Waking up from winter

Somehow, working on the blog went into hiberation this winter. I even managed not to think about it for the entire month of February!

Now I’m getting ready to travel with close to 70 high school teens from my church to Mexico to build shelter for familes being relocated away from land that they had been living on. These shelters are the size of a one car garage with no running water, no electricity, no plumbing of any kind.

Shelters like these would not be tolerated in any American city or town, but the need for a stable shelter is becoming greater in our country. Small children while resilent, still are apprehensive regardless of being reassured. Small children still feel a parent’s worry. I remember when my family was undergoing a rough patch the heightened tension of both my mother and dad. And veering from being a child at play because I was reassured to wondering “what did I do?” when told to behave and be quiet.

When the front yard is over an acre, and you are racing around a house, quiet just doesn’t enter the mind. I try to remember this as I work and interact with young children at the library.  So many of them are using the library as a shelter during the day along with a parent, or caregiver. And I see the parent ignoring the child to get some adult social time, or struggling to work on shelter, funding, or job searches on the computer with multiple small children. I can’t baby sit the children, I can distract them with pencils, scratch paper to draw, a board book to chew, or even playing peek-a-boo while helping another customer at the computer and waiting for a page to load.

So I am headed to Mexico to build shelter. I can extend my hand out people in other countries because I can afford too.  For those who can not travel outside the United States, consider helping with Habitat or similar programs in you local community, even if it just for a weekend.

Offbeat mystery time

As a reader, I don’t read genres perel se. I do read several mystery authors, some suspense authors, and some science fiction/fantasy authors. And one of the mystery authors I do read is not a main stream mystery writer. I just finished “Thai Die” by Monica Ferris amd yes it is fluff, but enjoyable fluff and I did learn something.

For those not acquainted with Betsy and her Crewel World needlecraft shop, I can understand. But I appreciate the puns, learning about the different kinds of threads, and rarely do I know who did the foul deed before the book is over 2/3 read.

“Thai Die” looks at the world of artifact smuggling, acquisition fever, and origins of kinds of needlework. In this case, needlework brought home by a member of the Monday Bunch who gather at Crewel World that returned from Thailand with several samples of silk.  And as a favor, a courier for a Buddha that is very atypical.  And  arouses suspicions among the group, especially when people start showing up dead.

What I enjoy about books like this is the exposure to worlds I’m not personally involved in. I don’t do a lot of Needlework but my sisters do, and our time together isn’t spent just on needlework talk. Learning about the different kinds of knitting, cross stitch, and the world of canvas, cloth, and threads properties in a ficiton book is much more interesting than asking my sisters and leads to more appreciative comments on their efforts. The needlecraft mysteries are more entertaining as well.  And this book also delves in Asian culture, archaeology, collection development, (as for a antropology major and librarian those subjects are natural hooks)as well as the elements of mystery.

“Thai Die” also explores the continuing relationships, those we chose to include in our “family” and those chosen for us. I like the quirky characters as much as I like the salt of the earth ones. And Monica Ferris populates this series of Needlecraft mysteries with both.

Which may be why I have always liked Dick Francis’s works. He is knowledgeable, well written, and has very well developed characters.  While his books always involve the world of horse, the overlap at the track of other worlds such as art, banking, etc. are real.

So hurrah for well research books! Which is more than I can say about a certain mini TV series where the last Templar saw Jerusalem burning from a ship. Really!  Jerusalem isn’t even visible from the Mediterranean!

So writers, if you are going to include a detail make sure it’s right!

Some fact and some fiction = good book

The title was intriguing “Like Trees, Walking” and the flap made the book seem even more interesting, so I checked the book out and started reading. And was dismayed to have to put it down to get some work done.

While the main characters are fictional and bear the weight of learning the family business, the focal point of the novel was real. The death and hanging of a youth at the hands of the Klan in Mobile of 1981 is the focal point around which the action revolves. The distress of the brother who finds the body and his reaction to the lack of action by the officials of the time also rings true.

How does one correct a common misconception about a friend who is no longer able to defend himself. And that thought lead to wonder how many times I have hear news items and taken what was being said as truly being representative of the situation. I grew up in the South and I remember seeing the Klan march at the center of town at noon on Saturday.  I was so young and having moved to the town from the North had no clue what was going on. It did not take long for me to learn, for me it was a little scary. To this day, I’ve no idea what statement those men were trying to make. I do know as an adult I’m still struggling with overt symbols of intimidation.

What is amazing is the family of the young man who was killed and hung sued and won. And while the reason for the suit is sheer tragedy, the achievement is phenomenal.

The world of Pern

Just finished the newest Pern book, and I’m sooooo glad that Todd’s writes so close to Anne’s voice. Granted I like well developed characters, and Anne’s has always populated her books with interesting people with complex motivations underlying the basic person.

And I have always liked the premise of a planet being colonized and then the colony being forgotten about. I don’t know how many people I’ve introduced Pern to, my nephews, and niece for starters. So much so that my brother-in-law is getting the copy I bought of Dragonheart. And I was very happy to see when a book captivates me I still want to keep turning the pages. So much of what I have read is good, but I have not had to fight to put the book down.

I know things are hard for the publishing industry, and I’ve heard that one of the things that is happening that editors are being cut. And I’m a firm believer in good editing. Even good favored authors I found have books that made it out and good have been edited a little tighter.

And on the other hand, there have been several short stories that I have enjoyed when they were expanded. The main character in the McAffrey’s tower series started out in a fairly short story. But the character developed into a really interesting person and the full length book explained a lot.

But I digress. I fell in love with the world of Pern when I first read Dragonsong, and when finished quickly went on to Dragonsinger, Dragondrums, and then found the adult world. The complexity of not just creating a world, but a valid timeline with the stuggles of people over time and how cultural influences can be so strong even after centuries.

And the perfidy of humankind, whether from greed, hate, or just a deep personal flaw. Anne showed people who had some incredible flaws, but who still had qualities that were need in the community at large, even when the community grows past where the person is fixed (incapable of adapting to the needs of the community). Then again, when the community is spiraling down, how steadfast good examples are so needed. And then I look out at the real world and see many similarities, how hidebound some cultures are. And where does culture differiate from faith. And the pain and anguish that arises when culture and faith are deemed one and the same.

So I’m hoping the world of Pern continues, at least for my lifetime. With the vast array of people’s foibles, unwillingness to accept deep seated human characteristics, and the page turner read to see what is happening now on a world I’ve grown to love.

Teen fiction

It happened! I used the library ebook option and found the book a student needed to read that evening (or part of it) before school the next day. And it would never had happened without Learn&Play@cml.

So 3 cheers for Hoot being available.

And I finally got back to reading teen fiction. Columbus Metropolitan Library youth services have an annual book discussion and rotate Caldicot, Newbury, and Printz canidates. It was the teens turn this year. In past years I manage to read a very large quantity of teen books. Somehow this year, it was hard. Several books mentioned for teens that I read are really younger readers but good none the less. Excellent examples include Waiting for Normal and Eleven (Eleven is by Patricia Giff and definately appeals to 3rd-4th grade readers). 

For the discussion it seemed like all the books at my table were dealing with control issues. Some of the books discussed had extreme examples such as Bodeen’s The Compound were the father even cut the Mother out of the real situation so he could have his grand experiment. On the other hand there was the mother who left before her child could leave, after letting her daughter think her older sister didn’t care enough to try to keep contact in Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. The pace in this work didn’t pick up until about page 200, so while the book is good will enough teens stick with it to reach the part where the action is starting to happen?

Then there was Shift by Jennifer Bradberry who deftly shifts the reader from the present to the previous summer and from the surface of a friendship to hidden depths in both of the main characters, and features another extremely controlling father. This book vied for top pick of the table with Ringside 1925 by Jen Bryant who used a variety of free verse forms to represent the spectrum faith viewpoints in Dayton Tennessee.

Also highlighted in Ringside 1925 was the treatment of  townfolk outside of the white male adult spheres of influence. The teen girl who wanted to break the mold in getting married and not going on to college to Willie Amos, who, because of his skin color didn’t get any schooling at all but still struggled to learn to read and develop hope.

And the last book at the table was The Fold by An Na and delved into how culture can control how we view ourselves, even if it is a Korean one transplanted stateside.

Reflectioning on innovation

The official period for Learn&Play@cmlis over. And I have been cogitating about I face change and innovation. Some things aren’t a flying leap in my mental map, just a OH! Goody! someone has figured out how to do that. While I am entirely set in concrete with other things. How, do you ask, can I be both? Easily, and it may have very much to do with having a firm home ground to retreat to when being out there collapses in and the space has moved or no longer exists…mentally, physically, or virtually.

Comfort zones are good places to heal and get repaired. When I was working with animal symbols I really identified with turles and the idea of limits. I discovered for my self I have rings of limits. If you or somethings is totally outside that ring I tend not to pay attention. But come up against that ring and it can matter a lot, especially if it is a ring I wasn’t aware of! When I am aware of a ring/comfort zone barrier I can either pull it in or bump it out. Dealing with people once I know them usually results with a pulling in of the ring, but if numerous experiences are unpleasant that ring gets extended. Comfort zones work in reverse, the comfort zone for a new experience can be small at first with a bump out here and a bump out there until the whole zone is much larger. And comfort zones don’t need to be contiguous either, it is possible for portions of zones to warp out and people use a worm hole to travel from the main zone to outriding zones. 

What was really good about the Learn and Play experience it was a comfort zone created outside of many players main comfort zone, they could travel to and from the minizone without harm. And once a few goats went a herd followed down the cleared path to try some if not all of the “Things”

At the moment I’m back in the print realm preparing for a discussion of possible Printz award books. Much of the teen fiction is about taking teens from an area of comfort to a new place with various reactions to the trip. And the trip is as critical as the destination. The experiences, the people, the reactions, whether the teen (or adult really) is observing or taking action. (Sitting on the sidelines is an action in itself.) Each of us, at some point acknowledge the need for action for our own needs, which form the action takes is a different as individuals. Some of the books like the The Compoundby S. A. Bodeen document the change from child to teen to young adult where the parent(s) find it difficult if not impossible to change their paths. And some of like Shift by Jennifer Bradbury document the subtle but profound growth in friendship and attitudes at seminal points in the life journey.

So whether you jump or slowly bump out the rings/borders of your comfort zone, we all change, and we can choose which path/items to inaugerate the change or adaptation of the new.

Talking turkeys and other seasonal things

When I went to my sister’s for Thanksgiving not only was there a turkey on the table, there was a magnificent wild turkey in a photo taken from their dining room. They have 2 hens they have seen but only heard the tom out in the woods.

After a wonderful with contributions from all of those there, we talked trees (an outlaw cousin has a commercial tree farm. And then when the dishes were down (and we talked about our current cookbooks!) we drew names for the family exchange. And getting out the snowmen to put out by the drive (the house is at the back of 19 acres of woods so the drive is nice except when icy.

And the conversation then turned to books. What we had read that was good, and which were good to listen to, and then MOLDI. Yep, one of the 23 things in Learn&Play@cml. My sister and brother-in-law were both interested and wondered if their local library participated. I knew that one of the libraries in their consortium was in it, but couldn’t recall if the loca library did. And then the discussion turned to all the other things I had been doing for Learn and Play, 3 couples were interested in the genealogy site, 1 person wanted to know what twitter was about. All of them were interested in the fact that I have started blogging, while 2 of the men were very interested in the flickr mashups thinking in terms of something fun for Christmas stocking stuffers.  And then the really big questions, did anyone need firewood?

Extra credit?

Librarybytes in a meeting with some of the staff, indicated that she was doing Learn&Play@cml as well, and as with many other staff members had fallen behind. She also suggested that as an extra we could share 10 things most people don’t know about us as individuals. I shared one of them at the staff meeting, but will go ahead and list that along with 9 other things.

1. I want to visit all 7 continents in this lifetime. I’ve been lucky enough to be in parts of 5 so far, just leaving Anarticia and Austrailia to visit.

2. After I retired from the library, I want to go to India and volunteer at an English Medium School outside of Pune. The congregation I am with supports the Deep Griha society who works with the poor in the area of India. This would satisfy me in 2 ways, my love of travel and serving others.

3. For all the traveling I’ve done, I still have over 20 states that I have never been to in the United States. And I’m including states where air travel had me changing planes. I was on the ground (in the airport, but still on the ground) of the state.

4. I’m a firm believer of people on this side of death, at times know when it is time for them to leave this life. Both an aunt and my grandmother, stated that people were waiting for them, and the people concerned had long passed on, within a week or two before their death.

5. I’ve actually taken art classes. Taking art classes and being an artist are 2 very different things. Amazingly enough my lowest grade was a C in art design, and that was due to it being the second of 2 formal art classes I’ve ever taken.

6. When I was in the 8th grade, Mom let my sister and I skip school and take the bus to Jacksonville, Florida to see the Beatles on their first US Tour. Which was really amazing considering that a hurrican had just passed throught Jax the week before. Out seats were so far away we needed binoculars to see them, but it was a terrific experience.

7. Books trickled down in my family. When my sister in college was assigned “Catcher in the Rye” she brought it home after she was done. Then my sister in the 8th grade read it (and I was reading it as well in the 6th grade) and a teacher was upset that Mom was letting my 2nd sister read the book. 

8. I’m a dog person. My family has own the following dog people. Dusty, a copper colored cocker spaniel. Becky, a collie mix, Betsy, again a collie mix, Penny, a spaniel-terrier mix, Bootsie, son of Penny and who knows, Poochie, a hound mix, and Vickie, a German Shepherd and the only purebred the family had to my knowledge.

9. I was born on the farm, literally. My Dad drove Mom to the hospital for my 3 older sisters, but my Mom’s doctor was tired of getting to the hospital after my sisters had been born, so he came to the farm house at the dairy farm and delivered me.

and finally…..

10. I played flute and piccolo in the high school band (while in the 7th and 8th grade). During the eighth grade I had to make a choice between band and gleeclub. Glee club won.

What? I’m at the end?

While struggling with Flicker I wasn’t certain I would ever reach “Thing #23“. It’s here, now, and time for me to look over my experiences with Learn&Play@cml. What I can see using in the future of the applications covered are Twitter (especially if my family were all on), Flickr (now that I have an account I want a digital camera to make it easier to upload), and blogging. I also like parts of Librarything, and I’ve already talked to several library customers about storing documents, powerpoints, etc on google docs, some of them don’t want to create a google email, but at that point it is the customer’s decision. And I was able to put searching ebooks to use just this past weekend. The fact that the book the student needed wasn’t available as an ebook didn’t stop the other 2 info people from marveling that I thought to check there. And the student had never considered that as a resource either, and is going to keep it in mind for future assignments.  Another really good result from doing Learn&Play!

And I enjoy blogging, which isn’t too surprising because I wrote poetry starting in middle school, and I also wrote from the High School newspaper, “Bulldog’s Bark”. But I can see Inquisitivefish continue to comment on new things she learns or learns of for quite awhile. While most of them may not be of the 2.0 variety, some of them will be on revisiting and comparisons or new widgets and apps (or new to the fish). I wish I could do an imersion week to relearn Spanish in Mexico. What I learned while living with a Peruvian family during 10 weeks has been mostly forgotten, and much of the grammer I leaved in college after that is almost all gone. So Mango is in my future, the real shame is it is not set up for a library setting (yes I could wear earphones, but voicing surrounded by other computer users is not my cup of tea).

There is a lot to be played with yet on some of the topics we covered, there are mashups that I haven’t been to yet that deserves serious playing. And thank goodness for the tracker/checklist! That was a wonderful tool to keep me on track (even when I was falling behind). What surprised as I roved the system were the number of people who hadn’t started it for various reasons. Most were interesting to talk about (and later I found out that many of them started even if they don’t finish, just to learn some of the things I learned while doing this) except the I’m not interested which just blew my mind!

While working on this, some of the directions threw me initially, but I discovered I needed to work on some of this early in the morning because I read things differently in the afternoon. And some of the technical glitches arose from computers in staff rooms being programmed with slight differences (like being able to download some of the apps). And some of the vid’s were fun, but it would have been nice to be able to hear the conversation, when cpu’s are set up under a desk and behind a shelf it makes it very hard to hear, even my earbuds couldn’t reach a couple of the CPUs and when in very crowded staff rooms earbuds are a must.

And would I do a future Learn&Play, like a 2.2, 2.5 or ever 3.0 (really not that far off with computer years being so short)? Yes, in a heart beat. Even at my most aggravated this series was challenging, and……FUN! I learned a lot, played with some of the stuff.

Audio Adventures via MOLDI

Right up front, I’ll admit that ebooks, efilms, and emusic via MOLDI has long been overlooked by myself. And by now you probably know the reasons if you have been reading this blog. Oh, for those you might not know MOLDI is short for Mid-Ohio Library Digital Initiative. And the Columbus Metropolitan Library has participated in MOLDI for over 3 years. But until Learn&Play@cml came along and included it as one of the 23 Things, it was on the fringe of my radar. My mistake.

How many times have I informed a student in need of a classic to read for class that no copies were available? I’m ashamed to even start guessing how large a number it might be. It never even occurred to me that I should be asking students (or their parents) if they have internet access at home, then offer to show them MOLDI to see if the much needed assigned book is available. Granted for many inner city inhabitants with no computer at home much less internet access, this isn’t an option. But I know going forward, checking to see if the book is available on MOLDI will be part of my reference interview.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see some new books on the list as well “Breaking the Dawn” by Stephanie Meyers for an example. And I now know to check for classical recordings here as well. For the true aficionado, the piece they want by the artist they want may not be available. But for a student learning an instrument and needing to hear how a piece goes, this e-resource really fills the bill.

And my brother in law would love this, if he could have a library card, because of the audio books that can be downloaded. He travels by air and car extensively calling on farm clients, and really appreciates being able to listen to something on his 2 to 3 hours drives (and sometimes longer!)

Maybe Audio Adventures is something of a misnomer, because several books can be downloaded in a print version as well.  But with downloading to mp3’s a new feature, as a librarian in a public library, this is just one more thing to get toward the front of my mind when trying to track a book/recording/movie down.