Feeling a Little Abstract Today??? TGIFF!!!

Here is your opportunity to create art like a Master!

Mr.PicassoHead
(developed by Ruder Finn Interactive) is a fun, interactive game with plenty of options to explore.

You can save, send or post your creations.

If you need some inspiration check out the Gallery!

Go a little crazy today & have fun!

Local Bus Trip to the National Book Festival!

For local folks who would like to go to the National Book Festival on Saturday, September 26, 2009:

(If you can't make it to the festival don't worry....go to the website where all the author talks are archived and viewable since the first event in 2001!)

Delta Kappa Gamma is running a bus trip to the Festival if you need a ride.

An ELITE motorcoach will pick up on the K-Mart parking lot in Lebanon at 6:30 AM and return at 9:00 PM with a brief stop each way at a fast food restaurant.

In DC the bus will drop off and later pick up on the Mall where the festival takes place. Round trip fee is $30.

For reservvtions, send check to: Barbara Tobias, 2165 Long Lane, Lebanon, PA 17046.

Checks should be made to Delta Kappa Gamma and sent on or before 9/1/09.

Please include:

Name
Address
Phone Number
Number in Group
Amount of check ($30 per person)

Questions? Contact Priscilla Swanger, 272-0239 or Gloria Wentling, 876-2202

Library Geek Wants to Know What You Are Passionate About!

Love your library? Get your geek on by going to this site to take in the message, enjoy the visuals, show your support, and check out the resources!

GeektheLibrary.Org wants you to know that:

(from their About page)

"It's All About You. Turn your passions into support.

No matter who you are, there are things you are passionate about—things you geek. Maybe you geek engineering or hip hop. Maybe you are passionate about composting, schooners or vampires. Or maybe you just geek the weather.

Whatever you geek, serious or fun, the public library supports you.

The Geek the Library project is a community-based public awareness campaign aimed at spreading the word about the vital and growing role of your public library, and to raise awareness about the critical funding issues many U.S. public libraries face.

The Goal

The campaign hopes to inspire a conversation about our incredible public libraries and their urgent need for increased support. We hope you tell people what you geek, how the public library supports you and your community, and that everyone in your community benefits from the services your local library provides.

The Rule

The campaign will not support or oppose any candidate for public office, nor attempt to influence legislation.

The Sponsors

The campaign is sponsored by OCLC, a nonprofit library cooperative that has provided services to help libraries deliver more to their users for four decades. Supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, OCLC partnered with Chicago-based marketing communications agency Leo Burnett USA to create the campaign."

Libraries to Die For . . .

What an amazing site! And this entry titled The Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries is just stunning! (So stunning, in fact, that Miss Bun has been afflicted with the vapors since viewing it!)

Curious Expeditions is a travel/history site with a distinctive and appealing Victorian flavor brought to you by D and M, intrepid explorers who "are devoted to unearthing and documenting the wondrous, the macabre and the obscure from around the globe." (D & M evidently abide in Brooklyn, NY.)

You will find engaging narrative as well as interesting photography here. Be sure to take some time to explore the categories on the lower right hand side of the site.

I especially encourage you to click on the Pennsylvania link under Geographic Particulars for a look at some of our state's more curious and intriguing places and artifacts.


Enjoy!

Papercrafting = Folding Trees....

I'm not sure why (Hmmm....what would Sigmund say?) but many "book people" I know also love paper crafts.

If you fall into that category you will love this site: Folding Trees - the best tutorials and paper creations online!

Here you will find all kinds of creative things to do with paper from bookmarks to boxes, to books & journals, to paper models, origami, papercutting, & tons more!

This obvious labor of love is a collaboration between two women: Eve in New Zealand and June in Canada who "aim ... to collect the best tutorials we have found on the net, inspire you by highlighting amazing paper creations from talented artists and crafters, and share our own paper crafts and tutorials."

Be sure to check out today's entry: Altered Book Art to see some totally amazing things some folks are doing with old books.

Find yourself in desperate need of some really cute bookmarks? Fire up your printer and go here: Chick Bookmark.



Well, Peeps, that should get you started. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Papercrafting!

P.S. If you really just must run with scissors at least put point guards on them first....ok?

TGIFF! Introducing the "Fast-Paced Time-Wasting Word Game". . .

DeepLeap!

The object of the game is to get the highest score possible in a round.

You do this by making words of the 75 letter tiles dropped onto the screen (one at a time) & the game calculates your points earned per word.

It's important to be quick and accurate because points are taken away for words not in the dictionary (Like misspellings! Woe to the clumsy typist!) and letters not used.

Miss Bun has been enchanted with this game for the past week. She is certain you will like it too!

Enjoy!

P.S. The site claims this game is still in the demo stage but we have not noticed any glitches.

Hey, Bibliophiles! Start A New Collection!

The Bookmark Collector is very cool blog about bookmarks by Alan Irwin (who is professionally a senior software engineer for a company in Santa Barbara, CA.)

What can you blog about bookmarks, you may ask?

Miss Bun says to keep reading and find out...

In each blog entry there are links to bookmarks in the news, links on making your own bookmarks, bookmarks for sale, and online bookmark collections.

There is also a Collecting Bookmarks Group in Yahoo groups you can join.


Mr. Irwin seems like a very interesting, well traveled, talented guy so also check out his other blog: Alan Irwin's Blog.

You'll be glad you did!

Check Out The Book Seer!

The Book Seer is a literary web project developed by Apt Labs
for recommending books.

Here's how it works:
You type in the last book you read and Book Seer searches other sites like Amazon, LibraryThing, and BookArmy and offers a suggested list of books to read next.

Intriguing, yes???

Be sure to take a look at the Book Seer Portfolio Page on the Apt website for more info.

Even more enlightening is Apt's blog entry about this application: All Hail the Book Seer.

A Social Network for the Do It Yourself Crowd . . .

Instructables (The World's Biggest Show & Tell) is " a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others."

What that really means is that this very active site is full of member contributed step by step how-to projects on anything and everything from the ridiculous (Gummi Bear Surgery) to the more serious (How to Build Your Own Electric Car).

Warning: There are some "projects" that are not for the faint-hearted (like taxidermy for instance) or may be somewhat dangerous so this is not a place for unsupervised children. (In fact, you are supposed to be aged 13 or above to use this site.)


You can search for projects under 17 subject categories such as Art, Craft, Food, Games, Green, Kids, Sports, Tech and more.

It's a good idea to read the comments before starting a project as there are usually suggestions on how to do a step better, cheaper, safer, etc.

To participate in this site you do have to sign up but that is free.

If, however, you get really hooked and would like to have a few more services (like the ability to keep track of your favorites, having all instructions on one page, or less adverts) you can opt for a pro membership which starts at $1.98 a month.

Be sure to check out the contests! It's just amazing to see what people come up with! Oh, and there's a book, too!

Ok, Peeps, go forth and get in touch with that mad scientist inventor that I know is in all of you! Enjoy!

Remembering Frank McCourt...

Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, and Teacher Man, passed away on Sunday, July 19th, 2009.

Here is a link to the very nicely done National Public Radio story on him. There are audio extras and related stories as well.

The Annville Free Library, through a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, hosted a Read About It! book discussion group back in the fall of 2008. One of the books we read was Frank McCourt's book 'Tis.


It so happened that Mr. McCourt was speaking at the Pennsylvania State Capitol as the seventh Speaker's Millennium Lecturer that November. (Listen here: Lecture - click on"Special Presentations" then it's the last one in the drop down box.) Through the PHC's partnering with the Pennsylvania Speaker of the House of Representatives to offer the lecture program the Annville Free Library Read About It! book discussion group was invited to an exclusive book discussion with Frank McCourt held at the Lititz Public Library.

This was an event that I know all of us priviledged to attend will not forget. It was an intimate session where we were able to ask questions about his writing, his family, his views on education and teaching. I remember that he was gracious, charming and funny. Someone in our group said that "he talks just like he writes, in really long sentences."

If you have not experienced any of his books I would highly recommend getting your hands on the audiobooks by Recorded Books because Mr. McCourt does his own reading on them.

It just doesn't get any better than that!

Try Your Hand At Collage.....TGIFF!!!

Collage Machine II is a nifty app that lets you create your own collage (Yes, that's my moment of creative Zen above) and print it if you like.

There are several such apps on the Web (just use the search term "collage machine" to find them) but I liked this one because it gives more opportunities to play with the images. (Although I think it could use a lot more images....maybe even a way to upload your own?)

So go have fun today.....be happy....and make some art!

2009 National Book Festival Update...

Hey, Peeps! Just wanted you to know that The National Book Festival folks have posted the list of attending authors for this year.

Check it out here: Authors by Pavilion

If getting a chance to see and hear authors like Ken Burns, Nicholas Sparks, Lee Child, David Baldacci, Lisa Scottoline, Jon Scieszka, Judy Blume, Paula Deen, John Irving, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, & Sue Monk Kidd (to name a few) makes your heart beat faster you will not want to miss this year's festival.

And if you can't get to D.C. on September 26th don't despair because all the webcasts will be posted on the website. (Check out the archive for past festival webcasts.)

Don't you just love this year's poster?

Free Books Online . . .

This amazing site, The Online Books Page, lists over 35,000 free books on the web.

According to the About Page this site was founded, and is edited, by John Mark Ockerbloom in 1993. John is currently a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. He is solely responsible for the content of the site.

Their reason for being: "The Online Books Page is a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all."

Here you will find an index to books online; links to directories and archives; special exhibits; and info on how you can promote the growth of online books.

Be sure to check out the special features section which includes: A Celebration of Women Writers; Banned Books Online; and Prize Winners Online.

What a great resource for everyone and especially for educators!

So Many Books, So Little Time! (Did Frank Zappa really say this?)

Culinary Playfulness ala Russia OR Now I've Seen Everything (Almost)

This was just too absurdly strange & amusing (and I mean that in a good way!) not to share. (And no, it is not some kindergarten art project.....you EAT this thing!)

It is also a good example of the Net bringing us all just a little bit closer together. Let's hear it for Cyberspace Cultural Diversity!!! Go Team Earth!

So go check out this new concept in cooking at English Russia and surprise those near and dear to you at dinner tonight!

Word of Warning: Don't bother to click on the highlighted words on the site. They just link to ads & are annoying.

DO check out the How-To Video at the bottom of the page, though.

Now, Peeps, go forth and play with your food!

(Send me a photo of your masterpiece and I will post it on this blog.)

Have A Thing For Shoes???

Then you will like visiting Solemates: The Century in Shoes which is an early example of using the Internet as a multidimensional information delivery tool. (Say that ten times fast!)

Here you can get a glimpse of footwear fashion through the 20th century and learn a few tidbits along the way.

Be sure to check out the "Special Features" tab to pick up some factoids on Dorothy's famous Ruby Slippers.

"Dial a Decade in Shoes" is kind of fun, too!

(This site was created by the team at 4th Revolution, an Internet development and marketing communications firm in Sacramento, CA which was bought out by Wirestone in 2002.)

Note: This blog entry is dedicated to Karla Marsteller, executive director of the Palmyra Public Library which is our sister library to the west.

“Give a girl the correct footwear and she can conquer the world”
-Bette Midler

An Entertaining, Interactive, Multimedia Treat For Your Sunday Viewing Pleasure . . .

The Book of Numbers is an animated altered book which reminds Miss Bun of Monty Python. (Yes, Peeps, librarians sometimes have surprising eclectic tastes.)

The people behind the work are the Polish Multimedia Designers at Bubbly Numbers, Artur Stefanski and Kasia Michalska.


This is a really creative, amusing treat. Enjoy!

Travel to Africa with the Expedition Game.....TGIFF!

Ok, Peeps, here is your chance to head an expedition of your very own to deepest, darkest Africa!

Expedition Africa is a game based on The History Channel's show of the same name.

The goal is to get to the end of your 970 mile journey alive and there are some tough choices to make along the way. Not all expeditions are successful.

(Actually Miss Bun has gone exploring four times now and has failed miserably. But in true reference librarian fashion she vows never to give up!)

The role of six dice determines how your expedition proceeds and what obstacles are put in your path.

You get three rolls per turn. You may keep the good dice and re-roll the bad ones.

Each turn is about one week. Be sure to read your journal along the way.

So....are you feeling lucky? Enjoy!

Need Some Ghost Stories For Your Campfire?

Then check out The Moonlit Road: Strange Tales of the American South

Since 1997 a volunteer staff of writers, storytellers, musicians, graphic artists and engineers have been bringing us these stories free of charge because they "like doing it & the purpose of storytelling is to pass stories on to others".

If you dare to take a look you will find new tales on the home page & an archive of oldies but goodies to search by category on the right.

The newest stories provide a free audio player to listen with while older stories in audio can be purchased in their bookshop for $2.25 each. You may also subscribe to their RSS feed to receive new stories as they are posted at no charge.

All stories have a free illustrated print version and may be printed for personal, non-commercial use.

Be sure to look at their FAQ page for more info.

And by all means enjoy!

Happy Birthday to (& some separation anxiety about) . . .

Kevin Bacon who was born on this day in 1958 in Philadelphia, PA. (Click on his name to go to his IMDB [Internet Movie Database] page to learn more about him and his career.

Now, you may have heard of the phrase Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is a trivia game based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and assumes that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps.

(More PA trivia: This game was created by three students at Albright College in Reading, PA back in 1994. Check it out here: The Kevin Bacon Game.)

Why should we care about the concept of six degrees of separation? A "degree of separation" is a measure of social distance between people. You are one degree away from everyone you know, two degrees away from everyone they know, and so on.

Because Stanley Milgram's experiments back in 1967 suggested that human society is a small world type network characterized by short path lengths and mirrors what we know today as the World Wide Web. (A Microsoft study done in 2008 confirmed the theory.)

It really is a small world after all.

Breathing Earth = Information Visualization

The Breathing Earth website by David Bleja is a great example of how the Web is changing the way we interact with and perceive information.

"This real-time simulation displays the CO2 emissions of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates. "

It's kind of fascinating to step back and take a global view of such things. Don't be afraid to move your cursor over the map to see what happens.

And be sure to scroll down to find out more about the data and where it comes from, the environment and climate change as well as links to other resources.

Learn About Low Impact Development and Eco-living

When I visited this site: A Low Impact Woodland Home by Simon Dale in Great Britain two things that made an immediate impression were 1) how passionate about this subject Mr. Dale must be and 2) if it weren't for the Internet I would probably never have had the privilege of learning about it.

This is a straightforward, interesting site on the topic of green living, sustainability, and low impact development. Take a tour around the site and be sure to visit the Lammas website that is listed under "Resources" to learn about the society and Eco-living.

Under the "Home" tab you will find house plans, the family's perspective, and similar buildings.

On this site you will also find videos, a forum, how to get involved and some good resources.

This is an excellent example of using the power of the Web to connect people and ideas.

A Place For Hopefully Happy Endings Plus A Book Chat . . .

The Elephant Sanctuary "founded in 1995, is the nation's largest natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered African and Asian elephants. It operates on 2,700 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee — 85 miles southwest of Nashville.

The Elephant Sanctuary exists for two reasons:

• To provide a haven for old, sick or needy elephants in a setting of green pastures,
  dense forests, spring-fed ponds and heated barns for cold winter nights.
• To provide education about the crisis facing these social, sensitive, passionately intense,
  playful, complex, exceedingly intelligent and endangered creatures."

If you have a fondness for animals, and especially elephants, this is a site to check out. You can learn much about these amazing creatures, read the sanctuary's annual reports, watch videos of the elephants, sign up for their e-newsletter, visit the gift shop, sponsor an elephant, watch the ele-cam, learn how you can volunteer at the sanctuary (it's the only way you can actually visit), and more.

One of my favorite stories is about Dulary (that's her on the left) who lived at the Philadelphia Zoo for 43 years. You can watch the videos of her farewell in Philly and her arrival (click on "Dulary's arrival" in the drop down box) at the Sanctuary. It is really touching to watch her first tentative steps & the start of a new friendship in her new home.

You can also find out about the extra special bond between Tarra (an Asian elephant) & Bella (a chow-mix dog) ( click here).

And of course you can follow news about all the girls (they all have their very own pages) and their activities. How cool is that?




AND since the Elephant Sanctuary reminds me of a wonderful book, here is an
Impromptu Book Chat:


Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

"As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival."

Book Bytes: LOVED this!!! Highly recommended!