Anne Heathen's Live Journal

could this face get any cuter?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:42:14 GMT

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

tour de nerd

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:57:52 GMT

Friday evening some of us hightailed it to A2 to see John and Hank Green at AADL. It was quite a lot of fun although the brothers Green seemed pretty tuckered out. There were so many nerdfighters there (I heard 425!) that they had to set up an overflow room, and the brothers traded off. As a special treat, Dan John Miller (you may recognize him from Walk the Line, in which he played Luther Perkins, or from his band Blanche), who is the voice of Paper Towns, did a quick reading and helped John take questions from the audience.

more photos here

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

ba-chomp!

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:31:16 GMT

After I posted about the possibility of adding some solar-powered gargoyles to the yard, Susan chimed in with a suggestion for some other neat yard art. Sugar Post Pottery and Metal Art offers a variety of unusual and slightly twisted sculpture.

This is the Flamingoaway, part of a larger Gnome Be Gone series.

There are also animals, bugs, and a variety of other items. They're a bit pricey for my budget, but they are pretty cool!

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

unwarranted optimism

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:20:29 GMT

For some reason this Dilbert is hitting home, though I think more in a nostalgic way.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

solar gargoyles

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:13:45 GMT

I've been looking for ideas of some non-stupid yard art to possibly add when we do front-yard landscaping next year. I had no idea that solar-powered gargoyles were such a popular item.

The Night Guardian Gargoyle Statue is solar-powered and, I think, would make a nice addition to our front stoop (one on each side).

Target has another solar-powered lighted gargoyle option: the Keeper of the Flame.

This guy appears to be a gargoyle druid or something. Very Henson-esque.

And Sears even has this different spin on the solar gargoyle (which looks to be whatever you'd call a gargoyle pup):

"I'm scary, but too cute to be truly menacing!"

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I wanna new drug

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:31:09 GMT

toothpastefordinner.com

via onzee

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

punk rock birdhouse

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:12:05 GMT

Check this out! Etsy seller ArtReverie created this sweet skully birdhouse to fill a need: the need for awesome birdhouses. I've been looking for some non-cutesy yard art and this is really appealing. This seller also has a creepy cool Skull Face Planter. I hope there are more similar items soon! Makes me want to take up pottery, except I'm too lazy for all that equipment.

via Kiss My Aster

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

How many?

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:38:30 GMT

HowManyOfMe.com

There is
1
person with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

via Leighton

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

newfangled victory gardens

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:19:00 GMT

Back in the day, lots of people kept victory gardens. Now we're in times with some similarities, and people are keeping what this site refers to as freedom gardens. The site describes itself as "an online social community of gardening enthusiasts who are fed up with foreign oil, frequent food miles and high food prices," or a place for people "interested in sustainable, local, and organic food."

Like most social networking sites, you can keep a journal, connect with friends, participate in polls and forums, and a variety of other activities. One thing that looks appealing is the opportunity to take part in challenges, but unfortunately the site is under construction right now and you can't actually see what they are. I'll continue to keep my eye on this one, and hopefully it'll be more fully functional soon. If you wish, you can find me there, though I haven't done much yet.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Random House movie tie-ins

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:31:45 GMT

Random House now has a handy-dandy page with links to trailers for upcoming and movies now in theaters made from their books. Right now you can check out The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Watchmen, and Choke, among others. Pretty cool!

via Unshelved

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Off Kilter

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:16:10 GMT

While we were in Epcot, wandering toward our dinner reservation (at the Rose and Crown, which was delicious and a perfect spot for viewing the evening's fireworks show - thanks again, planners extraordinaire S&D!), we happened to hear some rocking bagpipes and noticed that there was a show going on in Canada (Epcot's World Showcase version of Canada, that is).

It turned out to be a group called Off Kilter who were pretty damn good! I would not expect to be so pleasantly surprised by a group performing at Disney, but these guys were all right. They played a mix of rocked-out Celtic traditionals, rock'n'roll covers, and what I imagine to be some originals, though I could be wrong.

Off Kilter isn't as hardcore as the Dropkick Murphys, and so I didn't dig them to the extent that I do Dropkick (mega), but I would definitely recommend checking out Off Kilter the next time you are at Epcot. Plus, you can hardly go wrong with a bunch of blokes wearing kilts, right?

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Olbermann's special comment

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:00:12 GMT

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

teen librarian rocks the Eisners

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:13:25 GMT

The judges for the 2009 Eisner Awards have been named, and one of them is a teen librarian! Woot!

The panel includes Amanda Emmert, John Shableski, Ben Towle, Andrew Wheeler, and Cuyahoga County Public Library teen services librarian Mike Pawuk.

I am supremely happy to see a public teen services librarian represented on this prestigious panel!

via Dave Richards

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

USA Today's 150 top-selling books

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:49:42 GMT

150 Tourgeville by Claudecf

The official meme rules say to bold what you've read, italicize what you own, and star books on your TBR list, but I'm just going to bold those I've read.

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
2 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution - Robert C. Atkins
3 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
10 Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson
11 The South Beach Diet - Arthur Agatston
12 Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
13 Angels & Demons - Dan Brown*
14 What to Expect When You're Expecting - Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway
15 The Purpose-Driven Life - Rick Warren
16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
18 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - John Gray
20 The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter
22 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
23 Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... And It's All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
24 The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
25 Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
26 Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
27 The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
28 The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
29 The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
30 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
31 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
32 Oh, the Places You'll Go! - Dr. Seuss
33 The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
34 Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
35 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
36 Body-for-Life - Bill Phillips, Michael DOrso
37 New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
38 Night - Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway
39 Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
40 The Greatest Generation - Tom Brokaw
41 Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
42 The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
43 Wicked - Gregory Maguire
44 Good to Great - Jim Collins
45 Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
46 Eragon - Christopher Paolini
47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells
48 Your Best Life Now - Joel Osteen
49 In the Kitchen With Rosie - Rosie Daley
50 Simple Abundance - Sarah Ban Breathnach
51 A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer
52 A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
53 The Testament - John Grisham
54 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger
55 Deception Point - Dan Brown
56 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
57 Marley & Me - John Grogan
58 Dr. Atkins' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter - Robert C. Atkins
59 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
60 The Brethren - John Grisham
61 The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide - Arthur Agatston
62 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - John Grisham
63 For One More Day - Mitch Albom
64 The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg
65 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
66 The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
67 What to Expect the First Year - Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway
68 Love You Forever - Robert Munsch, art by Sheila McGraw
69 Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss
70 A Painted House - John Grisham
71 The Rainmaker - John Grisham
72 Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
73 Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
74 The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
75 Life Strategies - Phillip C. McGraw
76 Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand
77 The Summons - John Grisham
78 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
79 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
80 The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
81 Goodnight Moon Board Book - Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd
82 The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger
83 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
84 The Giver - Lois Lowry
85 Embraced by the Light - Betty J. Eadie
86 The Chamber - John Grisham
87 You: On A Diet - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
88 The Prayer of Jabez - Bruce Wilkinson
89 Holes - Louis Sachar
90 Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
91 The Shack - William P. Young
92 The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
93 Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
94 A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
95 The Seat of the Soul - Gary Zukav
96 Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
97 The Partner - John Grisham
98 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
99 Eldest: Inheritance, Book II - Christopher Paolini
100 The Broker - John Grisham
101 The Street Lawyer - John Grisham
102 A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 1: The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
103 The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
104 Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
105 The King of Torts - John Grisham
106 The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
107 The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans
108 Hannibal - Thomas Harris
109 The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
110 Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
111 The Glass Castle: A Memoir - Jeannette Walls
112 My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
113 The Last Juror - John Grisham
114 The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
115 Left Behind - Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins
116 America (The Book) - Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show
117 The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
118 John Adams - David McCullough
119 The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans
120 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares
121 Sugar Busters! - H. Leighton Steward, Sam S. Andrews, Morrison C. Bethea, Luis A. Balart
122 Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
123 The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
124 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life - Don Piper, Cecil Murphey
125 The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
126 1776 - David McCullough
127 The Bridges of Madison County - Robert James Waller
128 Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts
129 The Ultimate Weight Solution - Phillip C. McGraw
130 Protein Power - Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades
131 Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
132 Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
133 Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
134 Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
135 You: The Owner's Manual - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
136 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Travelers Life List - Patricia Schultz
137 Self Matters - Phillip C. McGraw
138 She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
139 1984 - George Orwell
140 The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
141 The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
142 The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
143 The Zone - Barry Sears, Bill Lawren
144 The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve
145 The Lost World Michael Crichton
146 Atonement - Ian McEwan
147 He's Just Not That Into You - Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo
148 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
149 The World Is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
150 Cross - James Patterson

That's 46/150 for me, though I'm not sure about all those John Grishams (I may've read more than I indicated but they all blur together and it's been years). There are a number of titles here that I wouldn't read if you paid me, and others that I should've read but haven't (most of those are grown-up bestsellers that I've passed over in favor of reading more children's and teen lit).

via Pop Culture Junkie

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

thrift horror!

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:27:03 GMT

I just stumbled across absolute hilarity: Thrift Horror at SheWalksSoftly. She shares some ridiculous thrift store finds, neatly categorized for maxiumum comic effect. Some popular themes include Disgraceful Shell Art, Clowns, Ceramic Nightmares, Crotch Storage, Unholy Chimeras, and Bunnies. As someone who worked for a number of years in a thrift store (Mount Pleasant Goodwill, represent!), seeing these monstrosities really brings back the memories. I can't even choose one image to represent the variety of weirdness here, so just head on over and check it totally out.

Have you seen any xmas thrift horrors? She's doing a Yuletide theme next month, so send any horrific holiday photo evidence her way.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

new Harry Potter trailer

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:10:01 GMT

Check it out! A new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

via Cinematical

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

more Alice awesomeness

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:50:14 GMT

Caterpillar by LZCreations

In a new update to the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland remake, Alan Rickman has been confirmed as the caterpillar. Christopher Lee is also on board, though in what role I don't know. Both of these will be excellent additions!

via Cinematical

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Joaquin Phoenix

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:23:44 GMT

Apparently Joaquin Phoenix has decided that he's not acting anymore, he's devoting all his effort to his (theoretical) music career instead.

Check out this brief video interview, in which he is barely coherent, not to mention scruffy and bedhead-y. Not looking his best, that's for sure.

This is a definite bummer. Phoenix was very good, especially in Clay Pigeons (with a hilarious and frightening Vince Vaughn) and Walk the Line. His singing in Walk the Line was pretty decent, but I'm not sure how that'll translate into a solo music career. The ability to do a passable Johnny Cash does not a rock star make. But then again, as an actor he's got charisma (though you'd never know it from that video clip - WTD?!), so who's to say he can't do it?

via Cinematical

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Boondock Saints sequel

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:40:58 GMT

A sequel is officially in the works for The Boondock Saints, one of my favorite ultra-violent flicks. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus will return as the brothers MacManus, and the kickass Billy Connolly will also be back as Il Duce. Can't wait!

via Cinematical

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

50 geek skillz

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:38:16 GMT

Gizmodo has a list of the 50 skills every geek should have. You can count up the ones you've done and then see how you rate.

1. Install a hard drive in a laptop
2. Perform a clean OS install on a machine with two OSes
3. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone
4. Jailbreak an iPhone
5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
6. Use BitTorrent and RSS to automatically download new shows from trackers
7. Use an A/V receiver to its fullest capability (every port is taken)
8. Calibrate an HDTV without the manual
9. Use a DSLR in full manual mode
10. Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor's Wi-Fi
11. Solder cleanly enough to get around a circuit board
12. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point
13. Shove the guts of a modern game console into a retro game console
14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat (except not having a cat)
15. Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo
16. Abstain from buying extended warranties
17. Know where to buy cheap cables and accessories
18. Fix your parents' computer over the phone without looking at a computer (except my dad can fix it himself)
19. Enter the Konami code
20. Comment on Gizmodo from your phone
21. Type quickly using T9 texting
22. Program a universal remote
23. Contribute code to the Linux kernel
24. Hide porn from your significant other (if I had the desire to do so)
25. Avoid DRM on everything
26. Know how to back up your data to networked storageand actually do it
27. Watch TV shows on the internet for free
28. Edit together digital video ripped from YouTube
29. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator
30. Reset expired trial software by messing with the registry
31. Hackintosh your PC
32. Download pre-release movies from Usenet
33. Hack the Wii to play homebrew games
34. Get around web content filters on public computers
35. Get into a Windows computer if you forgot your password
36. Securely erase your data so it can't be recovered
37. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network
38. Build a fighting robot
39. Write your own Firefox plugins
40. Navigate and reorganize the files on your computer in DOS
41. Get something on the front page of Digg
42. Get through to executive customer service
43. Rip a CD to V0 quality MP3s
44. Rip a DVD to DivX
45. Build your own computer from parts
46. Swap out the hard drive in your DVR for a bigger one
47. Get an NES cartridge working again by blowing in it
48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system
49. Play downloaded games on a Nintendo DS
50. Talk about things that aren't tech related

Only 16 for me. I'm guessing there are others of these that I would be able to do if Karl weren't so happy to do them for the both of us (the 13 in italics), but it's hardly fair to count those.
11-20: You are no longer intimidated by email or your DVR, but these are recent developments. 8% (885 votes)

via the MLxperience

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

scare dare

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:32:41 GMT

Teen lit author extraordinaire Lauren Myracle has taken a dare (her own) to overcome her greatest fear, and then put it on YouTube.

Kudos! to Lauren Myracle for dancing the crap out of Thriller.

She is not alone, though, as other teen lit authors have been challenged to take this dare. Thus far, Scott Westerfeld has risen to the occasion:

I'm also looking forward to seeing responses from M.T. Anderson, John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Stephenie Meyer.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Spaceship Earth

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:43:38 GMT

One of the rides we enjoyed at Epcot was Spaceship Earth, which allowed us to send virtual postcards of our future selves.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Walt Disney World: Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:40:50 GMT

For our last day at WDW, Karl and I took off to do the stuff we wanted to catch before we left (Susan, David, and their friend Jason [who came in for a long weekend] went to a special event at the Food & Wine Festival). That meant we headed back to Epcot for a few last Food & Wine Festival treats and then back to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

We hadn't had time for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! show earlier in the week, so we caught it before going back to re-ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Aerosmith Rock'n'Roller Coaster (both of which were very much fun). You can see here that, as we wait for the Indiana Jones show to start, we are both feeling a bit weary at the end of a long (and awesome) week.

For dinner we met up with S&D and Jason and met our reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. The atmosphere there was quite fun and the Oreo Cookie Shake was delicious.

A few of the days were cloudy and cooler while we were in Florida, but our last day was gorgeous and left us feeling very satisfied with our vacation.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Walt Disney World: Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:06:23 GMT

Wednesday we headed to the Animal Kingdom, but before we left I saw this outside our resort food court:

Hooray!!

At the Animal Kingdom we took the wildlife safari and saw a variety of creatures. It turned out to be fairly cool out that day, but that was good as the animals were more active than they might otherwise have been.

After the Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Downtown Disney to shop and have dinner. The lego store at Downtown Disney is crazy! They've got a wall where you can pick from an incredible assortment of blocks.

They also have some giant lego sculptures outside.

Our dinner at Downtown Disney was my favorite of all our meals. We went to Raglan Road, an Irish pub with live music and a step dancer. The food was unbelievably delicious, the beer flights were tasty, the atmosphere was perfect, and the whole evening was just awesome.

To make the night even better, we had Bono looking over us as we enjoyed ourselves.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Walt Disney World: the Magic Kingdom

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:14:07 GMT

Tuesday was election day, but K and I had already submitted our absentee ballots before we left. Cast Members at the Magic Kingdom were ready to celebrate such an exciting day.

We saw a number of people with "I Voted" stickers (too bad our clerk doesn't pass those out for absentee voters!) and a few folks with Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin t-shirts on. There were a few jerk types with McCain/Palin bumper stickers on their t-shirts, which seemed stupid to me. Get a t-shirt or don't advertise when you're at Disney, I say.

The castle is as cartoonish in person as it seems in pictures - it lends an air of magic, but is no comparison to the real thing.

At the Magic Kingdom we rode my favorite ride of all: the Mad Tea Party.

The castle is pretty impressive at night, and we managed to snag a good view of the nighttime fireworks show.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.