Movie Meme

Thanks Average Jane for the latest way to goof off at work and yes, because I am bored I picked more than my 15 alloted movies.

Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
Post them on your blog for everyone to guess. Fill in the film title once it’s been guessed.

The Rules
Leave guesses in the comments.
No Googling or using IMDB search functions. Don’t cheat, suckas!
Don't look at the "About Me" section of blogger.
Know-it-alls, limit your guesses to three movies.

The Quotes

1. I had two heart attacks, an abortion, did crack... while I was pregnant. Other than that, I'm fine.
2. Think anybody fucking touches Johnny Depp's face?
3. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about. (Average Jane - Best of Show)
4. I'm the top banana of the shock department!
5. How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Some day they may be scarce.
6. It's like that book I read in the 9th grade that said "'tis a far far better thing doing stuff for other people."
7. Highly sexed young men living on farms are always called Seth or Reuben.
8. I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. (Keith Sader - Dogma)
9. Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer! (Keith Sader - Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
10. We could call a limo! One of those stretch jobs with the TV and the bar. How about that?
11. I'll be right back, take your clothes off.
12. You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once! (Keith Sader - Johnny Dangerously)
13. Yes! Yes! I'm here! My - my chest is constricted! I can't shout! (Average Jane - The Money Pit)
14. All I got to do now is find a one-legged nun walking a goat and I win.
15. Oh, my life is like death. My children are the spawn of hell, and you're the devil. (BCK - Overboard)
16. I would like a nice, powerful, mind-altering substance. Preferably one that will make my unborn children grow gills. (Pinky - Party Girl)
17. There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours. (Keith Sader - The Princess Bride)
18. I love legal - it's all men!
19. He keeps putting his testicles all over me. (Keith Sader - Better Off Dead)
20. Are you a lesbian? Leslie says that nine out of ten prostitutes are lesbians.
21. This movie was shot in 3B - three beers - and it looks good, eh?
22. I hope she didn't hear that. The dead have a way of coming back you know.
23. I'm like a bad penny, I always turn up. (Nuke - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
24. You know, I don't think I've got it in me to shoot my flatmate, my mum, and my girlfriend all in the same night. (Average Jane and Keith Sader - Shaun of the Dead)
25. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?

National Poetry Month

I am about halfway through about 10 different books right now so please forgive me for not having any reviews to post. One of these days I am going to be hitting you with tons of books to read....but not today. Since I don't have any book reviews for you I thought I would find you some more free book type offerings.



April is National Poetry Month and I have some lovely podcasts for you to download since it is always satisfying to listen to poetry aloud.



Classic Poetry Aloud

The Poetry Foundation

BBC Poetry Out Loud

The Listening Booth

The Poetry Archive

Cloudy Day Art

Poetry Moment

The 14th Annual Corporate Spelling Bee to benefit Literacy Kansas City

Cor-por-ate Spell-ing Bee
n. 1. A fun event that supports literacy for adults in the Kansas City area. 2. A chance to enjoy delicious food and beverages, bid on silent and live auction items while expanding your vocabulary. 3. A grueling competition in which teams from area companies and organizations spell tough words until one team is victorious!

Hosted by Ameristar Casino Kansas City in the Star Pavilion
3200 N. Ameristar Drive, Kansas City , MO

5:30p.m. Reception and Silent Auction
7:00p.m. The Spelling Begins

Master of Ceremonies: Mark Zieman, Publisher of the Kansas City Star
Tickets: $50 (Certified Literacy Kansas City tutors and their students get a 50% discount)

RSVP to Melissa at 816.333.9332 or http://www.blogger.com/ormcrites@literacykc.org

I have concert tickets for that night and so I need some friends to go and cheer the Books (KC Public Library) and Beer (Boulevard Brewery) team on to victory.

Newest "potential" Notable list

Albert, Elisa - The Book Of Dahlia
Aly, Götz - Into The Tunnel: The Brief Life Of Marion Samuel, 1931-1945
Anam, Tahmima - A Golden Age
Ariely, Dan - Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Attenberg, Jami - The Kept Man
Atwood, Margaret - The Door
Axelrod, Alan - Bradley
Bacon, Charlotte - Split Estate
Bainbridge, David - Beyond The Zonules Of Zinn
Baker, Nicholson - Human Smoke: The Beginnings Of World War II, The End Of Civilization
Barker, Nicola - Darkmans
Barker, Pat - Life Class
Baur, Gene - Farm Sanctuary
Baxter, Charles - The Soul Thief
Bhutto, Benazir - Reconciliation
Bickerton, Derek - Bastard Tongues: A Trailblazing Linguist Finds Clues To Our Common Humanity In The World's Lowliest Languages
Bock, Charles - Beautiful Children
Bowen, Mark - Censoring Science: Inside The Political Attack On Dr. James Hansen And The Truth About Global Warming
Boylan, Jennifer Finney - I'm Looking Through You
Breytenbach, Breyten - Windcatcher: New And Selected Poems, 1964-2006
Bridges, Andrew - Hope's Boy
Brock, Pope - Charlatan
Brooks, Geraldine - People Of The Book
Budiansky, Stephen - Bloody Shirt
Burleigh, Nina - Mirage: Napolean's Scientists And The Unveiling Of Egypt
Carey, Peter - His Illegal Self
Carr, Nicholas - The Big Switch
Carson Ciaran - The Tain
Castaneda, Jorge G. - Ex Mex: From Migrants To Immigrants
Chandhok, Lynn Arati - The View From Zero Bridge
Chang, Ha-Joon - Bad Samaritans: The Myth Of Free Trade And The Secret History Of Capitalism
Charyn, Jerome - Johnny One-Eye: A Tale Of The American Revolution
Childs, Craig - The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters In The Wild
Choi, Susan - A Person Of Interest
Chupack, Edward - Silver: My Own Tale As Written By Me With A Goodly Amount Of Murder
Clift, Eleanor - Two Weeks Of Life: A Memoir Of Love, Death And Politics
Connelly, Matthew - Fatal Misconception: The Struggle To Control World Population
Depastino, Todd - Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee - The Palace Of Illusions
Donovan, James - Terrible Glory:Custer &The Little Bighorn-The Last Great Battle Of The Amwest
Dovey, Ceridwen - Blood Kin
D'Souza, Tony - The Konkans
Dubucheron, Bernard - The Voyage Of The Short Serpent
Epstein, Jennifer Cody - The Painter From Shanghai
Faust, Drew Gilpin - This Republic Of Suffering: Death And The American Civil War
Fradkin, Philip - Wallace Stegner & The American West
Frost, Robert. Edited By Mark Richardson - The Collective Prose Of Robert Frost
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
In Search Of Identity: African American Lives
Giddings, Paula J. - Ida: A Sword Among Lions; Ida B. Wells And The Campaign Against Lynching
Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth - Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots Of Civil Rights, 1919-1950
Goldberg, Jonah - Liberal Fascism: The Totalitarian Temptation From Hegel To Whole Foods
Gordimer, Nadine - Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black And Other Stories
Gottlieb, Eli - Now You See Him
Grant, Colin - Negro With A Hat: The Rise And Fall Of Marcus Garvey And His Dream Of Mother Africa
Groff, Lauren - The Monsters Of Templeton
Grossman, Allen - Descartes' Loneliness
Guelzo, Allen C - Lincoln And Douglas: The Debates That Defined America
Haig, Matt - The Labrador Pact
Hall, Amy Laura - Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism And The Spirit Of Reproduction
Harrington, Anne - The Cure: A History Of Mind-Body Medicine
Harris, Mark - Pictures At A Revolution: Five Movies And The Birth Of A New Hollywood
Hayes, Bill - Anatomist: A True Story Of Gray's Anatomy
Herrin, Judith - Byzantium: The Surprising Life Of A Medieval Empire
Hill, Geoffrey - A Treatise Of Civil Power
Hill, Lawrence - Someone Knows My Name
Hirsch, Edward - Special Orders
Holm, Bill - The Window Of Brimnes: An American In Iceland
Horsley, Sebastian - Dandy In The Underworld
Howe, Marie - The Kingdom Of Ordinary Time
Iagnemma, Karl - The Expeditions
Irvine, Amy - Trespass: Living At The Edge Of The Promoised Land
Itani, Frances - Remembering The Bones
Jacoby, Susan - The Age Of American Unreason
Jauhar, Sandeep - Intern:A Doctor's Initiation
Johnson, Deborah - The Air Between Us
Jordan, Hillary - Mudbound
Kennedy, A.L. - Day
Kenney, Richard - One-Strand River
Kertesz, Imre - Detective Story
Kertzer, David - Amalia's Tale
Khanna, Parag - Second World: Empires And Influence In The New Global Order
Khoury, Elias - Yalo
Kunzru, Hari - My Revolutions
Lee, Jennifer - The Fortune Cookie Chronicle
Lee, Li-Young - Behind My Eyes
Lesham, Ron - Beaufort
Lewis, Anthony - Freedom For The Thought We Hate
Lewis, David Levering - God's Crucible: Islam And The Making Of Europe, 570-1215
Li, Charles - The Bitter Sea: Coming Of Age In A China Before Mao
Lianke, Yan - Serve The People!
Logsdon, Gene - Last Of The Husbandmen
Lycett, Andrew - The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes
Mackey, Sandra - Mirror Of The Arab World
Marcom, Micheline Aharonian - Draining The Sea
Marks, John - Reasons To Believe
Marrow, James - The Philosopher's Apprentice
Mccall, Nathan - Them: A Novel
Mcmillen, Sally - Seneca Falls And The Origins Of The Woman's Movement
Melnyczuk, Askold - The House Of Widows
Milbank, Dana - Homo Politicus
Millet, Lydia - How The Dead Dream
Millhauser, Stephen - Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories
Mizukami, Tsutomo - The Temple Of The Wild Geese And Bamboo Dolls Of Echizen
Morrison, Rusy - The True Keeps Calm Biding Its Story
Morrow, James - The Philosopher's Apprentice
Nakazawa, Donna Jackson - The Autoimmune Epidemic
Novacek, Michael - Terra: Our 100-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem - And The Treats That Now Put It At Risk
Novak,Sheldon - Henry James
Nussbaum, Martha C. - Liberty Of Conscience: In Defense Of Religious Equality
Ogawa, Yoko - The Diving Pool:Three Novellas
Paley, Grace - Fidelity: Poems
Park, David - The Truth Commissioner
Parks, Tim - Cleaver
Pegg, Mark Gregory - A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade And The Battle For Christendom
Percoco, James - Summers With Lincoln: Looking For The Man In The Monuments
Petersen, Melody - Our Daily Meds
Phillips, Patrick - Boy
Picoult, Jodi - Change Of Heart
Pollan,Michael - In Defense Of Food
Poster, Jem - Courting Shadows
Power, Samatha - Chasing The Flame
Rabinowitz, Alan - Life In The Valley Of Death
Reiff, David - Swimming In A Sea Of Death: A Son's Memoir
Reséndez, Andrés - A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey Of Cabeza De Vaca
Richardson, John - A Life Of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932
Rong, Jiang - Wolf Totem
Russell, Mary Doria - Dreamers Of The Day
Saenz, Benjamin Alire - Names On A Map
Schlink, Bernhard - Homecoming
Schwartz, John Burnham - The Commoner
Sheers, Owen - Resistance
Shnayerson, Michael - Coal River
Shroff, Murzban F. - Breathless In Bombay
Shubin, Neil -Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into The 3.5-Billion-Year History Of The Human Body
Shukman, Henry - The Lost City
Sinha, Indra - Animal's People
Skarmeta, Antonio - Dancer And The Thief
Sonnenberg, Susanna - Her Last Death: A Memoir
Spencer, Scott - Willing
Strafford, David - Endgame, 1945
Stringer, C. Vivian (With Laura Tucker) - Standing Tall: A Memoir Of Tragedy And Triumph
Sullivan, Felicia - Sky Isn't Visible From Here: Scenes From A Life
Suri, Manil - The Age Of Shiva
Taylor, Nick - American Made: The Enduring Legacy Of The WPA
Teicher, Craig Morgan - Brenda Is In The Room & Other Poems
Toltz, Steve - A Fraction Of The Whole
Venkatesh, Sudhir - Gang Leader For A Day
Visotsky, Burton - A Delightful Compendium Of Consolation
Vollman, William - Riding Toward Everywhere
Weinberg, Steve - Taking On The Trust: The Epic Battle Of Ida Tarbell And John D. Rockefeller
Weis, Rene - Shakespeare Unbound: Decoding A Hidden Life
Wicklund, Susan - This Common Secret: My Journey As An Abortion Doctor
Wideman, John Edgar - Fanon
Woiwode, Larry - A Step From Death
Wolff, Tobias - Our Story Begins: New And Selected Stories
Wright, Robin - Dreams And Shadows: The Future Of The Middle East
Young, Sara - My Enemy's Cradle
Zinn, Howard - A People's History Of American Empire

Muxtape

Muxtape
Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.

Last night I played around with a new site that many of my music bloggers are all a twitter about called Muxtape. If you want to go listen to my first tape it is located at http://princessofworld.muxtape.com/

Last minute free book offer

Audible.com: The Big Listen :: Get a free audiobook until 12 p.m. (ET) tomorrow

Rehashing the Blogger Meet Up

I went to a blogger meet-up last night and as always, was fascinated by the group dynamics of these events. In my normal life I pretty much hang out with librarians. I like librarians. I understand librarians (unless they are men and then there is that dumb as a post thing that happens to me when trying to communicate with them). We think alike, we talk alike and that is a very comfortable place for me to be.

Anyway, what is interesting and challenging about going to the blogger meet-ups is how diverse the group is. You have everything from political to general rants about life bloggers and everything in between. I liked some of the bloggers immediately, others will take a while to get to know and there may be one or two out there that I never warm to. That is what is so interesting about this particular group. I also love how much it changes from meet-up to meet-up depending on who attends.

So in the little group of potential new friends that I got to bond with, we spent time talking about freaky porn (as opposed to regular porn) and yes, trust me, there is a big difference!, trips, books and music. We also talked about all of you who weren’t there and pondered why “you” weren’t at the meet-up. FYI: We miss you guys!

Most of the bloggers seemed just like their blog (maybe a little quieter or louder in person) but overall, just like I pictured them. One blogger, however, who I didn’t have a chance to meet but glimpsed down the table from me, was not how I pictured her at all. I have to say, I admire (and am a little jealous) of her ability to jump into activities in a new town with both feet. Welcome to KC, Keri Oke.

Visit My Spyderweb for the complete list….

Neil Gaiman Readalikes

I pulled this off a library listserv to share with you since Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. These are books that other librarians thought were similar in tone, subject or style to his work.

If you haven't read his work try American Gods for free...

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Attanasio, A. A. - Twice Dead Things; Beastmarks
Barker, Clive - Great and Secret Show; Mister B. Gone; Abarat series
Black, Holly - Tithe; Ironside; Valiant (YA titles)
Blaylock, James - Land of Dreams; Last Coin; Night Relics; Winter Tides
Borges, Jorge Luis - The Aleph and other stories; Book of Sand
Brooks, Terry - Running with the Demon; Angel Fire East; A Knight of the Word
Brust, Steven
Bull, Emma - War for the Oaks
Card, Orson Scott - Enchanted
Carey, Mike - The Devil You Know; Lucifer graphic novel series
Carroll, Jonathan - The Land of Laughs; Bones of the Moon
Chabon, Michael - Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Chesterton, G.K. - The Man who was Thursday
Clarke, Susanna - Joanthan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Clarke, Susanna - The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories
Connolly, John - The Book of Lost Things
David, Peter Knight - Life; One Knight Only
Davidson, Avram - The Enquiries of Doctor Esterhazy; Marco Polo and the Sleeping Woman
De Lint, Charles
Dedman, Stephen - Art of Arrow Cutting; Shadows Bite
Dunsany, Lord - The Kind of Elfland's Daughter; The Charwoman's Shadow
Ellis, Warren - Crooked Little Vein
Ellison, Harlan - Deathbird Stories, Shatterday
Goldstein, Lisa - Dark Cities Underground; Walking the Labyrinth; Alchemist's Door
Gory, Edward - Gashlycrumb Tinies
Green, Simon R. - The Man with the Golden Torc
Gruber, Michael - The Witch's Boy Hamill, Pete Forever
Hand, Elizabeth - Black Light; Waking the Moon
Hubbard, Susan - Society of S
Hynes, James - The Lecturer's Tale
Jones , Diana Wynne - Howl's Moving Castle
Kiernan, Caitlin R.
Klages, Ellen - Portable Childhoods
Knight, Damon - Babel II; You're Another
Kotzwinkle, William - The Exile; The Hot Jazz Trio; Doctor Rat
Lafferty, R. A.
Lansdale, Joe R.
Lebbon, Tim
Leiber, Fritz - You're All Alone (aka The Sinful Ones)
Link, Kelly - Magic for Beginners; Stranger Things Happen
Maguire, Gregory - Wicked; Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Mirror, Mirror; Lost
McKinley, Robin - Sunshine Mieville, China King Rat; Un Lun Dun
Mignola, Mike and Christopher Golden - Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire Millar, Martin - The Good Fairies of New York
Monette, Sarah - The Bone Key
Moore, Alan - Promethea
Moore, Christopher Lamb - Fluke; Practical Demon Keeping; Coyote Blue; A Dirty Job Morrison, Grant - Doom Patrol
Nelson, Ray/R. - Faraday Nelson
Newman, Kim Anno - Dracula
Oates, Joyce Carol - Zombie
O'Leary, Patrick - The Impossible Bird
Pollock, Rachel
Powers, Tim - The Anubis Gates; On Stranger Tides; Declare
Pratchett, Terry - Good Omens
Pratt, Tim - The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl; Hart & Boot and other stories
Rankin, Robert - The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
Redd, David
Russ, Joanna - The Adventures of Alyx
Sedia, Ekaterina - The Secret History of Moscow
Shepard, Lucius
Stross, Charles - The Atrocity Archives
Vance, Jack - The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the Overworld
Vaughn, Brian - K. Y: The Last Man
Wilhelm, Kate - Death Qualified
Willingham, Bill - Fables graphic novel series
Wrede, Patricia - Sorcery and Cecilia: or, the Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Zelazny, Roger

From the Fiction_L listserv

Blogger Meet Up

It is spring break at the university so no part time job this week!!!! It also means that I can actually attend the blogger meet-up this month. Hope to see you all there.

Wednesday, March 26th
From 5:00 p.m. to ?
Jaywalkers Sports Bar & Grill
3916 Rainbow Blvd. Kansas City, KS

Another little procrastination technique

I saw this on Bea's Weblog and felt the need to take because well, I am a sucker for personality test and because I am supposed to be working on a couple of employee evaluations right now.


My Personality

Neuroticism	14
Extraversion	38
Openness to Experience	82
Agreeableness	89
Conscientiousness	76

You rarely get angry and it takes a lot to make you angry, however you are not generally self conscious about yourself. You tend not to talk much and prefer to let others control the activities of groups. You prefer facts over fantasy and are more interested in what is happening in the real word. You find helping other people genuinely rewarding and are generally willing to assist those who are in need. You find that doing things for others is a form of self-fulfillment rather than self-sacrifice, however you are willing to take credit for good things that you do but you don't often talk yourself up much. You take your time when making decisions and will deliberate on all the possible consequences and alternatives.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report. PureAwakening Jewelry.

Arthur C. Clarke's farewell message

YouTube and the Election

Since I have been lecturing you about getting informed about candidates, I thought I would highlight a source or two for you. Here is YouTube's answer to getting informed about the election.

Barack Obama's YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom

Hillary Clinton's YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/hillaryclintondotcom

John McCain's YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnMcCaindotcom

And finally, another link that posts political commentary, speeches, debates, etc... http://www.youtube.com/youchoose

Pondering

For those of you who like thinking about this kind of thing.....

Things I will do if I ever become a Vampire.

Celebrity Book Fight Club

This is kind of fun especially if you have read most of the books because you are on a committee. The "2008 Tournament of Books" sponsored by Powell Books. Oddly enough, I did like both of today's contenders quite a bit but would have never thought of pitting them against each other.

The Remainder - Freaky, weird
On Chesil Beach - Lyrical, poetic

My Friday night happy hour

I grew up in Western Kansas and there were two things that were (and still are) very important to my father. The first is supporting local business even if it is slightly more expensive (a major concession since he is also a depression baby and a bit of a skinflint) and second, supporting public schools.

So last Friday was a particularly interesting day for me. After work, I headed down to 18th & Vine to attend the 1st anniversary of Viable Third, hosted by local bloggers, Gone Mild and KC Sponge and was intrigued and impressed with the grassroots philosophy of the Viable Third in trying to get people in that district to commit to spend their money in their community. I love this idea which also flows nicely into my "buy locally produced food" philosophy.

The other agenda for the evening was to introduce the blogging community to Airick West who is currently running for a seat on the Kansas City School Board. I don't talk about politics much on this blog although I have very strong opinions about the issues but, what I do talk about and care about (which involves doing some work) is the need for everyone to find out about and research the issues, discover what the candidates stand for and then actually getting off the couch to vote your conscience.

I also care very much about supporting our public school system. Yes, the KCMO public schools are a disaster and yes, I have a great deal of sympathy for parents who pull their children out to attend private schools because they want the best for their children but nothing will get better if everyone in the community doesn't get involved in helping to facilitate change at the neighborhood level. If all of the involved, energetic parents work only with their child's private school, where does that leave the children who are left behind. These are the kids who need to see positive parenting skills and successful adult role models. These are the kids who need room mothers and community members involved in their school. These are the kids that need mentors and friends and fans cheering them on.

Small towns have some really annoying aspects but on the positive side, the entire community revolves around the schools. Everyone in town attends the football games and cheers on the team (no matter how bad they are). Likewise when the drama club puts on a play, everyone attends, even the people who don't have children. So, take a page from those small towns, find out what your neighborhood public school is doing and start supporting one or two of those activities with your time. Go to the art exhibits, attend the basketball games, the bake sales or the community readalongs. If you don't, who will?

Huh....

I am 64% Evil Genius.

Evil courses through my blood. Lies and deceit motivate my evil deeds. Crushing the weaklings and idiots that do nothing but interfere in my doings.

Take the
Evil Genius Test
@ FualiDotCom

Since I am a librarian and we all know that librarians are all about world domination, I thought my score would be higher.

Bloggers and blogging

Today was super busy at work so it wasn't until about 8 p.m. tonight that I had a chance to check my Google Reader account, which I love almost as much as my phone. And not to go off on a tangent but...For those of you who use Blogger, PLEASE change your feed settings to full so that the whole blog post feeds into my reader. 99% of the time I don't go to your blog to see the rest of the post, I just skip it.

Anyway, after a whole day of getting a lot of email from some very odd people (not naming any names here) I look at my reader account and have 412 blog posts to read. May I just say...Damn, you people talk a lot!

Free Books: Part 235 and a Plea for Help

Free digital books for you SF fans.

By the way, I am planning the teen programming for this summer at the library and the hot trend in libraries is gaming nights. Since the only game I have played that I actually liked was Rock Band I need help. I do have a Playstation and can borrow a Wii (I think). Any relevant suggestions are welcome. In fact, you can consider this begging....

Emergency Book Stash

Today I downloaded a couple of e-books to my Trio in the (highly unlikely) event that I get trapped in an elevator/warehouse/fall down a mine shaft, without anything to read. Today I visited the Project Gutenberg site and picked The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins and Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I really wanted something by Rainer Maria Rilke or Saul Bellows but they didn't seem to have anything by those authors.

So, to answer your question, yes...I really am this big of a dork.

A Free Life and Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

Before I started reading for my book award committee, I pretty consistently would read one book at a time. Now I always seem to have three or four books going at once. Right now, I am reading two. One is A Free Life by Ha Jin and the other is Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality by Martha Nussbaum.

A Free Life has been an interesting book by Ha Jin. This is the story about a Chinese couple who come to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their child. I have been enjoying it very much in spite of the fact that I have spent most of the book wanting to smack the main character for his utter determination to be as unhappy as possible. The moments in the book that I find myself still thinking about are the interactions with others, and most particularly with a white couple adopting a Chinese baby. As with several couples I know personally, this couple is determined to make sure that their child grows up knowing all about her cultural heritage. What I found funny in this book was the way the Chinese couple reacted to this. They were politely baffled. Why, they ask, would the couple do this when their child would be growing up as an American. I still think Waiting is Ha Jin's best book but I do recommend this one as well.

The author of Liberty of Conscience is one of those books that (so far) has been a joy to read because it so closely echoes my own beliefs and ideas about what the separation of church and state (not to mention religious freedom) is all about. The author has presented her thoughts and ideas in a clear, scholarly way that argues for the founding fathers intention to build a country that "respects the preciousness and dignity of the individual human conscience and the equality of all religions (or lack of religion)". In other words, the right of every individual to follow his own path, to pursue spirituality (or lack thereof) it his own way. The author revisits every major defining moment of our country and shows that it was founded with very clear protections and ideas about the separation of church and state for the protection of BOTH entities and also makes an excellent case for why protecting those boundaries is so important to the health of each entity.

I really believe in these principles but of course, I still struggle with some of the more day-to-day practical issues. For example, a friend was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and it did an enormous amount of damage with regard to her ability to follow her own path and discover her own religious truths. How does governmental non-intervention respond to these kinds of issues and where do we draw the line?

Who knows, I haven't quite finished the book yet so maybe the author will manage to address these issues as well and answer my questions in a satisfactory way.

Call for Youth Activitists

The Summit on Immigration & Racism needs youth voices!

Saturday, March 8th, 2008
Youth Activism Workshop from 11:30a.m.—12:30p.m.
Cristo Rey High School
211 W. Linwood KC MO 64111
Youth can attend this workshop for FREE

We need young people who are willing to sit on a panel and discuss their activist work and we need folks (young & old) to participate in the workshop!!!

If you . . .
Are a younger activist (13 - 35 years old) fighting racism
Know a younger activist who is fighting racism
Want to become a young person fighting racism
Are an older activist interested in want young folks are doing
Want more info about this workshop

Contact Ellen ASAP at 510-331-0370 or ellenritch@yahoo.com

More e-books to "try before you buy"

U.K. novelist Richard Herley, whose book The Stone Arrow won a regional novel award called the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, is offering initially free downloads of Arrow, The Flint Lord, The Earth Goddess, The Penal Colony, The Tide Mill and a collection of all the books.

You can also catch up with his "free to copy" works—in .epub, Mobipocket/Kindle, PDF and Sony formats—via Feedbooks. There’s no hitch other than his reasonable request to happy readers to pay him as if the books were shareware. The charge for these CC-licensed titles is "between $1.70 and $2.50, according to length."

From TeleRead: Bringing the E-Book Home

Hmmmm...

Powered By Adult Toy Store


I thought I would have been worth more:)

Candle Salad

candle salad
Originally uploaded by Ellbeecee.

I found this on another librarians blog because apparently we are all a little bent.

Oh come on, like you didn't think it too.

Not that I am goofing off at work or anything....

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere. And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

The Human Body

With all of the interest/debate about the Bodies Revealed exhibit, I thought I would provide yet another way to learn about the human body. The website, Visible Body, is an interactive web animation tool that lets users explore the human anatomy and all its various systems. (FYI: It works best with Internet Explorer/Windows)

Warren Ellis

I have been on a graphic novel reading kick and yes, I know it isn't on my first round of award potentials reading list. A current favorite of mine is Warren Ellis who wrote the incredible
Transmetropolitan series. Anyway, over the weekend I finished up his new novel (no pictures, just words in this one) Crooked Little Vein. The book is a noir detective novel in which the main character, in search of a rare book, meets many strange and perverted characters. Because I read this book I now know several words I did not know before. Unfortunately, because I am a librarian and I just have know things, I made the mistake of looking them up and I now know more about the kinky porn industry that I really wanted to know. (FYI: apparently the drinking of urine is considered erotic in some circles.)

If you can handle the kink and like noir detective novels it was kind of a fun book.