Thursday, December 18, 2008

Santa Baby

This video is one of my favorites...Eartha Kitt is 79 years old here! Would that I had legs like that! At ANY age! She was born January, 1927. This was at the 2006 DC Christmas concert. So she was really closer to 80 than not!
JB

Monday, December 15, 2008

Great Read!!!

Hey y'all,
I just read a wonderful children's book, and was very impressed. This is the author's first book, and she did a marvelous job. Part adventure, part fantasy, the children in the story were believable. Bad moods, arguing with siblings, wishing they were part of a different family, etc. The author made the story real, even as she incorporated giants, mermaids and flesh eating plants. I cannot wait for part two. The book is "The Lost Island of Tamarind" by Nadia Aguiar. I recommend it to all!
JB

Monday, December 8, 2008

Snowy Weekend

Hey Y'all,
Saturday mid-morning, I looked at the snow coming down and decided that I was not going to do anything. And so I went nowhere, and did almost nothing. Alex came over Saturday evening, and spent the night, and we read, watched a movie (cartoon) and did a jigsaw puzzle. Sunday I did laundry, dishes (yes, I left the dished in the sink Saturday night GASP...HORROR!!!) and straightened up after Alex went home. This is the sum total of my boring weekend. I loved it.
JB

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Hey y'all,
Last night I babysat for a couple of hours for my grandson. When it was time for bed, I asked if he wanted me to read to him, or him read to me. HE read ME a bedtime story. And very well, I might add. No, I am not stretching things a bit because I am Grandma. The child is 5 and reads at about a 2nd-3rd grade level. Told you guys he was perfect! And he went straight to bed when reading time was over! Sometimes I really marvel at how great my daughter and son-in-law are at parenting.
JB

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving

Hey y'all,
We had a good old fashioned family Thanksgiving on Thursday. We had my Mother, 2 out of three of my brothers, my daughter and one of my sons, as well as my son-in-law, a couple of single guys who are friends of my kids and, of course, the main person at all of our get-togethers...my grandson. The food was great, the conversation was great, and the company was great. My daughter, who is a fantastic cook, did most of the dinner. I contributed some, and my son (who bakes like a dream) brought pies and cheesecake. Yumm! Hope everyone else out there has had a wonderful holiday!
JB

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

10 random things about me

1. I was once friends with the daughter of a circus promoter...I hung out with acrobats, clowns, etc.
2. I was great in English and History...not so much in Math and Chemistry.
3. I have the genealogy tree for my father's branch back to the middle ages.
4. I used to play piano, flute, and piccolo.
5. I was the ultimate tom-boy as a kid.
6. I can tat. (Don't say "What??" You work in a library! Look it up!)
7. I hate to fly.
8. I WILL fly...to England someday!! My lifelong dream.
9. My great-great grandfather was a moonshiner.
10. I was the #1 premier hide and seek player of my neighborhood when I was a kid.

JB

Friday, November 21, 2008

Hey y'all,
Saw this and rolled with laughter. A little late, considering the election was a couple of weeks ago but...
Hey Y'all
Tonight is the Library's "milestone" dinner...for those of us who have been working here FOREVER. I have been invited for my 20 yr mark. Twenty years! My daughter was in the third grade when I started working here. Her son is in kindergarten this year! My oldest son was 15. He will be 36 in two weeks. Sometimes I forget, and think I must be about 36. Then I realize that I can remember Sputnik, and Eisenhower. Not quite as young as 36. Oh, well. Better than the alternative!
JB

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

WINTER (Burrrrrrr)

Hey y'all,
Autumn one week and WINTER (ugh, burrrrr) the next! Snow before Thanksgiving! I am not a happy camper. Sometimes I wish I could move south. My youngest son did that. He and his wife now live in the south, and it is because of the winters. He hates cold weather more than I do...and that is saying a lot. I only hope that we get a bit of indian summer around Thanksgiving, as a lot of my family are coming up for it, and I know my mother...even a hint of bad weather and she will NOT come. I could understand if she had to drive it herself, but my brother will be driving her. As most people who learn to drive in WV, he is a good winter driver. We learn not only on snow and ice, but on mountain roads...narrow, twisted, slick roads, with guard rails only on the worst curves. You learn quick. Or not...;)
JB

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Autumn

Well, Autumn is really here. Most of the trees are becoming brown and/or bare. I love Autumn, except for the fact that it precedes WINTER!!(UGH, BURRRRRRR). I am not a cold weather person. But to walk on a cool (not cold) day in the fall with crunchy leaves underfoot...that is bliss! I have always loved that. I grew up as a country girl, from a WV "Holler" with hills and forests and creeks all around. I do miss walking in those woods in the fall. Sometimes there would be over a foot of leaves on the ground. Fun.
JB

Monday, November 10, 2008

MISTAKES!!!

Hey y'all,
I am SOOO glad that I decided to go through the Track My Progress to make sure all the links were right!!! I keep finding mistakes! This is about the Flickr mashups and tools. The two I liked best were FlickrFly and FlickerFont. The montagr was fun, too. I hope this is my last "catchup" blog. Every time I think I am done, I find I am not!
JB
Hey, Y'all
I have just realized that I have missed one...Find a few library related blogs/news feeds. I hope that a late entry will count, because I am not sure how that happened. Anyway... I did find a couple of feeds...the Shifted Librarian, Unshelved, Resource shelf, etc. But my favorite wasn't a library one...but Shorpy's Photo Archives. Loads of fun, there.
JB

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Day After

Hey y'all,
Well, what an exciting election day. All those voters turning out, all those peaceful (but loud) rallies, and the great speeches, both McCain's and Obama's.
Historic. I don't think that I have ever seen such excitement over an election in my life, and believe me, I even remember when Kennedy was elected! This was just amazing. As early as I got up yesterday, I still stayed up until Obama had finished with his speech! I am one tired puppy. I don't regret it, though. That was one great election.
JB

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting

Hey, y'all
It is election day. I got up extra (EXTRA!!) early, went to the poll extra early, stood around in the cold dark morning air, and then stood in a hallway for another few minutes, and then(TA DA!)voted. No, I am not going to try to influence voters to vote one way or the other. Nor will I tell you which way I voted. What I will tell you is the same thing my father said to me. "If you don't vote, then you don't complain." If you chose to sleep in instead of voting, you forfeit the right to complain. You have also cheated yourself out of one of the most important freedoms we have...having your own say. Don't take it for granted. My father voted in every single election from 1941-2007. He complained, too. But he had the right. And so do you, IF YOU VOTE!
jb

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Halloween


Hey, y'all
Yesterday was halloween. I went trick or treating with my grandson. Well, I stood on the sidewalk and reminded him to say "thank you" each time. Also along were my daughter, her friend, her friend's two daughters, my ex, and his wife. What fun. My daughter's husband stayed at home to pass out candy. While the three kids trick or treated, the rest of us tried to keep them polite and off of other people's grass. Not that other parents seemed to want their kids to be good. I even saw parents walking across other people's lawns with their kids. But ours were pretty good about it. All in all, a good evening, even if my ex was along.

JB

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The End!

Hey Y'all,
This is the 23rd thing...Blog about the whole experience. I have found lots of cool things, and fun things, and some not-so-grand things while doing our Learn and Play. I have learned a lot more about the net, and how to manage things on the net, some of which I will never do again, and some which will be used over and over. Maybe even my Blog! Anyway, this has been well worth my while, though some of it did drive me half way nuts! I "met" some interesting people, both from CML and from outside CML while doing the blogging. My little goal of making a viable blog has been met, and I now know that I am not too old to learn technology. I do wish to thank all who put us up to this, and kept us motivated, and helped us to get things right. It WAS fun.
JB.

Moldi

Hey Y'all,
I have gone to MOLDI and I now have a book on my shelf, but cannot actually download it, as I have nothing to download it to. I think this site would be much better for people who like books on tape/cd. I do not. However, I may try again, if I ever get something to download on. I love the idea of them, for some. It was very simple to do, too.
JB.

Monday, October 27, 2008

?????????

Hey y'all,
I have gotten to the point where I am actually asking "O.K. Where is the next task?"
I am all caught up, and nothing to do! Well, I can just ramble on here, I guess. I have much to do this evening and tomorrow, too. I am trying to finish my grandsons'
Halloween costume. He is to be a pirate. I am almost to the point where it is all the finishing touches. (read that as the hand stitching...yuck.) Alex is to be a pirate, his friend (female) is to be his pirate wench, and her little sister is a mermaid. The radio flyer is being turned into a pirate ship. Not by me, thank goodness. By his Dad. Well, Until we have another task, bu-bye.
JB.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Old Times

Just found something on YouTube that I remember from many years ago. My father had this on a record, and we all laughed along with it every fall. Never let it be said that I don't like football.
jb.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Podcasts

Hey, y'all,
I went through a lot of podcasts in the last few days, and didn't find much of interest. However, I did find the podcasts of Babblebooks. That was nice, if you like to listen to books read to you. I don't happen to enjoy it much, but I know of several people who do. I will pass on the idea to them. Most of the podcasts seem to be either advertising or one persons warped sense of (pick one) humor, politics, religion, music, or life in general. If I want to know something on a certain subject, I would rather read a book by an actual expert on said subject. I suppose the library could do weekly podcasts to inform the patrons what events are coming up in that week, or to inform the staff of the same type of thing. Truth to tell, I don't know what the difference is between podcasts and YouTube (other than video), except that YouTube seems to be of better quality stuff, on the whole. //www.babblebooks.com/shopping/shoppodcasts.asp

Monday, October 20, 2008

tubin 2

Yep, I did find some Frank Hutchison. Of course, it wasn't a video of him, as he was recording in 1925 or so! But his Stackalee is on YouTube! And this one, about the mine wars in WV in 1920. I am impressed! He was a coal miner in WV, who played the slide guitar and sang real "hill music." So...YouTube does have everything! I wonder what it will take to fool YouTube?
JB.

TUBING!

Hey, Y'all,
I have found YouTube to be a great place for finding things you didn't think even existed! I found several videos of Karen Dalton singing. This is a blues singer from the early sixties Greenwich Village era. She is almost unheard of, and yet there she is on YouTube. Pretty good for someone who has been dead for quite some time.
I cannot wait to find some other "Oldies and Goodies" on YouTube. Maybe find some Frank Hutchison! Who knows what is possible.
JB.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

FUN-FUN! #19

Hey y'all,
This time I really found something FUN! I found the link to Make, and spent some time just looking around in there. It was a blast! I am not clever enough to actually contribute to this site, but I sure can look and marvel...How people even think up some of this is amazing to me. Some of the Halloween stuff is down-right sick...but fun. Guess that makes me sick, too!
JB

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Backpack (#18)

Hey, y'all,
I looked at backpack, and I really liked to way it is set up, and loved the calendar! With a different color for each person in the office or family. I think that it could be good for a family with several kids who all do the activity thing...ballet, soccer, riding, etc. It could work for a small office, too. I also liked the writeboard. Good to get a message to everyone. I don't think that the library could use it per se, but different groups within the system might want to look into this. A whole bulletin board on line.
JB

Monday, October 6, 2008

Online productivity

Hey Y'all,
I went into Google docs and created a little document. I like the idea of being able to have several people at different branches pulling a document together and editing it, etc. It can be hard to get a committee together often enough to do that, I think. One of the ways (besides the one just mentioned) I can see using this is with the spreadsheets. Do the money report on the website, then have Jean Bowling as the person to see it. No more printing it off, sending it to her, etc. Great way to do the money. Still haven't figured out about the other paperwork that goes with the money report, though. One step at a time. It would also work with the stats, too. We "edit" it every day, and at the end of the month, whomever does stats just pulls it up.
This whole thing seems a good idea, except for my constant worry about security. How secure is this? Can ONLY the people registered as readers see it? How sure can we be about that? Well, this is one of the things that I always worry about. I don't usually buy things online, either. Just don't trust the great "Out-there."

JB

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hey y'all,
This is our "catch-up" week, and I was caught up before the week began! This week I am just going back over some of the sites we have explored, to see what I may have missed (a lot, it seems). Now that we have the extra time, maybe I won't feel so pressured to get it done and go on to the next one. Maybe we can REALLY explore these sites. I am having fun with the generators, now. I didn't when we were on that, because I had so much trouble getting one onto my blog. Now I can just play...which is part of the whole thing. I am glad we have the extra time. Thanks for that. I must once again thank Markbookmark, because he has helped me so much with this whole exercise. What would we older workers do without the younger ones to help?
JB

Friday, September 26, 2008

Caught up!

Hey y'all,
I am all caught up! At least to date. #16 is done. I hope. Of course, there is a great chance that some of my stuff is wrong. I will not pretend to understand some of this, even if I did get it done. But I am pleased not to be 3 or 4 things behind, as I usually am. I have enjoyed reading over the favorites, although I have no idea who or what some of the favorite things are. The TV shows, for instance. Some of them I have never heard of. And the sports figure that is listed. And most of the websites. Nope, never heard of. And before anyone says it, yes, I know I am an old (and old-fashioned) lady. But I can say, most of this journey so far has been interesting. By-the-way, is the last lesson about how to close down and take your name off of the sites that we are not interested in keeping up on?
JB

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Hey y'all,
OK, I have finally been able to put my blog on the cml wiki. And it only took 4 days! I like the idea of this, but the doing of it was not my idea of fun. It should have been so much easier to do.
I have also added favorites to a few of the other "favorite" things.
JB

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hey Y'all,
I enjoyed looking at the wikis, especially the "book lovers wiki." This is the type of thing that I can see as a library wiki for us. Patrons recommending books to other patrons. A wiki like that may even encourage patrons to pick up a book instead of a dvd...or at least pick up a book with their dvds. There could even be a separate one for kids to review j books. And why not a third for teens? Lots of people only read when something is recommended to them. They don't browse. This is another way to get that recommendation. Another application would be for the various committees to each have their own wiki, especially if members of that committee are scattered around different branches.
JB

Library 2.0

Hey Y'all,
I just read several of the articles on library 2.0 and can see that it will be great for the patrons to be able to help us to help them. I like that it can connect LOTS of libraries is different systems, too. Great for exchange of ideas and info. My problem is being able to keep up with it. I feel as though my head is stuffed full and leaking out my ears, already!! If I can't get it settled in my head, I will be one of those "too old to adapt" types. I hate to think that! Most of the sites that Learn & Play has sent us to is appropriate for library work, and most are fun, too. (except Twitter, which I still think is for TWITS!) At least I can see how helpful this will be, even if I don't understand a lot of it, yet.
JB

Monday, September 22, 2008

delicious

Hey y'all,
One of my co-workers explained more about delicious, (thanx, Mark) and I think that it could be a very helpful type of website, were I on the web at home. I started to have some fun with it, though, and maybe will get into it more at my kids house when granny babysits.

JB

Saturday, September 20, 2008

hey y'all,
I changed the picture on my blog from the knight in shining armor to a flower and bee. No one could figure out what the knight was. It lost something when it got so small. I left the site to the knight on one of my earlier blogs, so anyone who wants to see a really good knight, just click on that. Actually, you can't really see the bee in the new picture. Oh well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubherducky/43069157/ is the site for the new picture.
JB

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

delicious?

ok, y'all
I have just signed up for Delicious, and pulled a couple of websites onto it, but I am still not so sure what it is all about. It seems to be a lot like Blogline, only websites, not blogs. I am not so sure that this is a site that I will stick with. But interesting enough, and maybe if I have time to do more exploring on it, it will appeal more.
JB
Hey y'all,
The Twitter thing was easy enough, although it seems pretty silly to me. I have no interest in the fact that someone is having coffee right now, or changing a lightbulb or whatever. Not one of my favorite exercises for Learn and Play.
JB
Hey y'all,
I like the Library Thing. It is a great website. The idea of putting a list of your favorite books up, then having other people recommend similar books is just great! I have already ordered a book that was recommended. THIS site I will go back to, even after this learn and play thing is done. Thanks for showing us this.
JB

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Hey y'all,
This storm really showed us what technology can and cannot do, didn't it? I ended up as the "go to" person in my apartment building. Most of the tenents are under 30, and seem to be so dependant on technology, that when the electricity went out, they were lost babies! I spent half of Sunday evening passing out candles, showing them how to setup and light an oil lamp without it smoking them out, and how to light a gas stove that has an electric starter. Actually, I had to help that girl cook her dinner, too, as she never used the stove at all...only the microwave. Fun.
Anyway, it seems to me we ought to try to remember the "older" ways more, and pass that along to the younger generations, as well as the Tech stuff. Sometimes technology is not going to help.
JB

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hey y'all,
I actually got a title and some pictures up!!! And it worked fine! Yea Me! The title I made on the generator blog http://www.glassgiant.com/hollywood_sign/, and the pics were my own. Sometimes this Play and Learn stuff is great, and sometimes it is soooo bad. I just know that some of mine is all wrong, but I will keep plugging away. I have actually learned some, and had some fun. Of course, when I get confused about something, don't even ask!
JB

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

NOOOOOOO!

Hey y'all,
I take it back about the play and learn stuff being not so bad. It is soooo confusing! And our computers are so slow, that the one or two hours off the desk is not enough to do it. I spent over 20 minutes just getting the e-mail address verified to use the Blogline today! And I still don't get how to attach my blog to it, or it to my blog or whatever we are supposed to do. (I don't get THAT, either.)
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jb

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Hey y'all,
Lookie! I actually got a picture to attach to my blog. I am so proud. It is one I found on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubherducky/238844362/in/set-72157594276907350/. After all, everyone loves a Knight in shining armor. Not to worry, I have asked permission of the photographer. This Learn and Play stuff may not be so bad!
JB

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Well, I have just watched the little video that Joy and Gerald did, and realized that I have been doing this all wrong! As I have pointed out before, I am not very "up" on computers and the internet. Now I have to go back and redo some of my things. Oh well.
JB

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Am I a techie or not?

Hey, y'all,
We are to write something about tech that we like, or are interested in, etc. I am at a loss as to what to write about. I am one of the old school computer people. I have a few programs on mine, but I am not even on-line. So...I download my pictures, I keep music on it, my genealogy records, and a few games. (yes, the old style games that you can play without being on the internet and that you play against yourself, not total strangers out "there"). Does this make me hopelessly old-fashioned, technology challenged, or just lazy when it comes to "keeping up with the techs?" Who knows? But it leaves me without much to write about. I did enjoy going into Flickr and playing around there. My daughter has some pictures on there, and so do a couple of friends, but I had never looked at the other "stuff." Very cool. I have not had time to look at all the blogs, but I love the name of some of them. "Come lay your bones on the alabaster stones" comes to mind. That is a great one. Especially to someone interested in genealogy and history!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

First time for everything!

Hey, y'all!
I think that it is great for the library to encourage us to "Play and Learn." However, my big goal now is just to actually make a blog. I have never done this. All I can do on the computer is what I need for circulation. Hopefully, I have now met this goal.
JB