December 5, 2006

My library mystery solved

I blogged a while back about a little mystery concerning children’s literature at my local library. The question I posed was this: why were two books for girls, by the same author, classified differently by the library system? One was listed as “juvenile” and the other “young adult,” leading to some confusion when I could not find them side by side in the same section. Having now read both Princess Academy and The Goose Girl, both by Shannon Hale, I now understand, and it wasn’t so mysterious at all. Both stories are set in mythical lands in a time of kings and castles. Both feature a young girl who might one day assume a throne as their protagonist. In Princess Adademy, the young girls of a mountain village are taken to the academy to be prepared because one if them will be selected as the bride of the prince. Some of the students are punished by their tutor and there is an incident involving violence. In The Goose Girl, violence appears throughout the story and is more graphically described. I believe it was this that led to one book being classified for younger readers (juvenile,) and the other for older readers (young adult.) Not so mysterious after all. Wish all mysteries were this easy to solve.

December 2, 2006

I really need a grandkid … or two!

When/if I ever get one or some, I hope this fun Christmas site is still open. I can see us now. We’ll make a huge mess of the kitchen, laughing and singing Christmas songs while we mix and stir and shove cookies in the oven. Then while they’re cooking, and later while we’re waiting for them to get cool enough to decorate & nibble, I’ll distract my little darlings with stories and puzzles and pages to color.

Damn, I’m gonna be a really terrific grandmother someday!

Alas, no little people in my life right now, so I’m passing this on for those of you who are living my dream. Enjoy!

Mahalo and a hat tip to Dirk_Star for sharing this discovery.

I’m entering a writing contest!

I passed on NANO this year because I’ve discovered that thirty days is just not long enough for my brilliance to bloom. Today I found another writing competition & I think it’s more appropriate to my level of skill as a wordsmith. DBA Lehane wants folks to write Short Short Short Short Short Short Fiction. I can do this. Go check it out!

November 28, 2006

Wallhogs!

How many totally cool and unique gift ideas have you found this year? Most of what I’d seen so far is just a step removed from what was available last year and the year before. Until I came across Wallhogs, that is. Your own photos, blown up to gigantic size (7 feet by over 4 feet) and printed on durable, semi-adhesive vinyl, shipped in time for you to slip it under the tree. Most folks will probably put them on a wall. I’m selfishly thinking about the one that I want. A huge me, performing that super-prestigious job a while back. Slap me on a van and park it across the street from that competitor who still thinks a woman’s place is not in our industry. You know, the guy who didn’t get the job? Could I be that petty? Mmmmm … maybe! Season of giving? That means I can give to myself, right? I want to be the cool one this time.

Is it rumor or rocksolid? Will Wallhogs be providing bigger-than-life Gwen Stefani images soon? Could other popular figures and stock images be coming, too? Check it out for yourself!

You asked what I wanted for Christmas

I was born in a tiny town in Texas that most folks have never heard of. My family moved away when I was quite young, but I still retain memories of some of the special people and places there. My parent’s closest friends were house parents in an orphanage, and we visited there almost every week. The orphanage had a small working farm, and we were sometimes allowed to help the residents collect eggs, milk the cows and select the beans and tomatoes that would grace the table for our evening meal. But the memory that shines through the most clearly is that of a cowboy, whose name is now lost to me, but whose smile captured my heart. He was my first crush, a bull rider, and spent every weekend at the rodeo practice grounds that sat beside the orphanage barn. On Saturdays my siblings and I would join the crowd of orphans, precariously balanced on a split-rail fence, to watch our heroes. Splinters in hands, legs and backsides didn’t matter, nor did the clumps of mud that flew from wild hooves to smear our clothes and fleck our faces. We had front row seats to the rodeo! Those days, and that special cowboy who smiled at my prettier Big Sis, but always had a wink for runt-of-the-litter-me, fostered a life-long love of the rodeo in my heart.

Things have changed a lot since those days. I still go to watch the cowboys perform their amazing feats from time to time, and am the target of occasional teasing for watching the events that are televised. The weekend rodeo amateurs are now professionals contending for big prizes. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that the Professional Bull Riders are still my favorites. So Santa/Son, are you listening? The Professional Bull Riders Finals are in Las Vegas. You’ve been bugging me for a while now to join you for a trip to Las Vegas, and you’ve even talked about giving me a trip for Christmas this year. I’m thinking that some PBR Tickets would fit nicely in my stocking.

Who knows? Maybe he’ll be there to toss me a wink!

Technorati Tags: first crush, memories, rodeo

November 27, 2006

Have I mentioned that I read - a lot?

November 26, 2006

A library mystery

I went to the library yesterday. It’s probably the only place on the Waianae Coast that has more books than I do, but it’s not cluttered at all. Neatly organized and attractively displayed, its bounty is a beauty to behold. I went because I had gotten a call a few minutes after I returned from a library visit on Friday. The book I had been looking for had been found. We had looked in the wrong section. Of course we had! Based on review by my dear friend sassymonkey, I had gone to scout out a copy of Princess Academy. I like good kid lit. Some of the best stuff out there is being written for children these days. And I trust sassymonkey’s judgement, so off I went to the library. I had allowed my library card to lapse out of existance for a while, because I ususally bought books that interested me, but have recently acquired a new card and fallen in love with my library all over again. You would think, with my book-clutter problem, that a library card would not be a necessity, but it comes in handy when I’m interested in a book that I don’t already own. Borrowing makes so much more sense. I’m committed to not buying any new books until I’ve finished culling, so my library card is once again a precious possession.

But I’ve rambled off course, haven’t I? I went to the library to find Princess Academy on Friday. As I approached the Young Adult section I spotted the rack, front and center, placed to entice young readers a bit closer with its choicest goods. I HAD to browse that rack, of course. And I spotted The Goose Girl. Sheer coincidence, I know, but a pleasant one. I had never heard of author Shannon Hale until sasssymonkey’s review. Yet here I was at the library looking for one of her books when another practically leapt off of the shelf and into my arms. (Don’t you love such serendipitous events?) I tucked The Goose Girl under my arm and went to the correct location on the Young Adult shelves to find my true target, but it was not to be found. A little help from the librarian did not turn it up, though the computer data bank said it was available at my branch. I checked out The Goose Girl after ordering a copy of Princess Academy from another branch. No sooner had I gotten home and taken off my bra than the phone rang with the happy news that The Princess Academy had been found. It was not a Young Adult book, and had been found in its proper place in the Juvenile section. I explained about the bra and the librarian understood completely, so I made a committment to come back on Saturday to collect the book, which would be sitting on the “hold” shelf with my name on it.

Now here’s where I get confused: why are two books by the same author, which appear to be for the same targeted group of readers, in separate sections of the library. Why is one considered Young Adult literature while the other is classified Juvenile? I’m not sure what the difference in the two groups is and I need to educate myself. Does our heroine have a groping boyfriend in one, thus making her story suitable only for the twelve-and-over group? Is the vocabulary in the other more limited, making it the right choice for twelve-and-under? Shouldn’t two fiction books for girls, written by the same author, be situated at least within a neighborly distance of each other in the library?

So I went to the library yesterday and now have both of my Shannon Hale books. The librarian and I talked about bras and why we do what we do with them*. I forgot to ask about the kid-lit classification mystery. Blast! I guess I’ll have to go back.

*For any male reader who hasn’t been involved enough with a woman to know this, for the gay guys or anyone else reading who doesn’t understand: many of us gals remove our bras the moment we walk into our homes. We don’t want to put them back on and will jump through hoops of fire to avoid going back out after bra removal. It is a once-a-day salute to freedom and comfort. It is completely spoiled by anything which necessitates putting the unholy contraption back on so that the public can be faced again. We do that only under extreme duress.

November 25, 2006

Progress … and the beach

I’ve released about thirty books in the last two or three weeks, and I’ve registered many more. Books are making their way out of the boxes and stacks under my bed, into my office to be registered for release. The box of books I keep in the car is being frequently refilled. I’m beginning to see space where once there was clutter.

Today I went to Makaha Surf Beach to release a book, by special request of a friend. Something a bit perverse about releasing Shark Bites - True Tales of Survival at a surfing beach, don’t you think? Actually, sharks aren’t much of a problem here. Makaha Beach has a lovely reef, not a hundred yards away from where the surfers straddle their boards waiting for the right waves. I did see a shark there once, dozing in a cavern, when I descended for a night dive. I’ve snorkeled there hundreds of times, usually where the waves break a little closer to the shore, and see dive boats over the reef and surfers in their spot each time I go. I’ve never heard of a shark attack, so I guess the hungry guys lurk elsewhere.

Today our lovely, quiet, little country beach was not so quiet, as a Menehune Surf Competition was going on. The Menehune is for the keiki (children) but the big sponsors and a number of sports broadcasters were there, along with families, friends and spectators, to cheer the kids on. I was lucky to find a parking spot, and celebrated by staying awhile to watch some amazing kids, many of whom will undoubtedly be on the championship circuit in years to come.

Makaha Beach wasn’t my primary destination today. I also went to Maile Beach Park, just five minutes from my home. There are hundreds of people living there, mostly in tents, some in cars or other unconventional shelters. They’re my neighbors, part of my community, and there is little I can do to ease their plight. Their shelters will not be packed up tonight, along with sound equipment and beach towels, to be stored away for another day. Their shelters are semi-permanent fixtures on the landscape, their homes until they are told to move on again. Today I released books that I hope will help relieve the tedium that must fill many of their days. A small thing. Not enough, considering the magnitude of the problems they face in surviving from day to day.

October 7, 2006

A gathering of friends

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have much of a social life. I’ve had problems with social anxiety disorder since back in the days when it was called agoraphobia. I’m most content when when I’m here in my own home.

Some things are worth going out for, though. I’ve been sharing lunch about once a month with other BookCrossers for over three years. That and my theatre outings are the only things I want to do outside of my home, and pretty much the only things I do do other than work and necessary errands.

We call ourselves The Table of Contents, quite appropriate for group of book lovers, moreso because they are all full of wonderful contents themselves, in intellect and personality. But there’s a little joke there, too, a play on the words. We meet at various restaurants and all of us love the dining experiences as much as books and each others’ company. Our joke is that, once a fine meal is eaten, including a delicious dessert (usually chocolate!) we are the Table of Contents, because we’re such a contented lot.

Progress: One of the things we do at the gatherings is to swap books. I always bring home too many. I met my goal today and brought home less than I started with. Baby steps.

September 2, 2006

It’s theatre season!

I’m not a real social go-getter. I spend most of my time at home with just the dogs for company and that’s fine. There are two things I do outside of the house regularly. One is the monthly gathering with BookCrossing friends. The other is to attend the productions of Kumu Kahua Theatre. It’s in an old building near Chinatown in downtown Honolulu. A small, intimate theatre, it seats about one hundred people, and the productions are frequently staged as theater in the round, with audience contact and participation . I’ve had season tickets for about four years. I miss it during the off-season & wish they could go year round.

The new season has started and I’m excited. The first production this year is Mahalo Las Vegas, which is a continuation of the story in what has probably been their most popular play ever, Aloha Las Vegas (it’s been staged several times over the years.) I’m excited.

New task: remove the clutter from my car, vacuum & wash it so I won’t be too, too humiliated when I pick up my friend for our theatre date!

Kumu Kahua Theatre. Plays about life in Hawaii. Plays by Hawaii’s playwrights. Plays for Hawaii’s people.

Did I mention that I’m excited?