What We Say #1

The Word Geek in me is rising forth once again.

Having loaned out a book so long ago I thought I had inadvertently donated to Somewhere (Friends of the Library book sale, Goodwill, who knows), I did a happy dance to have it once again returned to me.  I gleaned it long ago when deleting old and dilapidated items from the school library.  Only a Word Geek would appreciate this title:

It’s full of idioms and the background of why we say what we say.  Published in 1953, it’s actually older than I am; however, when I do utter some of these expressions now and then my students do that sideways eye glance at each other, and I will know they haven’t a clue what I am talking about.  This book, now back in my possession, helps me explain why we say what we say.

For instance:

“His excuse about not reading the assignment was above board.”

>What’s she talking about?<

>I dunno.  It’s one of her odd things she says<

Well, it’s not that odd when you think about it.  Sailors deal with the water in two ways: what goes on below, and thus unseen, and what goes on above, which is most easily seen.  When things could be seen easily, clearly, straightforward, and even honestly it was considered above board, or above the water line.

Hence, the student’s excuse about not reading the assigned homework was honest.  I believed the reason.

>Why didn’t she say that in the first place?<

>I dunno.  She says stuff like that all the time.<

Has anyone got an idiom you say but haven’t the foggiest what it means?  Betcha my lil book explains it.  Send ‘em my way.

 

Library Workouts

Although I once worked for a time in a county library I can’t remember feeling worn out by the work, it’s not like my duties were terribly physical.  Shelving books, pushing carts, lifting a box now and then didn’t fatigue me much, and the duties hardly put me in the best of physical of condition since most of the job meant sitting down while doling out books.  I wish I had known about this workout tape. My goodness, I might have become the epitome of physical fit librarians.

Betty Glover might be the Jane Fonda of the book set!

The Library Times Are Changing

Bob Dylan could very well be singing the theme song for today’s library.

image: travelgoat.com

Are you old enough to remember when libraries only contained books?  I can’t remember back exactly when I noticed that the library went into BB  [beyond books] mode, and I am not sure if it’s a problem or not.

Long time ago when I worked in a middling sized library we held off on offering VHS movies for check out.  Yes, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?  Our director deliberated for nearly six months whether or not we would incorporate them into our collection because, after all, the library is all about reading, isn’t it?

Counter arguments included: Well then, what about the cassettes we offer?  Not all are  audio books, many are music.

Hmm, that is a good point.

Long story short is VHS movies moved in on the shelves and *Surprise!*–people kept checking out books. People aren’t going to stop reading books.  Even when given options. Yes, I do believe this

As much as I would like to be a purist and spout: Books Only! I realized today’s libraries, like any smart enterprise, has learned to diversify in order to serve the changing public needs and tastes.

Go into any library today and you will find computer labs, video games, DVD collections, and other options among the shelves.  It hasn’t gone so far as this one cartoon portrays though:

I admittedly check out DVDs, audio books, music, magazines, and even video games (for others I know).  Of course, I rarely leave without at least one book in my bag.

Are the times a-changing too drastically? I figure the library is a reflection of current society.  Right now we are currently into media which translates into both entertainment and information. The library folk are savvy enough to know it’s best to provide in order to survive.

So, Bob D–sing through those lyrics one more time, wouldja?

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Literary Library Love Posts

Oh my I love libraries.  Even when I am on vacation I go visit the library.  Some people hit the shops, others browse the galleries, most play, but I go check out the library.  I am so fortunate to have the library that I do.  Have I mentioned this before?

• 

  image from hofstra.edu

I am not the only one who has a real life love affair with libraries.  I know some great characters who love their libraries as well.  I came across this love letter to a library the other day:

The library was a little old shabby place.  Francie thought it was beautiful.  The feeling she had about it was as good as the feeling she had about church.  She pushed open the door and went in. She liked the combined smell of worn leather bindings, library paste and freshly inked stamping pads better than she liked the smell of burning incense at high mass.
                                             –beginning of chapter two from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Francie Nolan loved libraries.  The librarian wasn’t the greatest, but Francie persevered her weekly visits because  Francie had long ago dedicated every Saturday as her library day in order to work her way through all the collection, even though she usually ended up reading the same book.

What an amazing undertaking!  To walk into the local library and take down a book, read it, and move on to the next one until all is read.  A lifetime of literary adventure.

There are other literary library mentions.  For instance, Elizabeth Bennett comments about Mr. Bingely’s library, how fine she hears it is, and then he sheepishly admits he doesn’t read much, being he would rather be outside.  Lizzie’s father, Mr. Bennett, is well-known for hiding in his library.  They sadly are the only Bennetts who bothered with books. In fact, most of Austen’s books have a mention of libraries.  Emma’s father usually hid out in his library, avoiding the world. I’m pretty sure JA would be registered on my Book Boosters page had WordPress been around in her day.

What about you?  What aspects of the library do you love?

• Is it the sheer volume of knowledge available at your fingertips?
• What about the amazing amount of FREE reading waiting to jump into your book bag?
• Are there special librarians or staff who make you feel welcome? (I think Francie’s librarian was an anomaly–all the librarians I have known have been absolutely wonderful)
• Does the library have a special place where you sit and read or work?

I’m also interested if you have come across libraries mentioned in the books you have read or are reading.

Happy Pages!

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Bad News: Bedbugs and Books

Suzzallo Library Reading Room, University of Washington (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bedbugs found in UW library books

This is the headline I came across doing some other Internet research.  Apparently the bedbug brouhaha is far from over.  I had heard the warning about the pesky critters when staying in hotels and even when ordering clothes, yet, never thought they would be interested in books.  The Seattle Times article discusses how bedbugs hitch rides in books and live in the spine and come creeping out at night to feed.  This is especially bad news for those of us that fall asleep with a book in hand in bed.

Here is one suggestion: give the little buggers the cold shoulder by popping the book in a Ziploc bag and popping it into the freezer.  The cold makes them chill out for good.  That comes from Stephanie Lamson, head of preservation services at the University of Washington Libraries.

I have often wiped off covers before allowing books to hop up on my bed at night (I’ve worked in libraries and reading dirty books takes on a whole new meaning after working with them all day long).  I guess I will now be leaving them in the cold before they can warm my heart, which seems much more practical than hiring a bedbug sniffing dog.

English: Bedbug sniffing Dog, New York (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Pass the Marple Syrup

Cover via Amazon

Although I do enjoy a mystery now and then I must ,with some embarrassment, confess I hadn’t read an Agatha Christie until most recently. Shocking, I know.  After all, Dame Christie is the Queen of Mystery.  That reason why I hadn’t read any of her books was my contentment to experience the film adaptations.

That is until I watched A Murder Is Announced.  

This particular series stars Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, and while I have no real complaint with her portrayal, I do have concerns over other liberties. For one, Miss Marple is well-known for her ditzy little old lady approach to solving crimes, which makes the juxtaposition all the more interesting, for who would think this sweet spinster who continually knits has a mind sharp enough to see past the obvious and solve what the detectives can’t?

Exactly.

When something is seasoned right, don’t add more spice.  Or in this case, let’s pass on making the Miss Marple sweeter for modern audiences.  For instance, Miss Marple is classified primarily as a cozy mystery, meaning the murders are more mystery than gory. Also, Miss Marple plots tend to be conservative, not straying too far in social issues. Then there is the main personality of  Miss Marple who is known for her prudent, if not prudish manner and values.   With all that said, it is perplexing why the McEwan series takes viewers on such a darker path than Christie ever did.  This series includes topics not overtly addressed in the books: incest, homosexuality, racism, feminism, religion.  The addition of these spicier elements does not improve the plot, and actually detracts from it.  There is also the suggestion Miss Marple had an affair with a married man in her younger days. All these extras did not entice me to continue with the series; it actually quelled my interest in continuing.  It’s as if the producers felt a good solid mystery wouldn’t be enough for modern audiences.

 

At this point you might be wondering how I know about what Christie had or didn’t have in her books if I hadn’t read them.  Easy–I consulted an expert.  ET, my local librarian and mystery aficionado, assured me Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series did not focus on those previously mentioned topics, and she’s read them twice.  After watching A Murder Is Announced I read it for myself. Already knowing the identity of the murderer rather spoiled the read, but I was actually reading for comparison.   They should have stuck to the original plot.

While I might read more of Agatha Christie I will have to be careful not to read those which I’ve watched.  Nothing spoils a good whodunnit more than knowing whodiddit. Then there is the fact I very much prefer Hercules Poirot, especially David Suchet’s studied performance of the Belgium detective. The little grey cells find his plots decidedly delicious and there are extra sweeteners in Suchet’s series.

Agatha Christie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Bibble, Bobble, Wibble, Wobble

Poor Vera–her state of mind and mood often is a reflection of mine.  After my push week of PTCs and then a weekend of flu my creative verve is very much swerving like a tipsy ballerina on a wet dance floor.  To elucidate, my words are slipping all over the place.

Out of the 2,406 words I posted today I really only like this snippet: Books can be the best friends in the world.  I can find them waiting for me on a shelf no matter where we move to.

You see, Vera, my NaNo protagonist has the misfortune of having a set of parents who tend to move often because her mother Sylvia likes a change of scenery.  This means a lot of adjusting and readjusting for Vera.  Which means making friends is not easy for her.  However, she finds solace in books.  Like me, Vera long ago discovered all kinds of friends are waiting to be made at the library.  They are there waiting patiently on the shelves, just waiting for someone to discover them.

So my Thirteenth NaNo post is a bit of a bobble, a slip of a wobble, yet the main dance move, the main step is in place and that is books are always there for you.

Happy Pages (and I’m 22,000+ invested in NaNo–drat, where’s the Haagen Daz when you need it?)

Continium of Encouragement to Read: BB Week #6

As a librarian at heart and an English teacher for career, with a side of writer squeezed in, I positively adore books. My blog is primarily about books and I keep a running list of unabashed Book Boosters.  Here is a slew of posters, banners, and stickers that encourage reading.  BtW: celebrate Banned Book Week with a good read, or maybe a bad read–it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

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BB Week Hits the Big Three-Oh: BB Week #5

ALA Seal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is something about hitting 30 that makes one sit up and say, “Okay, let’s get serious about this.”  Birthdays, marriages, and events take on that seriously, folks, tone.  And so it is with Banned Books Week.  This year marks its thirtieth and with that triple decade mark here are three commemorative aspects of BB Week.

1.  Did your state participate?  The American Library Association‘s Office for Intellectual Freedom coordinated a “50 State Salute.”  Check out the video and the following details to see how your state participated. For more information:  www.ala.org/bbook

Banned Books Week Video Map: Click on a state to view the BB video

2.  Take a good look at the of the last thirty years to see what books were challenged, banned, or censored and for what reason.

BB Timeline

3.  For the second year in a row readers who know the value of being free to read [I call them Book Boosters (see the masthead link to sign up)] can promote the importance of reading by posting a two-minute video of yourself reading. These videos will be featured on a special  Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out YouTube channel. For details on how to create your reading video, click here.

Banned Books Week: The Need to Read–it’s about choice and having the right to make it

Bookmans, a bookstore in Arizona makes this clear in their BB Week video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb8mBGjsU5A&feature=relmfu

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What’s Read, Black, and Blue? :BB Week #3

Cover via Amazon

As a former librarian (who am I kidding-I’m forever a librarian at heart), I embrace books. Reading them, writing them, discussing them, critiquing them, promoting them, yet being beaten up, imprisoned, or possibly dying for them is as they say, “I don’ t remember this being in the job description.”
The following is a reblog which originally came to my attention by way of my fab librarian cohort in all things bookish (shout out to ET). Although Banned Book Week is focused on books, it is important to remember librarians are the ones who put the books on the shelves so we can get them in our hands, hearts, and minds. I salute those brave Cuban librarians, as well as all librarians who face adversity while trying to protect intellectual freedom.

Here is a partial of the Cuban librarian post and you can click on the link to read more:

Kindle Users Arrested

HAVANA, Aug. 24, 2012 (Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez/Hablemos Press) – On Friday the Cuban secret police pursued and arrested librarians who had attended a technology workshop at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

[Note by the Friends of Cuban Libraries: the Obama administration recently enacted a program to donate hi-tech equipment such as Kindle e-book readers to Cuba's independent librarians and other activists. This move greatly expands Cubans' access to banned materials and evades the occasional seizure of bulky printed materials carried in the luggage of volunteers arriving at Cuban airports.]

The arrests occurred in the streets adjacent to the Interests Section when the librarians, about 20 in number, were returning to their homes.

“The workshop in which we were participating was on how to use an Amazon Kindle,” commented Lázara Mijan, who was able to escape the police roundup, together with Magaly Norvis Otero and Julio Beltrán.

Among the detainees are Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, Julio Rojas Portal and Mario Echevarría Driggs. Two Kindles were confiscated from each of the latter two persons, in addition to cameras, personal documents and user manuals for the Kindle DX….

“The police operation was big, very big. Many State Security agents were scattered in Ladas [Soviet-era cars] and motorcycles everywhere in the streets near the Interests Section; it was a miracle that some of the librarians were able to evade arrest,” said Driggs, after he was released from custody….

The Cuban regime classifies the independent librarians and dissidents as counterrevolutionaries at the service of the U.S. government. In 2003, more than 20 librarians were arrested and sentenced to prison terms of between 5 and 20 years, and their library collections were confiscated and burned.

Reblogged from PC Sweeney’s Blog:

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