Getting children to read

I had breakfast with another retired librarian from a different metropolitan area today. She told me that their local PBS station was doing a reading campaign for children. So many poor families, she said, had no books at all in the home. So the station was contributing DVDs about reading to the families because they all had the latest in viewing equipment.

Hmmm. Books in the hands of children. What an interesting concept, just when libraries are giving up on them and encouraging everyone to use e-content.

O Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree

For those who love the holy bean, check out this site to hear it beautifully sung.

Time to call?

The problem with cell phones is you overhear conversations that 1) are meant for someone else, and 2) you only hear one side. What in the world was this about? "I haven't talked to my Grandma in two years." The woman appeared to be about 45. I wonder just how long she thinks grandma is going to be around, and what will she say at the funeral?

Stepped on

When I asked how she was doing, she said she'd been stepped on by a horse. Not her horse. She doesn't own one. But one at Marmon Valley. When I was a young woman, there were a number of horse farms where now we have northern suburbs, but it didn't take long to get there. Marmon Valley is where I think my daughter went to camp. And was thrown from a horse and broke her elbow. It's still crooked.

Listening calisthenics

You've heard of active listening? "Sometimes known as empathetic listening, active listening is where an individual confirms that they have heard and understood by paraphrasing the information back to the speaker." Today I saw calisthenic listening. Two women were sitting across from me. One asked the other a question. When she answered (I couldn't hear, only see) the questioner began with the Ohs and Ahs, then the hand waving, head nodding, finger pointing, knife slicing (the air) body bending, earring bobbing, eye blinking, eyebrow lifting, hand clapping, facial contortion, loud laughter and subtle giggles. It worked; the other woman soon said nothing.