Daily Thoughts 3/31/2010

John Hancock's Signature from The Declaration of Independence, United States, 1776

Daily Thoughts 3/31/2010

I am reading the chapter in A Better Pencil on handwriting. Schools are removing handwriting from the curriculum and going from printing to writing on a keyboard. I am a bit disappointed. I think of handwriting as an art form. It teaches that words are a form of art to be respected. I think the quality of the language will degrade when handwriting is removed from the curriculum. It is not that necesary in practical terms, but not everything is about being practical. Handwriting teaches focus and admiration for language.

I am vacation right now. I took a little break from reading and watched some Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 on my computer. I have my new earbuds plugged in right now. It is a nice break from reading.

Resultado da promoção

Quero agradecer todas que participaram! Fiquei muuuiiito feliz em ver tanta gente comentando.
E pra você que participou e está aí na torcida, é hora de fazer figas e ver quem ganhou o lindo adesivo da R+:

Nomes impressos:


Papeizinhos dobrados:


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Maria, do Blog Novelos Coloridos!
Parabéns Maria!

Vou enviar um e-mail a você para que você possa dar o endereço para onde a R+ mandará seu adesivo.
Beijos!

Coloring Our Spring

by Pam Ripling

Well, I was going to talk about Cadbury, and the history of the chocolate Easter egg. Faberge eggs, too, and how all this sweetness got its start in Europe. But gosh darn it, J.R. and Jackie have already done such a good job with this topic, I've been scooped.

So instead, I'll answer J. R.'s question. What do we do, as a family, to celebrate Easter? Well, plans are already underway to put together our annual egg-coloring event. Every year, rain or shine, my sister & I and our two daughters break out the Paas pills and vinegar, boil up a whole mess of eggs and arrange 8 coffee mugs with spoons. We have the requisite white (or colorless) crayon handy. Newspapers spread on the counter, and a rag or two at the ready. We decorate, with rubber banks, decals, stickers, etc. Ooh and ahh, and compete for the prettiest egg.

• "Whose egg is still in the purple?"
• "Oh no! Another one cracked!"
• "Did we make one for Mema yet?"
• "How did yours get so blue???"

And so it goes. Our girls are teens now, so the Big Bunny himself sorta skips our houses these days, but we determined and dedicated moms have taken over the tradition by mimicking the traditional egg hunt on Easter morning. In keeping with the eggy-day, I make a wonderful Serbian Eggs casserole for brunch, and we are often blessed with weather warm enough to sit outside and reflect on the beauty of spring and those sinfully excellent Cadbury eggs.

Happy Easter!

Oh, and by the way, Paas has an excellent page here on creating your own Easter egg eggstraveganza!

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth

The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth

This is the sequel to The Course of Empire. During The Course of Empire, the Jao conquered earth. Partly this was because of human disunity. Now, the Jao have drafted humanity into fighting their ancient enemies the Ekhat. They have adapted both human and Jao technology to create a massive new spaceship the size of an aircraft carrier, the Lexington.

This story is partially about how technology changes when two cultures meet to make something far more deadly than the single culture can produce by itself. The Lexington with its combined kinetic and energy weapon technology, energy shielding and heavy armored plate easily destroys the Ekhat ships.

In The Crucible of Empire, the new human Jao alliance have to rescue a third alien race, the Lleix from the Ekhat. I liked how the different aliens were described with their strengths and weaknesses. The Lleix had a very interesting artistic flair to them. The Jao and the Lleix were described as being very different.

This book does an excellent job of worldbuilding and describing how alien worlds interact. It also does not assume human superiority which is refreshing. Humans are not the center of the universe. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I hope they add a few more alien cultures to the mix.

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

This book is a sequel to the science fiction novel, The Quiet War. The three powers led by Greater Brazil have successfully conquered the Outers colonies on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Supposedly they have stopped the democratic and transhuman changes occurring to the colonists.

However, the aftermath of the conquest leads to some unexpected changes. Some of the outers have fled to the moons of Titan. My favorite character is Macy Minnot one of the outers who is on Titan. There is also a transhuman colony on Titan. This makes for an interesting story.

Also the ideas of democracy and technology from the Outer colonies are starting to seep into the cultures of the Pacific Community and Greater Brazil. This causes revolutionary change. It is a case of a less advanced society taking over a more advanced society.

There is a lot of interesting technology in the story. The author is a botanist and is very interested in technological change. He writes a lot about building ecologies for survival in space as well as using genetically engineered plants to harvest sunlight, minerals, and produce air. He also has some very interesting descriptions of people being genetically engineered as spies, to live in space, or to live extremely long lives.

I enjoyed the politics and technology in the story. There were some problems with the continuity of the story. The author broke the book into six sections which are slightly broken up in time. The last section called Everything Rises Must Converge felt more like an epilogue than a section.

This book would have been better as a trilogy. There were parts of the story which did not seem fleshed out well enough. The change which Sri Hong Owen the gene wizard uses to make her become transhuman as well as create the habitats orbiting the sun are not very clearly described.

I liked reading the book. I thought the continuity could have been done better, and that duology would have been better as a trilogy. It is worth reading for the ideas.

Daily Thoughts 3/30/2010

The Bookman, Thompson, Ruth Plumly: "The Gnome King of Oz." (1927)

Daily Thoughts 3/30/2010

I went to my local library this morning, but did not find anything which I wanted to read. I also took a bit of time to go to Target. I noticed that Target has a book club section. Publishers are starting to produce books specifically for reading groups. These usually include a set of questions after each chapter about what people are reading.

Almost everything there is bestsellers with some new authors. They have some cookbooks, pregnancy books, diet books, a self help section, and teen bestsellers as well. It is a way to see what popular titles people are reading. A few titles that looked interesting are Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and Nefertiti by Michelle Moran.

I learned that Thoreau designed pencils while reading A Better Pencil. The pencil is the premiere writing instrument. It is cheap, ubiquitous, easy to distribute and used all over the world. I prefer pens personally, but if you are looking for the most prevalent writing technology, it is the pencil.

The Sentimental Hop

Traditions are like fairy tales. The basket full of goodies, egg hunts, and chocolate bunnies with big ears are all a part of my family's tradition. For one day, we get to pretend and make believe, leaving behind the cares of the world. No balancing the checkbooks, no juggling schedules or trying to fit in the laundry sometime between grocery shopping, dinner and boy/girl scouts.

For the whole day, we get to goof around and pretend that chocolate eggs come from rabbits and marshmallow chicks come from marshmallow chickens. Little girls get to wear the most gorgeous dresses, sometimes complete with matching hat and dainty lace gloves.

Most of all, we get to celebrate the end of winter and the beauty of a new spring. So yeah, okay, I'm being a little poetic here, but these family traditions always bring out my sentimental side.

What does your family do during this time of year? Do you take spring vacations to far off places? Visit relatives in different states?

Warmly,
J.R. Turner

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

Sou uma mulher à beira de um ataque de nervos!

-Casamento da Lu chegando e eu com o enxoval dela sem terminar (e morrendo pra dar conta).

- Aniversário de 80 anos da minha tia avó no sábado e eu não sei o que dar. Afinal, o que dar a uma mulher de 80 anos, com espírito de 40, plenamente ativa, que seja algo que ela use, que não a chame de velha (ex: chinelinho de quarto, arg!).

- Como resumi meus dias no enxoval da Lu meus armários estão um caos! Tudo bem, eu tenho secretária e a casa tá limpinha, mas tem coisas que só a gente...

- Marido reclama falta de atenção... Filho faz tudo pra chamar atenção...

- Percebi que a escola anterior de filho mais novo era mais fraca do que eu pensava e as notas altas dele não valem nada! Brincadeira agora é jogo de estados e capitais, países e capitais, continentes, oceanos, etc. E ele reclama... e eu insisto, mas é chato...

- Calças largas e caindo. (Tá essa é uma coisa boa)

- Ainda não comprei ovos de Páscoa para os meninos.

- Fiz um salmão com molho de alcaparras ontem e escutei: "Mãe, eu não quero essas pelotinhas não, elas são muito ruins!" Mas que comeram o salmão todo, isso comeram...

- Meu shampoo Payot acabou e aqui não tem pra comprar mais.

- O marceneiro está atrasando minhas mesas.

- O pc extra do escritório deu problema.

Isso tudo e detlhe, eu nem tenho TPM pra por a culpa na bendita! Então, se eu não pirar até amanhã, arranjo um post mais agradável.
Beijos

Daily Thoughts 3/29/2010

American science fiction author, Eric Flint GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Daily Thoughts 3/29/2010

I watched a film on dvd called Wordplay today. It was about crossword puzzles. It featured Will Shortz who is the editor for the New York Times crossword puzzle. He arranges for puzzles from about 110 different people every single year. Will Shortz has a degree in Enigmatology which is puzzles. It was a quite enjoyable film.

There were cameos by Bill Clinton, Mike Mussina, Jon Stewart, the Indigo Girls, and many other famous people. They talked about why they did the crossword puzzle. It was very interesting to listen to.

The film also covered the National Crossword Championship which runs for seven days. There is a crossword for every single day. It was interesting watching champion crossword puzzle people prepare for the event.

If you like words and thinking about words, this film is well worth seeing.

The dvd case includes a booklet with five crossword puzzles fromt the New York Times.

I have started reading A Better Pencil, Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron.

Now, if only they tasted like chocolate...

Meet the Marans chicken, an uncommon European breed, named for the town in France in which it was developed. And now...

Meet its embryo.

That's right, the Marans chicken lays chocolate eggs. They vary in shade, from milk chocolate to dark, but are always some glossy shade of our favorite treat. Of course, they still taste like eggs, so the Cadbury bunny doesn't need to worry about finding a new job yet, but c'mon. Chocolate eggs. How cool is that?

This got me thinking--are the Marans chicken and Easter candy related in some way? The candy chocolate egg did originate in Europe, so...did someone see a glossy chocolate Marans egg and think, hey, I could do that with real candy? Or was the Marans bred to create a living imitation of a tasty chocolate craze?

In other words, what came first...the Marans chicken, or the Easter egg?

Jacquelyn Sylvan is the author of Surviving Serendipity, a YA fantasy novel. Click below to buy on Amazon!

Daily Thoughts 3/28/2010

Fox Writing With A Quill Pen, J. Mason, 1852

Daily Thoughts 3/28/2010

I went to Barnes and Noble this morning. I looked at an advertisement for a Nook. It asks if you would like to carry Barnes and Noble in your hand wherever you want to go. I am looking forward to when there are less dedicated ebook machines. I would like to be able to download from whichever bookstore I want. I think a laptop would be the best choice for me because I think you can download the Kindle software to a laptop as well as the Nook software and other bookstore sites.

There were a few interesting books worth looking at. I do not order a whole lot of science fiction and fantasy series books. I am thinking of getting a few World of Warcraft paperbacks, as well as a few paperbacks from the Forgotten Realms series and the Warhammer 40,000 series. I also saw a few novel that seemed interesting, Frank Delaney, Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show as well as a new humorous fantasy book by A. Lee Martinez, Divine Misfortune.

I read another science fiction book today, The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth. It is a military science fiction novel. What is different about this story is that humans have been conquered by an alien race, the Jao. However, they are not enslaved. Earth has become a kind of partner in a larger interstellar war against an aggressive species called the Ehkat. This is the second book in a series started with The Course of Empire. There is another humanoid species added to the story in this novel, the Lleix who convinced the Jao to separate from the Ehkat. I am finding it quite entertaining.

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Top Ten Things Which Freak Me Out

What freaks me out? After thinking long and hard, I’ve discovered that a lot of things freak me out. These are my top ten.

1. Spiders, of course. Always have, always will. I don’t care how much they benefit my garden.

2. People who smile all the time, even when they are by themselves, and especially when I see them on downtown buses.

3. Digging up something weird in the yard, especially if it is moving.

4. People using Bluetooth devices in public. I know it’s simply technological progress, but to me, they simply look like they are talking to themselves. Speaking of which...

5. People who talk to themselves...especially accompanied by smiling all the time...on buses.

6. Giving interviews, as I’d just recently discovered when I gave my first the other day. I kept worried about finding that fine line between coming across as an idiot and being a pretentious bore. Not used to it yet, and it didn’t help that I was 15 minutes late because I showed up at the wrong Starbucks where we agreed to meet (but in my defense, where I live, there’s a Starbucks roughly every 100 feet).

7. When my kids get injured. I’ll never get used to that.

8. When my dog does disgusting things, such as throwing up, then deciding the meal he just lurched is worth enjoying a second time, or how he’s recently discovered the hidden treasures of our cat’s litter box. I’m starting to think he considers the cat’s butt as some kind of doggy vending machine.

9. Seeing people who were obviously never taught that digging in your nose (or other regions) in public isn’t socially acceptable behavior.

10. Death. And the older I get, the more it freaks me out. I’m at that age where any unexplained ache or pain sometimes has me hitting the panic button.

Daily Thoughts 3/27/2010

The Geographer 1668-69 oil on canvas; 53×47 cm Steadelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt, Germany, Jan Vandermeer. This makes me think of the atlas stand where I work. We do not have a large map collection. Many libraries do.

Daily Thoughts 3/27/2010

Today has been a relatively quiet day. They are working on shifting books in the storage area to make more room. I finished weeding the fiction in the storage area. Now, it is more of a job of moving things around. I still have weeding to do in the oversize books on the main floor.

I am also planning days to do collection development meetings. One of the days, I would like to focus on special areas like government documents, maps, the job information center, different areas of genre fiction: urban fiction, mysteries, romance, inspirational fiction, science fiction, and other categories.

I learned from one of our library patrons there is a Kids Comiccon on April 10, at Bronx Community College. Bronx Community College holds a kids comic con free for kids under 18 -- April 10 in Bronx, New York http://www.kidscomiccon.com/ It looks kind of interesting.

I finished reading Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley tonight. It is the sequel to The Quiet War. Like most very interesting science fiction or literature there will be very mixed reactions to the story in this book. It is very much a book about biology, ecology, and society in the terms of hard science fiction; not so much physics. This makes it a different kind of hard science fiction.

Daily Thoughts 3/26/2010

Desk of german author Hermann Hesse in Hermann Hesse Höri Museum in Gaienhofen Creative Commons Attributions Share Alike Attribution 3.0, Photo taken by Dierk Andresen , 2004

Daily Thoughts 3/26/2010

Today has been a quiet day. I have a number of books waiting for me to look at, The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel, How Philosophy Can Save Your Life 10 Ideas That Matter Most by Marietta McCarthy, Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley, A Better Pencil Readers Writers and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron, The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wenthworth, and Other Lands by David Anthony Durham.

We got our first shipment from BWI. There were a few interesting titles including R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated, and Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks edited by John Curran. On the cover it says the book contains two previously unpublished Hercule Poirot stories which is intriguing.

I went around and checked the displays, putting a few new books in a display of folklore books from storage, and making sure the new books were in order. I picked out several books for the book mobile. Mainly, they were biography titles, large print, and popular fiction which many older readers like.

I read the first chapter of How Philosophy Can Change Your Life. It is on the concept of simplicity in life. The author describes how Epictetus believed the simplest pleasures are the lasting pleasures. She draws a parallel between zen and stoicism which both focus on simplifying ones life to the point where the simple pleasures become profound. It is a philosophical counter to excessive materialism. She gives numerous examples at the end of the chapter on how to simplify ones life.

I also started reading Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley. It is the sequel to The Quiet War which is about war between two branches of humanity, the outers who are on the moons of Titan and the earth triumvirate led by the Alliance of Greater Brazil.

Tô participando!

Olá meninas,
A Nathalia, do Um sonho de Casa esta fazendo promoção:
E eu, que não sou boba nada, tô participando. O prêmio é surpresa, mas como tudo da Nat é fofíssimo, já estou torcendo pra ganhar.

Lembrando que ainda tem promoção por aqui também. Quer ganhar um adesivo? Então clica aqui.

Beijos!

Daily Thoughts 3/25/2010

Illustration of "A Mad Tea Party" in chapter in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse. Text on Hatter's hat reads "In this style 10/6. Illustration by John Tenniel.

Daily Thoughts 3/25/2010

I mostly relaxed today. I am becoming fond of lemon ginger tea. I returned a few books to my local library. Today is a quiet day.

A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel

A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel

This is a collection of short essays by Alberto Manguel. Alberto Manguel wrote The Dictionary of Imaginary Places and was an editor for many years. He muses on his own identity as a reader by talking about many personal issues on reading. He has an essay of the Legend of the Wandering Jew as a reader as well as comments on Jorge Luis Borges defense of Jewish culture. The author is Argentinian and pulls from the South American literary tradition.

He opens many of the essays with a quote from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass and a picture from one of these books. This adds an inquisitive quality to the essays. I like many of his quotes and thoughts from Borges because Borges was a librarian and a fantasist in the tradition of magical realism. The essays remind me of thoughts that might have come out of The Phantom Tollbooth or Un Lun Dun.

Most of the essays are about the the experience of reading and being a reader. I especially liked the essay on Don Quixote, entitled Time and The Doleful Knight on Pp. 182-186. I can relate to Cervantes even though I have not read him..

Alberto Manguel attempts to list the qualities of the ideal reader and the ideal writer in two separate essays. They are quite delightful, even though I would not agree with many of them. Alberto Manguel has a deep relationship with books. He has a personal library of some 30,000 books. He wrote about this in an earlier book, The Library At Night.

There is also some discussion of technology in this book. The essay, Saint Augustine's Computer on Pp. 187-198 describes the differences between the printed word and the word on the screen. They are quite significant. He claims the printed word is less ephemeral and easier to subject to deep analysis than what appears on a computer screen.

Some of the issues in the book are quite political. Alberto Manguel grew up under Peron's government. He describes many of the problems with literature, writing, and reading that occur under repressive regimes. He also discusses Che Guevara and his impact on literature. This makes for some interesting, if a bit pointed commentary.

There is a lot to recommend in this book. It has a well done index, a very extensive bibliography, and a nice feel to the book. The book is set in Fourier Type and is quite easy to read. It is printed by Yale University Press. It is an excellent book that is well worth reading.

E pra não perder a caneta...

Cansei de brigar pela minha caneta. Sim, porque o pessoal aqui (leia-se principalmente marido) acha mais fácil pegar a minha caneta do que ir buscar uma nova no armário. Acho que é por isso que eu fiquei com raiva e num ataque de fúria arranquei as portas do armário! (Não foi bem assim, o armário ficou sem as portas na reforma, mas que imaginar a cena é engraçado, isso é.)
Então, depois de tanta guerra, lancei mão de minha arma mais poderosa: a customização! Nada como tornar minha caneta única, pessoal e intransferível!
Vai lá marido, pega minha caneta agora e fala que não era a minha!
Beijos

PS: Não se esqueçam de participar da promoção! ë só deixar seu comentário e concorrer ao adesivo da R+. Vai ficar fora dessa? Então corre e clica aqui.

Daily Thoughts 3/24/2010

Rudyard Kipling, 1899

Daily Thoughts 3/24/2010

I finished reading A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel. I was thinking about Borges today and I tried looking up The Library of Babel. In an odd coincidence, I found out that the nickname for the Ellis Island library in its early days was nicknamed the "Tower of Babel". There are some images with these words in the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

Please excuse me for not writing as much today. I am resting right now, drinking tea. I really enjoyed reading Alberto Manguel. He reminds me what it means to devotes ones life to books.

What Freaks Us Out

I suppose that's a really good question. I mean, we are all different, so we can't just assume what freaks one person out freaks the next person out as well.

However, there are some pretty common fears that 'freak people out'.

Heights, for example. You go on vacation. Want to go to the top of the Sears Tower? No thank you. Want to go on this roller coaster with me? Yeah right. (You know, excluding the fear of roller coasters.) I'm taking a trip to Europe. Want to come with me? Do you mean that I have to fly?

Or there's spiders. Or anything that has more than four legs and doesn't bark or meow. Quite possibly snakes. Or mice. Clump those out into one giant cluster of things that can make some people take a step back.

What about water? I've known a couple people who are afraid to go in a pool unless they can stand on the bottom. Ocean? Probably not. Boat? Yeah, there's no point in even mentioning it. It'll be a no.

There are just certain things that freak people out. And there's nothing wrong with it because most people have that one odd thing that just tends to make them cringe. (And no, I'm not talking about nails on a chalkboard).

So what freaks you out?

Daily Thoughts 3/23/2010

Imaginary Picture of Aristophanes who was bald, 1896

Daily Thoughts 3/23/2010

I am going to read How Philosophy Can Save Your Life: 10 Ideas That Matter Most by Marietta McCarty. It caught my attention when I was going through the new books. It also has some very nice reviews. It is a book of practical philosophy, or philosophy put into every day use.

I read some more of Alberto Manguel A Reader on Reading. Each chapter is a separate essay on reading. In one of the essays he describes a variation on Borges infinite library. It is a single volume with infinitely thin pages which comprise all knowledge. Alberto Manguel makes the observation that is very similar to an ebook. I thought this was interesting.

Total Toilet Freedom

This week's theme ... you knew there was a theme on this blog, right? ... anyway, this week's theme is ...

(drum roll)

Here goes ...

It's "What Freaks Us Out."

When I read the theme, one thing came immediately to mind, followed by a number of other things, then some ESPN leakage and other stuff. But I decided to stick with my first impulse.

So what freaks me out?

In a word ... Women.

Yep, the so-called 'weaker sex.'

Yeah, right, weaker.

I have two daughters and my wife of almost a quarter century, and I'm bigger than them. I'm stronger. I out stink them. Heck, I'm a black belt. I shouldn't be afraid of them.

Okay, so explain to me why on a recent trip, when I stayed in a hotel by myself ... five hundred miles away from my wife and kids ... why ...

... I still couldn't leave the toilet seat up.

I mean,here's my taste of freedom. My chance to boldly leave the toilet bowl exposed and uncovered. Heck, there was no reason I'd even feel required to flush the thing.

Total Toilet Freedom!

But I couldn't do it.

Yeah, women, they freak me out.

Norm

http://www.normcowie.com

(author of the young adult humor vampire book, Fang Face - now available for just three bucks on ebook)

Hedgehogs.

What freaks me out?

Hmm. I could say the usual... I could say it freaks me out when I'm told I have a math test coming up, or when I witness bigotry, or when my cousin wears a maroon sweater with a bright orange tee shirt sticking out the bottom (despite how many times I make a pointed remark about how much my eyes are hurting. I think he thinks I get migraines)...

But I think I can classify those as rational. I do, however, have a completely irrational fear.

Hedgehogs freak me out.

I don't know why, or how they started, but I've had recurring nightmares about the little animals. In my dreams I'm in Ireland, on a cliff, searching for something, and all of a sudden a hedgehog jumps out at me. Next thing I know I'm wide awake in bed, listening to my heart thud away like I've turned up the volume dial to INSANE.

So, that's my totally irrational freak kryptonite. Hedgehog nightmares.

I find it even more interesting when I point out to myself that I never have actually seen a hedgehog in the flesh. (But maybe it's better that way. I mean, look at this picture. The thing's positively rabid.)





Kieryn
Author of RAIN, a YA spy novel.
www.kierynnicolas.com
www.kierynnicolas.blogspot.com

Daily Thoughts 3/22/2010

Beatus Rhenanus author and editor. Albert Manguel used this image in A History of Reading.

Daily Thoughts 3/22/2010

I skipped a day to get some extra rest. Right now, I am reading Alberto Manguel, A Reader on Reading. Alberto Manguel is famous for having written The Dictionary of Imaginary Places which is quite entertaining. The opening chapter is on Alice In Wonderland which is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

I am reading about Callimachus who was the first bibliographer and cataloger for the Library of Alexandria. He invented the first subject headings in his Pinakes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinakes_(tables) . It is a nice reminder that there were great libraries before our time. Supposedly, the Library of Alexandria had some 500,000 volumes.

While reading Library Journal, I came across this article. It is about Opencourseware and the need for libraries in a virtual university. It seems people providing information to students in the online environment is being pushed aside. Libraries are being removed from the equation. It is quite interesting, and in some ways disappointing. MIT Opencourseware are classes designed to be taken for free over the internet. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6723299.html

Friends

Just before Christmas our outdoor group was painting at the eco village of Oude Molen. 

While we were there, a group of youngsters from the next door area came by to exercise the horses.  They run down to the river with them and then walk back and allow them to browse until they go back to their holding area.

These horses belong to the children of wealthier Capetonions and locating them at Oude Molen provides income for the locals and the village itself.

I took this pic as they walked past my painting spot and have wanted to paint it for some time.  Now that I finally have, I'm not that happy with it.  I think I spent too long a time on it and tried to get it 'perfect' thereby losing the looseness that I so desperately want.  Photographing it was also not the easiest.

Anyway, here it is - I've called it Friends.

I'm going the apologise to all the wonderful bloggers I visit regularly.  I've been absent and will be a bit busy for the next 7 days as I've got the job as 'Official Sitter' at the current South African Society of Artists exhibition at Kirstenbosch.  Despite not having qualified for this exhibition, it's a job I enjoy doing as you get to see all that great art and meet many wonderful artists and art lovers.  But I'll be back on my computer in bits and pieces during the period.  Then I will have to paint again so I have something to post!

the New How Creating Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy

the New How Creating Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy by Nilofer Merchant.

This is very different than most business books I have ever read. Nilofer Merchant focuses on a collaborative style of management which is designed to involve the whole organization. The focus is not on creating strategy, but how you systematically implement strategy across an organization. In this book, the author describes how every level of an organization becomes involved in strategy. It also describes how to make everyone in an organization understand a companies strategy.

The book is published by O'Relly publishing. The book has a new media feel to it. If you go to the recommended reading list in the back, many of the books and recommendations are from new media. For example, she recommends the book, Everything is Miscellaneous The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger.

Sometimes it is hard to follow what she is saying. Some of the ideas seem far fetched. I think this is partially because many of the ideas she is drawing from are fairly new. Think of collaboration in terms of large projects like Wikipedia which is run in a collaborative manner or Cisco Systems which relies heavily on team work. There is a nice reminder that with knowledge work, the problem is not having enough ideas, it is implementing the ideas that are already available.

People are viewed as co-creators in this book and the management is not supposed to have all the answers. It is more focused on facilitating change. The author calls her methodology, QuEST; Question, Envision, Select, and Take. Question what you are supposed to be doing, envision the best way to do things, select the results which will work best, and take action.

This is a very different way to run a companies decisionmaking. It describes ways to attack basic assumptions, seek out real answers, and work in teams to select the best strategies.

I did not understand a lot of it, but because there were so many new ideas, I think that I will have gained some new insights on how to work with other people. A lot of this book is about managing and coordinating with people without having to control them. It is also about eliminating the "air sandwich" between management and line workers. It is a very much roll up your sleeves and work with other people style.

The book is very qualitative in orientation, so that there are not a whole lot of numbers and statistics. There are some simple diagrams. The author includes notes, index, and a list of recommended books to read. Many of the recommended books are about collaboration in business and leading teams. Nilofer Merchant is the CEO of Rubicon Consulting.

Me encantei pelo apartamento da Myrna!

Vocês viram o apartamento da Myrna, na novela Viver a Vida? Amei!
Tudo bem que a novela tem cenários lindos, mas normalmente são extremamente fora dos padrões do meu bolso. Agora o ap da Myrna...
Eu fiquei assistindo a cena e só enxergava os detalhes do cenário. E vocês, também gostaram? Não assistiu? Dá uma confirida e me diz o que achou.
Beijos!

Lembrando: deixe seu comentário no post da promoção e concorra ao adesivo da R+.
Beijos!

Hello, my name is Heather Ingemar, and I'm a Twitter-freak

I'm a Twitter addict.

Which is funny, because I never thought Twitter was something I'd get into -- after all, you've only got 140 characters, and why would people be interested in knowing what you're doing? All the time? Every waking minute of every day?

But I was curious.

So I signed up, and...

What's that saying about killing the cat??? ;)

~*~

Heather S. Ingemar has loved to play with words since she was little, and it wasn’t long until she started writing her own stories. Termed “a little odd” by her peers, she took great delight in exploring tales with a gothic flair, and to this day, Edgar Allan Poe continues to be her literary hero. To learn more, please visit: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/heatheringemar

Buy a story (or two or three): Heather Ingemar on Echelon Direct

My favorite Internet addictions

The Internet gives users the opportunity to easily placate any addiction from their comfort of their homes.

For me, the big three Internet addictions are keeping in with friends, keeping informed about my favorite TV shows and, of course, keeping up-to-date with the latest fashion trends.

Facebook

After high school (and especially after college) my friends and I all scattered from our home town just outside Philadelphia. Although some of us didn't get very far (I just moved to another side of the city), two of my friends now call the UK home.

While we were fortunate to all meet up again this past Christmas, we use Facebook to keep everyone apprised of our adventures the rest of the year.

TV Guide

This Web site has virtually all the features of its paper version without the cost or carbon footprint. And since stations can change their programming last minute for breaking news, the site is more accurate than the printed copies.

There are also links to any episode you may have missed that week.

Rue la la

A friend turned me on to this Web site last year. The site sells leftovers from top designers on sale -- most for more than half off the retail price. It's like a high-end flea market; you're never quite sure what's available.

I will admit, though, that half off a Coach bag is still out of my price range. So I use the site for virtual window shopping when I can't get to the King of Prussia mall.

Yes, the Internet can satisfy all your latest addictions (and even create a few more -- every try the free games available at Yahoo!), just remember to surf carefully. Because wipe outs can happen without any waves.

Katie Pasek is the author of "Sure-foot Sam in Jeopardy" available from Echelon Press and Junior's New Home available from Lulu.com. For more information please visit www.katiepasek.com.

Daily Thoughts 3/19/2010

William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844), usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, art critic, travel writer and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Wells from 1784 to 1790, for Hindon from 1790 to 1795 and again from 1806 to 1820. William Thomas Beckford is the author of the Gothic novel Vathek and brainchild of the remarkable Fonthill Abbey.

Daily Thoughts 3/19/2010

I was looking at the February 15, 2010 issue of Kirkus Reviews. It has in big letters on the cover, Kirkus Lives. Today has been a quiet day. I spent some time cleaning off my desk and looking at order catalogs for different publishers. I especially like Dalkie Archive Press, it has a nice mix of literature, poetry, and criticism. They print a lot of very high quality literature. I also distributed some lists which I requested from Unique Books to colleagues to see if there was any interest in the distributor.

I spent some time looking through mystery reviews with a colleague. It was interesting. Right now, I am looking at the Booklist March 15, 2010 issue with a spotlight on graphic novels.

Promoção Criando Asas em parceria com a R + Adesivos

A R+ Adesivos está presenteando os leitores do Criando Asas!
Dá uma espiadinha no trabalho deles:








E, de novo, você escolhe o prêmio que você quer ganhar! Vale a pena conferir o site, porque você pode escolher qualquer um!

Para participar é simples:
- Deixar um comentário neste post (e só vale neste post) com nome e e-mail
- Conte pra gente onde você pensa em colocar seu adesivo.
Vai lá no site da R+ e se inspire! Difícil vai ser escolher um adesivo só...
E aí, tá esperando o quê pra tentar ganhar o seu?

O sorteio será no dia 31 de março e valem os comentários feitos até o dia 30. Depois do sorteio, a vencedora deverá me enviar um endereço para que a R+ envie o adesivo escolhido.

Beijos e boa sorte!

Daily Thoughts 3/18/2010

The library of Christ Church, Oxford from Rudolph Ackermann's History of Oxford (1813) by an unknown artist.

Daily Thoughts 3/18/2010

Today is another quiet day. I went through and marked items missing from the storage area this morning. I am also checking the labels on the paperback to make sure they are all consistent and the same. I also plan on checking the fiction mass market paperbacks and the trade paperbacks for African American fiction that needs to be relocated. I'll probably be working with one of my colleagues on this.

Sometimes when you are talking to people at the reference desk, you learn about things which stand out. This is a creative commons ebook by Lev Manovich called Software Takes Command. It looked quite interesting to me. Someone was asking for a book about digital art by Lev Manovich and it led to this book. I am convinced that there will be many more textbooks coming out as creative commons.

http://softwarestudies.com/softbook/manovich_softbook_11_20_2008.pdf

Sometimes, there are repetitive things which need to get done. I have to look at the shifting in the storage area tomorrow. I got my confirmation for my first order through BWI. I am going to work with someone who is ordering CDs tomorrow to help them place their order. Today was more predictable than usual.

Daily Thoughts 3/17/2010

Colm Tóibín at the Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, United States., 28 October, 2006Photograph created by Larry D. Moore , Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Happy St. Patrick's Day. We had green bagels in the staff room. Anyways, today has not been that bad. I finished going through the shelves checking for discards in the storage area for fiction. Now, I have to go back through and mark the items missing which I did not find. I also am looking at the arrangement of the relocated paperbacks.

We had an ordering meeting today. It went quite well. I had a chance to try the BWI ordering system. So far, it seems like it works well. I am going to be looking at it a little more tomorrow.

While I was going through the web, I noticed another interesting title, The Vanished Library by Luciano Canfora. It is about the ancient library at Alexandria. I also put in a request for the fantasy book, The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham.

Daily Thoughts 3/16/2010

Stamp of USSR, 13th Definitive Issue. Symbols of art and literature, 1988-1989

Today has been a relatively quiet day. I checked the displays and did some weeding this morning. I am going to finish weeding the storage fiction this week. Try and do are two different concepts. When you try to finish something, it puts in mind that you might not finish it. I am almost done. I also spent some time reading Publishers Weekly this morning.

Brandon Sanderson has a new book coming out called The Way of Kings. I like the cover art. It is done by Michael Whelan. Hopefully it should be a very enjoyable fantasy title. I also just put Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley on hold. It is the sequel to The Quiet War which I enjoyed a lot.

I was reading the Oxford University Press blog which had interesting book suggestion; A Better Pencil Readers Writers and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron. It makes the argument that people are already becoming writers because of computers, so it is almost a moot point on whether or not it is particularly wonderful writing.

I spent some time talking to people about a poetry program I am working on for April 10, 2010. I am going to try a Saturday afternoon this time. I also think that I will have more local people interested in this kind of program now.

On the way home, I read some more of The New How. It is describing how there is more than enough information out there for strategy, it is easy to get information. Now, it is more important to get people to act on ideas than create new ones. Basically to collaborate and work together. Nilofer Merchant describes something called an "Air Sandwich" where there is a giant fluffy disconnect between people who manage and people who work. The management is on top, air is in the middle, and the line workers are on the bottom. In the middle is a lot of hot air.

A Palette Knife Bluebird

I was totally bowled over by the response to my American Robin and all your comments have inspired me to try my hand at some more birds!  I'm just a bit scared that I won't live up to the Robin and be a total disappointment.

So, instead of posting a brush painting of a bird, I did it with a palette knife. 

First time working an entire painting with a palette knife.  Our Friday group decided it was palette knife day and we were shown the nitty gritty by artist Heather Selby who paints with us.  I must say that I did enjoy it, but I think I'm really a brush painter.  It's kind of nice finding out where your interests lie by constantly trying new things!

So, this is my Eastern Bluebird, also from the USA and from James Parker's Windows to the Word blog.

(This is taking a heck of a long time to dry!!)

Daily Thoughts 3/15/2010

Art and Literature, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1867)

Daily Thoughts 3/15/2010

Today has been a steady day. We just finished moving the paperbacks and trade paperbacks out of the Fiction room to a new location. It is much easier to use. We have to look at it and make sure that the arrangement is right. I am still doing a little more weeding in the paperbacks.

I am also doing some more weeding in the storage area. I have quite a bit more to do. They are also shifting near this area.

I put in a hold for The Crucible of Empire by K.D. Wentworth and Eric Flint. It is a sequel to The Course of Empire. I rather liked the premise to the first book in the series; earth is conquered by more advanced cat like aliens. I am rather fond of Baen books and their military science fiction.

An article from Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore about how having a social media presence increases walk ins from the public. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.pratt15mar15,0,5002932.story . I think this is quite true. There is a direct link between combining social media and meeting people in person.

From Boing Boing article by Cory Doctorow-- The Most Beautiful Bookstore. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/13/most-beautiful-books.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

On the train home, I read some more of The New How. It focuses on how to strategically combine what people should be doing with why they should be doing it and how they should be doing their work. The goal is to get people to work together to create strategy and goals. The book is not about winning, it is more about working together.

Addicted to Facebook

Addicted to Facebook?!? Who me? Naaaaah. Never.

Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Gather, Authors Den, MySpace, Good Reads, Digg, JacketFlap, Nothing Binding, Red Room...

Okay, you caught me. I belong to all of these and more. I've learned to control my addiction, however, and usually concentrate on two or three a week. I don't believe I'm addicted to Facebook, but admit to snousing what my friends are up to even before I check e-mails!

From book releases to author visits to political, uh...discussions, it's all right there, simple and concise for my overloaded brain to digest.

A special benefit is connecting with old friends and classmates with the Facebook search tool. I've re-friended people I haven't seen for over 4 decades! What an eye-opening experience.

Do I look that old??

For my school friends reading this: I'm not talking about you! Just all those other classmates of ours. (ahem)

I've also joined family groups and discovered 2nd, 3rd, 10th cousins! Relatives I never knew existed are uncovered with the click of a mouse.

Social networking at its best. But, let me be clear. I will not join FARMVILLE. Not NOW, not EVER!

What are your favorite social networking sights? Has it been a good experience for you, or a bad one? Facebook addicts want to know.

On another subject, if you're addicted to ebooks, check out "Cynthia's Attic" series on Kindle!

Mary Cunningham Books
Amazon
Kindle
Fictionwise
Quake/Echelon Press

Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning, 'Tween Fantasy/time-travel series, "Cynthia's Attic," women's humor book, "WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty," and several short stories.

Daily Thoughts 3/14/2010

Still frame from the animated cartoon "Falling Hare" (1943). This short film did not have its copyright renewed by mistake and has fallen in the public domain.

Daily Thoughts 3/14/2010

I read some of the The New How, Creating Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy by Nilofer Merchant. It is about how to implement strategy. It takes strategy from the concept stage and describes different ways of "how" to implement strategies.

I May Be Crazy.....

I may be crazy but I had to try this! It's called Zip-Lining. Some young men took me to a high point of this island near Honduras, where we climbed onto a platform. Then after trussing me up like a Thanksgiving turkey and placing a helmet on my head, they clipped my harness to some cables and sent me flying over the treetops. It was scary but exhilerating. Not only did I zip from one post to the next, where they pulled me onto another platform, but I then was unclipped and reclipped to another set of cables and sent off again. I zipped from each post to the next making my way zig-zagging down the hill. Probably 8 zips in all. It took almost an hour as the posts were about 900 ft apart. I never asked how fast I went or how high up I was - some questions are best unanswered. It was sooooo cooool. I felt like Batman, James Bond, and Indiana Jones all rolled into one super hero. I think Margo Brown will do this in my next mystery.

The Time Paradox The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd

The Time Paradox The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd

This book is about changing your perspective on time. It focuses on different views of the past, present, and future. The basic views discussed are Past-negative, Past-positive, Present-fatalistic, Present-hedonistic, Future, and Transcendental future. This is an organization schema which I find interesting, but a bit contrived.

The authors claim that having an overly present view of time can lead to hedonism and low impulse control, having a negative view of the past can create depression and stress, having an overly future orientation can limit your enjoyment of the present. Their goal is to help a person have a more balanced view of time. They claim that time is your most valuable asset because it cannot be recovered.

I liked the idea of a Transcendental future viewpoint, a view that there is more to this world than our current life time, either in the religious or philosophical sense leads to greater happiness. People who believe in god, religion, or have a clear positive philosophy tend to live better lives. This includes ideas like environmentalism, ethics, and a world view embracing hope.

This book does not tell you how to manage your time. It helps you think about and unveil what your own viewpoints on time are. The authors give several questionnaires and exercises to make you think about planning for the future, how you see your place in time, creating goals, and have an inventory on time to complete; the ZPTI (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory).

This book is written for a general audience. It is a popular psychology title. There is an extensive bibliography and index. I enjoyed reading it. There was quite a bit to think about.

Advisors On My Shoulders

by Pam Ripling

Do you ever hear it? Better yet, do you hear multiple voices, one taunting, teasing, pushing, the other admonishing, warning, and scaring you back under the covers?

In visual fiction they are oft depicted as the little angel, the little devil that sits on each shoulder, whispering into your ear when you're undecided. "Do it!" "Don't!" "Aw, c'mon, wimp." "You'll be sorrrryyyy..." We've all warred with our conscience at one time or another. And, clearly, only saints could truthfully say that the devil in us has never won. But it isn't all black and white, is it?

Sometimes, the warring factions might be connected to our own fears, rather than good and evil. I recently blogged a recollection of crashing a snowmobile into a tree at Steamboat Springs. I'd had those conversations with my shoulder buddies that very morning. Should I go? Hop on board a death-defying, raging vehicle that sped through the snow at an alarming speed – a vehicle I'd never paid any attention to before? Or...should I stay? Inside a warm condo, with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book, a blaze in the fireplace, quiet, solitude...?

While it certainly wasn't evil to opt for the excitement of the snow eating monster, it was that little Lucifer type that made me do it. The angelic bookworm sniffed and turned her back, and I dropped her into my novel like a bookmark for later. I returned with a butterfly bandage on my eyebrow, rosy cheeks and a new experience I wouldn't have traded, in retrospect, for all the cocoa and Heathcliffs in the world.

So sometimes, not always, the little guy in red is only trying to show you a good time!

PS - That's not me on the snowmobile above, but it certainly felt like it!

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

Daily Thoughts 3/12/2010

Portrait of Palmer Cox : Frontispiece Frontier Humor, Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry, c.1900

Daily Thoughts 3/12/2010

Today has been extra busy. We had an extra group of people show up which required a little extra work, but it went well. I checked the displays and read two copies of the New York Times book review. We are buying most of the material in the book review. I also showed a film today. Today was quite busy.

I finished reading The Time Paradox today. The book is mainly about how we view time focusing on the past, present, and future. It reminds us not to be too hedonistic in the present, lose track of what is important by focusing too much on the future, and hold extremely negative views about the past. This is not about how to manage time, but how to view and reflect on time and what it means to you.

I am about to start reading the New How Creating Business Solutions Through Collaborative Strategy by Nilofer Merchant. It is published by O'Reilly books. I rather like the way O'Reilly formats their books. They have an excellent grasp of layout and graphics in their books.

Daily Thoughts 3/11/2010

La Grammaire (1892) by Paul Serusier, 71.5 x 92 cm, Musée d'Orsay

Daily Thoughts 3/11/2010

It is quiet and rainy outside. I mostly relaxed today. I read some more of the Time Paradox. It has been a quiet day.

Rapidinha

Ontem, na pressa, esqueci de dar a boa notícia: Já estou de escritório novo! A parte da construção, porque agora vem os móveis.
Mas também já consegui entrar em acordo com o Sr.Marceneiro-único-na-cidade e ele me entrega as mesas em 20 dias. Da outra vez ele abusou, imaginem que o preço das 4 prateleiras é igual ao que ele me pediu pela mesa! E olha que a mesa é grande...
Assim que as coisas estiverem no lugar (ainda está tudo uma bagunça) e a Claro resolver o meu problema, volto com fotos.
Beijos!

It's All Their Fault

I blame my parents. If it weren't for their combined DNA, I wouldn't be a writer or have spent so many years as an artist. Yeah, it's all their fault!

Seriously though, before I even had a say-so, I became apprentice first to my father with the silk screening business he launched from his studio. Then with my mom, I started helping out when the deadlines were shorter than the amount of work we had. (We painted canvas for tapestries.) From there, I went into painting children's portraits.
Of course, when they got me this huge dictionary and a typewriter for my thirteenth birthday, it would have been craptacularly rude not to use them. I had been writing all the stories and stuff in my head by hand for so long. But I loved that old ribbon typewriter, even if the klutzy keys kept getting stuck on one another.

So yeah, they made me do it. They made me become an artist and a writer. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be an accountant or a dentist or a postal worker.

(Thank you bunches, Mom and Dad!)

Warmly,
J.R. Turner

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

But My Brother Said...

Peer pressure. Not just a human problem.

Meet my dogs:

Sirius, a three-year-old Shepherd mix, professional cuddler and party guy. And...

Dobby, a sweet, mellow two-year-old Husky we adopted in September of last year.

Despite his calm, yielding nature, Dobby has one flaw; he loves to run. As in away. While Sirius is kind of crazy, he's never run off, even before we had a fenced-in backyard.

A few weeks ago, I let the dogs out before work, fixed their breakfast, went back out to fetch them--and found the yard empty, gate swinging open.

I know that, without Dobby's encouragement, Sirius would never have left the yard, especially when he could hear the delicious sound of kibble being poured into his bowl inside. But he saw Dobby slip through the gate, and, well, adventure beckoned.

I woke my husband, and we raced through the pitch-black streets at five a.m., following the dog tracks through the snow. I ran back to get the car so I could cover more ground, and left M to search on foot while I drove up and down the neighborhood.

No luck, so I returned to the house to regroup with my husband, just as he burst out and almost knocked me over.

"Got...Dobby," he panted. "Sirius...on railroad bridge."

M had found Dobby a few moments after I left him, but there was no sign of Sirius. He was trudging home with Dobby when he happened to look up, and saw the silhouette of a large animal standing smack in the middle of the railroad bridge, twenty feet above the ground. Apparently, Sirius, following his brother on this new adventure, climbed up the hill and started across the bridge, only to freeze in fear when he realized he could see the very far-away ground in the large spaces between the ties. He refused to budge, and M, without leashes and with Dobby in hand, was forced to run the block and a half home while Sirius cried after him.

We sprinted back to the bridge, and sure enough, Sirius was still there, crying and wagging his tail pathetically, hopelessly stuck. No amount of coaxing could get him down; M finally had to climb the hill, go out onto the bridge, pick up our 70 lb dog, and carry him off.

As much as I wanted to kill him, I felt for the poor dog. He's that kid we all either knew or were growing up, the kid who gets roped into his friends' schemes, but ends up being the only one to get in trouble.

Oh, and if you would happen to see an engineer's hat for a dog, drop me a line. This kind of adventure deserves a souvenir.

Jacquelyn Sylvan is the author of Surviving Serendipity , a YA fantasy book. Click to buy from Amazon!