Searching for Van de Water

As I started to poke around in LibraryThing, I was reminded of a question someone asked this morning at our Windham County Librarians’ meeting -How do you get the book info into your catalogue? We type it in, I replied. That’s alright for a few books, but for several thousand when you’re trying to move to automation? I wonder if LibraryThing could help?

So catalogue five of my books. Hmmm. Since I’ve become a librarian, I don’t think I’ve bought a book - that’s 10 years. Then, I remembered a series by Frederic Van de Water that I have most of. (I’ve gathered them from used book stores, and there’s one more I want. I think it’s called Catch a Falling Star.) Looked up Van de Water to add to my library, since the title Day of Battle had 691 choices.

I really loved these books - historical fiction makes history come alive. In one of them, the hero walks from Dummerston to Marlboro, and back. People used to do that sort of thing. Trying to write reviews of books I haven’t read in 10 or 15 years is tough, so the reviews are pretty slim. That’s alright, the exercise inspired me to reread them all. And to buy the last one.

I look forward to exploring this site more. I’m sure it’s got some great additions for our bookblog.

But wait. How do I link my library to my blog? I wonder what I just linked to. I’m sure there’s a way, but I have to go to ballet.

This Course Is Driving Me Nuts

So, here it is, quarter to eleven,
I’m so tired I can hardly see, I have to go turn up the heat at 7 tomorrow, and I’m playing around with this stuff-my blog, my MySpace page, my profile,…..grrrrrr.

We’re doing a school vacation week program-STORY-PUPPET-PLAY. It’s a three-day workshop, starting with the story WHY DO MOSQUITOES BUZZ IN PEOPLES EARS. Jody has pulled this whole thing together, in the last two weeks, after all the professionals we tried to hire fell through. It is SO good. Yesterday this collection of kids showed up on time, after one of those snowstorms. Needless to say, Jody and I just barely got there before they did. We both had grand plans.

They are so intent, so focused. I’m Jody’s GOFUR but I fall down on the job a lot, because I’m taking pictures. Pictures of everything, making puppets from scratch, starting the scenery with blank cardboard and a white sheet, backstage at the puppet theatre, the incredible jungle scene, the tickets they create to hand out tomorrow, these beautiful puppets…..

So, besides making a little slideshow for the kids to watch tomorrow, I realize that I need to make a presentation on that MySpace page and give the address to all the parents tomorrow.

I grew up the daughter of a photofinisher and started taking pictures very early-I never had to pay to have them developed. But digital cameras will be my downfall. I took 124 pictures yesterday, and about 180 today.
And I can’t throw many away, because there’s always a great little vignette lurking there. Then, of course, I have to edit them. How did that go about pixels and loading time?????? So, I’ve found about 10 that I’d like to share through MySpace. Coming soon.
Computer about to run out of juice. Must get sleep. To be continued……….

Getting Some Feeds

• This afternoon was time to start on Thing Number 9–find some useful library blogs. I’ve only begun, but I went through the first suggestion, library weblogs. I found that a lot are unfound or OLD posts, but I ended up subscribing to 7 more feeds, for a grand total of 15. This is ridiculous. I could spend my life reading other peoples’ lives…I’ve got better things to do. Like
• Spend time with the sheep.
• Just finished reading Robert Frost’s biography A Restless Spirit, the Vermont Humanities pick for Vermont Reads this year. I was in tears by the end, and couldn’t speak properly for a while. I remember him speaking at Kennedy’s Inauguration, and I didn’t know what a treasure that was. But I do remember.
• (I would like to know how I got into THIS way of writing things.)
• We’re probably not going to apply for a grant, although I was thinking we should have the book. Only to discover that it’s out of print. Maybe we will apply. But I can’t think of what we’d do. I’m out of ideas. Or overwhelmed. Or both.

I can hardly be overwhelmed. I’m going back to work tomorrow after a three-month leave of absence. My goal during this period of convalescence was to read the entire works of Alexandre Dumas. I got through 7 or 8, and I’m just about to finish La Dame de Monsoreau–have been for a week now. (Now I seem to be back to THIS way of writing things.) I enjoyed them in te past, but I just wasn’t in an inspired place this time.

Makes me think about my old lady plan. When I can’t walk any more, my plan is to write children’s historical fiction. Then, when I can’t even do that, my plan is to reread all my favorite authors. Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens, dare I say Thomas Hardy. There’re so many more, Wilkie Collins is one I’ve always wanted to persue. Well, after this experience, I may be too busy. So, when do I get to reread?

I think that the roast may soon be ready.

Mr and Mrs Prince

I’m just settling down to read Mr and Mrs Prince, new to our collection. About Abijah Prince and Lucy Terry Prince, who are Guilford personalities, and written by Gretchen Gerzina, who researched some of it while she lived in Guilford, many folks have asked to read it. So we have three copies. And if I can remember how, I’ll put it in the Guilford Bookblog.

Actually, that was the point but I forgot how to get to it. So, I guess I’m still working on thing 7. I did finally figure it out. A person can get really dizzy, whizzing around the web like this. Time to move on to rss. Started the reading, it seems like a handy thing- I guess.

INTRODUCING……..

What great fun. I spent the day fixing links and cleaning up the website. I played around with the idea I had had a while ago about doing book lists of new acquisitions, reviews and stuff, and trying to make it a part of our website.

So, after a VERY painful three hour or more meeting, I was too TOO to sleep, so I made a new blog and put it into our website. And it works. This has great possibilities. Let’s just see if I can keep it up.

I’m not doing very well with FLICKR, yet. I’ll keep trying.