Sheer Poe-etry: Edgar Allan Poe - Live! October 14

Tuesday, October 14. The Central Library at 6:30 PM. Man, this is going to be good.
Duffy Hudson will present In the Shadow of the Raven, a one-man play about the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. He dresses the part, he looks the part, he acts the part! Hear from the man who is credited with inventing the mystery genre. And look how popular those turned out to be. Bet he never in his wildest dreams - and you know they had to be wild - did he imagine Stephanie Plum.
You get dramatic interpretations of some of Poe's most famous works: Annabel Lee, The Raven, and The Tell-Tale Heart. Spooooooky. A separate program for teens begins at 3:30.

Poe, Poe and more Poe

Icky Poem Parts

You wouldn't think the word 'beetles' would appear in many poems. Okay, any poems. However...

Have you dreaded these earth-beetles?
To Think of Time. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass

Beetles black, approach not near;
Lullaby. William Shakespeare

The shining doors are busy, beetles run
From ‘Paracelsus’ by Robert Browning

Are you amazed? The things I do to keep you entertained.

Source: Bartleby.com,Verse

Leaves of Grass editions

Complete poems / William Shakespeare.

By and about Robert Browning

Candidate Headquarters

Access! We want access! And some of us are rather fond of phone numbers and (gasp!) street addresses. We went out and found these just for you.

John McCain
Midwest Regional Headquarters
2775 86th Street
Urbandale, IA 50322
Phone: 515-418-9270

Barack Obama
Polk County Headquarters
1408 Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Phone: 515-244-4798

List of Early Voting Sites
General Information on Voting from the Polk County Auditor

Halloween and Adorable Moppets

Seen Meet Me in St Louis lately? Once you get over the horror of Judy Garland's bangs, there are plenty more chills. Tootie, Tootie, Tootie. She terrorized the town on Halloween by: putting a dummy in a dress on the street car tracks; telling everyone that nice Mr. Pruett had hit her when in fact he hid her from the police; and screaming "I hate you" at a perfectly harmless man then throwing flour in his face. And she's what, all of six? Never a bit of punishment, even when they find out the heinous accusations against Judy's potential boyfriend were just Tootie's way of entertaining herself. Sure she's cute, but she's a morbid little menace. Now where was I going with this? Oh yeah. You can find Halloween scares in the oddest places.

Speaking of Paul Newman

Richard Russo, who will be presenting 7 PM this evening at Hoyt Sherman, wrote Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool. Paul Newman was in the movie/TV versions of both! Coincidence? Sure, but what an opportunity for you. Newman was especially impressive in Nobody's Fool as Sully Sullivan, a man both more and less than he appears. Come hear the author who creates such interesting characters.

Richard Russo's stuff

Paul Newman, Jan. 26, 1925 - Sept. 26, 2008

So who didn't like Paul Newman? Looking back, it was surprising to me how often he played an anti-hero. Surly, dumb, occasionally vicious - see Newman and Piper Laurie in The Hustler. And yet all I see when I think of him are the crinkles around his eyes from smiling, something he seemed to do alot in his actual life. Then there's the thing where he married a woman who's attractive, intelligent, warm and not gorgeous. And stayed married to her. Add in the charity food thing and he just seems like a classy guy. So make sure you watch the egg-eating scene in Cool Hand Luke. Wouldn't want to pigeonhole the man.

Paul Newman - some movies and at least 1 book

Craft Week - Taking a Beading

Next up on Making-Things-Hard-For-Yourself-Week, we highlight a craft that has just been going crazy lately. Beading! (Do I sound like a shopping channel yet?) Look at how easy it is! And your friends will love the bracelets, earrings, and yes, even purse straps you make for them! Although maybe they'd want a purse attached. But they'll be amazed! Did I capture the perkiness? Cause it doesn't come naturally. Beads are widely available now and they're prettier than ever. In the craft stores you can't swing a necklace without hitting some kind of beading supplies. So if you're looking for a craft that is pretty straightforward, all I am saying is give beads a chance.

Your highly anticipated link to bead books: Beadwork

Craft Week - Using Scraps

Just kidding! Scrapbooking is the mother lode of supplies. They get bigger and more elaborate each year. If you want to make a small scrapbook for a gift, here's what you do. Buy a small album, stick in some pictures and write something about the picture on each page. Right. Then you casually pick up a magazine about scrapbooking. That's when the giant cartoon sledgehammer hits you right on the noggin. Chipboard! Archival ink! More patterned paper than you could possibly carry! At one time anyway. Die cutting machines, embossers, stickers, punches, embellishments, you'll be too tired from shopping to actually make the scrapbook. But remember, you can always keep it simple. Right. Good thing it's so much fun!

Here's some books that will help you not keep it simple when Scrapbooking.

Craft Week - Stay Sharp

Woodworking. Let's see, what to make today? A set of bookshelves? A lovely trellis? An exquisite inlaid table? A log home? A doghouse? Or the true classic, the birdhouse. You can take on a project as small or a enormous as you like with woodworking, it's a craft with no limits. Or very few, anyway. I don't thing there are wooden computers. My friend made this amazing fort for his son. It's so cool - big enough for adults to fit in, and on hot days the young owner could slide down directly into his backyard pool. Ingenious? I think so. Your turn.


Here's a link to a mess of books: Woodworking