New Job

So this past week I started a part time job as a Saturday After School Leader at my neighborhood library branch. It looks like it's going to be a fun job that will keep me busy while I wait for a librarian position to come up, but there are a few draw backs. It means working every Saturday, which kind of kills my weekends. But I can deal with that because it's a short term thing. The other problem is that I find it depressing to work in a library and not be a librarian. I mean it's fun to work with the kids and I appreciate that the librarians at this branch have gone out of their way to help me get a job, but I want to be planning programs and making decisions. I miss that part of my old job. Sadly, with the economy the way it is it may be a while before I get to revisit my former role. I should use this time to catch up on my reading but I haven't even picked up a book in weeks. I think I'm in a funk. I have The Absolutely True Dairy of a Part-Time Indian on hold though so I should have something to read by next week.

It's not that I have a thing against Sex and the City...

Hey, I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode multiple times. But this is just sort of disturbing.

I mean wasn't the fact that these women were no longer in their twenties the drive behind the show? Eh, I guess not?

I'm still planning on renting the movie.

I'm a Sesame Street Dork

Strange Dream

Last night Emerson (who once upon a time was perfectly crate trained) was being a pain and whining about being in his crate. Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I got up and slept on the couch. Apparently this makes for some messed up dreaming because once I fell back asleep things got weird.

I dreamed that I was back in high school and a fascist regime had just taken over and two high ranking officials moved next door. Who were these officials? None other than Sarah Palin and Nate Birkus (a designer who's on the Oprah show a lot). Crazy, right? But then it gets weirder because I go next door to give them a pie (Huh?! I've never brought a neighbor a pie! What is this Desperate Housewives?) and end in a giant yelling match with Sarah and Nate. Then, Nate switches sides and says he doesn't want to work for the fascist regime anymore and then Sarah kicks me out.

I think I woke up for a second here and when I fell back asleep I was pregnant and had to ask Sarah Palin for permission to have an abortion. Thank goodness Josh woke me up then to tell me he was leaving for work.

And Sarah Palin, please get the hell out of my head and stop giving me nightmares!

And then a movie I totally do want to see...

Chuck Palahniuk's book Choke has been made into a movie and it comes out Sep. 26th. I've read all of Palahniuk's books except, oddly enough, for Fight Club (but I did see the movie) and though I like them well enough, I find it easy to tire of the whole transcendence through the grotesque. But Choke is one of my favorites. It has one of the funniest, sickest scenes I've ever read. A scene which I really hope they didn't cut out in the movie, but I'm guessing they probably did.

And now I kinda want to see the movie...

So I am reading the Midnight Sun Commentary over at Occupation Girl (If you don't mind spoilers read it! It's great for inducing fits of "I'm glad I haven't had cofee yet this morning because I'm sure I'd snarf it all over my keyboard" laughter.) and while on her blog I came across this quote from Robert Pattinson about playing Edward Cullen.

"When you read the book," says Pattinson, looking appropriately pallid and interesting even without makeup, "it's like, 'Edward Cullen was so beautiful I creamed myself.' I mean, every line is like that. He's the most ridiculous person who's so amazing at everything. I think a lot of actors tried to play that aspect. I just couldn't do that. And the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that's how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself. Plus, he's a 108-year-old virgin so he's obviously got some issues there."

Where the middle class ends

It's been in the news and the topic of more than one discussion with friends of late: how much do you have to make before you are no longer middle class? Slate author Daniel Gross weighs in here.

Last time I had this discussion I went so far as to say that I thought $100,000 is more than the average middle class salary. What I guess I meant is, while in places like D.C. or New York you might not be able to buy a home and send the kids to private school, in most places you could. Plus, your lifestyle is going to depend, not only on how much money you make, but also how you spend it. Even if you double that amount, you'd still have to make choices about how you spend. But I'm totally in agreement with the Slate article; just because you can't have everything doesn't mean you're not rich!

Back!

Maine was beautiful and relaxing. Good times were had with good friends and Emerson was given way more attention than he ever gets at home. The only mishap was on our last day there when we went out to breakfast and returned to find that Em had escaped the confines of the house. Luckily a neighbor found him dancing with the cars on the street and put him in the back of his truck to keep him safe. As Ginny, Josh and I scoured the neighborhood this guy happened to pass us in his truck. I've never seen Josh so relived. I thought he was going to have a heart attack! As promised, there are pictures up here.

Vacation!

Yay, we leave for Maine on Saturday. Initially, I was worried that Emerson was going to hate traveling but now that he'll be with Michelle for part of the way I know he'll be a happy puppy. How is it my dog loves everyone else more than his owners? We take pretty good care of him. We love him. But somehow his heart belongs to our friends.

I promise pictures when we get back. Wheee!

Spoiling Breaking Dawn

I just finished Breaking Dawn and I couldn't have predicted how much I hated it. I mean, I'm pretty sure that the whole time I was reading part of my mind was just repeating, gross gross gross gross gross....

I've copped to it before: I liked Twilight. I even kind of liked New Moon. Though the characters annoyed me and the writing grated on my nerves, I felt it was no more disturbing than your typical romance novel. And I can see why teenage girls are loving the escapist fantasy of it all. But for me Breaking Dawn took disturbing to a whole new level.

Ok. There's spoilers ahead. Stop reading if you don't want to know.




So the book begins with Bella and Edward's wedding. It's boring and perfect. Oh except for the part where Bella briefly gets manhandled by the two men who are supposedly in love with her. Way to show off your affection guys. Anyway, then they have a boringly perfect honeymoon. Oh except for the crazy Vampire /Human sex that leaves Bella battered. But then she doesn't care. Why should she care that she's being hurt? All that matters is that she's got her man. And so we learn the first lesson of Breaking Dawn, as long as your guy loves you, who cares if he beats the crap out of you! I mean, he didn't mean to and he's really really sorry. He swears it will never happen again.

At this point I had to put the book down for a bit. It was that or hurl it out the window. I should have hurled because it gets so much worse. You see, nobody thought about birth control on this perfect honeymoon and guess what...Bella's knocked up. Yup, Bella's got a blood sucking bun in the oven. If you want to walk away from this review now, do it. I think this was the point where I really should have just stopped reading. Because even though the little hybrid vampire fetus is killing her, Bella loves it and refuses to give it up. Let that be lesson number two, abortion is immoral. The better alternative is to let the fetus kill you. I mean how selfish is it for Edward to want to protect Bella's life over that of an unborn child. Oh but don't worry he comes around once he hears the kid's thoughts. You see people, this fetus has a soul! How could you even think about doing away with her? You are so going to hell!

And it gets so much worse. Bella gives the baby the most hideous name ever. Even the characters in the book refuse to call her by her given name. It's THAT bad. Oh and remember that Werewolves like to in fall in love with babies. So I'd watch the kid around Jacob. And then some political Vampire stuff happens, which is boring. And then they all live happily ever after. Now, I have no problem with happily ever after. I do have a problem with almost everything else in the book though. Wait, to be fair there was some interesting stuff going on with Jacob and his pack. True, Jacob is a whiny baby when it comes to Bella but for the most part the wolves were way more fun to read about. I guess I liked how they, you know, cared about people other than themselves.

I know that there are die hard fan of the series out there and that there are also the flip side of the coin, people who detest the whole series. I considered myself pretty neutral before. Though I guess this puts me firmly in one camp.

Now that I'm unemployed the crafty me emerges...

So I've already refinished a table. Now I need a new project. I've been thinking about getting a sewing machine but I wasn't sure I'd really use it. Then I came across this Eric Carle fabric over at Apartment Therapy and I'm inspired. I am so getting this!

Goodbye DC

We move tomorrow. I have to say I am doing rather well considering that when we came here I cried and wouldn't leave our apartment. And yes it helps that the Stella sprout is in Philly. Still, there's a lot I will miss about D.C. and there's a lot I just never got around to doing. So I'm making a list. My top ten reasons I'm going to miss D.C.

1. Living next to the zoo.
2. Living walking distance from almost all my New College friends.
3. Spending Sunday morning at the farmers market.
4. Friday happy hour with my librarian friends.
5. Free museums. I wish I spent more time in them.
6. Babysitting for Leon, because he's super funny and cute.
7. The story time crew.
8. Cherry trees in the spring.
9. Driving over Memorial Bridge. I do it every day and it's still pretty cool.
10. Rock Creek park.

Goodbye Arlington

We had a staff meeting today and at the end our Friends of the Library representative and his two darling daughters came in with cupcakes for the staff and a vase full of marigolds. The marigolds were the very same little seeds we planted months ago after our gardening story time. Sigh. The oldest daughter is four and my most dedicated story time participant and she is so sweet and sensitive. She's all sad that I'm leaving and I'm sad too! I'll miss her little pixie face peering up at me each week. Aw, I'll miss the whole story time crowd.

Food and Picture Books

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is getting made into a movie, with Andy Samberg. It doesn't sound like it's going to be very faithful to the book but still, pizza and ice cream raining down from the sky is just fun!

The New Yorker does something right

There was a link to this in my ALA newsletter. We like articles about children's librarians. Yay!

American Girl on Slate

Spurred by the new movie that's coming out this summer, there's an interesting discussion of the American Girl franchise over at Slate. I'm glad that they address the "commodity fetishism of it all" as well as the appeal of the dolls. And I thought that it was a rather intelligent conversation until I came across this quote:

I think I'll get my kids the catalogs. I miiiight consider getting them a doll, but I'd definitely pair those plodding books with some better kids' lit.

Wait, isn't that backwards? You will get your kids the catalogs, media that is purely consumerist, you might get the dolls; and but your biggest worry is that the books aren't quality kid lit?! What on earth do you think the catalogs are then? Alice in Wonderland? Treasure Island? People just don't make sense sometimes.

Suicide Weekend

Actually I had a wonderful weekend. Ginny was in town for a conference so there was lots of fun hanging out with New College friends.

But I did manage to read two books in which involved teenage girls committing suicide. The first book, Thirteen Reasons Why, was structurally very interesting because of its use of dual narratives. Hannah, the girl who committed suicide, narrates her story through the tapes she's left for the thirteen people she blames for her suicide. And then there's Clay, a recipient of said tapes. Clay has had a long standing crush on Hannah and was devastated by her suicide. While the book was painful to read at times, Hannah is not at all a sympathetic character. As the story winds down you start to feel more and more fed up with her and and angry. Like I said, it's more of an interesting concept book than a good read.

Then I read Looking for Alaska by John Green. I don't want to give away too much because it was a really good book, but another suicide!

My weekend reading would have me believing that teenage girls are offing themselves left and right. Though in reality, Ginny (who is a psychologist and thus knows these things) says teenage boys are more likely to actually commit suicide than girls are. Hmmm. As I think back at the YA books I've read in the past that deal with suicide, it seems that in fiction it is usually girls who take their own lives. Interesting little contrast there, huh?

I've seen some cute babies before but ...

Good God! I love her!

Breaking Dawn

The grown-up me warns, "You will be disappointed and somewhat offended. Don't get all excited."

The 15 year old in my head responds, "Eeeeeee....why can't I have a gorgeous vampire fall passionately in love with me. "

Needless to say, I'm torn here.

Helloooooo...elloooo...elloo...

I'm sorry. I know it's been a while and I'm wondering if there's anyone who still checks this blog. I'm debating the merits of continuing to blog as we get ready to move and I get more and more occupied with other things. But for now, we'll see how it goes. Speaking of moving, we now have an apartment. Yay! Now all we have to do if figure out how we are getting all our belongings from here to there. Fun times for sure.

Still no job though. I don't know what libraries up there are going through but if this area is a reflection of what's going on on a national scale, I'm worried!

City of Ashes

Yay, Cassandra Clare's second book finally arrived at the library for me. I plowed through it on Friday and was quite happy. I think the writing might have improved, though some of the descriptions of the boys in the book were almost as annoying as Meyer's sparkling vampires. But I liked that we're past the predictable set up part of the first book, and into the action! And man, is there action. No one escapes without injury in this book! I do like Clary as a heroine (though this book seemed to concentrate a bit more on Jace and what was going on with him) and I'm willing to stick with the series till she starts really kicking butt!

My biggest beef with the book was the Jace/Clary/Simon love triangle. As I've already complained in my goodreads review, it seems like every "urban fantasy" book I read has this dynamic going on and it drives me batty. The author makes it very obvious to us readers who the heroine is in love with and then wants us to believe that she's so confused and she can't tell the difference between platonic friendship feelings and and ooooh I wanna jump your bones feelings. Please, urban fantasy writers, stop doing this. It makes your characters seem dumb and flaky. And I don't want to ready about dumb, flaky girls. I want to read about girls who are strong and true to themselves. That's the type of character I want the girls in my middle school book club to look up to, to imagine themselves as. So let's start writing book in that vein, ok?

I don't love moving!

So now that it's official that we are moving to Philadelphia in August, I can start obsessing about my hatred of moving. First off, moving involves change. And me, well, I don't do so well with change. Then there's all the organizing and packing and labeling which would be doable except that this will all have to be done while Josh is studying for the bar! And then there's the having to find a new job a process that I'm finding difficult to navigate due to the very different way that Philadelphia Free Library does their hiring. OY!

But at least Philly has Stella, my favorite child in the whole world. (Sorry to my darling story-time kids!) So there's the silver lining in this whole moving mess.

Passover Update

I cooked almost all the food for the family seder on Saturday (except for the turkey and dessert) so here's the final score for each item on a scale of 1 to 10:

Mocked Liver:
Made from mushrooms, onions, and walnuts this spread was huge success! Very yummy on top of matzah.
Score: 9

Charoset:
Traditonally a mixture of apples, walnuts, and wine, this spread is supposed to symbolize the mortar used by the Jewish slaves in Egypt. I made this two ways. The traditional mixture came out ok. I also made "tropical" charoset made from bananas, pears, apples, dates, almonds, and sweetened with fruit juice. This was, as my mom and I both agreed upon tasting, "damn good!"
Score: 5 for the traditional charoset, 10 for the tropical version.

Matzah ball soup (vegetarian version):
I made the veggie broth from scratch and it came out well. The matzah balls were pretty good but not my best. The first batch was just a tiny bit dense. The second batch came out nearly perfect. I didn't do anything differently so I'm not sure why. Everyone liked them and several guest took them home so they couldn't have been that bad anyway.
Score: 8

Beet salad:
I usually roast beets when I make them but this dish called for slicing them and baking them in lemon juice and butter. The end result was okay. My mom, who claims to have hated beets before, ate them and seemed to like them but if I made them again I would go back to cutting them up in chunks and roasting them.
Score: 5

Sweet potato kugle:
Made with sweet potato, apples, rasins, and matzah meal. In making this I realized that I much prefer savory kugel over sweet. Also, this low-fat recipe cut out all the eggs and butter - all the good stuff really. Edible but unless you really want a low-fat option, I'd say go with a recipe that's not quite so good for you!
Score: 4

Desserts:
I didn't make these but my friend Ginny brought a flourless chocolate cake and my sister made macaroons. Both were awesome.
Score:10

Thank you Apartment Therapy

for another awesome bookshelf. I want it! How awesome would that be in the middle of the children's section at the library?

Can I have a Wild Thing?

A great article about the genius that is Maurice Sendak from the Gaurdian.

What I'm looking forward to reading....

A review of City of Ashes: The Mortal Instruments, (sequel to City of Bones) by Cassandra Clare is up at Bookshelves of Doom. Yay! It looks pretty entertaining and I'll admit, I have no problem overlooking flaws if the book is good fun. Especially when I am feeling stressed out and just want a good escape.

I'm still waiting for The Luxe (I'm still way down at the bottom of the hold list) despite the iffy reviews I've read. What can I say I'm a sucker for pretty covers.

Overheard at work

A patron goes up to the circulation desk to ask if we can extend her time on the computer. It's late afternoon, our busiest computer time so the person at the desk tells her no, she'll have to wait and sign up again. The patron complains about how sad this makes her. Then she unsuccessfully tries to bribe not one, but TWO different library employees to extend her time. The offer: 5 bucks.

Um, here's the problem with that. For one, library employees are generally honest folks. We were the good kids in school. We are probably the least likely county employees to take a bribe. And second, people are watching us! The staff room is pretty open to the desk so it's not like everyone else can't see what's going on at the desk. So you better be offering more than 5 bucks if you want anyone to risk getting into major trouble! And, oh yeah, if you have the five bucks to throw around, why not try paying for as much time as you need at an internet cafe? The reason we have time restrictions on our computers is because it's free. We don't want your money!

You feel differently when...

I gotta complain about something here. I am getting rather peeved about being told that I'll feel differently about things when I'm a parent. A few well-meaning older women have said this to me the recently and it always leaves me grinding my teeth and grumbling. Now I understand that having a child changes your life and that there's no way to predict what the experience is like. But it seems to me that the people who are saying this are not talking about my feeling in regards to children or even certain life choices but rather in regards to my beliefs and ideals. And even if it's true. Even if it does all change when you have kids, it's just plain rude to say that to someone. You are basically saying nothing you think or feel now is valid because you are not a mother. Even if the person saying it is well meaning, it's still a power play. With that small phrase they have just told me that they know better than I do and I can't argue with anything they are saying.

Everyone has experiences that shape the way they think. But you can't go around telling people that their experience isn't valid because it's not the same as yours. I still don't know how to respond the next time someone says this to me though, other than ranting on my blog after the fact!

A belated poetry friday for Stella...

and her parents. I found this poem today and thought of you and your new family.

And so you arrive,
ancient-faced houseguest,
like some relative out of a sepia-toned photograph,
surrounded by a thousand pounds
of duffel bags and steamer trunks,
the contents spilling loose down our front steps.

Read the entire poem by David Harris Ebenbach here.

Wobbly Walkers

My first program for the under two set was a success. The parents were all really great and despite my nervousness about singing everything went well. The only song I absolutely cannot sing is You Are My Sunshine. I had to sort of whisper along to it and let the parents do that one because I just can't hit the notes at all. I mean I butcher it to the point where it is not ever recognizable. If I ever have children that is one song I will not be singing to them!

If my camera were charged...

I'd post a picture of the hamentashen I made this weekend. But since the camera is out of commission you will just have to take my word for it that they were not only yummy but also pretty nice looking. I made half of them with poppy seed filling and half with nutella. Poppyseed being traditional and nutella being a delicious variation I picked up from the children's librarian at my old job. Poor Emerson sat by the oven wagging his tail the whole time they were baking and looked very dejected when he realized he wasn't going to get any yummy people food from me. Sorry Em, but they are mine...all mine!

Guess what, I'm real!

So yesterday I'm cleaning up the children's section right before closing when one of my darling story-time kids comes up to me.

Girl: Are going home now?
Me: Yep, the library is closing and I'm going home.
Girl: You're going home just like a real person. Wow.

So is it spring now?

When I left for Florida last week for Erin's wedding it was cold and then we came back to DC on Monday to flowers and sunshine. Is that here to stay? I'm sick of winter. Maybe that's because it was bright and sunny and like 90 degrees in Miami. I loved it. It's funny, every time we visit Miami Josh hates the heat and humidity and I relish it. Though it does make my hair a lot more frizzy!

Oh and the wedding was lovely. Everyone was walking around saying "oh this is so Erin" about the colors and the flowers. The bride looked beautiful. Just beautiful. And the music rocked! Now its back to the real world of planning story times and running around to meetings and filing taxes. I start an under 2 program next week that I feel totally unprepared for. Ugh, I hate the idea of just singing to parents while the babies crawl around. But oh well, the demand is there. My program is already full.

It's hard to cuddle up with a computer screen but...

I'm kind of facinated by digital libraries so this looks really cool to me.

What I'm reading this week....

Why is it that authors feel the need to state that their characters don't like the site of blood. As in "She couldn't stand the sight of blood, especially her own." Um, shouldn't that go without saying? Now if she loved the sight of blood, that would be something to write about maybe. That might be unusual. But not caring so much for the site of your own blood outside of your veins...not a shocker!

Ok, that said, I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and I want someone else to read it now so we can discuss. I've been reading some mixed reviews, with some valid points, but overall I liked this one. Clary Fray is living an ordinary existance when she witnesses three teenagers killing a demon and is drawn into the supernatural world of the Shadowhunters, rune tattooed warriors who hunt down demons . Soon it's clear that Clary is not so ordinary after all. Imagine Harry Potter and Star Wars all mashed up together in a good way and you have City of Bones. There is the dreaded mention of disliking the sight of blood which made me afraid Clary would end up being Bella-ish. Then there was the begining of a Jacob/Edward feud and I'm thinking uh oh, this is going to be Twilight all over again. But the book redeemed itself by the end. This is only book one, so we'll see, but so far Clary seems rather smart. (Well, she should have figured out who her father is MUCH sooner, but I'll let that slide.) In fact I found most of the characters really appealing which is why I didn't mind that the plot seemed to borrow heavily from other stories. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Passover Menu

I'm home sick today and to pass the time I'm trying to come up with a menu for Passover. My mom's letting me cook and I'm excited. So far I think I want to make this cake for dessert. I wanted make a tofurkey but that's not kosher for passover so I will have to think of something else vegetarian. Other menu items I'm considering at the moment: baked stuffed zucchini and mock chopped "liver." If anyone has any other vegetarian ideas let me know.

Oy!

44 kids at this afternoon's story time. Our biggest group yet. Yay! Now I am going to go collapse.

Various things on my mind...

1. Pics of the cast from the Twilight movie are up on Stephanie Meyer's website. I'm sorry but looking at those pictures made me giggle. For some reason, reading about a family of sparkling vampires is much less silly than looking at pictures of them.

2. Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom I have found my dream house. Check out the staircase/bookcase. Yum.

3. In local news the penguins are starting trouble again. But at least they have people standing up for them though. School Board Vice Chairman John Stevens said in a written statement “Parents determine what is appropriate for their own children and how to guide their children as they learn and grow,” and that “The schools should not be an instrument of censorship."

Ah. So there are some sane people on school boards!

4. I just finished reading Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin and Extras by Scott Westerfeld. Loved Memoirs. Didn't care for Extras. Zevin writes teenagers really well and Memoirs reminded a lot of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCaffrey. Extras was a whole lot of superficial characters riding around on hover boards. It was like one very long Quiddich match. I know some kids like that sort of thing but I was never that kind of reader.

Women and Fear

I have been thinking about fear lately. I just finished reading The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi and then there was an article in BUST by Michelle Dobrovolny about women, fear, and solo travel. So it’s been on my mind a lot. Then, as I was leaving the library last night a youngish guy stops me and asks me why I’m leaving so early. I’m confused but not really wary because I figured that he was just wondering if the library was closing soon. But no, it was my schedule he wanted to know about. He said he thought I always closed on Mondays. That’s when I started feeling a bit sketched out. But I thought about the Bust article and how I didn’t want to be fearful when there really wasn’t any danger so I just made a joke about not being willing to work 16 hour days and headed out to my car. Well, this dude followed me asking me where I lived. I said DC. At this point I was at my car in the parking lot and I was getting a bit nervous. The dude asked what I was up to after work. I said I was off to the gym, wished him a goodnight and hopped in my car. No harm done. But could there have been? As I sat in my car I realized that I had no idea if my fear was warranted in that situation or not. Obviously, the dude wasn’t planning on attacking me or he would have done so in the parking lot. Was it fair of me to assume he was an aggressor when he was just being friendly? Was it right for me to be afraid or was I falling prey to a big myth?

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Fourteen year old Sym is obsessed with the Antarctic and Capatin Oates of the failed Scott expedition to the South Pole. She has even created an imaginary friend of sorts out of Oates and confides her feeling to him. When Sym's equally obsessed Uncle (really a kind family friend) takes her on a trip to the Antartic or "The Ice" as they like to call it, it seems like a dream come true. But quickly it turns into a nightmare as Sym realizes her Uncle's intentions are not so kindly after all.

I can say this: the writing is very very good. But, vivid descriptions of the deadly cold, horrific pain, and frostbitten skin did not appeal to me. Ad it's a pretty long book so there was a lot of frostbitten skin! Nor did I like the main charater, Sym. I kept waiting for her to do something heroic, or at least a bit smart. But no, she just seems to bumble her way through survival relying on the paternalistic voice of a dead exploer that only she can hear. I didn't want this old dead guy to be saving Sym, I wanted Sym to do something to save herself. A review on goodreads compared her to Bella from Twilight and she is. But I don't much care for Bella either! Anyway, it's the 2008 Printz winner. So I guess I'm in the minority here, but I was disappointed.

The fact that it won the Printz made me wonder if there's any requiremet of "teen appeal" for the award. I know that's not actually a factor in the Caldecott and Newbery but I thought the Printz was different. So I looked it up and sure enough the website says:

"We hope the award will have a wide AUDIENCE among readers from 12 to 18 but POPULARITY is not the criterion for this award. "

Which is fine. These are literary awards after all. But I do wonder how many parents and educators realize that. Just because a book wins the Newbery or the Printz, that doesn't mean kids will be racing to read it like a new installation of Harry Potter!

Another long Saturday spent working...

and I'm bored and trolling craigslist, looking at houses I'll never be able to afford. And anyway, who knows where we will have to live once Josh gets a job. But oh, this one is just so cute. Not quite as 'pony and tea party" evoking as the last one, but still I would live there. Sigh.

Why we need commas...

Found in our library's catalog (I added the red circle).

Poetry Friday: Eating the Bones

My grandfather passed away a few months back, and unfortunetly I haven't been able to get to Miami to see my grandmother since then. But this poem reminds me so much of her. Before I went veggie, I shared this habit of eating bones with my grandmother. My dad does it too. It totally grosses my mom out. You can read the poem Eating the Bones by Ellen Bass here.

So Excited!

Starting on January 13, PBS's Masterpiece Theatre will broadcast all six of Jane Austen novels, including four new adaptations and a biopic!

I'm a bit facinated by the way Jane Austen flares in popularity every few years, usually because of some new movie based on her work. Back in the highschool days, I remember being inspired to to read Emma after watching Clueless.

In the new year...

Things have been pretty slow since the holidays. At the library I have some new programs in the works. I am getting geared up for a gaming party for the teens in March and maybe coercing some kids into doing some podcasting. But mostly I have been relaxing and enjoying my two-week break from story times.

The story time break has also left me with way too much time to search the internet for houses I will never be able to afford. Currently I'm obsessed with this one on craigslist. I want to live there and have a pony in the yard and invite my friends over for tea parties.

Coraline Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek Here.

Not sure what I think of this yet. I have read Coraline so many times that I have a clear picture in my head of what the story should look like and I know I should probably stay away from the movie. BUT... I know I won't be able to stay away. I hope that at the very least I feel the way I felt about The Golden Compass movie, which was that it was a fun movie to watch.

Speaking of movies, I saw Sweeny Todd yesterday as part of our "Jewish Christmas" which also included latkas for breakfast and chinese food for dinner. It was great gorey fun and now I've been singing about the worst pies in london all day!

Gonna Bake a Pie...

After watching Waitress the other day I got it into my head that I wanted to bake a pie. So I made a cherry pie last night and I have to say, it turned out very pretty. I'm so proud I thought I'd post a picture.

Mock Caldecott Award

Since the library is doing a mock Caldecott program in the elementary schools, the youth services team decided to have our own election. The winner was:

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, illustrations by Kadir Nelson

and Honors going to:

At Night by Jonathan Bean

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington, illustrations by Shelley Jackson

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

My own first place vote was for Bean's At Night, which is my favorite picture books of the year. And if it were solely my decision I would have also given honors to Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett and Scribble by Deborah Freedman.

Crappy Reading Choices part 2

There's been some great discussion over on the child_lit about the anti-feminist tones in Stephanie Meyer's Vampire series which has gotten me thinking more about the influence books have on teen readers. I read Meyer's first book, Twilight, one day at work and I have to admit, I enjoyed the the story, angst, drama, and all. The later books in the series started to irritate me though. The main character, Bella, becomes the constant the damsel in distress and Edward is too perfect. I mean, he's too content to make an interesting vampire. And yes, he's creepily controlling. And yes. she too submissive. So is this going to corrupt the throngs of teen girls reading the series? It is okay to say, well at least they are reading, or is that akin to giving kids free run to eat as much candy as they like.

My opinion comes out of my own teen reading experience. As I've already admitted, I read all sorts of trash. V.C. Andrews, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine... but I also read the good stuff too. And by time I was a "teen" I could tell the difference. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the junk food. I think we need to give teens credit. I'm sure they are capable of reading critically, when they want to. But sometimes it's pleasurable to get swept up in a melodramatic story without the critic in your head chiming in to spoil all the fun!

A defense of crappy reading choices

I kinda really liked this article in Slate this week on preteens reading the ever so trashy Flowers in the Attic series. I have to fess up to reading the entire series at the age of 12. Then I moved on to the other V.C. Andrews series. And guess what? No harm done. Now what really had me disturbed was my first viewing of Hamlet. But that's another story!

The article starts off with the author talking about not encouraging her kid to read The Golden Compass. I thought that was an odd jumping off point for talking about the allure of dreck. But I do like her points about allowing kids to read what they want to read.

Viewing The Golden Compass

I saw the movie of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass last night. It's been getting some pretty terrible reviews with most critics complaining that it waters down the complexity of Pullman's books. And yes, the movie falls short of the brilliance of the book but that is almost always the case. Which is why I feel the need to speak up in this movie's defense.

I remember reading the His Dark Materials trilogy, of which The Golden Compass is the first book, in college and marveling at how complicated the plot was. So, when I heard that they were making the Golden Compass into a movie I didn't really expect that they would be able to pack in everything from the book. Even ending the film about three chapters early (which was annoying to me as a reader but understandable as a movie viewer), there's just too much.

But really what I'm getting at is that if I wanted to have the perfect experience of The Golden Compass I would read the book again. Nothing is going to match that. But I think that the filmmakers tried hard to stay faithful to the story. And though it wasn't perfection, I enjoyed sitting through their effort.

Poetry Friday

Oh! An Alice poem! It makes me think of my last year at New College, writing my thesis chapter on Alice in Wonderland and wondering if I was ruining it for myself forever.

And as in Alice
by Mary Jo Bang

Alice cannot be in the poem, she says, because
She's only a metaphor for childhood
And a poem is a metaphor already
So we'd only have a metaphor

Read the rest here.

I think I had too much stuffing...

Well our Thanksgiving holiday got off to a rocky start. We left for Philly Tuesday night so that we could spend Thanksgiving with Jason and Valeska. About halfway there the car started over heating and we had to turn around praising and coaxing my little Toyota all the way back to DC. But we prevailed in the end! We ended up renting a car and getting to Philly Wednesday afternoon. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving complete with stuffing, pumpkin pie cheesecake, and the best twice baked sweet potatoes ever. Josh played lots of video games and I was seduced by HGTV's House Hunters. Sadly, we had to leave too soon since I had to work on Saturday.

My car is fixed now. (After several hundred dollars and no clear diagnosis!) But I think those Thanksgiving pounds are still with me. Today at story-time a nanny asked me if I was pregnant! This is like the third time this has happened to me! People, it's rude to ask a woman that question unless you are totally sure that she really is pregnant! Who does that? UGH.

I'm off to nures my shattered ego now...um...I mean prepare for the next story-time of the day.

Picture Book(s) of the Week

I have three for this week. First one is Ginger Bear by Mini Grey. It's a book about a cookie, how could I not love it? I mean I've never met a cookie I didn't like. And this cookie literally makes new friends, then joins a cookie circus, before finally finding out that "the life of a cookie is usually short and sweet." But not to worry Ginger Bear finds out that even for a sweet little cookie there is a safe haven!

Next there's Taking a Bath with the Dog and Other Things that Make Me Happy by Scott Menchin. This is really a simple book that takes on the big issue of happiness. Little Sweet Pea surveys her community as to what makes them happy and then comes up with a list of her own. I think what made me like the book so much is how well the illustration seemed to match the simplicity of the text. Plus, it's a good way to get kids (and grown-ups too) to think about own lists.

Finally there's Behind the Museum Door, a collection of poetry celebrating museums. I normally wouldn't have spent that much time looking at this book but I have a friend in museum education and the book made me think of her. So I picked it up and I'm glad I did. Each poem in the collection is accompanied by a bright, kinetic, exhibit illustration. Its a great book to share with a child before (or after) a museum trip.

My favorite poem in the series is Museum Farewell by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. It reminds me of a Girl Scout camp-out we had where we got to spend the night in a museum. It starts...

Lights out.

Doors close

on the cool quiet

of museum spaces;

echoing hallways,

locked cases--

New Favorite Quote

From Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf

"Children who never have a story read to them, who never hear words that rhyme, who never imagine fighting with dragons or marrying a prince, have the odds overwhelmingly against them."

Why didn't I know about this?

Where the Wild Things Are as a ballet! I would totally have gone. Sigh.

Poetry Friday

Yesterday I was explaining to someone at work why I love the 3-5 year old so much. The infants are cute and cuddly sure but I have the most fun with the kids who have a little sadistic streak in them. Okay, maybe sadistic is too strong, is impish better?

Anyway, Hansel and Gretel Duet by Nan Fry is a delicious spin on the tale, with a twist perfect for Halloween. And I think some of impish little story-time kids would like this ending better!

Read the poem HERE.

Books for the Beast

Yesterday I attended Books for the Beast in Baltimore with the Youth Services team. The first speaker was author Gail Giles who gave a fabulous talk. Knowing that she would be there, I read What happened to Cass McBride? last week. I haven't read that sort of suspense/horror in a while (though once upon a time I was a devout follower of Christopher Pike) but I actually really liked it. I liked that the ending was realistic, that there were psychological consequences for both the victim and the bad guy. So I was happy when Gail talked about the open endedness of her books. She compared an open ending to an untied shoe; it's going to bother you all day and change your behavior. A tied shoe, however, doesn't get a second thought. I thought it was a good analogy, one that both the adults and the teens in the audience could understand.

After the first speaker we had breakout groups to discuss the books we read with the teens. My first group was Fantasy/Science Fiction. It was a pretty good discussion but there weren't any actual teens in the group. In my afternoon group we discussed "Real Life" fiction and there was only one teen in that group. I wish there had been more kids so that the conversation wasn't so dominated by adult opinion. I'm pretty sure I came off as the class curmudgeon in both of my groups since I was the only one who seemed to strongly dislike some of the selections. Most people seemed enamoured with the writing in Black Juice by Margo Lanagan. While there I am going grumble grumble grumble. Then everyone is nodding along about liking Jason & Kyra and I am the obnoxious kid in the back going "If one of those characters called something 'tight' one more time I was going to scream."

After the groups we had Mark Siegel, the Editorial Director of Roaring Brook Press’s graphic novel imprint, First Second. He came off as incredibly intelligent, the kind of person you'd love to have a one on one conversation with. But his speech was rather dry for a crowd that had already been sitting around all day. After that it was time to grab dessert and head back to Arlington.

Did I mention I had to get up at 6 in the morning and slog through the pouring rain to my car so I could be at Central by 7:30. And that my socks were wet all day! I had a great time but, oh man, was I exhausted!

Picture Book of the Week

If Harold and the Purple Crayon and David Weisner's The Three Pigs had a baby the product would be Scribble by Deborah Freedman. The book begins with two sisters getting into a tiff over their drawings. But the drawings quickly take on a life of their own. It's a fun story with wonderful illustrations. Plus, there's a great bit about how kitties can't marry princesses (but they do anyway). So there! Hehe.

Once again, others say it better than me...

Salon's Rebecca Traister on Rowling's big revelation.

Outing Dumbledore

So apparently Rowling told an a group of fans at Carnegie Hall that Dumbledore is gay. First I thought, cool. Then I wondered, is it a cop out that Dumbledore is not out in the books, that only now after making her millions is Rowling saying Dumbledore is gay? Finally I decided the whole thing annoys me. I know there's tons of kids out there with all these questions about the tiniest details of the wizarding world, but I kind of hate hearing about what Harry's doing twenty years later and such. I'm the type of reader who likes to draw connections on my own. (I always did love English class a bit too much.) I want to be able to figure things out from my own reading. But I realize that the completeness of the world Rowling has created is part of the appeal of Harry Potter. So maybe I have no right to be annoyed.

Oooohhh!

After all the bad movie versions of children's books this gives me hope. I cannot wait!

What I'm reading now

I just finished reading Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier. It's the last book in her Magic or Madness trilogy. In the first book 15 year old Reason is sent to live with the Grandmother she has been taught all her life to detests after her mother goes insane and attempts suicide. Once at her ancestral home Reason learns that she posses a magic that is real and powerful. So powerful, that to refuse to use it drives a magical person insane. In this last book Reason finds herself pregnant and irreversibly altered by the magic of a powerful ancestor. Larbalestier tries to explain magic in a way that makes it plausible. It's an interesting concept, one that has kept me reading the trilogy (well, that plus the adorable Aussie speak). However, I think my problem with the series is that so much writing is spend rooting magic in the real world and too little is spent on developing the plot. By this last book the plot felt remarkably thin. I would have to say the series gets a solid three stars from me. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.

Next up I'm trying to finish Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson. I'm having trouble getting into it but that may just be the changing gears between fantasy and high school drama.

Poetry Friday: Morning Song

It seems all of a sudden I know a bunch of people who are having babies. I admit that every once in while I think, oh a baby, I want one. And then I remember that that's the same kind of thoughts I had about Emerson and then we adopted him and now I'm stuck with a needy dog that sheds everywhere. Plus, all I need is a particularly crazy story-time with a bunch of cranky two year olds to remind me that I'd rather wait a bit for kids. So, this Poetry Friday I want to dedicate Sylvia Plath's Morning Song to the new mommies and new mommies-to-be I know.

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.

The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry

Took its place among the elements.

For the rest go here.

Picture Book of the Week: Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle by Pija Lindenbaum

Mini Mia (So called because of her love of soccer. Her real name is Ella) loves hanging out with her darling uncle Tommy. But when her uncle's new friend Fergus shows up Mia is not happy. Not wanting to share her uncle, Mia does her best to send Fergus packing back to Scotland. Without teaching a "very important lesson" the book explores Mia's feelings of anger and jealousy. I loved that Mini Mia's emotions rather than Tommy and Fergus' relationship is point of the story. This one is by far my favorite picture book of the week!

I'm almost glad they won't share the same title!

Interesting interview with Susan Cooper on NPR. I am pretty sure that I am not going to see The Seeker (the new title of The Dark is Rising movie). When I saw the movie commercial I didn't even recognize it as The Dark is Rising. I understand movies and books are two different mediums and things that work in books might not work on film. But still, sometimes I think movie studios set out to destroy beloved books!

He's such a rockstar...

Neil Gaiman has an interview in the Guardian. Check it out.

I guess this is my welcome to children's librarianship

So a woman comes in today insisting that she be allowed to sign her 14 month old up for my storytime for two year olds. She kept telling me it wasn't fair to restrict ages when it was a public library. That's what she said over and over, "but this is a public library." So apparently public means that everyone can do whatever they want. Ugh. I tried explaining to this woman, I really did. I explained the program wasn't developmentally appropriate. I explained that I was waiting for more two's to sign-up. Then I did something I probally shouldn't have done and said we could see how sign-up went and re-visit the issue in a few weeks. Very bad, I know but I don't want the moms hating me already!

Oh then I saw this mom back in the children's section of the library a few hours later. You have a baby, Lady. He can't read! Take him outside. He does not need to spend that much time in the freaking library.

Kid Lit in the News

There's a great article on the pleasures of Madeline L'Engle's books on Slate today. Read it here.

They sure are making it easy!

If people keep checking books out and then refusing to return them (aka: stealing them) at this rate, I'll have a really great display for banned book week all set up for me. The latest it this girl in Alabama refusing to return Ellen Wittinger’s Sandpiper to her school library.

Sigh

Just in time for Banned Book week there's this.

What's wrong with people? A woman in Miami tried the same stunt with Vamos a Cuba. So I guess the lesson they want to send to those kids they are trying so desperately to protect is: stealing is okay, in fact, it's a good thing and if you have a problem solve it by breaking the law rather than trying to go about making changes in a legal manner.

I don't like change!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Here's whats new:

I went to Miami last week. I visited friends and family, went to Rosh Hashanah services, made two Rosh Hashanah dinners, shopped with Mom, biked with Dad, and swam in the pool. It was lovely.

Then, I started my new job as a youth services librarian. Today was only day two but its pretty good so far. Arlington does thing differently from Alexandria so there's a lot to get used to. I miss my friends at my old job and I think I might be a bit more lonely here. But loneliness might be good. I'll get more work done for sure.

Whew! I guess it's not really that much, but boy have I been stressed. I think it's good to write it down because then I can see how good I actually have it. Hopefully I'll get into the swing of things in the next week or so.

Poetry Friday: Nelson, My Dog

Gary Soto's poems about his dog almost made me want to go home and play with Emerson. Almost.

Like the cat he scratches the flea camping in fur.
Unlike the cat he delights in water up to his ears.
He frolics. He catches a crooked stick –
On his back he naps with legs straight up in the air.
Nelson shudders awake. He responds to love
From head to tail...

Read the poem here.

Sad News

Author Madeline L'Engle died at 88 on Thurday. In honor of her, and my grandfather who passed away earlier this week, is this quote from The Small Rain:

"But there is something about Time. The sun rises and sets. The stars swing slowly across the sky and fade. Clouds fill with rain and snow, empty themselves, and fill again. The moon is born, and dies, and is reborn. Around millions of clocks swing hour hands, and minute hands, and second hands. Around goes the continual circle of the notes of the scale. Around goes the circle of night and day, the circle of weeks forever revolving, and of months, and of years."

Poetry Friday: Naming the Stars

Read this week's poems here.

It's rather interesting to think about the way we commemorate tragedies in our news driven society. And since we just passed the anniversary of Katrina, this poem made me pause.

On the subject of Tango...

It tops the list.

From Harriet to Tango

I just re-read this article from the Horn Book's K. T. Horning about the gay subtext of Harriet the Spy. I'd read it a while ago but this time it got me thinking about other books, particularly And Tango Makes Three. I am so glad that books like Tango exist today. I think that it's important to have both types of books, those that like Harriet have a gay subtext and those like Tango, where gay characters are simply part of the text. But the one thing I am reminded of, after reading Horning's article, is how life changing it can be for children to see themselves in a book.

Montreal Pics

My favorite is Jason and Josh "falling" off the mountain. And that fish. Who knew fish were so hard to photograph?

Montréal était très amusement

Back from Montreal. Aside from the hellish 12 hours it took for us to get back to Philly, plus the two it took us to get home the next morning, the trip was much fun. The hotel was very nice and in a great location. And true to my word, I did my best to eat my way through the city. We had pho and bagels and poutine (fries smothered in gravy and cheese) and croissants galore. And of course, getting to hang out with our dear friends was the best part. However, if you are ever going to Montreal I recommend the botanical gardens. They were beautiful. Pictures to follow, I promise. I just have to get them uploaded.

In other news, I have accepted a new job as a children's librarian at a new library. I am both terribly stressed out and excited by this turn of events. I'm sad because I will miss my co-workers but this is what I've been working towards. If only I didn't work with such a fun group!

Oh Canada!

We head off to Montreal tonight. Yay for all the yummy food I can't wait to eat. Yay for no work for five whole days. Yay for vacations!

YA Book Recommendation of the Moment

I just finished Un Lun Dun by China Mieville and since I've had a few people ask me for book recommendations recently, I thought I'd put this one out there. It's a pretty familiar plot; young girl finds herself in a fantastic "other world" and must rely on wits and friends to save the day. But the book has a cleverness that is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth and a heroine that's a sort of cross between Lyra from the Golden Compass and Harry Potter's Hermione Granger. It's really a creative, fun fantasy.

Next book on my list is Eclipse, the next of Stephanie Meyer's vampire series. I know, I know, a vampire series. Maybe it's a hold over from my Christopher Pike reading middle school days but I am really into her books and they really are incredibly well written. I'm first on the hold list for this new one.

Poetry Friday: The Poets' Grimm

This week's poem is from an anthology called The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from the Grimm Fairy Tales. Looks like a good read for anyone who's into fractured fairy tales. It almost makes me want to be a teacher again so I could use it in the classroom. Almost.

Snow White Turns 39 by Anne Sheldon

I'm planning how to break a talking mirror:

hammer and earplugs. Seven years of bad luck?

Better than that Bette Davis cackle

every morning when I hit the sink

Read the whole poem here.

"The Compound"

So, I'm home now and I survived Josh's family reunion. I think that I'm okay up there as long as we make a whole lot of side trips and I don't have to spend a significant amount of time with crazy relatives. We took a trip to Woodstock, which is very cute and full of leftover hippies and we hiked around a bit. Unfortunately, the crazy relative part was hard to avoid this time as it was a family reunion. But I got to hang out with my awesome niece and paint pictures and avoid the crazies, so that helped.

Poetry Friday

Since I'm on a kick with poems I loved in highschool, this Friday's poem is Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell. All the angst in the world seemed to be summed up in those two lines:

I myself am hell,

nobody's here--

Read the whole poem here.

Spoiling Harry Potter and beyond

There's been some interesting discussion over at the Horn book blog about the uproar over the NY Times reviewing Harry Potter before its release. I kind of love that Roger Sutton warned against creating "a willfully infantilized culture of suspense junkies." Now I am a HP fan. I have been since I read the first three books in college. But I think if people are honest they'd agree that they are the type of reading that does not require deep analysis. Rowling likes to fully explain everything, repeatedly. I still like the books, but I can admit that's the type of reading they are.

This article, however, put me over the edge. Don't click on it if you don't want to read spoilers. And while you're at it. Stop reading here.

Now, are we really so unimaginative, so incapable of creative thought, that we need an encyclopedia to tell us every little detail that Rowling couldn't fit into the epilogue! I think this exactly the "willfully infantilized culture of suspense junkies" Roger was talking about. Can nothing be left up to the reader. Are we really such babies that we can't be trusted to imagine what the world of HP might be like 19 years after the book! I mean it's not as if Rowling needs more money. No, this takes not trusting the intelligence of the reader to a whole new level. And somehow, this links to my mind to the standardized testing in our schools. It's the same sort of killing of creativity. The same idea that there can only be one right answer, one way of interpreting things, and anything else is wrong.

Poetry Friday

This weeks poem is by Sharon Olds, because I love her.

Rite of Passage
by Sharon Olds

As the guests arrive at our son’s party
they gather in the living room—
short men, men in first grade
with smooth jaws and chins.
Hands in pockets, they stand around
jostling, jockeying for place, small fights
breaking out and calming. One says to another
How old are you? —Six. —I’m seven. —So?
They eye each other, seeing themselves
tiny in the other’s pupils. They clear their
throats a lot, a room of small bankers,
they fold their arms and frown. I could beat you
up, a seven says to a six,

Link to the whole poem here.

Teenage Sex Could Kill You!

A while back I posted a rant about the portrayal of sex in YA books. I was annoyed because the book I was reading at the time pulled the whole 'fade to black' thing where just when things heat up the girl becomes so overwhelmed everything gets blurry and...fade to black. Oh right, I forgot girls aren't supposed to ever express sexual desire. My bad. Well, I bring it up again because I just read this great article: Let's (Not) Get It On by Amanda MacGregor. MacGragor says everything I wanted to but it's all much better researched and written. I warn, it is a PDF file but it's worth the annoyance. Really anyone interested in feminism, should read it.

My Daemon

Poetry Friday

I saw the new Harry Potter movie last night. I am so impressed with how the movies have really created this universe. Oh and Snape! I have such a literary crush on Snape. Mr. Darcy, Mr. Rochester, and Snape...I love those brooding, slightly mean characters. My new Harry Potter theory is that Snape is Harry's real father. Before anyone gets up in arms, I KNOW it's not true, but wouldn't it make the story a bit more interesting?

As for poetry this Friday, I am posting a poem by another children's fantasy writer. I love the last two lines in this poem. Not as much as I love Snape...but almost.

Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

Read the rest of the poem here.

A bit late for Poetry Friday but let's give it a go

This weeks poem is Travel Advisory by Michael Dumanis. You can read the poem here. No particular reason for picking it other than the fact that I like poems that boss me around. Seriously. Ever since my high school English teacher Mr. Haness had us read David Wagoner's Staying Alive, I've had an affinity for bossy poems.

Anyway, in other news, I went with Josh and his buddies to see the new Transformers movie. Now, as low as my expectations were, and let me assure you they were pretty low, that movie was disappointing. It wasn't funny enough to laugh at, there wasn't enough action to keep my mind sufficiently numbed, and it was full of offensive stereotypes. I should have known better when the 18 year old page at the library warned me it was bad. I mean, if a teenage boy hated the movie then really there's not much hope. I thought I had nothing better to do but really ANYTHING would have been better.

Poetry Friday

I like this poem because it reminds me of my days in the classroom. Ah, those mornings when you are still groggy and the caffine is just kicking in and the kids start to trickle in the door and there's always the one who asks...

Did I Miss Anything?
Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

Everything. I gave an exam worth
40 percent of the grade for this term
and assigned some reading due today
on which I’m about to hand out a quiz
worth 50 percent

Finish reading the poem here.

What my Blog is Rated

Alternatively, this post could have been called "you're not nearly as hard core as you think you are"

Poetry Friday (a bit early)

I'm posting on Thursday afternoon because I know that with everyone coming in tomorrow I'll forget to post. Anyway, I've been reading Derrick Jensen this week and feeling pretty rotten about civilization. So instead of blowing up dams and freeing the salmon, I give you a Robert Frost poem. I am pretty sure that Frost and Jensen are kindred spirits here...

The Times Table

More than halfway up the pass
Was a spring with a broken drinking glass,
And whether the farmer drank or not
His mare was sure to observe the spot

Read the whole poem here.

Hello Dolly!

There's an interesting discussion of the American Girl dolls over at Read Roger. I remember coveting an American Girl doll after we visited a cousin that had one. I wanted the pretty Victorian one. My parents had a good laugh at the price tag and I soon moved on to wanting some other overpriced, slickly marketed toy. The thing that drives me really crazy about these dolls are the parents who shell out the money for them and then appease their conscience by saying that they are educational. If you are that concerned with education, do some freaking research and find something better and historically accurate. Now, I played with Barbies and I had a Cabbage Patch Kid. My parents were more concerned with the price of a toy than it's social/political message. I don't think it made much of a difference in my creative play. It's just that if, as a parent, you are going to be concerned with that stuff, than do it well at least. Buying American Girl dolls because you think they are educational is just lazy.

Poetry Fridays

Despite my massive failure with project 365, I attempting a new project: Poetry Fridays. To sum it up, every Friday I am going to post a poem, or a few lines of a poem (I'm trying to follow copyright regulations here) or write about a poetry book I've read. Anyway, the point is Fridays from now on are devoted to poetry. Anyone who wants to join me in this is welcome. (Erin , this means you, 'cause I know you'll like this). So in honor of father's day I give you...

Locks

By Neil Gaiman

We owe it to each other to tell stories,
as people simply,
not as father and daughter.
I tell it to you for the hundredth time:

"There was a little girl, called Goldilocks,
for her
hair was long and golden,
and she was walking in the Wood and she saw —
"

"— cows." You say it with certainty,
remembering the
strayed heifers we saw in the woods
behind the house, last month...

Read the entire poem here.

It's not all I think about but...

The other week I posted that I wanted the job of the Food Network's librarian. While I still covet that position I've added a new one to my list: The Library of Congress' s newly created post of National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

In other library news, a Miami appeals court heard arguments in the Vamos a Cuba case. If you haven't heard about this, an injunction was requested by the ACLU against the Miami-Dade school board for ordering the removal of the children’s book Vamos a Cuba and its English-language counterpart A Visit to Cuba from elementary school libraries. The injunction has been upheld so far and the books remains on the shelf. We'll see for how long.

I touched Harry Potter

So last night I went with Michelle to Blackcat to see The Pipettes. Now I am pretty used to going to shows where I don't really know the band. My music philosophy is pretty much "if Michelle and Erin like 'em, I'm probably going to too." And I always have a good time. But last night's show was extra super fun. I really likes the band and for the first time ever, I managed to be in the front and actually see the stage. And the kid from Harry and the Potters was standing next to us. I came home and told Josh I bumped into Harry Potter and he thought I had finally lost it. Oh well, it totally made my weekend.

Lloyd Alexander, January 30, 1924 - May 17, 2007

Lloyd Alexander passed away on May 17, 2007. He was the author of the Chronicles of Prydain series, a fantasy series about an assistant pig-keeper names Taran who becomes a hero. Disney made the movie "The Black Cauldron" from one of the books.

When I was writing my undergrad thesis I wrote a bit about Lloyd Alexander. My thesis was on representations of girls and girlhood in children's fantasy fiction and though I think he tried to insert a strong female character into the Prydain stories, I didn't think it worked out so well. But he tried. I always pictured him as this benevolent grandfatherly type. Kindly, if a bit patriarchal.

So, rest in peace Mr. Alexander. I really enjoyed the tales you told.

I could be so happy...

I want this job. Someone get rid of the current guy so I can take it! Please.

yummy and oh so pretty

I picked up a four pack of Sophia sparkling wine at Trader Joes today. It comes in these pretty pink cans and has a little pink straw to sip from. This is totally the most girly drink I've ever had. I think I'm in love.