Anne C.

  • A very Muppet library

    There is a new Muppet movie, called The Muppets, coming out in November 2011 and I am equal parts excited and apprehensive. I want it to be good. I want it to have that zany spark I remember from the original Muppet productions—a masterful combination of keen adult humor and childish goodwill without the saccharine… Continue reading

  • Eggs, eggs, my kingdom for a recipe!

    We have three happy chickens in our backyard: Chipmunk, Jayne and Lucy. They usually produce about twelve eggs a week, which is plenty for our household. Sometimes, however, they get really fired up and give us far more eggs in a short period of time. That’s what they’re doing right now. In an attempt to… Continue reading

  • Marvelous mustaches, beautiful beards!

    “Did you know that four of the 2011 winners of the World Beard Championships are from Washington state?” my friend proudly asked this as I entered the room the other day. I hadn’t, actually.    Now that I think about it, though, Washington state (well, the Pacific Northwest) does seem to have a very diverse culture… Continue reading

  • Car Repair in a Digital World

    One of the benefits of driving a car built in 1984 is that when something goes wrong you can usually just take the car apart until you see what’s sticking or leaking or broken, then get a replacement piece and put it all back together again. All you need are some basic tools, a can… Continue reading

  • What I Made: A Sustainable Landscape

    Seattle is home to a thriving DIY ethic and culture.  As part of an occasional series of posts, we feature hand-made items created by staff at The Seattle Public Library and the library books, CDs, and DVDs that showed them how to do it themselves. We hope you’ll draw inspiration from their creations and check… Continue reading

  • Transhumanism in the bleak midwinter

    At this time of year, when the cold, grey sameness of winter softly wraps us in the bitter knowledge of our own mortality, I find myself squarely in the mood for a little transhumanist science fiction.   What is that, you ask? It’s a highly philosophical body of literature dedicated to the rich question of… Continue reading

  • Rabbits in myth and legend

    Thanks to its sweet face and impish nature, the rabbit has enchanted animal lovers, tormented farmers, and inspired legends and cautionary tales in cultures around the world since time immemorial. If you like rabbits, know someone who does, or are looking for a multicultural storytime idea, these traditional folktales available from The Seattle Public Library… Continue reading

  • Book review: ‘Admission’ brings novel insight to college admission process

    Michelle Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, Brooke Shields, activist Ralph Nader, Meg Whitman (CEO of E-Bay) and novelist Jodi Picoult — what do they all have in common? They all went to Princeton University. There’s something of a mystique surrounding the old Ivy League schools of the east coast, but now there’s a novel that gives some… Continue reading

  • Animal Intelligence: they’re smarter than we think

    “There’s something wrong with the telephone!” My mother is hard of hearing, so my dad installed a very loud ringer on our phone that she could hear even from upstairs. Unfortunately, the system seemed to have a defect. The phone rang, but sometimes there was only a dial tone on the other end of the… Continue reading

  • Vegetables at the White House: Tradition or travesty?

    As Librarians we are often called upon to decide a debate. Here is a timely one: Some people are upset that the Obamas planted a garden on the White House grounds, but isn’t it true that the White House used to have a fully functional farm, with livestock and crops, and they’re just reviving this… Continue reading

  • Creative Composting: What to do with those food scraps!

    Now that the growing season is in full swing and new city rules require us to keep food scraps out of the garbage can, do you find yourself with an overflowing yard waste bin each week? If so, perhaps you’ve wondered how hard it would be to convert some of that vegetable matter into lovely… Continue reading

  • Gardening in the City, or “No yard, no problem!”

    Spring is finally in the air, rousing the deep need in many of us to get down in the dirt and help things grow. About this time of year I flash back to summer days in my grandmother’s garden with its aromas of sweet peas, fresh earth, and tangy tomato vines. I’d love to grow… Continue reading

  • Staying Safe in Seattle

    Seattle is a very friendly place to live. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and, just over a year ago, Mayor Nickels and Chief Kerloikowske (who has since been tapped to be the new national drug czar) announced that crime had hit a 40 year low. But Seattle is still a… Continue reading

  • Magnolia’s Favorite Audiobooks

    “If I don’t like the [narrator’s] voice, I can’t listen. If I like the voice, I can listen to almost anything!”  — Magnolia Library Patron While there’s nothing like sitting down with a good book and thumbing through the pages, sometimes listening to a book read by a really talented narrator can be an even… Continue reading

  • Tiny people, big adventures

    Sometimes, especially at night when the world is dark and quiet, I hear strange noises in my house. Rhythmic little taps that fade to nothing. The squeak of a cupboard opening in an empty room. A faint sound like distant voices coming from up near the eaves, where no human ought to be. My first… Continue reading

  • Gearing up for NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month

    November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a creative frenzy in which tens of thousands of ordinary people around the world sit down in coffee shops, at kitchen tables, and in classrooms to compose their own 50,000 word novels in 30 days. Nanowrimo is not about producing brilliant writing, but about finally putting that great… Continue reading

  • Rascally Rabbits

     If you live in Seattle you have probably seen or heard about the unusual design of the newly built Ballard library, its literally green architecture crowned with a softly sloping grass-covered roof.  On sunny days, this roof is a golden meadow replete with bees and even butterflies. When I’m feeling whimsical, I embellish the scene with rabbits–two or three of them. In my mind, they bound joyfully through… Continue reading

  • Cherry blossoms bloom herald the spring

    The appearance of cherry blossoms marks the arrival of spring in Japan, sending revelers of all ages outdoors to enjoy wine and picnic lunches under flowery pink canopies in the nation’s parks and orchards. One cannot delay cherry blossom viewing, or “hanami,” because the cherry blossom is like life: beautiful and tragically fleeting. In Seattle,… Continue reading