Make a World

There's a great blog that I read fairly regularly called The Improvised Life. It is full of interesting and unusual ideas, common sense suggestions, do-it-yourself projects, etc. I was pleasantly pleased to find Ed Emberley's Drawing Book: Make a World [J 741.2 EMB] featured in one of the posts. I have long been a fan of Emberley's instructional drawing books. He makes it so that any child, and I mean every child, can produce simple representational drawings. It is a great confidence booster for a child who's afraid of drawing because he/she has no confidence in his/her skills.

Emberley has many books in his drawing series. We have seven in our collection, including Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book [J 760 EMB] and Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Trucks and Trains [J 741.2 EMB].

Also look for the picture book, The Wing on a Flea: A Book about Shapes [JP EMB] in which Emberley points out the myriad shapes found in the world "if you just look and see." Simple shapes are the basis of much of Emberley's drawing instruction books.

Pinterest

Have you ever tried to keep track of all the web pages that interest you? Until a few years ago, you were mostly restricted to putting the pages in your browser's bookmarks section. Then came along Delicious (formerly del.icio.us), which allowed you to organize and share your bookmarks with others. Now, the big thing is Pinterest. Pinterest is more of a social media site for sharing anything and everything you find on the internet! You create virtual bulletin boards where you "pin" items that you've found.

Many young women use it for planning weddings, or for picking out wardrobe items that they'd like to have at some future time. There are boards for awesome room furnishings such as bookshelves, craft projects, organizing, etc. To take a look at what libraries are doing with Pinterest, check out the Missoula Public Library's offerings.



So, not to be left behind, I've set up a Pinterest account in which I'm posting recently published books that I've read and found to be good for book discussion groups, also, I pinning select links that appear in posts on this blog. I'll be adding to the two boards a little at a time, and perhaps starting up other boards related to books, or films, or the Nesmith Library itself. Suggestions are welcomed!

Poetry Friday--"Irish Sweaters"

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, I came across a awesome book of pictures and poetry called Ireland in Poetry (edited by Charles Sullivan) [821.008 IRE].

Here is one of the poems from the book that I think is particularly poignant:

Irish Sweaters
by Shirley Graves Cochrane

"Ladies and gentlemen--
the sweaters of old Ireland!"
and down the runway come
Maeve and Erin and the other Dublin models
hips switching, eyes scorning
and Maurice, sheepish in his cowl.
"Each household has its special pattern--
you could tell a family sweater anywhere."

Aye--even at the bottom of the sea:
for grannies knit the shrouds of grandson
fishermen who never learned to swim
(to keep the agony of drowning short).
And long after the eyes were gone
and fish explored the geography of skull
the sweaters held and told us who they were--
Cormac and Tom and even Donovan.

See how the stitches knit the bones together.

Join the fun at this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up being held at GottaBook.

Photo courtesy Library of Congress (click on the image to see it larger).

News for Genealogists

The U.S. Census data for 1940 will be released to the public on Monday, April 2. Christine Sharbrough, Certified Genealogist, and Reference and Outreach Librarian at the Derry Public Library, has a genealogy blog in which she gives information and tips about the 1940 census. Click here to check it out.

Genealogist, Laura Prescott, will speak on using the 1940 census data at the Nashua Public Library on April 21 at 10 am. The event is open to the general public and no registration is required.

On the U.S. Census site is a "Profile America: Facts for Features" article about Irish-Americans, just in time for St. Patrick's Day and in honor of Irish-America Heritage Month, which takes place in March.

If you're Irish-American, you may want to research your Irish ancestors. To start, look at A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors: How to Find and Record your Unique Heritage by Dwight A. Radford [929.1 RAD].

If you have children, a good way of introducing them to their Irish-American background is to borrow the DVD, Irish-American Heritage [J DVD 305.8 AME], part of the "American Cultures for Children" series.

La Fhéile Pádraig shona duit! (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)

Movie Destinations

The travel guide company, Frommer's, has a slideshow on its site of "20 Classic Movie Destinations".

Take a look at the gorgeous photos, then come borrow one of our films! Of the films featured, we own 19:

Roman Holiday [DVD ROM]

From Here to Eternity [DVD FRO]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [DVD HAR]

Goldeneye [DVD GOL]

The Sound of Music [DVD SOU]

Shakespeare in Love [DVD SHA]

The Birds [DVD BIR]

Breakfast at Tiffany's [DVD BRE]

Rebel Without A Cause [DVD REB]

Motorcycle Diaries [DVD MOT]

In Bruges [DVD IN]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off [DVD FER]

Field of Dreams [DVD FIE]

The Shining [DVD SHI]

The African Queen [DVD AFR]

Stagecoach [DVD STA]

Escape From Alcatraz [DVD ESC]

Amélie [DVD AME]

When Harry Met Sally [DVD WHE]

One film that wasn't listed, Enchanted April [DVD ENC], is my favorite film destination. Parts were filmed in Portofino, Italy-- definitely an enchanted location!

Playlists

They used to be called mix tapes, but now they're "playlists." Everyone seems to making one or more to share on various sites such as Spotify. Including, it seems, politicians.

Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, released his list the other day. We have a number of the tunes on various CDs. Here are the 19 songs he listed:

I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys
On the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack [CD SOUNDTRACK OBR].

Read My Mind - The Killers
On Sam's Town [CD ROCK KIL].

December, 1963 [Oh What A Night!] - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
On The Very Best of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons [CD ROCK VAL].

Ring Of Fire (no artist provided)
The best version is Johnny Cash's on 16 Biggest Hits [CD COUNTRY CAS].

Somebody Told Me - The Killers

The M.T.A. (The Boston Subway Song) - The Kingston Trio
We don't have it on CD, so I'm substituting the YouTube video:




Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
On All-Time Greatest Hits [CD ROCK BEA].

Desperado - (Live) - Clint Black
On Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles [CD COUNTRY COM], but not the live version.

Crying - Roy Orbison
On 16 Greatest Hits [CD ROCK ORB].

Only You - Long Version - Commodores

Runaway - Del Shannon

It's Your Love - Tim McGraw
On Everywhere [CD COUNTRY MCG].

As Good As I Once Was - Toby Keith
On 35 Biggest Hits [CD COUNTRY KEI]

Born Free - Kid Rock

Over The Rainbow (no artist provided)
The original version by Judy Garland on Capitol Sings the Best Movie Songs [CD MISCELLANEOUS CAP].

Stardust (no artist provided)
My favorite version is on The World of Nat King Cole [CD JAZZ COL].

In Dreams - Roy Orbison
On 16 Greatest Hits [CD ROCK ORB].

Somebody Like You (Album Version) - Keith Urban

All-American Girl - Carrie Underwood
On Carnival Ride [CD COUNTRY UND].

Not a bad list. Just as long as he doesn't try to sing them on the campaign trail, we can continue to enjoy them!

High School Biology

Way back when--in the time of the dinosaurs, or rather, in the time before computers, kids in high school biology used to do actual dissections in biology labs.

Nowadays, all that hands-on stuff can be done virtually. If you grew up during the pre-computer days, then perhaps you'd be interesting in seeing how dissections are done virtually. There's a site I came across, Anatomy Corner, that enables you to relive your high school bio days.

It is also good for kids doing projects that require knowing about the human body. There's a Powerpoint presentation on an "Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology," if you slept during high school biology class, and illustrations galore!

We still have the good old-fashioned Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Medicine and Surgery [R 611 GRA] for your nonvirtual anatomy study needs in our reference section or the Atlas of Anatomy [611 ATL], which may be borrowed. And for elementary school-age kids there's The Body Atlas by Steve Parker [J 611 PAR].