Biannual Mowing Blog

I just thought I would share the fact that this is a very happy time of year for me. Why, you ask?

Because there is no more mowing! Now some of you might be thinking "mowing isn't so bad". In fact, I kinda like it. Yeah, well, you would be crazy people. I know the rest of you are doing the happy dance with me. No more dragging out the heavy mower every weekend (I am a delicate flower after all), no more environmental damage that is killing the planet causing me to be a bad, bad person (next year, I'm going electric) and best of all, no more no more mowing over dead animals causing me to being traumatized for weeks.

Now, it's time to rake! Ummm....Whoo Hooo?

Happy Banned Book Week!

Video produced in recognition of Banned Books Week, September 27-October 4, 2008, and in cooperation with ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Free E-Book Friday

Download a freebie of A Season for the Dead, the first in David Hewson’s series featuring his detective Nic Costa.

Go to the Scribd site. Formats are PDF and TXT.

This free gift is to promote the seventh book in the series, Dante’s Numbers.

Alien captured on CCTV

I found this on the Laughing Squid blog and knowing how many SF geeks read this, couldn't resist.

Slacker Uprising

Michael Moore’s new documentary, “Slacker Uprising,” is available for viewing (and download) for free as of today at slackeruprising.com.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day, second only to my birthday and tied with National Pie day.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

And for more pirate fun...http://www.talklikeapirateday.com/wordpress/

Alaskan Librarian

One of my fellow librarians has come up with something so brilliant that only, well, a librarian could have thought of it. He has taken all of the results from people doing Google searches and has started to put together posts answering the question that had somehow led them to his site. I have been endlessly entertained and impressed with his ability to take bizarre sets of search terms and provide clear, well thought out answers (in case that person ever comes back). He is a librarian in Alaska so I have a feeling his stats have gone through the roof lately which hopefully means that people's odd searches will provide endless blog posts for him and endless information for his readers (or at least for his geeky librarian readers).

I would do this too but 90% of the stats on my site come from authors looking for reviews of their books or people looking for reviews of those same books. Imagine that.

Charlie Rose interviewing David Foster Wallace

Writer David Foster Wallace was

Writer David Foster Wallace was found dead at 46 of apparent suicide.

Watchmen Meme

YOU ARE SILK SPECTRE...

You're law enforcement material! Whether it's working vice or for the CIA, you have all the tools. You're brash, tough, and resilient. You could go far!

You'd do well on the "other side" of the law too. Consider organized crime, pornography, politics, or the tobacco industry.

WATCHMEN Profile Inventory (WPI)

A Librarian's Plea

Before discussing candidates or issues, please double check to make sure facts can be verified by reputable sources. The rumors getting thrown around about Sarah Palin (or any candidate) don't end up hurting her, they hurt the Obama campaign (even if he didn't start the rumor) and makes Democrats look unreasonable and vindictive. Check out the rumor on http://www.snopes.com/politics/politics.asp or, if not covered there, look at the reputable new sources for confirmation.

Also, I would like to make a case for researching the candidates and voting based on the issues, not the personality of the candidate. Voting because we like them hasn't done us much good in the past, now has it?

Your public library is an excellent place to go to find out more. Each website has a list of REPUTABLE web resources for you to access. Please take advantage of all of the hard work your library has done to help you stay informed. http://www.kclibrary.org/elections-politics

Elections

It is going to be tough getting my reading done for my book award committee with the election going on. I am now indulging in behavior similar to Under The Ginko. Maybe sleep isn't as necessarily as everyone seems to believe?

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine is a Scheherazade of a story layering stories within stories within stories in a complex pattern that blends fantasy and reality together in one brilliant package. Osama, now an engineer in Los Angeles, travels home to Lebanon to be with his father during his final days. During his visit with his family, he remembers stories of his grandfather, a hakawati, or storyteller. Weaving in and out of his family story are the fantastical stories of Fatima, a slave girl and Baybars, a slave prince which pull together the threads of past and present reflect the modern day Beirut.

This is one of the best novels I have read this year.