David Bowie's Reading List

David Bowie's Reading List

Currently Reading

MPLKIDS at the Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire

Cave Art at StoryTime

We read The first dog / written and illustrated by Jan Brett.

"Kip the Cave Boy and Paleowolf each face hunger and danger on a journey in Paleolithic times; when they help one another, Paleowolf becomes the first dog."

And talked about Cave Art and looked at photographs
of some of the famous ones.

And then, using those examples as guides, we made our own
with chalk on brown craft paper.

4 Harness Cambridge Loom to weave past memories with visions of the future

When the library renovations were finished and we moved back in, I had ideas about creating a community art project in the Children's Room so I saved aside a big wall. In the past there had been metal shelves bolted to it and the series books - like the Berenstain Bears and Curious George - were housed there. I protectively guarded it from being appropriated for other similar purposes.

I had visions of a wall loom which anybody and everybody who came to the library could and would add a line of weaving to the project. There would be many kinds of fibers being used, from hay baling twine to vintage silk neckties.

Fumiko Green came to visit, bringing  her boundless energies and faith in Monessen, and I mentioned my quest for the loom. She loved the idea.

Months later she met a family who had owned a fabric warehouse in Bethlehem, Pa. where she lives, who were liquidating their inventory and happened to have a loom, all in pieces, stored there. And being who she is, she said, "Can I have it? It's for a library."

I have a big truck, so I drove out there and brought it back to Monessen.

It turned out to be not a wall loom, but a very big floor loom that the grandfather of the family had used to weave rag rugs. He had worked for Bethlehem Steel but after suffering an injury there, couldn't work. He helped to support the family by selling handwoven rugs.

It is currently being lovingly restored by Monessen  antique dealer, Terry Scott.

More to come......

We are going to the Mini Maker Faire!

Our origami water cup has gotten the OK for us to have a space at the Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire!!!

Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire

What We're Reading - The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

When I read - tried to read - Eragon by Christoper Paolini, I kept thinking that it was pretty good for a first-time author in his teens. But  I became increasingly annoyed with the elementary grammar and stilted dialog, and just couldn't go on. The precociousness of the author was not enough. Not enough for a book that was being widely celebrated,  praised, and  lauded.
Like this from Amazon:  If you loved J.R.R. Tolkien's " The Lord of the Rings", you will fall in love with this series of novel [sic] by Christopher Paolini. - The Man (328 reviewers made a similar statement .)
But really, Eragon is no LOTR.

Reading  The False Princess was equally annoying, although it does start off with an interesting premise.
The King and Queen are given a false prophecy that their baby daughter will be murdered by her 16th birthday and  are advised to place a decoy in her place and have the real princess reared by rustics in a safe location. The time comes when the girl who has believed for her whole life that she is the princess, is released from her role and the real princess brought in. She is turned out of the castle with a new name, but no sadness, consideration, or remorse from "her parents."

I admire people who are imaginative and can write.
But I wonder with this book, if the author unwisely chose her advisers and proofreaders -
maybe too many admiring close friends and relatives.
Her friends should have told her that the names were dull. Thorvaldor, the kingdom. Sinda, the False Princess. The King, The Queen - no names. Always, just The King. The Queen. 

And they may have saved her from this.
On page 84, O'Neal describes Sinda's magic mentor, Philantha,:  
"She was older than Aunt Varil by perhaps ten years. Wrinkles etched her brow and around her eyes, which were a startling shade of green, as sharp as pine needles."

On page 208, the evil conspirator, Melaina:
"She wore her long dark hair pulled away from her face and secured with a silver clip. 
Her green eyes were sharp as pine needles and rimmed with heavy lashes."

The reuse of the simile, "sharp as pine needles," no matter how unique and cleverly describing green eyes,
ruined any effectiveness the phrase may have had. The second time, it stopped the action for me. It reminded me that I was just reading some lines that somebody named Ellis O'Neal had written.
All suspension of disbelief was broken for me.
(And, no, the two women weren't twins.)

I don't recommend that small libraries, like mine in Monessen, purchase this novel for their YA collection. Instead, maybe get more Tamora Pierce for strong, interesting female protagonists.

Earthworm Races launch Week #1 Summer Reading Club

We've had a lot of fun over at the Monessen Public Library expanding on the Dig into Reading Summer Reading theme.

We focused on worms this week and the Worm Races were a huge hit!


Instead of digging up our worm contestants, I bought a container of Nightcrawlers at the convenience store.  I drew a circle on a tray and plopped our new friends in the center. First worm to the edge wins. The crowd went wild. As you can see we had a very clear winner.

After the race I handed out a little plastic cup with a worm in it for each of the kids. That way they could explore and touch the worms at their own pace and comfort level.

They squirmed and they tickled.

Just think, yesterday these worms were heading to their doom as fish bait. Today they are joining their friends in worm paradise, my compost bin.

2 Summer Movie Nights in July

Friday, July 5

7pm

Spirited Away

 

Friday, July 20
7pm

Holes

2013 Summer Reading Club

The theme for the Summer Reading Program this year is 
"Dig Into a Good Book."
So, we've got 5 weeks of  Digging  lined up.
Join us for fun with Worms, Dirt, Caves, Mines, and Zombies.
We will be celebrating Harry Potter's birthday on July 31
so, the last week we will be digging into some Hogwarts Wizardry.

Here's a bit of inspiration from Captain Jack Sparrow:

Some Circus Fun

Dr. Seuss is everyone's favorite author.

Tyrannosaurus Time Traveled To Participate

Fierce Big Cat

Cannon at the ready to shoot Mr. Majestic across the riing

The Beautiful Lady Marshmallow

They call me Dr. Worm

Ta Da!

Dancing Feet

And Now In the Center Ring...

The Grand Finale In Which the Amazing Marsh Beast Jumps Through The Blazing Hoop of  Sweetness !

And then we ate them.

Instructables Gardening Contest Winners Announced.

Instructables Gardening Contest









My No-Dig Slacker Gardening Technique
didn't win, but check out the entries.
There are some very cool ideas there.
Specifically the Hugelkultur posts.

Hugelkultur
http://www.instructables.com/id/Never-Water-Plants-Again-with-Hugelkulture/

Bill Waterson (Calvin and Hobbes) on Fun

"A playful mind is inquisitive, and learning is fun. 
If you indulge your natural curiosity and retain a sense of fun in new experience, I think you’ll find it functions as a sort of shock absorber for the bumpy road ahead."

"We’re not really taught how to recreate constructively. 
We need to do more than find diversions; we need to restore and expand ourselves. Our idea of relaxing is all too often to plop down in front of the television set and let its pandering idiocy liquefy our brains. Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery — it recharges by running."



"You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. 
The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. 
It’s a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, 
because you’ll probably take a few."


"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. 
In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive."
Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success."
 
"Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential 
— as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth."

"You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, 
to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, 
who you are, and what you’re doing."


"To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble."

Found this on  Brain Pickings  
a blog dedicated to interestingness and creativity.

Dig Into Library Summer Sexism

Nationwide Summer Reading Collaborative
promotional and program materials.
Count the female images in each : 1

1 of 7

1 of 10

1 of 14

A Garden Experiment

For The Slacker: No Digging.
First I put bags of top soil - $1.40 for 1 c. ft from Lowe's - where I wanted flowers. I put some bags straight on top of the grass and some on places where things had grown last year. 

Then I cut a big X in the plastic and turned the bag upside down. I'm thinking that with the bag cut open, the roots will be able find their way out but weeds will have trouble growing up and the dirt will have good drainage.

When I cut the bag open, the dirt was all clumped up, but using my little hand shovel, I chopped it up some.

I put a Burpee Herb Mix and some climbing nasturtiums here.

 Basil and Tomato in bags straight on top of the grass.

I have some seeds left over and plans for Seedbombs
and maybe Mintbombs too.  I can share, since my garden is totally overrun with sweet spearmint. It wants to take over the world anyway.