Iowa Flooding

Many of you may have seen the reports of tornado and flood damage in Iowa. I feel so badly for all the individuals who have suffered from the flooding in eastern and central Iowa. But the library damage made me a little ill.

Why? I used to live in Iowa City and I grew up in eastern Iowa. I graduated from the University of Iowa and I did my library practicum at the Cedar Rapids Public Library so seeing the waters inundating UI Main and CR Public think of all the fun times I had in those places. Libraries are the heart of a community so seeing such destruction impacts not just one resident, but all of them.

Libraries aren't the only organizations hit hard. The National Czech and Slovak Museum and the African-American Museum (both in Cedar Rapids) suffered horribly. The UI campus, The Science Station in CR and so many other places in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City suffered badly. The small town of New Hartford was hit not only by flooding, but was hit by the same tornado which wiped out Parkersburg.

To help the victims of Iowa's 2008 floods, go to this article about how the American Red Cross is aiding disaster victims. To find information about contributing to damaged libraries, visit the State Library of Iowa Web site.

Erotic Romance-ups and downs...

Last week MSNBC posted a poll attached to an article about Danielle Steele asking if people read "bodice rippers." Sheesh, how 70s. Very insulting. I voted yes anyway in support of the genre. But today, things are looking up...

Visit Publisher's Weekly. There is a great article titled The New E-in Erotica. Very well written and pleasingly balanced. No salacious silliness, just interesting fact. Yaaaay Publisher's Weekly.

Well, that didn't work...

Hi all,
Yup, you guessed it. Structure didn't work for me. Go figure. I'm going to try to blog as often as I can and go back to posting about what intrigues me on a given day at a given time. We'll see how that works.

Milestone! I mowed my lawn!

Why, you may ask, is this a big deal? Because this is the lawn of my new home and this is the first lawn mowing of the year. Not only that, but I was starting from scratch. In the home I rented, someone else always mowed the grass. I barely noticed when the yard was getting shaggy.

This year I was dealing with "everyone else's lawn looks nice and mine looks awful." I also looked at the yard and dreaded mowing. The grass had gotten over long and I worried that I might kill a lawn mower.

Of course the lawn mower was an issue too. As stated, someone else has mowed my lawn for several years now. I didn't own a mower and they are not a cheap purchase. So when my stimulus package money arrived, I decided to spring for the big bucks and purchase a new lawn mower to go with the "new" house.

I searched around and decided to go to the local Thiesen's store. Boy am I glad I did. Not only did the guy there help me carry the mower out to my car, he put the small engine motor oil in it. Motor oil? In all my years of mowing (a LONG time ago) I don't remember adding engine oil. Of course, in retrospect, that might have been part of my problem with the mowers. The man at Thiesen's was really nice and explained everything I needed to know to mow my lawn without doing myself an injury. I highly recommend visiting them if one is available locally.

So, with new gas can filled with plain old regular unleaded, I headed for home to break the mower out of it's box. Mower operator manuals are not very well written. I had a motor manual and a general manual, but it was trial and error which taught me the most about running the darn thing.

Then came the task of dragging the mower up hills and over grass and around bushes and through gates that wouldn't open. But I succeeded. I mowed. I conquered my lawn. Tomorrow I visit the chiropractor. Maybe my lawn conquered me, after all.

SCA in the Life of this Librarian

Well, it's Monday, but my news is anything but Mundane, at least for me. :-)

I've been active in the SCA (Society for Creative Anacronism) since 1997. I live and play in the Kingdom of Calontir. I've enjoyed most of my experiences and I'm really happy to have made so many wonderful friends.

Recently, I'd kind of retired from active participation. I had a lot of things going on in my life and I'd focused on my writing. I still listened to gossip to keep up with the news, but didn't really travel to events unless they were close.

However an event called Crown Tournament happened over the weekend. Calontir celebrated it's 50th Crown Tourney since becoming a Kingdom and there were 25 couples (combatants and consorts) who were part of things. Fitting indeed. I knew and knew of several of the individuals who were fighting and so I was rooting for them, though I'm sure anyone of the others would have done a wonderful job.

The man who won Crown is someone I know and respect. Heaven help em all, cause I'll be coming out of my retirement a little to attend more events while he is Prince and then King. The really neat thing for me is that he was Prince/King during my first year in the SCA. Ya think it's a sign? I'm gonna take it as one.





Congratulations unto

Graf Luther Amossfaust & Mistress Maerwynn of Holme,

Calontir's newest Prince & Princess.

Long Live Their Majesties!

Long Live Their Royal Highnesses!

Long Live Calontir!

Thursday Thirteen - Ode to Spring

Thursday Thirteen - Ode to Spring
Thirteen things I love about spring!

1. Opening all the windows to enjoy the warm breezes.


2. The grass starts turning green.


3. No More Coats!

4. The days grow longer.

5. The weather grows warmer.

6. Sitting outside with the sun shining down on you.


7. Driving around town with the sun roof open and the radio blaring.

8. The sense of renewal as the earth starts to emerge from winter.

9. Gardening.


10. Flowers bloom and smell wonderful!

11. Butterflies!

12. Picnics.


13. Grilling out!


Happy May Day everyone!!

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Sugar Cookies from Grandma

Sorry for not posting yesterday - it was definitely a mundane kind of Monday. I was sick. Bleh. Not a happy experience.

For today, I want to share a recipe that I consider comfort food in a major way. My Grandma Ruby (Dad's mom) was a phenomenal cook. A virtuoso (or is that virtuosa) in the kitchen. Here is one of her best recipes for a crispy sugar cookie.

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. crisco (or other vegetable) oil

1 c. margarine

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 t. baking soda

2 t. cream of tartar

2 t. vanilla (or to taste)

dash salt

5 c. flour

Preparation:

Cream oil, margarine, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs. Mix. Add vanilla, soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Slowly mix in the 5 c. of flour until dough is stiff. Chill in refrigerator for at least one hour - longer is better. (Do this part with your hands) Roll balls of dough so you create small balls approximately 1 inch in diameter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press balls flat with sugared glass.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes until cookie is lightly/golden brown. Keep an eye on these if your oven runs hot.

NOTE: If you've never flattened cookies before, I find a glass (an actual GLASS cup works best - doesn't stick). I run the glass over the bowl of dough then sugar the bottom of the glass. I press a cookie flat, then resugar. You can use colored sugars, flavored sugars or whatever makes you happy. I recommend cinnamon sugar - tasty.

Word of warning. I find the biggest trick to getting cookies baked and shared with others is my desire to eat the uncooked cookie dough. It is so delish! Enjoy these cookies - baked or raw. Either way, it's a good thing. ;-)