Mighty Fine Story

Resolutions Kept

2010-04-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that Cathy and I fulfilled our plans to hike the Maryland section of the Appalachian Trail. I know that 41 miles is a drop in the bucket when you consider that the entire trail is over 2,000 miles, but this was a big accomplishment for us. We planned and practiced and hiked local trails but now we realize that our 41 mile hike was the real shakedown for future section hiking. The portion of the trail we did starts out easily enough but then there's a long steep, stoney climb. The Cowell Shelter never looks so good! We pitched our tent on one of the tent pads provided and rested up for a second day of tough climbing and knee challenging descent. We ate lunch at Pogo and forged on to Annapolis Rocks. We had not planned to spend the night there but we were fairly whipped by the time we arrived and it felt so good to unload our packs. We were able to walk around the whole campground and see the beautiful views. We decided to risk a reprimand and pitched our tent on the Caretaker's wooden camp pad. This was the only campsite with a pad and also the only one with a picnic table. Annapolis Rocks is easily accessible to day hikers and dog walkers so we saw quite a few people as we sat at the picnic table. Everyone was so friendly and polite and then one young man asked us if we liked being caretakers!

Snow-magedden

2010-02-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

The impending snow makes my work space seem cave-like. It brings on that hunkered down feeling. It seems like this year, the forecasters have rarely erred in their predictions and last week, the light dusting was several inches. So it would seem that the predictions err on the side of more snow this year. Yesterday I shoveled for 2 1/2 hours and then contemplated what it would be like to undergo surgery for torn rotator cuffs on both arms. This made me put my shovel DOWN. We are at a point where there is no where left to put the snow. Have you seen the movie, The Day After Tomorrow?

''After viewing her calendar for the week she went ahead and pre medicated''

2009-11-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

A quote from the Mast General Store in Asheville.
If you are ever in Asheville, make sure to stop in. Great store - anything you could ever need. Visit on-line in a pinch. I bought the best socks there!!!

Recovered Memories

2009-10-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a site that highlights old Philadelphia TV shows. Don't know why I remembered this - what triggered it but I am waxing nostalgic over Chief Halftown and Sally Starr.

This site is a wealth of info about old local shows - Bertie the Bunyip and his nemisis Sir Guy De Guy (I loved that name)and wonder if he is the beginning of my facination with names like Tom Thompson and John Johnson.

http://www.tvparty.com/losthalftown.html

REV. ROBERT JONES

2009-10-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

I can't say enough about the National Storytelling Festival. It has been a part of my life for the past 27 years and every year includes storytellers and musicians who touch me with their talent, insights, great stories. Rev. Jones is one such person.

Here's a write-up from the Swannanoa Gathering site that gives a good description:

REV. ROBERT JONES
Robert B. Jones has more than twenty years of experience as a performer, musician, storyteller, radio producer/host and music educator. He has opened for and played with some of the finest musicians in the world, including BB King, Bonnie Raitt, Pinetop Perkins, Willie Dixon, John Hammond, Keb Mo’, Jorma Kaukonen, Howard Armstrong, Chris Smither, Guy Davis and many more. Born in Detroit, of a father from West Pointe, Mississippi and a mother from Conecuh County, Alabama, Robert grew up in a very Southern household. By age 17, Robert had already amassed a record collection of early blues and begun to teach himself guitar and harmonica, and by his mid-twenties Robert was hosting an award-winning radio show on WDET-FM, Detroit called Blues From The Lowlands. Influenced by legendary bluesman Willie Dixon, Robert developed an educational program called, Blues For Schools, which took him into classrooms all over the country, and for the next 15 years Robert polished his craft as a performer and a music educator. Answering a call to the ministry, Robert began to study under Rev. James Robinson, Sr. at the Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, and upon Robinson’s death, Robert was called by the church to become its next pastor. He reshaped his Blues For Schools program into American Roots Music In Education (ARMIE), a program that could encompass a wider variety of music including spirituals, gospel and folk songs, and returned to performing in 2006. Especially influenced by sacred musicians such as Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie Johnson, Rev. Dan Smith, Joshua White, Blind Connie Williams and Rev. Robert Wilkins, Rev. Jones now performs solo, with his good friend Matt Watroba, or with his wife of twenty years, Sister Bernice Jones, presenting “Holy Blues” to new audiences. Rev. Jones has also returned to radio as the host and producer of Deep River, a program of spirituals and gospel, which airs Sundays on WDET in Detroit.

Long Time

2009-10-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so long away from a post: The summer came and went. Plans were made and quickly changed as circumstances dictated.
- The BCMA went to Beach Haven, NJ for a fantastic week end. We posted our photos on Shutterfly.
- Our trip to Vermont was postponed indefinitely as we went instead to the Little League's Eastern Regional Senior Girls Softball Tournament. Hannah's team became State Champs and did well in Massachusetts. they were 2 and 1 but did not advance because of the need to use the point system. Great time, though.
- Cathy and I have been walking in the Susquehanna State Park and in downtown Havre de Grace. We're in training for the AT. We hiked a bit near the Nolichucky River in Erwin, TN and also in the Shenandoah National Park in VA. these hikes sandwiched our annual trek to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. what a wonderful event. Such great storytellers this year. This is something I look forward to every year and each year I anticipate earlier and earlier. I start thinking about it in mid July. The past few years we have been able to stay later and travel back on a Monday. This has been great but this year we got the bright idea to also take off an extra day before and what a difference that has made. The 8 hour drive doesn't seem so bad now. We kept commenting with surprize that we didn't feel so tired. We will definitely do this from now on. We have one more year to take both the day before and after and then the calendar shifts and we will have to be back the Monday after to attend our staff in-service day but we will definitely continue to take the extra day ahead of time.

A Book List for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford

2009-06-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

Halfway to the Sky Bradley Middle School Fiction- runaway teen hikes the AT
Walk in the Woods Bryson Classic yellow blazer tale; lol
On the Beaten Path Rubin Lots of info, grumpy middle aged man
Journey North Hall Young love on the AT
In Beauty May She Walk Mass Inspirational story of a 60 year old woman's hike
White Blaze Fever Schuette For purists
The Appalachian Trail: How to Prepare for and Hike It Curran
Backpack Gourmet: Good Hot Grub..good recipes

Worry

2009-05-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

is like a rocking chair-
It keeps you busy but gets you no where.

heard on WRNR

I like to see who is next door and up and down the block

2009-04-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Ever gone to the next blog? and the next and the next and the next?

look for Creativeeveryday.

Clean up, Clean up

2009-04-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

I hate digital photography. It is so easy to take pictures but then you have to figure out what to do with them. No longer do the photographs sit in evelopes distinguished only by the date they were submitted for development; no, now they sit on a chip in the camera - so I can use the camera as a viewer, or they are transferred to a CD - I'm worried about when that technology will fade - or they are printed out and sit in Ritz boxes, or on a memory stick to make it easier to take to Walgreens or some such place in the distant future , uploaded to Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, or worst of all - on my work computer. I swear, Gia, I am cleaning them off!

Random Photos

2009-04-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Obama Train

2009-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

How thrilling for President Obama to almost stop in Edgewood the Saturday before his inaugeration!

This photo was sent out by Art Helton.

Torn

2009-01-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

I now have a Face Book page and I am torn between use of my blog, Face Book and e-mail. For communication, I still prefer e-mail and speaking on a phone. Texting is handy but I hate having to get out the 1.5 Reading Glasses.
For now, I am experimenting with Face Book but I am still trying to maintain my blog.

I still can't believe it!

2008-11-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

2008-11-06T13:38:00.001-08:00

Considering a merge

2008-11-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

My Daughter is a Wildly Famous Recording Artist Now

2008-11-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

I like the songs about Michael Phelps and Jay Karolenko best and find myself adding more to the letter B.

So Excited !

2008-11-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

Election Day - and there is so much to hope for. Jim worked the polls this morning and I plan to do so after work.
Vote!
(For Obama)

Cathy's Attempts to Help Me With Ceramics Class

2008-09-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

FYI,

The Today Show featured "Top 5 Websites" which were very interesting.

Here is a FREE site - How to's on video:

www.expertvillage.com - how to site on how to...play the sitar to care of hermit crabs to gravel roads to body wraps and more.

Give this one a try! I highly recommend that this be added to our site.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/23100_pottery-making-advanced-prep-wheel.htm

How pitiful to have not posted for so long

2008-09-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

What have I been doing lo these many months? Work, Summer Reading Program - Very Ladybug-like, Cooking up a Storm, then off to France for two weeks with a side trip to Spain and then back to Build Your Own Fairy House and then prep for the new school year. We hosted a Spanish Exchange student for three weeks and Cathy and I are taking a ceramic class - throwing on the wheel. Next week we are off to Jonesborough, TN for the National Storytelling Festival.

All of these topics ought to have a separate entry but for now this will have to do.

Happy Fall.

I Write Things Down...

2008-06-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

on scraps of paper, envelopes, post-its and I find them at random times and sometimes I can barely remember why the quote appealed to me and what I was thinking at the time that I felt compelled to scribble it down while driving on I 95 or cleaning or walking the track...

Here are a few examples:

Are you an IDIOT?
No, sir, I'm a dreamer.
-Scrubs

Small dog licking your face
-B. Dylan

Stupid's supposed to hurt
-Kid in the library who's friend fell off skateboard

i been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
and bendin over backwards just to try to see it clearer
my breath fogged up the glass
so i drew a new face and laughed
i guess what i'm sayin is there ain't no better reason
to rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons

-Jason Mraz

For the cake lovers out there

2008-06-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Public Library Association (PLA) recently held a conference called Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community, a unique, online professional development opportunity for public librarians, trustees and library supporters. At that event they had a most appropriate cake made on the Food Network's Ace of Cakes program.

Is the end ever in sight?

2008-04-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our house project is almost complete. The addition is beautiful and needs only a few little tweaks. It's a little too soon to re-grade the lawn, so Marvel tore down the garage and we will soon have a new one in a slightly different location. Maggie needn't worry that her new best bud and lunch-time companion will be gone soon.

Spring Break in NYC

2008-04-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had a whirlwind tour of New York City. Hannah and I have been there several times but it has been years since Reene or I visited a NYC museum and Hannah has never gone to any in New York. This was Rachel's first trip to the Big Apple. So we bought the City Pass and managed to visit five of the six attractions: The Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Empire State Building and we took the circle Line cruise around the Statue of Liberty. Add to that, Greenwich Village, Rockefeller Center, Ground Zero, Saint Peter's, Times Square, and Young Frankenstein.

Letterpop

2008-03-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

I experimented with Letterpop. It was easy to upload my photos and to work with the stock photos. There's a wonderful assortment of templates from which to choose. These are divided into catagories such as holidays, birthdays, journals, etc.

Here's the message that comes up after you have e-mailed your newsletter:

Yay! Wasn't that easy?
Your newsletter has been queued for sending. What does that mean, exactly? It means that your newsletter will be sent as quickly as possible, if not at this precise moment. It depends on how much mail is being sent right now but usually newsletters are delivered very quickly. You will receive a confirmation email as soon as it has been sent.

What next?
Well, you could send another one, of course. Or you could turn off the computer, put your feet up, and bask in the glory of all the time you just saved.

Whatever you do next, we hope it's something that makes you happy.

http://www.letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=82206-01b03e

Thing 25: Newsletters in a Pop!

2008-03-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

The first thing one must do to use this is to register. It is free and very easy to use. But you can't try it out without signing up. I created an Easter newsletter/invitation but I will be working on another newsletter to post here.
Stay tuned.

Waiting for conversion...

2008-03-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

I quickly typed a short document to experiment with Zamzar free online conversion. It loaded quickly but now I must wait for them to send me an e-mail. After that, I will have 24 hours in which to complete the download of my newly created PDF file.

I haven't had any reason to convert files but I can see that this would be useful if I needed to send files out to people who required a different format or if I dealt with HTML files regularly.

The process was incredibly easy and took only minutes to complete. Hopefully the outcome will be as successful.

Learning 2.1 - 24 - 47

2008-03-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Just in time - I feel like I am getting rusty. Some of the things I once felt comfortable doing, I know longer do. I hope to try some of the new things while brushing off the older ones.
I found this list at http://explorediscoverplay.blogspot.com

Learning 2.1: A Master List of Things

Here is a master list* of discovery explorations for Learning 2.1:

47. For the Musically Inclined: JamStudio
46. Updates
45. Go With the Flow: Flowcharts & Mindmaps
44. Nag Yourself/Jott.com
43. Midi files
42. Google Groups/Usenet
41. Live Mocha
40. Retroland
39. Animoto
38. Comic Relief (Self Check)
37: Music to your ears ( Pandora & LastFM)
36: Dressing up your photos
35: Mini or micro blogging (Twitter, Jiaku & others)
34: USing the web for better health (FitDay & Nutridiary)
33: Express yourself through online art
32: Online file storage with OmniDrive
31: Get organized with Plaxo
30: I'm in UR Libary, Readin UR b00ks (LOLCats)
29: Scrapblog: I'm in love
28: Well we're big rock singers ... (magazine cover fun)
27: Photobucket
26: Little bits of the Internet, on your desktop (Yourminis)
25: Newsletters in a pop! (Letterpop)
24: Got file conversion issues? (Zamzar)
If you're interested in where the first 23 things are, check out Learning 2.0. The Learning 2.1 program is a continuation of this program which is open for anyone to follow and/or help lead the way by being a Discovery Guide.

* The master list is updated monthly. For the newest discovery suggestions be sure to check the most recent entries.

Before I forget...

2008-02-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

New New Year traditions:
A toast to Phil and Annette to honor their wedding day on the steps of Old St. James, a very Provincial dinner, and a Good Shepherd reunion on New Year's Day.

Update from Spain

2008-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

I spoke to Hannah for a really long time last night. She visited Madrid, as I mentioned earlier but she also was able to attend a real football game in Madrid yesterday. Carnaval was celebrated this past weekend, as well. Hannah and her friends wore costumes.
Here's a photo from the airport while they were waiting to depart - H,a girl whose name I forget and Phillippe. Hard to believe she'll be home next week!

House Update

2008-02-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, lots happening - the siding is almost complete. Here, you can see old and new siding on the front of the house. Others photos show really old wallpaper, new kitchen cabinets and our shocking pear green laundry/pantry.

Plaza Mayor and Puerto del Sol

2008-02-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hannah will visit Madrid tomorrow and visit these two sites as well as tour the city with her group. Here's a photo of the Puerto del Sol.

Wikipedia says:

The Plaza Puerta del Sol is the perfect starting point to explore Madrid. This bustling, centrally located square is one of the city's most lively places.

The Plaza Mayor, a grand arcaded square in the center of Madrid is very popular with tourists and locals alike. The symmetrical rectangular square features a uniform architecture, very similar to the contemporary Place des Vosges in Paris.

Follow the link below to view a live webcam view of the Plaza Mayor.

http://www.multimadrid.com/hogar.htm

Sunday in Spain

2008-01-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

We heard from H on Sunday. They went to several sites. H told us that the area is beautiful and the weather has been fantastic with day time highs in the mid 60s. Apparently people dress up a little more when they go out at night and t-shirts and jeans are not doing it for H. She did buy a new top on sale!

They toured

El Valle De Los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen, a monument built by prisoners from both sides in the Civil War under orders from Franco.

Felipe II’s monastery- palace of El Escorial, one of Spain’s most famous sights.

The Alcázar,a fortress, a royal palace, the site of Philip II's wedding to his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, and more recently a military academy. In the upper part of the city, the oldest foundations have been identified as Roman. Documents indicate that a fortress existed on this site by the early 12th century known as the Alcázar, an Arabic word for a royal residence. The palace was enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries and again during the reign of King John II (1405-1454) when towers were added and the East Tower and moat were enlarged. Under Philip II (1558-1598) major alterations were made; slate roofs and spires on towers were added. From 1764-1862 the Royal Artillery College was housed here. A fire in 1862 destroyed most of the structure, which was rebuilt about two decades later in a more romantic style than the original building.

The Roman Aqueduct, one of the greatest surviving monuments of Roman engineering, is about 2950 feet long although the section where the arches are divided in two levels is about 900 feet. It is made of rough-hewn massive granite blocks, joined without mortar or clamps.

Spain update

2008-01-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

this weekend there is no itinerary
but i will tell you when we start doing stuff
we wont see mrs michael till monday

anyways i slept for 13 hours last night
fell asleep before dinner!

haha anyways elena whats to go so i will write more later
plus i'm buying a calling card today

H

Friday, 1/25/08 Spain!

2008-01-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!!
its one thirty here in spain. got here about an hour and a half ago. I love it here this city is absolutely gorgeous, as is the entire country. Elena is very very sweet and her mom is also a lawyer! their apartment building is so cute i will be sure to take pictures, though i havent found out where my camera card would go yet......

anyways, got here safe, didnt lose anything yet so things seem to be going good.

talk again soon!

Hannah

Such Possibilities

2008-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

As our addition nears completion and the weather skirts in and out of warm and cold,I get a yearning for spring and the special color of green seen in the tips of leaf buds and the tops of crocus and tulips breaking through a hard crust of dirt.

I came across this blog today and loved reading it. When is the last time we sang out loud - 80 some rounds of hungry like the wolf? Well probably never, as that wouldn't be my first choice but you get the idea. http://orangette.blogspot.com/

Why don't my links work?

I remember driving all over Harford being goofy and laughing and saying Jim Beam me up, Scottie. It was when we were handling great personal tragedy with a little hair of the dog. A brother was missing and we were all filling in the gap. Everyone really tried to get along then.

A visiting priest last Sunday quoted from three of the four Star Trek series in his homily and brazenly used one of Eddie Izzard's routines without crediting him. H called him on it, though and he admitted being busted.

Building update

2007-12-29T12:33:00.000-08:00

The family room now has bookcases and a mantle. Next week, most of the plumbing will be done and the kitchen cabinets should be installed. I'll take some photos of the exterior now that the lights are installed.

Rehoboth Beach in November

2007-12-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

It isn't all about shopping. We took a break and walked the boardwalk. Some of the best shops are in the downtwon area and definitely the best restaurants. We recommend the Cafe Sole, Cloud 9 and The Pig and Fish Company. From past trips, we can tell you that Finbar's is good and the Frogg Pond is a lot of fun - good food and a great bar.

Narbonne

2007-12-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

Narbonne’s Top 5:

- Archbishops’ Palace. On the northern side of the main square, the place de l’Hôtel de Ville, this Gothic wonder is now home to the town hall and a couple of Narbonne’s museums.
- Cathédrale de St-Just and St-Pasteur. This is the only Gothic cathedral in the Mediterranean that comes anywhere close to rivaling those in the north of France. However, it remains uncompleted because at the time of construction in the early 1300s it was considered too risky for defensive reasons to knock down the Roman defensive wall nearby. Hence, there’s no nave.
- Gruissan beach. Twenty kilometres south of Narbonne, the beach at Gruissan was used as the setting for the film, Betty Blue (known as 37.2 degres le matin in French). It’s here you’ll find the unusual beach huts on stilts that featured in some of the location shots.
- Horreum. Despite Narbonnne’s importance in Roman times, this former granary is the only building to survive from the period. In fact, until 1838 it remained undiscovered. Only when demolition work was underway hereabouts did the horreum reappear. Only a fraction of the original has been excavated and consists of a warren of tiny storage chambers.
- Patisserie Combot. At Rue de l’Ancien Courrier, this bakers is a Narbonne institution known for its gooey cakes and pastries – don’t leave town without trying their bouchons du Languedoc, coarse biscuits made of honey and almonds with generous helpings of pine nuts.

http://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/Languedoc/city-guides/narbonne.php

Dry Wall

2007-12-14T07:12:00.000-08:00

Still green

2007-12-13T10:25:00.001-08:00

MAGGIE!

2007-12-13T10:15:00.001-08:00

Not Quite Ready for Christmas But Coming Along

2007-12-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Gentlemen and Players and the subtle art of gaslighting

2007-11-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

At book club last night I mentioned that J. Snyde was gaslighting Roy Straitley. My reference was pretty obscure so I looked it up in Wikipedia today and here's their definition:

Gaslighting, a form of psychological abuse coined as a reference to two similar films of the same name:
Gaslight (1940 film), directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Diana Wynyard, Anton Walbrook, and Frank Pettingell
Gaslight (1944 film), directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer
Gas Light (1938) the Patrick Hamilton stage play upon which the films were based.

We all really enjoyed this book by Joanne Harris. I wonder how it would translate into a movie - it would be pretty hard to keep the secret going until the very end.

A French Exchange Student's Last Night in the US - Havre de Grace Gazebo

2007-11-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

Color

2007-11-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

Looking at paint and thinking about what colors to choose for new rooms - leaning toward yellow for family room and kitchen, pear green for bathroom and some sort of blue for the bedroom. Hallway - bright or white. I like the idea of chalk paint, too. Maybe that would be good on laundry room wall.

Grease - The School Version

2007-11-05T05:42:00.000-08:00

Here are Hannah and Katy in Grease garb. Hannah's lovely skirt was made by the gifted and talented Lois S. Thanks, again, Lois.

All the kids put so much work into these school plays. Mrs. B. is a taskmaster and she gets results.

If Halloween is over, can Christmas be far behind?

2007-11-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me this link so I thought I would share it. What a time to be without a kitchen!

I am frustrated - nothing I do makes this a link. If you would like to visit this site go to www.northpole.com and look for Mrs. Claus' kitchen.

Days like this

2007-10-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

Some days I barely have time to get dressed, brush my teeth and drive the car pool. Later in the day, I'll realize I didn't even have time to go to the bathroom. That makes you cranky.
Anyway, I was browsing the new book shelf today and came across a new graphic novel that is so utterly charming, Robot Dreams. I visited the author's web site,
http://www.chickenopolis.com/
This picture I posted just spoke to me. Take time to visit this site and find out more about Sara Varon.

35th Annual National Storytelling Festival

2007-10-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Cathy and I attended the 35th Annual National Storytelling Festival - her 15th year and my 25th year ! We've camped for the past 14 years and have experienced every sort of weather. This year it was HOT! We had such a great time - the storytellers were wonderful - telling stories that were at times hilariously funny or heartwrenchingly sad. In the pictures you can see us with Dovie Thomason. Get a feel for the beauty of storytelling by attending one of her performances right here at HCPL in November. I also included a picture of a typical big top tent in which we listen to stories, a view of a crowd, and one of our favorite tellers, Ed Stivender.

On Past 23...

2007-09-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

My favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey included actually creating my blog and becoming comfortable expressing my thoughts through the blog. I can't see myself stopping any time soon. Even though it is a little frustrating when I don't get a comment on something I think is clever or pithy.
23 Things has introduced me to so many new ideas and ways to use on-line resources personally.
The living isn't always easy in the summer. Summer Reading activities were the highest priority for me and that kept me from focusing on this program. I found that often it was next to impossible to work on the program because of the slowness of our internet during such a busy season.
If another discovery program like this was offered in the future, I would definitely choose to participate.
Last night at our first Girl Scout meeting of the school year, we were discussing some upcoming concerts the girls were interested in attending. The girls were lamenting the fact that many of the concerts - particularly Fall Out Boys - were scheduled for school nights. I mentioned that the DropKick Murphys were on a Monday but that my daughter's school had off the next day and mentioned that I had a clip of them performing on my blog. One of the girls squealed - You have a blog! Oh, give me the URL, I've got to see it.

Pando - a peer to peer file sharing tool

2007-09-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.pando.com/

I found out about this tool while surfing other 23 things projects. It is a way to send large files to others that might otherwise be too big for your e-mail account to handle. It works by compressing files.

Downloadable Audio

2007-09-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Project Gutenberg: The Audio Books Project - Project Gutenberg makes audio eBooks available for some of the same great literature available in plain text. Listings are divided into two categories: Human-read and computer-generated audio books. These are FREE so you don't need an Overdrive or NetLibrary subscription to learn about downloadable audiobooks!

Great idea and wonderful choices but I didn't find any of the titles that came to mind - Almost French, How Green Was My Valley - neither were listed.

Overdrive and NetLibrary have been popular with our patrons and I have directed a number of people to the area where they can register and have shown them how to search for titles. These both offer access to popular titles and fill a need.

Celtic Folk Podcast

2007-09-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

I have added Celtic Folk Podcast to my Bloglines account. This feed includes Celtic music from Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

I was frustrated with the search capabilities of Podcast.net, Podcastalley.com and
Yahoo Podcasts. I searched for podcasts dealing with Nova Scotia and with storytelling. I didn't come up with anything for Nova Scotia and found that the term "storytelling" is used very loosely.

My best results came from googling "Nova Scotia Podcast." This brought me to a Podcast.net selection, so go figure.

Almost Half Way to St. Patty's Day

2007-09-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

I like YouTube because it is easy to search and I enjoy some of the exchanges between various viewers. It would be easy to spend way too much time viewing these video clips. My daughter has committed so many of these to memory - quotes from the video clips become a kind of communication shorthand for teens, immediately establishing their quirky humor.

I chose this clip from Dropkick Murphys because it is almost halfway to St. Patrick's Day and they will be performing at Ram's Head Live on September 17.

Peggy's Cove

2007-08-31T13:49:00.001-07:00

Carnival Cruise to Canada

2007-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to go on the Maryland Library Association's cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. We took a coach from Harford County and boarded in time for lunch in the Mediterranean Restaurant on deck nine, Lido. I thought at the time that I would never stoop so low as to walk around with soft serve frozen yogurt. Little did I know...
After lunch, we heard Eloisa James discuss her schizophrenic career as a Shakespeare scholar and lecturer and her success as a romance writer. She was funny and thought provoking.
We sailed out of New York City and left under extremely foggy conditions. We were glad to hear the fog horns from our stateroom balcony but a little disturbed to recognize that the soft tunes being piped into the deck five common area sounded an awful lot like the theme from Titanic.
On Sunday, we spent some quality time in the Black and Red Sea Lounge or as Michael Gannon called it, the floating brothel.
Storytelling from the Field: Unusual Library Experiences explored prison librarianship- Gleaner Shirley and Shirley Smith told us about their experiences in the Maryland Correctional Library, Carol Carman shared her experiences working in the Maryland Department of Legislative Services and Louise LeTendre shared her experiences as an Army Librarian in Vietnam and currently at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Next, Michael Gannon had us laughing with Love and Death on the High Seas - A Readers' Advisory.
That night, we attended the Captain's Party and formal dinner. We librarians cleaned up nicely. We had a wonderful dinner.
The next day was sunny and our Monday and Tuesday shore excursions to Saint John and Halifax was the best weather the Atlantic Provinces has seen all summer. (Perry, our tour guide to Peggy's Cove told us so.) On Monday, I went on a small group tour of Saint John with Lance Timmons, a professional photographer and teacher who helped us improve our skills with his top photography tips. He also shared interesting facts about Saint John. His web site is
www.timmonsphotography.com
Remembering Lance's tips, I tried to be arty on our tour of Peggy's Cove, in Halifax the next day. You can see my stunning photo of the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove. Halifax is an interesting city with a lot of stories. More on that later.

Web 2.0 Awards

2007-08-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

I discovered this nifty section of Merlin a while back and blogged about it. For the purposes of this assignment I explored the three sites listed for Music. I want to create a CD for my sister who will turn 50 in September and I am looking for songs that address growing older. I have already Googled this. I love the way I can type in some long, drawn-out query and Google almost always comes through with very satisfying results. I was directed to several wonderful collections of songs that were perfect.

I was not so impressed with the three music websites included here. I did not like the search strategies or the extremely limited selection of fairly mainstream artists. www.pandora.com was the most satisfying of the three, which is probably why they won the award. I guess I expected too much. All three sites allowed one to search by artist, song and keyword. I was just not satisfied with the result.

Patrons in the library could use these sites to try to jog their brains when trying to think of an artist or song. Pandora Radio will play while you work on another project, providing useful background music - as long as one wears headphones in the library.

Online Productivity Web-based Applications for Day-To-Day Use

2007-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Tools such as Zoho Writer www.zohowriter.com and Google Docs www.writely.com are incredibly useful to our clientele. Now our patrons can create resumes, save them to an on line source that is available at any computer through the web, easily post the resume to an online job application and never have to spend a dime on printouts, floppy disks or CDs. To quote Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0:
One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need
to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents
or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easily accommodate
collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning)
and provide users the ability to save and convert documents as multiple file
types

Zoho ho

2007-08-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

Comparing Zoho Writer to Google Docs: I think I prefer the versitility of Zoho Writer but the beauty of both tools lies in the fact that it is free, on-line, readily available.

2007-08-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

To become familiar with Google Docs, I will tell you a little bit about my recent trip to Cape May, New Jersey. Visiting Cape May is always a highlight of Summer vacation. This year I was able to squeeze four days in - sandwiched between my Monday evening programming responsibilities and my Saturday to work. Vacation always seems so much more satisfying after you have busted your butt doing something and can completely and utterly give your self over to the time off.

It has been a cooking summer for me as I did the two Cooking Up A Storm programs for Middle Schoolers, the Meet An American Girl: Molly's Hawaiian Hula Party, and cooked the beef for our Volunteer Fiesta Party. What a surprising success we have had with our Middle School programming.

Anyway, back to Cape May. When I go for a week, I feel obligated to pack the bikes, plan the menu, bring projects and books, but this little four day jaunt was very unstructured. Even the things I thought I'd bring, I forgot. So I just enjoyed early morning walks, beach time, pool time, eating at wonderful (but pricey) restaurants, and shopping.

Restaurants we've enjoyed recently include Freda's, The Black Duck, Cape Orient and the Lobster House. www.capemaytimes.com has some useful info. I highly recommend drinks at Congress Hall and a bike ride to Sunset Beach.

Why Wiki ?

2007-08-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

For thing #16, I found the following wikis extremely informative:

http://instructionwiki.org/Library_2.0_in_15_minutes_a_day

http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Several months ago, we decided to give wikis a try, and two extremely resourceful librarians set it up and we started using it. We thought it would be more useful than the constant flow of e-mail but we discovered early on that, unless we set the wiki up to notify us of new postings, we never looked at the wiki. We also thought that the page set up was difficult to use. Our branch wiki has been tweaked several times and we are now using it to build Branch Meeting Agendas, for Brunch Sign up and recipe posting and for Branch Happenings.

I much prefer e-mail for ease of use and quick turnaround time. I love my blog but find that often I write in a vacuum. I think I could really get hooked on My Space or Facebook, if any of my friends used this.

It's week six somewhere...

2007-07-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little pressed for time and can't say that I enjoyed my experiences with these week 6 topics. I ran into trouble several times and actually had to call a 2.0 tech guru for assistance. (She was very helpful and encouraging).

I explored Del.icio.us and was non-plussed by it. I can appreciate the usefulness of this social networking site but yet it seemed too serious yet superficial. Why not just join one of the Facebook groups like People known only by their last names or the Sailor group. Facebook puts impressive spin right up front by referring to themselves as an utility. OOOh The Smith College Sophian had a great article that listed ten popular Facebook groups:

10. "SMITH COLLEGE TEAM AWESOME!!!"
9. "Being a Yankee Fan Just Because they Win a Lot Is Wrong"
8. "Nerdy Boys Melt My Butter"
7. "Books are for Bad asses"
6. "Caution! People On Facebook May appear Hotter Than they actually are"
5. "Ever Have Strong or Confusing Feelings about Guacamole? Me Too."
4. "I Can Fit a Cheez-it In My Belly Button"
3. "Confederation of Hallway Jousters"
2. "I've Got 99 Problems and the Long Walk From the Quad Is 73 of them"
1. "I Was Invited To This Group But Have No Idea What it Is, But Yet I Still Clicked Confirm."

While I haven't signed up for any Facebook groups yet (though I'm leaning toward Books are for Bad asses ), I have established a Del.icio.us account. Unfortunately, I was unable to create the link on my toolbar even though we use Foxfire at home and that is supposed to be easier.

I read an article that suggested that these social networking sites provide an avenue for "Shameless self promotion."

Feeling linear, I next investigated Technorati and attempted to get an account. I got bogged down on the registration because of the need for a unique password. With some help from the above mentioned Tech Guru I managed to create the account. I then claimed my blog and I am thinking hard about what I want on my Watchlist.

Now to answer the age old question, What does Library 2.0 mean to me. I viewed the You tube video Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g
I found this video very thought provoking. Two messages jumped out out me: Who will organize this data? You will. and Every time we forge a link, we teach.
Two articles I enjoyed were Web 2.0 Where will it take libraries? To a Temporary place in time and Away from the icebergs. I'm on with the Library 4.0 vision of the neo library - especially the single malt. In Icebergs, I was struck (ha) by the point made concerning user education and eliminating barriers.

Rollyo but Don't Bogart

2007-07-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

I had stagefright with Rollyo. I consult websites all day long and have found favorites but staring at that screen, my mind went blank. Yes, this would be a very valuable tool and I plan to give my searchrolls more thought. What a great way to set up a kind of shorthand /shortcut completely personalized search engine that is available at any computer. No longer would you have to rely on your favorites or tabs on a toolbar.

http://www.rollyo.com/deeney/

Chose de Bibliotheque

2007-07-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Je n'ai pas besoin de cataloguer mes propres livres mais j'ai vraiment eu plaisir à lire des commentaires de différents groupes. I started at Talk and chose the group, Francofiles. There I found some interesting suggestions for future reading. One title in particular sounds very intriguing - The Piano Shop on the left Bank.

Here is my link to my Library Thing catalog:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/deeney

Berlin Wall

2007-07-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Having fun with image generators. I really enjoyed Letter John but felt on the spot to come up with phrases and quotes to fit the space allowed.

VAM!

2007-07-16T05:42:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a wonderful reunion at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. What a place for inspiration. If you have never been to the museum go now, especially if you are working on 23 Things. You will definitely look at things differently.
In the pictures you can see (from Left to Right) top: Jonah, Adam, and Hannah and bottom: Me, Kathie and Selma. We have been getting our kids together since they were tiny but have had a hard time scheduling them since about middle school. Now they are seasoned high schoolers and had not seen one another for about two years so this was a risky business we set out to accomplish.
What a refreshing relief to watch them renew friendship, catch up, compare notes, all while thoroughly enjoying the museum's exhibits.
Here's the link to the museum, in case you would like to explore a little more:
www.avam.org

Post Haste

2007-07-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Or what happens when you are in a rush to post. Please add an "n" to the word, chosen, in the previous post.

Five Hours of Fame

2007-07-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my daughter and I worked as extras in the filming of From Within, a psychological thriller set in a small town. Havre de Grace has been highly touted as perfect for the setting, due in part to the absence of chain stores and restaurants such as MacDonald's. Let's hope we don't have any copycat events following the filming.
We reported to the Havre de Grace High School along with approximately 350 other locals and spent five hours pretending to be the congregation of the local church gathered together to mourn the passing of several teens. My daughter was grouped with other teen girls so they could be zoomed in on during the "service." Our job was to listen raptly, focusing on the pastor, and not the cameras, and occasionally say amen! We stood up, clapped and swayed to the music. Some of my daughter's friends were chose to be members of the "church" band because they knew how to play guitar and bass.
Filming will continue the rest of this coming week and Joseph's Department Store will be a featured location. I guess we'll have to snoop around for other opportunities to act.
I hope they will have a special showing of the movie in Havre de Grace when it is released. I know there are at least 350 people who will want to see it.

Je voudrais ainsi être en France...

2007-07-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

">I enjoyed creating my Avatar but had a hard time finding my hair style.

I plan to explore the different sites for the perfect avatar. I was reading someone's blog recently and they were wondering why all avatars look about 12 years old. Yahoo gives you the option of different body type but the choice of apparel is limited to four outfits. I will have to go to Curves a lot more often to match my avatar and I think I'll need some highlights as well.

Merlin

2007-07-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've been exploring Merlin and have added it to my Blogroll. I particularly like the Web 2.0 Award Winners short list http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short Here you can look at the top three winners in each category and directly link to it as well as nominate your favorites for the 2008 awards.
I also found the Learning Links very useful. Search engines were not particularly intuitive, however. RSS4LIB was a useful blog that explores RSS links of use for libraries.

Happy 4th of July, Hon!

2007-07-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Our Friend, Wayne, hosts a wonderful party every 4th of July. This year's party had a jungle theme and many of us wore leopard prints or tropical prints though some stuck to the traditional red, white and blue. While not on the official parade route, the larger floats and vehicles drive right past Wayne's office and it has become a tradition for many of the elected officials to stop by. The Governor must have felt at home: with all the leopard prints, we resembled a mini Honfest. I was thrilled to meet Martin O'Malley. He was very cordial and even remembered singing with the St. Patrick's choir about 10 years ago when we did a special Celtic Mass. I told him that I often told people that I have sung with him. To see more pictures, go to www.gov.state.md.us Follow the link to photographs and choose the Bel Air Parade.

You Oughta Be In Pictures

2007-07-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

From Within will begin filming in Havre de Grace on July 11. Hundreds of extras are needed with the biggest demand for July 14. For information on being an extra or to register e-mail fromwithinmovie@hotmail.com

Can I get a Blogroll, please?

2007-07-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report, that after some initial confusion (and a few dumb questions) I have successfully subscribed to several RSS and Newsreaders !

It was interesting reading and choosing which ones would represent my essence. I pondered this for at least ten minutes.

I like this mix of library-related blogs and newsfeeds mixed up with those of my friends.

I do admit to preferring to get my news curled in a chair with the Daily Sun and a strong cup of coffee. I always read the comics first.

You may find my blogroll at :

http://www.bloglines.com/public/Deeneys

#7 Create a Blog Post About Anything Technology Related

2007-07-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

BATTERIES ! I HATE them.
Larry Williams, the Ideas Editor, for the Sun (Larrywilliams@baltsun.com ) wrote a tantalizing article entitled, Why not spend your money on an iPhone? Try these reasons. Oh, he lists lots of reasons, but the one that stands out for me is the question of replacing the battery. The battery is supposed to last a day or two between charges, but the battery's power will begin to fade after about 300 charges. Larry reports that "when the battery finally fails, you'll discover that there is no way to pop off the back cover and replace it. Instead you will have to ship your phone back to Apple to replace it at an as-yet-undetermined cost."

Rehoboth

2007-07-02T13:56:00.001-07:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by Susan's Mighty Fine Story

Catching up on Week Three and playing around with Flickr, I decided to wharhol myself. I also worked on a trading Card but found the little icons annoying. This is a photo taken in Rehoboth Beach over St. Patrick's Day Week end, which, as those of you who know me know, is an important religious holiday for me.

2007-06-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.tullamore-dew.org/
Fond memories of our trip to Ireland - the music, the lovely room in Killarney and the dew...
Certainly org indicates an educational web site.

Leading the Parade at Magic Kingdom

2007-06-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

The John Carroll Band performed admirably in Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The parade route took them from Frontierland to the main entrance. The day was bright, sunny and HOT - 96 degrees.

Memo for next time:

Ice packs

Spray bottles

Three hour shifts for the chaperones

Relay for Life

2007-06-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

We are a little groggy after spending the night at the Havre de Grace High School track walking the Relay for Life. We had 23 members in our team and our camp site placed first for decorations - though the highest award was "grand" so I guess you could say we came in second. Teams were to choose a movie and decorate based on that. We chose Finding Nemo and had a lot of fun with Dorie's character.

Thank you, Mr. Tom for cooking dinner and then coming back at 4:30 a.m. to make us pancakes! Thanks you, Me. Ernie for setting up your fire pit. We loved being able to make S'mores but didn't plan on needing it for warmth.

We definitely want to do this again next year. We learned a lot about fundraising. Add to our checklist - pillows, blankets, and lounge chairs!

Consider doing it: we had a lot of fun and raised money for a cause whose devastation had affected us all.

View of Downtown Havre de Grace

2007-06-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

2007-06-13T11:25:00.001-07:00

You heard it here first...

2007-06-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

A well known, European film maker and his crew will be filming a slasher/horror film in downtown Havre de Grace this summer. Their offices will be in the old Bank of Memories and they will be filming mainly on Washington Avenue!

Some things make it all worthwhile

2007-06-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago my book club, the notorious BCMA, was gathered at Coakley's, allegedly to compare and contrast the book and movie version of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, when we noticed that there were quite a few college kids in the bar. One of the young men approached me and I recognized him as one of my Havre de Grace patrons from some time ago. He came right up to me with a big smile on his face, gave me a hug and said, "Ms. Susan, I always loved your storytimes!"

Travel happily

2007-06-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

He who would travel happily must travel light.
Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Going with John Carroll's chorus and band to Walt Disney World next week. I may try to add to this blog down there. We have about 70 students going and a small group of parent chaperones. I'm looking forward to the trip and I am in the process of over-planning the trip.

This trip and our MLA Canadian Cruise are getting mixed up in my head. I'll go to the Canada exhibit at Epcot and think I've already been to Halifax!

Accept responsibility/View problems as challenges

2007-06-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

I've combined these two habits of life-long learners because in my mind they go hand in hand. Somewhere along the way, one hopes their child will learn to accept responsibility, admit guilt, fess up...but oh, there are times when the best of us would just like to point a finger and say, "Jimmy did it."

Years ago, it was the habit of a former director to invite library board members to the Committee of Thirteen (Administrative Council) meetings. One board member fully embraced the tenets of the Power of Positive Thinking and talked quite a bit about the idea of viewing problems as challenges. He introduced us to his family's way of cutting down on negativity - the Neggie Jar. Members of his family had to put a quarter in the jar every time they were negative, abrupt, or if they cursed or said other unkind things. Our director liked the idea of having us all read the same book and share the ideas put forth. We read How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Power of Positive Thinking and other classics.

Begin with an end in mind

2007-06-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Now there's a good suggestion. Did I consider this when I started this blog? Nooo. I am looking forward to pimping my blog. I can't wait to add some photos and web links. I hope to reach a point where my teenaged daughter will no longer roll her eyes at me while I attempt new technological feats. (I know I will never be able to stop the eye-rolling completely)
I like the idea of a web site and wonder what makes someone's MySpace different from or more desirable than a web site. And if a blog allows you to add photos, podcasts and links, why not just blog?

Let's start

2007-06-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Reading other people's blogs seems almost voyeuristic. I am impressed with the thought and creativity put into the blogs I've read so far. I'm not sure where people find the time! I run from one activity to the next and by the time I settle in for the night, the last thing I want to do is type. I really would like a portable, voice-activated keyboard.
I reviewed the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. Because of bandwidth issues here in the branch I read the screen and advanced through quickly. Fortunately, I had already done this tutorial. On January 9, Branch Managers participated in a teleconference introducing us to this model. I was delighted that the tutorial encouraged us to "make play our New Year's resolution." Of course, that is the 1/2 Habit that makes everything else approachable and doable. Attitude is everything. This is the easiest and hardest to accomplish. Fish! Philosophy encourages us to choose our attitude - to decide to bring more enthusiasm to work, to consider the magnificent versus the ordinary. I think we could use a plan for lifting ourselves out of the dumps when schedules are tight and computers are slow, though a cold, wet fish seems somehow inappropriate in our setting, we need that sense of play. I liked the idea of a learning contract. This isn't too much different from our PERS goals - establishing the goal, identifying obstacles, and assembling the toolbox to achieve the goal seem obvious but when you multitask you sometimes forget to check in and regroup. You also forget to pat yourself on your back.
Setting up my blog was a little confusing. I wanted to be clever and pithy but found it hard to think while filling out the blanks. I discovered that I have three blogs! One of them was done last year and I never added to it after I set it up.