The Reading Post

Freerice.com is one of my favorite websites.

It is one of those sites that appears to be almost too good to be true. It is a vocabulary-building website that rewards correct answers with donated grains of rice to help feed people living in poverty who face potential starvation.

I learned of this site several months ago, but was reminded of it by a spot on a national newscast recently. Schools have found this site, and now kids are improving their vocabularies while they donate food through the United Nations World Food Program to end world hunger.

According to CBS News: "It's all about words, and . . . so far, the game has generated 28 billion grains of rice. That's enough to feed more than a million people for one day."

Reading is all about words, and so is freerice.com. Log on and test yourself, and see how high you can build your vocabulary level.

 

I'm a people person - a talker, a listener, an observer.
From my place in the Library, I get to interact with a great many people. Some of them are great fun to deal with, some not so.
From my place in the Library, I see people who are book-lovers, readers, intellectuals, looking for and finding information. I see people who are searching for something, and often they don't know what they want. They ask us for help in the quests for their somethings. Sometimes we locate information, books, materials; sometimes we just listen to their needs.
From my place in the Library, I see parents eager, desperate even, to help their children succeed - perhaps where they, themselves, have not. I see others oblivious to their surroundings, and to their children's actions, unaware of consequences awaiting. I see many children, unaccompanied, searching, some already in the midst of consequences; and adults, beaten down by consequences, mostly unintended.
From my place, sometimes I see, I hear, I wish . . . .
And I hope, always I hope we can help.

While I was out of town the Master Gardeners strutted their stuff again. What a great sale that is. And what talented folks are a part of Victoria's Master Gardeners group.

I guess we will wait for the next sale, but at VPL, we always know that we will have an upturn in the number of plant and gardening books that our patrons want to check out in the next few weeks.

So. . .what are you reading? I imagine many of you will be looking through the gardening section. Enjoy!

Ah. . .the business of libraries. Committees, meetings, sessions, proposals, resolutions.  Crowds, people, colleagues and friends, dear friends.

And the busyness of librarians at a working conference. Racing to meetings. Serving on this and that committee. "How did you like that session? I have a proposal for all to consider. Whereas. . . Be it Resolved."

And the midst of all this life and the living of our days, Death visits. Most will never know, but some  will be forever changed by this event. The business is not so important, and we pause in our busyness.

Rest easy, friend. You are loved, and you will be missed. And we are all better for having known you, or known of you. We pause a moment, and reflect and remember, and the business of the world will continue. We are changed, inextricably, and forever.

And because of that, we will move on. The business and the busyness will continue.

Who knew there was so much music to be heard at Texas Library Association conference?

We began the day with kazoos and drums. I'm bringing enough kazoos back for our own little VPL kazoo band.

We listened to poetry, guitars, trumpets, drums and string bass at another program, and the exhibit hall was filled with all different types of musical offerings, from videos, to storytellers and singers, to background music.

It was enough to make a musician smile, and we did.  Early and often.

It is another early morning. Our first general session at TLA Conference presents authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Both began their writing lives as adult authors, but have morphed into wildly popular juvenile authors.

Barry, as one would expect from reading his humor column for years is very, very funny.

Pearson, as would might NOT expect from reading his adult books is very, very funny.

Their tag-team presentation kept us laughing and inspired us as well. They are both members of an all-author band named "The Rock Bottom Remainders," so they bring an appreciation of music and the arts to their presentations.

When asked about their characters, Barry said that Molly, their principal protagonist in the Peter Pan novels was inspired by both their daughters, and is a kick-butt heroine.

In addition to raising money for Literacy through the Rock Bottom Remainders, they write to encourage everyone, especially kids, to read for pleasure.

May their tribe increase.

 

It is very early and we are driving to Dallas for a Library Conference.

Early road trips always remind me of childhood trips. We always left very early. We usually were going to Dallas. It was always so exciting to know we would see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. I feel a bit of the same excitement when we go to our annual conference. We see friends that we only see once or twice a year. We have many shared experiences. Many are friends that we think of nearly as family.

The sun comes up as we drive toward the North. Even the burgeoning population along I-35 can't obscure the memories of 50 years of these trips. Stagecoach Inn, the Brazos River, and the little town of West. Or as the late lamented Molly Ivins used to call it - West Comma Texas.

It is going to be a beautiful Spring day. I-35 splits - west to Fort Worth and the beginning of the Old West, east to Dallas, and cowboy sophistication. The old familiar street signs. Saner, Zang, Beckley - the streets of my childhood memories. Reunion Tower appears, our destination -  TLA conference. It is as it always is. Friends, colleagues, legislative issues, who is where, chatter of children and grandchildren, retirement talk.

It will be a wonderful conference.

 

This week is the annual conference of the Texas Library Association.
One big Mega-SHUSH.
With all the shushing going on, what do librarians talk quietly about?
Lots of technology. New books. Old politics. Emerging authors. The business of libraries.
Much of the talking is done in front of overpriced and overhyped meals. But that is the case at most conferences, I suspect.
What am I reading this week?
Primarily, I'm trying to read maps to conference events.
I'll try to keep you posted on what my best experiences are this week.

The recent Quilt Show downtown at First Methodist Church was a beautiful sight. Such talent, not to mention patience and fortitude goes into the making of those treasured heirlooms.
I learned early on that I don't have great small motor skills. I could bat a baseball, but had trouble playing both lines of piano music with both hands on the piano keyboard, so I greatly admire quilters. It takes both hands, working in harmony with each other, I suspect, to produce a successful quilt. I imagine it also takes great patience to apply stitch after stitch in just the right place, as well as fortitude, to continue through needle-sticks and mistakes that need to be re-stitched to reach the finished product of "Quilt".
I own several quilts handed down from family, but one of my prize possessions is a new quilt made for me by my quilter-friend Kim. It reflects care, and skill and patience and fortitude, and it will always remind me of friendship.

What am I reading? The Quilts of Gee's Bend: Masterpieces from a Lost Place

Photo by Barton E. Hill
used with permission
Travel is a plan we have when we retire. That is about as fleshed out as our plan is at this point. Travel. See friends. Make new friends.
We have been fortunate to have lived, gone to school and worked in several cities in Texas. Because I am somewhat gregarious, we have made dear friends everywhere, and keep up with many of them to this day. We also have friends who have moved away, but stay in close contact.
Our friend Barton recently moved to Louisiana, and can indulge his habit of kayaking much more easily than he could here. He keeps us posted on his peregrinations on weekends in Louisiana, as he kayaks with his club through some beautiful, but scary (to me) terrain. I've told him that his kayak trips are reminiscent of the wildebeeste migration across the Mara River. As long as you are in a group, your chances of being eaten alive are lessened.
What am I reading? Travel books from the Travel section of the Victoria Public Library. See you in the stacks.