The brain is not really a muscle, but there’s a lot of advice out there to treat it like one and exercise it. A huge industry has been built around this concept. But this post comes with a disclaimer: I recently read an article stating that “brain-training effects might be nothing more than placebo effects” and questioning how long those positive effects last. So you might think twice about spending a lot of money on brain-training programs and gurus, but there’s a lot you can find for free at the library to boost your brain power. What could it hurt to do a little mental calisthenics? Continue reading “On Your Mark, Get Set, Exercise Your Brain!”
Family lore has it that my maternal grandfather, Erwin, loved-loved-loved ice cream. He made it regularly during Georgia’s hot summer months, out in the back yard with his wooden, hand-cranked ice cream maker. It looked very much like this. People who knew him considered him to be a very generous soul, but not so when it came to sharing his ice cream. He didn’t want to do that with anyone outside his immediate family (his wife and daughter). My grandmother recalled he would lower the blinds and draw the curtains in the house on the days he was making ice cream, to make it look like there was no one home. That way he could avoid any drop-in visitors who might catch him in the act and compel him to share his beloved frozen concoction.
I was fortunate to witness his ice cream making wizardry and to taste the finished product of his efforts just once (he passed away not too much longer after that). I was young, about 3 years old, and my family was visiting in the blazing heat of the summer. Sweet yellow peaches were on tap, and that is what he used that day in his ice cream recipe. Watching the whole production — the pouring of the mixed ingredients into the metal canister, the packing of the canister into the wooden bucket with chunks of ice and rock salt, and then the cranking of the handle to churn the dasher inside the canister — made a huge impression on my young senses. And most certainly, the explosion of peachy sweet, cold, creamy, custard-like ice cream on my young taste buds was a life-changing experience. Continue reading “Ice Cream the Old-Timey Way”
If you’re looking for a grim, unputdownable book to block the blistering and incessant shine of the July sun, look no further. Paul Tremblay’s “A Head Full of Ghosts” is the sort of book you read in one sitting (assuming you have sufficient free time, or a willingness/compulsion to prioritize pleasure over obligations, and also that you are not a big ol’ chicken (cause it’s scary)).
“A Head Full of Ghosts” is about a young girl that is either possessed by the devil or by mental illness. (Evidence mounts for both possibilities, and when you’re certain you’ve got it all sussed out, you’re probably still going to have your mind changed a couple of times.) Her family, exhausted both mentally and financially, agrees to allow a reality television crew to film the devil’s/mental illness’s exploits. (It’s surprising that there isn’t already a “reality” television show about possessions, but this book gives us a pretty good idea of what one would look like.) Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Paul Tremblay”
Congratulations to Andrew of Ashland on winning our sixth Adult Summer Reading 2016 prize drawing. He is the recipient of a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card.
If you have not registered for the library’s Adult Summer Reading program, you can still do so online or by visiting any of our locations. Once you sign up, you are automatically entered in the prize drawings. Also, don’t forget to submit book reviews to increase your odds of winning. (That’s what this week’s winner did!) There are plenty of drawings left this summer, so keep reading and sharing your reviews with us!
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” ~ Lao Tzu
This year, our country is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Parks System, deemed by writer Wallas Stegner as “America’s best idea.”And it sure has been. Who hasn’t heard about Yosemite, the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, to name a few? People from all over the world come to the U.S. to visit these unique places. Yet as much as all of us admire our national parks, let’s not forget that Missouri has an abundance of wonderful parks, too.
The movement for establishing the Missouri park system began at the turn of the century, although the Missouri General Assembly did not create a state park fund until 1917. In 1924, the state made its first acquisitions — Big Spring and Round Spring on the Current River, Alley Spring on the Jacks Fork, Bennett Springs on the Niagua River, Deep Run near Ellington and Indian Trail near Salem. And in 2013, the state made its 88th acquisition — Echo Bluff. Continue reading “Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites”
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“The Fear of 13”
Website / Reviews / Trailer
Playing at the 2016 True/False Film Fest, this film presents former death-row inmate Nick Yarris as he tells the story of how he was charged with the murder of a woman in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, sentenced to death, and, after twenty-one years behind bars, exhonerated based on DNA evidence. Continue reading “New DVD List: The Fear Of 13, Elena & More”
Anne Girouard, Public Services Librarian
“There is nothing so American as our national parks…. The fundamental idea behind the parks…is that the country belongs to the people…for the enrichment of the lives of all of us.”
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service (NPS), which manages sites throughout the country deemed to be of historic or natural significance. Each year, millions of people from all over the world visit the parks and other areas managed by the NPS, including historic sites, monuments, and seashores. These places contain some of the most unique landscapes and animal life found in the country, and offer affordable vacation options. Surprisingly, these natural wonders have not always been so highly valued in this country. It is thanks to the tireless efforts of early conservationists that these areas are still here for us to enjoy today. Continue reading “Literary Links: National Parks”
Congratulations to Judy of Columbia on winning our fifth Adult Summer Reading 2016 prize drawing. She is the recipient of a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card.
If you have not registered for the library’s Adult Summer Reading program, you can still do so online or by visiting any of our locations. Once you sign up, you are automatically entered in the prize drawings. Also, don’t forget to submit book reviews to increase your odds of winning. (That’s what this week’s winner did!) There are plenty of drawings left this summer, so keep reading and sharing your reviews with us!
”Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.”
~ Elie Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016)
When, in 1990, at the age of 39, I emigrated from the USSR to the United States, I did not know about Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank and other victims — or survivors — of the Holocaust. In fact, I didn’t even know the term “Holocaust.” And not because I was a bad student who failed to learn it in school, but because the anti-Semitic politics of the Third Reich were not covered in our school curriculum and our mass media — not before or during WWII, or afterwards. As a result, the atrocities that were well known in the West were hardly mentioned in the East. There, coverage of WWII was dedicated to the bravery and suffering of Soviet troops and, until 1956, to Stalin’s military genius. So the mass killings of Jews — in Europe and Ukraine — did not qualify.
This is not to say that the Russian population had it easy. The war was devastating for the USSR. Overall, more than 26 million Russian citizens died during the war, not to mention those who came back as invalids and hopeless alcoholics. Still, the fact that the Jews were systematically exterminated was not revealed in Russia (where casual anti -Semitism was the norm) for a very long time. Well, we knew about concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Treblinka and Buchenwald. In fact, there was a popular song written about the latter, which went like this: Continue reading “In Memory of Elie Wiesel”
Looking for games to play with your kids and the thought of one more round of Candy Land makes you want to cry? Desperate to pry the smartphone or the tablet away from your teens? Tired of starting another game of Monopoly you know you’ll never finish?
Oh friends, I am about to change your world.
Table-top gaming is diverse and entertaining, ranging from dice and cards to miniatures and tiles. Some can be played in 15 minutes and some may take hours, depending on what you’re looking for.
Games indirectly teach problem-solving skills, math, strategy and adapting to other players’ actions. There is also the etiquette of listening, taking turns and teaching new players the rules of the games.
You can find something for every age. There are games that focus on math and spatial skills and are appropriate for preschoolers. There are also games that are definitely NOT for children and make for a fun evening with your grown-up friends. Continue reading “Get Gaming!”
