librarygrrrl.net

Back to the alphabet theme (I’d stopped doing it a long time ago - whoops!)

So this afternoon someone at work posted about two tickets she had for sale for tonight’s Red Sox/Twins game. I jumped at them, since she was selling them for half-price. Amy and I took the train to Fenway, had some horrid nachos at a “mexican” restaurant, and headed in to the park to find our seats.

First inning, third batter is David Ortiz. Earlier this week, he’d tied a Red Sox record of 50 home runs in a single season. Would this be the night he broke the record set in 1938?

The windup - Santana delivers - and Big Papi launches one to right-center field, deep into the stands! 51!!!! The crowd goes wild!

Fifth inning - Ortiz is up again - and nails another one out of the park. The crowd starts chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

So much fun to see history in the making. I’ll not forget the goosebumps of those moments for a long time. I think I’m a newly converted Red Sox fan. After being in Fenway tonight, I get it.

So S?  It stands for Sox!

More photos in the series from tonight are here.

Unsurprisingly, the letter R stands for reading in my world.  I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember.  As a kid, while I was social and happy-go-lucky, we lived pretty far away from many other kids, so I had to keep myself entertained somehow.  And it was Minnesota.  Where winter lasts 6 months. 

So I’m a reader.  I can read until all hours of the night (well, morning, rather.)  I can read almost anytime, with the sole exception of when I’m riding in a car.  I can’t even read a map when I’m riding in a car (although, interestingly enough, I CAN read a map when I’m driving the car…)  I can read things from many genres of literature.  I read fiction, non-fiction, adult fiction, YA fiction, picture books, and just about everything in-between.

My recent reads are in my LibraryThing library - you can browse through it to see what I’ve been reading for the past few years, how I rate those books, and how I mentallly organize them with tags.  

But there are books I read before I started tracking them on LibraryThing - books that really influenced me, or touched me, or that I read over and over and over again. Most of these, as you’ll see, share a YA orientation.  They’re still amazing books.

• Anne of Green Gables (and everything else by L.M. Montgomery)
• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (and all of his poetry books too)
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
• Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

What are your favorites?  Share in the comments, or with a link to your Bibliophil or LibraryThing catalog. 

When I was a kid, we lived in northern Minnesota.  My dad was an avid hunter (among other things), and would head up to Canada every fall to go duck-hunting. 

I never got into the hunting scene myself (although I love to eat the results when cooked correctly), probably due to an incident with my brother.

One year, Dad came home with his take of the ducks from the hunt.  Being somewhat cool out, he stored the ducks in the garage until it was time for him to pluck and butcher them.  (Do you butcher ducks?  It doesn’t sound quite right.)  At any rate, there was a pile of ducks sitting there, and my brother and I were hanging out in the garage, when all of a sudden, he grabbed one of those mallards, shoved it at me, and squeezed it.

And damn if that dead duck didn’t quack right in my face.  I’ve never been quite the same since then.  Still like to eat duck, though.   

Back to letter-blogging!  Yes, April is National Poetry Month!  I know I’m a couple of days early with this post, but I thought I’d share some of my favorite poems so that you get inspired to think about YOUR favorite poems this coming month.

My all-time favorite poet is Shel Silverstein.  Laugh if you will, because that’s what his poems are all about!  Good stories, great rhythms, captivating imagery, and lots of giggles… I find him fabulous after all these years.  One of my favorites has always been "Sick".  Any child (or adult) who’s had the urge to skip school (or work) for any reason will appreciate this one.  I also love "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout" (listen here).

Some good sites for poetry, silly or serious, adult-oriented or kid-oriented:

Poets.org

Poetry 180 

LION: Literature Online: Poets Onscreen (limited to people affiliated with a subscribing library - check at your local library)

Happy National Poetry Month! 

Last year, almost one year ago right now, my friend Sam was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer.  She’s a really amazing person - I knew this well before she was diagnosed.

What is most amazing about Sam is the amount of work she has done in the local (Philadelphia) area to raise awareness of ovarian cancer among younger women like her.  Because of her connections to her climbing gym, to Phillyknitters, and to the LJ community, she’s been able to get a lot of young women thinking about the symptoms of ovarian cancer.  She’s been instrumental in getting many women I know to go in for regular gynecological exams.

Later this year, Sam will be doing a benefit climb in Utah for the HERA Women’s Cancer Foundation.  She’s trying to raise $7000 in donations.  If you know a woman who has had ovarian cancer, I urge you to donate any amount you can to Sam’s cause.  If you know a woman who might get ovarian cancer, I urge you to donate any amount you can to Sam’s cause.  If you know a woman who has had endometrial or uterine cancer, I urge you to donate any amount you can to Sam’s cause.  Your donation is 100% tax-deductible. 

Please help Sam raise this money - for her, for me, and for all the women and men out there who are touched in some way by these diseases.  Click on the button, follow the link, and give what you can today. 

And after you do that, come back here, and read about some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, and explore a whole website on understanding ovarian cancer.  Then go call your doctor and schedule your annual gynecological exam if you’re due or overdue for one.