Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month ! Celebrate poetry by clicking on the title of the post above and find the Magnetic Poetry page. Select one of the magnet sets and play around with the words a little and write your poem as a comment to this post.Here's mine.

I used the Shakespeare set. Can you tell?

Methinks perchance
Bawdy discontent shall
Wanton art speak. .


PS. Just write your favorite poem, whether you wrote it or not.

Read Across America

Our school library recently recieved a very generous gift of books from a school in New Jersey that was participating in the program called READ ACROSS AMERICA. The kids in New Jersey did a lot of fund raising and bought books for their library and then shared some with kids "Across America." The books were chosen with jr. high kids in mind and they were perfect choices for our students.

PS. I picked up the paperwork to declare as a candidate for the Ashland Public School Board. I just need 5 signatures. I can probably do that on a quick run to town for mail and groceries.

I AM A DUCK

I like to hang out in libraries and when I get a little "peckish" I like to nibble on some shamrocks.

Guess???

I recieved this in the mail as a gift from one of my brothers. A friend of his wife's makes them herself. Can you guess what it is? You might try clicking on the picture to get a larger image, but it's not the best picture so that might not help a lot.

In other news, I've been working on a federal grant at work. So far it adds up to $190,000.00. I'm not holding my breath or any thing, federal grants have a lot of federalise I don't speak, so I'm sure to forget to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is, but if I do get it , it will be almost as good as winning the lottery, and I'll get to spend it all in MY LIBRARY!

Pony Express?

I just realized that the email I sent to everyone to tell them about my new email program didn't get sent!! I get an error message that says something about needing authentication. I had to get a new email program because the Microsoft Outlook trial subscription ran out. I got one cheap called Eudora. I'll call the Eudora helpline and see what's up. But for now just know that I seem to be recieving email, I just don't seem to be able to send it, and I did try to keep in touch this weekend, mostly to tell you all what a pain it was to get the new email program.

I titled this post Pony Express because I was thinking that sometimes the convience of email and all things computer seems very frustrating. But now that I think of it, it would be a great name for an email program, wouldn't it? So I looked it up . . . and it is!

Bill's Deer

This deer has been a frequent visitor to our yard this winter. In fact it has been here so often that Bill says, "My deer is back." It does come closer to the house, but not today. This week has been colder than it has been, almost like a real winter. But the snow has stayed to a minimum so I've made it to work every day this week.

OFFLINE

Finally, we're back online. We lost our DSL connection about 5:00 Friday afternoon and we didn't get it back until midafternoon today. I talked to the support line off and on for at least an hour before they said that they couldn't help us. We were snowed/iced in and I didn't go to work again on Friday because of the forecast. I was listening on the radio for cancelled school or bus routes and never heard any, but I still made the call to stay home because of the dangerous weather that was forecast. I found out today that the out of town school buses weren't running and attendance was way down. The announcement wasn't made on the radios until almost time for school to start. Not a good thing. Anyway, I don't feel guilty about staying home anymore.

Needless to say, I was starting to get some cabin fever, especially with no Internet or email. I started to get carpal tunnel pains from playing my Playstation and I finished one or two books. I'd run out of flour last week and never got a chance to buy any, so there was no baking of any kind. I did listen to our basketball games on the radio. Our girls lost their second game and were out of the tournement but our boys won all of theirs and are district champs again. GO STARS ! Anyway, it's great to get back ONLINE.

Ultimate Bible Quiz

I got an 87% , which isn't bad consdering its been a long time since I've read the Bible. Click on the words Ultimate Bible Quiz if you want to best my score.

Snow Day

I tried to go to work today, honest I did. I got up and showered, dressed for work, started the car and got all the way to town and a little beyond before turning back. I made it OK through the drifts on our road down to the highway and stopped at the highway to call Bill and tell him that I'd made it that far when I realized I had forgotten my glasses. I couldn't see the phone display very well. But I kept going. I drove through Ashland and it didn't seem too bad. Then I got past Ashland and the highway itself was drifted badly on the shoulder and somewhat drifted on the driving lane itself. Then I saw the hill leading out of town and lost my nerve. I probably could have made it to work, but the forecast was for continued snow and blow and I wasn't so sure about the way home. Our road was already pretty bad and another day of snow would not make it better, so I turned around and drove home, only the second time in my life that I've ever done that.

I'd already scheduled to take tomorrow off. I had delusions of taking a trip to Miles City or even Billings and just shopping around for a new spring outfit or something. So I guess tomorrow is as good a time as any to fire up Turbo Tax and get started on the taxes.

ps. It is a pretty view from inside at least.

DareDevils of Niagra Falls

October 24th 1901
Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer the falls in a barrel. After climbing inside her airtight wooden barrel, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i. with a bicycle pump.


ps for more on the story and pictures, click on the title.

T.G.I.N.F.

Thank Goodness It's Not Friday. . . it's Saturday and the sun is shinning for the first time all week. Friday started out to be a good day. I'd gotten up early enough to play my video game for a little while and time to throw some leftovers in the bag for lunch. My car started without any trouble and then I looked at the gag gauge and remembered that I was supposed to get gas before going to work. I'd been avoiding stopping for gas because the weather had been so nasty. I decided that I'd better get gas in Ashland rather than wait until I got to Lame Deer even though the price is $.12 more. So I pull into the gas station and pull the lever to open the door to the gas cap. It didn't open. I got out to examine it and it was frozen over and sealed shut. I called work and told the secretary that I would be late and went home to get my hair dryer and melt the ice. It didn't take to long, but I haven't used my hair dryer to dry my hair yet, I hope it still works. I filled up with gas and made it to work only 45 minutes late. Then I was getting ready to leave at the end of an otherwise uneventful day and I was called into an administrative meeting where a colleague was getting suspended for a week. I was just a witness, but it wasn't a good way to start the weekend. But the sun is shining today and maybe we'll just get out and enjoy it a little bit.

Shhhh!

This little action figure sits on my workdesk just above my keyboard. She's Nancy Pearl a famous librarian. She's the one who said that after you turn 50 you're no longer obligated to finish a book you don't like, even if some one you do like gave it to you.

PS Click on the title to learn more about Ms. Pearl

Condiment? or Veg?

I'm referring of course to ketchup. I used to have one day at the end of the quarter that I called condiment day, to give the students a day to "catchup." I doubt that any of them understood the weak pun, but I enjoyed it. It has been a while since I've blogged, mostly because there's nothing very much to say. The big news from my library is the "genrefication" of the fiction section. My student assistants and I separated the fiction into general fiction, mystery, sci/fi-fantasy, and horror-suspense. I decided to give it a try since that's how most students ask for books. "Where are all of your scary books?" is what they ask. Usually by the time I would dig out a few from the stacks, the students were saying, "Never mind." I hope it makes it easier for the patrons to find what they want. I'll let you know.

We had a nice visit with David, Ken, Pete and of course Dad. David was in town for a family visit and Ken came down from Helena and Bill and I drove in on Saturday. Of course I forgot my camera, but the guys had theirs, so I'm counting on them for pictures. It was the end of the coldest week all winter, so I wasn't sure of the travel conditions, but they turned out to be really good, for any season. One day this week it was down to -22 and today it was +43.

The begining of February brings fresh memories of Jimmy, since it is his birthday Saturday. I remember his boundless energy at family gatherings and how he always made time to play with the kids when they were little. I miss him.

Ouch!

So some juniors came into the library the other day looking for materials for their history class. "What do you need I asked?" "Stuff about the 60s they replied." Ouch! My childhood is now history. Does that mean I have to grow up now?

A Rose by any other name?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess-Palatine Ann the Essential of Helions Bumpstead Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Farmer's Almanac? or Catomac

A lot of people supposedly depend on the Farmer's Almanac to tell what the weather will be like. I don't. I have a cat. A cat will tell you what the weather is like if you just know how to "read" it. If the cat is curled up on the bed with his entire face hidden in his paws and tail - turn up the thermostat. If the cat is stretched out on the bed with his feet in the air and his tail stretched out - turn up the air conditioner. If the cat waits patiently by the door for it to open and then runs down the hall to his litter box instead - plug in the car. If the cat mopes around the house because it's too cold to go out - either bundle up twice or go back to bed with a good book. It's Saturday - I'm going back to bed.

RSS

Does anyone use an RSS feed? If so, which one and do you recommend it?

Final Fantasy XII

WARNING!!! THIS POSTING CONTAINS A RANT!

I was reading the paper yesterday and someone was badmouthing video games and said that they were mindless and stupid and kids were better off not playing them at all. I agree that kids need balance of social play, physical play with lots of work thrown in, but really I couldn't help but think that the person making the comment had never played a video game, or had played and lost badly! I've been playing video games off and on for about 7 or 8 years and I really enjoy it. Right now I'm playing FF XII and it is anything but mindless. It has a very complicated battle system that takes a lot of strategy and you really need patience and perseverence to win even one battle. I've joined an online forum of other people who play the game to ask for advice and even given some advice if I could. It is a social community, based on only one thing, but it does use my communication skills. I've seen people be very kind to others they don't even know and to offer advice on writing skills if the question wasn't clearly stated. It is a moderated forum and very civil in content.

I'm not saying that all video games are created equal or that all games are for kids. I am going to say that people who are writing laws and giving opinions should specify which game they find stupid and mindless and they should speak with some personal experience if they are going to offer opinions. {end of rant}

Froggy Doo?

Raise your hand if you remember Froggy Doo. Did you know that someone is making a movie about the summer that Froggy Doo was "kidnapped?" The movie is called A Plumm Summer. This post isn't a review for the movie, but if you look at the picture you can see why I think of Froggy Doo every time I switch glasses. Yes, I've reached the stage in life where I need more than one pair of glasses. The little glasses on the table are the my new bifocals. I can read OK when wearing them as long as I am sitting at a table or desk. Who sits at a table or desk to read the latest thriller? Not me. I kick back in my recliner near the window and read until I fall asleep. With the bifocals I have so much trouble reading that I usually give in and play my DS. So I've given in and switch to the big, ugly pair of "reading glasses when I want to finish a few chapters. Whose going to complain? Froggy Doo? Hah! Fooled him, he can't see at all without my glasses.

Furnace - Round 2

Well, the inevitable happened and the furnace broke down again. Luckily we had the new part and after a few hours of fussing with it, it looks like Bill's got it going again.