Learning | You say Biro, I say Bic

I had to look up the word biro last week. I saw it in an eBook, as part of the description of the items on a desk. (I wish I could remember which book, but I read several eBooks around that time.)  

Anyway, I learned that biro is a word for a ball point pen in the United Kingdom.  Biro was a brand name, that came to be used for all ball point pens.  You know; like how we have a tendency to refer to all facial tissues by the brand name of Kleenex.  

Insist on genuine Biro (cropped) from John Lord's photostream on Flickr.com. Some rights reserved.

As I already said, I can't remember which of the eBooks I read last week had the word biro in it. But I can wholeheartedly recommend one of those books, if you are looking for a scary story for a student in grades 5-8. 

That book is Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I read it when it was first published, in 2008, but it was so good, that I read it all over again in eBook form. I just might read it again some day. It's about a little boy named Nobody Owens, who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard. My co-worker, Amy, pointed out the similarity to Mowgli, who was raised by wild animals in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Neil Gaiman recommends that his readers also read The Jungle Book.

If you decide to read, or reread, The Graveyard Book, keep your eyes peeled for the possible use of the word biro. Let me know if you see it.

Just Life| Bonjour Golden Gate Bridge

Last Sunday, I had to drop off my dad at the San Francisco airport. After that, my daughter and I drove 20 minutes to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We got lucky and found a parking spot right underneath the bridge.

We paid for two hours of parking and headed toward the bridge. 

We walked to the end of the bridge and back. It took us more than an hour to do it. 

We stopped many times along the way to admire the view and to try to locate a great white shark under the bridge...no luck.

It was a beautiful sunny day and there were plenty of sail boats on the water. 

The last time I walked on this bridge was about 15 years ago with my husband.  Now I was walking on that same bridge with my daughter.

On the bridge, we came across this odd fellow with a sign that read: " Free hugs." 

Since we didn't want to give or receive any free hugs from a stranger, we kept walking faster and faster to outrun the guy.

To my surprise, I saw at least two women who stopped and gave that guy some hugs. They were very generous if you ask me.

Then we ended up spending an hour on the beach under the Golden Gate. 

There was a gift shop on the beach and I got the coolest coffee mug. A mug with a white shark inside. How cool is that?

There is a white Shark inside my coffee mug

Then it came the dreaded drive back and my stupid phone GPS took us to Zambia before showing us the way to Stockton. It took us two hours to get home. I tell you, I prayed a lot that night.

The whole time driving, I was hoping that we won't cross paths with any crazy cannibals roaming around the wilderness looking for chubby preys like us. :)

Finally, around 8:30 pm, we finally landed in Stockton. I almost kissed my driveway.

Anyway, to all you fellow adventurers:

If you are planning a trip, keep in mind that you can find plenty of travel books at your local library...hold the free hugs. ;)

Here are a few examples of what you can find in your library:

Top 10 San Francisco 

Fodor's 2013 Walt Disney World

Italy

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha