Read Aloud Warning: Epic Fail Could Occur

(from LibraryThing)

First off, I loooove the new book we just got in: Knitty Kitty by David Elliott. The illustrations of Christopher Denise make me sigh contentedly. The text, however, is a bit tricky if you are going to be reading it to a group of kids…

“Clickety-click.

Lickety-split.

Knitty Kitty sits and knits.”

Let’s just say that 3 out of 4 librarians I surveyed had some serious tongue trouble over that last line, which could lead to some awkward story times. 😉

I also agree with this reviewer that it is very twee. Still, I really dig the pictures.

 

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Happy (Indoor) Camper

The good thing about having a few days off is that you can do silly things. Like this:

Is that tent smiling?

Yes, we decided very, very late one night that we needed to go camping…indoors. So we set up the huge tent (it was a wedding gift…see, this is what happens when you give a man one of those gun bar code zapper thingies and let him loose in JC Penny’s…this tent has a dome light that has a remote and can be divided into two rooms…did I mention the remote?!) in the living room.

Um, there may have been some drinking involved, too. Just a wee bit.

Anyway, we discovered that when 40 year-olds sleep on the floor (despite having stuffed the futon mattress inside the tent…yeah, that was an adventure, too) their backs protest alarmingly the next morning. The tent also freaked the dog out.

I also got to finish two very good books. They are both labeled as “Teen” but I think they are for adults, too:

Nation by Terry Pratchett

                                                                The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 

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The Ladies Who Lean

 photo by Racineur

OK, this is a mini rant.

I had to make a quick run to the grocery store to buy a few items (ten or less!). There is only one (rather small) entrance into the store and it is automated. I grab a cart and head toward the door and find it open but entirely blocked by an older woman. She is clogging up the entrance by just standing still and leaning heavily on her shopping cart.

As she doesn’t appear to be actually doing anything (zombie shopper?), I say, “Excuse me, can I please get through?” No response. OK, maybe she’s a little hard of hearing. A bit louder I say, “Ma’am, can you move please?” Still nothing. I count to ten in my head (must not use fist of death…). Nada.

So, I roll right up to her bottom and lean up close and say, again, “Ma’am, you are blocking the entrance!” She casually glances back at me, harrumphs and then slooooowly rolls through the door and into the store. As I go through the door and then around her she yells, “Well, excuse me!” (but not like Steve Martin, because that might have been funny actually…)

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

I then encounter several more shoppers throughout the store who are, again, leaning hunched over on their carts and barely moving. What’s up with that?! It’s almost like they are fused with the cart in some sort of Borg assimilation (“resistance is futile…clean up on aisle three!”). It’s not like they are using the shopping carts as walkers but more like they would really like to just stretch out into the cart and just push themselves along with their hands. Very odd and very annoying.

In a somewhat related subject, I just saw a report on the local news that one of our grocery store chains will be installing in one of these huge machines which will probably create more long waits. It looks like something invented by Monk. What’s next…self-inflating, Purell human bubble shields? Good grief!

(You can see the machine in action here).

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Like a Sippy Cup for Your Nose!

While browsing through the Sunday ads, I can across this very odd one:

Ewwwww!

WTF?! Do people really buy these things? And who can I give one to as a gag gift…hmmmm….

I love the inset picture of the woman puting that up her nose…complete with water dripping out the other nostril. Oh right, like she would be smiling with water shooting up her nose….wheeee!

Smile, though your nose is dripping...

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Approaching Stephenie Meyer Overload

As a librarian, I just want to say that I will be very, very glad when all the Twilight mania is over (until the next movie adaptation in the series comes out). Right now, we are taking bets as to how long before the new illustrated movie companion books are stolen (my money is on day two of hitting the shelf).

So, here, for your enjoyment is a fabulous spoof of the Twilight movie trailers. It made me giggle (especially the part where he clutches his Hershey bar):

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Year of the Stick!

This post reminds me of a joke from The Vicar of Dibley:

        What’s brown and sticky?

                        A stick!

Ah, Dawn French, you are my hero 😉

It seems the National Toy Hall of Fame has finally honored the most basic of all toys: The Stick. From the picture in this article here, you can also see one of my favorite new children’s books:

   Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis which celebrates a child’s imagination. Why don’t you check out this lovely book review here (since you know I am too lazy to write reviews).

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Madder than a Wet Bison?

I am finally getting around to editing the pictures from my short vacation trip. My sister and I went to Pokagon State Park and it was beautiful (even though the sled run wasn’t open). Well, except for the time it rained all day. And it was a cold, hard rain so it was not conducive to outdoor treks.

We did go to see some bison, though. The Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve offered a very nice truck tour (they call them buffalo on the signs because most Americans do not realize they are really bison). Because of the weather, we were their only customers at midday so we got to sit inside the truck and stay out of the rain. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and had some great stories. It was impressed upon us many times that we must NOT get out of the truck. The pictures don’t really do justice to just how massive these animals are.

Even though it was late in the year, we got to see a baby that had just been born a few days ago. We stayed pretty far back, as the mother was clearly very protective. But, here is my picture using the zoom limit on my camera and shooting through the rain:

Awww...a baby

 

Some of the herd (there are about 200):

Soggy, wet bison

 And the king of the lot: Bosco. He’s the oldest one and was raised from a calf so he sometimes comes right up to the truck (but not this time). And he’s a Woodland (or Wood) Bison, so he looks different.

For some great bison photos (without rain) check out this site. Great shots!

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