Build a Birdhouse

Guess what's the best stuff you can use to build a birdhouse? Wood! Who knew? I thought popsicle sticks were best, but I suppose they're made out of some kind of wood. Or wood-like product. Anyway, there are many many kinds of houses you can build, most of them doable in a weekend. Instant gratification! You get to pound nails and show off your creation all in the space of a couple days. So construct a few avian palaces and see who shows up. We're crossing our fingers for goldfinches.

Birdhouse Books

Closed Today...

In Honor of Memorial Day

Memorial Holiday

All 6 buildings of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed Saturday May 23th thrugh Monday May 25th in honor of Memorial Day. We will see you Tuesday.

State of Confusion

Let us now consider Idaho. How many of us have uttered some variation of the phrase "not the potato state, Iowa". Too many to count. Did you know that the Des Moines Public Library owns over 40 works of fiction that feature the state of Idaho? Neither did I! One of them is by John Saul! A horror novel set in Idaho! Guardian is the title! There's even a Stuart Woods novel, Heat, that takes place in Idaho. It's about cults! Obviously Idaho is a hotbed of excitement and maybe we should acquaint ourselves better with our partner in disorientation. Then we can say, "No, not the state in Stuart Woods Heat, Iowa". Have bushels of fun:

Idaho Fiction

If you'd like to try a Children's Book ...

Read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Presented as a set of interlinked stories, it tells of Nobody (Bod) a lad whose life was saved as a tot when he wandered into said graveyard. Someone Very Bad had just done away with his family and wants to do the same to him. I know! It totally sounds familiar! The tone is both lighter and more mysterious than those books about the kid with the glasses. Bod is raised by ghosts and learns their ways - disappearing, walking through walls - but if he leaves the graveyard the Very Bad Someone will immediately pounce. The Graveyard Book is even better than Coraline, and that's saying something kids.

urban legends/folklore jan brundvand

Love the urban legends. When I was a pup all we had was the guy with the hook for a hand. A classic, true, but limited. Here's a quote from Jan Brundvand, King of the UL's, about a 'fresh' tale.

" It is the story about a woman sitting in her car in the supermarket on a hot day. She hears a loud bang from behind her; something hits her in the back of the head. She puts her hand up to the back of her head, and feels something gooey. She thinks she has been shot and her brains are coming out. When someone stops to help her, the person discovers that a canister of ... biscuit dough has exploded in her grocery bag, located in the back seat of her car."

Biscuit dough. Delicious treat or vicious weapon? Be afraid.

Urban Legends Books

Source: CNN.com September 22, 1999Web posted at: 1:00 p.m. EDT an edited transcript of our chat with Jan Harold Brunvand.

Horses with a Gift

So I was leafing through the World Almanac the other day, (doesn't everyone?) and this tidbit caught my eye. There have been less than one dozen Triple Crown winners in the history of the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont and the Preakness. All three of these races have been up and running (running? Get it?) since 1875 so that's more than a century with so few! And the record for the Kentucky Derby is still Secretariat's time from 1973. Why aren't horses getting better like human athletes? Have they been no advances in equine science? Equinology? It's got me thinking. I hate that. Bone up on horse racing with these books:

A year at the races : reflections on horses, humans, love, money and luck / Jane Smiley.

The most glorious crown : the story of America's Triple Crown thoroughbreds from Sir Barton to Affirmed / Marvin Drager.

The 10 best Kentucky Derbies / by the staff and correspondents of The Blood-horse

Peace, Officer

Today is Peace Officers' Memorial Day. As you can see from the photo of the Des Moines memorial, this city has lost its share of police officers. But at one time there was a long run in which no officers were killed in the line of duty - between 1935 and 1977. Here's the tale of Captain Steven Tabor Howard. On March 2nd 1935, he visited the Unique beer tavern at 1832 East University Avenue with his friend Oscar Hughes, for a dinner of oyster stew. He was "leaving the tavern at 2:40 AM with Mr.Hughes and the proprieter, Roy Carlson, who had just turned out the lights. Captain Howard had just stepped out the door when he was shot at close range. The bandits took $54 from Mr. Hughes and the day's receipts from from Mr. Carlson". Captain Howard died on March 11th from a blood clot caused by the gunshot to his lungs.
For more stories of our local fallen officers, visit the Officer Down Memorial Page for the Des Moines Police Department

Source: Des Moines Register 3/12/35 p. 1
Photo courtesy Gerry Rowland

Flarah's Downtown

The Central Library now houses a new restaurant - Flarah's! Some of you may know the eatery from the location in Beaverdale at Beaver and Franklin. They've got your salads and sandwiches which look mighty good. But I've heard their cheesecake is to die, and they're offering the mini's here. They make my very favorite: New York Style with Cherries which they call Mad for Manhattan. Flarah's will serve lunch, desserts, and coffee Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Meeting Room area of the Central Library. Yum.