Terry Pratchett recorded books

So here's the thing, I can't review books. I know what I like, but I stink at telling folks about it in any coherent manner. (Unlike the Queen at watat.com who is a marvelous reviewer). I do however heartily recommend anything by Terry Pratchett, especially the unabridged recordings. So, anyway, it all started a year ago when my daughter requested that if we had to listen to a recorded book in the car could it be Terry Pratchett? I agreed, but to my dismay found that MCLS has precious few of Mr. Pratchett's books on tape or CD. Well, we listened to Reaper Man, a wonderfully funny story about Death (you know, the guy with the black cloak and scythe). And of course we were all hooked (even the Dad and little brother). So now, having finished A Hat Full of Sky, and therefore all the sound recordings of Terry Pratchett in MCLS, what is left for me to do? I have tried with limited success to actually read the books, but I find that if I can't hear them in Stephen Briggs voice I don't totally get it. Time to stuff the suggestion box at WPL...and maybe even do a personal intervention.

Jump right in

Last week Dawn encouraged me to enter the pool the "right way" as she just plows right in despite the cold water. So I waited for her to move out of the way and just cannonballed in. Well, you know, it works! Don't think about the cold, don't inch in one toe at a time, don't be tentative, just jump right in! I've entered the pool that way each class day since, too. So now I am trying to adopt this philosophy for all the other things I hate to do, because I know that once I'm in I will just get the job done. Gotta go with what works.

March Madness or is it just insanity?

When I was in college going to basketball games was a free and exciting winter social activity. It was great fun to root for the Flyers, especially during those winning years...but that ended when I graduated , moved away (and no longer got free tickets). So how do I find myself now in the midst of NCAA Tournament madness. In a word, Joshua. Somehow Steve and I spawned a child who is a crazy sports nut. Pick a sport, any sport, and he will watch it, tell you all about it, know all the rules, and even care who wins. So in the last few years (maybe since he learned to read and write) we have had the family NCAA tournament contest. Every year I watch my kids do better than me at picking teams. I say I don't care, but I have to admit to being VERY disappointed that the team I picked to go all the way and win the Championship had the nerve to LOSE in the Second round on Sunday. Of course this now leaves me rooting for some other teams, which is okay since I love to root for the underdog (lower seed teams), but knowing all the while that I can't win the family pool is such a bummer. Again, I'm not really sure why I care at all, but I guess its because Josh brings out the competitor in me. Or because I hate to see him gloat at my expense. Next year maybe I really should pick my winners just by their mascots, I would at least enjoy rooting for them. (Course that is why I picked UConn to go all the way...I love those cute Huskies...the dogs, not the players). Or use my crystal ball to predict upsets. Go Vermont!

Odyssey Redux

We had a wonderful celebration to mark the successful completion of another Odyssey of the Mind season. And to acknowledge that for some of us it might be the last Odyssey, (or at least the last at St. Rita School). I invited folks to come and bring Ice cream Sundae fixings, assigning each grade a different item, so we had a terrific variety, and plenty to go around. (And I didn't have to shop for the masses...) Then the sixth grade Odyssey team members presented some spontaneous problems for everyone to do, from little kids to adults. It worked out really well, and was very fun to watch everyone interacting. The parents finally understood what the kids had been doing for months on those Thursday afternoons, the younger kids got a taste of how much fun spontaneous can be, the team members found out that parents can be creative too, and the 6th grade leaders showed that they had been paying attention all along and were thrilled to have a chance to turn the tables and be the judges. In other words, it was a success all the way around. Sigh of relief.

Feast of St. Joseph

March 19th is the day the Catholic church celebrates the feast day of Saint Joseph. My Sicilian grandfather Giuseppe (Joseph) was born on St. Joseph's Day, so its a day we noted in my family. In the Italian culture there is a tradition of the Saint Joseph's Day Table. The story goes like this: in the Middle Ages there was a terrible drought in Sicily and the people prayed a novena to St. Joseph. When the rains came ending the drought they created a special feast day to honor Joseph. The tradition includes a great table laden with traditional Italian foods and included feeding the poor.

We participated in a St. Joseph's Day celebration at St. Rita's tonight. Not only were there a lot of people there, there was indeed tons of food. There was a large alter set up with candles and a statue of St. Joseph. There were also flowers and loaves of shaped breads. The surrounding tables held lots of pastas with vegetables, white pizza, braided breads, frittatas, quiches, greens & beans, deep-fried vegetables, and even salmon. (There are no meats or red sauce at a St. Joseph table). And then there were the desserts! Pizzelles, of course, but also honey balls and sphingi, cannoli, cakes and cookies. We did not have a lot of poor people there, but there was a collection for House of Hope and Comfort Care Home, so that counts. It was amazing how many Italian folks there were tonight, luckily for us sharing their delicious foods. And did I mention the wine? Anyway it was all lots of fun. We stayed to help clean up (the only "young folks" who did) and on the way home Josh thought that was the best part.

Birdcam is back!

For some reason I can't explain I have been fascinated by watching the nesting peregrine falcons on Kodak tower via the Birdcam. Its a down and dirty view into the lives of a pair of falcons. You get to see what they eat, count the eggs they lay, hold your breath until they hatch, and then watch the little birds grow and fledge. The whole cycle happens within a short span of time. Courtship to fledging babies in less than 4 months. There is a certain sense of ownership from watching the birds on a regular basis. Although I must confess that I am not as obsessive about it as most of the folks who comment on the Birdcam discussion board. There are some real fanatics there. For me, I guess I just enjoy watching my little part of nature from the comfort of my computer chair. (And did I mention the Eagle nest in Massachusetts, or the Stork's nest in Germany?)

Procrastination. Let me count the ways

Procrastination. It 's just that I'm not quite ready. I've got something(s) to do first.

1. Blog
2. Sleep ( a little nap )
   
3. Read (Let me finish this chapter)
   
4. Free Cell
5. Eat...just a snack
   
6. Have a cup of tea
7. Snood
8. Knitting...just one more row.
9. Crossword puzzle
10. Spider Solitaire
11. IM
12. Read my email
13. Send some email
14. Shower
15. Cry
16. Call in sick
17. Play dead
    

In the end I just gotta do it.

Why working in a library is a ministry

We had a discussion on Sunday morning about Stewardship; giving time, talent and treasure to the glory of God, often by helping someone in need. Included in the use of our talent was the discussion of how a job (paid or volunteer) can be a form of giving. The more I thought about it I realized that much of my job does include ministering to other people. Quite frankly everyone who comes into the library is looking for something. Sometimes they even know what. The simplest examples are those who need a book to read or study. We help them find one and they go. But things get more complicated with those who need information, and those who need help learning to find information. Teaching computer skills to folks is a prime example of helping fill a need by empowering people to help themselves. Then there are the unemployed folks who just need to tell you about their job search. And the homeless people (yes, even in Webster) who just want a warm place, a friendly face and a way to keep in touch with the world. There are very many lonely people who just want some human interaction and a listening ear. Lots of seniors fall into this category, even the married ones who just need to get out of the house for a little while. And there are the immigrants. Some of them are still learning English and need our resources; others have children they bring to use the library (and who often translate for them). We also aid those who have physical or mental disabilities, but who come to use the library resources. Wow, its no wonder that some days I feel like I'm a social worker, teacher, psychologist and library assistant all rolled into one. But those are also the days I go home feeling like I've gotten more accomplished than pushing paper around. And the days I feel more rewarded than by the paycheck I bring home.

Twelve-Year-Old-Son-itis

I am suffering from Twelve-Year-Old-Son-itis. It doesn't make it any easier to bear, but I hear there's a lot of it going around. The symptoms include: frustration, exasperation, exhaustion, more frustration, screaming, incoherence, did I mention frustration, and lack of sleep. Why is it that they can recite sports scores, game summaries, entire lines of dialog from movies, words to every song they have ever heard, funny stories the teacher told...But they cannot remember the book they need for their homework, that they even have homework, that they are supposed to unload the dishwasher, that I asked them to pick something up/put it away/throw it away? Arghh.

Blogger's Block

I can't decide what to blog about today. I have a headache and therefore every thought I have is apparently colored negatively. Its not that I mind ranting in this venue, its just that all my thoughts today are self-negative, and I don't really feel like baring myself this morning. Perhaps something wondrous will occur today that I can share in a brighter frame later.
So until I get past this block I apologize for my boringness. Have a nice day!

Whew! The sigh of relief from a job (well) done

I did it! I survived the Odyssey of the Mind competition without losing control. I was tense as all get out, but I held it together till the end...drum roll please. The team I coached in Stunt Mobiles, despite a rocky performance (and a bad case of nerves) held it together to finish fourth in their division. I was massively excited that they ended up with ribbons, because I know I worked hard for it! Okay, they did too. In fact they endured me, so they doubly deserve those ribbons. What I gave them, when it was over, was bubble wrap to pop. And God bless them, they were thrilled with it (well I did promise...).

The best news of the day at our house was Joshua's team's second place finish. They were awesome! They put together a terrific performance and saw it through with no hitches. And then, and this is most important, they also did well on their spontaneous! In fact that's the third thing to be thrilled about...After months of Thursday afternoon spontaneous practices the three St. Rita teams that got ribbons (top 5 finishers) also finished within the top 5 for spontaneous! So maybe practice really does help make perfect (well better anyway, even if not perfect).

As for me, after an hour in the Jacuzzi I was relaxed enough to finally sleep...and to dream about next year....

"Servants of the Map"

Well, I've finished reading "Servants of the Map" and I've just gotta say "why"? ( Obviously my view is in the minority and I'm just showing my ignorance. Just look at those reviews.) I will have to admit to my shallowness and say I much prefer reading for enjoyment, rather than forcing myself through a book that really doesn't hold my interest. Or makes me wonder what the author was trying to say, or prove. Maybe she was just expressing her own insecurities through her characters. The book is a series of short novellas, and it wasn't until the last that I found myself drawn into the characters. She's tied some of the characters tenuously to others, in other stories, but I felt like I needed a map to keep them straight. In other words it required too much thinking. And then I was forced to think about why she bothered. I guess its good that I had some thoughts when I was done, since I am supposed to participate in a discussion on said book, but if my thoughts are not coherent (and mostly emotion based) is that enough? I much prefer my current "fun read" Casual Rex by Eric Garcia. No brainpower necessary. (But it gets great reviews too. Maybe everybody does on Amazon.)

A Creative Tale

Once upon a time in a small town named after a dictionary, in upstate New York, there lived a very creative (but not "artsy") creature, stuck inside the body of a frumpy middle-aged woman. (Well, it is hard to be creative with long gray hair when you have no "hair skills", but it does get complements when drawn up in a clip on top of one's creative head.) Well, this creative creature got into an adventure when she could not say "no" to coaching an Odyssey of the Mind team. After all, doesn't Odyssey of the Mind promote and support the very thing she lives for? Creativity! And so the adventure was undertaken. Months later, as the competition approached, her tongue swollen from biting it (so she would not give illegal adult assistance), she wondered if she would make it to the finish line. And, more important, what would she do when she got there?

Would she bask in the glow of blossoming creativity in her proteges? And would there be much more time for her own creativity to be fulfilled with projects and new ideas for work? And would there be extra hours of sleep, perchance to dream creative thoughts? The creative mind could imagine these and many other scenarios. But, alas, it was not to be, for the creative creature lost all sensibility and turned into a mindless screaming meamie in the final days, until finally she froze into a hard shelled automaton, with not a thought in her head.

The moral of the story is : Just say no. Or nyet, or nein, or non, or nada, or nope, or no way Jose... Wait a sec. If she can think "no" that many ways perhaps she is not really an automaton, but merely trapped inside one for the duration. Where there's life, there's hope...
Stayed tuned, dear reader, to see if the creature comes out of it alive!

Odyssey madness

I seem to be unable to function, or even think, this week. My energy is stuck in the Odyssey of the Mind mode. (If only they gave the coaches points for style, perhaps I could better focus my energy on something useful.) I know that worrying doesn't help, but I seem unable to let it go and realize I've done my best. Maybe because I'm not sure the kids are doing theirs? I really just need to let go. I admit I'm an emotional wreck...very tired from working this weekend, and emotionally tired from a funeral yesterday. (Funerals have a way of putting your own life into perspective.) I'm also missing my exercise, as there was no class last week due to the school break, and of course I missed yesterday morning too. I guess I'll find out on Wednesday if it really is energizing to start the day with exercise...cause I know I have no energy today.

And yet I must carry on...only 4 days to competition.