What did we do before the Internet?

I should know that. I am a librarian. It has been sad to see the inexorable neglect of our reference collections of books. And, yes, I am guilty myself. When was the last time I actually looked at some of my favorite tomes, such as The statesman's yearbook or The encyclopedia of associations?

So, today, here is some of what I have been looking up:
- What is the name of the symbol that Prince, the musician, used as his name? I drew how I thought it looked and thought maybe it was called Ankara. Well, no, Ankara is a city in Turkey. Prince's symbol is unpronounceable but sometimes known as the LOVE symbol. It is a combination of the male symbol, the female symbol and the symbol for alchemy.
- How to grow poppies like I saw in Italy and are all poppies opium poppies?
- Why do I have a metallic taste in my mouth? There could be many reasons, but if the reason is unknown, it is called IDIOPATHIC DYSGEUSIA.

Finished an audio book, Seeds of hope : wisdom and wonder from the world of plants, by Jane Goodall (from the Millville Public Library - AUBK 580 Goo). Yes, that is the chimpanzee woman. She has many more interests. Talks about our relationships with trees and trees relationships with each other. Also clear cutting, rain forests, herbal remedies, how people ruin everything for greed, and GMO's, to just name a few of the topics covered. She travels most of the year giving talks. I found it interesting but hard to get through. Not exactly scintillating. And she actually reads all of the credits and thanks at the end. That was truly boring, but I stuck with it. I liked best the trees parts.

Advice from the cleaning lady

We were discussing how hard it is to walk up and down the steps and she mentioned a home remedy that has helped some friends of hers. Take one quarter teaspoon of borax in a glass of water and it makes your joint pain go away. I looked at her a bit quizzically and thought to myself, "Isn't that what I have at home to kill ants?" So, I looked it up on the Internet and yes, borax has MANY uses, just like coconut oil and apple cider vinegar.

Finished an interesting book on the Nook, Catherine the Great, by Robert K. Massie. She was quite a gal, with many lovers and children all fathered by different lovers and not by her husband. Got it from the Overdrive system, through the Vineland Public Library.

Was going to address "the law of unintended consequences" but now have forgotten the issue!

Life is good

Got to my 8 AM arthritis exercise class but it was a bit of a rush to get there. Traffic pretty horrible as it seems to be the first day of school around here. Only two of us in the class but I am trying to appreciate the teacher before she moves to another state.

Listening to T.I on Youtube. Live your life, featuring Rihanna. Love it, but can hardly take the video. It involves blood. I just have a thing for these gangster rappers. I know T.I. was in prison but I still listen to him. Yeah, I got no standards at all.

Picked up an audio book that I already listened to, but I didn't notice that until I got sort of far along. Selected shorts : a celebration of the short story is the series. The title is Are we there yet? (audio book) Bridgeton Public Library - AUDB F ARE). My favorite stories are James Thurber's A ride with Olympy, read by David Rakoff and Edward P Jones' An orange line train to Ballston.

More books I have read

The hurricane sisters (book), by Dorothea Benton Frank: Enjoyed the interaction between the generations. The story is told alternately from the viewpoint of the grandmother, the mother and the daughter. Theme of abuse of women comes along eventually. Author is lightweight but I like the southern milieu of her stories, which usually take place around Sullivan's Island, near Charleston.

Two boys kissing (audio book), by David Levithan: Heard about this book during a wedding of two gay guys. The preacher mentioned it during the service. Two boys try to break the world record for kissing. They have to stand up kiss for over 32 hours. Interwoven with this story are a few other stories. The author got the ideas from some true stories.

Last night was stuck in Camden in the DARK, and in the RAIN, with a FLAT TIRE. Now I remember why I try to get home every night and stay there before dark. Also had to drive for an hour to get home in a hideous lightning and rain storm. It was really scary. Going to the only gas station in Camden in the dark wasn't really that scary (sometimes I don't know enough to be scared). A nice man changed my flat tire. He put too much air in it, but I remedied that today. He did work for the gas station and charged me $22 but they weren't really even OPEN.

My town

Just some random notes about disturbing things that go on in my town:

- There was an armed home invasion by several people including a pregnant woman.

- A 14 year old boy was killed. He recently became a father.

- Statement by cursing guy in library, "They are harassing my girlfriend. If they'd like, she could wup their ass!"

Slowly but surely

I am making a bit of progress on cleaning up the house and getting rid of stuff. My philosophy is, if it fell on the floor and got bent or dirty, out it goes. I am sure I cut it out or saved it for some good reason, but I know I can't deal with everything in that category.

Read a book called Pillow talk (book) on the Nook. It might have been a "free Friday" book, by Freya North. A woman is a jewelry designer in London. She runs into a man that she had a brief infatuation for many years ago when he was a guitarist in a rock band. He is now a teacher in an exclusive boys school sort of far from London. After a chance encounter, they get back together. There is also a theme of sleep walking and not very good parents. Her main influence was a woman she was visiting for a service project. They became very close and the woman left her a beautiful stone which she finally uses to make a fabulous bracelet which starts her career on its way.

Feel like I have no life except through literature and film. Cried over the last in the series of Call the midwife last night. Today was all caught up in a new audio book called Two boys kissing that I heard about when I witnessed two guys getting married recently. The minister who married them quoted something from this book and I just happened to see it at the Vineland Public library so I got it.

Books, books and more books

Rome and the Vatican with the Sistine Chapel (book with dvd): A lot of nice pictures but the descriptions were kind of boring. A friend bought it when we were in Rome.

Beyoncé, by Beyoncé (CD): I like her and it, but was a bit shocked by the raw sexuality of the videos. Didn't really like them much. But she sure is beautiful and perfect. Picture on the front rather raunchy. Don't know why I thought she was more wholesome than that. There are a few woman power songs throughout.

The leftovers (audio book)
+ , by Tom Perrotta: Sort of ho-hum in the beginning. The end got rather suspenseful with a lot of events happening around the residents of one particular home. Metaphor for loss and continuation of life.

A fighting chance (book), by Elizabeth Warren: Enjoyed reading about a woman my age, with my political views, trying to help with the problems on the banking system and running for political office.