Help with Holiday Stress

So far you've survived Black Friday and... Nothing else?  Too much stuff to do to contemplate without hurting the synapses?  Here's help:  Simplify your Christmas :100 ways to reduce the stress and recapture the joy of the holidays / Elaine St. James.  The proposals within would work for any large gathering that involves lots of food, family, presents, and high expectations!  Make this the year to shock people.  Don't bake the fancy cookies that take 2 days of preparation.  Don't try to make the house look like a palace.  The Queen's not coming.  Don't try to have a perfect holiday.  Make a mistake right off the bat, and get it out of the way!  My philosophy is, if it's important to 'someone', then 'someone' can do the work.  Not really, I cave like everybody else.  But I'm not baking as much this year.  Baby steps. 
You might also like:
Unplug the Christmas machine : how to have the Christmas you've always wanted

Simple steps for every holiday

Licensed to Daydream?

Scientists say daydreaming is good for your brain.  See, I haven't bee wasting time.  I've been activating two vital brainage networks.  One aims the brain work toward goals, the other is more personal but can be goal-related because it's in charge of picturing yourself in the future, which is Very Important. According to an article in Discover magazine "The French mathematician Henri Poincaré once wrote about how he struggled for two weeks with a difficult mathematical proof. He set it aside to take a bus to a geology conference, and the moment he stepped on the bus, the solution came to him. It is possible that mind wandering led him to the solution." (Italics mine. I've always wanted to say that!)  Your brain does even better if you are so far gone that you are unaware of your surroundings!  Don't try this in the car, kids.  Because we are also more prone to make mistakes while in this state.  We're looking for the Aha!, not the Oops!.

Source:  The Brain.  Author:  Zimmer, Carl;  Discover; Jul/Aug2009, Vol. 30 Issue 7

It's a Crime!

We have more true crime books than you can shake a shovel at.  Do you know how many titles we have written by Ann Rule, the queen of the genre?  Well?  Do you?  Two dozen at least.  So you can pretty much wallow in Ann Rule should you so desire.  We have true crime books by many other authors as well!  Diane Fanning is off to a good start with four titles.  Now there is a book about the crime that Iowa write Susan Glaspell made famous.  Midnight assassin : a murder in America's heartland / Patricia L. Bryan & Thomas Wolf, is all about the axe murder of  Indianola farmer John Hossack.  If you're interested in more of an encyclopedic approach, you have: The most notorious crimes in American history, and the granddaddy of them all,  Bloodletters and badmen by Jay Robert Nash.

Other possibilities:  books in St. Martin's True Crime Library

Happy Labor Day 2011!

Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Which pretty much limits you to naps, movies and reading. Have fun! The dingus in the picture is some kind of wood splitting thingy. Aren't you glad you don't have to split wood? Although I do enjoy splitting the occasional hair. There it is, a touch of levity for the holiday! All six locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be open their regular hours tomorrow. Enjoy!

Labor Day Closings 2011

All six locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday September 3rd, 4th and 5th for the Labor Day holiday. According to the World Book Encyclopedia, Labor Day is also observed in Canada. Plus Europe celebrates on May 1 and in Australia they honor the Eight Hour Day. And here I thought it was just us.

County Histories of Iowa

We have county history books for most, if not all, of the counties in Iowa!  Good golly!  The histories live at the Central Library and don't leave the building but they do enjoy visitors.  A few sample titles: 

Biographical and Historical Record of Ringgold and Union Counties.  Two for one!  Actually this is fairly common.   Greene/Carroll, Butler/Bremer, and Chickasaw/Howard are other double-county mashups.  (Mashups!  We're so hip!) 

Then there is the History of Winneshiek county with biographical sketches of its eminent men.  If you were not eminent, or male, I'm guessing the cookies were pretty tough. 

Here's a doozy:  Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa, and of the presidents of the United States.  Henry County.  Nothing if not inclusive.

Iowa County Histories and Other Interesting Books

Check It Out Here, Return It There!

Did you know that you can return your items to any of our six buildings, no matter which library you checked out?   Well you can!   Plus as a bonus you can use our drop boxes for any-time returns. Check out Monday morning at East Side, return to South Side Saturday evening - all over town, any time of day! 
Library Locations:
CENTRAL LIBRARY: 1000 Grand Avenue, 50309
EAST SIDE LIBRARY: 2559 Hubbell Avenue, 50317
FOREST AVENUE LIBRARY: 1326 Forest Avenue, 50314
FRANKLIN AVENUE LIBRARY: opens at 5000 Franklin on August 22
NORTH SIDE LIBRARY: 3516 Fifth Avenue, 50313
SOUTH SIDE LIBRARY: 1111 Porter Avenue, 50315

The Des Moines Public Library.  Making it convenient for you!

Mark Twain Stamp/Quotes

Is it not cool that Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens has his very own postage stamp?    The guy is eminently quotable and here are a few favorites:

"Classic.  A book which people praise and don't read." 

"The report of my death was an exaggeration." Waaay before Paul was dead but really alive.

"Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

 My very favorite: "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.  I said I didn't know."  Question: What do librarians say in their time off?

Source:  Bartlett's Familiar Quotations

Truck Stop USA

You might have missed USA Today's list of "10 great places to motor into a truck stop".  Well.  The second truck stop they list is in Walcott, Iowa.  Have you seen that thing? World's largest!  You can see it right off I-80 between here and Davenport.  Been past it many a time.  Never had the guts to go in.  How do you explain to your friend that you got lost in a truck stop?  "Come get me, I'm over by the Dog Wash."  I'm not kidding, you even can get your pet cleaned and shined. There are a lot of truckers in Iowa.  In the Bureau of labor statistic report "States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation (truckers)", Iowa comes in third. Truck stops are so au courant that the Travel Channel's going to have a show set entirely in the Midway Travel Plaza near Columbia, Missouri.  Midway has cow patty bingo.  And lawn mower races.  It's all about the activities, man.  Who can compete with that?

Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics
USA Today article
I-80 Truck Stop, Walcott

Handy-Dandy List of Yearbooks - Updated

Just the link is updated, but that totally counts.  You knew we had a collection of local high school yearbooks, right?  I'm sure I've mentioned that.  Well, on our fabulous Local History Wiki there is a lovely list that includes the name of the yearbook, the name of the school and the specific years we have.  Most are housed at the Central Library and they're not allowed to leave the building.  (They simply can't be trusted.)  To take a look at the list, click here:

YEARBOOKS OF DES MOINES HIGHSCHOOLS

Proton Panic?

Protons!   They are devious.  In 1980 with $2 million from the Department of Energy, Dr. Frederick Reines headed an experiment in which a 70-foot-high hole was dug at the bottom of a 2,000 foot salt mine shaft near Lake Erie.  This was 2,000 feet up and down, not across, mind you.   The hole was filled with 10,000 tons of pure water.  The water was surrounded by 2,000 photoelectric cells.  If a proton decayed it would produce a little light which the cells would record.  Nifty.  But why, you ask?   They wanted proof that protons decay.  The supposition being that if protons decay, everything decays.   That's right, The End of the World as We Know It would be supported by scientific fact.   Yesiree.   Bob.  Unfortunately no proton obligingly decayed in this experiment, or, as far as we know, ever.  Protons!   Have they no shame?   For $2 million you'd think one of them would have the decency to croak.

Source:  Des Moines Register 05/01/1980 p. 10A

Skywriting

There is a company in New York that skywrites 50 marriage proposals a year.   And how exactly does skywriting work?   First you have to mix paraffin oil into your exhaust so you leave a nice big contrail.   Then you check to make sure you have a strong stomach because chances are that sometime during the skywriting process you will be upside down.  You and your friends that is.   A single plane can write about 6 letters.   So you write Verla, the others can manage "Marry Me".   A single letter can be one mile high.   That's good in case Verla works in a skyscraper.   You can see them from 30 miles away - good if Verla lives in the suburbs.  Skywriting has been around since 1922 and was immediately co-opted for advertising.   Surprise!

By the way, 'Surrender Dorothy' was written in a tank of water and oil. Well, I didn't believe that broom could fly anyway.

Source:  Library of Congress Everyday Mysteries
Books About the History of Airplanes

Similes Smiles

I admit it.  I'd forgotten all about similes. Merriam-Webster online defines them thusly:  "a figure of speech comparing two unlike things".  The following are adorable.

Cruel as the pinch of a painless dentist —Sydney Munden

Lively as grasshoppers —Samuel Lover

Glittering like the spangled dewdrop —Sir Walter Scott

Smug as April —Beaumont and Fletcher

Prancing like a bean-fed horse —Rudyard Kipling

Absurd as to ask a man if he’ll have salt on his ice cream —Anonymous

Foolish as an endeavor to make a lobster climb a tree and give a report of the atmospheric conditions —Anonymous

That Anonymous is pretty sharp.  Why, you might say sharp as a tack!  hahahahaha
Source:  A Dictionary of Similes By Frank J. Wilstach
as accessed through Bartleby.com

Everybody Was Bananas

From 1993 to 2009 the Banana Trade Wars were waged. What was the problem?  Two American companies, (United Fruit Company and the Standard Fruit Company) due to their dominance of the banana trade, had so much influence over certain areas of Latin America that those areas came to be called 'banana republics'.  I kid you not!  The trade war came in when the European Commission, concerned by this state of affairs, imposed a quota and tariff on goods from former colonies including those in Latin America.  These effected United States banana trade. With me so far?  The World Trade Organization ruled these restrictions unacceptable. So the European Commission came up with a new banana control policy.  Then the U. S. said 'if you do that we'll impose $500 million in trade sanctions against Europe'. So there. This kind of thing goes back and forth for years until the interested parties got together in 2009 and hammered things out.  And that, my dears, is where 'banana republics' come from.

Source: Food:  In Context  as accessed through Gale Virtual Reference Library 

DMPL card ad PIN required for access

Getting a Charge out of Altoids

Love the Altoids?  Can't bear to throw away all the cool tins?  You could... keep Life Savers in them!  Loose change!  Toss in some first-aid supplies!  Melt some candle wax, drop in a wick or two and boom!  Instant travel candle.  If you want more of a challenge, Popular Science will tell you how to make a battery charger out of an Altoid tin.  You have to be able to solder, you need a voltmeter and a 160-ohm resistor.  Yeah, eye of newt anyone?  Popular Science graciously offers several projects online including an eentsy BBQ grill.  You know you want one.

Source:   Popular Science, Mar2006, Vol. 268 Issue 3, p76-76

through EBSCOhost.  DMPL card and PIN required for access

POPSCI Online Altoids Search

Hats

Remember the octopus-thing Princess Beatrice wore on her head at the Royal Wedding?  Of course you do, it will haunt our dreams for years to come.  Let us review Hat Horrors from the past:

Between 1600 and 1700 there was your fontage; a cap with tall tiers of linen formed with wire.  If you're lucky you get one that resembles a pipe organ.

From 1700-1795 hats the size of small countries were needed to cover the enormous hair styles.  Gotta have a callash.  Imagine wearing the cover of a conestoga wagon for a hat only it's made out of silk and it's collapsible.  The ultimate in comfort.

1795-1799 saw the rise of the poke bonnets.  Innocent, right?  Laura Ingalls Wilder wore one!  But hers didn't have a 'bill' that stretched way out in front of her face providing blinders and 'poking' the back of the person in front of her in line.  Hats are fun.  Which way to the next Royal Chapeau-wearing Event?  We are so there.

Source:  The Mode in Hats and Headdress

Steam Heat. Cool It!

I can't stand it.  The heat is making me nuts and it is far from over, my friends.  Air conditioning, fans, light clothing - I've tried it all yet the misery lingers on.  Next stop:  Psychological warfare.  I'm talking movies that will ice up your eyeballs right in your head.  And it will feel good.  You know what tops the list.  Takes place in Russia ...Julie Christie... Lara's Theme... the doctor is in!  Pop Doctor Zhivago in that DVD player and fast forward through any part that looks like it might have temps above freezing.  Aaaahh. Then include these in your freeze film fest:  Fargo;  Let the Right One In;  The Shining;  A Simple Plan;  Misery.  Hmmm.  Most of these are kind of creepy.  Maybe they'll give you the shivers.  Bonus!

Be Careful of the Heat

You've got your Heat Stroke and your Heat Exhaustion and they have different symptoms.  According to The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine:

Heat Stroke;

   Hot, dry skin

   Constricted pupils!

   Body temperature in the very high neighborhood

Heat Exhaustion;

   Clammy skin

   Dilated pupils!

   Normal to low body temperature

How can the same condition (heat) cause completely contrasting sets of symptoms?  I'm stumped!  But even I can tell you to keep your perfectly normal pupils peeled for the nasty effects of 97 degree weather.  Yikes.

Source: The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine.

Origami!!!!!!!!!

It's not just for schoolchildren anymore.  But for some adults it's just not worth doing unless it's competitive.  In the 1990's Robert Lang, a computer programmer, upped the ante by writing a computer program to help him figure out how to fold incredibly complex objects.  Others followed and now it's not unusual for an origami pattern to require 100 steps.  Who has the patience for that?  Well, Satoshi Kamiya.  The dragon you see took 40 hours to create.  He spread it out but that's an entire workweek.  Look at it.  Remember, no cutting or tearing of paper is allowed, only folding of square sheets of paper.  And for this work of art Satoshi Kamiya didn't even use his computer program. Personally I think it would have been prettier if he'd used some of the gorgeous origami paper that is available.  But maybe I'm crass. If you want to make say flowers and frogs and maybe chickens (wouldn't chickens be cool) take some of our books home with you after checking them out on your DMPL card.  The chickens await.

Origami Books!

Source:  THE EXTREME SPORT OF ORIGAMI. Discover, Jul2006, Vol. 27 Issue 7, p60-63, 4p as accessed through EBSCOhost.  DMPL card and PIN required for access.
Graphic Source:  Discover Magazine Gallery

Friday Rabbit Fun!

You know what you've been missing all your life?  Besides major lottery money?  Your very own nom de lapin.  Because everybody deserves a nickname worthy of a rabbit.  Some of these are oh-so comical!  A friend of mine is Chiquita Cheeks McGee.  Stretch-Hop-A-Long turns up often as a last name, must be a big family. Of rabbits! Ha!  I was getting so many Stretch-Hop-A-Longs that I finally made up an outrageous male name and was rewarded with  Homer Wibby Wabby Rabbit.  Worth the effort.  One of my brothers-in-law's real name comes up Rhett Butler Fuzzy-Snuzzle Tail!  He's awesome!  But I knew that. Hey, if you don't like the first sobriquet they give you, try again.  What's in a name?  Whatever you want.  You're the bunny.

Bunny Name Generator