Good to be back

Greetings everyone!!  Good to be back.  Sorry that I have not written lately.  I was taking a little vacation and working on a few things.

I'm back and better than ever.  I'm large and in charge.  More fun stuff later

Bugzy rides again.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS!

The birth of color

Greetings everyone, Bugzy here again.

Spring has finally arrived!  Yeah!!  No more cold, snow, blowing snow, crunch ice, all of that. Hopefully!  March certainly went in like a Lion and went out like a Lamb, as the old saying goes.

Does anyone have flowers coming up yet?

Aren't flowers the real sign spring is here?  Nothing like some brilliant purples, yellows, oranges and reds after a long season of grey and white.  Everything always seems grey in the winter.  The sky, the ground, everything seems a dull grey.  Spring seems like the birth of color.  Color comes back into the world.  I think  you have to suffer through a long grey winter, like we did this year, to truly appreciate it.  If it is colorful year around like Hawaii, how would you notice Spring?  How would you take the pure joy out of seeing Spring flowers for the first time if they bloom all year?

Beautiful daffodils

Daffodils come in all kinds of colors and shapes

A whole field of daffodils in England

Kids love Spring too.  NO more being cooped up inside all the time.  Or having to bundle up with layers of coats, hats, and gloves just to go outside and play.  Of course, moms always want you to put on a light coat or sweat shirt and you don't think you need one!

And of course there is baseball.  Baseball comes with spring, and with it and end to cold temperatures and grey.  And of course to I love the Cincinnati Reds!   Our home town team.  The Reds have been around a long time, since 1881, making them the oldest baseball team in America or anywhere else.  Do you know the Reds are the oldest team to have played every year in the same city?  The Chicago Cubs are close, but they went on hiatus for several seasons, unlike the Reds.

What is your favorite spring tradition? What signals the start of spring for you?  Is it baseball season beginning?  Is it the grass growing again, coming out of its long dormancy?  To me, it's when the daffodils start to bloom.  It's the birth of color.

Next time:  Summer reading is coming!

Peace
Love
Books!
Bugzy

Am I a "bookworm"?

Greetings everyone.  Good day and good tidings to all.  Hope you and your loved ones are well.

I've been wondering, some kids call me a "bookworm."  I suppose I am.  I've never really thought about it too much.  I am Bugzy, I am me.  As Popeye said, "I yam what I yam and that's all I yam."  True sentiments despite the atrocious grammar.

In my brief life, I have always tried not to define myself in terms of what others think, or what other's expectations are of me.  I have heard people say that a person can drive themselves crazy trying to always live up to other people's ideas and not their own.  After all, other people don't have to be you.  If you can't live in your own brain, no one can.  I'm a good person, I always try to do the right thing, to be honest and a good person, I'm kind to children, animals and seniors. I guess it all comes down to "character."

I have read that some people define character as "what a person does when no one else is looking."  That is a good thought.  What I like even better is:

                                    Character is how you treat people that you                                              don't have to be nice too.

Do you call yourself a "good person"  but are routinely rude to waiters and waitress, baristas at coffee shops, workers at air ports, hotel maids and such?  If you are, then you're not a good person.  I would never do that.

Back to the bookworm business.  I suppose I am one.  I've never asked my mother.  Like I said, it has never been that important.  But the word is defined by Webster's Dictionary as:   a person who likes to read books and who spends a lot of time reading and studying.

That is certainly me!!  There is nothing more that I enjoy that reading.  So I guess I am a "bookworm" and I am proud of it.  I hope all of you are too.  Bookworms of the world unite!!

PEACE

LOVE

BOOKS

BUGZY

A Most Splendid Retirement

Greetings one and all.  Bugzy here again.  This week is a very happy week for all of us here at the Lawrenceburg Public Library District as well as a sad week.  The Director, Sally Stegner, is retiring this week after almost 30 years with LPLD.

She's been a fantastic leader, a great boss who has been fair and kind and equal to everyone.  Sally has been a mentor, a friend and an all around good person.  She has made many friends in the community.  She oversaw the fabulous renovation to the North Dearborn Branch two years ago which made me possible!  So you could call her my Grandmother.  Maybe my fairy godmother.

There is a line from Star Trek The Next Generation Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Season #4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wounded_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation).  This sums it up for me:

"The loyalty that you would so easily dismiss does not come easily to my people.  Captain Maxwell earned the respect of those serving under him."

Good night Captain Sally.  You certainly earned the loyalty and respect of those who worked for you.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS
BUGZY

Something to make you laugh

Greetings Everyone!  Bugzy here again.  With all of the recent snow, cold, winter weather again, I thought I would post some things to make you laugh.  Of course, we  me loving the Muppets, here are a few things.


Some great hits from Statler and Waldorf:

Here is a gem that I doubt most people have ever seen:  Milton Berle takes on Statler & Waldorf.  Laugh out loud funny:

Uncle Milty and some of the Muppet gang

This one is not quite as funny as Milton Berle, but is has been viewed over 35 MILLION TIMES on Youtube:

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS!
BUGZY

An interview with Matt N from Circulation at Lawrenceburg

Greetings one and all!  Hope you are having a good day and all is well with your family and friends.  Chip says HI!  :)
Today we get to meet with Matt Neuendorf from Circulation at the Lawrenceburg Library.  Our North Dearborn patrons probably don't get to meet any of the fine staff the library has at LPL, so I thought it would be great to bring some to my blog.  Diane was last week, and now we get to meet with Matt.

Bugzy:   Greetings Matt.  Nice of you to be here today.  I tried calling you earlier but we had a bit of a mixup.  But we got that straightened out.

Matt:  Glad to be with you too.  Always a pleasure.

Bugzy:    What is your favorite movie for kids?

Matt:   “Secondhand Lions” is a great one with lots of adventure and a bit of mystery
                                                                             

     

Bugzy:   That's great.  No one has chosen that movie as long as I've been talking to the staff.  How could you go wrong with Robert Duvall and Michael Cain?  Two of the greatest actors of our generation, so I've been told.  Of course, neither one of them is green or has two arms, but they are still great.

Matt:   Yes, my thoughts as well.

Bugzy:    What is your favorite pizza topping (besides cheese)?

Matt:    Extra cheese. 

Bugzy:  I had not thought of that one!  Most kids love pizza, and they never really grow out of it.  Which is a good thing.

On to the next question: What is the greatest breakfast cereal of all time?

      Matt:   Cheerios.

      

      Bugzy:   Good answer.   Here are some fun links and information about Cheerios:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerios

        http://www.generalmills.com/Brands/Cereals/Cheerios.aspx

        https://www.facebook.com/Cheerios

      Next question to Matt:     Let’s get kids interesting in history:  If you could go back in time and live in another era, what would it be?

      Matt:  My politics, religion, and desire for comfort all agree, c900s Constantinople under the Christian Roman Empire has the best mix of all three (though with a bit of danger from barbarian invaders and civil unrest).

       Bugzy:  I'm glad you agree with Diane and I that it would be hard to give up modern comforts, like indoor plumbing, lighting, cell phones, grocery stores.

       Ok, I'll try not to get off topic too much here.       What is your earliest library memory?

      Matt:   Summer reading at the Aurora Public Library with our very own Georgeann Doan, reading the Moonbeam books or the Freddy the Pig series

      Bugzy:  Sounds wonderful.  I have not heard of the "Freddy the Pig" series before.

       Matt:  "Freddie and the Dragon"  "Freddie the Pilot"  "Freddie and the baseball team from Mars" are several  good ones. 

        Bugzy:     Did you play any organized sports as a kid, or did you like to play a pickup game of something with the neighborhood kids (like I did!)?

   Matt:   Soccer, Baseball, and my own invention: Foot Tennis

  Bugzy:  I think it's truly wonderful when children can make up their own games and their own rules and enforce the rules among themselves.  That shows social skills, communication skills and imagination skills.  But enough of my dime store psychology.

  Next question:   What did you want to be as a child when you grew up?

  Matt:    Knight, a Mechwarrior, or a Soldier (sometimes a Marine instead).

  Bugzy:  Interesting.  Phil Kuhn from North Dearborn wanted to be the 3rd baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, and he ended up a librarian like you!

  Matt:  Yes, you never now how things will turn out.  

  Bugzy:  What is your favorite children’s book?  You can have several.

  

 Matt:    "David and the Phoenix” is a classic, and I can’t leave out “The Hobbit.”

 Bugzy:  Something else we have in common Matt!  The Hobbit is one of my all time favorite books too. 

 Who is your favorite Muppet?  Of course, mine is Kermit.  

     

  Matt:  If the Sesame Street crew counts, Ernie was always a favorite. Otherwise, I’d have to go with the Swedish Chef (Beaker is my runner-up).

Bugzy:  Good answers!  That is open to debate if the Sesame Street crew counts or not.  But since this is my blog, and they were both created by the great Jim Henson, I would say yes.   

Matt:  Good to hear.  

Bugzy:  What do you like best about being a librarian Matt?

Matt:  Everything, though having the chance to work with books (and see all the new stuff as it comes out) is a real highlight.

Bugzy:  My traditional final question:       What fun thing would you do if you had four arms like me?

Matt:  Build Lego models that much faster.  Here is one of the ones I did.

Imperial cruiser 117

Thanks for being with me today Matt and telling me a few things about yourself.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS!

Bugzy

     

Meet Diane Fuchs from Lawrenceburg Library

Greetings!!  Bugzy here again.  Great to be with you all today.  Hope everyone is surviving all of the snow and ice.  I have a special guest with me today, Diane Fuchs from the Circulation Department at the Lawrenceburg Library on Mary Street.

Bugzy:  Good to see you again, Diane.  Thanks for being with me today.

Diane:  No problem, always a pleasure.

Bugzy: 1.      What is your favorite movie for kids?   

Diane:   May I say ‘movies?’  I think I’d have to say “Anne of Green Gables,” “The Sound of Music” (classic version with Julie Andrews) and any of the Andy Griffith movies.  

Bugzy:  Good answers!   Some real classics there.  I love "The Sound of  Music"  too.

Next question:  What is your favorite pizza topping (Besides cheese)? 

Diane:      The works… veggies, meats, cheeses, regular crust; the more toppings- the better. Preferably, no pineapple though.

Bugzy: I love pineapple on pizza, but I must admit it makes the crust soggy.

           What is the greatest breakfast cereal of all time?

Diane:   Lucky Charms!

Bugzy:  Let’s get kids interested in history:  If you could go back in time and live in another era, what would it be?  

Diane:  Oh, dear… I really haven’t the foggiest idea. I’m pretty content living in this era we’re living in right now!

  Bugzy:  That's a good answer. I'm not sure either.  I really love modern technology, which enables me to write this Blog on this computer.  And I would miss the little things, like indoor plumbing....

Diane::  Yes, good point.  I like lights and heat too.

Bugzy:  I might have to cover this topic more in another post.  

Next question:   What is your earliest library memory?  

Diane:  1.      . Summer reading in Rising Sun. I have great memories of filling my summer reading chart(s) with stickers, and then celebrating with ice cream at the end of the summer.  My card number was 3181, and there was a small bench to sit on in front of the children’s books.  The head librarian was friendly, but also said “shhh” quite frequently. J

Bugzy:  I'm impressed you even remember your card number!  That's wonderful.

Next question:  Did you play any organized sports as a kid, or did you like to play a pickup game of something with the neighborhood kids (like I did!)?  

Diane:   Both. Girls sports were just getting started when I went to Rising Sun High School. I played volleyball for a short time, and was on the C-team which basically made me a “bench warmer.” In our neighborhood, we had a lot of neighborhood impromptu baseball games. A group of us boys and girls would get together and play in the open back yards.  If friends were over at the house, we would sometimes play badminton or croquet. There were no computers back then, so most of our play happened outside. At night, we played outside until the porch light came on; once we saw the porch light, we knew it was time to come home.

Bugzy:  Sounds fun. I love croquet too!!  

Next question:  What did you want to be as a child when you grew up? 

Diane:  1.      . At first I wanted to be a flight attendant (aka airline stewardess back in the day), but they had height requirements of, I think, 5’5”. My dad used to tease about stretching me! When I knew being a flight attendant wasn’t going to work, I thought about being a nurse. That thought was short-lived though. The next dream was to be a teacher, and then a speech-language therapist.  Marty Schmidt, the Speech-Language Therapist in the Rising Sun Schools, was influential in my decision to follow that path.

Bugzy:  What is your favorite children’s book?  You can have several.

Diane:  I’m so glad you said several!  The classic Winnie-the-Pooh books are amazing, as are The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings series, starting with The Hobbit, the Little House on the Prairie series, and the Peabody Adventure series by Jeri Massi. Also I’ve enjoyed all of the books by the authors Elizabeth Speare and Elizabeth Yates, and many, many more!

Bugzy:  I loved "the Hobbit" as well.  JRR Tolkien wrote it as a bed time story for his children.  Friends told him "hey, that thing you wrote is really good, why don't you have it published."  And the rest is history.

Next question:  Who is your favorite Muppet?

Matt:    If you’re counting the Sesame Street characters, I’d have to say Elmo!!! However, if you mean my favorite from the actual Muppet group, then I’d have to say Kermit-the-Frog.

Bugzy:  Good point my friend!!  I think it's hard to say if the first Sesame Street characters were Muppets or not.  I love your answer though!!

Diane:   Thanks.

Bugzy:  Last question:  What do you like best about being an a librarian? 

Diane:    I enjoy helping and relating to people. It’s a great honor to consider many of the customers as my friends. I also like every one of my co-workers and the uniqueness that each person brings to the library .

Bugzy:  Thanks a million for being with me today.  I had a great time talking with you.  

Diane:  It was fun talking to you too.  I had a fun doing it.

Bugzy:   Me too.  Until next time, PEACE LOVE BOOKS!

  

  

      

A book you have to read, or, it's good to be back

Greetings everyone!  Bugzy here again.  Sorry I've been gone for almost two weeks.  The weather has been playing havoc with my writing schedule.  I've been out playing in the snow, making snowmen with great kids.  Of course, I can't go out and play when it's been so COLD!!  BRRRRRRRR.  That's no fun at all.  I feel bad for people and animals that have to be out in it, I hope they are all ok.

Here's a book I found while I was in the library.  It's not brand new, but it's new to me.  It is funny and informative at the same time.  It is "Look before you leap:  a frog's eye view of life's greatest lessons"
You can find it at LPLD.

Kermit the Frog, author

Chapter 1:  The Green and wet behind the ears years
Chapter 2:  Discovering the magic store
Chapter 3: Finding the rainbow connection
Chapter 4:  it's not that easy staying green
Chapter 5:  The seven dreams of highly effective amphibians
Chapter 6:  Take a flying leap!
Chapter 7:  The wealth of amphibians
Chapter 8:  When bad things happen to good frogs
Chapter 9:  Don't sweat the small bugs, and they're all small bugs
Chapter 10:  It's not that easy eating greens
Chapter 11:  Finding your inner tadpole
Chapter 12:  love amphibian style
Chapter 13:  How to win friends and meet influential people
Chapter 14:  How to succeed at success without being too trying
Chapter 15:  Knee deep in the good life
Chapter 16:  Moving your own cheese
Chapter 17:  Fridays with Fozzie
Chapter 18:  Life's like a movie, write your own ending.

How many of you can name the famous books and famous self-help books that Kermit is spoofing with these chapters?  There is a lot of them!!

Here's some words of wisdom from Kermit:

 You can go through life asking why you were born a frog, or,you can make the most of it.

Since I'm a big green bug, I can relate.  But so can you.  Take out the word "Frog" and put in whatever word describes you, or something about you that you really don't like.   That's part of the "Pathway to the future"  I talk about, my little sign says.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS!

Bugzy

The lazy boy

Greetings everyone!  Bugzy here.  Hope you are having a good week and are staying warm.  Recently, I have heard someone talk about the "McGuffey Readers."  According to the library staff helping me,  they started in 1836. The books were published as a series of grade school readers for kids by William Holmes McGuffey.  They contained reading lessons as well as a strong moral lesson in each story.  Since then, the McGuffey Readers have sold over 120 million copies, putting them into numbers sold behind the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.

These readers are very interesting.  They are written in plain English, are easy to follow, teach good grammar and vocabulary.  But when it comes to the "moral lesson",  the Readers hit you over the head with it, so you don't miss it.

This is my attempt at a McGuffey Reader-type story.  It's my first try.

Bugzy

Once there was a boy named Kevin.  He was full of energy.  He loved to run and play sports outdoors.  Especially football and basketball.  He also liked to play video games.  He could sit and play for hours, until his parents made him get up and go do something else.  Kevin took pride in how long he could play video games, and how far he could run.  His only problem was when it came to his school work, he was lazy.

Kevin didn't want to read or work hard at school.  He didn't want to study, practice math problems, or write a paper.  He only wanted to do what he wanted to do.  His grades were always low, and his parents were always having to talk to his teachers.

One day, his teacher assigned the class to read "Alice in Wonderland."  They were going to have to take a test in class on it, and the test would make up a lot of their grade in English.  But the teacher, Ms. Gustasson, gave them three weeks to read it.  She assured the class that she would be available for help if they had problems reading the book.  Ms. Gustasson had called the local public library, and arranged for enough copies of the book for everyone.  All they had to do was to go pick it up and read it.

"Oh boy"  Kevin thought.  This is going to such an easy "A" to get.  I'll get an A and my parents will be proud of me.  I will just wait until the day before the test and watch the movie, he thought.  "This is going to be so easy". Ms. Gustasson will never know I didn't read the book.

So Kevin ran and played every day after school.  He played outside and went in and played his video games.  Whenever his parents asked him about his schoolwork, he told them he was already finished or didn't have any.  

The day before the test, Kevin asked his mother to take him to the library.   She said she would do it and hoped it would spur a greater interest in reading.  They had the movie of "Alice in Wonderland" and he checked it out.  He told his mother that they had to read the book, but not until next month.

The day of the test, Kevin was totally calm and relaxed. He had the english test aced.  He get lots of praise from his parents and from Ms. Gustasson.  It was 10:00am, time for English class.  Ms. Gustasson walked around the room and handed out the test.  She wished them all good luck.

Kevin picked up the test and started reading it.  His heart started racing.  He could feel it beating.  He broke out in a cold sweat.  He didn't know the answers to any of the questions!  It was like Ms. Gustasson had watched the movie and wrote the test so you could ONLY answer the questions if you had read the book.  

Kevin wrote a few things down and handed the test in.  The next day, Ms. Gustasson returned it to him with a big F on the top and a 0 score.  His parents were so upset, they took away his video games.  They made him show them every night before dinner what his assignments were and made him work on them all night.  Kevin flunked English and had to re-take it in the summer, so the school wouldn't let him play sports.

Kevin learned never try to get out of hard work by trying to be more clever than someone else.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS
BUGZY!!

Winter

Greetings everyone!  Bugzy here again.  I've been looking out my window here and North Dearborn and all I ever see is snow and ice.  Is it me, or has this been a really long winter so far?!  My  library friends told me it was coldest it has been in 20 years here Monday and Tuesday.  BRRRRRR.   I thought this was Indiana, not the Yukon!

How do you beat the winter blues?   Officially it's called Season Affective Disorder (SAD).  I don't know if someone was trying to be funny with that acronym of they were serious.  Here are a few good links for more information:
http://www.webmd.com/depression/tc/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad-topic-overview
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002499/

Here is some information about Vitamin D and SAD:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10888476
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/vitamin-d-deficiency-and-depression

Who would have thought a vitamin could help with improving your mood, but evidently it does.

Of course, you know what I think:  reading a good book will help improve any mood any time of year.  Especially winter.

The bad part about Winter is when the sun is shining, you are layered up with coats and such so you don't get much sunlight on your skin.  And it is usually the sunniest when it is the coldest, so you don't spend much time outside.  Winter!! No wonder some people move to Florida!

Here is a fun little thing:  it is a computer "widget"  that counts the days down until Spring, March 20 2014.   At the present moment, that is 69 Days, 5 hours and 13 minutes until Spring.  Yea!!

I'm green, so you know I love the summer months!  And springtime, everything turns green and comes alive.  And my antennae get cold outside very fast, and so does my tail.  No fun trying to thaw out a frozen tail.

PEACE
LOVE
BOOKS
Bugzy

Happy New Year!!

Greetings everyone!  Happy New Year from Bugzy.  Hope you had a safe New Year's Eve.

I have been reading up today how many different traditions there are for New Year's around the world.  People have all kinds of crazy and sometimes strange things they do to supposedly bring "luck" to the new year.Eating certain types of food is a popular one.  So is engaging in some type of activity that you usually do not do.  Let's list some:

• German tradition has eating sauerkraut and pork brings luck
• In Louisiana some believe black-eyed peas brings good fortune
• In Spain, people try to eat 12 grapes all a the same time at midnight.  
• In the Philippines, people eat fruits or foods that are round.  It is said the round food represents coins and will bring good fortune.
• In some South American countries, like Brazil, what color of underwear you wear at midnight will determine your luck for next year:  white will bring peace, red will bring love, gold means wealth.
• In Columbia, people will carry suitcases around at midnight; it is said that this will bring a new year filled with travel and adventure.
• In Thailand, people smear their faces with gray talc powder and spray each other with water or throw buckets of water on everyone.  (I have also read that it is the middle of summer in Thailand then, so it actually feels really good and is fun.)
• In Ireland, people will throw bread against a wall; it is said to warn away evil spirits that will bring bad luck.  (Does it have to be bread?  I wonder if cupcakes, cookies, buns, or some other baked good will work?)
• In a small village in Peru, people engage in fist fights to settle any differences and start the new year with a clean slate.  No, I'm not making this up.

Mama expressing her displeasure with a right cross

Of course, there are lots of people doing "new year's resolutions".  I think it's great.  If you want to take advantage of the change of date to better yourself, more power to you.

The most popular that I have read about are losing weight, getting in shape, stop smoking, drink less alcohol, eat healthier foods, learn something--like a foreign language, spend less on your credit card, recycle more, travel more.Me, I don't have to work on some of these because I'm already a very handsome young man!   And I don't smoke or drink, so there is two more!!

I am going to try to do one thing more:  I am going to try to write to you all every week.  We'll see how I do.   Wish me luck!

PEACE

LOVE

BOOKS!

Bugzy