FOUND

I finally got around to subscribing to Found Magazine. The first two issues came in the mail the other day and I am hooked. Can wait for issue 3 (only a few more weeks). Working in a public library, I find all kinds of goofy/weird/creepy stuff. Collecting it like this yields an amazingly compelling result. The website is good (and has cool links), but the magazine is even better.

Non-resident library cards

Results of a survey about non-resident cards in Illinois are now available.

Tiddley pom, indeed!

Who knew Pooh was a transcendentalist?

Getting to know me...

Thanks to the Tiny Little Librarian, from whom I stole this list (and the clever headline I used, that's hers, too).

1. Last song you sang: “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key”

2. Last person you hugged: The Boy

3. Last thing you laughed at: A Right to be Hostile

4. Last time you said I love you: On the phone last night

5. What's in your CD player? I am very embarrassed to admit it, but The Booty Don’t Stop

6. What color socks are you wearing? black

7. What's under your bed? dust bunnies

8. What time did you wake up today? 6 a.m. for good, but really, I was up half the night coughing

9. Current clothing: red ribbed sweaters, black pinstriped slacks, Doc Marten wedges

10. Current worry: staff issues

11. Current desktop picture: work – my nephew and me; home - a picture of Lily, Queen of All Wild Things

12. Story behind your user name: one of my nicknames is Kat, a friend’s sister started calling me “kitten” since she said I wasn’t tall enough to be a full-grown cat, I love books, voila!

13. Last CD bought: Number Ones by Michael Jackson

14. If you could play an instrument, what would it be? acoustic guitar

15. Favorite colors: I can’t choose; I truly love them all!

16. How tall are you? 5-4

17. Favorite book: way too many to list, but two up at the top of my list are The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (the version translated by Katherine Woods, not the new, crappy one!) and The Portable Thoreau

18. Favorite season: autumn

19. One person from your past you wish you could go back and talk to: no one, really

20. Favorite day of the week: depends on the week

21. Where would you like to go? Lots of places! I’d like to get back to Concord, MA soon. I want to go to Ireland, Italy, Wyoming… I’m looking forward to Okemah, OK in five months. Basically, I’ll go anywhere!

22. Type a line you remember from any book: "Where’s Papa going with that axe?”

23. A random lyric: "Love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart. Love you whenever we’re together, love you when we’re apart." Always reminds me of my nephew. (Lennon/McCartney, “I Will”)

24. Identify some things surrounding your computer: at work, not much. But I do have original artwork by William Steig hanging just behind where I sit. Does that count?

25. What do you want to be doing right now? Sleeping!

26. Favorite movie: It’s a Wonderful Life (I think)

27. Last movie seen: at show, Mystic River; on DVD, Freaky Friday

28. Who is your hero? A few: Thoreau, Dr. King, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, my sister

29: What are you reading? Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

30. Favorite board game: Trivial Pursuit

31. Chocolate or vanilla? Usually vanilla, but Breyer’s natural, not french

32. Zodiac sign: Cancer

33. If you could dye your hair any color? Cotton Candy Pink – it’s the one color I’d like that I haven’t yet done… (And probably won't do, since I do not think I could pull it off!)

34. If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be: Mom. (Although, in the meantime, I love my current job.)

Woodystock 2004

Woo-hoo! The list of confirmed performers at the 7th Woody Guthrie Free Folk Music Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma is growing and it's a good one! Arlo will be there, as will Karen Mal, Don Conoscenti, Rob McNurlin. Most of you are probably saying "who?" but trust me, these folks will have you out of your seats clamoring for more!

Thanks a lot, Sulky...

I followed a link on the Sulkbrarian's page and was dismayed to find out how I will die:



You will be sucked dry by a leech. I'd stay away from swimming holes, and stick to good old cement. Even if it does hurt like hell when your toe scrapes the bottom.

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

Yikes!

This is especially sad since I am allergic to chlorine and rely on lakes and the like to fulfill my aquatic yearnings. Sigh. Well, at least it's good to know that my cold/bronchial thing won't kill me; just make me stronger for my eventual end...

p.s. Dearest readers, if you haven't already, read the Gashlycrumb Tinies in it's entirety sometime. Edward Gorey was a genius!

I got nothin'

I haven't been posting much the last few days but, frankly, I don't have the energy. I'm doing battle with a wicked cold that wants to be bronchitis. I think I'm winning, but in the meantime, I'm just whining a lot. I took off from work a few hours early yesterday and came in about an hour late today, but...

But I've got nothin'.

Oh. Except I did finish reading A Right to Be Hostile by Aaron McGruder. If you don't know Huey, Riley, Granddad, and the rest of the Boondocks crew, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Peter Pan again

Even CNN is reporting on the 100th anniversary of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan (although, honestly, the official anniversary isn't until December...).

Happy 171st Birthday, Lewis Carroll!

Alice considered a little. "I like birthday presents best," she said at last.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" cried Humpty Dumpty. "How many days are there in a year?"

"Three hundred and sixty-five," said Alice.

"And how many birthdays have you?"

"One."

"And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what remains?"

"Three hundred and sixty-four, of course."

Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful. "I'd rather see that done on paper," he said.

-- from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

I think I just don't get it

I think I am an idiot, because I cannot wrap my brain around this whole RSS deal. Blogger recently made Atom available to its users, but I think I'm still not getting it... Grr...

Everybody dance now!

If you haven't already heard this, check out the new dance mix of Howard Dean's now infamous scream. Links to lots of other mixes at Dean Goes Nuts.

Come through the Wardrobe, my child

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis will begin filming in New Zealand next year.

I'm actually a little surprised by how sad this news makes me

Bob Keeshan, better known to generations of children as Captain Kangaroo, died today. He was 76.

Too busy reading to commit any crimes

In Mexico City, they hope that providing books on the subway system will cut down on crime. "We are convinced that when people read, people change," said Javier Gonzalez Garza, the director of the Metro.

There's never enough Alice!

Clearly I'm a bit late on this one, but a new graphic novel based on Alice in Wonderland should be available any second now. (Heck, maybe it already is!)

Day 21

Not smoking has actually been going surprisingly well for me. According to Quitnet, since I quit, I have NOT smoked 406 cigarettes, have saved about $70 and have added 3 days and 2 hours to my life. Wow. Kinda scary. (Even scarier when I consider that it might not take a bucketful of temptation to lure me back again.)

(I wonder if I can use that time to fit in a nap?)

And God said, "Let there be Lego. And there was Lego. And it was Good."

Bible stories as Lego art.

Sounds like a great trip!

Writer Jon Christensen and some scientists plan to recreate John Steinbeck's 4,000 mile voyage to the Sea of Cortez and back again.

Quote o' the moment

"Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world become
A place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together
By the task that stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound and we are bound..."

(from "Shed a Little Light" by James Taylor)

Recognizing Studs

Terkel, that it. The National Book Critics Circle will present the remarkable author, oral historian, radio personality, and all around Chicago legend Studs Terkel with its Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award at their 30th annual awards ceremony in March. The nominees in several other categories (though, sadly, not young people's literature) have also been announced.