Cincy Public Library Rocks!

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need!”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a total and complete bibliophile. I devour books...not read...devour :) Since I've moved closer to downtown, Cincinnati's Main Library has become my stomping ground. So, I was overjoyed to learn that they were recently named a Star Library by Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service (LJ’s Index). Library Journal is a publication that rates libraries based on the different services they offer.

I've included some details below, but all of the mumbo jumbo just means that my Cincy Libray rocks!! If you love the library as much as I do, you might want to consider donating to their annual fund.

America’s Star Libraries for 2010 were selected after rating 7,407 public libraries. Star library status was awarded to just 258 libraries. The October 2010 ratings are based on Institute of Museum and Library Services public library data for 2008. Scores are determined by rating four per capita service output statistics: library visits, circulation, program attendance, and public library computer use.

7th in Hennen Ranking
Earlier this year, the Library ranked 7th among libraries serving populations of 500,000 or more in Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings, Cincinnati’s highest rating ever. Hennen’s top ranked public libraries are considered the best in the nation.

10th in Collection Size
The American Library Association also ranked Cincinnati’s public library in the top 10 for collection size, 1 of only 3 public libraries to make the top 10. Ranking 10th with a collection of 9.2 million items, our Library is in the prestigious company of the Library of Congress, Harvard University, and New York Public Library.
10th in Circulation

It’s important to note that with this recognition Cincinnati’s library has earned the distinction of being the only library in the country to be ranked in the top 10 on all library ratings: Hennen, Star, busiest, and largest collection.

More info

Happy National Punctuation Day!

Guess there's a day for everything now. lol.

Check out the official recipe for Punctuation Meat Loaf. I'm not a big red meat fan, but you gotta give these peeps an A for effort :) Note that you need a "punctuation mark-shaped tin." Man!! I would be so much cooler if I had one of these, but alas...I do not. ::sigh::

:)

2 pounds of ground chuck
1 cup water
1 or 2 eggs
1 box of Stove Top dressing: any flavor
Topping: 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup
brown sugar.
Take an ice cream scoop and scoop the ground beef mixture into punctuation
mark-shaped tins. Mix 1/2 cup ketchup together with 1/2 cup brown sugar for
topping. Top each filled tin with the topping mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. A fist-size period makes one serving.

Television is a Drug

My oh my! I generally watch very little tv...not because I'm one of those bourgeois intellectuals who pretends not to like it. No. I honestly don't have the time. My extracurriculars keep me more than occupied. If I'm lucky, I'll catch a quick clip of American Idol or Bridezilla, but those times are few and far between.

After watching "Television," though, I think I'm better off without it. Sheesh!! you have to watch the video below to understand what I mean. This visual interpretation of Todd Alcott's poem is positively brilliant!

Thanks to Brad for getting me hip to this great vid.

enjoy!

Television is a drug. from Beth Fulton on Vimeo.

Hard Working Words

Evey year, hundreds of words are dropped from the English language.

Old words. Wise words. Hard working words. Words that once led meaningful lives but now lie unused, unloved, and unwanted.

Today, 90% of everything we write is communicated by only 7,000 words

you can change that. help save the words.

That is the central message of Oxford Dictionary's Save The Words site. It's a very tongue in cheek spin on the ever-popular "word a day" trend and I love it!! The words literally call out to you. Beg for you to adopt them. lol. I chose "xenization"...something that i hope to experience more of in the coming years. Check it out for yourself. Thanks baby bro for getting me hip to this:-)



Why are words important?
"Words are the cornerstone of language. The more words we have, the richer our vocabulary. Words allow us to communicate precisely. Without the right words to describe something, well...we'd be speechless.

Unfriend Beats out Sexting...and the Demise of the English Language

Before I start, I must say, I am not a language snob. Yes, I love fine language and thoughtful poetry, but I can throw out the slang as well as anyone else. There is a place for causal conversation and there are words that are useful in casual settings.

But to elevate those words to rock star status by naming them the top words of 2009? Shameful. That's exactly what the Oxford American Dictionary did this year with their list of top words. These included the words un-friend, sexting, hashtag, and intexticated. What the heck is intexticated? I have never heard anyone say that stupid, made up word...in life! And, last year's list wasn't any better. The top word of 2008 was....wait for it...“Hypermiling.” It's when you try to maximize your gas mileage. I mean, it's a useful word, but the top word of the year?

I
think
not.

What is HAPPENING to the English language?

All I know is that if I start to see these words cropping up on standardized tests and junk, I'm going to scream...for real!

::sigh::

Check out the Reuters piece below on the demise of the English language...I mean the top words of 2009.

Enjoy!

"Unfriend" named word of 2009
BY Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – "Unfriend" has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent.

Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook.

"It has both currency and potential longevity," said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford's U.S. dictionary program, in a statement.

"In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year."

Other words deemed finalists for 2009 by the dictionary's publisher, Britain's Oxford University Press, came from other technological trends, the economy, and political and current affairs.

In technology, there was "hashtag," which is the hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitter users search for tweets similarly tagged; "intexticated" for when people are distracted by texting while driving, and "sexting," which is the sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone.

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