Genre Alley

I visited the library in high school nearly every day.  Some of the time, it was a through-way to the photography lab where I could develop photos with a could-have-been-a-cousin-to-Bill Nye chemist, but most of the time, it was so I could swap out a book.  I had the stereotypical librarian:  lots of cats (LOTS!) and the sweater over skirt with the rimmed glasses look.  She was kind.  I remember the color of her lipstick and the way that she was very particular about random items in her space.  (I'm sure I'll have these same tendencies as I age though I do hope I select a different shade.)

I found this segment about "Libraries Leading Roles" on NPR to be a lot of fun.  The Keith Richard quote about churches and libraries sums my childhood brilliantly.  [Things I never expected to say.]  Incidentally, I've just added Keith Richard's Life  to my booklist.

I wonder if everyone has a favorite librarian.

Chance to be a NoMad

It's been a bit busy with work this week but I did manage to take a late walk

Times Square via iPhone
April 2013

and visit a library. 

Striking Goal-d

I'm a goal setter.

I have life goals, career goals, financial goals, annual goals, vacation goals, fitness goals and each night I set my daily goals for the following day.  (These are sometimes adjusted after a night's rest and a strong coffee.)

On today's goal list: Salon 615.  I may have kept my schedule available during this morning slot in an effort to secure tickets to see Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild which I keenly enjoyed.  We'll see how it goes.

Hope you have a goal-den Thurday!

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Zero.  I've read none of them, well read none of them from cover to cover.  Finnegan's Wake I've skimmed.  Was it Honors English?  I'm certain it had to be either a class or some brief intellectual foray during my year of volunteer/travel/learn/run/develop worse puns.

This morning I discovered "The world's most difficult books: how many have you read" posted by Alison Flood and referencing this list from the Millions.  I'm certain that at least a few of our fellow GBC members have managed a couple of these titles.  Stein I can understand making the list.  After all, I compared another of her works to a half-marathon which surely was not the intended consequence.  (At least, I don't think she was a runner).  I would have included a Joseph Conrad to the list.

So, how many have you read?

You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me

Yesterday was a completely new experience:  my first library fine.  Sadly, the Rocket City library system (unlike Music City) does not send reminder emails to patrons who are nearing their due date.  As I find it hard to believe that these collective scientists could not come up with an If/Then code for their catalog system, I will have to give credit to a fundraiser for slowly seeping fines into their revenue stream one latte at a time.  (Technically, it's more like a double espresso for one week's delinquency.)

Word to the wise:  if you borrow a book, please return it on time, else you might owe more than a few dimes.

Getting Carded

It was a smoothie, running, coffee, cheering kind of Saturday morning preparing to move into an eating, drinking, merry, laughing Saturday night.

Sharing advice from a friend: Don't waste the day.

In other news, I now have local library access. [Insert card acquisition between coffee and cheering.]

$1.25 Investment

A woman says to a security officer, "Have you seen a balding man with a red purse and a dark-haired girl?" The officer responded, "Actually, I have".

Family day to the fundraising library sale gave my mother this anecdote. We each scored several book finds for the bargain price of 25 cents each.

My additions:

1965 reprint of More's Utopia (Saint Thomas More)

1962 copy of Lanterns and Lances (James Thurber)

1938 edition of How to Organize and Conduct a Meeting (W.H. Henry & Dr. L Seeley)

1960 printing of The Compassionate Tiger (Hunton Downs)

and finally, the pièce de résistance

Cooking for One is Fun (Henry Lewis Creel) from 1979.

Happy weekend reading.

No One Scorns the Wicked

Sunshine after long grey days is a motivator. After a flurry of activities this morning, I pause to think about books. In fact, more so than books, I am thinking of events. Local libraries are putting together some really neat gatherings in the near future. A few highlights:

• The Main Library for GBC is hosting a Salon @ 615 series which includes Erik Larson and Ann Patchette [separate events of course]
• The Rocket City Library is launching a community read of Wicked City by Ace Atkins. The kick-off events include the "Wicked City" porter brewed by local Straight to Ale [these engineers do have a sense of humor]

And as weather turns warmer and you wish to move away from your heavier reads, consider Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon. Carpe diem.

Act Now - Cancel Anytime!

Many of us keep up with the latest in film and addictive television programming with Netflix. Some may take collective use a little further with handbag selections. This week, I discovered another intriguing opportunity in the wide world of rentals: books. Bookswim allows subscribed users to rent books for a monthly fee beginning at $23.95 for three books at one time. There are no deadlines to reading unless self-applied (over-achievers) or demanded by your book club (procrastinators). No additional shipping fees apply so feel free to order those really heavy books that you have been so desperate to have. Options include paperbacks and hardbacks. A simple search also led me to Booksfree which shares their "how it works" graphics with Netflix (I would suggest a little differentiation here). Booksfree targets paperbacks as well as some audio with a price point that is cheaper than Bookswim. With Booksfree, one also has the option for monthly, semi-annual, and annual memberships (just like your gym).

Spicing it Up

I, along with the millions of others this week, am hopping on the Old Spice bandwagon. [I will be honest with you: I had no idea that Old Spice was still available for anyone under eighty.] After spending a bit of time (while procrastinating a small knitting project), I joined the rest of you and saw my first online ad. Tonight, while searching for my new local library, I found this little gem which seems like a perfect Friday evening addition to the blog.

Note: Side effects may include excessive use of parenthesis while writing.

Library Status

C'est Fini

I had promised you here that I would give you another update on Mango. By last Wednesday, I had used the program 530 minutes to study French and another 223 minutes devoted to Spanish. (No, I did not create my own spreadsheet for this; it is a program feature.) My objective after discovering Mango was to work through the 100 available French lessons and as many of the Spanish lessons as I had time (43). Typically, I would review three or four lessons each day, Monday through Thursday. Initially, I devoted three days to French and two to Spanish, but eventually Spanish was sacrificed in order to complete the French series.

Overall, the program is easy to use and offers a free way to work through conversational phrases using sound and sight in order to encourage learning. My vocabulary did grow, and I was able to practice pronunciation until my tongue was content. I do think I gained additional experience with the languages, however an upcoming field test will give me a better ability to gauge the outcome of these efforts.

On the flip side:

Minor user issue: Learning two languages at the same time is possible, however the lessons typically run parallel (at least in French and Spanish) so there could be some confusion with word choice.

Getting bigger: There are a few instances where the translation follows the wrong word resulting in an error in translation. This might be evident only if you had had previous training in the language. While I would like to cite a specific example, I did not have the foresight to note these slides which brings me to...

I would like to see these issues addressed: The "Bookmark Slide" feature does not work. Additionally, the lessons just end. After completing the 100th slide deck for French, the narrator gives you the impression that there would be another lesson using the familiar "If you feel comfortable with this lesson, move on to the next one." Finally, the order of the lessons seems a bit off for my travel needs. We reviewed "Thanks my love. Come sit by me" (Lesson 94) before lessons on interactions at the post office and customs (Lessons 97-100). Also, in the early lessons, background slides were included for verb conjugation and word usage explanation. At or near the middle of the course, this information is abandoned.

The final issues give me the impression that this program was conceived and built just far enough in order to try to get capital funding, however I will admit that this conclusion might be derived from my personal (software) experience. The quantity and the potential are there, but a few rough edges still remain.

What's Love Got to Do with it?

For likely the first time in my life, I was unconcerned about the waiting time for emissions testing. I had the forethought to bring Shantaram and knew it was extremely unlikely that the line could outwait the book.

In the on deck circle (it will soon be that time) is The Way of Qigong: the Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing by Kenneth S. Cohen. My reading order this year has quite frequently been dictated by the timing of another person's reading habits. (The library hold system: I could probably write an entire entry devoted to this if I had a more philosophical background.)

I have also for the first time requested a book to be purchased by the library. (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, book three in the Millennium series - set for release May 2010). As an aside, this was #41 in this recent post by Urbanverse tweeted by a friend which confirmed that I am currently living the life of an unemployed architect, except for the bit about drawing a tree.

As a reminder, book club is next week so you may wish to pick up the pace on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Hint: if you do not have time to finish it, at least familiarize yourself with the photos by Walker Evans and you can speak to these during our discussion.

Finally, in answer to the question posed above: nothing. I have just been on a song title kick lately.

A Crime of Fashion

I made the trek yesterday to the library in the snow uphill one way. (Google pegs this trip to be 1.5 miles each direction, but this story might grow to five miles in the presence of children ten years from now.) It was a bit slower going than I anticipated, and I feel I must acknowledge the driver of the pickup truck for the mini shower that you unexpectedly provided. (My dry cleaner thanks you.)

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I did not have to pay a fine for my day of delinquency thanks to the weather and the kindness of NPL to offer an additional grace period. So as I said goodbye to an unfinished Agee, I also said hello to Gregory David Roberts. One of my yogi friends had recently read Shantaram and suggested I also add the title to my reading list. The author is robber turned fugitive turned free clinic opener in the Bombay slums turned mafioso turned media man. (The only words I have from a five minute peruse of his website are "far out".)

Having temporarily forgotten that I was walking, I decided I should also pick up another title from my book list and found Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckerman on the third floor. This book is quite possibly the antithesis of the aforementioned novel as the author has sketched pieces of her favorite items of clothing and provided a brief description of the memory associated with the item. Incidentally, this book is the inspiration for an off-Broadway show which is running through the end of March if you happen to be in the area of the Apple.

I've Only Just Begun

I have read the first few pages of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, our February read, and am feeling the pressure to devote a bit more time to it as I have only just realized I am working against a January 30th deadline to return the book to the library. The photographs by Walker Evans are incredible. The railed bed, the boots, the corn crib, wooden furniture, and a horse drawn plow are images which invoke a number of childhood memories and send me searching for old black and white photos and a little C & W music.

A Series Matter

For those of you who also like to make bread, here is a little tip I learned several years ago: if you store your flour in large Ziploc bags as I do, do not leave the corner of the bag on a hot stove. You can, however, with this technique create a fairly dramatic "snowstorm" in the kitchen.

I am looking forward to our January meeting.

I will admit that I have deferred Agee's read for The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. This is the second of the trilogy and is quite the contrast to Ms. Child. I have the book in "Large Print" from the local library and, well, it is extremely large. This book seemed a bit more appropriate for a weekend read, and I do like to complete a series once I have begun reading. It is a "finish what you start" kind of thing, and I am quite sure that I learned this lesson from Dad.

hola!

As promised earlier last month, I spent some time perusing Mango, which is available through our library website. Access is granted with your library card and access code, and the portal is easy to navigate. One has the option to create an account in order to save your lesson progress. Current languages offered are: Mandarin, French, German, Italian, and (Latin American) Spanish. In a fairly short time, I was through the first three lessons which are offered in slide format with audio. The technique is a combination of read and repeat with options to replay any statements which are not clear. I was able to set my own pace and quickly move through any slides which I had felt as if already mastered. My preference was to use the keyboard rather than the mouse for more rapid navigation. [Despite the fact that we have been on a French kick lately with book club, I decided to revive my old Spanish language skills.]

Each lesson is around 85 slides, and it appears as though there are around 100 lessons for Spanish on the "in depth" (Complete) option. There is also a Basic alternate if one is traveling soon or has less time to devote to learning. The site also has a dashboard if you are interested in statistics like time spent, lessons learned, etc. [Ahem, math.]

Overall, I think Mango appears to be a very easy and gentle introduction to a language. I plan to keep moving through the lessons so perhaps another update will be due in a few weeks. Hasta luego!

Spanish Tuba

Friday night I was caught in a myriad of holiday event traffic downtown: Rudolf 5K Run, Christmas Parade, events at the Sommet and Ryman, and anyone else who had a craving for a take-out curry. The holidays seemed to be getting in full swing which left me thinking, "What about the tubas?" For several years each December we had a lunch concert of a Tuba Christmas at the downtown Main library and now, with my current schedule, I just might be able to attend. As it turns out, the Merry Tuba Christmas has changed venues and will play December 15 at the First Baptist Church with dual shows at 11 and 12:30.

Despite the change, my visit to our library website in search of a tuba did not leave me disappointed; I learned about Mango (and a selection of Nutcrackers on display but that's just creepy). Our library offers online learning for seven languages and the service has made New York Public Library's "Best of Reference List". I plan to give it a try just for the experience (and the blogging potential).

Why and What

In addition to attending GBC Kim's final defense Friday, I made an excursion to our downtown Main library. I had received an email the day prior that a requested book had become available and was being held for me. When I opened the email, I did not recognize the title and wondered what would have made me wish to read this book. So, I did what anyone would do and (instead of just going to pick up the book), I researched why I had wanted this book.

I checked my handy book spreadsheet and the title was there, but alas, there were no comments. (Note to self: add column for "how I learned about book"). Nearby titles jogged my memory and I was next in search of my travel notebook. Soon, all became clear as the San Francisco Bay! This was among the list of books I had noted while in The Booksmith with my sister last May; as I recall, it was listed as an employee's choice. I had requested it from the library upon my return in June and joined the list of fifteen or so other potential readers and patiently waited through the queue, so patiently in fact, that I had forgotten the book.

So when I arrived Friday, Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein was awaiting my attention near the front of the building. Not satisfied with checking out only one book, I made a trek to the third floor in search of Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. (I also was reminded that a call number that begins with "B" is a biography; I really should use call numbers more frequently so I would remember these types of things.) Finally, I picked up another third floor selection: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Three is a good number.

Since Nudge focuses a bit on our poor choices, I decided to start with Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Books to Music

Tonight Music City USA lives up to its nickname with concerts by both Willie Nelson and Leonard Cohen. GBC members will be in attendance to each event. The Symphony is performing as well so we may have additional Club representation downtown. We do love our music (and our rhinestones).

To echo GBC Paige's email today, Doris Kearns will be speaking at the Main library this Saturday. The talk was billed as "stimulating" so you may not wish to miss.