Here's our boy!

Omigosh, I already sound like one of those mushy cat owners! Our breeder sent us a link to her website, where her webmistress posted photos of the Russian Blue we're adopting.

Go to this webpage if you want to see pictures of our little Ivan (or Miles).

Early-Spring Gardening

I was off on Friday this week (worked Saturday, which was fine except for the first 1/2 hour which was one &$*% thing after another), and the weather was in the 50s so I decided to garden. My inspiration was the good weather and the wonderful carousel of seeds at Whole Foods.

I got two pots full of properly-aged manure ("take it--we've got plenty" is my donkey- and horse-owning landlord's comment) to mix in with last year's slightly depleted soil. I plant in large containers on our second-story back deck (automatic deerproofing, though the aphids still find my cucumbers).

I like to experiment a bit so this year I'm trying bok choy (which goes in early so I planted that right away) and forget-me-nots, which are shade-loving so they went in the corner to keep the parsley company. I had already sowed some chives (which lasted the winter down here in Md.) so everything's in except the basil. the marigolds (to help keep the bugs away--this is an organic container garden) and bush cucumbers (I have to find seeds--they're not easy to hunt down).

Lastly, I chose my least-tippable pot and planted cat grass for our future kitty (see below). Now I'm awaiting the first green shoots!

coming soon: a new member of our family!

No, I'm not pregnant (yet).

Ken and I are adopting a cat. Ken's been wanting another Russian Blue cat for a while, since he had to part ways with his beloved Pushkin (long story). A few weeks ago our landlord's cat passed away. Scott told Ken he didn't want another cat (Midnite is irreplaceable in his heart) but "you could get one."

Ken got on the Internet and began searching out breeders. It just so happened that a breeder in Massachusetts was retiring from breeding and was looking for homes for her young-adult cats for the cost of the cat's vet bills, spaying/neutering and a microchip implant (required for all purebred Russian Blues and not a plot for the NSA to listen in our snarky political comments.)
(In case you're a Russian Blue fancier, all the kitties have been spoken for.)

We have gone through an extensive email-interview process (good preparation if we end up adopting a human) about us, our home and our feelings about cats. Becky has chosen a cat for us--a one-year-old male (neutered last week) who charmed the entire vet staff "once he realized they weren't going to eat him." (No, just stick him with needles and snip off his family jewels....)

We are going to pick up the boy the day after Mother's Day. We plan to be in New Jersey that weekend for the NJ Folk Project Festival, so making the trip then will cut 4 hours off our trip waaaay over to MA.

Ken has a tentative name for the cat, if his personality fits once we meet him: Ivan.
"Ivan Vorcatril!" I exclaimed.
"If he's hyper, well call him Miles," Ken added
This will make sense to you only if you've read Lois McMaster Bujold's "Miles Vorkisigan" stories. You really should, you know.

We've been promised a picture, which I'll post if I get an okay from the the breeder.

I'm sure Ivan (or whatever we end up calling him) will make frequent appearances on this blog!

oh, no! more random thoughts

Yesterday I walked past the nonfiction section where someone had left out a copy of the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I swear I thought it said "The Power of Positive Drinking."

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Driving home from my chiropractor I saw a commercial truck for "Uncle Ralph's Not-Yet-Famous Cookies."

My dad could start a breakfast cafe called "Uncle Ralph's Not-Yet-Famous Waffles."

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Our smoke alarm went off when I simply opened the (pre-heated) oven door to put in my pizza for lunch. I told the darn thing it was over-sensitive--just like me.
I anthropomorphize inanimate objects like crazy, especially computers. I also like to use big intellectual words.

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I'm going to try a second blog, on LiveJournal. I'd set up a LiveJournal account, as I think I'd mentioned, to get into an anime/manga community. I'll try blogging on my LiveJournal to see how I like its features, and refer you over if I decide to swap over.

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I'm debating letting my hair grow. Also temporarily dyeing it screaming burgundy. Maybe one, then the other


------
time to get the pizza and eat up, then go to work--it's Anime/Manga Club Day!!

I picked up the latest copy of Newsweek...

...and learned some interesting things.

1. Low-rise jeans are going out of style! Hallelujah! The darned things make your waist look wider, which only 14-year-old girls of slim proportions can afford. And whoever thought the "plumber-butt" look was a good idea??

2. There is now a Lord of the Rings musical. It doesn't sound too bad--they spend more time in Lothlorien (yay!) and axed Denethor and Faramir (I'm more ambivalent about that). You'll have to go to Toronto to see it, though. In the meantime, I've got the new Howl's Moving Castle DVD to devour!

"what are you feeding me?"

Yesterday I realized I needed to do something to finish off the apples that have been in the crisper since late January and the whole-berry cranberry sauce from the weekend. I decided to make apple-cranberry compote, just like the stuff in my favorite Healthy Choice frozen dinner. After we had our ham and green beans for dinner, I asked Ken if he wanted some compote for dessert.

"Compost?" he asked.

"Compote. Apple-Cranbery compote."

I do the cooking, since I like it more than Ken does, and as far as I know his actual cooking skills are limited to pancakes and Welsh Cakes (the latter make up for his general culinary slothfulness, belive me!) Besides, my range of dietary restrictions make anyone else's attempts to fix a meal I can eat problematic. Add to these factors that I grocery-shop mostly in health food stores and can't leave an established recipe alone, and dinner time gets interesting.

A couple of months ago, I made baked acorn squash. Ripe acorn squash is deep green and needs to spend about an hour in the oven to get to the point where you can cut it, let alone get it fully cooked. I put half an acorn squash on Ken's plate one night. His response was, "What's this black thing you're feeding me?"

On the other hand, Ken has introduced me to edamame in the shell. So easy to cook--throw the pods in a pot of boiling water with a bunch of sea salt for five minutes and you have a yummy and fun-to-eat vegetable. Just pop the edamame beans right out of the shells into your mouth! Definitely kid-friendly (unless they're allergic to soy). Ken has also introduced me to onagi (eel) sushi. Yum! I don't make that at home though. Yet, anyway.

Totally unrelated but dangerous...Amazon.com was really out to get my money this week. They sent me an alert that I could pre-order the next volume of one of my manga at 33% off. I got in to shop around for another treat so I could get Super Saver free shipping and learned that you can save on the cover price by pre-ordering books! So now I've blown $40, all on manga and graphic novels.

Jazz in the afternoon

Ken and I acquired free tickets to go to the Meyerhoff (Baltimore's symphony hall) to hear the Duke Ellington Orchestra, jazz trumpeter/singer Byron Stripling, and jazz singer Patti Austin. We went into the city via light rail: it's cheaper than parking a car in the city, less stressful than driving, and better for the environment. What's not to like? Well, we got to the station and promptly experienced massive ticket-machine failures: two of the three beasts--I mean machines--would cough up only weekly passes and the remaining one had a long line because the circus was in town (see my "Madam Chairperson" blog below) Besides that, it was out of change so if your tickets weren't in whole dollars you'd just made an extra donation to the Maryland MTA (which I doubt would use the cash to improve ticket-machine servicing!)
Anyway, we bought tickets for a cool even $7 and a few minutes before our train arrived. The light-rail gods were finally smiling our way!


Speaking of trains, the Duke Ellington Orchestra (17 fine musicians including the leader, the Duke's grandson Paul) started off with "Take the 'A' Train." Talk about a a crowd pleaser! These guys played classic big-band-style jazz with excellent musicianship. The sax soloists impressed the heck out of me (former appalingly bad clarinetist) with their fast fingers and one of the trumpet players was clearly using circular breathing (according to my former-cornet-playing spouse) for one smoooooth loooooooooooooong note!

Byron was a great trumpet player and singer--and showman. He came out, introduced Patti before they did a duet, and since Paul had intro'd his band Byron said, "No one's introduced me, so I'll introduce myself--I'm Wynton Marsalis." Nice try, dude. No, he wasn't Wynton (whom I had the pleasure of hearing at Rutgers--OMG how fantastic) but he was great nonetheless. Byron's portion of the show was a tribute to Louis Armstrong, complete with anecdotes of his life, such as how he declined a fancy mansion to stay in his little house in Queens and continue buying ice cream for the neighborhood kids. Can't remember all the tunes he did, but his trumpet work rocked (jazzed) and he did one heck of a powerful "St. James Infirmary Blues"! Byron got us all singing "hey baby" along with him on one song--we needed lots of coaching to get the proper swing to it.

Miss Patti Austin did a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, again with anecdotes, plus her "girl singer" theory that girl singers don't do well with marriages because they get to get all dolled up, go out on stage and be the center of attention all the time--just like a bride. So who needs a man? (Well, she admitted she did--but it was a fun theory, and she did have a wonderful swishy long black gown on!)

The songs--oh, she did a wonderfully styled "Miss Otis Regrets," and a fun "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" (Mom and Dad, do you remember seeing the video clip of Ella herself doing that at the Museum of American History when we were there a couple of years ago?)

So anyway, an excellent musical afternoon, and the light-rail gods smiled on us again as our train arrived about two minutes after we got to the station.

Today I'm sick at home--just a minor respiratory infection--so if there's any typos it's because my energy and higher brain functions cut out when I'm sick (good reason to not be at work messing up search commands and having to ask patrons to repeat their question multiple times as I start falling asleep at the desk...)

Pictures!

Time for some photos...

The photo below and to the left is my beloved husband in his studly National Park Service uniform complete with Smokey the Bear hat. He looks serious because he had to get up at 6am on Saturday to drive into Washington DC to record an event celebrating the purchase of the forthcoming Carter G. Woodson National Historic Site and make political nicey-nice. Actually, Ken didn't have to do much of the latter, that was his boss' job. Note Ken's classy, sexy "now that I'm married and on vacation on my honeymoon I think I'll stop shaving--ooh, she likes it!" beard.

The squirrel in my bathroom was getting dusty so I washed him and brushed him off with an old toothbrush to get rid of the dust. Why do I have a lawn ornament (albeit a very classy one) in my bathroom, you ask? He was a hostess gift from my best friend, in commemoration of the day I found a squirrel in my toilet. (If you haven't heard the story, let me know, I'll give you all the lurid details.)

My friend Stasa may be getting Curly Girl assimilated, but poor old me, I keep trying new (short) hairstyles and ending up, well, less than curly. This week my hair, which has a definite mind of its own (and is much more self-assured and stubborn than I am)decided to go punk. I didn't do this when punk was hot and I had the excuse of being in my teens!


OK, that's not me, that's another shot of the squirrel!

It was just so funny I had to leave it. Here I am in my quasi-punk mode (photo by Ken):

blog entry on blogs (and other fun 21st century technology)

Well now I've done it. I'm also registered on LiveJournal (another blog service). I did this to join an anime/manga online community. So now I have a second blog (as yet untouched) and identity. The first community I joined this month, on Questionable Content, is basically a "post-your-opinion on the webcomic and related subjects" deal. Everyone else has an avatar/icon (little pictures that express something about your personality and/or interests, sort of like having your photo up there next to your comments so people can "see" you as you "talk" with them.) I want one but up until a couple of days ago I had no clue of how to get one for myself.

Then I started surfing around anime/manga web communities and, boy, this gets complex. People not only have avatars/icons, they make them (and some kind people have posted tutorials!), they post screen captures of scenes they like from the anime, they put together banners, skins (what the heck are skins? I still can't figure it out, though I think they are design elements around one's browser window*), wallpaper, and other cool graphical goodies for one's website, blog comments, etc.

[*Ken read this and tells me I'm right about skins. W00t! I am more l33t than I thought!]

Wallpaper I know about--I used to download book covers from our book-wholesaling database when I worked at Baker and Taylor and use them as wallpaper instead of the lame ones Microsoft offers. Why have "basketweave" when you can have the cover of the latest Lois McMaster Bujold novel, or one of O'Reilly's wonderful scary creatures on a "Windows Annoyances" book cover. (I used to put those up when we were having tech problems--humor and smarty-pants use of tehcnology are excellent stress reducers!) Mostly I've been using photos I've taken myself on my PC at home.

Online communities have a long history (by Internet standards). Usenet, Listserv, and other newsgroups and mailing lists have been around since the early days. I remember my excitement at discovering Usenet had multiple science fiction and fantasy groups (rec.arts.babylon5..., etc)

Many online communities, such as the Well, one of the very first from 1985 (shortly after I had my first email account as an undergraduate) were virtual communities in the sharing and emotional-support sense. When I was in grad school in the mid-90s and for a short while afterward I was part of Vatican2, a wonderful liberal-Catholic listserv. We discussed and argued over everything from euthanasia to sexual morality to bragging over the wonderful Good Friday liturgies at our respective parishes. People shared about grad-school struggles, illnesses, and deaths and received concerned messages (my favorite was from the person who ended with, "Death is when a candle is blown out because the dawn has come.") In those days practically the only graphics one saw were ASCII art. I sent long-stemmed roses to a young music-ministry friend with a concussion: @--v----- (I've forgotten exactly how to do it...)

Anyway, we've come a long way. If you're still struggling with setting up a sig on your email and sending photos, don't worry. Enjoy what you have. This fancy tech is quite the time-eater and I suspect much of the fancier stuff is by high school and college students who don't get much sleep (and live on fast food and cola) and geeks who don't have a social life outside the 'net (or gave up TV, which is how I have the time to explore this stuff) and live on pretty much the same diet. Cooking takes up time that can be spent blogging or creating icons or making anime music videos!

Which reminds me, I was going to go grocery shopping...

I'll just add that I switched my commenting options to allow non-members, which I think means you can post a comment without having to join Blogger. Try it! (or just email me or call me...)

Beauty

Just a couple of things I've found on the Net (well, Ken actually found the first one).

Incredibly intricate and wonderful ukelele music (the song: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by the immortal George Harrison)

The art on the right-hand side of this webpage is one of the most heartrendingly lovely pieces of manga art I've ever seen. This is a fansite for Loveless, one of my favorite new manga (there's also anime). It's an excellent illustration of one reason people become manga and anime fans (it's also an exquisite example of shonen ai artwork).

random thoughts

I'll post a more impressive blog tonight but I'm falling asleep at lunchtime at work and thought a blog posting would liven me up. I know I should go for a run around the block instead, as Annette suggested. Too lazy, too much in love with technology. Ah well.

Things I couldn't care less about:

March Madness

95% of the people featured in People magazine

NASCAR



Things of vital, or at least substantial importance:

DVDs of Howl's Moving Castle came into the library this week!!

Are either of our houseplants toxic to cats? (More on why that is important later.) We have a philodendron and some two-tone thing that grows delicate little white flowers on spikes when I cut it back like crazy.

Spring is coming! Daffodils are here! Mary put a big red-and-white pitcher of them on the Information Desk. I blew $10 on herb, flower and bok choy seeds at Whole Foods yesterday

Lois McMaster Bujold doesn't have anything far along in the pipeline that I know of. 8-(

On the other hand, Vol. 2 of Loveless is coming out in June.


In other news...
this afternoon I was in the back room at work troubleshooting a problem we've been having with the check-in part of our cataloging system, trying to re-create the problem. Suddenly my coworkers heard me shout: "Dammit, it's working!"

...and how was your day, Madam Foreperson?

For those of you who don't know, I was selected to be on a Federal Grand Jury for the District of Maryland . This means that potentially every Tuesday from this past January through the following 18 months, I am called to sit on a grand jury. A grand jury decides whether a case has sufficient evidence to go to trial, as opposed to the more familiar trial jury where the jury decides on the actual verdict. Less pressure for us, but we usually end up spending more time, and on a large number of cases instead of just one. Since ours is federal we get tax fraud, interstate gun crimes, stuff like that. The first day, the judge called five of us up, told us about the foreperson and deputy foreperson jobs, and asked if anyone wanted to be eliminated from consideration. I was the only one who didn't back away in horror at the thought of being foreperson, so I got the job. It's mostly organizational--pick up the paperwork, check on who's there and who was excused for the day, and other fun stuff. It's a lot like being Sunday Supervisor at the library except I don't have to calm down angry patrons or deal with overflowing toilets.

I can't say what happens because of confidentiality but, well, for instance, today...

I took the light rail in (why does anyone drive into a big city? Let someone else drive, pay less for light rail than for parking, and get in a little reading along the way?). Since we've had some sunny warm weather, the daffodils were blooming, and I even walked under a pear tree in bloom! Lovely! Bawlm'r* can be pretty on a sunny early spring day, and I even get to see the Bromo-Seltzer tower on my way to the courthouse! I developed a fondness for the tower when I first visited Charm City for the World Science Fiction Convention in 1998. The tower has a cobalt-blue light, and I have a thing about both cool historic architecture and the color cobalt blue...

As usual, I forgot to leave my little Leatherman swiss-army-type knife at home, so I had to turn it in at the front desk of the Federal court house to be called for when I left for the day. The security guards have fun teasing me about this huge (2 1/2 in.) dangerous (cobalt blue, a knife with all the power of a bargain-bin butterknife) weapon.

We had two cases, which of course I can't tell you about, but the second attorney's shirt did not go with his suit. Very nice man, though. We got to go to court to hand in a decision to the judge today (I decided against letting him know about the shirt/suit thing while we waited) so I could hand in a decision we'd made. The judge called me "Madam Foreperson!" Cool!

At lunchtime a fellow juror noticed there were elephants across the way! (The circus is in town and we're cati-corner from the arena.) So we went out to see the elephants-- four big floppy-eared well-behaved creatures, behind fences with attendants nearby. We enjoyed the sun and the view and so did they.

We finished around 3pm so I headed back and stopped by Twilite Zone Comics for work-related business. Really. I was not using this as an excuse (well, not much). I picked up gift certificates for the winners of our "name the mini-con contest" at the library as well as two huge boxes of manga magazines and other goodies for our anime/manga club and the next mini-con. When I mentioned to Sarah (our wonderful acquirer of goodies/drawing-workshop assistant for the mini-cons as well as a fine comic book store staffer) that I was going to a workshop where we would talk about manga for younger kids, she had tons of suggestions. Very helpful for the workshop and another one I'm doing as well (I'm the semi-official manga/anime expert in the county library system, though my co-mini-con chair Don is rapidly getting up to speed). Then of course I had to check out a few things for myself... I bought only one manga,
Yotsuba&!--a really cute one about a charming and odd little girl.

Since it was too late to head back to work, I also stopped by a rarely-open herb store and picked up some raspberry leaves for tea (good for just about any "woman problems" except maybe for menopause) and fennel seeds. (Wait till Ken finds out I want him to try them!)

Then, on to my former library branch to pick up a container with half a slice of fake-cheese pizza I'd forgotten after working there Sunday before last. It was great seeing my former coworkers and collecting hugs, and chatting about fun work-related stuff (storytimes, my manga/anime stuff) with my friend Suzanne.

Finally, home to make some cards (Ken and David have birthdays in the next month, and Tom needs a card too!). And to blog, of course!

I think it's dinner time now...

*a common local pronunciation of "Baltimore" (an alternative is "Bawl-tee-more"--depends on where you grew up and possibly your age. Stasa would know more than I do, wouldn't you, hon?)

Blessed are the peacemakers

I posted that bit of silliness Saturday because I didn't feel ready to deal with two far more serious events this week.

Last Thursday night I went to hear Medea Benjamin, cofounder of Code Pink, and Eman Ahmad Khamas, an Iraqi journalist from Baghdad, speak on US involvement in the war in Iraq. Code Pink is committed to nonviolent protests and petitions for peace. Medea started with the story of how she and three other women went to the US embassy to the UN a couple of days before to present a petition to end US military involvement (she believes in the US continuing reconstruction). They were not permitted to even go into the office, and no one in the embassy would come to accept the petition. She asked the security guard if he could deliver it. He went up to ask, and came back to say he could not, and the police had been called. Yes, the four women were arrested and held for 22 hours. Apparently our government is threatened by four unarmed American women with a known nonviolent organization with a piece of paper. I've heard stories like this before, but on the news. This was straight from a participant.

Eman spoke mostly of corruption--so much reconstruction money has disappeared, and so little reconstruction is being done--and even more about the people who have been arrested with no trace left of them, and no record of where they are or what happened to them. One US general offered to bring her some records--he didn't arrive at their meeting time and place and was transferred out of Iraq soon afterward.

What impressed me the most about Medea was her manner, especially her pleasant manner toward a group who came to refute what they termed her lies. She and Eman both answered them calmly and as fully as they could. I had gone to learn ways to "prevent the next war"-- a subtitle of the talk--and learned something just as important: treat those who oppose you not only with politeness but with friendliness and respect, while speaking your own truth. Moved by her example, I went to speak with "the opposition" and got the URL for their website (I like to get both sides of the story and check both sides' sources for reliability). Then I spoke with Medea for a moment (Eman was busily conversing with two other people already). I loaned her a pen so she could write information for a young woman talking with her. Many students attended for a class, and had detailed questions--one could hear their minds working as they formed their questions.

Saturday, the day I posted my previous post, I was at work showing a colleague how to get to the BBC international news site, which I find to be a good source for international news. There on the homepage was the announcement that Tom Fox, the US and Quaker member of the Christian Peacemaker Team abducted late last year, was found dead in Baghdad. I hadn't held much hope that they all would be returned safely, even though many groups one would expect to be sympathetic to their abductors (such as Hamas) were asking for the CPT members' release. They were in Iraq primarily to work on behalf of detainees who were being mistreated. In Tom's own words, "We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."

Tom Fox's Quaker ministry before his CPT involvement was mostly with the Young Friends. He was a Friendly Adult Presence (that's Quaker for "chaperone") at many Quaker youth events locally and nationally. One of the young women I met on retreat (see my previous blog "Noisy Quaker Women...") recalled him coming to pick up young people for an event wearing a screaming-yellow shirt. The Sunday Washington Post interview with members of his meeting (Langley Hills Friends Meeting) concluded with young Sean Wilner recalling another teen asking Tom why he was going back to Iraq. He replied "there were plenty of people out there willing to die for war but few willing to die for peace."

Someone at our meeting Sunday reminded us that while we were calling Tom Fox a hero and a martyr we also needed to remember he was a human being. As we are all human beings. Any of us can choose to die--or live--for peace. It can be as simple--and as hard-- as being friendly and respectful to "the opposition," whoever we believe they are.

A blog entry on blogs

One of my favorite webcomics is about blogs today...

8-)

OK, shonen ai

By popular demand (Amy was interested, and that's enough encouragement for me), here's an explanation of shonen ai.

Shonen ai is a subgenre of, or an element in, anime (Japanese animation) and manga A(Japanese graphic novels). The phrase literally means "boy love" and refers to a romantic relationship (not always sexual) between two males, usually in their late teens or early 20s. Keep in mind that in Japan, anime and manga are not "kids' stuff as comics and cartoons have been in the US--they've always been for adults and as such range from PG to XXX. Dave Barry commented that one can see businessmen on the Tokyo subway reading graphic novels featuring nudity and sexual situations

There's a similar term "yaoi" which is an acronym I won't go into because I forget what exactly it means. If you want details from the experts,
here's definitions from one of the primary websites on shonen ai/yaoi. I'd rate the page PG-13, except for the ones on "uke" and "seme," which I'd rate R. (Mom, you should probaby stop reading this post at this point...)

Here in the US "shonen ai" usually refers to the "milder" stories, usually angst-ridden stories of very beautiful young men falling for each other or at least having a quasi-sexual element to their relationship (Loveless is a great example of this, in both senses of the word!). Sometimes the characters actually consummate their relationship but the art/description are comparable to books on similar themes for older teens such as Rainbow Boys. Yaoi has come to mean more explicit stuff--yaoi manga usually has "18 and over" on the cover and is sold shrinkwrapped in Borders. Think of it as the difference between Cosmo and Playgirl.

How do I know about shonen ai? Hmmm ;-} Yes, I've read some. What's the attraction? In the book The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, longtime anime expert Helen McCarthy speculates that since Japanese women, traditionally constrained to submissive, constrained lives that seeing men held helpless in love (there's that angst thing again--the relationships are often hidden, forbidden and/or problematic in other ways such as the ambivalence of one partner--Yuki is *so mean* to Shuiichi in Gravitation!) My theory (and the reasons I take an interest in the stuff) is that it's a combination of the "attraction of the alien" (two men), the fascination many people have with "forbidden" sexuality, and the intensity of the relationships (we're talking major angst and passion here!) If I'm right, my reasons would also explain the fascination many teenage girls have with the subgenre--many teens value and crave intensity, and the type of "outsider" teens who tend to like manga and anime are fascinated with anything alien and different. Besides, it's countercultural. Their moms would freak! (the ones who aren't already addicted to shonen ai/yaoi themselves, that is!)

I need to explain all this when I do a "Manga 101" workshop for adults at work, so I'd be happy to read/hear any of your comments and further questions to gauge what I should say (and not say) in May!


Beth

"Sniffles and Snuggles" or Beth and the Seven Toddlers

Wednesday I did my first on-my-own storytime, at 9:30am, so we got preschoolers--mostly 2-year-olds. We had seven preschoolers, seven moms/grandmas/babysitters, and two infants along for the trip. My theme was "Sniffles and Snuggles--getting sick and getting better." I was well prepared except I had forgotten cushions for everyone to sit on. So I hunted around, got out a bunch, and went for more. Of course one of the little girls had to have a blue cushion because Natalie had (the only) one. Her mom was offering her green or red when I brought out another stack of cushions--including blue ones. Problem solved! They enjoyed the stories and songs:
"How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?" "Three Little Monkeys" ("Three little monkeys jumping on the bed...one fell off and bumped his head!") "Ah-Choo!" (everyone got a tissue to sneeze into whenever the girl in the story sneezed--got in a bit of public-health education there!), a cool new twist on the "Miss Lucy had a Baby" song, where the Lady with the Alligator Purse prescribes--PIZZA!" ...... and one (I forget the title) where all sorts of animals get cute, fairly minor injuries ("Poor Harry the Hamster! He caught his whiskers in his exercise wheel!").

Of course, one or two little ones had to wander up and get right in front of the book, so I moved the book around so everyone could see at each spread. Nicholas (or was it Cory? one of our two boys anyway) was particularly enamored of the concept of an "alligator purse." There was also some fussiness but that's cool storytime so Mom just drew back the little girl back a bit till she calmed down.

Then little Hannah came up to me and said "I want to dance with you!"
Beth: "What dance do you want to do?"
Hannah: "(unintelligible toddlerese)" followed by jumping up and down
Beth: How about we all do the Hokey Pokey?
Hannah: "Okey Pokey! Okey Pokey!"

Now I know with preschoolers to put in some major movement right in the middle so they can give their wiggles and noises full reign for a bit!

They had fun with their craft--pasting and coloring to make a get-well card. (Corey most enjoyed peeling the paper words back off the card, but as I said to his mom, "having fun is the point of the craft")

So, a good time was had by all, including me!

Sometimes I think I'd be happier at a college library (especially if I don't have heavy supervisory duties) but I do love working with the kids!

Kawaii! Our mini-con is a success!

Last Saturday my colleague Don and I hosted an anime and manga mini-convention at "his" library. The preteens, teens and adults who attended (including us) all had a great time!
We had two webcomic artist/writers who are into anime do a drawing workshop. Then two master costumers presented ways to make cheap and easy costumes ("duct tape is your friend"). These talented ladies were also judges for our costume contest. Then we saw a TV episode:
Irresponsible Captain Tylor: The Rules of Being 16 and talked and talked about favorite anime and manga (I heard at least 5 titles I'd never heard of.

And

we made it into the Baltimore Sun!


It's a pity the Sun didn't include the pictures--some of the costumes were excellent, and the photos of the teens and preteens really captured their interest and involvement.

In two months, we do another mini-con here.