Tag: Morning Meanderings

Sometimes A Book Comes Along That Makes You Drop Everything Else You Are Reading

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

 

For the last two days I have been a part of a Rural Library and Literacy Leadership Institute that is embarking on a seven month journey together.  This was our first meeting together and I was thrilled to be a part of it, representing along with two others, the Brainerd Minnesota Public Library.  I will write more later about what we are doing as a group, but this morning I wanted to share one happening from yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon when we broke away for lunch our lunch time speaker was Kao Kalia Yang.  She is a Minnesota author that not only overcame great hurdles to learn English, but wrote a book, The Late Homecomber that has won two awards.  I am sad to say that prior to this encounter yesterday I was unfamiliar with Kao or her book.

When we walked to our seats where we would be dining I was excited to see that we each had a copy of the book waiting on our chair.  I whispered to my teammates that I loved events where books were given out!  As we started our salads, this petite 31-year-old woman took the microphone and I wish (WISH WISH WISH!) that I had recorded what she had to say, but wasn’t sure if that was the polite thing to do and she spoke so elegantly, so passionately that I am not sure I could have held my phone up anyway.

I found this speech of hers on You Tube, don’t be frightened by its length, if you can listen even to the first 4 minutes of it you will get why I was so impressed on. 

 

 

When Kao spoke yesterday I was so impressed by the passions she carried for her book.  I have heard other authors speak about hardships in their memoirs and it is like after talking about it so much they lose the power of the words they speak of – does that make sense?  Its like when they talk, it is so longer themselves they are speaking of but some other person.  This is not the case with Kao.  When she read from her book with such genuine emotion I knew I had to read her book… and read it this weekend.

SO this morning I will be putting on a wedding dress and zombie make up and participating in the Crosslake Monster Dash, but this afternoon… I will be reading The Late Homecomber and if it is as good as I think it is going to be…. look out Bookies Book Club I will be plugging this to you as well.  😀

 

Kao and I. Kao was born in Thailand’s refugee camp and immigrated to Minnesota when she was six. Kao is currently a Professor at Minnesota State University.

Morning Meanderings… The Comprehensive Plan For Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Good morning!  I like this picture because it really captures most mornings for me…. coffee coffee coffee, like fuel to a car. 😛

Those of you who have blogged for any amount of time have probably had offers made for people to guest post on your blog.  The truly funny ones are ones that have nothing to do with what you blog about, they could be offering to share with your readers about tires for your car, UGG Boots, vitamins and vacation destinations… all of which have been plugged to me…. and no they did not offer anything in return or I may have caved on the vacation one and Book Journey would have become “Traveling With Book Journey” or something like that…. and I would go to fascinating places like Hawaii and Aruba and telling you what I was reading while sipping some delicious fruity drink and sporting some amazing tan…

well,

a girl can dream.

I digress..

SO, a couple of days ago I receive the email says that they noticed I talk about zombies from time to time.  😯

I do?

 

This is a stretch but their may have been zombie like creatures in the Passage that I read a couple of years ago… Flyers or Virals I believe they were called…  hmmmm….. well anyway, it was the next line that caught my attention…

 

we thought your readers may like detailed information on how to prepare a barn or garage for the zombie apocalypse.

Well… what sort of person would I be if I did not pass this vital information on to you?  And seriously, what if this post…. saved a life?  😛

 

And honestly, we are still five days out from Halloween… plenty of time to grab a couple of buddies and put up a pole barn.  😉  AND as the article says, since money will soon be useless, why not opt for the concrete floor?  This will lead to avoiding zombies tunneling under your building.

The article goes from how to design your pole barn, to how to stock it, the weapons you need… a team.  One of my favorite parts of the article is choosing your team…

Choosing Your Survival Team

As with everything in life, it’s all about the people you know. The last thing you want to do it be holed up with a useless, hysterical mob.

Stay away from:

  • People in the entertainment industry* (actors, singers, models, etc.)

  • People in useless white collar trades like SEOs, marketing professionals, accountants, and salesmen

  • People who are overly bubbly or overly depressing (you’d wind up throwing them to the zombies eventually)

*The exception to this rule might be comedians…everyone needs a good laugh!

Your ideal team of Zombie Apocalypse survivors will include:

  • Someone with military and/or police experience, preferably an expert marksman

  • Someone with hunting/foraging experience

  • A nurse, doctor, or veterinarian (honestly, a vet might be your best bet if you also have livestock)

  • Someone with farming/gardening experience

  • A handyman who has mechanical experience

  • A genius who dabbles in everything from computers to mechanical engineering

  • A few “blue collar” folk not afraid to get their hands dirty, learn new things, and do some grunt work

 

 

Isn’t that awesome?  That’s my funny for the day.  I am still in the cities at the library/literacy Leadership Training.  Day one was good and in about an hour we will kick off day two.  I will be heading back home tonight after 5.   Hope your day is wonderful.  I am listening to I, Michael Bennett this morning on my IPOD,  love that series.  🙂

 

Oh… and if you want to read the rest of the article on Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, ummm…. you know, just for ummmm…. research.  Feel free to do so here.

Morning Meanderings… Dropping Off The Face Of The Blog

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

 

Wow. 

I have to say that going into this week I had no idea that I was going to go MIA this week.   Life has a way of zapping all my time and energy lately.  I thought this week was going to be mellower, but if this gives you any inkling of how things are going, I am currently in a car going to the cities for a Library Assessment/two day meeting. 

No… I am not driving.  😛

I did actually write a fun post yesterday morning and my computer did that AWESOME thing again where I hit post it logged me out of wordpress and I had lost half of the post and no time to rewrite before work. 

So anyway I am alive, just still living a crazy life that should (really…) slow down after I get back from Florida that first week of November.  I will keep in touch now throughout the weekend – I am in a hotel in the cities tonight so should have some time to review and write a little.  😀

 

 

Not So Morning Meanderings… But I think a worthy post anyway….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)28 Comments

 

*Sigh* I cant even say good morning because by the time this post went up… it was afternoon.  Yesterday morning I left for the cities at 6:30 am for a meeting, then a board meeting and returned home after 10 pm last night WIPED OUT.  Then this morning I got up and went to check in on the IHN guests and wound up talking with my friend Shelly for three hours who was one of the volunteers who stayed over night and held down the fort while I was gallivanting around Minnesota.  In fact this morning I tried to remember the last time I had a day of not “doing” and I had to go back almost three weeks. 

I have another crazy day today but after tomorrow noon, things should slow to a mere simmer and no longer life at a boil.   My picture that graces the top of this post is part of the running around I did yesterday.  While in Minneapolis I stopped in at the book store Magers and Quinn where Michelle from Red Headed Book Child works.  Unfortunately she was out running an errand so I missed her but did manage to purchase three books and this neato mug.  😛

 

I though for today’s Saturday Snapshot (stop over at Alyce’s and check out this fun meme!)  I would post a few pics from my last week between crafting at the cabin, stopping at an apple orchard to the road trip yesterday. 

 

 

My friend Amy also had to give it a try…

 

 

Cool building in Minneapolis

 

On a tandom funny note do you ever use that “check in” option on Facebook?  From your Smart Phones you can have facebook post where you are at and I love that!  Yesterday morning while in Minneapolis I was going to check Connie and I in and seen one of the near by places was “United Geeks Of Gaming”.  A quick Google check verified that it was a group that meets to play board games and video games…. LOL, I checked us in there. 😛

Have a great day everyone!

 

I have about an hour and a half here before I need to hit the ground running again.  I have some books to put away in the books room, laundry to finish, and dishes to put away.  Tonight when all is said and done I hope to actually crack open a book. 😀 

How is your weekend going?

Morning Meanderings… Hobbit Book Club

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

 

Good morning!  Wednesday!  already!  WOW!

I usually feel these days like I am behind – behind on reviews, reading, and occasionally life as well.  Today would be a fine example of that.  As I was looking through some old emails that I had yet to open (*sigh*) I found an interesting link to an online Hobbit Book Club.  As you more than likely know, The Hobbit is coming out as a movie.  What you may not know is that I LOVE all things Tolkien.  SOOOOOO…. I have to look into this deeper.

If you click on the link, you will see I am already behind.  If you know me, you know I am going to try to catch up anyway… 😀  My posting of this today is to make sure you 1.  know about the read-a-long and 2.  see if anyone else is doing this already, or would care to chase after it like me… with me. 

 

 

I leave you with these questions…

Have you read The Hobbit before?

Are you interested in reading it now – pre-movie?

And most importantly…

Is that Dumbledore in the movie trailer? 

Morning Meanderings… When A Passion Catches FIRE

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning!  Happy Tuesday!  It is drizzly here in Minnesota this morning.  I am up early serving for IHN and now sitting down to write a quick post before I go to work. 

Yesterday I spoke in a nearby town to a group of 40 retired teachers about Banned Books.  I know right?  SO how did that happen?

A woman who is on the Friends Of The Library board “witnessed” my passion for banned books a few weeks ago and asked me if I would speak to this group.  I said yes and it sounded like a really good idea at the time…

until when I was driving their yesterday and thought, I wonder if some of these teachers will be teachers I had as a student?  AND…. I wondered if they would think that grown up Sheila is kind of a “rebel with a cause”talking about banned books....

 

When I arrived I was thrilled to see 4 of the teachers were teachers I once had.  And they remembered me which always amazes me because throughout my life time I probably had about 40 teachers and they have about 1,000 students throughout their career….  

AND talking about banned books was actually fun.  I brought some of my own, had pictures of the ones I did not own and went from the current champions of banned: Hunger Games, Harry Potter, SPEAK, to the surprises:  LORAX, The Dictionary, Lord Of The Rings, and of course the classics…  It was actually a lot of fun and there were questions afterwards – a great question was,

“Do you think an author may sometimes try to be a bit controversial to hit the banned books list, after all… ban a book the kids want to read it more…”

 

While I can not speak for the authors, I figured in most cases no…. but who knows really…. 😛

 

When I was done speaking I was given a gift, a banned book bracelet (SSSQQQUUUEEE!) I have always wanted one!  It really was a good time.

In other news, I noticed that The Twelve by Justin Cronin is now available for purchase.  Serious SSSQQQUUUEEEE worthy.  If you have not read The Passage (click for my review)– oh my… you MUST.  And when you are done, be sure and give The Twelve a try.  I have yet to read my copy of The Twelve and that is really insane since The Twelve was the one book I wanted most when I went to BEA in June and I have now had it on my shelf all these months. 

 

SO off to work.  I plan to be back later with a review.  Have an awesome day!!!!

Have you read The Passage or Justin Cronin?

Morning Meanderings… A Recap Of Last Weekends Bike Ride

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

 

Happy Saturday ya all – 😀  I am currently up North – yes further north than my home in central Minnesota at our cabin for a girls crafting weekend.  Lap top – has stayed home this time as I do not have internet there anyway so this is a pre-scheduled post that I am hoping (fingers crossed!) will appear magically on my blog on Saturday morning. 😀

 

For today’s Saturday Snapshop over at Alyce’s At Home With Books, I thought I would share some pics and thoughts from the Mankato Ramble from last weekend. 

I drove to Mankato Minnesota on Saturday late afternoon as the drive is almost 4 hours.  Hello audio books!  😀  I stayed the first night at my friend Diane’s house as my College Son was out-of-town.  Can you believe it – I come to his town and he is not home?  LOL  He was actually in Duluth and was getting back early Sunday. 

On Sunday morning in 25 degree weather (uh… yeah) we went to the bike ride.  I rode with my friends Diane, Sheila, Belinda, and Jason – and a new friend, Josh.

The ride was good but cold – really cold for the first couple of hours.  I was almost caving to do the shorter 36 mile ride instead of the 44 mile ride.  Thankfully my friends stayed strong and we completed the ride as planned.  Here are some pics from that event:

Jason and I, pre-ride

 

One of the pit stops

 

Guess I should have posted this one first 🙂

I am not usually a big cookie fan but something about the cookies on this ride…. oatmeal chocolate chip…. MMMMMMMM

 

Diane and Josh took the shorter ride so at the end, this is who I finished with: L: Belinda, Sheila, Me, and Jason

 

We had a great time.  I then spend Sunday with College son Justin.  We went out to dinner and then to the movie Pitch Perfect which was funny and good!  I stayed over night with Justin and then drove home Monday morning.  A great weekend! 

Check out more pictures of what people are up to at Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots!

Morning Meanderings… Banned Book Week Winners and a fun box of formal dresses!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

 

Good morning and I mean good morning as I am writing this at 3:30 am.  This was not the plan but I woke up at 2:50 am when hubby went to go move equipment and now I am WIDE AWAKE.  😛 
Last week was the fantastic Banned Book Week event and I am still excited from all the participants.  I have BUNCHES of winners to announce and here they are:

 

The winner of the PREP post $10 Amazon gift card is….  Belle from Book Belle!

 

The winner of the copy of The Giver is Shannon from I Run Teach Read!

 

The Chocolate Wars post CHOCOLATE giveaway (which was comments on my post and on Florinda’s  goes to Jennifer from The Relentless Reader!

 

The Blog Participant drawing of a $20 Amazon gift card that was for everyone who signed up and offered a post during banned book week goes to…. Gina from Book Dragon’s Lair!

 

And finally – I had mentioned that all comments go into a LARGE Banned Book drawing for my banned book week posts as well as commenting on the other posts I linked for banned book week.  That prize package looks like this:

And the winner is:

Crys from Book Em!!!!

 

*All winners were chosen using random.org

 

And one more fun thing. 

 

Gina from Book Dragon’s Lair sent me a little package last week… she knows that every July my book club dresses in formal wear for our annual “Queen Event”.  She sent me two gorgeous dresses for any of the eighteen girls in book club to choose to wear if they would like.  How cool is that!  Here are the dresses:

Just another thing I love about the book blogging community!  Thank you Gina they are beautiful!

So this morning I leave for our cabin for a crafting weekend.  I am really looking forward to a couple of days of chilling out.  Next week we serve for IHN (homeless in our community) so it will be a bit of a busy week and a little down time is just what I am looking forward to.  Posts and reviews are prepped to go up while I am away so continue to stop in and see whats happening and what I have been reading 😀

Morning Meanderings….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good morning!  First off Banned Book Winners – I will post tomorrow morning.  I am sorry about this delay – if you read my post yesterday I had pulled winners yesterday morning and was typing them in and linking them as I wrote my morning post.  When I hit publish there was an error and wordpress logged me out.  I logged back in and most of my post was not saved and none of the winner info or links.

GAH.

My plan was to post then this morning but I am finally sitting down with coffee to type and see that I have 40 minutes to write the post shower, get ready, and get to work.  Tomorrow then.  Truly.

This week has been a BUSY one.  Monday I came home from Mankato and worked at the Library on the window.  Tuesday was book club, last night was my serving night with the teens and tonight – tonight I was supposed to leave for the cabin for a craft weekend.  I was not packed, not sure what I have for craft supplies and just overly not ready.  😀  I posted out book club review on The Wizard Of Oz (and food and dressed up members) last night.

Thankfully my wonderful friend Amy called last night and suggested we go Friday morning and come back on Sunday rather than go tonight and come back on Saturday evening.  That works so much better 😀

SOOOOO – that said, I will be packing tonight and probably running to a couple of stores to see what cool things I can work on.  It will be a good weekend.

Ok and just for fun… it is October and all… here is a book trailer (best book trailer of 2009 bt the way) Of Sense and Sensibility… and ummm…. Sea Monsters.  Have a great day!

 

Morning Meanderings… It Ain’t Easy Being Green… and Banned Book Week Winners

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning!  😀

Hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday and now working their way to a great Wednesday.  Last nights book club was WONDERFUL!  We reviewed The Wizard Of Oz and in typical Bookie style, the food was AMAZING and a few of us…

dressed up.

 

I need to also post the winners from the Banned Books week event!  I have not forgotten!  SO here they are from all the giveaways I held last week during banned book week:

 

Ok – I had just finished this post with all my winners and post links and hit submit – it logged me out and when I came back in my post ended here.  *sigh*  I do not have time to re do it this morning as I have used up all my time and must get ready for work.  Ugh.  We will try this again tomorrow morning – so sorry for the delay.
Have a great day!!!!  😀