Feline Bohemian Rhapsody, or Totally Judging a Book By Its Cover

"Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality."

This, dear reader, is what goes through my head when I reshelve this book in our library:

Do you think the illustrator may have been influenced by Queen...just a bit?

 

A tribute to a friend -- a "not funny" blog post

I found out last night that a friend of mine from college passed away. I had been following her battle with cancer on Facebook. I was shocked and saddened to learn of her passing.

Although we didn't hang out on a regular basis, I learned a lot from my friend, Katie. When Katie first came to Bonaventure, I was jealous of her because one of my friends had a crush on her. I assumed she would be a snob because she was so pretty. However, I became her friend when Katie and I both participated in the Oxford program during the summer of 1996. Katie was a genuine person; she was kind, funny and positive. I was a cynical young adult; Katie's friendship taught me to be less cynical.

I reconnected with Katie a few years ago via Facebook. I shared in her happiness when she and Dom adopted their son. I followed her battle with cancer and offered my support through kind words and care packages that my friend, Amy, and I put together.

Katie taught me how to die with dignity. She was open about her journey and treatments and positive. She was grateful for the people in her life and life itself.

So, thank you Katie Dudley Perry, for your sparkle and optimism. You made me a better person by helping me adjust my outlook on life. For that, my sparkly cowgirl, I will be forever grateful.

Ninja!

Some days, I don't have much to say, but keeping in the spirit of blogging each day, I present to you a picture of a ninja I crocheted for A.S. King. She's a very cool author and I suggest you check out her books, especially Please Ignore Vera Dietz, which is one of my favorite books ever.

Little Gremlins on the Prairie, or Totally Judge a Book By Its Cover

Or so I thought when I unpacked this book:

Now, don't get me wrong: Garth Williams is one of my favorite illustrators. In fact, we are reading The Borrowers as a family and I love Williams' drawings of the mice. I grew up with the Little House books and liked how the pictures told the stories of Laura's life.

Maybe this particular drawing is an anomaly. While it looks great at a glance, there is something more sinister about it:

Why are the girl's eyes rolling back into her head? Is she possessed by the kitten? (my theory). One of my coworkers insisted that it isn't actually a kitten, but Gizmo from Gremlins. Was Williams trying to warn us of the impending doom of feeding this creature after midnight because of the havoc it would cause on this small frontier town?

If you want to know if the prediction of the little old man who owned the Chinese curiosities shop was correct and the if the Ingalls family survived the death and destruction of prairie gremlins, I recommend Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Giving Up Coffee

Last week, like right in the middle of the week, I decided I didn't want to drink coffee anymore.

Maybe it's because I make my coffee so strong. Maybe it's because it didn't taste good to me that day. For some reason, I was totally done with drinking coffee. Instead, I've been drinking green tea.

I cleaned out my little one cup coffeemaker at home and have been using that to brew tea. I am pleasantly surprised at how well it does!

I can't explain my sudden aversion to coffee. I do know that I'm not as thirsty in the mornings anymore, so I guess that's cool. I also don't have any withdrawal headaches or anything.

I know this qualifies as my most boring blog post to date, but I felt the need to blog about it. Sorry.

My Open (Love) Letter to 90.5 WBER

Dear 90.5 WBER,

I admit: it was my fault I strayed. It's not that I so much like all the classic rock; I just like, like maybe 3 bands, and I thought that flipping wildly through all the classic rock stations would allow me to listen to the 3 or so bands I like. Honestly, I wasn't happy in this relationship. I only caught a snippet or Rush or Zeppelin between too much Journey and Aerosmith. Also, the Rush or Zeppelin or Floyd they played were the same songs. I know these bands have a more extensive discography.

Anyhow, I spent the last few years just flipping through, not really listening or loving the radio. However, that changed this morning. I was heading from Wegmans where I picked up my healthy snacks for the next two days, to my job and you played Henry Rollins' "Liar". To steal a line from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, in that moment, I swear I was infinite.

I love the fact that you play such a mix of different music. I like New Wave Wednesdays because I feel like I should be whipping out my jelly bracelets and hairspray and it puts me in such a great frame of mind for dealing with the day. Also, I like Spotlight Review. Just what you do is awesome, WBER. Know that.

When I listen to you, I feel like I have been reunited with an old friend. Thank you, WBER, for being you.

Love,

Kim

P.S. What is the title and artist of the song that talks about taking one's heart out through the sternum? This song has been the subject of conversation during coffee with my friend Zums the past two days. I think it sounds like Beemo from Adventure Time sings it, but that is because I am obsessed with Adventure Time.

How I changed my life

Ten months ago, I did something that totally changed my life: I started karate classes.

I remember sitting in my car before that first class. I texted Amy something to the effect of "I don't know if I can do this." I was scared: I wasn't fit in the least; I had little confidence. I took a deep breath, opened my car door and went into the dojo. Little did I know at that time what would be the result of that one class.

This past Wednesday, I ranked advanced orange belt. To me, my belt rank is more than a symbol of my martial arts knowledge; it is a symbol of my journey from being couch- bound and depressed to fit and happy. Since starting karate in January, I have lost weight and gained muscle. I have become an optimist. I love to laugh. I have confidence in my jobs and my relationships.

Thank you to my instructors at UMAC for pushing me and inspiring me. I appreciate that you have inspired me to be a better me.

Look! Look! Look at my liver!, or Judge a Book By Its Cover

One of the more interesting aspects of being a librarian is weeding the stacks. Over the years, we have found some really interesting books in our library.

Despite the adage that one cannot judge a book by its cover, I assure you that many readers do. Such as this one:

I know that Orson Scott Card has many fans. His other books circulate. This one does not and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the cover. If I were to interpret the story line by the cover, I would guess that some 80s rock star (judging by the dude's hair) is raising a golden liver from a forge.  His body language is saying, "Look! Look! Look at my liver!" And, what's with the kid in the right corner? He seems rather impressed by this feat!

I realize that the fantasy genre lends itself to interesting cover art, but Rick Springfield and the Golden Liver?

Library humor

So, we have these ancient grammar books that we found in a classroom.

 

We still use them with the students. After all, grammar doesn't really "go bad"; that is, it doesn't change.

We opened up one of the books just to gauge the age of the textbooks and how long we had been using them. We found this:

Well played, student. Well played.

Support the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival!

This is a shameless plug for a cause I hold near and dear to my heart: the Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival or TBF.

This Saturday, October 12, is the Annual Read-a-Thon (or RAT) to support TBF. If you happen to be out and about this weekend, stop at the Barnes and Noble in Pittsford to say hi to the teen readers. Click here to get a voucher. A portion of the weekend's sales at B&N will go to TBF.

A.S. King, author of Please Ignore Vera Dietz and Everybody Sees the Ants will be presenting at 7 p.m., followed by a book signing.

TBF is important to me because I've seen the impact it has on teens. It is an event that encourages teens to get excited about books and writing. TBF is free to attend because of fundraising events like the RAT.

So, dear readers, if you live in the Rochester area, please stop out this Saturday between 4 and 8 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Pittsford to support a great cause.

Thank you.

Out the Window

I've been teaching in high schools now for 15 years. A perpetual concern among my students each year is standardized testing--SAT and ACT. Today, two of my 12th graders were nervous about tomorrow's SAT. I told them, "You are successful on the test if you don't go out the window."

When I was an English teacher, one of my students told me a story of his experience taking the SAT. He testing in a first floor classroom of a local high school. After a break during the test, the students resumed some difficult section of testing. Another student in the room stood up, said something to the effect that the test was too hard and climbed out the window.*

Since hearing this story, I have told many of my nervous SAT-takers about the young man who went out the window. I let my students know that true success on the test isn't really the score; it's whether or not you finish the test or climb out the window during testing.

*I usually get asked why the kid didn't just get up and walk out the door. I think he used the window to make a dramatic point about the SAT.

So it occurred to me on the drive into work this morning that the reason why I don't update my blog is that I made it too narrow: to focus on fitness and wellness. I feel that if that is all I write about, the blog will become boring and self-righteous.

It's time to open this blog up to other aspects of my life: my family & friends,  martial arts, books and reading, all things library, my craft projects, cooking and my obsession with the band Rush.*

If you are following this blog, and I know at least one person is checking in daily, you will be treated to all things Kimmie. If not, well, then... :-)

Also, NaNoWriMo is coming up very soon. I don't know if I want to actually participate by writing a novel again. I did last year, but crapped out around Day 18 because my inner voice told me the novel was stupid, not going anywhere and I needed to make cross stitch ornaments for Christmas instead. Instead of committing to NaNoWriMo, I will commit to a blog entry a day. 

* I like lots of other music besides Rush. In fact, I'm listening to the Talking Heads while I type. I just happen to listen to a lot of Rush and have seen them in concert many times and have a sort of shrine to Geddy Lee on my desk at work.