Author Topic: The Library (Read 2086234 times)

mrssherlock · « **Reply #2600 on:** September 20, 2010, 05:24:53 PM »

The Library

Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

Suggestion Box for Future Discussions

Speaking o free books, Amazon's Kindle is $139. The 3G is $189. Look in the target insert in Sunday's paper.

Steph · « **Reply #2601 on:** September 21, 2010, 06:00:36 AM »

I love to know what others are reading.. Mostly because I meet new authors that way and that is always fun. Hmm.. conversation. almost a lost art, I suspect. Depends on where or why the conversation.. My widows group,, first we grieve and then we later start to discover the other person as a person.. Friends of the Library.. well more or less obviously the library, although that is tricky since I love books, but find the actual library here as not a good one.. Genealogy.. ah,, that is the easy conversations since we are all looking for an elusive ancestor and love to share.. I think conversation starters depends on where and why you meet..But thats just me.

Babi · « **Reply #2602 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:17:06 AM »

I don't know, CALLIE. It seems to me people are always ready to talk when you show an
interest in them. It's flattering when someone wants your opinion. Of course, an inquiry
like "Why on earth do you wear your hair like that" doesn't encourage conversation.

CallieOK · « **Reply #2603 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:25:59 AM »

Steph, you and I would have no problem with long conversations! I think this would be the case for all of us in this Forum.

Babi, you are absolutely right! It's all in the method - and with my ornery nature, there might be a very "creative" answer to that particular question!

I probably didn't phrase my comments as well as I could have (a problem when one can't see facial expressions or hear a tone of voice!). I was trying to ask how to handle a "conversation stopper", such as "Oh, I never..." or the one I hear most, "Oh, I'm too busy to...". I suppose the best response is a smile and a softly expressed "Hmm".

I've finished "The White Queen" and will want to read "The Red Queen" - but it may be a while.
Last night, I looked through the bookbrowse web site and then checked to see if several titles were available through my library system. I'm now "Next" for five reserves and they'll probably all arrive at the same time.

joangrimes · « **Reply #2604 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:53:42 AM »

Just wanted to let you know that I am back in my own home after my surgery on june 23
to repair a compound fracture in my left leg and then weeks in two different rehab facilities until my leg was healed enough that I could put weight on it again...I am moving around with a walker now but am not fully recovered..I have to wear a big ugly black boot on my injured leg. I can take this boot off only to wash the leg. I have to sleep in the boot..I will be having in home physical therapy. I was also put on coumidin because of the surgery and now am going to have to be weaned off it...Life is not easy for me but I will make given time...Joan Grimes

bellemere · « **Reply #2605 on:** September 21, 2010, 10:36:46 AM »

It has been a long haul for you , but I am certain we are all glad you are home. Hope the boot comes off soon.

marcie · « **Reply #2606 on:** September 21, 2010, 10:43:29 AM »

I'm glad for you, JoanG, that you are home. I hope that you'll be able to take the boot off soon. Be careful walking around!

maryz · « **Reply #2607 on:** September 21, 2010, 11:19:41 AM »

Joan, I know you're so glad to be back with your own "stuff". I knew you were in a rehab place, but somehow missed the "why". How did you break your leg (if you don't mind my asking)?

Gumtree · « **Reply #2608 on:** September 21, 2010, 11:35:30 AM »

Hey! there's JoanGrimes back at home again. Great news Joan - I bet it's wonderful for you to be among your own 'stuff' once again. Hoping to 'see' you more often here on SL

MaryPage · « **Reply #2609 on:** September 21, 2010, 12:35:09 PM »

Glad you're home and making progress, Joan. Hope the path gets easier and easier for you.

joangrimes · « **Reply #2610 on:** September 21, 2010, 12:43:01 PM »

Mary Z,

I don't mind your asking how I broke my leg...I was about to get up out of my computer chair and got my legs tangled up around the legs of the chair...I hear the bone break...so I just picked up the phone and called 911...One bone came through the skin....I still have a long way to go to get back to normal but hopefully it will all work out..Joan G

CallieOK · « **Reply #2611 on:** September 21, 2010, 12:45:25 PM »

I am also glad you're home among familiar things, Joan and hope things will steadily get better for you.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #2612 on:** September 21, 2010, 01:16:27 PM »

So good to see you back here, Joan. What a lot of progress you've made. It must seem like forever but I think you've done remarkably well. Leg bones are easier to repair than hips, my worst nightmare.

maryz · « **Reply #2613 on:** September 21, 2010, 01:43:45 PM »

You've got to watch out for those chairs, Joan - they can be mean sometimes. Glad you had your phone close at hand.

Babi · « **Reply #2614 on:** September 21, 2010, 02:23:24 PM »

Quote

I was trying to ask how to handle a "conversation stopper", such as "Oh, I never..." or the one I hear most, "Oh, I'm too busy

CALLIE, how about a sweet, "Really? What a pity."

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2615 on:** September 21, 2010, 02:38:14 PM »

Quote from: Babi on September 21, 2010, 02:23:24 PM

Quote
I was trying to ask how to handle a "conversation stopper", such as "Oh, I never..." or the one I hear most, "Oh, I'm too busy

CALLIE, how about a sweet, "Really? What a pity."

Callie - I immediately tho't of "O.K., to each his own." or"O.K,......fortunately, we all have different priorities." that implies whatever each of you prefers is O.K., neither person's action is superior.

Joan, so glad to hear your on the road to recovery, be patient, enjoy all those things you can do sitting down.........sounds like a good excuse to have lots of friends for tea, they will probably offer to bring munchies......

.......Jean

CallieOK · « **Reply #2616 on:** September 21, 2010, 02:42:15 PM »

Babi, or the Southern "bless your heart"

.

PatH · « **Reply #2617 on:** September 21, 2010, 04:34:49 PM »

Quote from: maryz on September 21, 2010, 01:43:45 PM

Glad you had your phone close at hand.

I almost always carry a cordless phone in my pocket for emergencies. I paid for it this spring, though; It didn't fit well in the pocket of my gardening jeans, and I kept dropping it in the ivy. Finally, I wasn't able to find it before the rain started.

maryz · « **Reply #2618 on:** September 21, 2010, 06:22:50 PM »

Oops!

nlhome · « **Reply #2619 on:** September 21, 2010, 07:03:50 PM »

A conversation stopper (especially thinking about Steph's comments about her Friends of the Library) - how about a library board member (appointed) who says "I don't read books."?

kiwilady · « **Reply #2620 on:** September 21, 2010, 07:07:25 PM »

I am speechless!

Carolyn

jane · « **Reply #2621 on:** September 21, 2010, 07:41:04 PM »

Quote

how about a library board member (appointed) who says "I don't read books."?

Incredible, but we had an elected County Supervisor (and the County is charged by state law with providing at least a minimum level of funding) saying at the Open House for the remodeled and expanded Library that "I've never been in the Library before." That man was in his 70s. He and another guy on the Supervisors Board (of 3 supervisors) were quite sure that the circulation figures provided to them by the Librarian couldn't possibly be right. That many people surely didn't go to the Library. How do you deal with these kinds of people?

kiwilady · « **Reply #2622 on:** September 21, 2010, 08:06:16 PM »

You can't deal with those sort of people. Anyone who actually visits a library and speaks with the librarians will soon find out how many people use a library. If the system is online all the evidence is in the stats held on the system. Libraries are enormously important. Families from low socio economic groups can still provide their kids with information and pleasure with a free library membership.

jane · « **Reply #2623 on:** September 21, 2010, 08:34:12 PM »

I agree 100% Kiwi, but, as a librarian, I know it's a hard sell to the closed minds who are so sure that nobody reads or who are so uninformed that they don't know libraries also have audiobooks, DVDs, and a host of other things for people to check out.

marjifay · « **Reply #2624 on:** September 21, 2010, 08:38:43 PM »

Speaking of conversation stoppers and how to reply to them, reminded me of a joke:

Two delicate flowers of Southern womanhood (one of whom was from South Carolina and other from Texas) were conversing on the porch swing of a large, white-pillared mansion.
The first woman, who was from Texas, said, "When my first child was born, my husband built this beautiful mansion for me."
The South Carolina lady commented, "Well, isn't that nice??"
The Texas woman continued, "When my second child was born, my husband bought me that fine Cadillac automobile you see parked in the drive."
Again, the lady from South Carolina commented, "Well, isn't that nice??"
The Texas woman boasted, "Then, when my third child was born, my husband bought me this exquisite diamond bracelet."
Yet again, the South Carolina lady commented, "Well, isn't that nice??"
The woman from Texas then asked her companion, "What did your husband buy for you when you had your first child?"
The lady from South Carolina replied "My husband sent me to charm school."
"Charm school?", the first woman cried, "Land sake's, child, what on Earth for?"
The South Carolina lady responded, "So that instead of saying 'Who gives a sh.t?' I learned to say, 'Well, isn't that nice?'
Marj

roshanarose · « **Reply #2625 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:26:58 PM »

Laughing aloud here. Good one Marj!

Reading through these it reminds me of a student of about 50 years of age who had enrolled to learn Greek with me. As she opened her textbook for the first time she said - "Oh My Goodness, I didn't realise that Greek didn't use English letters." She was a bit of a problem from there on in.

CallieOK · « **Reply #2626 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:37:20 PM »

Marj, Love it!!!!!

marjifay · « **Reply #2627 on:** September 22, 2010, 12:53:12 AM »

Funny, Roshanarose. It was all Greek to her, eh?

Steph · « **Reply #2628 on:** September 22, 2010, 06:15:32 AM »

Joan, so very glad you are home. I had in home Physical Therapy and it worked well.. So hang in there. It is actually interesting to meet the therapist and nurses..They are all different and it gives you a certain amount of company.
Libraries..ah, the number of people who know so much about them and never enter them..
Our library is connected to our community college.. Makes for sticky parking and even stickier computer access.. But it save the county money and that is all they care about.

Babi · « **Reply #2629 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:08:53 AM »

You're being much nicer than I was, JEAN.
"Bless your heart!" is always good, CALLIE. Suitable for all occasions, with varying tones.
MARJ.

jane · « **Reply #2630 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:15:53 AM »

Can those of us who are Yankees borrow that "Bless your heart!" ?

I don't think we have anything quite so...well, fitting to use for those questions/comments that make you want to just stare at the questioner with your mouth hangin' open!!

Marj...I think I had your Greek classmate's relative in a foreign language class. After the first day, he stopped by the desk to ask if he really had to learn what all "those words" meant. I guess he thought Divine Intervention was going to teach him the foreign language.

jane

Phyll · « **Reply #2631 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:16:03 AM »

You beat me, Babi. Here in North Carolina that is the standard. Well, bless your heart, is not necessarily meant sincerely. Or sometimes, Thank you SO much! Varying degrees of emphasis on the SO conveys a great deal.

CallieOK · « **Reply #2632 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:27:12 AM »

Well, bless my heart

. Look at the conversation I generated <she said modestly - of course

>

I remember when someone told me I was "refreshing"; her tone of voice and facial expression indicated she was not paying me a compliment.

I hope it's a Great Day for reading wherever you are.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #2633 on:** September 22, 2010, 10:19:02 AM »

Reminds me of the rejoinder one of the Twin-sister advice columnists posted in her column: Why do you ant to know?

maryz · « **Reply #2634 on:** September 22, 2010, 10:53:44 AM »

Jackie - I love that one!

My brother-in-law's wife once told my sister-in-law that the delicious roast she had fixed for dinner was "surprisingly good". Needless to say, that's become a standard left-handed compliment in our house (we don't have contact with that BIL and spouse anymore - no surprise there).

marjifay · « **Reply #2635 on:** September 22, 2010, 12:26:42 PM »

I'll rememher that one, Maryz! hee hee

I like Gracie Allen's classic recipe for Roast Beef:

1 large Roast of beef
1 small Roast of beef

Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the
big one is done.

Marj

MaryPage · « **Reply #2636 on:** September 22, 2010, 01:28:57 PM »

Oh Marj, I loved, loved, loved your joke! Reminded me of a beautiful column Jody Powell, long dead, wrote about Miss Lillian Carter, mother of the President, just after her death. It was so well written and so full of obvious love. One of the things he told about her was about a very pushy reporter visiting her home for an interview with the permission of the White House. Miss Lillian, of course, took her in and offered her an iced tea, with all of her Georgian charm. The reporter had an agenda: she wanted to quiz Miss Lillian unmercifully about her son's claim that he'd never told a lie. She kept pressing Mrs. Carter to tell her this was not true. Finally, in a loud assertive voice the woman said: "Can you honestly sit here and tell me your son has never in his life told a lie?" Miss Lillian was quiet for a moment, then she allowed: "Well, maybe a little white lie."

"Aha!" said the reporter. "And how do you define 'a little white lie?'"

"I'm not sure of the definition," replied Jimmy Carter's mother, "But I can give you an example: Do you remember when you came to the door just now and I told you how pretty you looked in that frock and how glad I was to see you?"

maryz · « **Reply #2637 on:** September 22, 2010, 01:29:15 PM »

Wonderful recipe, marjifay!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2638 on:** September 22, 2010, 02:57:21 PM »

Has anybody ever read any of Jonathan Franzen's books? He's in the news again because Oprah choose his new book. I was turned off by a review of The Corrections and never looked at his other books, in fact didn't know there were other books. Bit I just read some of he reviews on Amazon and they sound rather interesting......jean

JoanP · « **Reply #2639 on:** September 22, 2010, 03:05:48 PM »

Jean...I too would love to hear from someone who has actually read Jonathan Franzen's new "Freedom" - it's a big book, nearly 600 pages. Rave reviews from some sources - mainly Oprah. Not good enough for me. Was talking to a friend today who has read nearly 250 pages and not sure where it is going - and not sure if she wants to continue on with it...

From the publisher -
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
576 pages
Product Description
Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul—the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbor, who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter’s dreams. Together with Walter—environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man—she was doing her small part to build a better world.

But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz—outré rocker and Walter’s college best friend and rival—still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become “a very different kind of neighbor,” an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street’s attentive eyes?

In his first novel since The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom comically and tragically captures the temptations and burdens of liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the heavy weight of empire. In charting the mistakes and joys of Freedom’s characters as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world, Franzen has produced an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.

News:

Author Topic: The Library (Read 2086234 times)