Sunday, October 31, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/31/2010 (The Story of Stuff, ebooks)

Image from The Book of Hallowe'en. Caption "A Black-Cat Table.", 1919, Author Ruth Edna Kelley

Daily Thoughts 10/31/2010

Have a happy Halloween.  The kids were out early today while it was light trick or treating.  We gave out candy.

I've been reading more of The Story of Stuff.  I agree with the author that stuff should be more durable, repairable, recyclable, and upgradable.  Too much stuff which you can buy nowadays is poor quality and easily broken.  I have had the same car for ten years and the same computer for six years with upgrades.  I just fixed my watchband yesterday.  I have had the same watch for over ten years.  I also agree with the idea of reducing the amount of material which we use to make things.  Packaging is getting lighter and more recyclable lightly.  I wish this was true of many other items.

Web Bits

Lynn Abbey, CJ Cherryh, and Jane Fancher have an ebooks site where all the proceeds go to the authors.  They are all excellent fantasy writers. http://www.closed-circle.net/

I took a few minutes to go back and check who was linked to my blog.  There is Publishing Perspectives http://www.publishingperspectives.com/ and Meditative Reading http://meditativereading.blogspot.com/

Blameless An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger


Blameless An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger.

This is a wonderfully silly fantastic novel. It manages to mashup steampunk with werewolves and vampires in a comedy of manners. It is quite fun to read.

The main character who is pregnant by a werewolf travels to Italy where she meets the templars and learns a bit about her fathers history.

Lots of silliness ensues. Alexia Terrabotti endures ornithopter rides, angry vampires, and pesto in her travels in Italy. She wards off villains with her weigted dart shooting parasol with the help of her trusty footman Floote and the cross dressing hatmaker Madame Lefleux.

The writing is lighthearted and fun. It is well worth following the author, Gail Carriger. Her blog is quite fun to read with its pictures of parasols and other victorian and steampunk fashions. http://gailcarriger.livejournal.com/

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Junior Officers Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey



The Junior Officers Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey.





Patrick Hennessey describes his infantry and officer training in Britain. Then he describes his tour of duty, first as an honor guard for Buckingham Palace, then his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is very much a story about being a soldier willing to fight in hard circumstances.



Mixed in with his descriptions of of every day soldiering are descriptions of his reading. One of the books he is reading in Iraq is The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thessiger. Another book is Allan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty which he reads in Afghanistan. He also writes about some of the films he watches in basic training like Band of Brothers, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan.



The writing is thoughtful, analytical, has a touch of black humor, and throws in some strong language. The strong language is appropriate for some of the muddy, dirty, sandy places in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also fits in the leave time where soldiers drink hard, read, and think.



The writing swtiches between thoughtful stretches and lulls between combat. The combat scenes are fast, people get killed, ambushed, blown apart by IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and are wounded. The author is up front about his desire to get on the ground and destroy the enemy.



The description of the ANA (Afghan National Army) and the Iraqui guard are not very flattering, but the enemy taliban and Al Qaedar are described as being far worse. You get a sense from the book that the fighting in Afghanistan is much more intense than in Iraq.  Also the descriptions of our allies in Afghanistan was quite eye opening.  He does a good job of describing how different their thinking is than people in the west. The one thing which he does say that is intriguing is that the Afghanis don't want doctors and aid, they want teachers and learning.  Patrick Hennessey also describes without hesitation how the taliban often use Chinese and Russian small arms and rpgs and are trained by Iranians.



I like the ending where Patrick Hennessey is sent to the United States to train marines to fight the taliban. Patrick Hennessey was promoted in the field to become the youngest frontline captain the United Kingdom's army. This book is honest, well written, thoughtful, often uncomfortable, and bloody.  It is a memoir.

Daily Thoughts 10/30/2010 (The Story of Stuff, Library Funding)

Geokeys, Globalization

Daily Thoughts 10/30/2010

Sometimes things are a bit tense.   Six people have been offered retirement packages.  There is no way to know if people will take them.  There are added years of service but no additional severance being offered.  With this comes a statement about peace of mind.  Apparently, this is in preparation for further budget cuts from the city.  There is a lot of hearsay flying around so I don't know the exact figures being given.  The final budget for the city is being prepared.  I could guess that we will experience another round of reduction in force, possibly with deeper cuts than before.  It is tiring and uncertain.  Currently the library is $400,000 in debt which is 10% of our current budget.  An easy way to say this is that the city has no money and it is very likely there will be considerable additional cuts.

We will be having a book sale in November on November 5th and 6th to raise money for the friends.  This usually brings in a couple of thousand dollars in total.  It also generates a lot of goodwill.   There is also the annual gala which is going to be hosted in the library on Thursday, November 11, 2010.   It is put together by the library foundation. Tickets are $50.  The foundation raised $20,000 for the childrens room last year.  Hopefully, they will do better this year.  In addition, there is the donation form on the library website.  But, it probably will not be enough. 

It would be nice to see a larger donor step up to the plate and for corporate sponsorship to happen as well.  We have had the Women's Enterprise Development Center, the African American Chamber of Commerce, members of the Chamber of Commerce come in to do programming, and will soon have SCORE counseling.  We also plan on working on a separate small business collection.

I spent some time looking for leads early in the year for prospects and the library recently updated our email list by over a thousand people.  It might help a little bit.

It leads me to thinking about my own future.  I have to consider different options.  The economy is in fairly bad shape. I'll probably be going to Thinking Outside the Library: Non-traditional Careers for Information Professionals  http://mysite.pratt.edu/~sla/ .  There are other programs as well.

My watch band broke so I had to go and get it fixed. I took the bus downtown because it is very hard to find parking without paying. I read some more of The Story of Stuff. She is describing problems of countries which rely on mining, oil, and other extractive resources. Because these pay for the government and the citizens often don't, there are problems. It is interesting enough. Once again, though, she annoyed me by saying we could just use wind and solar to power our future. Wind, solar, solar towers and concentrators, biodiesel and other biofuels, geothermal, run of the river hydroelectric, wave generators like pelamis, waste to energy like plasma gasification, highly energy efficient devices, and advanced energy storage devices like flywheel energy storage together might completely power our future but not just wind and solar.

Fim de semana: cuide de você e dos seus cosméticos!

O fim de semana está aí e nada melhor que usar um dia de folga para ficar bonita.
Dar uma arrumada nos cabelos, fazer as unhas, usar aquela máscara facial esquecida no fundo do armário, vestir uma roupa legal e fazer uma bela maquiagem.
E quer satisfação maior que cuidar de você e, ao mesmo tempo organizar as suas coisas? Impossível? Não é não! Quer ver só:
Antes de arrumar os cabelos, limpe os pentes, escovas e chapinha. Já falei sobre isso aqui e aqui.
Depois, separe seus cosméticos e maquinagens. Confira as datas de validade, olhe tudo, um por um e jogue fora o que está vencido.
Depois de separar pegue um pacote de lencinho humedecido (aqueles de limpar bumbum de bebê) e tire todo o pó que tiver na embalagem. Quando acabar de limpar coloque os produtos em duas caixas com tampa, para manter tudo protegido da umidade.
Lembre-se de lavar também os pincéis de maquiagem. É só colocá-los em um copo com água morna com umas gotinhas de sabonete neutro (e se quiser um pouquinho de condicionador neutro também). Deixe secar ou no sol ou com secador de cabelo, e só guarde quando estiver tudo bem sequinho.
Dê uma olhada nas lixas e pedra pomes, se estiverem em situação de miséria o melhor é jogar fora, caso contrário lave bem com água morna tirando todos os resíduos que possam estar lá. Se tiver tesourinha e alicate de unha dê uma checada no estado deles.  Esterilize tudo em água fervente por 10 minutos, para eliminar qualquer bactéria que possa estar ali.
Aproveite o momento Amélia e passe um creme nas mãos (e coloque por cima uma luva) e uma máscara no cabelo (com touca).
Depois de tudo limpinho, já é hora de tirar a máscara do cabelo. Então, tome um belo banho, se arrume e pegue o maridão, namorado, ficante, e vá dar uma volta!
Bom feriado!
Beijos

Friday, October 29, 2010

Limpando e organizando a geladeira

Eu já falei que entrei em uma fase faxina total e se era para limpar a geladeira, é claro que eu não ia fazer fazer uma limpezinha básica. Então, fui pesquisar e me surpreendi com o que eu achei.
Sabia que sua geladeira esconde perfeitos vilões, dignos de fazer inveja a qualquer personagem maligno de novela? E que silenciosamente eles podem te causar até 250 doenças? Se você sabia, parabéns pra você, porque eu não fazia a mínima ideia!
E, pra evitar a ação destes seres malignos, após horas e horas de muita pesquisa, separei algumas dicas:

- Para limpar a geladeira:
Se você, como eu, mora em uma região quente e possui geladeira semi-automática, deve descongelar sua geladeira a cada 4 dias. Quem mora em regiões mais frias pode fazer isso a cada 7 dias.
Pra começar, desligue a tomada.
A limpeza básica é feita com uma solução de 1 colher (chá) de bicarbonato de sódio para cada litro de água.  Molhe o pano na solução e passe em todas as paredes internas da geladeira, nas gavetas, nas prateleiras e no congelador. Enxague bem com pano molhado e depois seque com um paninho seco.
E você jura que eu iria me contentar com isso?
Contra todas as orientações, passei uma bucha nova, do lado amarelo com detergente neutro. Não satisfeita, usei uma escova de dentes macia para escovar cada cantinho. E tenha certeza de que você encontrará mais locais que guardam sujeira do que você jamais possa ter imaginado.
Outra dica é desmontar a geladeira. E não é só tirar grades e gavetas não! procure retirar todas as partes que possam ser desmontadas da sua geladeira. E não esqueça aquela peça que faz o acabamento dos pés, em baixo da porta.
Depois de enxaguar, passei um paninho com uma solução de álcool e água. Mas só na parte interna, pra não danificar a pintura.
Não esqueça de limpar bem a borracha de vedação da porta, com uma solução de 1 litro de água com 2 colheres (sopa) de água sanitária e uma escovinha. Mas, se a borracha estiver danificada, mande trocar o mais rápido possível. Seu bolso agradece.


- Depois de limpa, é hora de organizar os alimentos:
Gaveta superior:
Carnes cruas. Atenção: Nunca lave a carne antes de guardá-la!
Carnes cozidas devem ser mantidas no congelador, envoltos em papel alumínio.

Primeira prateleira: Aqui ficam os alimentos que precisam de maior refrigeração.
Leite e derivados.
Ovos não vão na porta, para evitar a variação térmica, e devem ser lavados antes de guardar, pois pode haver micro-organismos (como a salmonela) na casca.
Catchup, mostarda, maionese e molho inglês também não devem ser colocados na porta da geladeira, pois isso diminui muito a sua validade.
Prateleiras intermediarias: Guloseimas e sobras de alimentos.
Latas podem sofrer contaminação nos supermercados e oxidar, por isso, coloque os enlatados em potes. Molho de tomate é muito perecível e deve ser consumido de uma só vez ou congelado – não deixe restos na geladeira.
Utilize sempre potinhos ou recipientes com tampa. Os potes retangulares ou quadrados podem ser colocados uns em cima dos outros, ocupando menos espaço. Vasilhas de vidro ou inox são mais higiênicas que as de plástico.
Restos só devem ser tampados depois de frios.
O pó de café guardado na geladeira tem seu sabor acentuado.
Gaveta: Frutas e verduras.
Elas devem ser lavadas e armazenadas em saquinhos transparentes para então serem guardadas.
Lave as folhas em água corrente, remova caules e folhas que não serão usadas.

Porta:
Vinagre: Em temperatura ambiente, ele pode sofrer contaminação de bactérias.
Água vai num recipiente fechado e de vidro.
Cervejas devem ser tomadas de uma só vez.
Conservas, geleias e vidros de azeitona podem ser colocados nas prateleiras da porta.
Não mantenha mais de 5 quilos na porta.

Congelador
Os alimentos que são comprados congelados devem ser guardados diretamente no freezer e se forem descongelados, não devem voltar para lá.
Os alimentos prontos devem ser consumidos em até 24 horas após o descongelamento.

- E agora, esteja atenta ao tempo que cada produto pode ficar na geladeira! Estes esqueminhas da  Revista Superinteressante podem te ajudar.



Se a sua geladeira está precisando de uma geral, separe algumas horas do seu tempo. Eu gastei 6 horas para limpar a minha, mas valeu à pena cada minuto!
Beijos

Daily Thoughts 10/29/2010 (Business Books, The Story of Stuff)

Interior with poppies and reading woman (Lizzy Hohlenberg), 1905, Oil On Canvas, by Anna Ancher, Skagens Museum

Daily Thoughts 10/29/2010

This morning, I started reading The Story of Stuff How Our Obsession With Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health by Annie Leonard.  It is very much an environmentalist and anti-consumerist book.  It follows the path of our stuff from when it is made to when we use it to when we throw it away to when it ends in the dump.

This morning we talked about possibly merchandising (creating a separate collection) for the small business books.  I am looking at the Gaylord catalog which is a label catalog for business labels.  We also talked a bit about business dvds.

I did a little bit of weeding in the oversize books and a bit of shelf reading in the 800s.

In the New York Times book review, one book caught my attention; The Gun, The AK-47 and the Evolution of War by C.J. Chivers. 

On the way home, I read some more of The Story of Stuff.  The author is using a lot of liberal causes in her writing.  It feels very politically correct which can be annoying at times.  However, the sympathy there seems to be right.  I am not sure that I agree with everything she is saying.  I am reading this book because it is printed on recycled paper.  Ecolibris is doing a campaign to get people to read books printed on recycled paper.

Web Bits

All Hallow's Read http://www.allhallowsread.com/

If you get a chance take a look at the New York Librarians Meetup blog, it is well worth going to their events.  http://nylibrariansmeetup.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/28/2010 (The Junior Officer's Reading Club)

U.S. Army Spc. Michael Perkins, right, assigned to 1st Calvary Division, hands boxes filled with books to a fellow soldier in Kirkuk, Iraq, April 26, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gustavo Olgiati, Government Photo, Public Domain.

Daily Thoughts 10/28/2010

I read some more of  The Junior Officers' Reading Club.  I like the description of how it was so hot in Iraq  that the pages were coming unglued from The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger's.  I also liked the authors decision to stop reading Don Quixote by Cervantes.  Most of the book is about soldiering.  There are a few literary references as you go through the book.

I did a little bit of weeding today in the oversize books and printed more copies of the Internet Marketing bibliography.  I also checked the displays to make sure they are in order.  The new website is starting to shape up nicely.  It is done with Drupal which is an open source system. http://drupal.org/

On the way home I read more of The Junior Officer's Reading Club.  It is interesting contemplating Patrick Hennessey reading Ayn Rand in Afghanistan.  For some reason, I find it utterly appropriate.

Web Bits

American Library Association Book Donation Programs List http://delicious.com/alalibrary/bookdonations

Desafio em respostas


Recebi este desafio da Ly, do Design My Life. Então, bora conhecer um pouco mais sobre mim?

1 – Se me dou bem com a minha sogra?
Claro! Mas tem que lembrar que mãe é mãe e sogra é sogra...

2 – Qual o seu desafio?
Tudo me desafia. Absolutamente tudo! Se encontro algo que não sei fazer aquilo fica martelando meu pensamento, porque se alguém é capaz de fazer, eu também consigo. E isso se aplica a tudo, coisas pessoais, profissionais, tudo. Se alguém fez ou conduziu alguma coisa da maneira correta, por mais difícil que seja, é possível. Então me sinto desafiada a fazer.
E isso se aplica até mesmo a desenvolver essa característica nos meus filhos. Quero que eles sempre se sintam estimulados diante dos obstáculos.

3 – O que diria a seu chefe se ganhasse na Loteria?
Marido, fecha a loja!

4 – Que farias se descobrisses que alguém te está mentindo?
Depende do nível da mentira e de quem é a pessoa.
No geral, prefiro acreditar na bondade das pessoas, mas uma vez decepcionada com elas nada mais será como antes. Mesmo que eu ainda continue convivendo com a pessoa, não será a mesma coisa. Confiança é algo que não aceita remendo.

5 – Se tua casa sofre um incêndio e apenas podes salvar uma única coisa, que salvarias?
Quando estive realmente na eminência de perder a casa em um incêndio, saí com minha família e só peguei nossos documentos.

Por quê?
Só pensei nos documentos na hora, porque estavam todos juntos e é algo que é extremamente complicado de ficar sem. As outras coisas que me vieram à mente naquele instante seriam possíveis de ser repostas, como roupas e eletrodomésticos.
Mas sofri muito pensando nas fotografias, nas fitas de vídeo com os meninos pequenos, nas tantas recordações de uma vida inteira que poderiam ter se perdido.
Ainda bem que o fogo realmente não tomou conta da casa.

6 – Entras num local com muita gente, que fazes?
Depende. Se é uma festa, procuro um conhecido. Se é um bar, ou restaurante, uma mesa vazia. Se é uma loja, dou meia volta, porque definitivamente não entro em fila pra comprar.

7 – Vês um recipiente meio cheio ou meio vazio?
Normalmente é meio cheio, mas se for Coca Cola, é meio vazio. Viciada, eu? Imagina...
Por quê?
Porque um pouco é melhor do que nada.

8 – Encontras uma Lamparina Mágica. Que três desejos pedes?
1° - Um mundo que trocasse a violência pelo amor ao próximo.
2° - Que eu consiga alcançar todos os meus objetivos na criação dos meus filhos.
3° - Algo que me levasse a ficar milionária, como a Mega Sena da virada. Sozinha, é claro.

9 – O que te levou a criar um blog?
Eu sentia falta de contato com o mundo. Eu cresci numa cidade maior do que a que vivo, e sempre viajei muito. Sentia falta do contato com novas pessoas, de aprender novas coisas, de expor meus pensamentos livremente. Uma vez li no Dona Perfeitinha uma frase com a qual me identifiquei perfeitamente: "o blog me ajudou a manter a minha sanidade mental".

10 – Se fosses um dinossauro, como te chamarias?
Não faço a mínima ideia. Mas sei que seria dos grandes!

11 – Você mudaria algo no seu passado?
Claro! Só quem não viveu não tem do que se arrepender! Mas estou satisfeita com o presente.

12 – Qual é o teu Sonho?
A construção da minha casa nova (notícia em primeira mão: já tem data planejada!), ver meus filhos bem encaminhados (e aí se encaixam muitos outros sonhos) e o resto se resolve com a Mega Sena.

13 – O que de mais vergonhoso fizeste?
Não tenho nada tão terrível assim. Vejamos... hum.... Aos sete anos subi em uma árvore e tiveram que colocar a escada pra eu descer. Era o primeiro galho, tá? E desci numa escada doméstica, destas de abrir, com 5 degrauzinhos! Nunca mais me arrisquei...

14 – Se fosses um animal, qual serias?
Girafa. Não sei porque, mas foi o que me ocorreu.

15 – O que nunca farias por dinheiro?
Acho que posso resumir assim: Não faria nada que me fizesse ter vergonha de olhar para os meus filhos ou que os constrangesse perante a sociedade.

16 – O quê ou quem é capaz de tirar-te do sério?
Aí a lista é grande: Celular fora de área, incompetência (inclusive quando é minha), atrasos, alguém combinar algo comigo e não cumprir, tele marketing, fofoca...

17 – O que fizeste em tua Vida de que tenhas tanto orgulho?
Minha família. Sou extremamente orgulhosa da educação dos meus filhos, e isso não é corujisse.

18 – Como gostarias de te enamorar?
Hã?

19 – Com que personagem, famoso ou não famoso, gostarias de parecer-te?
Malu Mader ou Letícia Sabatella. Admiro em ambas, além da beleza, a competência, a descrição e a forma corajosa como enfrentaram seus problemas pessoais sem torná-los públicos. No caso de Malu, ela se afastou anos atrás em silêncio para tratar um câncer e no caso de Letícia, as sequelas da filha pelo parto prematuro.
20 – O que prezas mais na Vida?
Minha família, incluindo mãe, irmãos, tios, primos, a turma é grande! E meus amigos.

21 – O que significa PAZ para você?
A tranquilidade de saber que todos que eu amo estão bem.

22 – O que é AMOR para você?
A essência de uma vida feliz.

23- Se pudesse mudar alguma coisa no mundo o que mudaria?
Trocaria o egoísmo pela solidariedade, na mesma proporção

24. Qual seria tua opção para outra atividade profissional que não fosse a tua?
Arquitetura ou designer de interiores, algo voltado para coisas belas.

25 .Qual a sua melhor lembrança?


26. Se fosse só fechar os olhos e imaginar, onde gostaria de estar agora, quando abrisse?
Numa praia linda, com um coco na mão, o marido do lado, sentada de frente para o mar, observando os meninos brincarem em meio às ondas.

27.Onde, como e fazendo o quê você imagina sua vida daqui a 10 anos?
Viva e feliz!

28. Qual sua melhor lembrança dos anos 80?
Minha infância foi nos anos 80, foi tudo tão mágico que daria um post inteiro de boas recordações!
Talvez a  minha primeira viagem de avião, quando fui sozinha para São Luiz do Maranhão, e tive a certeza que já era adulta!  (Tá bom, eu tinha 13 anos, meu pai me embarcou em BH e minha tia me recebeu em São Luiz. Mas fiz escala de 2 horas em Brasília, mudei de voo porque o meu estava atrasado, e resolvi isso sozinha! "Super adulta!")

Agora, tenho que propor uma nova pergunta para que a cadeia siga e se vão juntando perguntas novas de blog em blog…

29. O que você gostaria de saber fazer, mas acha que não leva jeito pra coisa?


E quem indico para responder todas as perguntinhas são:
Re Rossini
Elisângela Silva - Cantinho da Eli
Sônia Facion - Nana´s Patch
Pri - Um lar, simplesmente um lar
Paty - Dona Amélia
Soraia - Só Artes
Fabiana Tardoshi - Reciclar e Decorar
Jaqueline Cunha
Márcia - Meu Sonho de Casa
Andréa Lica...Renovando e Reciclando

Beijos!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Musica Doi Dia

MUSICA DO DIA :

EVIDÊNC










EVIDÊNCIA ( XITAOZINHO E XORORÓ )
AUTOR: PAULO SERGIO


QUANDO EU DIGO QUE DEIXEI DE TE AMAR
E PORQUE TE AMO

QUANDO DIGO QUE NÃO QUERO MAIS VOCÊ
E PORQUE TE QUERO

EU TENHO MEDO DE TE ADAR MEU CORAÇÃO
E CONFESO QUE ESTOU QM TUAS MÃOS ...

CHE

Daily Thoughts 10/27/2010 (Bibliography)

We can talk over Sops-in-wine.... Digital ID: 1701830. New York Public Library
We can talk over Sops-in-wine. And drink to our next meeting. Children's book illustrations / Illustrations -- Crane -- Floral fantasy in an old English garden

Daily Thoughts 10/27/2010

Today has been quiet.  I finished printing up a new internet marketing bibliography.  We are having an internet marketing class by a gentleman affiliated with the chamber of commerce.  Hopfully, it should have a positive impact for our library.

I also did a little work on my ordering today.  It is something I try to do every single day.  I am also thinking about the databases for musical; Naxos, Freegal, and Alexander Street.  I think it might be interesting to have music downloads at the public library.  We already have Overdrive for ebooks and downloadable audiobooks.

The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules Live The Life You Want and Change the World by Chris Guilleabeau


The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules Live The Life You Want and Change the World by Chris Guilleabeau

The contents of this book like the books title suffers from excess verbiage.  The message of the book could have been written in half the number of pages.  This makes the reading a bit distracting.

The Art of Non-Conformity starts with a series of exercises focusing on what you want to do with your life. Then it has no written exercises until the end of the book.  This creates a book too focused on telling you what to do, but not showing you how to do it.  This is a bit disappointing.

Chris Guillebeau spends most of the book talking about his own life and what he did to make himself able to live free from punching the clock.  His life is interesting and has some examples of how to be different; however it is more about telling you how he lived differently than showing the reader how to do it themselves.

The chapters on how to build a following on the internet and self education are quite good.  This book is designed to motivate you to do something different.  The motivation would work better if the book was shorter and more focused.

I learned something new, but would have been more satisfied if the book was shorter,  more focused, and showed you how to change, instead of focusing too much on the authors life.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/26/2010 (The Junior Officers Reading Club)

Poster announcing the publication of Les Mystères de Paris (1843), a French language novel by Eugène Sue (1804-1857)




Daily Thoughts 10/26/2010

I did a little bit of weeding this morning in the oversize collection.  I also did some spot checking for the 800s in the poetry section.  I have also been looking at my planned orders for next month. 

This afternoon, I finished working on a bibliography for internet marketing which would be used in a program tomorrow.

On the train home, I started reading The Junior Officers' Reading Club Killing Time and Fighting Wars by Patrick Hennessey.  It is about a tour of duty in the British army in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I am enjoying reading about British boot camp and officer training camp right now.  He talks about some of the films they watch including Band of Brothers, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan.  I saw Gladiator which was enjoyable but not the other two films.  The book is quite thoughtful.

Web Bits

20 Heroic Librarians Who Save The World http://io9.com/5671047/20-heroic-librarians-who-save-the-world?skyline=true&s=i

Danny Devito is going to be the voice of the Lorax in a new live action Dr. Seuss film.  I am looking forward to it.

Zombies in the library calendar. http://www.redbubble.com/people/salin/calendars/6062484-15-zombies-in-the-library

Monday, October 25, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/25/2010 (online music, blameless)

Samuel Beckett, Playwright.

Daily Thoughts 10/25/2010

I started reading Gail Carriger's Blameless on the train to work this morning.

I did some spot checking in the 300s, fiction, and mass market paperbacks today.  I found a few places where people took the plastic covers off the books so we have to put on new covers. 


The visit to The Bliss Music Center at the New Rochelle Public Library was very interesting. It is a new music center at a public library. They have a number of different services. There are two services that streamed music to the library and allowed you to listen at a computer or login at home. The first was Naxos http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/home.asp?rurl=%2Fdefault%2Easp . The second service was Alexander Street Music Online http://alexanderstreet.com/products/music.htm  . It was interesting listening to the music from the database. The sound quality was good for both databases.



We also talked some services that let you download music. The first was Freegal which allowed you to download a certain amount of music each month and then put the music that went over the limit in a cue for the next month. It looks quite interesting. http://www.freegalmusic.com/users/inlogin  . This would supplement our downloads of ebooks and audiobooks from Overdrive. People also come in to use Pandora which is a set of online radio stations with a variety of different music.  http://www.pandora.com/#/stations/create/  . It was an interesting experience.


I spent the rest of the afternoon updating the displays and spot checking the 800s.


I am enjoying reading Blameless by Gail Carriger.  The author adds some new elements;  first there were werewolves and vampires, now there are templars.  It has become an even more complex mashup.  Now the main character is pregnant by a werewolf, pursued by steampunk vampires, and traveling into Italy.

A simple interview form which I filled out.  http://www.whohub.com/bookcalendar#

A faxina

Olá meninas! Meu fim de semana foi super movimentado! E põe movimento nisso! Minha empreitada na cas foi digna de deixar qualquer rata de academia com nveja. Dormi (e acordei) com o corpo doendo, parecendo que tinha feito a minha primeira aula de musculação!
Sábado, como eu trabalhei, só fiz coisas mais leves. Deixei o pesado pro domingo.
Então, em pleno domingão, eu levantei cedinho, vesti minha roupa de Creuza e comecei a minha guerra contra a sujeira. Pausa da batalha pro almoço, corre pra buscar minha mãe no trevo (não tem ônibus pra BL no domingo...) e começa o segundo hound. E aí fui até 11 da noite. Pensa que acabou? Que nada! Só comecei! Porque quando eu pego pra fazer sou detalhista mesmo.
No sábado, antes de partir pra briga, eu pesquisei bastante sobre cada tarefa, pra fazer tudo da maneira mais caprichada possível. Hoje vou passar pra vocês a listinha do que eu fiz no fim de semana, só pra vocês terem uma idéia do que eu vou detalhar nos próximos posts. Afinal, você não pensou que eu ia pesquisar tanto e guardar tudo pra mim, certo?
- Juntei o lixo
- Juntei a roupa suja ( já tinha trocado roupa de cama e banho)
- Coloquei no lugar as bagunças que estavam esparramadas pela casa
- Limpei de estojos de lente de contato
- Limpei de óculos escuros e óculos de grau
- Limpei e organizei de kit manicure

- Limpei da geladeira
- Limpei do microondas
- Limpei o filtro (sim, eu uso filtro de barro)
- Limpei as garrafas térmicas
- Limpei no armário do banheiro
- Limpei no armário embaixo da pia da cozinha
- Verifiquei a validade de todos os remédios
- Limpei o ferro de passar roupa
- Consertei o porta-shampoo do banheiro
- Joguei água fervendo em todos os ralos
- Distribuí gel formicida e baraticida pela casa
- Lavei os vidros que ficam com tempero, farinha, biscoito, etc.
Enquanto ia arrumando, ia fazendo uma lista com as coisas que eu ainda tinha que comprar ou repor.
E às 11 da noite fui deitar, moída, acabada, mas muito feliz! Hoje eu já comecei o dia cuidando das panelas. Só desci pra trabalhar às 10:00 e ainda dei mais uma escapulida na hora do almoço.
O resultado dessa faxina dá pra ver bem nas minhas mãos.  Ai meu esmalte!
Amanhã começo a postar as dicas.
Beijos!

Notícias de Ana Flávia

As primeiras notícias de Ana Flávia são bem animadoras.
Sábado ela fez sua primeira sessão de quimioterapia. Já explicaram a ela tudo sobre o diagnóstico do câncer e o tratamento, e ela surpreendeu a todos por sua tranquilidade e confiança de que tudo vai dar certo.
A mãe diz ter certeza que a tranquilidade dela, do marido e da filha vem da energia das orações recebidas.
Portanto, agradeço a todas vocês que pediram por eles e peço que continuem lembrando de Ana Flávia e seus pais em suas orações.
Beijos

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The Glamour of Grammar a Guide to Magic and Mystery of English by Roy Peter Clark



The Glamour of Grammar a Guide to Magic and Mystery of English by Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark makes grammar entertaining.  He brings out the glamour (as in magic) of the english language.  He asks you to immerse yourself in thinking about language.

This is not a dry and pedantic book.  It does not follow a prescriptive pattern with exact descriptions of how you should use language.  Instead, the author attempts to show you a variety of ways to use punctuation and grammar for different outcomes.  He even describes how and when to use taboo words and sentence fragments.  This was surprising and enjoyable.

For Roy Peter Clark grammar is a tool for self expression.  There are many different examples of how periods, colons, apostrophes, points and other punctuation is used.  My favorite example of grammar is the use of the punk rock band, "? and The Mysterians."

If you like language and word play: You will like this book.  There is a lot of lighthearted self referential humor in the writing.  I like how he describes Appendix A ( Words I Have Misspelled), and Appendix B (Words I Have Confused.).

This book gives grammar that zing which is missing from most grammar texts.  I enjoyed the book enough to want to read Roy Peter Clark's other book, Writing Tools.

Poking Around in Startup Space In New York City

Poking Around in Startup Space In New York City

I've been poking around a bit in startup space in New York city lately.  I find it entertaining.  It is much like this blog in a way.  I like doing it, but I am not quite sure why yet.  Sometimes you don't know the results until you take a look.  The habit came from when I worked at an ISP.  I always found the tech mixers to be very entertaining.  There is a kind of freedom in these places to talk about things which I don't find anywhere else.

Venture capital in New York City has been growing. There are a lot more companies starting up right now. People have been out of work so long, that many of them have decided to try new things. (Article from Crain's New York) http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100716/SMALLBIZ/100719881


For example, there are startup weekends where computer developers are willing to start running a company in a weekend. http://nyc.startupweekend.org/

I checked New York Area Startups a few days ago. There were 1345 companies now there 1360 companies. http://newyork.areastartups.com/  New York Area Startup is also on Linked In. On Demand Books which makes the Espresso Book Machine which is a print on demand machine is listed as one of the startups. http://www.ondemandbooks.com/




At the same time we are seeing a resurgence in spaces like NYC Resistor http://www.nycresistor.com/  and a rebirth of many hacker and maker spaces.  I have not gone to look at a hacker space yet.  It is something I plan on doing.  It is much like my urge to go visit The Soho Gallery for Digital Art, I will get there eventually.  There could be some very intersting new technology coming out at the community level by small companies and groups of individuals. Part of this growth could be because of new technology, specifically open source 3d printers.(New York Times Blog). 
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/the-rise-of-the-3-d-printers/



I see the possibility of some of the three dimensional print on demand technologies being eventually fused with paper print on demand technologies.  I do not think this is that far away in the future. Incorporating designs made of plastic, metals, and other materials is going to become fairly common in hardcover books.




Incubator spaces for green technology are also growing as well. This has been getting into the news. NYC Acre http://www.nycacre.com/ is an interesting example. There is also Green Spaces. (Article from Crain's New York Business) http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091120/SMALLBIZ/911209993

There are also new ways people are finding to fund these ventures. Everything from Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com to lending social networks like Prosper (Article from Mashable.com) http://mashable.com/2007/06/20/prosper/


There is a different feel to the ventures being formed than the dot com boom. The companies are lean in low rent areas. They use open source software, focus on customers, and are often tied in with social networks. There is less of a focus on earning massive amounts of cash, but instead making people a living. (Article from New York Times Blog). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/business/25unboxed.html



The lean startup fits perfectly into the concept of coworking and many small startups are using coworking spaces like New Work City. http://www.nwcny.com/  I visited this space to see how it looked.  Over time I will also take a look at some of the other spaces as well.



In my own field, I follow http://www.twitter.com/mbstartuups  which covers startups in the media field.  Also O'Reilly publishers sponsors the Maker Fair which is very much a hacker or maker space. http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/10/innovation-education-and-the-m.html



I can see a resurgence for the United States economy coming, it will not come immediately, it will not come from the government, or big business.  It will come from innovative spaces which need to grow and be supported.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/23/2010 (The Night Book Mobile)

Wise Owl On Books

Daily Thoughts 10/23/2010

I finished reading The Art of Non-Conformity.  The last chapters end with a couple of exercises in not doing things.  The first exercise is choosing what you do not need to keep.  I am going to give away some of my books, old clothes, old toys, and clean up some of the paper around the house.  The second action is choosing not to do certain things.  The habits which I could probably eliminate are playing video games and buying snacks.  I already am pretty watchful of how I spend my time.

The new website for our library is up.  It is much better than the old one.  The webmaster still needs to transfer some images over.  I did a little bit more weeding today.

We're putting together a bibliography on internet marketing.  This is for a class which is coming from the local chamber of commerce at the library.  We are going to use the cover art for each book and match the picture with the words for a dozen books.  Internet marketing is a very hot topic right now.

On the train home, I read The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger.  I found it to be a beautiful, but very sad book.  It is partially about the dark places where books can take you; the escape they bring to people in sad places.  Although, it was a book about a bookmobile, and libraries, it had a very dreamlike quality to it.  It is not something which I really want to review. 

The art had a very kind of outsider art feel to it.  The kind of feel of someone who has raw talent, but very little training and a slightly different outlook on the world.  The librarian who ran the bookmobile reminded me a little bit of William S. Burroughs for some reason.  It does take you to the places you may have read or been.  There is a feel of the old world library in the book.  The place with red carpets, tall bookcases, and a kind of otherworldly charm.

I don't want to reveal too much.  It is a sad, beautiful, a bit disturbing, and bookish tale.

Uma fase de faxina para a minha vida

Olá meninas! Lembram que na minha bela segunda feira regida pela Lei de Murphy acabei por descobrir que minha casa não estava tão limpinha assim. Então resolvi atacar o problema eu mesma. Com ação e com informação.
Todos os dias tenho chegado em casa e feito pequenas coisas, aliás o álcool tem sido meu maior companheiro esses dias. (O álccol gel, viu?)
Eu tenho mania de lista. Faço lista pra tudo, porque se eu não anotar, eu esqueço mesmo. Ontem à noite peguei um caderninho e fui anotando tudo o que me vinha à mente, pra fazer, pra comprar, pra pesquisar, pra consertar. Tudo mesmo, sem qualquer separação. E a coisa fluiu rapidamente. Tão rápido que cheguei a me espantar! Em poucos minutos já tinha escrito 16 páginas. Perceberam que eu tenho muita coisa pra fazer!
Eu acredito que várias coisas que eu quero/preciso fazer muitas de vocês também queiram, por isso, vou compartilhando diariamente aqui o resultado das minhas pesquisas e arrumações por esses dias.
O armário da cozinha está sendo o alvo para o feriado. Quero aproveitar que meu filho vai estar em casa para me dar uma mão. Então, se tiverem mais alguma dica, contem logo, não me escondam nada!
Até lá, tenho muito o que pesquisar e muito o que fazer!
Quem aí está precisando fazer uma faxina levanta a mão!
Beijos!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Deu a louca no meu blog!

De repente, descubri que:
- Meu contador zerou
- Vários blogs que eu seguia desapareceram da minha lista
- Minha lista de blogs também ficou incompleta
- Tá impossível postar vídeos
Será que ainda estou na regência da Lei de Murphy????
Tem mais alguém aí com problemas? ´

Por via das dúvidas já troquei o sal grosso na vasilha aqui do lado...
Beijos

Daily Thoughts 10/22/2010 (The Art of Non-Conformity, Acquisitions)

"The Chap Book--Thanksgiving no." "Art nouveau illustration showing two women holding trays of food.", 1895 by Will Bradley

Daily Thoughts 10/22/2010

Today has been quite quiet.  I did a little weeding in the oversize books, checked on the displays and looked over a few things which needed to be done.  I am going to be meeting with BWI this afternoon.  I am also going to be talking to Ingram next week.  Ingram offers a discount of 5% on video games which other vendors don't offer.  I am also planning a visit to a technology center at another local library with a colleague.


I also did some more reading through Booklist this morning for things to order and read the email newsletter Shelf Awareness which is interesting.  Shelf Awareness is well worth subscribing to http://news.shelf-awareness.com/signup.jsp?appid=411 


The BWI visit went well.  We cleared up some issues and the sales representative offered us their free alert service for childrens and young adult books.  I put holds on I live in the future & here's how it works : why your world, work, and brain are being creatively disrupted by Nick Bilton and The master switch : the rise and fall of information empire by Tim Wu.

The book, The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger came in for me to read. If you are interested in biographies in graphic novel form, there is a book called Ethel and Ernest A True Story by Raymond Briggs which is a very sweet tribute to the authors parents.

I spent some time reading from my Fundamentals of Acquisitions class.  I learned that there was an Association of Subscription Agents and  Intermediaries http://www.subscription-agents.org/about-asa which was kind of interesting.

On the ride home, I read some more of The Art of Non-Conformity.  It has slowed a bit.  Some of the things he says are on target.  I especially like his view on self education often being more important than a university education.  He skipped out of high school and started community college when he was sixteen.  I tested out of high school when I was seventeen and went into community college. I don't regret it at all.  Right now, I am reading about how to gain followers and lead. It is a slightly different take than usual.


Web Bits 

Library Inc. From the Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Library-Inc/124915

Booksellers on owning a cafe bookstore. http://bit.ly/dnLD2H

Faça uma oração por Ana Flávia

Ana Flávia é uma menina de 10 anos. Linda e meiga, sempre chamou a atenção de todos por onde passava, principalmente por sua educação. Nunca ouvi de ninguém uma só palavra que não fosse de elogios a ela.
Filha única, Ana Flávia sempre foi o centro das atenções dos pais. Sabe aquela menina que você vê e percebe o quanto é bem cuidada? Sempre arrumadinha, cada cachinho do cabelo no lugar...
Ana Flávia teve o que parecia ser uma gripe, evoluindo para pneumonia. Internada, seu quadro se agravava e o pulmão tinha um excesso de secreção que os médicos não identificavam a causa. Após 17 dias internada, ela foi transferida para BH. Já se cansava facilmente e por muitas vezes utilizava o balão de oxigênio.
Os médicos então a levaram para o bloco cirúrgico para tentar descobrir o que causava a tal "água no pulmão". Encontraram um pequeno nódulo entre os pulmões, que foi encaminhado para biópsia.
Era um tumor. Malígno.
Ana Flávia continua internada e começa agora a quimioterapia.
Quando fizer suas orações,peço que inclua Ana Flávia em suas intenções. E também seus pais, para que tenham força nessa batalha.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/21/2010 (William Gibson, The Art of Nonconformity)

Morning perusal, 1916, Oil On Canvas, Antonio Parreiras

Daily Thoughts 10/21/2010

On the train to work, I finished reading Difficult Personalities A Practical Guide to Managing The Hurtful Behavior of Others (and Maybe Your Own) by Helen McGrath, Ph.D. and Hazel Edwards, MEd.  It is about difficult personality types and different ways to interact with them.  The author draws a lot from the DSM-IV.  It is a hard book to read, because it often is quite direct about how to deal with difficulties.

The article The Library of the Future Today by Barbie E. Keiser in the periodical Searcher on October 2010 is truly excellent.  It describes how information is changing and ways to think about how the functions of librarians is changing.  It is focusing on a user centered model where librarians focus on the information needs of the people coming in instead of primarily as a source to store and retrieve physical materials.

I put the book Djibouti by Elmore Leonard on hold.  I like the idea of reading a novel about modern day pirates in Somalia.

I spent more time going through the order journals.  Two books caught my attention; Advantage How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge by Adam Segal and Destined For Failure: American Prosperity in the Age of Bailouts by Nicholas Sanchez and Others.  Both of these books address something which American policymakers are not talking about much;  innovation and new ideas from industry and getting Americans to produce more on its own shores. 

I spent a lot of time today reading through order journals.  We also had a meeting discussing our November gala for fundraising and different events we could have for fundraising during the next year.

On the way home, I started reading The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules Live The Life You Want and Change The World by Chris Guillebeau.  This is not a new set of ideas more of a way to collect together a number of strategies for change and personal freedom.  He follows the philosophy of full freedom to make decisions in his life.  This has a little bit of the feeling of Jonathan Swift or Richard Burton.  I did two of the visualization exercises in the second part of the book;  imagine what your perfect day would be like and write down your most important goals.  This kind of free association often touches on other things because it is about change.

It reminded me a bit of William Gibson's article in the Wall Street Journal, The Future of the Book.  http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/06/william-gibson-on-the-future-of-book-publishing/  It would be interesting to see a print on demand machine that would print a hardcover book with low acid paper.  I would take it further with some other ideas.  Make the book out of 100% recycled material with plant based inks and design the printer so it was cradle to cradle; easy to repair, easy to upgrade, highly efficient with low energy use, and able to dismantle and recycle all the parts.

Você sabe como fazer? Então me conta!

Quem sabe como se reforma um armário de aço de cozinha, com anos de uso, de modo a transformá-lo em algo visualmente decente?
Meu armário está com a pintura horrível, enferrujando as gavetas, e eu não penso em trocá-lo pelos próximos dois ou três anos. Mas também não quero aquela coisa horrorosa na minha cozinha.
Andei vasculhando pela net e não achei nada! Vi imagens de armários que foram pintados ou repaginados, mas nada sobre o processo.
As minhas dúvidas:
1 - Como acabar definitivamente com a ferrugem?
2 - Que tinta eu uso?
3 - Dá pra trocar os puxadores por algo mais estiloso?
4 - Dá pra alguém sem prática com pincéis fazer?

Me dá uma dica, vai!
Beijos

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/20/2010 (Graphic Novels)

Stilleben mit Juwelen, Musikinstrumenten und Globus, Öl auf Leinwand, 46 x 62 cm,19th Century, Anonymous

Daily Thoughts 10/20/2010

Today has been a quiet day.  I did a little bit more work with the request an item form.  Also, I think the form for our survey will be up soon.

The book Brains for Lunch drawn by Gahan Wilson with haiku by K.A. Holt came in for me to read.  It is quite fun, it is a series of haikus turned into a novel.  I especially like the zombie teenager, Loeb.

I am going to read two books, Burton & Swinburne, The Strange Affair of Spring Heel Jack by Mark Hodder which is a steampunk novel.  It is the authors first novel.  The second book is The Art of Non-Conformity Set Your Own Rules, Live The Life You Want and Change The World by Chris Guillbeau.

Today was very busy.  We had our graphic novels club.  It has a kind of built in audience because the teenagers who play magic cards use the room and one of the mothers who helps with the middle school and junior high school graphic novel club comes each time to request material and take suggestions.  I gave away several comics from my visit to New York Comic Con. Also, we get some circulation because people take the material we talk about out.

We also had a collection development meeting which went quite smoothly.  I am going to put some more of my orders in tomorrow.

I still have to talk with someone about setting up a poetry reading series.   People have started signing up for the SCORE Counselors to America's Small Business sessions.  I am going to work on a display for books tomorrow on business.

Web Bits

Be a librarian just add books. Little Librarian http://www.littlelibrarian.net/
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/room3.shtm

Meu porta-pen drive - uma conquista na máquina de costura!

Só agora me dei conta de que ainda não tinha mostrado pra vocês. E já deve ter uns 10 dias que eu estou usando... Imperdoável!




Eu sempre ando com pen drive na bolsa. Na foto estão dois, mas chego a ter quatro. (Eu sou normal, tá!) E acho horrível aquela coisa de procura um aqui, outro ali...
Um dia, passeando por blogs, encontrei uma foto de um modelinho assim. E resolvi fazer. Só que eu nunca tinha pregado um viés na vida! Tá, na teoria eu sabia como é que faz, mas da teoria à prática tem uma distância imensa.
Com a cara e a coragem, encarei a máquina de costura e acho até que me saí razoavelmente bem.
Agora, tá vendo esses pontinhos à mão sobre o viés? Pensou que fosse só um detalhe... Que nada! Foi a solução pra disfarçar a costura torta mesmo!
Beijos

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/19/2010 (Eco Libris, Acquisitions)

This picture was taken from number 757 of the magazine L'illustration, published on 29 August 1857. Wood engraving after a drawing by Jules Gaildrau. Illuminated Newsstand.

Daily Thoughts 10/19/2010

Today has been a very steady day.  I spent some time gathering selections for my Graphic Novel club tomorrow.  We also got a bunch of giveaways to distribute from http://eere.energy.gov/ .  This included posters, bookmarks, and other material for National Energy Awareness month which is this October.

I also went through my orders in preparation for tomorrows meeting for collection development.  I am also going over the assignments for shelf reading.

I worked a little more on the Fundamentals of Acquisitions class today from the American Library Association.  It gave some nice suggestions for upgrading my suggest an item web form.  I am looking at reading some recent material on acquisitions management.

Web Bits

I found this interesting.  It is a novel being written live for literacy.  The Novel Live.  http://www.thenovellive.org/novel/

The Eco Libris Campaign is a campaign to read books printed on recycled paper. http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp  I intend to read this book to be reviewed on November 10, 2010; The story of stuff : how our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities, and our health--and a vision for change  by Annie Leonard with Ariane Conrad.

Receita testada e aprovada: Bolinho de camarão

Meninas, ontem à noite resolvi atacar na cozinha. Já tinha dado tanta coisa errada que me senti no direito de sair da dieta e me deliciar com um bolinho de camarão.
Fiz uma receita que tinha visto no Rainhas do Lar. Fácil, rápida e deliciosa!
Eu fui enrolando os bolinhos, marido fritando e todo mundo disputando cada um que ficasse pronto. Eu até tinha planejado tirar fotos mas, sinceramente, ou eu comia ou eu fotograava, porque não ia sobrar pra mim mesmo.
Quer fazer também? A receita está aqui.
Beijos

Kalk Bay Fisher Folk

Life has suddenly turned a bit topsy turvy!

I spent last week at the exhibition doing duty and in between have been running to and from the city to  get my visa for Sweden.  I am off on Thursday to visit the family for 10 days, the main reason for going is for my grandson's Christening.  I will also see my year and a half granddaughter for the first time (outside of Skype, that is).

So, if I haven't visited you, I beg forgiveness!

This painting was done a few weeks ago and is of two youngsters who frequent the fishing village of Kalk Bay, helping their dad market the day's catch.  For a lot of these people it is their sole source of income and the whole family come out to help.  

I am donating this one to a fund raiser Art and Wine auction.  It is run by Rock Community Care which is continually looking to raise money to help the local crisis centres.  Hope it gets a few bucks for them!


Monday, October 18, 2010

The Vertical Farm Feeding The World in the 21st Century by Dr, Dickson Despommer.



The Vertical Farm Feeding The World in the 21st Century by Dr, Dickson Despommer

 This book is both utopian and visionary. However, I also found it to lacked some attribution for where the science and some of the philosophy for the things which he is describing are coming from.  He does not describe some of the more interesting and radical ideas that have come out of ecology recently.

Dr. John Despommier spends quite a bit of time describing how agriculture came into being. Then he describes how modern agriculture is wasteful from an ecological standpoint. I found some of his writing to be a bit overbearing. He jumps from bad modern farming methods to giant skyscraper farms.

There is very little of a median. He goes into greenhouses and how they work, but does not do much with bioshelters, organic farming, or natural pest control.

 He  also wants the vertical farms he is designing to be hermetically sealed liked the biosphere experiment. This did not work as planned in the biosphere experiment.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/biospheresci/


He also is arguing for moving hydroponics into the city. This is already starting to happen. It is just not happening in the fashion of skyscrapers. When he describes the advantages of a vertical farm, it is the exact same advantage of having urban greenhouses. I see urban greenhouses and farms as being incredible positive for people in cities.

The advantage which a vertical farm would have over a horizontal greenhouse would be that the system he is describing would use less land and probably have a greater surface area to place solar panels and wind turbines on.

He properly praises John Todd for his work on living machines which led to many breakthroughs with ideas for things like bioshelters, water purification based on living machines, and other concepts which are used in the book, The Vertical Farm. http://toddecological.com/eco-machines/



I distinctly remember reading about a multistory bioshelter farm design for cities in the book Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design written in 1984 published by Sierra Club Books. This was the basis for a later book, A Safe and Sustainable World: The Promise of Ecological Design, Island Press c2005.



I think Dr. Dickson Despommier synthesized a new idea from the work of many others. The scale of a vertical farm is what differentiates his idea. It is hard to imagine a skyscraper filled with greenery.



There is also a single sentence citation for the book, Cradle to Cradle Remaking The Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. This is a book about how to design things so there is very little waste in a closed loop system based on ecology. I did find it listed in recommended reads.
http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm

Dr. Despommier also uses the term "natural capitalism" without explaining where it comes from. Natural Capitalism is a term for businesses that use environmental principles. It is also a book, Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins.



I wish he had spent some more time describing the workings of how a vertical farm is put together. For example, I might have liked a little more on how Aeroponics which came from NASA works. Incidentally, Dr. Despommier also mentions Biosphere II which was a closed loop system for maintaining humans for long time periods in space. Many of the potential systems he is describing come from space research.



Dr. Despommier's description of the Eurofresh Farms is quite interesting. They are in the middle of the Arizona desert. There is another example of a closed system farm in the antarctic not mentioned in the book where they grow fresh food for researchers. It is also preparation for growing food on Mars. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13724



The Vertical Farm which he is describing is a future design combining space research, agronomy, and bioshelter design inside a skyscraper. It uses both wind, solar, and biomass power. It commercializes concepts like aeroponics from NASA and adds to some ideas that already came from space research. Solar panels were originally invented at NASA.



This brings the theme to power in the book. Dr. Despommier describes how they will be using wind power, biomass, and solar power. He suggest plasma arc gasification as the way to get rid of biomass. Plasma arc gasification is very expensive. He also suggests that we grow fuel crops in vertical farms. Fuel crops like algae can grow on open water in big bags for far cheaper prices. I liked his sugestion from an earlier article in the New York magazine that they use pellet burning cogeneration for heat, power, and steam. http://nymag.com/news/features/30020/



Dr. Despommier says this can only be built by governments doing research; there is no venture capital interested in this. This statement bothered me. Mr. Despommier is wrong. Bayer is doing research for this and many other companies are working on projects which involve these technologies.
http://www.bayercropscience.com/bcsweb/cropprotection.nsf/id/EN_Editorial_Service_Issue_18_Agriculture?open&l=EN&ccm=500035



Other companies are seeking venture capital to build these projects like Home Town Farms. http://www.hometownfarms.com/  Many cities are becoming more interested in investing in urban agricultural greenhouses. In New York, there is http://gothamgreens.com/  whch supplies Whole Foods markets. There are also combined systems called aquaponics which create closed loops for growing fish and vegetables together. http://www.growseed.org/growingpower.html



I thought the book was very interesting and very flawed. Most of the advantages which he is describing could be done with rooftop aquaponics, or moving advanced greenhouses into an urban setting. I am not convinced that stacking one greenhouse after another into a skyscraper is a good idea. I can see smaller buildings of three or four stories tried first.   This would reduce pollution, provide fresh organic food, create new jobs, and a cleaner environment.  It is well worth doing.


In the appendices, there is a lot of material on hydroponics and urban hydroponics with many websites. It would have been nice to see him list a few green incubators like Green Spaces http://www.greenspaceshome.com/  or NYC Acre http://www.nycacre.com/ . Also, it would have been nice to see a little bit on aquaponics as well.



The best part of ths book was the illustrations. They are incredible pictures of green cities, buildings and skyscrapers. In fact, his descriptions of green buildings were also superb. This is an excellent reason to take a look at this book.



This is a fascinating and flawed book. I found many of his ideas to be very interesting, but impractical. Maybe, I had some problems with his not going more deeply into parts of the philosophy behind building a vertical farm. I also did not like his over focus on the idea that the government will fund research into vertical farms. Vertical farms incorporate some fairly radical ideas about science and technology.



This book hopefully will stimulate people to look at the fascinating new developments in aeroponics, hydroponics, recycling, green buildings, cradle to cradle design, ecological design, and alternative energy which this book presents. I think most people will find this book fascinating.  I did have some questions about the authors approach and philosophy.

Daily Thoughts 10/18/2010 (Ebooks, Barnes and Noble)

Ravnen, 1890

Daily Thoughts 10/18/2010


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/17/newspaper-abcs-websites-internet-news  

We thought the internet was killing print. But it isn't.


An article which says if a newspaper does well on the internet, it often does well in print also. If it does badly on the internet, it also often does badly in print. This is a very interesting idea. I am thinking that they are saying that the internet causes consolidation with less newspapers.

http://encino.patch.com/articles/hundreds-protest-departure-of-encino-bookstore

Hundreds Protest Departure of Encino Barnes & Noble. 

I find this article quite ironic in a way.  It is often the pattern of the big box stores. They move in and cause the closure of many small businesses, then they leave when things are not profitable enough. 

I also noticed that they cut library hours to five day service as well.
http://www.lapl.org/branches/Branch.php?bID=47

Meu primeiro dia útil no horário de verão

Eu, este ser altamente antenado e extremamente eficiente, esqueci de mudar os relógios da casa, inclusive o do celular de marido, que tem funcionado como despertador. O resultado foi aquele mais ou menos esperado: errei a hora! E só não foi pior porque o meu filho, como faz todos os dias, me ligou enquanto ia para a escola. Faltavam 5 minutos para as 7:00h. E adivinha a que horas a loja abre? Isso mesmo, às 7! Mas é nestas horas que admiro a praticidade masculina! Enquanto eu ainda me situava, marido já estava saindo de casa, como se tivesse acordado na hora certa.

Bom, horário de verão acontece porque? Porque temos mais sol para aproveitar durante o dia, claro! Então, me levanto toda animada, porque adoro dias ensolarados, e vou abrindo as janelas, para sentir no meu rosto... a chuva!
Então temos até agora:
Segunda-feira + horário de verão + acordar atrasada + chuva

E é aí que se apresenta a maravilhosa Lei de Murphy:
"Se alguma coisa pode dar errado, dará. E mais, dará errado da pior maneira, no pior momento e de modo que cause o maior dano possível. E se algo pode dar certo , tem grandes chances de dar errado."
Sendo assim, tudo o que está ruim ainda pode piorar! E piorou!
Ainda me vestindo para sair, minha secretária liga informando que está passando mal e não vem trabalhar.
Segunda-feira + horário de verão + acordar atrasada + chuva + serviço de casa pra eu fazer

Hora de despertar o meu lado Creuza! E, se é pra fazer, então que seja bem feito.
Começo a arrumação e descubro, a cada cômodo, em cada cantinho, que minha mãe é uma sábia, comprovando, na prática, uma de suas maravilhosas teorias:
"Se você gosta da sua empregada, nunca vá limpar a casa. É melhor você continuar acreditando que ela é boa de serviço."
Sem mais comentários a respeito...

Quando finalmente consigo ir trabalhar, já depois do almoço, liga meu filho com o preço das peças para o conserto do meu notebook: vai ficar mais barato do que pensamos a princípio. Boa notícia? Depende do ponto de vista... se o conserto fosse mais caro eu iria ganhar um novo...
Lei de Murphy!
Ops! Deixa eu correr lá em casa que esqueci de tirar a roupa da máquina! Acorda Creuza!

Beijos

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Where Good Ideas Come From The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson


Where Good Ideas Come From The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson

This book is a history of how good ideas and inventions come into being.  It is very scientific and technically oriented focusing on Charles Darwin, James D. Watson, Willis Haviland Carrier, Enrico Fermi, and other people with breakthrough ideas.  At the same time, it uses historical examples to extrapolate ways that individuals will likely become more innovative.

Some of the ideas behind the book are not intuitive.  For example, Tim Berner's Lee development of the world wide web occurred over a long time period without any single eureka moment.  Many ideas come from slow continuous development.

Steven Johnson describes many ways to increase individual innovation; keep a diary, browse libraries, bookstores, and the internet, have workspaces which mix order and disorder, keep a wide variety of hobbies, and go to places where ideas flow freely like cafes and innovative spaces. 

The author uses lots of stories and examples to illustrate his points.  He even has a timeline of innovation in the appendix of this book.  The Notes and Further Reading section cites numerous authors like Clay Shirky, Charles Darwin, Jaron Lanier, Malcolm Gladwell, Edward O. Wilson, and Lawrence Lessig.  This book will have an especially strong appeal to people interested in computers and new media.

The book is not just about individual ways that people can innovate.  It also describes some causes of innovation like serendipity, exaptation, and error. In addition it goes beyond the individual to include examples of environmental factors.  For example, cities condense the amount of people freeing people to try new things, and platforms like Twitter increase the ability to communicate new ideas.

I found the book to be very well organized.  This made it easy to think about what I was reading.  In addition to the appendix which had the Chronology of Key Innovations 1400 to 2000 and the Notes and Further Reading, there was a bibliography and index.  This is a very well put together book.  Amanda Dewey is listed as the designer for the book.  If you look on the internet, she has designed quite a few bestsellers.

Daily Thoughts 10/17/2010 (Hacking Work, The Vertical Farm)

Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926) Русский: Книжная лавочка, Russian: Book shop, 1876

Daily Thoughts 10/17/2010

This is an article on the book Hacking Work Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results by Bill Jensen and Josh Klein http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/why-you-should-break-the-rules-at-work_b4114 . It looks interesting, but also potentially troublesome.

I am going to write my review of The Vertical Farm tomorrow.  I did take a look around to see if there were any planned urban greenhouses for Manhattan and I found a company called Gotham Greens which is developing a rooftop greenhouse system. http://gothamgreens.com/Fast_Company.pdf  It reads a little like a mix of marketing for Whole Foods and an experiment in urban agriculture.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Daily Thoughts 10/16/2010 (The Vertical Farm)



Designs by Chris Jacobs http://www.chrisjacobs.com, and Rolf Mohr. 3d Modeling and rendering, Dean Fowler http://www.machinefilms.com.  Creative Commons 3.0 Unported.  Vertical Farm.

Daily Thoughts 10/16/2010


I read some more of The Vertical Farm last night.  I think Dr. Dickson Despommier got a number of things wrong.  He tells us that venture capital is not likely to support vertical farms.  Venture capital is already starting to support closed loop aquaponics systems for cities that combine fish tanks with hydroponics to create closed loops recycling the water in the systems.  It is just starting. This is an article on Big Green Boxes an aquaponics startup. http://www.grist.org/article/food-the-new-agtivist-gene-fredericks-is-thinking-inside-the-citys-bi/P1  Another company which is starting based on the vertical farm concept is Home Town Farms http://www.hometownfarms.com/about.html

The book is conceptually interesting.  I like the ideas, but feel that the book is more about the idea than the practicalities of trying to build a vertical farm.  A book which might give a better sense of the design principles behind this book would be A Safe and Sustainable World, The Promise of Ecological Design by Nancy Jack Todd.  There are detailed descriptions of how aquaponics, bioshelters, and living machines work.  John Todd is the creater of many of the ideas in this book including living machines. http://www.toddecological.com/eco-machines/

I'm a bit annoyed right now.  I went to my local library this afternoon and found out it is closed on the weekend.  I wrote my local representatives, but am not sure if it will get them to do anything yet.

Web Bits

I rather liked this article from Library Journal about Social Research Networks http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/communityacademiclibraries/887239-419/social_research_networks_spawn_new.html.csp  It shows that social networks can be used for other things than just socializing.