I am not sure what day it is! I started my new job, and I don't have enough hours in the day.
I spend my days programming children's programs, and then giving those programs, making posters, talking to schools, giving library tour ........ There isn't much time for anything else. When I get my act together, I may set up a a blog about all the programs I give, but at the moment -- it is not going to happen!
Watch this space!
It's a great time of year for Tasha Tudor. Heck, any time of year is good for Tasha Tudor. I just love all her work, and there is a lot of it.
She lives off the land in a house with no electricity. She lives with mice, and wildlife. You can actually go and visit her in her house -- for a fee. A friend of mine has always been a fan of Tasha's. for her birthday, she went to see her, and she got to have a cup of tea with her. My friend enjoyed it, but was shocked by the decayed state of the house. Tasha lives in what seems to us like poverty, and yet it costs a fortune to go and visit her. When a mouse ran across the floor in font of them while they were having tea, my friend politely declined a home made cookie!
I just LOVE her timeless art though. This little book, pumpkins moonshine Is just perfect for the halloween season.
Go visit Tasha at her web site.......Tasha and family
I started my new job today. It has been a long day.
Well, I have been quite overwhelmed at all the crongrats I have recieved from everyone.
Such a busy week, I haven't started my new job yet, but we had a staff development day at my future branch. A day of presentations, and lectures -- well, they felt like lectures! Had my Jim, and Nick's lunch in the children's room with my old friends Tigger, and winnie. Elmo was there as well. I got to peek into my bew office, and there was my new computer -- it had just been delivered -- just for me whhooopp! My desk is surrounded by puppets, books, craft supplies, and more books. I was like a kid in a candy store.
I have always prepared, and paid for my own story times, but now I have it all, right at my fingertips.
So, Monday is the magic day.
I STILL haven't finished cutting for Stone!!!
Well, I am still getting through 'Cutting for Stone' and the name, Sister Mary Jospeph Praise is well and truly stuck in my head now. If anyone has read the book they will know why! It is a really long winded book, and has many, many details in it. It is worth reading for the action bits though.
SO, I got my dream job. Yes, I am now the children's programmer for the Bluffton Branch library.
I am so exited.. back into Never Never land for me. Back with Olivia, Winnie, and Toot and Puddle!!
So now you will see more kids entertainment in my blog.
For all their august reputation, the Swedish poet's fellow winners have a notably chequered history
In becoming the 108th winner of the Nobel prize for literature, Tomas Tranströmer joins a curious club in which giants such as WB Yeats, Rabindranath Tagore, TS Eliot and Jean-Paul Sartre are outnumbered by obscure figures (often Scandinavian realist novelists or poets from Mediterranean or Latin countries) you've never heard of. Several should not be in at all, according to the contemporary interpretation of the prize's rules as excluding anyone except imaginative writers; the roll of honour includes the philosophers Henri Bergson, Rudolf Christoph Eucken and Bertrand Russell, the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen and Winston Churchill, whose chronicle of the second world war (put together by young researchers) secured his entry as a historian. Erik Axel Karlfeldt, a Swedish poet, was not only dead when awarded the 1931 prize but until his death had been permanent secretary of the awarding body, the Swedish Academy. Two more little-known Swedes who were then academy members, Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, were scandalously jointly honoured in 1974.
Politically, the laureates range from Knut Hamsun, who eulogised Hitler, to Pablo Neruda, who composed an ode to Stalin, and Mikhail Sholokhov, who had been a Supreme Soviet member under him; left-of-centre views perhaps predominate (Jorge Luis Borges's support for rightwing regimes is said to have put paid to his chances), but conservatives such as Eliot, François Mauriac and VS Naipaul have received the nod too. Creatively, authors at the avant-garde end of modernism or writing experimental novels, plays or poetry after 1945 are scarce – Eliot, William Faulkner, Samuel Beckett, Claude Simon and José Saramago are the most obvious adventurers. Conversely, Proust, Joyce and other difficult authors have been shunned.
Of the 107 laureates since 1901, only 12 have been women, and a longstanding European bias is evident when countries are ranked Olympics-style by wins: first France, then the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain, followed by Russia/Soviet Union, Ireland and Poland all on level pegging. Naguib Mahfouz is so far the Arab world's sole winner and is one of Africa's four; Asia has had three, divided between India and Japan; Latin America and the Caribbean seven. As well as the strength of its own tradition, France owes its record to the number of exiles who choose to live there, and overall the proportion of laureates resident in non-native countries is striking, with recent winners such as Saramago, Gao Xingjian, Naipaul, JM Coetzee, Doris Lessing, Herta Müller and Mario Vargas Llosa continuing the pattern.
Regarding Nobel literature laureates as role models would be a mistake. Half the American winners alone – Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neill, John Steinbeck – were alcoholics. Hemingway killed himself; Kawabata Yasunari probably did too, and the aforementioned Harry Martinson tried ineffectually to end his life with scissors during the outcry over his questionable shared victory. Maurice Maeterlinck was exposed as a plagiarist, Günter Grass as having fought with the Waffen-SS. André Gide's long-running relationship with Marc Allégret began when the latter was 15. Sartre has been portrayed as benefiting from, in effect, the procuring of distressed young women by his partner, Simone de Beauvoir.
One future laureate (Vargas Llosa) punched another (Gabriel García Márquez) in public, probably over a woman; it's also possible that one (Russell) slept with the wife of another (Eliot). Russell's leading rival for the title of most priapic laureate, Elias Canetti – who, it should be noted, became British and so contributes to the UK tally – wrote callously in a memoir about his former lover, Iris Murdoch, who had depicted him as the sinister enchanter figure in her novels.
When Beckett won in 1969, his wife called the prize "a catastrophe", referring to the pressures of unsought fame and the demands on his attention. Others have grimly recognised it as pointing to imminent creative death, and perhaps imminent literal death: the average number of years laureates survive after victory is markedly low, and post-prize masterpieces would probably form a very short list.
This was all taken from he Telegraph, a very serious newspaper in England. Seems like it is more of a curse to win this prize.......
I finished 'A visit from the goon squad'. It was OK, but more of a teen coming of age, and very modern writing. I have been disappointed with the last few Pulitzer prize winners. Not sure what the judges are looking at.
Now this is a true epic, sweeping , shocking tale. It has all the right ingredients for a classic. I am quarter way through this juicy novel, and really enjoying it so far.
The story is a riveting saga of twin brothers, Marion and Shiva Stone, born of a tragic union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, and bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.But it's love, not politics -- their passion for the same woman -- that will tear them apart and force Marion to flee his homeland and make his way to America, finding refuge in his work at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him, wreaking havoc and destruction, Marion has to entrust his life to the two men he has trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.
It has been quite the week. All kinds of weird, and wonderful things going on at the moment.
I did manage to slip a couple of books in as well!
In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse.
For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation.
On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim. I survived.
A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.
This is a quick, powerful read. She captured everyting with such detail. I especially found the begginning so touching, because she can remember what it felt like to be a child before she was taken. She thought, and acted like a child, and in a few short hours, it was all gone.
It isn't easy to read, and is quite sickening in parts. It makes you want to hit that awful man.
What a brave young lady.
Things seem to be a little tense just latley. Not sure why, something in the air perhaps. People are a little more edgy, a little less tolerant, a little more angy than they used to be. We had a day from hell in the library yesterday. I can usually turn it round, make a funny story f it all. Not the case yesterday.
Then in my mail box this morning, I find a wonderful e-mail from my fellow bookworm, which brightened up my day, and if you are a book worm, and ever worked in a book enviroment, then you will smile too.
Have a wonderful day, and don't forget to stop, and smell the books!
Here it is the finished book. So now I can go back to reading books, instead of making them!
In fact, I have already started this years pulitzer prize winner for fiction awarded to "A Visit From the Goon Squad" byJennifer Egan, an inventive investigation of growing up and growing old in the digital age, displaying a big-hearted curiosity about cultural change at warp speed.
My goodness how time flies. I haven't had that much fun either! Been a bit under the weather, and too busy working with books to write about books.
I did read this one though.
It is the coming of age story, of a Chinese immigrant. The story starts when she is new to America at the age of twelve. The main theme of the story is the struggle to fit in a strange culture, and country.
Despite al the odds, Kim wins the battle in the end. We hear her point of view changing, her thoughts, and ways from Chinese to American. It is written in the first person, and in the beginning, we hear how Kim hears people talk, and how alien the American language sounded. Despite it being a little on the narcissistic side -- it was very good.
I am actualy working on a book of my own. A birthday book for my son. I wil show you the cover when I am finally finished.
I happened to pick this book up while at work in the library yesterday. I was drawn to the old fashioned cover.
It is a new book, a reproduction of Beverley Nichols 1932 delightful 'Down the garden path'. When I started to read it, I soon became hooked. Beverley inherits an old thatched cottage with a mess for a garden. This is the story of how he managed to make that garden into a masterpiece. The funny thing about the book is that Beverley gets so easily distracted, and he keeps drifting off the plot, and getting disturbed by some hilarious characters. He is not always politically correct, one wasn't in those days, but he does insult people so eloquently.
I am so enjoying this book, so much so that I have been doing little research on Bev, and intend to read all his other books.
From Amazon.....
Did I ever introduce you to Mr.Winkle? He is the cutest little dog, and I just LOVE the story about how he came to be a model dog! A few years ago while working in the children's department of the book store, I came across this special dog. He makes everyone smile. Here is his story in his owners words:
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The Story of Mr. Winkle
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Mr. Winkle entered my life in a manner as improbable and mystical as he is. Lost in an industrial area on my way home from a photography assignment, I spotted an odd tuft of fluff on the side of the road. Moving close enough to take in its diminutive dimensions and enormous, otherworldly eyes, I thought it might be a shipwrecked alien. In the glow of the headlights, this muddy, tattered little creature hobbled straight into my arms, as if he'd been waiting for me all along.
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This is his first book. It is also educational, as we enjoy the pictures of Mr.Winkle in historical dress, we also learn about the history of that character.
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You are smiling aren't you? I know you are.
Working in the library has one big perk -- we are allowed to read on the job! When it is quiet. and all the other work has been done, of course.
Yesterday I got to read two books, granted, they were children's books, but books all the same. I LOVE children's non fiction books, mainly because they cut out the crap. Adults seem to think that they have to use many words, they keep on writing, but they ain't saying anything, or it is the same thing eloooooongated. They also seem to thing that the more long and complicated words in there the better, and it will make it sound more intelligent.
With kids books, you just get the basic facts, because writing for children is completely different. Short sharp sentances, basic facts.
Here's the books I read....
Set in Manhattan in 1776, this book tells the story of 13-year-old Phoebe, a free black, who works in the home of George Washington, who was at the time a Revolutionary War general. Appearances can be deceiving, however; for Phoebe is not an ordinary housekeeper, but a spy who is there to protect Mr. Washington. Author, Griffin, centers this compelling story on Phoebe, a "regular" girl who affects the course of history.
This book is about Lewis Hine. He was assigned to take photo's of children in factories in the mid to late 1800's. He risked his life at times to take these haunting pictures of child labor. Children as young as three working in cotton mills, and in fields as cotton pickers. It is quite a sad story as he died alone and penniless, having had his house and belongings repossessed. He did so much for the child labor laws, and got nothing in return, So typical, so sad........
As everyone is surely aware, today is the tenth anniversary of that awful day no-one will ever forget.
Every so often my friend and I get the urge to have a 'Barnes and Noble' night.
I love these nights. We both used to work at Barnes and Noble so we appreciate going there without the hassle of dashing around helping people. When we did ork there, it was impossible to fully look at, and appreeciate the stock. Now, we relish in the fact that we can browse every book undisturbed.
So many books, so little time. I just couldn't decide which book to choose, so I got a magazine about books instead.
We did end up back on a mission to find some books though, one of our old workmates needed help finding stuff, and we straightened up all the shelves as we went round, can't help it, it's a habit!
It is still like home from home.
This looks like the next big hit...........
I was named after Wendy in Peter Pan.
I once went out with a boy called Peter when I was a teenager. Everyone loved Peter, and it was presumed we would stay together forever, and never grow up. Peter and I knew it wasn't forever, and to everyones dissapointment, we grew up.
Peter Pan has always had such a special place in my heart. JM Barrie never really grew up. He was a struggling play write In London, and needed inspiration. That inspiration came in the form of a married lady, and her four sons. The Llewellyn-Davies boys became Barrie's life. Much to the frustration of Barrie's own wife, Mary, and the boys father. At the time it was speculated that James Matthew Barrie wanted more from the boys than just friendship. Why is it that a genuine love of children can be twisted so? JM had a tragic life really. When he was just a boy himself, his brother died in an ice skating accident. JM's Mother never got over loosing her favorite son, and would have nothing more to do with JM. Barrie's own father was as cold as ice. All this stress stumped his growth, and he was only 4ft 10in. All this also led to sever insecurity, and lack of self confidence in Barrie. His wife Mary fell into the arms of another man, and the boys Father died. JM spent more and more time with the boys. He would encourage them to write thier own plays. Peter did write one, and thus the beginning of Peter Pan.....
Sylvia died of cancer, and JM adopted the four Llewellyn boys. George, John, Michael, and Peter. In actual fact there where five boys -- the baby Nicholas. He is rarely mentioned. It wasn't a happy ever after ending though.
James lived out his life in perpetual grief. George got killed in the war. Michael was found drowned in the arms of his (presumed) male lover. Peter became a war hero, and a publisher, but just a few months after his brother John died Peter stepped off the train station platform, in front of an incoming train.
The film, Finding Neverland is loosely based on JM's true story. I watched it the other night, and became a blubbering mass for at least thirty minutes, it really is a good film.
I am proud to be named after one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, and yes, I do believe .......
Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006) kept her secrets well. At forty-eight, she surprised even friends with a baby whose father still remains unknown; when she died six years later, most of the world did not know that she had been critically ill. This authorized biography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright raises the curtain on a woman whose plays were, on one level deeply autobiographical, and on another, cloaked some of the main issues of her life in the stories of other. Wasserstein's choice of biographers was apt: Veteran journalist and author Julie Salamon (Hospital; Facing the Wind) has already been hailed for her "perceptive and empathetic; but also gently unsparing?. Superbly nuanced portrait" of the dramatist.
This looks really good, it is here next to me just waiting to be read!
Librarian, Book lover, and professional book sniffer.
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