She's Crafty | Thinking Ahead

I know it may be a bit early, but around this time of year I begin thinking about crafting a spectacular Halloween costume. Not that I go anywhere fancy or do much that day, I still like to dress up so I can hand out candy to all four of our trick-or-treaters in something other than my spiffiest set of lounge wear.

Pretty much each year I end up making something for a costume. So now I have a heap of masks; a pile of head pieces, including a feathered mini top hat; a small collection of flamboyant jewelry; and one nearly done steampunk ray gun. Pew pew.

Made this one following a YouTube
video by KlairedelysArt

This eclectic collection of costume accessories makes it easy to throw a quick costume together, but one day I dream of making a full head-to-toe Halloween costume. A fully lined, fully loaded, "Wow, you look just like so-and-so!" kind of costume found at comic book conventions and Renaissance fairs. I'm a master modifier but a complete newbie when it comes to making a full costume.

Whether I decide to create a single piece or a full costume this year I know the library and the internet are there to help inspire and educate me. I use tutorials found online and historical costume books like the series Dressing a Nation found at the library to keep my costume ideas going. I will even consult YouTube for makeup tutorials, on which you will never encounter a shortage of Halloween makeup tutorials.

One year I even learned a new needle craft by following a tutorial on the website known as Instructables. I was looking for a new mask and came across a tutorial for a tatted mask, written by an instructor who goes by TotusMel. The mask was lacy and beautiful, and I had to do whatever I could to make one, which meant learning how to tat. I checked out books on tatting from the library, I found other tutorials by TotusMel and on other websites, and after learning the basics I tackled the big project. Her tutorial was great and by the end of the whole process not only did I have an incredibly cool mask but I also learned how to tat!

Are you as excited about Halloween and dressing-up as I am? How do you prepare for Halloween? Do you buy your costume? Do you modify your everyday clothes with props and accessories? Have you ever entered a costume contest? Or, have you set aside the fun of dressing-up for gasp not dressing-up?!

I have some grand costume plans floating around in the ol' brain box just begging to be made and a lot of stuff in my costume bag o' tricks to play with but if I make something new or encounter a new trick to add to my bag, I'll keep you informed.

Until then, stay crafty!

Malia and Kaye

Just Life| Opposite Of Loneliness

I just finished reading, " The opposite of loneliness : essays and stories" by Marina Keegan. I know we are not supposed to judge a book by its cover. But in this case, the book cover was the reason why I opened the book and started reading a few random pages.

Then of course, I was hooked.

The book cover is the picture of the author herself.

This book is a collection of short stories and essays, both fiction and nonfiction. 

Marina writes beautifully.

I like her quote about writing: " Don't get too attached to things. It only took a minutes to write that sentence."

It got really sad when I found out the fate of the author.

Marina Keegan died in a car accident just few days after graduating Magna cum Laude from Yale university in 2012. She was only 22 years old.

Opposite of loneliness is the last essay she wrote for the Yale Daily News. 

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

The Wanderlust Librarian | Levi's Stadium

Scout and I got a chance to visit Levi's Stadium for its inaugural game. But it wasn't for the 49ers.... it was for a different game of football. It was for a soccer game for the San Jose Earthquakes Vs Seattle Sounders! 

Military show skydivers came down onto the field
with the biggest flag I've ever seen! 

You're reading the blog of a girl who doesn't watch a lot of American football. In fact, the reason why we went was only to see the match. We had some great seats and for the inaugural game, there were a lot of people who just showed up in Niners gear. We sat near a handful of people who were not familiar with soccer. It was breaking our hearts that a lot of the people there were there JUST to see the stadium and not the soccer game. 

Here is my fast review of the stadium: The seats were comfy, there was ample row space and the seats were awesome! If you get a chance to go to a game there, definitely make it happen! 

Enjoy the pictures! 

xoxo

The Library Bloggess

Scout's so excited that we're here! Go Earthquakes! 

Guys, we made the big board!!! I was so excited! 

A mash up of some field shots. 

Learning | Tride and True? I thought it was Tried and True.

I always heard an expression that I thought was tried and true. I would hear the phrase to describe something (usually a product, but sometimes a method) that was reliable. It sounded like it meant tested and therefore proven. 

I suppose I never saw it in writing, because it surprised me when I saw it written as "tride and true." This was on Facebook, and I suspected it was a typographical error. But I looked it up, and tride is a real word.

I work at Cesar Chavez Central Library now, so I was able to consult a printed volume of the Oxford English Dictionary for the definitions of tride and tried! I expect few people will find that as exciting as I do, but I must remind you: I am a word nerd.

So the OED says that tride was an old adjective used by horsemen related to gait and pace, meaning short and swift, or short and nimble. Either way, it sounds like a reliable horse to me.

The Gingerbread Horse Runs Through the Pasture, 
from Pete Markham's photostream on Flickr.com. Some rights reserved.

But a second definition, also obsolete, is the past tense and participle of try. So it is another way of spelling tried. So we are back to my original understanding of the phrase as tried and true, more or less meaning that a thing or method has proven reliable.

Tried and True" handpainted sign, 
from Damon Styer's photostream on Flickr.com.  
Some Rights reserved.

I won't call the Facebook post I saw a typo, since technically tride is an older spelling of tried, but I think the phrase usually is written as tried and true. When I looked up the entire phrase in the OED, it appeared under tried, but not tride.  That settles the question for me.

She's Crafty | Saving Things

I don't know about you, but I like to save things I think might be useful for making other things. For instance, I've been known to save empty toilet paper rolls & paper towel rolls, pop-tops from soda cans (although they have changed over the years, haven't they?), and every kind of container you can think of, from my most prized hinged mint cans, through tall metal tea cans, to spice jars with shaker lids on them. And, a lot of other stuff too numerous to mention.

However, much to Malia's satisfaction (but you should see her stash), I have become a great deal more discerning in my urge to collect things with which to make other things. These days I no longer collect anything made of paper or cardboard (good-bye paper rolls and fancy boxes!), aluminum (goodbye pop-tops and cans!), plastic (good-bye anything with a nice, tight lid!) or glass (goodbye jelly jars and bottles of any sort!).

Now, I only save things for which I have a fairly immediate use. For example, Malia recently heard me say, "We are going to use these toilet paper rolls to make penguins at the library! Honest!" She replied, "Christmas is in December, mom." She just doesn't yet understand how far ahead we need to plan for craft programs at the library. And, I do have this list on my bulletin board at work:

Some Things to Save at Home for Future Programs at MH

*Old CDs and DVDs

*Old Puzzle Pieces (jewelry)

*Lids from Ketchup or Salad Dressing Bottles (pop-up kind)

*Twisty Ties (spider legs)

* Milk and Juice Cartons, rinsed out (with spouts and caps)

Who would have thought I'd actually get a job that would encourage my passion to save things? I must be in Heaven.

My coworker also had a special box on her desk in which she kept those shiny silver strips from deposit bags so we could use them for making things. She even used some for a craft program she did recently in honor of Ramadan and Eid (it was a hit!) We still have the box, full of strips, even though she's transferred to another library to work (we miss you!) Maybe I should send her another box so she can save strips at her new location for their craft programs. I think she might like that (or maybe not, we'll see.)

Reading all of this, you might think I'm one of those people who eventually wind up on that TV show about hoarders. But I'm not! I control my urges to collect useless junk! I have a discerning eye. I'm just a crafter, making use of opportunities that come my way to save things to make other things. It's part of what crafting is about.

Until we meet again, stay crafty and don't forget--check out some of the great crafting books we have at the library. There are lots of useful and fun things to make from things you save!

Kaye & Malia

Ms. Suzy Reads | And Then Gets a Pie in the Face?!?

Greetings reading friends!

I like pie. I really like pie. I like just about any kind of pie, but banana cream is my all-time favorite. Or at least it was my all-time favorite until last Thursday around 3:45 pm.

You see, last Thursday around 3:45 pm we were celebrating the End of Summer Reading Party at the Cesar Chavez Central Library. Like a few other SSJCPL branches, we at the Chavez Library challenged our young readers to read a total of 2,500 books this summer. That's a lot, right? The deal was: read 2,500 books and two children will be randomly selected to throw pies into the faces of Craig Bronzan, our Interim Community Services Director, and me. 

Oh, I hate to admit this, but I was sure the nice children at the Chavez Library would take pity on me. I knew they would be reading all summer, because they ARE readers, after all. But I figured they would take pity on me and just forget to turn in their reading logs. You see, we counted the reading logs to see how many books were read by Chavez Library children.

Alas, the children at the Chavez Library did not read 2,500 books. No, they did not. They read 3,500! Yes, you read that correctly.

So last Thursday, Craig and I found ourselves enjoying our favorite banana cream pie in a very new -- and interesting -- way. In our faces! Here is one picture of the event. If you can't view the link, stay tuned! We'll have other pictures on the Library's Facebook page soon!

I would write about a great book today, but alas, I still have some banana cream pie in my eyes! Stay tuned. I'll be back next Tuesday with great book recommendations!

Until then, happy reading!

 

Just Life | My Maneki-Neko Cat

Do you believe in good luck charms? 

Well, I do. 

I have this yellow ceramic cat at my work desk which brings me good luck.

I know it is silly, but I choose to believe that this little yellow ceramic cat is my good luck charm.

My ceramic cat is a Maneki-Neko cat or a beckoning cat.

You can see these Maneki-Neko cats in front of most Japanese and Chinese businesses inviting customers in.

There is a story behind the Maneki-Neko cats. Legend has it that long ago, a wealthy Japanese man took shelter under a tree during a storm. The tree was close to a temple. He noticed a cat outside the temple trying to get his attention. So, he started to follow the cat into the temple. Then all of a sudden, lightening struck the tree. 

The wealthy man, believing that the cat saved his life, became the benefactor of that temple and that temple became prosperous because of it.

On a recent trip to the Byodo-In Temple on the island of Oahu, I bought two Maneki-Neko cats. One for me and one for my mom who was waiting for a medical test result.

Byodo-In Temple

So, my new Maneki-Neko cat is sitting in our living room right in front of the door and my mom's test result came very good.

My new kitty

Once again, the Maneki-Neko cat has brought me good luck. 

So, are you courageous enough to reveal your good luck charm? 

Here are a few books about superstitions:

The dictionary of superstitions 

They don't wash their socks! : sports superstitions

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha