Books
Fiction-
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Nonfiction-
How to Be a Woman and Moranthology by Caitlin Moran
Refuge and When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
The Book of Mormon Girl by Joanna Brooks
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
From Housewife to Heretic by Sonia Johnson
Television
Modern Family
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Portlandia
Parks and Recreation
Downton Abbey
Mad Men
Homeland
Movies
Pitch Perfect
Miss Representation
The Dark Knight Rises
Jeff Who Lives at Home
Safety Not Guaranteed
Ruby Sparks
Brave
And since I didn't see as many movies as I have in years past, a list of movies that I still want to see and may have ended up on my favorites list: Zero Dark Thirty, Les Mis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Lincoln, Skyfall, Bully, Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Argo, Flight, The Hobbit
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2012 Roundup
- I decided to go back to work at the library system this year, and I'm so happy I did. I quickly got hired on at the Millcreek Library. I got to help stock the library. It was an amazing experience.
-We bought a new (to us) car this summer, a 2003 Mercury Sable.
-Brayden did his first soccer "season" this fall. It was so cute to watch 3-5 year olds running around the field.
-Brayden announced one morning that "superheroes don't wear diapers" and has been potty-trained ever since. I am a huge fan of waiting until they are ready, even if it means they are almost 3 and a half.
-Brayden had his first ER visit in October (pneumonia) and his first surgery in December (an abnormal but benign growth of hand tissue and muscle at the base of his thumb). It was a short procedure, but we were still so nervous. In the waiting rooms, Brayden played with the most adorable two year old girl that was down at Primarys from Montana to have open-heart surgery. I'm so grateful he has been as healthy as he has and also grateful that we have such an amazing children's hospital.
-I read 124 books this year. Not my highest, but close. Over half of that was non-fiction.
-We bought a new (to us) car this summer, a 2003 Mercury Sable.
-Brayden did his first soccer "season" this fall. It was so cute to watch 3-5 year olds running around the field.
-Brayden announced one morning that "superheroes don't wear diapers" and has been potty-trained ever since. I am a huge fan of waiting until they are ready, even if it means they are almost 3 and a half.
-Brayden had his first ER visit in October (pneumonia) and his first surgery in December (an abnormal but benign growth of hand tissue and muscle at the base of his thumb). It was a short procedure, but we were still so nervous. In the waiting rooms, Brayden played with the most adorable two year old girl that was down at Primarys from Montana to have open-heart surgery. I'm so grateful he has been as healthy as he has and also grateful that we have such an amazing children's hospital.
-I read 124 books this year. Not my highest, but close. Over half of that was non-fiction.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Currently...
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Do Not Ask What Good We Do
If you've paid attention to any political news the last two years, you know that Congress hasn't accomplished much lately. I just finished a book on this very subject- Do Not Ask What Good We Do by Robert Draper. I learned more than I needed to know about the ineffectiveness of the 2010-2012 U.S. House of Representatives. Read ahead at the risk of getting angry.
"What made 2010 different was a rising tide of economic distress, coupled with the growing belief that the Democrats were only making things worse. Unlike many of the other Blue Dogs, Giffords had voted for the complete unholy trinity: stimulus, cap-and-trade, and health care. The latter vote set off an ugly conflagration of attacks- the very least of which were snarky ads featuring a Pelosi double instructing a Giffords stand-in who would bleat, "Whatever you say, mama Nancy." More ominously, an anonymous assailant blew out the windows on her district office. Sarah Palin's PAC website showed a map of congressional districts with crosshairs covering twenty of them, representing Democrats who had voted for health care. Arizona's 8th district was one of them. Giffords went on MSNBC to warn Palin that "there's consequences to that action." (36)
-I remember hearing about this after Giffords was shot. It made me so upset. Knowing more about the situation just makes it worse.
"Obama had made a strategic mistake, McCarthy thought, picking a fight with Paul Ryan (on the budget). "I think Ryan's in his head," he would say. "Think about it. Ryan's a young guy. Ryan's risen fast. Ryan's got a great family. Ryan's got a lot of comparisons to the rise of where the president is. It's not so smart to raise him up by picking him as an enemy."" (143)
-Ryan is featured quite a bit in thie book. It was interesting to read about him now that he's Romney's VP pick.
"And she (Pelosi) had resisted the temptation to say "I told you so" to Obama- who, back in December, had disagreed with the Speaker's belief that they should raise the debt ceiling during that lame-duck session. The president's belief had been that the Republicans would and should be equal partners in the debt ceiling discussion- implying, she thought, that he believed the Republicans would treat the matter in a reasonable fashion." (259)
-This totally makes sense to me. Whenever Republicans tell me how radical they think Obama is, I just have to laugh inside because I really believe he was trying to be centrist and work with the Republicans as much as he could.
"In short, whatever pressures to govern the freshmen faced were drowned out by pressures from the right. On top of that, their reelection fortunes depended on money from conservative donors. Blake Farenthold had raised a meager $102,000 during the third quarter of 2011. Farenthold couldn't stand asking people for money and was troubled by a system that dictated raising and spending a million dollars every two years so as to keep one's seat." (271)
-A million dollars every Congressional campaign. Infuriating. We need campaign finance reform yesterday.
"The Florida freshmen (West) wasn't quite sure what vision was being articulated on November 1, when the Republican leadership brought to the floor House Concurrent Resolution 13, which reaffirmed "In God We Trust" as the official motto of the United States. "There are few things Congress could do that would be more important than passing this resolution," cosponsor Lamar Smith intoned." (272-273)
-Seriously?! The guy seriously believes this was one of the bets things Congress could have been doing? Aargh!
"What made 2010 different was a rising tide of economic distress, coupled with the growing belief that the Democrats were only making things worse. Unlike many of the other Blue Dogs, Giffords had voted for the complete unholy trinity: stimulus, cap-and-trade, and health care. The latter vote set off an ugly conflagration of attacks- the very least of which were snarky ads featuring a Pelosi double instructing a Giffords stand-in who would bleat, "Whatever you say, mama Nancy." More ominously, an anonymous assailant blew out the windows on her district office. Sarah Palin's PAC website showed a map of congressional districts with crosshairs covering twenty of them, representing Democrats who had voted for health care. Arizona's 8th district was one of them. Giffords went on MSNBC to warn Palin that "there's consequences to that action." (36)
-I remember hearing about this after Giffords was shot. It made me so upset. Knowing more about the situation just makes it worse.
"Obama had made a strategic mistake, McCarthy thought, picking a fight with Paul Ryan (on the budget). "I think Ryan's in his head," he would say. "Think about it. Ryan's a young guy. Ryan's risen fast. Ryan's got a great family. Ryan's got a lot of comparisons to the rise of where the president is. It's not so smart to raise him up by picking him as an enemy."" (143)
-Ryan is featured quite a bit in thie book. It was interesting to read about him now that he's Romney's VP pick.
"And she (Pelosi) had resisted the temptation to say "I told you so" to Obama- who, back in December, had disagreed with the Speaker's belief that they should raise the debt ceiling during that lame-duck session. The president's belief had been that the Republicans would and should be equal partners in the debt ceiling discussion- implying, she thought, that he believed the Republicans would treat the matter in a reasonable fashion." (259)
-This totally makes sense to me. Whenever Republicans tell me how radical they think Obama is, I just have to laugh inside because I really believe he was trying to be centrist and work with the Republicans as much as he could.
"In short, whatever pressures to govern the freshmen faced were drowned out by pressures from the right. On top of that, their reelection fortunes depended on money from conservative donors. Blake Farenthold had raised a meager $102,000 during the third quarter of 2011. Farenthold couldn't stand asking people for money and was troubled by a system that dictated raising and spending a million dollars every two years so as to keep one's seat." (271)
-A million dollars every Congressional campaign. Infuriating. We need campaign finance reform yesterday.
"The Florida freshmen (West) wasn't quite sure what vision was being articulated on November 1, when the Republican leadership brought to the floor House Concurrent Resolution 13, which reaffirmed "In God We Trust" as the official motto of the United States. "There are few things Congress could do that would be more important than passing this resolution," cosponsor Lamar Smith intoned." (272-273)
-Seriously?! The guy seriously believes this was one of the bets things Congress could have been doing? Aargh!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Pride
This is one of the most moving moments I've been able to witness. Over 300 Mormons marched in the SLC Pride Parade right behind the Grand Marshal. Over 300 Mormons were willing to set aside their Sunday morning to show their love for LGBT people. The applause and cheers this group got were the loudest I heard.
I'm so glad I got to see it. I wish I could have marched with them, but I had signed up a month ago to work at a booth for the library. It was so fun to talk to people and encourage them to visit their local library. A few people asked about this story, and assured people that the Utah Library Association would soon be issuing a press release in favor of the circulation of this book.
Between watching most of the parade and working at a booth for a few hours, I'd call my first Pride Festival a success.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Toddler reads
One of the downsides to working at MCC before it opened was seeing all the new books I couldn't check out! You better believe I had everything turned in before April 11th so I could check 30 items out on opening day. I had been in a bit of a reading slump this year and that quickly turned around. I hope to get back into writing reviews, or at least mini reviews of some of my favorite reads this year.
Another benefit of working in the library again is that Brayden has loved going to the library since I started working there again. Whenever I see promising picture books, I bring them home. I decided around May 7th to start keeping track of the books we read on Goodreads. We ended up reading 50+ books in May. I'm so glad he loves to read. Adam doesn't read much, so I've tried extra hard to instill a love of reading in him.
I thought it might be fun to list some of my favorites and some of Brayden's favorites and then the ones that we both love as well.
Mom's favorites
The Family Book by Todd Parr- I love Parr's books. Bright illustrations, tolerance, and compassion. Brayden liked it too and had such a big smile when I read about families liking to hug.
Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya- Amazing up-close photographs. Brayden likes it too, but I think he'll like it more as he gets older.
Peek-a-Boo, I Love You! by Sandra Magsamen- Brayden picked this for me for my birthday. Aww.
Brayden's favorites
Birds by Kevin Henkes- Great illustrations, simple text. We read this one at least 20 times this month at Brayden's request.
No, David! by David Shannon- I think this book reminds Brayden that we love him even when he hears "no."
The Wheels on the Bus: A Read-Along Sing-Along Trip to the Zoo by Jeanna Willis- He likes the skunk verse the best- "The skunks on the bus go stink, stink, stink."
Universal favorites
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas- Brayden thinks this book is just hilarious. I like the simple introduction to rhyming.
Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla- Fiestas and siestas... need I say more?
The Foggy, Foggy Forest by Nick Sharrett-"What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" Each page asks this and you see a black silhouette on vellum before you turn the page to see what it was.
Another benefit of working in the library again is that Brayden has loved going to the library since I started working there again. Whenever I see promising picture books, I bring them home. I decided around May 7th to start keeping track of the books we read on Goodreads. We ended up reading 50+ books in May. I'm so glad he loves to read. Adam doesn't read much, so I've tried extra hard to instill a love of reading in him.
I thought it might be fun to list some of my favorites and some of Brayden's favorites and then the ones that we both love as well.
Mom's favorites
The Family Book by Todd Parr- I love Parr's books. Bright illustrations, tolerance, and compassion. Brayden liked it too and had such a big smile when I read about families liking to hug.
Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya- Amazing up-close photographs. Brayden likes it too, but I think he'll like it more as he gets older.
Peek-a-Boo, I Love You! by Sandra Magsamen- Brayden picked this for me for my birthday. Aww.
Brayden's favorites
Birds by Kevin Henkes- Great illustrations, simple text. We read this one at least 20 times this month at Brayden's request.
No, David! by David Shannon- I think this book reminds Brayden that we love him even when he hears "no."
The Wheels on the Bus: A Read-Along Sing-Along Trip to the Zoo by Jeanna Willis- He likes the skunk verse the best- "The skunks on the bus go stink, stink, stink."
Universal favorites
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas- Brayden thinks this book is just hilarious. I like the simple introduction to rhyming.
Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla- Fiestas and siestas... need I say more?
The Foggy, Foggy Forest by Nick Sharrett-"What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" Each page asks this and you see a black silhouette on vellum before you turn the page to see what it was.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
MCC
So, umm, hi there. I know I've basically been radio silent here. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I need to write about books, weaning, and everything else we've been up to. Luckily, it hasn't been like the last time I took a long break. I have not been knocked down by an arthritis flare-up. Quite the contrary- we've just been busy living life!
I'll start with work. As I mentioned before falling off the face of my blog, I went back to work. I work at the Millcreek Community Center- it's a library, a rec center, and a senior center all in one! I'm a shelver just like I was before. Here's what the library looked like when I entered on March 5th.
I met my new coworkers. All very nice and extremely welcoming. We had no books to shelve (yes, that was a tad bit funny), but we got to work labeling shelves. I spent my second day mostly shelving graphic novels.
As we got closer to the opening, it got interesting. Things were happening, to be sure- like the new library sign that was not there one day and there the next. However, we did get to a point where it seemed like the library staff had run out of things to do. So we started spiffing up our collections and cleaning off old due date stickers from the older books.
We had to do some shifting when our beautiful shelf ends came in, and that helped keep us busy until opening.
April 11th finally came. It was a whirlwind five weeks, but we were all so excited to open. Mayor Peter Corroon was present for the big ribbon cutting ceremony. I am so sad he lost his campaign to be Governor, and even more sad he isn't running for County Mayor again. He has done so much good in Salt Lake County, especially building this combined agency, LEED-certified building during a time of economic hardship.
And then the doors opened and we got to work welcoming the public. We had so many festivities going on that day. The Wild Thing, tours, showing off and explaining our awesome new sorter machine, crafts, animal shows and more. Adam and Brayden had been asleep when I left for work that day, so I didn't expect to see them there. But Adam took Brayden on his first bus ride to get there and I am so glad he did. Brayden got to meet and dance with the Wild Thing and he loved it. In fact, saying he loved it would be an understatement. He's still talking about it six weeks later.
And there you have it. How a library goes from empty to open to the public in five weeks. We've been open for six weeks now, and we just went "live" on the system today. Administration wanted to make sure that Millcreek patrons got first dibs at our new, never been checked out collection. I'll just confess that I checked out dozens of board books that first week. Board books that hadn't been chewed. I think you get the point. Anyways, today we went live and that meant our items were open to go out on hold to patrons at other libraries. We had 1,300+ items to take off our shelf ad send to other people. Even more evidence that libraries are not dead. Good thing, because libraries are where I belong.
I'll start with work. As I mentioned before falling off the face of my blog, I went back to work. I work at the Millcreek Community Center- it's a library, a rec center, and a senior center all in one! I'm a shelver just like I was before. Here's what the library looked like when I entered on March 5th.
Painters, computer tables with no computers, and shelves- empty, empty shelves. I just have to out myself as a nerd and admit that the potential of these bare shelves made me giddy inside. A new library when so many "experts" proclaim the library is dead? Awesome.
I met my new coworkers. All very nice and extremely welcoming. We had no books to shelve (yes, that was a tad bit funny), but we got to work labeling shelves. I spent my second day mostly shelving graphic novels.
We shelved all of the brand new books first. While the library was closed, new books were still being ordered and kept in storage for us. After that, they started bringing us the books the Millcreek staff had boxed up. The boxes felt endless...
We shelved a lot of them, decided some should be deleted, and worked like crazy for a few weeks getting all we could on the shelves.
As we got closer to the opening, it got interesting. Things were happening, to be sure- like the new library sign that was not there one day and there the next. However, we did get to a point where it seemed like the library staff had run out of things to do. So we started spiffing up our collections and cleaning off old due date stickers from the older books.
We had to do some shifting when our beautiful shelf ends came in, and that helped keep us busy until opening.
April 11th finally came. It was a whirlwind five weeks, but we were all so excited to open. Mayor Peter Corroon was present for the big ribbon cutting ceremony. I am so sad he lost his campaign to be Governor, and even more sad he isn't running for County Mayor again. He has done so much good in Salt Lake County, especially building this combined agency, LEED-certified building during a time of economic hardship.
And then the doors opened and we got to work welcoming the public. We had so many festivities going on that day. The Wild Thing, tours, showing off and explaining our awesome new sorter machine, crafts, animal shows and more. Adam and Brayden had been asleep when I left for work that day, so I didn't expect to see them there. But Adam took Brayden on his first bus ride to get there and I am so glad he did. Brayden got to meet and dance with the Wild Thing and he loved it. In fact, saying he loved it would be an understatement. He's still talking about it six weeks later.
And there you have it. How a library goes from empty to open to the public in five weeks. We've been open for six weeks now, and we just went "live" on the system today. Administration wanted to make sure that Millcreek patrons got first dibs at our new, never been checked out collection. I'll just confess that I checked out dozens of board books that first week. Board books that hadn't been chewed. I think you get the point. Anyways, today we went live and that meant our items were open to go out on hold to patrons at other libraries. We had 1,300+ items to take off our shelf ad send to other people. Even more evidence that libraries are not dead. Good thing, because libraries are where I belong.
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