Mindy Kaling, writer (and bit actor) on the popular TV show The Office has taken her sense of humor to a new medium—books! With her collection of essays, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Kaling gives readers a sense of what it would be like to be her friend—she’s spunky, loyal, and above all, funny.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, mixes stories of what brought Kaling to the world of comedy writing and acting (yes, Office fans, there’s a long chapter about the show) and her take on certain issues, such as the traits of a great guy and the rights best friends have with each other.
Kaling’s book is a lighthearted, entertaining read, and though the essays can each stand-alone, you’ll be hard-pressed not to read the book in one or two sittings. Kaling also narrated the audiobook, which is available for checkout as well!
Frustrated with an author who has settled into formula to the point where it’s hours of reading or the 4th CD before something important happens? Not so inDefending Jacob, the third novel for William Landay. Landay worked as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts; it shows. Landay’s two prior novels won awards; it shows.
Two plot threads run together through the carefully crafted novel. In the more current, outer thread, former ADA, Andy Barber, takes the witness stand where he fields questions from new ADA, Neil Logiudice, Andy’s former colleague/mentee. In the rich inner story, Barber takes on the case of a murdered middle school student who happens to be a classmate of his own son who is soon charged with the crime. As he relates the unfolding events, Barber proves to be the most incrutable narrator this reviewer has encountered since Rob in Tana French’s, In the Woods. Complex characters with long moral shadows drive the novel to its surprising, or is it, inevitable conclusion.
The Chelsea District Library can now add two more awards to its resume: “Best of Show” in two categories: library newsletter and promotion of a website.
The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) Public Relations and Marketing Section (PRMS) PR Xchange Committee announced today the results of this year’s “Best of Show” competition for library publicity materials. Several hundred entries in print and electronic formats were submitted from a wide array of libraries including public, academic, school, state, and consortiums. Entries were appraised on the quality of content, originality, design, format and effectiveness.
The library entered its fall 2011 newsletter and print materials promoting the library’s local history website, Stories of Chelsea. Both entries won “Best of Show” in its class, libraries with annual operating budgets under two million dollars.
Judges considered factors such as the uniqueness of the approach, audience appeal, presentation of information in a clear and informative way, attractive appearance, appropriateness of design/graphics/photos and uniqueness of format. The panel of judges, including a graphic designer, a professor of advertising, a marketing/communications professional, and a website designer, enjoyed reviewing the submissions and found them to be innovative and compelling.
Winning entries will be on display at the PR Xchange Program at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, on Sunday, June 24, from 11 am – 1:30 pm in the exhibit hall. Awards will be presented at 12:30 pm. Limited quantities of the winning entry materials will be available for conference attendees to take home.
Well, it is REALLY here now on my barn, as these photos show. The panels were installed this week, fittingly, just after Earth Day. My husband and I decided that solar energy was the right choice for us for a number of reasons. First, we plan to stay in our home for “the duration.” Also, with acres of forest land, we supplement our propane heat with wood.
Our initial vision of infrastructure independence was quickly put to rest. Turns out it is very costly to “get off the grid” because battery storage technology is not yet affordable for most of us. (We did, however, choose a solar array that can accommodate backup storage in the future.) The way it works now is that we are both consumer and provider of solar energy. We both sell to and buy from the grid (Consumers Energy). Get this: when we are net providers, the meter runs backwards!
Of course such a project has a price tag. However, the good news is that, in addition to interest free loans, there are government incentives for green upgrades. In our case there is a tax credit that will reimburse us for 30% of the total cost of the solar installation. The rest will return to us over time. Calculating based on our past electric use, the estimate for breaking even would be over 10 years. But our plan is to get off of propane entirely. The cost per gallon of propane has more than doubled since we moved to our home in 2004. Experimenting this past winter with 6 high-efficiency baseboard electric heaters, we had a solid head start on savings before the panels even arrived. My guess is that our savings will pay for the solar in 5-10 years. I will be happy to share updates.
What I can share now is that this feels very good. Public debates over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and tar sands pipelines are close to home. These ventures have known and very serious risks for both public health and the environment. By all indications, we are scraping the dirty bottom of the oil and gas barrel. After the corporate interests have made off with their millions, and the real damage is sadly assessed, we will find ourselves just here. To the extent we embrace renewable technology, like blades of grass greening one by one, we are gifting ourselves a happier “silent spring.”
If you’re interested in learning more about harnessing resources to power your home, here are a few titles that might help you get started:
This year’s 4th Annual Midwest Literary Walk on April 21st was an absolute blast – featuring spirited poetry readings from Jeff Kass, a script reading by Purple Rose playwright David MacGregor and a blues-infused poetry performance by ML Liebler and Robert Jones, along with many more readers at events throughout the day.
If you missed it, or if you’re interested in reliving a few of your favorite moments, videos of each reading are available to stream at the Lit Walk’s online home, www.midwestliterarywalk.wordpress.com. Jump directly to the videos by clicking here.
One of my favorite moments of the day was Thomas Lux’s performance of his poem, “Outline for my Memoir.” Check it out:
Help a Buddy is a new initiative brought to you by the Connect With Others subcommittee of the Chelsea Area Wellness Coalition. The program encourages people to reach out and connect with individuals in their community – the social interaction itself is a healthy activity, but it can also be an opportunity to share and spread healthy behaviors. Inspiration for this concept came from an article in the New York Times titled Forging Social Connections for Longer Life.
Here’s a few suggestions to start off:
Take a walk or bike ride with an acquaintance
Give them a ride to church, a service club or the library
Take a meal to someone homebound, or just stop in to say “hello”
Walk a kid to school (or ride a bike, or meet them after school)
Visit an elderly friend where they live or take them out
Take an un-healthy eater to the Farmers’ Market
OR, use your imagination to connect with others IN HEALTHY WAYS
Then share the brief story of your healthy interaction with the Chelsea Area Wellness Coalition by telling us about it on a Help A Buddy! form. They can be filled out and dropped off at the display on the 2nd floor of the Chelsea District Library.
Everyone loved Harry Potter, kids, teens, adults, everyone. Of course, they were written for kids. Now JK Rowling has turned her attention to her grown-up fans. Her first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy, is slated to come out in September 2012.
Here’s a description of the book from the publisher:
“When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.”
A new awesome thing is posted each weekday, and today the countdown reaches its peak: it’s time for awesome thing #1!
Visiting 1000 Awesome Things and clicking through the list is a great way to brighten up a day and a perfect reminder to enjoy the little things in life. Pasricha also has three book collections: Book of Awesome, Book of (even more) Awesome, and Book of Holiday Awesome. I’m not normally a fan of books based on blogs, but Pasricha’s are the exception. I dare you to read them without smiling. –Emily
In February of 1959, the Chicago Sunday Tribune made a prediction of what the home libraries of the future will look like:
Some unusual inventions from home entertainment and education will be yours in the future, such as the “television recorder” that RCA’s David Sarnoff described recently. With this device, when a worthwhile program comes over the air while you are away from home, or even while you’re watching it, you’ll be able to preserve both the picture and sound on tape for replaying at any time… Another pushbutton development will be projection of microfilm books on the ceiling or wall in large type. To increase their impact on students, an electronic voice may accompany the visual passages.
They weren’t so far off with their predictions of video recorders and audiobooks. How long will it be before we start projecting our books on the ceiling? –Emily
