Shine On

The Farmers' Almanac lists these Algonquin Indian names for the full moon of each month:

January: Wolf Moon
February: Snow Moon
March: Worm Moon
April: Pink Moon
May: Flower Moon
June: Strawberry Moon
July: Buck Moon
August: Sturgeon Moon
September: Corn Moon
October: Harvest Moon
November: Beaver Moon
December: Cold Moon

Source: www.farmersalmanac.com

Feliz Navidad

My favorite blog: "The Improvised Life"

I'm overcome with happiness to have found this blog. Postings like: "Learning About Color - A Daily Practice" and leads to books with recipes for Fried Water ("Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow and illustrated by Erik Blegvad, one of my all-time favorites) hooked me at first glance. Check out the posting on "Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan."

Happy happy joy joy

http://www.theimprovisedlife.com/feed/

2008 Web 2.0 Award Winners; The Urban Spoon

We're in the midst of our NetTrek Week#4 assignment: to check out the 41 categories of 174 plus award winning Web 2.0 applications. Just browsing through the categories is an education in and of itself. I was particularly wowed by the Urbanspoon site when - with just one click of the mouse - I was taken from the awards listings to the Columbia MO information. This site is so well done: useful information, visually appealing...most interesting and inviting! Also has quirky local references and stories from blog postings as well as information on restaurants in the surrounding towns and countryside. A fine compilation and reference source on the local food scene. It only took one bite and I'm hooked and hungry for more!

Reading Friends

I love Charley Harper

From NPR: "Big And Beautiful: Best Gift Books of 2009
by John McAlley

Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life
Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life, by Charley Harper and Todd Oldham, hardcover, 424 pages, AMMO Books, list price: $49.95
This gorgeously reproduced overview of the work of American modernist Charley Harper is a labor of love from Todd Oldham. In 2002, the celebrated designer sought out the aging and largely unheralded Harper after stumbling onto some of Harper's minimalist yet dizzyingly sophisticated illustrations in a rural Pennsylvania thrift store. Although he didn't know it at the time, the images resonated with Oldham for a reason: Harper's exuberantly colored drawings for a biology textbook had had a life-changing impact on Oldham as a kid. Harper's passionate subject was the natural world, and there is, unquestionably, a childlike wonder in his dozens of depictions of birds and insects and wildlife. [See image 5 of the Springer Spaniel. Doesn't it make you happy?]Oldham's tribute to his hero (who died in 2007, at age 84) floats on the wings of these beautiful creatures and Harper's expressive, one-of-kind talent. "

The Need to Read

"I think it's an essential need of the human being to hear another human being tell them a story. I think it makes us feel that there's somebody else here with us." George Guidall (Narrator)

Tres Caballeros at the Seis de Junio Party (Relay for LIfe Fundraiser)

Miguel, Davideo, y Rustito, poster boys for the Relay for Life fundraiser, June 1009

The rug that got me started

My idea of heaven is "Black Sheep Wool Designs", Rhonda Manley's rug hooking studio in Liberty, MO. This is her rug that really got me started on this path. When I saw it I knew I had to start hooking so I could make it someday. When I complete it, it will hang on my dining room wall. For more of Rhonda's beautiful rugs and handdrawn patterns, visit http://www.blacksheepwooldesigns.com/. If you want to become a rug hooker, this is where you should start! Rhonda learned to rug hook from the master, Emma Lou Lais. More about Emma Lou to come!

One of my favorite hookers: Annie Hayes

I love the work and color choices of Annie Hayes, Delhi NY. Exquisite! Shown here are some of my favorites for inspiration.

http://www.anniehayesrugs.com/

5 Orange Potatoes

I love this blog. http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/

As if providing instructions for making wool kitty toys weren't enough, this charming blog will teach you 8 things to do with onions, how to make lavendar chocolate cake, a Shakespeareare Herbal Globe Terrarium, acorn jewelry, how to conduct a magical scavenger hunt, wake up to rainbows and make fairy notes. Sounds like a perfect day!

The Crafty Crow: A Children's Craft Collection

Children's Services folks: Check out the fun on this site! I want to make one of everything. This site has a wealth of leads to creative blogs. So much fun!


http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

A Dahling author

"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away,And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall."- Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Foldschool: BIG Origami

Foldschool is a collection of free cardboard furniture for kids, handmade by you. The downloadable patterns can be printed out with any printer. Follow the instructions and assemble a stable piece of furniture.

Foldschool Philosophy: "Mass culture is run by superficiality and ecological absurdity. Foldschool supports craftsmanship as a face-to-face approach to design and brings together product and user the closest possible.The mindset of foldschool is to restore design to one of its original missions: to provide a product at an affordable price through a smart manufacturing process.--"

http://www.foldschool.com/_about/about_start/about_start.html

Small

http://smallmagazine.typepad.com/

Just discovered Small Magazine and Blog: a visual treat. Love the costumes, conkers and recipe for raw brownie bites made with agave!

Take your needle...AliciaPaulson.com

"Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern — it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that . . . one stitch at a time, taken patiently." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

This is posted on the delicious eye candy site "Posie Gets Cozy" at
http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/.
See also: AliciaPaulson.com.

The Twist Collective

http://twistcollective.com/2009/autumn/magazinepage_01.php

Nice - I'm being too calm, it's fabulous! - knitting site: "The Twist Collective"

Tornadic Supercell

Tornadic Supercell
Originally uploaded by HWS Digital

Wow...I just found this on the weather page available through the library's intranet. Learning how to set up the accesss to load pictures from Flickr to my blog. How about that for cool!

More from 7 1/2 Habits

My favorite part of the tutorial on 7 1/2 Habits is the statement, "The words that you use to describe yourself will soon become your reality so be careful with your choice of words. Don't say it or think it unless you want it to be true."

I love that!

I've got spurs that jingle jangle jingle...

Whistle While You Work

If your playlist is what it takes to get you through the day, check out this hoot from NPR: themed musical selections grouped under the series title, "Listen While You Work: Songs to Escape Work Without Leaving Your Desk." I love the titles of the selection groupings: "Songs for Ill-Advised Office Romances", "Virtual Vacation: Travel the World at Your Desk", "Songs for a Drab and Unfulfilling Existence", "Anthems for the Angry and Underpaid", "Tell Off Your Boss: Songs for Quitting Time", "Easy Listening for Uneasy Listeners", "Build a Better Workplace with Headphone Jazz", and "6 a.m. Wakeup Call". Speaking of which, it's time for some lullabies.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95515639

Guilty: Karrin Allyson

Do you know Karrin Allyson, jazz singer who got her start in Kansas City jazz clubs? Here she nails Randy Newman's "Guilty", recorded in '92; courtesy of the great NPR archives:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=15860009&m=15809318

Blackalicious: Make You Feel That Way

Watch the video on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMbYOkU7LyI&feature=PlayList&p=2B7514D5232CF08F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners
Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning
Habit 3: View problems as challenges
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
Habit 7: Teach/mentor others
Habit 7 ½: Play

I'm adopting Habits #5 and #6 by posting this list where I can conveniently refer to it. Check out my other posts as evidence of cultivating my favorite Habit, #7 1/2: Play.

Net Trek; Vampire Weekend and more

I'm a member of an exclusive group of Web 2.0 explorers participating in "Net Trek", a staff development project. The purpose of this project is to encourage discovery and exploration of various Web 2.0 applications. It's fun and our wonderful sherpa in this expedition is the fabulous Brandy Sanchez, DBRL librarian extraordinaire.

My fun for today will be posting links to my current music playlist. Listen up if you like!

Vampire Weekend [Album: Vampire Weekend; Song: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa]
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=2&t=1&islist=false&id=113756180&m=113876008

Seprewa Kasa [Album: Seprewa Kasa; Song: Nkabom]
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=2&t=1&islist=false&id=113756180&m=113876008

Kasai Allstars [Album: In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy; Song: Mpombo Yetu]
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=2&t=1&islist=false&id=113756180&m=113876008

A Book a Day, Read All Day

Here's a cool thing: someone doing what they really want to do. In this case a woman reading a book a day for 365 days. Nina Sankovitch; read her reviews and reading lists at http://www.readallday.org/. There's an article about her today in the New York Times 12 Oct09.

Country Sampler, Spring Green WI

Great source for quilting patterns: http://www.sgcountrysampler.com/

Ch ch ch ch Changes (Change or die)

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that suvives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." Charles Darwin.

From a postcard my friend Lauren passed along to me. Her mother-in-law picked it up during a recent visit to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Twittering

From "The Lamplighter", Wisconsin Valley (WI) Library Service, April 2009.

"To Tweet or Not to Tweet"

The next time someone tells you "I don't get Twitter, it seems kinda stoopid to me. What's it all about?" You will have this as an answer...Twitter is a short message routing service - messages are limited to a maximum of 140 characters. This length restriction makes "tweets" (Twitter messages) equivalent to cell phone "texts" but with a difference: text messagesare essentially one-to-one, whereas tweets are one-to-many.

The core of social networking is that there's a commons, a shared area, wherein people communicate. Normal e-mail has no commons. Blogs have localized commons and there's usually a specific focus to the hierarchical discussion, the post's topic, and editorial control over the thread. Twitter has a global commons and there's no restriction (other than on length) to what is posted and no enforced hierarchy.All of these forms of commounication are almost like a poort man's email. Here's the way to view these differnt forms of communications: email is like person-to-person phone calls while blogs are like lectures with follow-up questions and idcussions. But social media, such as Twitter, are like a cocktail party.

So why Twitter? According to a blog entry on Compete.com in February, Twitter ranks as the third largest social network with six million users and fifty-five million monthly visitors (Facebooks is number one and MySpace number two).

How you can use Twitter:
Twitness - which involves a few hundred Twitterers watching something, such as the Academy Awards show, and tweeting about the show with all sorts of funny remarks about the clothes, etc. It turns something solitary like TV watching into an interactive experience.
Breaking News - when a major news event happens, often a Twitterer will be there and share their experience faster than the cops can cordon off the spot.
Communications - a great way to broadcast a quick message to other co-workers wokring out in the field without having to contact them each individually.
Feedback - an instantaneous way to respond to a question or comment versus using e-mail.
Crowd-sourcing and Information Polling - you can poll people who are your Twitter followers about a question you have or conduct an informal survey.
Public Address System - you can use Twitter to announce the start of something or to promote a product or service to your followers.

Bunny Hill Designs. com

This wonderful pattern source makes me want to quilt. They also sell Weeks Dye Works wool that looks delicious.

http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Welcome

Anne Sutton's blog: http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/

Pink Chalk Studio

This is the coolest source! I love the Dia de los Muertos fabrics. What a hoot!

http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=242_249

Halloween Quilt

I'm a fan of the Baltimore Album quilt patterns and love this one done in a Halloween motif. Note the use of the bat wings to create the scalloped border. I discovered this on a site called Craft Gossip.Com

http://quilting.craftgossip.com/pattern-baltimore-halloween/2009/09/04/

Pieces of Time by Lori Smith

Patchwork Quilts

Quilt patterns are a source of inspiration for design composition and color planning. For example, check out the lovely quilt patterns by Lori Smith.

Winterberry Cabin

Wonderful patterns and kits!
http://www.winterberrycabin.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=PennyRugs

Honeysuckle Lane

I just came across a lovely site called "Honeysuckle Lane." The artist has beautiful fraktur style watercolors among other handcreated items. Beautiful use of color and an array of creative ideas. Enjoy: http://www.honeysucklelane.com/index.htm

http://www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com/

Here's the scoop on the Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival coming up here in Columbia in October.

Whimsy Rugs

http://www.woolbaasket.com/index.html

Rug hooking source in Wright City Missouri.

Calico Moon in Lebanon IL

I just discovered the Calico Moon shop in Lebanon IL and these photos of wonderful hooked rugs:

http://www.shopcalicomoon.com/index.php?option=com_joomgallery&func=viewcategory&catid=1&Itemid=60

I loved the adaptation of "Midnight Silhouette" from the original Blackbird Designs pattern.

Say it with me now, "Road trip!"

Feed your mind

Interesting food for thought:16 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me in School
Posted By Henrik Edberg On April 2, 2008 @http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2008/04/02/16-things-i-wish-they-had-taught-me-in-school/print/

Hi Mom!

I'm waving at my mother who is going to check out my blog today, I hope. Mom, send me a digital image of those 27 quarts of green beans you've canned and I'll post it for all of the blogospher to see how busy you've bean.

Edwina Prinster

Newspaper interview with central Missourian Edwina Prinster, Auxvasse, MO. - one of the artists featured in Best of Missouri Hands.
http://www.fultonsun.com/articles/2009/07/02/news/209news03.txt

Read the Label

April DeCornick of Red Jack rugs has what looks to be a terrific method for creating rug labels. See: http://redjackrugs.blogspot.com/search/label/Labels

April originated the Ten Minute Rug Hooking Challenge.

Munch-kins

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/deer/index.html

I've named the deer in my backyard park "Hansel" and "Gretel". Having spiked the hibiscus, hostas and hydrangeas, I think I hear them nibbling on my house. The Times has an excellent "topic" resource page on all things near and deer.

Maya Lin's Storm King Wavefield

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/arts/design/08lin.html?_r=2

I love this image and Maya Lin's work. I want to visit Storm King.

Stage House Studio Tips and Techniques

Sage House Studio: Instructions for tearing one yard of wool into swatches for value dyeing
http://www.sagehousestudio.com/tips_techniques/index.htm

While leafing through the blogs...

I'm in midst of hooking the border leaves for the Tulip Cross rug so I'm all about leaves right now and have been wanting to have some pictures on hand from other hookers. Serendipity strikes: the Merry Hooker posted images of beautiful leaves she's hooked for a tote. Check out her lovely images at http://themerryhookerwoolens.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Shell Paintings

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6603871.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6603871&nSlide=1&sectionName=VisualArts.

The Ten Best Lady Detectives

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6707754.ece

From the London Times Online.

"Vote for the Best Novel Since 1949"

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6735473.ece

From the London Times Online.

Stewed.1

My first attempt at stewing wool resulted in an unexpected very soft overall brown with an underlying lavender plaid. The shade of brown would look great in a Maria Barton (Star Rug Co.) pattern. This was the plaid fabric (green, red on light beige background) I'd used to start the swags in the Tulip Cross rug. As this wasn't the fabric I'd originally color planned with Emma Lou Lais at camp '08, I didn't have enough of it. I'd bought several more pieces of it but they were all just slightly lighter than my original piece. As I had bought the wool from Rhonda, I'd hoped she had some more. But when I arrived at camp this summer, all that she had on hand were the lighter color. She said the piece I bought originally had been stewed...at least I thought that's what she said. So, I made this my first stewing project. What came out of the pot will be nice to use, but it's not even remotely close to the plaid piece I'd started with so I'm not sure what happened. I'll have to show it to Rhonda to figure out how I got here. In the meantime, I'm ready to color plan the swags yet again!

Peace Love Beignets

My son Blake is visiting friends in New Orleans this week and I imagine he’s enjoying some yummy beignets, probably at Café Du Monde. NOLA Cuisine, a site “celebrating the food and drink of New Orleans, Louisiana” is a treat to browse if you love Cajun food and, of course, beignets.

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/01/15/beignet-recipe/

And the Pursuit of Happiness

Maira Kalman is one of my favorite illustrators and I love her work for the New York Times. Check out her latest homage to Benjamin Franklin, "And the Pursuit of Happiness." http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/can-do/

After all, isn't this what we're all about?

Syncopation