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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Have you read...

So I got a performance review at work last week.

My boss has noticed how good I am at recommending books to patrons. Not only did she notice when she's there, but apparently, patrons have been coming in raving about the books I suggested for them.

My boss said, 'Not all my staff does this, but you read really widely, and I think that's a big reason why you're able to select the right book.'

This felt good for two main reasons.

1. It's nice to be recognized for something positive that you care about. It doesn't always happen in a job. Too often, the boss expects you to go above and beyond, and doesn't acknowledge when you do something well.

2. The main reason this felt great - I really care about recommending books. I CARE about finding the perfect fit between a patron and a book. I want you to LOVE the book I suggest you try. Sometimes it isn't even as grandiose as finding a book for you that becomes a literary revelation, bumping one of your all time favourites off the list.

Here's how I see it. Books can be an adventure or an escape.

Maybe I'm just finding a book for someone who desperately needs an hour or two escape from their daily lives. To be able to provide a book that takes them away from a bad situation for even a short amount of time... I get emotional thinking about it. Because that's happened.

The best days at work are the ones where people give me free rein about book suggestions. I feel so light, and happy. Excited.

Recently on twitter, a friend suggested that I start a book review blog, since I love recommending books so much.

While I can't see that happening, I think maybe I'll start recommending a book here and there. I hope you don't mind me raving about books I love from time to time.

I hope you'll even consider reading a few of them, if one catches your eye.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Did you know I'm psychic?!

It's true.

Well, not really. I don't really believe in psychic powers, though I used to.

And this is coming from a woman who once guessed what was in her husband's hand, when he was over 1k miles away.

A purple guitar pick.

But I digress.

Our library has a group called, 'The friends of the library.' They help us with book sales, and volunteering, and fundraisers etc.

We get a LOT of donations, people wanting to give us their books. We get a lot. We're a fairly tiny library compared to most, but we get a lot of books.

A recent example of this: There's a woman who can't use library books because of her extreme sensitivities to allergens. If someone who smokes for example, or wears scented lotion while reading the book returns it and she reads it, she gets an extreme allergic reaction.

So she buys all of her books new, reads them once and then donates them to us.

Her recent donation was 7 boxes of near new paperbacks.

That's just one example.

We have an older couple who come in and help with the donations. I always forget the woman's name.

I even asked one of the other librarians, 'Where's Louise and her husband? I haven't seen them in a while.'

The other librarian was like, 'Do you mean Dot?'

I was like, 'No. Louise. The lady who comes in and helps with the books with her husband...'

She was like, 'Um... her name is Dot.'

Well, fuck. So it was. But I ALWAYS think of her as Louise.

So yesterday, she comes in to the library as she had a book in.

I asked her, 'What is your last name again?'

She told me and I pulled her file up. I was like, 'It's Dorothy, right - Dot?'

She was like, 'Yes.'

I said, 'I feel so bad, because I always forget your name, but it's because to me you look like a Louise!'

She and her husband exchanged a look and smiled. She said, 'Louise is my MIDDLE name! I used to go by Louise when I was younger because there were so many Dorothy's! Isn't that funny?!'

So there you have it.

I'm psychic.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Your shows sucked.

I feel sad that some of my American friends didn't get to watch the same shows I did as a child.

We got all the American shows, but we, in Canada, had some you didn't get. Some charming shows that I love to this day. Some were easier to find than others.

Check these out. They were great. :)

Random order.

1. Blizzard Island.

Tracey Allen, a 10 year-old Nova Scotia girl, and her nine year-old brother Wayne find intrigue while rummaging through an old chest. Their father, a sea captain, keeps many strange things — but none stranger than a mysterious necklace. This "special" necklace transports them to the magical world of Blizzard Island. As the children quickly find out, the island is a strange and magical land — filled with strange and magical creatures. This show, I only caught part of a couple episodes of, and never got the name of it. I'd asked a lot of people if they remembered this show. No one did. I'd begun to think I imagined it - and then my husband found it on youtube! Yay!

Part one of episode one



2. Under the umbrella tree.

The series centers around a diverse set of main characters who share a house on Spring Street in a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. The characters include Holly (a human), Iggy (an iguana), Jacob (a Blue Jay), and Gloria (a gopher). The show's title is derived from the fact that the characters live together in a home featuring a prominent indoor umbrella tree. While not my favourite show, this one was pretty charming.

Opening theme




3. Fraggle Rock.

Fraggles are humanoid creatures, about 18 inches tall,[4] with fur in a wide variety of colors and a tail like a lion’s, with a tuft of fur on the end. They live in a network of caves called Fraggle Rock, populated by a variety of creatures, and seeming to connect to at least two different worlds in separate dimensions of time and space. Fraggles spend much of their carefree lives in play, exploring their worlds, and generally enjoying themselves. However, at the same time they maintain a complex culture and society, with each individual having rights and responsibilities. They have basic skill with tools and with crude machinery, and the concept of war is known to them (although wars between Fraggles are very rare). Fraggles live on a diet of vegetables, especially radishes. If individuals touch their heads together before falling asleep they can “share dreams.” OMGOMGOMGOMG I can't express how much I loved this show! I even recently bought season one on DVD.

It's one kids show that stands up to your memories of it. :D There was a version of this show that featured the Doozers. Not my fave.

YAAAAAAAAAAAY




4. Moondreamers

Now, this one is funny if you follow my blog or writing, and know that the title of my MS is Moondreamer: The Sowing. I honestly didn't remember this show until I googled the title of my MS, and saw that it was a thing! And that thing, was a kids cartoon I vaguely remember. The MoonDreamers are a group of celestial people who create and deliver pleasant dreams to Earth children. Their main enemy is the evil Queen Scowlene, who attempts to keep everyone awake at night with her nightmare crystals.

You're not dreaming, it's the Moondreamers




5. Fred Penner's Place.

The young audience joins Fred in his own private place in a forest glade which he reaches through a hollow log. There they are entertained by Fred and his special guests in this very musical series designed to educate and entertain young viewers. Children learn, for example, how plants grow, or how instruments work. Some of Canada's best animation helps them learn French, the alphabet, and how to count. A special feature is the Word Bird, a magic talking bird who gives daily messages to the audience in a kind of "pre-school thought for the day."

Through the hollow log




6. Mr. Dressup.

This was not a cartoon, despite the opening. But It was great. Check out his drawing segments. Of course, I didn't like this show as it progressed, but the first years were great. The series starred Ernie Coombs as Mr. Dressup. The show aired every weekday morning, and each day Mr. Dressup would lead children through a series of songs, stories, arts, crafts, and imagination games, with the help of his friends Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a treehouse in the back yard. The series was seen as almost a Canadian version of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Opening



7. Harriet's Magic Hats.

The premise of the show was that an aunt named Harriet has a trunk full of magic hats in her attic. When her young niece wears a hat from the trunk she is transported to a place related to the hat. For example, if she wore a chef's hat from the trunk, the girl was transported to a kitchen with professional chefs, where she would learn about the profession. The show was 15 minutes long, and gave children a diverse view of the working world.

Intro



8. Today's Special.
In the children's department of a major department store, each night when Jodie arrives for work, she carries a mannequin (Jeff) upstairs, where Muffy says the magic words "hocus pocus alimagocus!" This brings him to life.


Today's Special



9. The Raccoons.

Quite possibly one of my favourite cartoons of all time, for two reasons. 1. The show was just, utterly kick ass. And 2. THE AMAZING THEME SONG! Seriously - go listen to it. I'll wait. Theme song

Isn't that the best theme song for a cartoon you've ever heard?! I have it on my ipod now. I used to sing it on the school bus as a kid. Back to the show itself. The series revolves around a trio of raccoons called the Evergreen Raccoons - Bert and Melissa, and their friend Ralph. The series mostly involved the three fighting against the industrialist forces of greedy aardvark millionaire Cyril Sneer, who usually tries to destroy the forest for a quick buck. However, the Raccoons would always save their forest from Cyril's schemes, with help from their forest friends including Schaeffer, a gentle sheepdog, Cedric, Cyril's college graduate son, and Sophia Tutu, Cedric's girlfriend. But, as the show progressed, Cyril became more of a sympathetic character, eventually becoming an anti-hero.

Show's Intro




Now, don't get all "up in my grill" for leaving out the more mainstream awesome cartoons/ kid's shows. Like I said, this post is just trying to highlight a few you may have missed. :)