My absolute favorite

version of A Christmas Carol. An animated version which, it turns out, is from the 1970s. It used to come on the day after Thanksgiving every year! Around 12:30, which was before football. Or, at least, that is how I remember it. Not available on dvd (yet) but it is available on Google Video.

Sweet!

Heed the call of useless information

Want to know some trivia about how some of the world's most popular books got their titles?

Yeah, I knew you did.

Little Women!

KP, I don't exactly why this reminded me of you. But, it did. And I laughed.

I hope you're laughing.......

In case you didn't know

I learned a new word already today

Numinous

1 : supernatural, mysterious 2 : filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy 3 : appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual

I was sure Kirkus was making things up.

not so sure

I started reading this book of short stories the other day, and the first one was a little too much for me. I read another one, and it, too, was just a bit too far out there. I think I missed the boat when it came to horror. Strangely enough, there are 19 people on hold for this book. That isn't a lot, but it is certainly more than I expected.

Kirkus said "not just for ghost addicts" and I suppose that might be true. It's also just not for me.

But, if anyone is a horror/ghost/crazy person killing in the woods kind of reader, I'd love to hear what you have to say about the book.

Best new phrase of the day

"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"

I will be using this ALL the time, believe that.


Second best:
"I'm happy enough to be twins."

Are you kidding me?!

Are we about to see the end of the "hardback" book? I can't believe it, but it certainly seems it is on the horizon, with the Brits leading the way.

With its creamy paper and embossed fabric covers, the hardback has always been the elite format for literary fiction.

Now Picador, an imprint of Pan MacMillan, the 8th largest publisher in the UK, which has authors such as Helen Fielding, Don DeLillo and Cormac McCarthy on its books, has called time on what it describes as "a moribund market". From next year it will launch almost every new novel as a £7.99 paperback, with other large publishers expected to follow.

With book prices soaring up near $30.00 per book, I'm sure it would be a welcome switch. Still, it seems a bit odd, a world with no hardback books.

I much prefer fall and winter!

I suppose the rest of it is accurate.....

Your Power Element is Fire

Your power color: red Your energy: hot Your season: spring Like a fire, you are full of power and light. A born leader, you easily draw people toward you. You are full of courage and usually up for anything dangerous. You have a huge ego and love to be the center of attention.

What's Your Power Element?

Riddle me this

Why is everyone on Kitchen Nightmares delusional? I mean: your kitchen is disgusting (not always, but mostly), your business is failing, your food looks and tastes terrible.... but GORDON is the problem? Um....you asked to be on this show, right? Why would you do that if everything was going well?

Crazy.

Vanilla Challah rocks my world

Hoaglin's was the site of today's breakfast. Usually, when I've been there, it has been for lunch. Today, though, it was breakfast. They do a good morning business, too. I was surprised to see the place stayed nearly full the entire time we were there.

Anyway, they had Vanilla Challah french toast. Delicious. I didn't get it, but I had some of someone else's and it is definitely on my to do list.

I did have white pumpkin spice latte. Equally delicious. If you're looking for a good breakfast place, I recommend it.

My next question though: When did it get to be 3:30?!

Oh yeah, and I finally decided to do something with my facebook page. And I found someone on there that I haven't spoken to, literally, since a few years after high school. That alone was worth the (free) price of admission. I love re-connecting with folks!

Hope everyone else is having an equally productive Sunday.

Anachronistically Yours

I was watching S2 of Foyle's War (a former Masterpiece Theater that I'm sure everyone else has already seen) which is set during WW2.

I was all well and good until one of the characters (a police officer) read someone their Miranda rights.

Wha---

I probably wouldn't have even noticed except for I had been listening to The Nine and they had gone through the Miranda vote and what not. So when I saw that on TV, it just really stuck out for me.

Now, not having any knowledge on war time Britain, I have no idea if what we call Miranda rights were standard over there already. Heck, I don't even know if they are standard over there now. Americans (like me) tend to think the way they do things are the way things are done the world over. Not true. Still, I thought that was odd. So odd that I'm still thinking about it nearly a week later.

Shiny. Pretty.

A trio of cool books showed up on my radar today. Of course I took ample time to flip through each one.

Yay! A book about sitcoms. I always tell people that I don't like sitcoms (Scrubs being the exception, of course.) But, when I look through this book, I realize that I certainly used to like them. A book full of shows ranging from the early 50s to....well....Scrubs. Fascinating. I may have to buy this one for myself. Great Christmas present for the TV fan on your list.





If you're a fan of 24, you need this book. Everything you have ever wanted to know about the show (including details on guns and gear) is in the pages of this book. It is just cool! And, with the WGA strike, it looks like S7 is going to be delayed. If you need your fix (and you want to forget the lameness that was S6) this book is for you.



Godfather fans (and who isn't?) will absolutely love this book. I wasn't sure about it when I ordered it. Screenplays appeal to a very, very small percent of people around here. But, when I actually saw it, it is so much more than "just a screenplay". Yes, it is that. But there is so much behind the scenes info, and information about Italian culture as well as the movie, that I think it'll buck the trend and be very popular. I couldn't tear myself away. I'm definitely going to check it out and peruse it while watching the movie. After finals, of course. I suggest you do the same.

Sounds interesting

"Richard North Patterson's novels view national affairs from a decidedly liberal perspective, just as Tom Clancy and before him Allen Drury have seen events from the conservative side. In his audacious new novel, "The Race," Patterson presumes to take us inside the battle-in-progress for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. His candidates aren't named Giuliani, Romney, McCain and Thompson, nor are they necessarily modeled on those gentlemen, but they struggle with the same issues of honor and compromise, the same obsessions with gay rights, stem cell research, abortion, evolution and the role of religion in politics, that bedevil the real-life candidates. All this does not make a pretty picture -- Republican partisans may be outraged -- but it has a certain train-wreck fascination. As this orgy of hypocrisy and duplicity unfolds, you think, "My God, have we sunk this low?" And, if you follow politics, you have no choice but to murmur, "Yes, alas, we have."

I kind of gave up on Richard North Patterson awhile ago. It wasn't because his books got particularly bad, but.....well, it just happened. I may have to pick this one up, though. I'm intrigued. Although, it is only 2007 and I've already had enough of this political season.....which hasn't really started in earnest yet. It is going to be a loooooooong 2008!

Check out the entire review here.

How on Earth did I miss this? Crazy talk.

More paper

So, librarians have to be certified in Indiana. Not a bad thing, to be sure, but it seemed fairly irrelevant up until now. You know that joke about getting your license from the back of the cereal box? Yeah, it was like that. Gather up all your paperwork (transcripts) mail it off to the state library with a fresh, shiny dollar. (Or a crumpled up dollar. Or a check for a dollar....) Presto Change-O! Certification. For rank and file, run of the mill, librarians. If you want to start running things, things get more complicated.

TPTB decided they wanted things to be a bit more professional, and I'm all for that! So, a committee of smarty pants came up with new certification rules that seem to be much more in line with other professions in terms of Continuing Ed requirements and the like. Of course, there isn't a big scary test after getting your MLS, so that is a relief. No Library bar exam or anything crazy like that. Mostly, this all a good thing. The price of certification saw a 50x magnification..... but that's the price of doing business, right?

My complaints? Because you know I have some:

1. Lifetime certification for a $1 has been replaced with 5 year certification for $50. I don't see the connection. I have no problem with people having to renew their certification. I just don't see why you have to cough up $50 to do it. Unless, of course, it is suddenly going to mean something. If so, I'd love to know what it is going to mean. Any ideas?

2. The people who probably need to go through the renewal process are going to be grandfathered in. So this whole process won't even apply to them. Bummer.

Other than those two things, I love this idea. Continuing education? Best idea ever. I think that should be required for everyone, not just certificate holders. Although, as a practical matter, I guess you couldn't enforce it if you didn't threaten to yank their license for not doing it.

Filed under: Get a life

I can believe this happens more often than is reported, but I still think it's stupid.

If everyone got to pick what they didn't want the library, the damn place would be empty.

Like their heads.


Carry on.

Not bad

I read a good part of this while I was doing laundry this morning.

It is pretty damn good. I always fear the worst when someone takes a book I like and makes it into a movie, play, musical, tv show, video game, graphic novel, towels, sheets, etc. And, I'm not sure how much input Feist had in the making of this, but they did a pretty good job, I must say.

I used to read a lot of graphic novels. I should go back to it.

It's my birthday and my nails look like s***!!!

hey party people --

I have already done 5 (that's right, 5!) loads of laundry this morning. Could be why my nails look so badly today.

And now I'm at work. And I'll be here until.....likely......4. Or 5.

It's booksale day. The place is FILLED with crazies! Really, besides a Star Wars movie, is there ANYTHING in here worth lining up outside of a building? In the freezing cold? With your CHILDREN?! Come on, people.

I am loving The Nine. I don't think I would have liked it nearly as much, though, if I was reading instead of l istening.

Norman Mailer died today?

Isn't THIS interesting!

I can't believe Seattle buys so few copies for a library system of their size.

Even though people have this crazy fantasy that libraries are irrelevant in the "age of the internet", it is obvious that they are still very much beloved.

Today's CD

This one is likely to take me awhile. With non-fiction, because I'm so picky about audiobooks, I ususally only listen until I get bored. Then I give up. So far, I've been entertained. And educated. And entertained. So, I'll keep listening.

You would think that I would have had enough of all this law crap. We got the galley of this book months ago and I passed it over with a frown. Well, probably with a snort and a cynical upturn of my nose, if you want honesty. And now here I am, months later, with the audiobook.

You never can tell.....

Yesterday and Today's CD

Torch Songs A pretty self explanatory title. Can't describe it any better than that. I haven't gotten through the whole thing yet, but, so far, I like most of it. I'm not a big June Christy fan. Or was that Peggy Lee? I can't remember now.

I don't know if it is worth buying if your local library has it. (And it does!) Mostly good just for cherry picking your favorites to you MP3 player.

Go towards the light......

The light at the end of the tunnel. I signed up for my last semester of law school classes yesterday. Yippee!!!! And the winners are:

Admin Law. (Seems like something I should have taken earlier)

Family Law I (Seems like something I should have taken earlier)

Crim Pro -- the opposite of the one I'm taking now. Don't know (or care) if it's 1 or 2.

State Con Law.

Finally, this semester, I get rid of the dreaded Tuesday 6-8pm schedule! It has taken me 3.5 years, but I did it. That's all I ever really wanted. So simple, yet so difficult!

Okay, fellow alumni. I'm open to receiving all Civil Rights, Crim Pro and/or Labor Law outlines. Help a sista out!