Kate DiCamillo: Master Storyteller

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, 2009. 201 pgs.

Confession time:  I have had this book, ahem, a library book, sitting on my shelf since last summer.  I think I may have grabbed it from school as a summer read and didn't get to it then.  I managed to pick it up this winter and devoured it in about a day.  (It's really a one sitting book, but in my world right now, I am lucky to read a simple paragraph in about an hour.  I read, folks, but I read a lot of Mo Willems, Margaret & H.A. Rey and Richard Scarry.  That is my world right now.)

The Magician's Elephant is about a young orphan boy, Peter, who goes to a fortune teller to ask one simple question.  Is his sister still alive?  The answer:  "She lives."  When Peter presses further to find out where she is, the fortune teller gives Peter a cryptic answer, "You must follow the elephant."  And so Peter's quest for his sister begins, and we learn about the mysterious elephant that a magician brought forth instead of a bouquet of lilies.

The genius of Kate DiCamillo never ceases to amaze me. Her prose is so simple and true.  The voice that she writes with speaks to us in a gentle, yet unassuming manner.  I love it!  This book, with its sense of nostalgia, sparkles with love.  'Nuff said.

Regarding another Dicamillo story:  It should be known that my hubby appreciates Kate DiCamillo's writing, too.  We did, after all, read The Tale of Despereaux out loud to one another.  I did, also, drag him to a book event at the U of MN in grad school where Ms. DiCamillo spoke and read aloud the first chapter of Despereaux.  (I cannot recall if this was just before or just after her winning the Newbery Award for Despereaux.)

Late this last summer or early fall, I found that hubby started to read our not quite 3 yr. old Despereaux.  I think that it was on a bookshelf downstairs and one of the two of them saw it while playing downstairs and somehow they started it together.  I was truly amazed that she'd sit still for the story (it does have rather short chapters, though). Kate mesmerized her with delicious soupy storytelling and we read the entire book in the next month or two during bedtime stories!  Even last night, she pointed to it on her bookshelf and said, "We read Despereaux, but we're not going to read it tonight."  I said, "Maybe again in a while (meaning several months or so in my mind)."  She replied, "Yep, I like Despereaux."

Yep kiddo, I liked it too.  Kudos to Kate.

Dystopian Novels = Cold Hard Cash

In the last several years, one of the biggest trends in young adult literature is that of the dystopian novel. (If you're lost the definition is: "a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression,disease, and overcrowding." From dictionary.com) When I talk with the students at my middle school, I say something like this, "Think the future and something horrible has happened and the human race is just trying to survive.  Add some teenagers.  Some romance.  Some good adventure or race to survive and that's the gist of the dystopian novel."  Oh, and they tend to be series books.  Or trilogies.  

The Hunger Games (and its subsequent books) is one of the most popular dystopian trilogies from the last several years.  The movie for the 1st book comes out March 23rd. (EEEE! Squeallll!--Yup, it really was that good.  And the author helped write the screenplay and approves, so I'm hopeful for the movie.)

 Another series that my students love is Matched by Ally Condie.  The second book just came out and is called Crossed.  It's on my to read list (I haven't read it because I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it or just snag it from the library.)


The series I just completed that my students have also been crazed about this school year is The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner.  And it's this series that I want to talk about today.  You know how when you read a book (or in this case a series) and it just leave you sort of annoyed or unsatisfied?  That's my problem with this one and I need some others to read it so we can talk about it.  (Hint, hint dear readers.)   I just finished the last book and it's just got me irritated. 

Here's the low down on the plot:  Teenager Thomas wakes up in what is called The Glade. He has no memories of before he woke up. He is surrounded by other teenage boys.  Only boys.  They live in The Glade and it is surrounded by walls, and in turn a maze.  During the day, the doors to the maze open and certain boys (called Runners) go out and try to figure out a way out of the maze and thus, hopefully, out of The Glade.  At night the doors close.  If you are still in the maze at night, a creature called a Griever appears in the maze and comes after you.  The next day it's lather, rinse, repeat, except that the maze has changed.  The walls have moved.  This is the standard pattern of The Glade and the maze until a teenage girl appears.  Things are about to change. The only thing she remembers is that WICKED is good.


Long story short, without trying to spoil too many of the plot points of the trilogy, the maze is run by an organization called WICKED which stands for "World in catastrophe, killzone experiment department."  WICKED hopes that the teens hold the secret to a cure for a disease called The Flare that is killing humans around the world.


Ok, and if I talk about more than that right now, I will completely give away the plot. 

But here's the deal, Mr. Dashner.  I expected more.  I really did.  I expected a little more conclusion.  None of this "It's a trilogy, but it's probably not because my publisher thinks we can push a few more books out of it and make some dough." The Maze Runner leaves you hanging.  That was to be expected.  The Scorch Trials.  Yep, still left you hanging.  Again, to be expected and in a good way.  But seriously?  The Death Cure (what claims to be the conclusion) isn't much of one in my opinion.  Great story but did it really end?  It never really ties things up nice and neat and I'm thoroughly annoyed by that.  Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games trilogy) took a lot of flack for tidying up the plot in the last book of the series, but it's what readers wanted.  But here....sheer annoyance. Someone read it, so we can talk about it ok? 


Epilogue:  After writing this blog post, I found Dashner's website and found that a PREQUEL to the series is out sometime this fall, called The Kill Order.  See!  I knew it!  There is soooo going to be another book in the series besides the prequel.  I smell a fourth book and I smell money.  There's also rumor of a movie deal...

Miss Elizabeth Bennet's Inbox

Miss Elizabeth Bennet's Email Inbox

 Worth a great laugh!  The author has it spot on! From a marketing firm, but he's done it so well.  So very well.  (And he's got other Famous Inboxes that are worth checking out, too.)

Love/Hate Part 2

A T-Shirt worn my one of my 8th grade students:  "Stop texting me, I'm right next 2U."

Love it!

Love/Hate

The above picture is of a works cited card found in the stack of blank cards in the media center on Friday.  These cards are supposed to help students learn what information to write down for a bibliography or works cited page.

I know the picture is a little hard to read because it was written in pencil.  Let me write it out for you:

Author of the Article:  your mom
Title of the Article: your name
Original source title: something
Date of source:1998
Title of Database:  your grandma
Date of Access: 1993
Web Address: www.yourmom.com

And this is why I have a love/hate relationship with middle school students.

It's All About Jane.

An article to read from Salon.com about Jane and her many sequel/spinoffs--The Battle for Jane Austen by Laura Miller. I thought it was interesting to say the least.

Austenblog writes some thoughts on it here.

My thoughts:  I think Ms. Miller hits it by saying this,

"However, you can read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" pretending that you're in it for the zombies or the laughs while secretly relishing Austen's sublime romantic comedy. At least, that's how I read it -- not, that is, with any pretense, but, as I went along, finding myself increasingly skimming over the interjections of horror and combat to get back to the real story....The great advantage, the secret weapon of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," is that when you tire of the beheadings and the martial arts and the blood and guts, it's still "Pride and Prejudice." And you know that can't be bad."

It's all about Jane, folks.  All about Jane.

Everything Austen, Or How Time Got Away From Me

Uh, er, uh......The Everything Austen Challenge, sponsored by Stephanie @ Stephanie's Written Word officially ended January 1st. Depending on how you look at things, I either failed miserably as a Janeite or I passed the bar but not quite using the list I'd originally created. Either way, I also failed to to post on the blog that I probably finished the challenge. My how time gets away from me.

The goal was to pick six things Austen to read/watch/view/listen from mid summer to January 1. I created a list. Of only six things. Some participants made a list of what looked like a zillion JA things! Why I only picked a specific six things is beyond me. Ok, no, that's not true. I was trying to force myself to read some non-fiction (always a chore for me) and take in some other Jane focused items I have ignored.

Here's my list that I officially said I'd do:

• A Memoir of Jane Austen by James Austen-Leigh

(Yep, sitting on my nightstand. And what's more shameful is that I desperately need to read it as it's a friend's copy and it should be returned. Although I did read a few excerpts from it when I was reading the cookbooks because they referenced it. Does that count? And really, I should own my own copy. What kind of Janeite am I?)

• 101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen: The Truth About the World's Most Intriguing Literary Heroine by Patrice Hannon

(Yeah, so I just picked this up off of my nightstand last night. I read the first thing and needed to turn my light off. Hey, at least I'm getting there.)

• (DONE.) Find a copy of the Jane Austen Cookbook by Maggie Black OR Cooking with Jane Austen by Kirsten Olsen OR Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson and make something from one of them--find a recipe for scones or biscuits perhaps?

(Recipes copied, ready for bookclub tea party this summer! Can't wait!)

• (DONE.) A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love & Faith by Lori Smith (memoir)

• (DONE.) Mansfield Park Revisited: A Jane Austen Entertainment by Joan Aiken

• (DONE.) Watch Miss Austen Regrets

And here's what I actually did, including all items listed as done in the previous list.

• Watched Persausion at least once (with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds).

• Watched P&P 2005 at least once (it's a bit more managable than the '95 version when you've got a kiddo).
  

• Particpated in the Lady Susan online read hosted by the ladies of Austenprose.

• Read several JA inspired pieces of fiction (Jane Austen in Boca by Paula Marantz Cohen, The Matters at Mansfield Or, the Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris.)

I should have made a longer original list and I could have been entered for a great prize. Sigh. Someday I'll learn. Or maybe not. (Do you notice a trend in the titles of my blog posts? Really titles and what they really should be titled. Sigh. It's just where I'm at these days...)

The Bah-Humbug List

In the sprirt of my favorite middle school research project of the year (7th graders read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and host a Fezziwig Party at the end of the unit), I offer my Scrooge inspired Bah-Humbug list. I'm not feeling very much like it's the Holiday Season this year...

• It was 58 degrees in my office at work for three days running. Don't get me wrong, 58 degrees is great. But not on negative degree days without windchill. Seriously people. At least I know what to get some of my co-workers--snuggies. In school colors, of course. Perhaps, embroidered even?
• Driving on the morning of the first snow in MN. Aren't we supposed to know how to drive?
• 12.5 month olds who throw temper tantrums because they don't get their way (especially at the evening meal). This is getting old fast. Anyone have any tips? Tantrum-y child, one. Mom and Dad, zero.
  
• Tacky Christmas songs. Like "Jingle Bell Rock" or "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus." Again, seriously people. (Of course, don't misunderstand me. John Denver and the Muppets and the Carpenter's Christmas are two of my favorites, but on the all Christmas radio station I'd like to hear something with substance. Or at least Kermit.
• Remembering gift ideas for yourself that you've thought of at least 30 times in the last year AFTER you've given your family ideas and it's really just too late.
• Forgetting the book you are reading at your parents and it will be three weeks until you get it back. (While the world won't end for this one, it is disappointing. And I'm too cheap to buy another copy.)
• Numerous attempts over the last month for a family Christmas photo. No dice. Screaming child or wiggly child, two. Mom and Dad, zero.

Things I Wanted To Blog About At the Time

Things I Wanted To Blog About At the Time: A Collection by BB.

These blog entries were written in full, usually in my car whilst driving to and fro from said place of employment quite eloquently in my head. (Really, I need to get a voice recorder, because I write sooooo well in my head. So much me for writing the great American novel.)

• Coffee Taste Tests. I participated in an online taste test of Starbucks VIA ready brew packets at Marilyn Brant's blog, Brant Flakes. Here is where I fully admit to drinking instant coffee most mornings. And here is where I fully endorse the Starbucks VIA packets. It is by far the smoothest, best tasting instant coffee I have ever tried. This from someone who isn't the biggest Starbucks fan. But should I find myself inside a store and they finally come to MN (only available in NY, Chicago etc. right now), I have a sneaky suspicion that I'd need to purchase one.
• Lady Susan Soiree Finale. Finished participating in the online read of Dear Jane's Lady Susan at Austenprose. It was a delightful group conversation! And there are some great moments and quotes in LS. Here are just a few of my favorites, with this link from the Soiree of more quips and quotes.

"I take London in my way to that insupportable spot, a country village." Lady Susan, Letter 2

"Where there is a disposition to dislike, a motive will never be wanting." Lady Susan, Letter 5

"There is exquisite pleasure in subduing an insolent spirit, in making a person predetermined to dislike acknowledge one’s superiority." Lady Susan, Letter 7

"In short, when a person is always to deceive, it is impossible to be consistent." Mrs. Vernon, Letter 17

• Grocery Shopping @ Super Target. Thinking that the party-line that T employees are told to tell guests is "Yep, I'm having trouble getting that in." Seriously. I was told that 4 times last weekend. Isn't the point of a Target run to not have to go to Cub, too? But lo and behold, the last 2 or 3 times I've attempted to grocery shop at Target, I've had to go to Cub, too bc T was out of things I needed (and needed that day, mind you!). One word: Nrrrrrrr.

• Finally did another Everything Austen Thing. Planning on posting about it later. YAY! (Ok, there have been lots of Austen things in my life, but this was one from my official list.)
  

A September Lament

It's official. I am behind in blogging. To who or whom am I behind to other than myself, is unknown and inconsequential. However, I had topics I wanted to blog about. Really and truly. And then September happened. It happens every year. September is such a lovely month. And every year I pretty much miss it. Could the school year start in say August or October? (No, I like October a lot, too.) Let's try November. Every year, I think to myself, "I am not going to miss fall. I am not going to miss fall." And then, well, I do.

I am also behind in my blog reading. I just read a friend's blog and WHOA! she wrote what I was going to write about September! (And much more eloquently, mind you.) September is survival mode for educators. We miss much of fall because we're too stressed/sucked into overload/overdrive/exhausted to partake in the wonderful month of September in our 'real' lives.

So as I sit in a quiet house, with a napping sick daughter, I lament the loss of September. I lament missing the leaves start turn. The crisp fall walks I long to take. The trips to the orchard to buy crazy multitudes of apple products, pumpkins and gourds. Really, there is still a month left of fall to enjoy most of these things, but it seems like I've missed out on something big. Again, I lament you, dear September.

Adeu.

Summer's End

This picture of L is a few weeks old, but I wondered at the time if it was significant. Does it mean that L already thinks that of her far off futurist first teacher? Or is she trying to tell me something that either she or my students think of me? Was she just trying to prepare me for "School Mode?" Or does she just like to eat paper? (Hint: Choose door #4.)

So with this picture, I offer a week of several highs and lows.

We've officially jumped into "school mode," which is to be said in some deep, dark voice like a TV voice over. "School mode" means back to reality and with it some not so pleasant facts.

• Momma gets less L time. Significantly. This momma relishes summer and the blessing that it is to be home for a glorious 2.5 months (let's not call 3, because folks, it isn't.). This harsh reality check was capped by Tuesday's brutal 13 hour day. Full of back to schoolish types of meetings, reminding us teachers to do the same things we always do because we're professionals, but somehow making us feel slightly less than the professional we are. More meetings, work time in classrooms--which for me is like being in a fun house or maybe a tilt-a-whirl. Start one thing, get into focus, SLAM! The car moves and someone interrupts for a different task, no time to finish that task because---SLAM! you are being flagged down by passing staff members. (Dang library with no walls!) And all the while people keep asking, so how's the unpacking coming? So it's no wonder that after saying good by at 7am and getting home at 8pm, I just started to cry as I gave my daughter a smooch goodnight as she slept in her crib. I had to just sit and listen to her breathe and watch her finger her green stuffed dog as she slept.
• There is less sleep happening for all members of our family. It stinks, thus says the person who is a real grump when she doesn't get enough sleep.
  

The week did have some highs thrown in for good measure.

• L likes daycare. She's going to be one of those kids who cries when it's time to leave. Socializing is good for her. At least I just keep telling myself that...
• I have only been able to read a cookbook before passing out each night. But the cookbook is promising. Desperation! Dinners: Home-Cooked Meals for Frantic Families in 20 minutes Flat by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. I have so many recipes post-it-ed that I am contemplating just buying the book to save in copying costs. Seriously.
• We're still in BB doesn't have to "do" her hair for work yet. I love the August humidity. I can leave the house with wet hair and it's ok because everyone else has frizzy hair, too. Now if only this time saver could fly in January amidst 30 degrees below zero.

Sigh. Goodbye Summer.

First Fruits

One of the readings from church sometime last month:

2 Kings 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing some food form the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, 'Give it to the people and let them eat.' But his servant said, 'How can I set this bfore a hundred people?' So he repeated, 'Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, 'They shall eat and have some left.'' He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

And this was the poem that was in our bulletin. I'll let it speak for itself, Ms. Burgess says it so well. Truly beautiful.

The First Fruits by Ruth Burgess

When I bring you the first fruits
you get what you get:
you get my energy,
my imagination,
my scribbling,
my experimentation,
my dreams,
You get the raw me.

Part of me would prefer to bring you
the finished article:
the tried and tested formula,
the buffed and polished carving,
the machine that I know will work.

But that is not what you ask for;
because you want to be with me in the making,
in the messiness,
the uncertainty,
The laughter and the pain.

God of first fruits,
here I am.
Come and work with me always.

Harry Potter and Jane Austen? Yep.

Sigh. He's coming. Can you feel him? The Dark Lord ascends. Ok, well, not quite yet, but after seeing the Half-Blood prince last weekend, I feel a foreboding sense of darkness blanketing Harry and the gang.

All summer the one movie I wanted to see was HP & the Half-Blood Prince. It was the one outing I anxious looked forward to, especially because it came out in theatres on my birthday. But then there was an unexpected camping trip to the BWCA for my partner in crime and HP had to be postponed. I was ok with that as long as we got to go.

Ah, and it was worth it. The expensive meal in downtown Mpls (to celebrate an anniversary, not to celebrate HP), then going to the local theatre all dolled up. Yep, it was all worth it. I'd read a review that called this HP movie "artsy" and I like that. It's been interesting watching the movies as they ebb and flow with the tides of directors & screenwriters coming and going. (1. Chris Columbus/Steve Kloves, 2. Chris Columbus/Steve Kloves, 3. Alfonso Cuarón/Steve Kloves, 4. Mike Newell/Steve Kloves, 5. David Yates/Michael Goldenberg & 6. Daivd Yates/Steve Kloves.) Each one has its own sense of something--be it awe, wonder, intrigue, foreboding and that works for me. They don't have to be just like the books, but I do think they do a good job on their own of telling the HP story.

A bits were added here and there (fire at The Burrow, the inferi scene), but all were done to tell part of the story that couldn't be fit into the final cut of the movie. (IE: The Burrow = muggle attacks throughout the book?) I loved the black inky smoke that arose from the pensieve and was also used for credits. Portraying the budding romances of H&G and R&H was done well. Sigh.

But friends, what has this to do with Dear Jane Austen? Oh, read on. There's always something.

I just happened to glance at the Sunday newspaper as the movie came out and what did they liken HP to? That's right folks--Pride and Prejudice. The article actually quoted John Granger, a Potter scholar. So I did some digging and found the actual artcle. "Harry Potter and the Ivory Tower: A Poster Scholar Puts J.K. Rowling's series on a shelf with Stoke, Chaucer, Austen and other Great Book Authors" can be found here.

Here's a small excerpt about its likeness to P&P:

Just as the key to Darcy and Elizabeth’s engagement in Pride and Prejudice was Darcy seeing past his pride and Elizabeth overcoming her prejudice, Harry’s victory over Lord Voldemort must come through love and after the revelation of an unexpected back to a revered or reviled front. Harry, like Darcy and Elizabeth, however, had to transcend his pride as a Gryffindor and free himself of his “old prejudice” against Slytherins.

Earlier in the article, Granger also discusses pride and I liked his thoughts. I'd never thought of this before. "Capital, capital," as Mr. Lucas would say.

We have, of course, the constant of “proper wizard pride” by which all nonmagical people, indeed, even magical brethren who are not “pure-blood” witches and wizards, are held in disdain. The Muggles we meet too hate the abnormality of the people living in Harry’s world. The poor, the clumsy, the awkward, the stupid, the ugly, and the unpopular at Hogwarts are also shown to have a hard time. Even the “nearly headless” ghost is a second-class citizen among the properly “headless” ghosts and prevented from participating in the annual Headless Hunt.

It is a fun article and worth a read for all Potter fans as well as Austen fans. :)

Quote of the Night

"If educators can't/won't change job related expectations/duties to reflect changing needs, we become Chrysler or GM."

--Stuart Ciske (a Tweet from the WI Department of Public Instruction as read in School Library Journal)

QotNight because this was read super late last night...My summer goal: actually read School Library Journal issues during the actual month they are for. So far: goal attained. It's a first.

The Art of Doing Nothing or Balance

Admission: I finally finished a bookclub book. A year later. I've been toting around a copy of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love for the last year, since bookclub read it and I got through the first 4 or 5 chapters and just couldn't keep my eyes open. In the throngs of 1st trimester exhaustion, last spring it just wasn't going to happen.

I may have, however, also gotten the book on audio cd and I may also have ripped it to listen to later. And finally this spring with my new iPod, I started listening. What's really sad is that I have read the first maybe 10 chapters countless times. Why? Because when I was actually attempting to read the book I kept having to start over to remember what was going on. And then my iPod changed changed playlists without me knowing what track I was on...It got to the point where I knew what she was going to say next!

Finally, though, I made it past that point in reading/listening and I finished the book. One bit of a chapter really struck me and so I relate part of it here.

From chapter 21, "Generally speaking, though, Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one. Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused with everything from porn to theme parks to wars, but that's not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment. Americans work harder and longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today. But as Luca Spaghetti pointed out, we seem to like it. Alarming statistics back this observation up, showing that many Americans feel more happy and fulfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course, we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas, eating cereal straight out of the box and staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure). Americans don't really know how to do nothing. This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype--the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but cannot relax."

What struck me is the truth of this paragraph. We (Americans) work hard. We aren't good with quiet. We don't know how to relax, how to simple "do" nothing. And yes, mom, I've eaten cereal out of the box watching horrible Saturday afternoon movies. Just because it was the opposite of working. But pleasurable? Maybe, but mostly not. How do we just be? Is that why Americans take the "great American vacation" each summer? To get away to the cabin, the lake? To do nothing? There's got to be a better way to find the nothing time.

During both my time in Scotland and Italy, what was impressed on me was the art of doing nothing. Of being. Of being relaxed and in no hurry. My Scottish flatmates taught me the saying, "I can't be arsed" when they didn't want to do something or were feeling lazy. But somehow, it wasn't about laziness, so much as somehow really saying, "I don't need to do anything else. I'm happy just sitting here contemplating the rain fall from the sky as I drink some warm tea." Interestingly enough, I have never been more relaxed in my life than the time I spent living in Scotland. In Italy, meals can last upwards of 3 hours and teach you to just sit, wait and just be. Sip some wine, watch the people around you, enjoy, relax. There is nothing else you need to do this afternoon or this evening. Or--sit and eat your gelato on the steps of some old church and listen. You can't know a place until you hear it, taste it--Wait! that's Frances Mayes talking...Back to this one.

As Liz Gilbert searches for balance in her life, she meditates and learns about the art of quiet, and of stillness of the mind. Btw, she's got some great inner dialogue that she shares with us readers as she learns to meditate. The kicker is--she finds it, that balance thing. And what hit me the most from this book was--can I, will I?

On My Mind

What's on my mind this week: Exactly a year ago this weekend, I won a bundle of baby stuff in a silent auction fundraiser. Included in this bundle was the sleeper L is wearing in this photo. JD and I unpacked our mass of baby items at the time and held up this sleeper. We marveled at how in a year or less someone would fit into this cute little striped green outfit. And here she is. :) Sigh.

200 More Miles To Go

Normal ends of school years aren't so bad. The library closes to collect books, we do an inventory, clean the shelves up, get things looking spic and span & get ready for the next school year.

But this year, not so much. It's a bit different & a bit more stressful. Last spring, I was told we were on the list to get new carpet the following summer. So I walked into this school year thinking we'd have to box things up etc. Then I came back from maternity leave and due to budget cuts was told there would be no new carpet. While I was disappointed, I was ok with it. Really, who wants to pack up books? It's a lot of work and, well, after returning to work this spring, my heart just wasn't in it.

I knew something was amiss when both our head custodian and principal came to find me in the back workroom one morning. (Note: Principal rarely visits the media center...) I got the "good" news that, indeed, we would be able to get new carpet. So instead of a busy, but reasonable end to the year, we're packing up books into boxes and palletizing all of the boxes of books, all while checking teachers "out" of the building, getting returned textbooks shelved, urging a rather large number of disgruntled students to pay for the long since overdue/lost/damaged/at my dad's house books. In theory, none of this sounds difficult, but when all added together it's just simply insane.

For the last week, I've had the Cowboy Junkies song "Two Hundred More Miles" in my head. "I've got two hundred more miles of rain asphalt in line, before I sleep." The version I have is a haunting live version that just leaves the song floating in your head, pounding like the rain. I think this was how I was feeling about making boxes, packing things up and watching as the shelves got closer and closer to empty. Just a little bit more. Just a few more days of school. Only the 900's to box. Only the fiction to box.

What baffles me is the lack of, well, a clue, that so many of my coworkers have. (If you are a coworker and reading this, don't take it personally. I'm just simply quite amazed at how oblivious others can be of their surroundings.)

"So, do you do this every year?" My inside thought: "Hmmm, you've worked here longer than I have. Where have you been? You really don't pay much attention do you? No. No, I would not choose to do this." Outside thought: Lips pursed, eyebrows shrugged, "Uh, no. We're getting new carpet this summer. Let's hope it's worth it." Smile.

The other favorite I conversation I have is,
"So, I bet you'll be busy in August."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, this is going to be a lot of work to unpack the books blah blah blah."
"Uh, I start when you start in September next fall. Would you like to come in on your free time and not get paid to unpack?"
Staff member looks at me with mouth slightly open, then shuts it. "Oh, I suppose..."
"Yeah, the library won't be open until mid-September at the earliest." I sigh with much emphasis and stress, then roll my eyes.

Let's just use the old cliche, "De Nile ain't just a river in Egypt, baby." Denial...I am choosing to block all thoughts of September out of my head right now. "I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line, before I sleep."

And so with an exasperated sigh, I report to you, dear readers, that the books are completely packed. There are 450 some odd boxes of a middle school library boxed up on pallets. There are about a million odds and ends to complete in the last 4 days here, but the end is in sight.

Happy Thoughts, Indeed

Happy Thoughts:

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies arrive at my doorstep on Monday. I am taking it slowly but it's hilarious!

2.One of the best parts about my job is having kids get really excited about books. Yesterday, the 5th book in a series came out (The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan) and I ran to the bookstore during my lunch to get the library some copies. We worked hard to get the books processed and checkout ready quickly and they were all checked out by the end of the day. We gave the copies to some of the guys who'd requested it and they just beamed and I got several big thank you's. Those smiles and thank you's make it all worth it.

New Name?

Am contemplating renaming said blog. I really didn't mean to name it something that had actually been published as a book. I discovered said book shortly after starting said blog. Now I just read there is going to be a sequel to said book. Hmm, I wasn't happy with the end of the first one (rest of it was good) but wasn't so sure about the end. But I'm sure I'll read it anyway...

Quandry am I in. (Thank you, Yoda.) What to do? Any suggestions? I'm not feeling very original tonight.

An Anglophile Reminisces

(So I started writing this entry last week sometime and ran out of time to finish and now it's sat for quite a while. I've finished typing what was on my mind, but oh for the love of time!)

There must be something in the air right now that's whispering in my ear, reminding me about England and Scotland...

While driving to work this morning listening to NPR, I heard a sound bite of Britain's PM Gordon Brown talking from the G-20 Summit. Not really sure what he was talking about because I got so absorbed in his voice. To be specific, it was his accent that caught me. Gordon Brown has a delightful British accent; one that can soothe an Anglophile from her late winter doldrums. Sigh...

Then there's the matter of my favorite library book bag. Really, it's a plastic bag that has ridden around in the front seat of my car for years. It is my library bag. I put books in it when I need to return books to the library etc. So, whatever, right? But what is special about this bag is that it's from the British Library. Yes, the British Library. In London, England. This plastic bag isn't really that special. It's just a bag from the gift shop, albeit made from plastic that doesn't seem to degrade, but it is just a bag. It did get me reminiscing this week as I returned books to the public library and I looked at it. And here's what I thought, "Wow! I've had this bag for 10 years." Yes, it's been 10 years since my adventures in London during a wet and rainy January. The West End, Theatre, a proper cup of tea, the Tube, the Thames, illuminated manuscripts at the BL. A Shakespeare First Folio etc. etc. Where did the last 10 years go and why haven't I been to London since? Sigh....

Add to it that I went to renew my passport about a week ago--Adding insult to injury is the fact that it hasn't been used since our honeymoon (not to the British isles, but Italia) and that the picture it shows is one from college and I got that passport specifically after my London trip to go to Scotland. And here's where not the sigh comes in, but the "blubber blubber sob" sound--what do you mean it's been 9 years since I've been in Scotland? Perhaps it's been the weather lately, the gray rain and cold. The no sunshine factor playing a part. 9 years, really? Blubber, sob, blubber...Now if only I could get the courage up to ride in a flying tin can again...