Saturday, June 28, 2008

Miss Solar System

We just had the best program @ the 'brary today!! Melba Toast came to the library as Miss Solar System - and the kids all had a BLAST!!! This amazing woman is full of life and animation, and a fantastic costume!! Check out her MySpace page to hear some of her music!

Over 70 people come to the program today - WHOOOOOT!!!

In related news, as of Thursday, we have 837 kids signed up for summer reading for our one branch alone!! HOOOORAY for reading!!!!!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Props to the good parent

Usually I post complaints about the parents who maybe shouldn't be parents. We seem to have a lot of them coming in to the library.

But today, I want to give props to a mom who brought her (very lively) 2 year old into the library today.

Mom needed to use the computers to fill out a job application, so she pulled up a chair for her daughter (after asking if it was okay to pull up a chair!), then set the little girl up with a pencil and a bunch of little scraps of paper. This little girl wasn't too excited about drawing, but she did sit still for a little while. When she tired of that, she was up out of her seat. But, Mom ALWAYS had her eye on her, never letting her get more than a couple feet away. When the little girl started talking too loud, mom politely asked her to keep it down. The Mom was on top of it, and it was really refreshing to see.

When she was done on the computer, she threw all the scrap pieces of paper away, brought back the pencil and returned the chair to where she found it.

I have to admit, I was very impressed!! So, here's to you, fabulous mom!!! WHOOOOOOT WHOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Worms anyone?

Happy Tuesday!!! I know I have been a blog slacker - I apologize. I really need to get my ass back in gear, don't I? Well, we'll start with this FABULOUS Tuesday post!!!

As you know, it's Story Time Day!! WHOOOOOT!!!! I am excited for today's program because we have a special guest!! The Metro Beautification Commission is coming to present a program about...WORMS!!! To be quite honest, all I can really say about that is...EW!!! But, I know the kids are going to love it, and it's going to be fantastic!!! No books today, though!!

And, as always, it's FMRNS!!!!! We got a couple more movies in from my free trial of NetFlix, so we are pretty pumped about that!!! Last week, we were lucky enough to have a Bonus Night, where we watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a Sci-Fi movie from 1977 with Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr. I just LOVE Bonus Night!!!

This week, our two choices from NetFlix are Bill, a made for TV drama from 1981 with Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid. This was actually a two part series, Bill and Bill: On His Own (1983). We have already seen the second part (that was an accident - but even without the back story from Bill, it was fabulous - and easily followed). After watching Bill: On His Own, I know just how emotional Bill will be. In fact, after the first 10 minutes of Bill: On His Own, I was BAWLING!!! with tears streaming down my face I told A "I was SO unprepared for this!!" At least I know what's coming this time!!!

The second option is Lair of the White Worm, a "horredy" from 1988 with Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant. I am not quite in the bawl your eyes out drama mood, so I am guessing we'll be watching this one!! Besides, Lair of the White WORM seems to fit in with the Story Time theme, right?!?!

AND, we have about 5 hours of Shoobie (aka So You Think You Can Dance) to watch!! I always tape (yes, tape - as in VHS. I am still in the stone age!), the episodes and then bring them over to A's to watch. Since we decided to do a double feature last Tuesday, we didn't get a chance to watch Shoobie, so we have the episode (and results show) from two weeks ago, as well as last weeks episodes!! Not to mention Hell's Kitchen (they're down to the top 3!!). It's going to be an awesome evening!!!


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Astronauts and Rockets!!!

It's going to be a FABULOUS story time today!!! In keeping with the Starship Adventure Summer Reading theme, I decided to read books about Astronauts and Rockets!! Here are the books I chose:

A Brave Spaceboy by Dana Kessimakis Smith


I Want to Be an Astronaut by Byron Barton


On the Launch Pad: A counting book about rockets by Michael Dahl


And, of course, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOOT!!!!! This past week, A and I had Double Feature Friday, which is always exciting!! I got a month long trial membership to NetFlix, and was able to get a couple of the movies we've had problems finding.
For Double Feature Friday, we watched Blaze, a drama from 1989 with Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich (who was incredible!!). Our second feature of the evening was The Golden Child, a comedy from 1986 with Eddie Murphy and Charles Dance.

Our feature for this evening will be a foreign film, King of Masks, a drama from 1996 with Zhigang Zhang and Zhigang Zhao. I'm looking forward to it!!! We also have 3 hours of Shoobie (also known as So You Think You Can Dance) AND Hell's Kitchen!!! It's going to be FABULOUS!!!


Monday, June 16, 2008

Library question of the day

Computer lady sits down at a computer after making a reservation. After a minute she airplane waves at me (I HATE it when people do this!!!) and beckons me over to her computer.

Computer Lady: This computer says available, why can't I enter in my card number?
Real Librarian: Can I see your reservation? (woman hands over slip). Um, your reservation is for computer number 1.
CL: **Looks at me all confused**
RL: This is computer number 32.
CL: Ooooohhhhhhhhh!!

Um, yeah, you could have come to the desk for that - you had to get your butt off your chair anyway. And please, READ your reservation ticket!!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Currently Reading - Audience Participation!

Well, it has been a while since I did a Currently Reading post!!! The last book I blogged about was Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (the third in the Twilight series) - which was way back in April. Damn - I'm a slacker!!!

Anyway, here's a couple I've been reading lately that I think should be talked about.

The first is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I was fortunate enough to pick this book up during the 15 minutes I had in the exhibit hall at PLA before I came down with Pneumonia. This book was one of the best books I have read all year. I was moved by pretty much everything in the story - the characters, the scene that the author painted, the relationships, the dogs. When the ending came, I wasn't quite prepared - but it definitely fit with the story.
Anyway, here's a review from Publishers Weekly.

Starred Review. A literary thriller with commercial legs, this stunning debut is bound to be a bestseller. In the backwoods of Wisconsin, the Sawtelle family—Gar, Trudy and their young son, Edgar—carry on the family business of breeding and training dogs. Edgar, born mute, has developed a special relationship and a unique means of communicating with Almondine, one of the Sawtelle dogs, a fictional breed distinguished by personality, temperament and the dogs' ability to intuit commands and to make decisions. Raising them is an arduous life, but a satisfying one for the family until Gar's brother, Claude, a mystifying mixture of charm and menace, arrives. When Gar unexpectedly dies, mute Edgar cannot summon help via the telephone. His guilt and grief give way to the realization that his father was murdered; here, the resemblance to Hamlet resonates. After another gut-wrenching tragedy, Edgar goes on the run, accompanied by three loyal dogs. His quest for safety and succor provides a classic coming-of-age story with an ironic twist. Sustained by a momentum that has the crushing inevitability of fate, the propulsive narrative will have readers sucked in all the way through the breathtaking final scenes. (June).

The next story is P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. Yeah, this was a great chick lit book - I cried my eyes out through half of it!!! Definitely a great read, I laughed, cried, and was generally touched by this book.
A review from Publishers Weekly:

Ahern, the mediagenic 22-year-old daughter of Ireland's prime minister, debuts with a sweet, sentimental tale of a young widow's trials and triumphs in the year after her husband's death. Soul mates Holly and Gerry married in their early 20s; when Gerry dies of brain cancer at 30, Holly is utterly bereft. But Gerry has a final gift: a series of letters, which Holly is to open on the first of each month from March to New Year's, and which will guide her on her journey from grief. Gerry correctly predicts that Holly will not have gone through his belongings by June, found a new job by September or considered falling in love again by December, but with his posthumous epistolary encouragement she does all those things. She also enters a karaoke contest, takes a beach vacation and dances at a holiday ball she'd always attended with Gerry. The months pass as close friends help prop Holly up; around her, a marriage falls apart, a couple gets engaged and a friend announces her pregnancy. Within her tight-knit family, Holly's youngest brother makes a revealing film of her birthday party, her elder brothers change places in her allegiance and her parents take in one stray grown child after another for stays short and long. Ahern's speed (she wrote the book in three months) and her youth do show-the wisdom in evidence owes much to Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella-and her prose is pedestrian. She boasts a natural storytelling talent, however, resulting in a compelling tale sparked by an unusual premise.

The last one I'm going to mention is yet another Stephenie Meyer book, The Host. I just finished this one last night, and I loved it!!! I am really enjoying Stephenie Meyer's writing style, and am always looking forward to her next book (Breaking Dawn, the 4th book in the Twilight series, which comes out on August 2!!)
Anyway, here's a review from Amazon:

Stephenie Meyer, creator of the phenomenal teen-vamp Twilight series, takes paranormal romance into alien territory in her first adult novel. Those wary of sci-fi or teen angst will be pleasantly surprised by this mature and imaginative thriller, propelled by equal parts action and emotion. A species of altruistic parasites has peacefully assumed control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but feisty Melanie Stryder won't surrender her mind to the alien soul called Wanderer. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories of fellow resistor Jared, Wanderer yields to her body's longing and sets off into the desert to find him. Likely the first love triangle involving just two bodies, it's unabashedly romantic, and the characters (human and alien) genuinely endearing. Readers intrigued by this familiar-yet-alien world will gleefully note that the story's end leaves the door open for a sequel--or another series. --Mari Malcolm

So, those are just a couple of the books I have read since the last Currently Reading post! There are more listed in my 2008 Book List - check it out!!!


Next, I am ready to start Beautiful Boy: a father's journey through his Son's meth addiction by David Sheff. I've heard great things about this book - and thought it was appropriate to start on Father's Day.
Here's a review from Publishers Weekly:

Expanding on his New York Times Magazine article, Sheff chronicles his son's downward spiral into addiction and the impact on him and his family. A bright, capable teenager, Nic began trying mind- and mood-altering substances when he was 17. In months, use became abuse, then abuse became addiction. By the time Sheff knew of his son's condition, Nic was strung out on meth, the highly potent stimulant. While his son struggles to get clean, his second wife and two younger children are pulled helplessly into the drama. Sheff, as the parent of an addict, cycles through denial and acceptance and resistance. The author was already a journalist of considerable standing when this painful story began to unfold, and his impulse for detail serves him personally as well as professionally: there are hard, solid facts about meth and the kinds of havoc it wreaks on individuals, families and communities both urban and rural. His journey is long and harrowing, but Sheff does not spare himself or anyone else from keen professional scrutiny any more than he was himself spared the pains—and joys—of watching a loved one struggling with addiction and recovery. Real recovery creates—and can itself be—its own reward; this is an honest, hopeful book, coming at a propitious moment in the meth epidemic.

And now, it's your turn - what are YOU reading???

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Starship Adventure Storytime!

It's the second Tuesday of Summer Reading!!! As of yesterday (June 9) @ 12:30 PM, we had already signed up 481 kids for the summer reading program!!! That's over HALF of the number that we signed up TOTAL last summer!!! We are so excited about this, obviously!! I think we even have a small number of kids who have already finished! Craziness, and I LOVE it!

To fit in with the Space theme that we have going on this year, I decided to read books about the Moon. Here are the ones I chose this week:

Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett


I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay


Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes


And, of course, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOT!!!! Since our last few movies have been pretty heavy dramas, A and I decided to watch something a little lighter. We just got in another copy of Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy, a sci-fi movie from 1968 with Jane Fonda and John Phillip Law. The other option is Yankee Doodle Dandy, the musical from 1942 with James Cagney and Joan Leslie. Which one would you pick?

Thursday, June 5, 2008

One of my new favorites

I can't exactly remember how I found this blog, but it's become one of my new favorites. Anyone who has worked Customer Service will appreciate this!! And, even if you haven't, it's still funny!

Not Always Right - Funny and Stupid Customer Quotes

Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

First story time of Summer Reading!!!

HOORAY!!! Yesterday was such a crazy busy day - it's AWESOME!!!! We signed up a total of 136 kids for the children's summer reading program in the FIRST DAY!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!

Today we have a very special guest coming in to perform for story time today. Miss Lynn is coming in to sing songs Old and New!!! Miss Lynn is a great friend of mine, and also a very talented musician. She is currently working on recording her music, and I'll be sure to pass along all that good stuff when it comes out!

And, as always, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOOT!!! Tonight we are continuing the Twin Peaks saga by watching Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I'm excited to have some of the questions from the first movie answered in this one!!

A and I took a trip to Louisville last week to Six Flags (it was the BEST TRIP EVAH!!! We went on a Thursday, the lines were super short and there were hardly any people there!!! It was the perfect way to enjoy a Amusement Park!! But, more about that trip later!). We decided to bring my laptop and watch a Fabulous Movie after all the excitement of the day. And then, when we got back to Nashville, we decided to watch ANOTHER Fabulous Movie!!

We watched The French Connection II - a drama from 1975 with Gene Hackman and Fernando Rey. On Friday, we decided to watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? - a drama from 1962 with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.



Monday, June 2, 2008

It's all about Summer Reading!!

Well, life at the 'brary is about to get interesting!!! Today is the official start of the Summer Reading Program - also known as Starship Adventure!!! WHOOOOT!!!!!

Summer Reading is great because the kids are so excited to read!! We give out prizes if they read (or listen to!) so many books, which just gives a little extra push! The prizes include a "Choose your Own Prize" which allows for free entry in to ONE of 6 different places (including The Adventure Science Center, Nashville Shores, or Wave Country!!

We also have some great programming coming up this summer! We have Miss Lynn coming in to sing, Conductor Jack from the band The Zinghoppers is coming to perform, Bedtime Stories, Star Catching with the Dyer Observatory, and a "Crafternoon" program where the kids will be making their own Rockets, UFO's and Aliens!! These programs are just a TASTE of what is going to be going on at the library for kids this summer!!

So, head to your local library to see what's shakin for the summer! You'll be glad you did!!