Magdalena Kožená

I just became a Magdalena Kožená fan. I wonder if the young mezzo soprano I know is ready for this piece?

Copyright bahs

Saints and Spinners pointed me to this Unshelved.
Just tell me who to "hug" indeed.

In case you have not see this take on copyright law they have it on You Tube now.
How much longer is "the Mouse" protected?

8 Things Meme

Indefatigable Kelly tagged me with the 8 Things Meme.

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I lived in the Netherlands as a child. I never learned to speak Dutch but I know enough to eat very well. Pannekoeken and poffertjes, patat, bitterbal, (John Green just ate one on Brotherhood 2.0 and described it as "meat, flour and hope,") speculaas, oliebollen...Verkade, Droste...

2. My favorite reading series as a child were Nancy Drew and Noel Streatfield.

3. I love "needle arts," including quilting, sewing, knitting, insulin pumps.

4. I can find musical notes on a piano and play in a halting slow manner.

5. I do not like steep bridges or overpasses. There used to be a bridge into Louisiana from Texas that was so steep, I almost did not make it over one time.

6. I have been fascinated by miniature houses all my life, probably beginning with dollhouses as a kid. I end up collecting them. I just found a series of small cross-stitched houses to stitch and assemble. I bought one. I will probably have to go back and get the rest. They were on sale. Really, they are a bargain...

7. I am a Anglophile. I have been fortunate to visit England in my youth. I have never been to Scotland or Ireland or Wales but they are on the list.

8. I lived in Strasbourg, France for a year during a long, long, loooong, PTT grève.

I tag:
Sherry
Gail
Matali
Becky
PJLibrarian
Alkelda the Gleeful
Jackie
Tasha

Knitting and Harry

I have had this book on my wish list for sometime. It has finally been published. I am a rank amateur knitter (emphasis on "rank") who enjoys knitting blogs and "fiber" links. This article, "Knit if you love Harry Potter," by Molly Millett caught my eye.

Right about now, you might be thinking: Harry Potter? Knitting? Huh? But knitting references are woven throughout the series:

Molly Weasley, the mother of Harry's friend, Ron, gives hand-knit sweaters as Christmas gifts.

Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore enjoys reading Muggle knitting patterns.

Harry's friend, Hermione, knits hats for house elves.

In the movies, the characters wear lovely, hand-knit scarves, sweaters, socks and hats

In preparation for the book, Alison Hansel did her research.

"I went through all the Harry Potter books again and looked for knitting references, like the socks Dobby the house elf gave Harry for Christmas - one is green with broomsticks and the other is red with snitches," Hansel said. "From there, you have to come up with the details. I also searched the movies. For a Harry Potter fan, any excuse to reread the books or watch the movies is good."

Knitters don't just watch the movies - they study them.

"The knit items in the movie are really nicely made, and knitters will go back and pause scenes to see how the items are constructed," Hansel said.

Check out the Hogwarts Sock Swap. These folks are having too much fun.

I would really like to learn how to knit socks. Sockbug sent me some very good links and directions. One of my goals this summer is to give her suggestions a try.

Alison Hansel blogs at the blue blog.
Charmed Knits Knit-Along

48 Hour Book Challenge

Mother Reader's 24 Hour Book Challenge is coming up soon. I had started a nice little pile of books that I wanted to devote myself to for that weekend. Well, best laid plans and all that.

Turns out we will be a'voyaging to Washington D.C. the week before and we will be flying home on the 9th. So, my challenge will be to read on the plane and while doing laundry when we get home. Maybe I will receive honorable mention for the most number of pages read at the highest altitude?

We are all very dizzy with excitement. I have only been to Washington D.C. once and that was as a chaperone on a high school band trip in April 2001. The youngest entling has never been there so we are having great fun reading guide books and making our lists.



The Folger Shakespeare Library, the Library of Congress and Ford's Theater top my list. Ever since I read James Swanson's riveting page-turner, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer last year I have been anxious to see the theater where the drama began.

Update: Blast and drat! I just visted the Ford's Theater site and saw this:

Please note: Ford's Theatre Historic Site will be closed to the public through November 2007. There will be no performances or tours during this time. We will reopen in November 2007 for our production of Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. Please check back for updates throughout the summer.

You better believe it!

Thank you Bookshelves of Doom for pointing the way to my new desktop.

What do readers think?

Blue Rose Girls pointed me to this extremely interesting article in the NYTimes,"The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller."

This line from the story jumped out at me, because I realized how true it was.

“Before Amazon, we didn’t even know what people thought of the books,” she said.

End of the school year crazies

My home in that disgusting state that happens every year at this time. It seems like there is only enough time to fly in the door, drop everything, scoop up the stuff you need for the next event/duty/crisis and fly back out the door.

Enough. Today I am rolling up the carpets, moving the furniture and I am locked in hand to hand combat with dust bunnies and other assorted scary household boogies. I am reminded of a comment Scott Westerfeld made about revising and rewriting. He said it is like cleaning out a closet. It gets worse before it gets better.

That is the place where I am now.

I look at the nice shiny floor but my heart sinks at the piles covering every surface. Stacks of books, stacks of newspapers, magazines, the paper flotsom and jetsom of school life, finals schedules, study materials, a recipe I printed out from the Food Network website. If I wanted to collapse into a chair to take a break, I couldn't. There is no place to sit.

GAhhhhhhhhh!

The one pleasant part of the day has been the movie I watched as I began the destruction...er...that is...cleaning and tidying. I have found watching a DVD while I am doing something I do not enjoy, helps me stick to it.



I recommend: Her Majesty, 2001, rated PG -- filmed entirely in New Zealand

Parts of the soundtrack sounded like Howard Shore's music, even though it was not. (Maybe the New Zealand landscape just inspires composers.)

Set in the 1950s, a young girl named Elizabeth is enthralled by the recent coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She daydreams about meeting the Queen and begins a letter writing campaign to invite Elizabeth II to visit. The town is thrown into a frenzy when the news comes that the Queen has placed Middleton on her itinerary for the upcoming royal visit to New Zealand.

An old Maori tribeswoman soon becomes the target of many of the leading citizens' rage because they consider her ramshackle house, a blight on the parade route.

Elizabeth befriends the old woman and learns about the history and culture of the Maori people which puts her at odds with the rest of the town and even her own family.

A very sweet story with one of the most odious older brothers I've ever encountered in a story.

Author: Mike Lupica

Matt Lauer interviews Mike Lupica at Live From Studio 1A about his new book, Summer Ball, the sequel to Travel Team.

Lupica talks about sports and life and his characters. His aim to demonstrate that "anybody can get knocked down, that's easy, but it is how you pick yourself up" that is important. He says he never gives his kids (characters) more than they can handle.

Summer Ball is one of the books at the top of my TBR pile right now.

Update: The MSNBC website seems to be experiencing some problems right now. I hope these links work. The interview is great.

Modern, Cool Nerd

Kelly at Big A little a was fearful this was a time waster. Not so. An important task awaits.

I am a Modern Cool Nerd!! I am sure this question tipped the balance:

Do you have any themed decoration in your home/office other than color/material coordination? (Disney, frogs, unicorns, Star Wars, etc.)

Have I ever mentioned our Lord of the Rings room?
People who come to the front door jump when I open the door and they see Argorn looming over my shoulder.

After you figure out your Nerd level, click over to Little Willow. She has an assignment for us Nerd Fighters.

Your Score: Modern, Cool Nerd

73 % Nerd, 65% Geek, 47% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.


You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.


Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!


THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST