They don't put that on the Grad School brochure

Tonight I was putting out a fire at the library. And I mean that literally, not figuratively. We've got this ashtray/trashcan right outside the doors, and most people don't put their cigarettes all the way out while using it. So, on windy days like today, those cigarettes occasionaly blow out of the ashtray and into the flowerbed mulch, lighting fires. It's happened twice this week.

Tonight, when it happened, I grabbed the fire extinguisher and strolled out to put out the fire. I don't rush anymore - the mulch fires are not fast burning - they just kind of smolder and occasionally catch to flame for a second before going back to a slow burn. Its a purposeful stroll, don't get me wrong. Anyway - I released the pin, aimed, and... nothing. Nothing happened. Disconcerting, I know. So, I sent the security officer off to borrow the building attendant's fire extinguisher, and in the meantime, I thought - its a small fire, maybe I could... stamp it out?

Um, not so much... It turns out that mulch fires are tricky, and stamping on them only results in spreading the fire, and slightly melting your shoe.

Go figure.

Book of the month - The Physik Book of Deliverance Dane

I picked this book up because I liked the title, and I had seen an interesting variety of readers picking it up at the library. Twenty-somethings. Middle aged men. Your typical book clubbers. I figured I couldn't go wrong. As I started reading, I wanted to dislike this book - something about the plot struck me as clunky - but I just couldn't. I still felt like I should... but it was a compelling read. In fact, I read it past bedtime a few nights. Mostly this was because I wanted to know how it all came out, and, libraries and archives featured pretty heavily throughout. My biggest complaint is that the ending seemed rushed, and the bad guy's motives weren't fully realized. But a fun piece of fiction.

In search of characters

Attention all readers:

I'm currently attempting to develop a display that features books which are written about characters from other books. I'm thinking along the lines of minor characters who are given a featuring role, but if you've got a good prequel or sequel, let me have it, too. Here's what I have so far.

The Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys - About the first Mrs. Rochester (Jane Eyre).
The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood - Features Penelope from the Odyssey.
The Lives and Loves of Becky Thatcher, Lenore Hart - from Tom Sawyer.
Rhett Butler's People, Donald McCraig - if you don't know this one, then I don't give a damn.
Before Green Gables, Budge Wilson - Anne's adventures before being adopted.
Scarlett, Alexandria Ripley - The (in my opinion, less spirited) sequel to Gone with the Wind.
Greg Maguire's books, Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and Mirror Mirror.
Lamb, Christopher Moore - A humorous look at the parts of Jesus' life the bible skips.
The Jane Austen Mysteries, and the many, many sequals out there to her works.
The Thursday Next novels, Jasper Fforde - if you haven't read these, they're a riot.

Got one for me? Please share!

Um, that's fan fiction in my carry on.

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to hear Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor for Arthur A. Levine Books, speak at the Belton High School in Cass Co. She gave a great talk on what makes a good children's book, using books she's edited as examples. We're talking Harry Potter, here, people. She was the continuity editor for the last three or four books in the series. She was funny, and sparkling, and very down to earth for someone who got to read the last three books in the series before just about anyone else. She also seemed very young, which was nice to see. She's a native of the Kansas City area, so it was nice to see a local girl made good in person.

She gave us a wonderful anecdote about carrying the Deathly Hallows manuscript around Heathrow and getting selected for a random bag check, and plugged one of her newest books, A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce (who is from Johnson Co. and was in the audience). This book has been sitting on my desk for a week or so now, I'm not sure why. I'm sure one of the teen associates set it back there, but why it hasn't gone back out to the floor in that time, I don't know. I think it looks quite good, and I've only read the first few pages on my breaks and whatnot.

All in all, she got me all keyed up to move to NY and make a move into publishing. Perhaps I'll try it sometime in the next few years. I feel I've committed to KC for at least another year, and I'm having fun.

But the best part of my day was that I went with Crystal Farris, KCPL's Director of Teen Services (who may be one of the coolest people I've met since moving here); April Roy from Plaza Kids and a couple others. We talked about our library, library school, books, New York - it was very educational. Spending time with them was fun and funny, and they're both people I have a feeling it will be good to know.

Capstone, on finishing.

The beauty and the horror that was my graduate career is over. This Saturday past, I attended LI 880: Capstone-Assessing the MLS experience. It really was a treat to get to sit with so many of my classmates and reminisce, but at the same time, it was a day of presentations. I'm pretty proud of everyone. No ones portfolio website was complete crap. Though some were "nineties fabulous" (their words), and some were generic googlepage-tastic (mine was one such - don't judge me! Google is my overlord).

Sometime in the next few weeks, we should all recieve comments from our classmates, which we wrote for each other on nifty little slips of paper. So high-tech, I know. I'm looking forward to getting these more than I should - I'm always over-eager to find out what my colleagues really think of me. And these slips are anonymous, so if I underwhelmed them... it'll show. I tried to write mostly positive, or at least constructive comments. Even for the people I never particularly cared for and was unimpressed by their presentation/site. Good manners cost nothing.

Today's Stumper

Todays stumper reference question is a search for a product. It is a joke lawn sprinkler, in the shape of the pope. His arm is outstretched, and water sprays from it like he is giving a blessing. Its called the "Let Us Spray" sprinkler. If anyone knows what company makes it, or where I can find one, let me know!