with the 500 message option on my phone plan since I often ended up going over my initial "allotment." I use it for family and friends, but haven't used it for work.

Thing 6

Well - that's what I get for not reading ahead. I created a "trading card" in step 5. Oops.

I'm having fun fooling around with these - via Big Huge Labs, I made a magazine cover using my nephew, and discovered you have to use a fairly big picture or it won't work. I suppose the cats will want their own cover now, too - and my nieces, and....

I also made a bumper sticker - and it actually looks like it could be on my car, since that's the color of my car. (Can you guess what I drive?)

These generators could come in very handy for doing presentations, handouts and the like. I do a lot of various handouts for classes, tutorials, bookmarks, and various other printed materials, and I can see myself using some of these. I do a lot of powerpoint as well and might incorporate some of these in presentations. We could make some of the badges for volunteers just for fun. I really need to stop this and get on to the next thing!

5 More Flickr Fun

They weren't kidding when they said this could get addictive. Some of the mashups were fun, and I could see how they could be used in either the library or my personal life. Others were fun to play with, but I really couldn't see myself using them for much. I don't really think I'd use Clockr, and while Color Pickr was neat I don't see myself using it for much. However! I love some of the Big Huge Labs functions - I've made a few of the motivational signs and now I find myself looking for pictures I could make signs with. :-) I also made an "ID badge" and that was kind of fun. I like the Captioner from Shady Dentist too, but it looks like you need fairly large sized pictures (Or short captions) for it to work well. Plus, I couldn't figure out a good way to upload it here. Big Huge Labs captioner didn't work on my computer at all. I posted a motivational poster above.

The Motivational signs could be used to make humorous reminders about things like cell phone use, food in the library etc. They could also make funny posters for staff's enjoyment. Captioner could be used for training materials as well as for fun. Spell with Flickr would be useful for fun signage - teen or children's areas, for example. Most of the mashups could be used for something in the library! I also uploaded a trading card I made.

More on 4

In the previous posting, I used Picnik to crop the left side of the picure. For the picture of Dad and me in this posting, I lightened the contrast and exposure a little. I first used the general feature to lighten both contrast and exposure. I saved that - then used that version to try the advanced feature. I highlighted the picture to about 16, to make us a little more visible. Obviously there's only so much you can do, but both of us are a little brighter. And for those of you who know me, yes, Dad's hair was black. Couldn't really make that lighter! :-)

Thing 4 Flickr

I've been using Flickr for awhile and think it's kind of fun. I use it for family pictures - haven't taken many lately (lots of the kittens, of course!) but also have some I scanned from a powerpoint show my family did awhile ago. I took a picture of one of our displays and of one of my co-workers. (No, my co-worker is not the penguin.)

I also use the photo utility in Facebook and I do miss the ability in Facebook pictures to tag the elements/people in a picture. There, you can tag each person so that when you hover over someone with the mouse, that person is identified. It doesn't seem that you can do that with Flickr or Picasa.

Libraries have really started using Flickr - posting pictures of programs, winners of contests, their buildings, etc. The library system where I work has been doing that for some time.

So far I've kept my photos public because I tend not to use my entire name. Someone has to know my "alias" or, be able to guess that it's me if they come across it. If they know me well enough to guess from my alias, it's probably fine that they see the pictures. It's possible to set them to private if I wished to. I haven't posted anything that's going to damage my reputation!

I loaded some photos in Picasa to see what's different. So far, not enough to make me prefer one over the other, but that's another post. (The "Challenge" you know!)

Thing 3

This one was easy - I set up a Bloglines account some time ago. I have so many feeds that I may have to invent some way to RSS my RSS. :-) I even use it to keep on on Comic strips that the Strib doesn't run. I set one up for my husband for the comics, too. It's easy to categorize the feeds, and if you open the folders you can read selected feeds within a category. It lets you know which feeds have been updated, so you don't waste time checking those.
It certainly would be handy for a teacher to set up (or have students set up) feeds for sites they want students to monitor. It could even be used instead of reserve reading lists, in some cases.
I just now set up a Google Reader for the heck of it too. My first impression - so far I prefer Bloglines. One big difference, to me, anyway, is the scarcity of blogs that are found on a keyword search in GR. If I do a keyword search on Bloglines - librarian, wine, music; I end up with many, many feeds to check out. I generally will just search for feeds - it's a fast and easy way to find new blogs I may not have seen. Google Reader, on the other hand, brought back a limited number of results when I searched. I find the search a little easier to use on Bloglines, too. I like the dropdown to limit the search to posts, feeds, etc. The search on top of GR seems to be just searching within your sunscriptions, which threw me at first. Reading the posts on each is different - I haven't decided yet if I have a preference.
In GR's favor, though, I did find editing the feeds to be a bit easier. I chose different feeds in GR, so I'll use both of them for the time being. I did notice the option to export feeds to GR from another reader, which could be very handy if someone preferred GR.