Our simulcast session at the Mount Kisco Library this afternoon was amazing! Mo is even more charming “in person” than in his books. We had tons of kids there and they all loved it! Plus, they got to ask him a question! — well actually, I asked it for them….see?

Mo answering the Mount Kisco students' question!

Here I am, asking the students' question.

Hey, everybody!

Today, I’ve got a couple of awesome photos for you, which illustrate interactions between human beings and the natural world, and feature (especially!) bicycles! I was inspired by the thought that our new library should soon be getting a bike rack. Who knows what wonderful things may then be seen in Mount Kisco?

The first photo is by Ton Van der Weerden from Holland. The horse is a Dutch Draft, a breed I did not know before. Isn’t he beautiful?

As you see, the type of horse is very similar to the Belgian Drafts from my home town, but the hairstyle is quite different! For pulling, people in my part of the world clip the horses’ manes short and trim their fetlocks. In Holland, they leave the horses’ hair long and make beautiful braids!

And here’s a Russian Blue kitten, photographed by Lindy Meow! Gorgeous, isn’t it!

This one’s definitely set for wurld domanashun, don’t you think?

So, it will be very exciting if we do actually get a bike rack at the library!

In the meantime, I am happy to report that we did get some new furniture today! Behold the Teen Room Computer Desks! The teenagers tell me they like them a lot, and I think they are very pretty!

That’s it for this afternoon — enjoy! And I am always amenable to comments or suggestions!

PS Don’t forget, Emma McGlauchlin and Nicola Kraus, authors of The Nanny Diaries will be at the library to introduce their new book, The Real Real on Wednesday, September 30th at 7:00 PM!

PPS Just noticed, I ended almost every sentence in this post with an exclamation point! What in the world was I thinking?!

Hi, everybody!

I hope you are all well — as for me, if no news is bad news, then I have bad news today. In which case I need to cheer everybody up!

For a little while now, I’ve been trying to remember the words to that silly song, “I’m My Own Grandpa.” Then it occured to me — I’m an Information Scientist! I can find any information I want, no matter how obscure. So off I went, and …ta da!

With a diagram, and everything! How great is that?

Plus, I discovered that the song was inspired by none other than Mark Twain!

Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens)

You can read Twain’s original sketch on http://bolstablog.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/wyman/

The song itself was originally written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe for a group called “the Jesters” back in 1947. Paul Stoneburner has the complete lyrics, along with another very neat (and tidy!) diagram, here!

Cool, no?

And now, on to WLS learns, thing 12. Our assignment this time was to explore Google Docs and see how this form of document sharing could be useful to the library.

Interestingly, our Head of Circ was doing the same thing, at the same time as me, and she LOVEs google docs. In her view, it is the perfect place to keep and maintain schedules. Which certainly makes a lot of sense to me! Especially in our current situation, with everything — and everyone — in flux, it’s a good idea to keep things people really need to see somewhere safe, where everybody can always access them!

Also, it’s a great way to do things like presentations and slideshows. Especially if you would like them to be collaborative efforts, but even if you would not!

Caveat:  On the other hand, there are a few awkward things about Google Docs — for instance,  formatting options for documents (next to none!) and wysiwyg printing (non-existent). However, the convenience is so great! It’s really nice to be able to access your work, no matter where you are, and which computer you’re using! And without having to remember your flash drive, or your laptop. Wonderful!

Just now, I used google docs to make a flyer about an upcoming concert. You can see it here, if you so desire. But if you don’t want to navigate away from this page, I’ll post the image I used right here, because it’s so great! Enjoy!

Swish and Flick

Anyone for Guinness?, originally uploaded by Blazingstar.

Hey everybody!

Isn’t this an awesome photo? And definitely in the spirit of St. Patrick’s day, isn’t it!

Blazingstar took this awesome shot, & I hope you enjoy it!

What do you mean, I’ve got it on the wrong foot?, originally uploaded by deirdrej.

Hi, everybody!

I loved Birgitte’s red clog picture so much that it inspired me to post my own red clog picture, as you see.

But I’m not going to write much, today. There’s either too much news or too little…..

‘Til later… Enjoy the day, everyone!