Snowed Over

Are you dug out yet?  I don't know how the folks without snow blowers do it, they're like the pioneers!  Made of sturdy stuff.  If you'd like to send a message concerning the copious amount of frozen precip we are currently enjoying, pop over to the 'Frosty the Snowman Generator'.  It's a commercial site and the default message is not exactly culture-neutral, but the whole point is that you can change the message.  And it's fun!

Frosty the Snowman Generator

A Little Snow Humor - again

How do snowmen travel around?
By icecyle!
What do you get if you cross a snowman with a shark?
Frostbite!

Ha! Ha! Doesn't that just make all your worries about the weather melt away? For more comedy humor, check out classics like:
The nonsense verse of Edward Lear
A penny saved is impossible / by Ogden Nash
Out on a limerick / by Bennett Cerf

All this time I was dehydrated!!

There are times when I am less than sunny.(I know, hard to believe). I blamed this on my personality. But the culprit may have been dehydration all along! According to the USDA Agricultural Research Service, dehydration can cause negative mood, including fatigue and confusion. It's not that I wasn't paying attention, I was dehydrated! Honest! Who knew the effects on the body of too little water were so far-reaching? For more information, go to this USDA news page. It's just one of the amazing sites you can reach through the links our librarians have hand-picked for you. Recommended Links has a plethora, nay, a myriad of subjects to rummage through. I found this baby by choosing 'Food, Recipes', and then Nutrition.gov. Where else will you find topics that offer you an opportunity to use words like plethora and myriad?

Closing at 4 Today Tuesday, 12/8 2009

Due to the weather, all six libraries of the Des Moines Public Library will close at 4 PM today.

Nothing to do with the Holidays

We just got in a fabulous movie!  It's from the 80's, called Night of the Comet!  Duh duhn duhn.  Starring 1984's Queen of B movies, Catherine Mary Stewart, it's about these Valley Girls with the classic big hair and shoulder pads.  They're not rocket scientists, but for some reason they have automatic weapons and are not afraid to use them.  So it's a goofy zombie movie predating Shaun of the Dead.  A blonde cheerleader adept at slaying long before Buffy.  Way more fun than it has any right to be and if your already sick of the holidays (then man, you are in trouble) this would be a lovely antidote.  Rated PG-13.  Automatic weapons.

Could it be any simpler?

Anyone can produce a hand-made toy!  Don't believe me?  Believe the fine folks who wrote the Foxfire books.  These are stories of work and play before television, electricity and the wheel.  Not the last one. The intrepid authors went to Appalachia to record 'folkways' before the folks who practiced them were gone. Florence Brooks and Hattie Kenny explained the mysteries of the 'Button on a String'.  You put a string crossway through the eyes of a button.  Then tie the ends of the string together to form a loop.  Now put your hands at each end of the loop and twirl the button to twist the string.  When done twisting, pull  the string and the button will whirl.  "Makes the funniest noise!", exclaimed Hattie.  Florence did mention that she and her sisters would get them tangled in each other's hair out of sheer orneriness.  Of course if you are determined, any toy can be used to torture your siblings.  That's why they're called toys.

Source:  Foxfire 6  p.166
Graphic source:  Button On a String

you're a star!

Well, you knew that but now other people will be clued in.  Just go to the Hollywood Famous Star Sidewalk Generator and create a 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' star for yourself.  Or your best friend. Or your dog.  Doesn't Lassie have a star?  And who is Anna Lee, you might ask?  Anyone who has watched General Hospital in, oh, the last 3 decades can tell you she portrayed Lila Quartermaine, otherwise known as "the sane one" on the popular soap. Sadly she  passed away in 2004.  For more information on Anna Lee, log in to Biography Resource Center.  You'll need your Des Moines Public Library card number and PIN to access from home.

A Brick House

So you're dying to know where the first brick house in Des Moines was built!  In 1856 Dr. Francis Grimmell built the first brick house in Des Moines at 6th Avenue and Keosaqua Way.   At the time, that part of town was called  'Capitol Hill' because in the 1850's a significant number of the populace wanted the Capitol Building  built on the west side of the river. Ha!  Capitol-less it stood until 1901 when the brick house was torn down and the Victoria Hotel constructed on the spot. The hotel was a goner in 1962.  We now know that corner as the home of American Republic Insurance.  You were wondering about the picture, weren't you? 

Source: Des Moines Register, 3/9/1996 p. 2 N-E
Photo courtesy Gerry Rowland

Native American Heritage Month

was in November.  I completely missed it, which is too bad because Iowa has an interesting story. In 1846 the Mesquakie were moved to Kansas along with the Sauk because the federal government decided to treat the two tribes as one.   Now some of the Mesquakie never left Iowa.  Others left and, very unhappy with their new homes, returned to Iowa. With the support of the Iowa Legislature they were able to buy land in Tama County.  At this point the federal government - guess what! - broke a treaty and cut off money to the Mesquakie. The tribes had years of  terrible struggle, but eventually the Iowa government stepped in again and got the federal payments restored.  Go, Iowa!
IPTV Indian Removal in Iowa
Photo Source:  Library of Congress Digital ID: cph 3c07203