memory lane

Last week-end we went to Iowa which we do a couple times a year to reaffirm we are city folks through and through. Well, actually we go to visit an elderly cousin of my Dad's who is now in a nursing home. When we were kids, our family went every summer and stayed a week on the farm he owned. My sisters and I loved going. It started with the 6 hour journey. We would get up super early and drive an hour and stop for breakfast at some small no-name diner. Then we'd drive some more making pit stops at little roadside rest areas. Around 3pm we'd check into a motel for the night. (did you go back to check if you read correctly that our destination was 6 hours away? - our family would have made great pioneers since we covered about as much mileage a day as they did long ago in covered wagons) We always stayed in a motel - a mom and pop type of course - that had a pool. Not one of us could swim a stroke but we would never stay in a place without one. We'd check in and then dash into our bathing suits and happily bob around in the pool like the happy little cork family till dinnertime.

On the second day we'd arrive at the farm. The four of us girls would run around like the place would disappear from under our noses if we didn't try to experience everything in the first hour there. We'd pump water from the well, we fed chickens who were not interested and ran from the dried corn we flung at them. We patted the smelly pigs in their pens and always wanted to help bring the cows in from the pasture at the end of the day along with the interchangeable collie always named Duke. During the week we'd go fishing in the farm pond and screamed if we caught anything - a mixture of excitement and city girl fear of snaring a living creature on a hook. John, our farmer cousin, let me drive the tractor once and I promptly got one of the big wheels stuck in a ditch. It took hours and a neighboring farm's tractor to pull it out. One of the most vivid memories I have is of my great aunt killing chickens in the yard by grabbing ones, whose misfortune was to be nearby, and chop off their heads with an ax. My sisters and I sat on the fence watching and would cheer as the decapitated bird would flap around a bit before falling over. I can't imagine what a psychiatrist would have to say about that.

It was sad to see John this week-end with his walker but his welcoming smile is just as big as when we were kids. We shared old stories and laughed a lot. The farm is sold now but we walked around it anyway. The big vegetable garden is gone, no farm animals anymore and the house is falling down around itself, but it was all still so familiar....one of those memories that linger with a hint of it all happening just a moment before instead of 50 years earlier.

for sale

Having a garage sale should coincide with having your head examined. It's always more work than you expect and parting with stuff that has been hanging around the house for decades is traumatic, although I must admit, in a liberating sort of way. Do I keep the punch bowl and cups that I cannot ever remember using - but then what if I suddenly need it for a punch loving crowd I'm forced to entertain? How about the stack of brand new bandannas that I once thought would make darling dinner napkins. For what - a hoe down? I also discovered I owned more purses than Imelda had shoes.

For several days I collected things from all around the house finding items I'm not even sure were ever ours, put an ad in the newspaper, and made a few signs. The day of the sale, I was up early and hauled things out, displaying them as attractively as one could in a driveway on up-ended boxes and old card tables. And then buyers came. They came in all shapes and sizes and with decidedly different styles of shopping. Some glanced around hurriedly and left without a word as if I was wasting their time. Hey, no one asked you to come - well okay, I guess my ad did. Others came and asked questions like, "do you have any watches?" Me - "uh, no" - "are you sure, cuz that's what I'm looking for today" Me -"sorry, no watches". That prompted a look as if I was deliberately withholding the very watch he was looking for just out of spite. One thing in the sale was a pair of lamps - brand new, I might add - that were marked - "PAIR of lamps $15". All day I was asked if EACH lamp was $15. I always referred to the sign but it never seemed to register. I wonder if they are equally confused when buying a PAIR of shoes. The lamps did sell but not before one lady asked if I would take $4 for the pair. She asked in a way that implied my lamps were so awful, she was doing me a favor by taking them away before neighbors would start talking behind my back about how hideous they were. I politely declined her offer thinking I would rather throw them both down on the driveway and stomp them to bits before letting HER buy them for even a $100 EACH!

And so went the day. The weather was beautiful and I did have a good book to read and a full pot of coffee to enjoy while sitting outside. The sale was a success if success is measured by what is left - which is nothing. No, everything didn't sell, but some cash was made and better still the leftovers were driven to Goodwill where other shoppers can sneer or rejoice over them - without me.

Watching the Olympics

I am not an athlete. Anyone who knows me will agree with that. It's not that I haven't tried. I took swimming lessons as a child - but I can't swim. I'm what's known as a sinker - I once had to be pulled from the bottom of a pool with a big pole. Softball's not my thing either - I automatically close my eyes when a ball is thrown at me. Seems a logical response to me. In high school our gym class used the trampoline but that didn't work too well as I had to remove my glasses. Virtually blind and unable to see the edge, the last thing I wanted to do was jump up in the air. Golf takes hours - I really don't like to be outside that long. And tennis? Hmm...it's that tricky hand/eye coordination thing that stood in my way. But tonight watching the Olympics I thought maybe gymnastics was something I should have pursued. I can run. I can jump. Those uneven bars might have been a challenge but with practice, who knows. Then it dawned on me. The biggest obstacle (literally) to a future in gymnastics are my ears. Every girl on every team I watched had a ponytail. Is this a prerequisite? Let's check the rules because there is no way I could present my ears in public. But I will keep watching the Olympics and that can sometimes be as hard as the doing. I root for everyone regardless of country. I cheer when they excel and cry when they fall. Yes, I hope the Americans do well but everyone there right now worked hard, sacrificed much, and has such great looking ears.

#10 - Finish Line

Guess this has not been any kind of race. And thank goodness since I am just now finishing up Gail Borden Learns 2.0. Since I always visit the library's Good Reads blog, this first item was a no-brainer. I love when Tish posts - and I indeed tried to help "refresh her palate" by making some suggestions. Friends of mine will tell you that the books I generally read do not have happy-go-lucky type plot lines. The endings may leave you hanging as well. Guess that mirrors life unlike the pap of romance novels with their predictable She-loves-wants-him-he-loves-another-big-dramatic-scene-or-two-they-end-up-together. I subscribed to Good Reads as well - love to know what folks read - you can tell a lot about a person and sometimes it's delightful to find out that the pollyannas may read dark and sinister novels and the grumps have light, inspirational books on their nightstands - altho in that case you can surmise they may not be absorbing much of the material.

Asked my question at AskAway Illinois - what exactly is a rogue nation? simply one who ignores the UN and their decisions? I was answered promptly by Jen who gave me several definitions she found and we went back and forth awhile before we both agreed the term is highly subjective and not necessarily always used correctly. It was a pleasant experience and I hope this site is used often. Saw some great library photos at Flickr and on YouTube listened to Joan's booktalks and I especially enjoyed listening to some of the Veteran's History Project.

Besides learning how to manuever my way around the cyber world where I had not ventured before, I found out that GBPL is way more hip than I thought. It's great to be using sites like YouTube, feedreaders, blogs, Flickr, etc. to reach everyone in our community. If only Hillary Clinton had been as wise. Suggestions for additional platforms the library could implement? From me? I learned a lot but let's don't talk crazy.

Let's be social

In gentler times, you and I would linger over tea and discuss the merits of great literature. Today, we make a list of what we're reading and post it for the world - or at least for your GoodReads friends - to see. Yes, I can review the books I list and star them. So can you. And you can leave me a comment which I can read and then comment back to you. It could take us a year to finish "discussing" one book.
I do like the feature at GoodReads where I can keep an inventory of the books I want to read. But I've always done this - on paper - and that has served me well for many, many years. And before you snicker at that antiquated method, do know that I pay bills online versus check writing/mailing. Some things do work better with the newest technology. But some things, you will have to agree, work better the old fashioned way. Take making a doctor's appointment. Back in the day, it worked this way: "The doctor wants to see you in about 6 weeks" - the receptionist turns the pages in her big book and offers me different days and times because she can see the "big picture" at a glance. By computer it works this way: "Let's see, 6 weeks from now it's May 12th (type type type) - how about 9:30am?" I reply, sorry, I work that day. (Type, type, type) She suggests May 14th at 2pm. Sorry, that's my tap dance lesson. We ping and pong until finally we find a mutually acceptable time. Progress? Definitely not.

Social media networking at the library? Maybe a GBPL version of GoodReads for kids? good read-aloud lists for teachers? tips on XBox games for teens? Hmmm...I'll come up with more. Check out my GoodReads too - I am Kathryn in South Elgin or use my gailborden.info address. Leave a comment, I'll get back to you.

wiked wiki

#8 on the list of Gail Borden Learns - Wiki's. Overhearing a conversation, my granddaughter asked if I meant Wooki. I told her, no, wiki - like Wikipedia. She then asked if that was like an encyclopedia. Smartypants! (runs in the family)

So I did my wiki thing and added a book (The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage by Daniel Mark Epstein, 2008) to the Tapestry of Freedom wiki and visited a few suggested wikis. Library Success began with a warning update: because of vandalism, email comfirmation is now required - cannot add or edit until you register - then you will be sent a link to confirm your address - a loose translation of their actual verbage. This is the biggest "con" of wikis. You have a nice thing going and the general public steps in and watch out.....giraffes are native to Venezuela....Justin Timberlake is an ordained priest....you can only contract polio in Ohio. Hey, this is fun! Wikis do provide another avenue of information - if you can trust the information you are getting. And involving the public in our library wiki is a plus as well.

So will I use wikis? Probably not. There are just so many information websites that I can visit and find what I need to know and rely on for their accuracy. And would I ever be tempted to alter a site with fraudulent information? No. But I did miss my chance to make up my own "story of freedom" which might have become a best seller.

Pod/Vod/Nod-ing off

Okay, more experiences with GB Learns...and if I can stay awake, I will describe both. I listened to a podcast on Uncontrolled Vocabulary...chose one at random - Cranky People Make Good Audio. The topic was how Ask.com has announced layoffs due to a change in focus for their website and one person earmarked to go is a librarian they had on staff. So for the next 27 minutes - which I will never get back by the way - I listened to 4 people who have too much time on their hands debate how this affects "horizontal searching" (We did that in the 60's - looking up something in a volume of the encyclopedia while lying across your bed) I didn't learn much else from the podcast, oh, except - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was reminiscent of bad talk radio that I often had to endure while riding in the family car as a child. Or even worse - major league baseball on the radio. Who came up with that idea - baseball on tv isn't boring enough, let's just talk about it? Now before I am chastised for dissing America's past time - and who decided that! - I must tell you I have some fondness for the game. My sisters and I went to more than a few White Sox games with my Dad as kids - surely prompted by my Mother who wanted a quiet afternoon to herself. It was great, we ate all afternoon and ran up and down the bleachers and came home with stomaches and horrifying sunburns. We could never tell you the score or even if the game was actually played, but oh what fun! It'd be even more fun to go now - I could drink a few beers in the middle of the day with no judgments.

I faired better at YouTube...watched a promotional video by a Merrillville, IN librarian - she was perky and informative and not annoying. Which is quite a feat since perky often equals annoying. With the right person, GBPL could do this sort of ad. Maybe someone dressed as Gail Borden himself. He could be standing in our new cafe - when it opens - drinking a glass of milk -okay, you don't drink condensed milk for which he is noted but props are always a good idea and we really don't know what the man drank. I did see a few library videos that were purely fun - look at www.youtube.com/kimhuston - she does one with shelving to music that's amusing.

Clearly, I am a print person. I love books and paper and school supplies like folders and index cards. I love mail. I read newspapers - on paper - and magazines, and I get every known major catalog. I do love email too, Amazon.com, and banking online. It's my generation - we have a foot in each camp, choosing the best of both worlds and so far that's working for me.