Thursday, July 18, 2013

Go Ask Alice and Joanie B: How Do You Dewey?


Go Ask Alice & Joanie B
Dear Alice and Joanie B,
How do you library-hens Dewey? 
                              signed, Dewey Dazed

Dear Dewey Dazed,
We Dewey - to find fickle non-fiction - by croonin' and flappin' our wings to the Dewey Decimal Song of Subjects written by yours truly (ackhmm...to the tune of Dem Dry Bones, ready to flap those wings?)
Dewey sorts the non-fiction
Dewey sorts the non-fiction
Dewey sorts the non-fiction
Now find your book thanks to Dewey:
000s is general information and com-pu-ters
100’s is philosophy and psy-cho-lo-gy
200's is all re-li-gions
300's is the social sci-ence-es
400's is grammar and lang-u-ages
500's is all the sci-ence-es
600's applied science and tech-no-logy
700's arts and rec-re-a-tion
800's literature and writ-ing
900's history, geography and bi-o-gra-phy
 ten classes-divisions-sections, while fiction stands-alone
Now you can find your book thanks to Dewey!
Melvil Dewey
Melvil Dewey (1851-1931)
Joanie B:  Wrawwk!  If 600's are applied sciences and technology -- why are chickens in 636.5??
Alice: Why we're applied Chicken and EGG science and technology of course!
Chicken Egg Science

How An Egg Grows into A Chicken
How An Egg Grows into A Chicken
And for books about the DEWEY Decimal System -- try these titles:
Do the Dewey!
Dewey & the Decimals
Dewey & the Decimals
Bob the Alien Discovers the Dewey Decimal System
Bob the Alien Discovers the Dewey Decimal System

Notes from Laurenjoan: Yo! Dewey is the Man.
Before "Keyword Searching" was a twinkle in anyone's eye -- there was (and is), thank goodness, the Dewey Decimal System, the classification system of library materials most used by public libraries to this day. Of course searching on the catalog is one thing, finding the place where a book lives on the shelf is another thing entirely - which makes the Dewey double important.  If materials were classified by keyword we'd be in a big time trouble to find things on the shelf, just think about all the keywords one book has and then all the possible "keyword" places on the shelf that would be--Yikes!   But - thanks to Melvil Dewey, who invented the Dewey Decimal System in 1876, B. C. (Before Computers), libraries have an invaluable tool for classification and organization that is still viable - and essential -- today.
So - one more time for the Dewey:
000--Computer science, information, general works
100--Philosophy and psychology
200--Religion
300--Social sciences
400--Languages
500--Science
600--Technology and applied science
700--Arts and recreation
800--Literature
900--History and geography and biography
And for you folks needing a little tune reminder - here's a rendition of Dem Dry Bones by the Delta Rhythm  Boys:


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**Interested in reading more Alice & Joanie B. by Laurenjoan adventures?
Well then, click here**

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graphic of Dewey:  http://mydaguerreotypeboyfriend.tumblr.com/post/37206149110/melvil-dewey-creator-of-the-dewey-decimal-system

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

My Country Tis of Thee...

My Country Tis of Thee -- America the Beautiful -- Star Spangled Banner

old glory vintage
My Country, Tis of Thee
My country, tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!
 
--Samuel Francis Smith, original poem, 1831






drummer boy
 
America
O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!
 
~Katharine Lee Bates, original poem, 1893



celebrate the 4thStar Spangled Banner
O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare,
the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave?
--Francis Scott Key,
original poem, 1812
 
About the Songs: A Little History Lesson
 
America is one of the national hymns of the United States. The words were written in 1831 for a church school in Boston by Samuel Francis Smith, who was then studying for the ministry. The song was first sung at the school's Fourth of July celebration that year. Smith wrote the words to a melody that was popular in many European countries. He found the tune in a collection of German melodies. "God Save the Queen," the British national anthem, uses the same melody.
Source: Goertzen, V. (2013). America. In World Book Student.
(In World Book Student online by clicking here)
 
"America the Beautiful" also called O Beautiful for Spacious Skies, is one of the most familiar and popular American patriotic songs. Katharine Lee Bates, a college professor, wrote the words as a poem during a visit to Colorado in 1893. She was inspired by the view from Pikes Peak. The poem, which describes the wonders of America, was published on July 4, 1895. Source: Preston, K. K. (2013). America the Beautiful. In World Book Student. (In World Book Student online by clicking here)
 
Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key, wrote the song during the War of 1812. The U.S. Congress officially approved "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem in 1931.
Source: Goertzen, V. (2013). Star-Spangled Banner. In World Book Student. (In World Book Student online by clicking here)
 
America the Beautiful @ SCCLD Libraries

America the Beautiful America the Beautiful Gall, an actual descendant of Bates, illustrates the four verses of this country's other national anthem with bold, clean-lined, heroic American scenes.
America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
A moving celebration of 'America the Beautiful' featuring artwork from ten distinguished artists and inspiring presidential quotes

America the Beautiful America the Beautiful
From internationally renowned humanitarian Dr. Ben Carson, here is a sobering and inspiring manifesto of America's greatness, her failings, and the values and changes it will take to carry our country into a prosperous future.
America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
The scrambled states of America. Disenchanted with their fixed places on the map, the states decide to swap spots in hopes that each can get to see a different part of the country and do something different for a change.
 
 
Hear Aretha Franklin sing My Country Tis of Thee:
 
 
 
Happy 4th of July

-by, Lauren
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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Alice and Joanie B. Find Unlikely Friends


chicken friends

Joanie B. and Alice - library hens and friends. Where one goes, there goes the other.  But last summer when Laurenjoan first brought Alice home from the county fair, Joanie B. did not want to be friends. Instead she let out a very loud squawk...

Joanie B: Squaaaaawwwk!  (how dare you) squaaaawwwk! (come into) squaaawwwwkkk! (my yard) !!!!  The very idea -- squaawwk!

Joanie B. went on this way all afternoon - and for a week after.  Poor Alice!  One day she was with her 16 sister pullets at the fair; the next she was stuck with one mad hen.
Eventually the squawking and determined pecking gave way to calm.  Alice knew Joanie B. was the boss, and then, finally, they could be friends.

 James Taylor expresses it best:
You just call out my name,
and you know whereever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
all you have to do is call and I'll be there,
yeah, yeah,
you've got a friend.



Sometimes you never know who will be your friend. If you're a one-legged chicken, it might be a dog....



If you're a hamster, it just might be a snake....


Unlikely friendships can form anywhere, anytime....


               True friendship unfeigned
Doth rest unrestrained,
         No terror can tame it:
Not gaining, nor losing,
Nor gallant gay glosing,
       Can ever reclaim it.
In pain, and in pleasure,
The most truest treasure
        That may be desired,
Is loyal love deemed,
Of wisdom esteemed
       And chiefly required.
Henry Cheke (1548–86)
Source: The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry -  SCCLD elibrary

Stories of Unlikely Friendships
The Leopard and the Cow
The Leopard and the Cow
Frenemies for Life
Frenemies for Life
Owen and Mzee
Owen and Mzee
Little Pink Pup
Suryia & Roscoe
Suryia & Roscoe
Unlikely Friendships

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**Interested in reading more Alice & Joanie B. by Laurenjoan adventures?
Well then, click here**
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Source of the graphic at the top of the page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryanburns/4404164059/

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Who's the Best Dad for a Chicken? A Dog! A Bedtime Story!

It was almost Father's Day...

...Alice and Joanie B. were clucking about who had the best Dad (all idioms aside)....

Barred Rock Rooster Crowing





Alice: My dad Ruled the Roost - he knew how to crow like no one's business..



Rooster


Joanie B: My dad was THE Cock o' the Walk - he could strut to beat the band..


Alice: My dad was always scratching out a living . . .

Joanie B: My dad feathered our nest with a nest egg . . .

Alice: My dad was raised by a dog - here's a home video of him with his chicken siblings and their daddy dog:




Joanie B: Woof! My dad was raised by bedtime stories like these--

Dads, Dogs, Chicks - Bedtime Stories to Beat the Band
Interrupting Chicken
Interrupting Chicken
Chicken, Pig, Cow
Chicken, Pig, Cow



Happy Father's Day to all the Best Dads in the World!
Roosters



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**Interested in reading more Alice & Joanie B. adventures?? Well then, click here**

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rooster photo sources:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/495494/golden-laced-wyandotte-rooster-1-year-old

http://ahensnest.com/2012/05/rooster-named-gimli.html

https://pinterest.com/crazyquilter54/roosters/

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Chickens, Chickens How Can Your Garden Grow??

chicken eating flower


Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
 With silver bells, and cockle shells,
 And pretty maids all in a row....
UNLESS you're a CHICKEN !





flower pots

Alice and Joanie B., who, like most discerning chickens, love flowers - they are magnifique to eat!

Easter lilies so savory (as most bulb flowers are, except tulips--hmmm candy - Joanie B. likes red the best, Alice favors yellow)...

Annuals - so delicate and sweet - they melt in a chicken's mouth as they shred them to bits...

Pure scrump-tious-ness - the flowers, not the stems and stalks and leaves...as you can see by this photo of Laurenjoan's garden...

 What to do, what to do - if you are a flower lover and NOT a chicken?  You, being a discerning person who loves flowers, as they are magnifique to look at....what to do?
Why go to your local SCCLD Library - or simply go on line to www.sccl.org and order up a few books and such that will arm you offensively for a beautiful garden, a place to see and enjoy flowers whether in a pot, or in a vase, or in a book, or in a bedtime story...
Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!
Free-range Chicken Gardens
Free-range Chicken Gardens
Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too!

A Backyard Flower Garden for Kids
A Backyard Flower Garden for Kids
Where should your garden grow? -- What should you grow? -- Butterflies, birds, and you -- Planting time -- No space? No worries!
Jeff Hutton shows you and your kids how to grow your own food and your favorite flowers, attract butterflies, create crafts, & more.
This beautiful book captures all the sights and sounds of a child’s interactions with nature, from planting acorns or biting into crisp apples to studying tide pools.
A biography of First Lady Bird Johnson who reminded citizens about the importance of conserving natural resources and promoted the beautification of cities and highways by planting wildflowers.

Planting A Rainbow
Planting A Rainbow
This educational picture book helps children understand how to plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings, and nurture their growth.
 chicken and violets
Photo above from:  Countryfarm Lifestyles

violets







Monday, June 3, 2013

Run Chickens, Run - Exercise @ the Library

Alice and Joanie B. try to get to the gym, but after working all day (or the evening shift) at the Milpitas Library - the gym is the last thing they think about....in fact...
exercising chicken





...The last time Joanie B. made it to the gym, her trainer had NO MERCY -- as you can tell by this photo Alice took (while faking a stretch) from her yoga mat.

Needless to squawk about -- this is not a nightmare they wish to revisit...


BUT - how to keep their girlish-chicken-figures while working at the library???

Ever the top-knotch research library-hen - Alice found an advertisement for a great video on YOUTUBE -- The Betty Glover Library Workout - check it out:


Alice: BAWK! Only problem - The Betty Glover Library Workout is from 1987 on VHS!
Joanie B:  Wrrawwk! Looks like a good workout - if you can time travel to 1987 - or even 2007 when maybe there were still a few VHS machines around...
Alice: Chook, chook, chook! We should try a library ebook for exercise:
Exercise eBooks at SCCLD
7 Weeks to 300 Sit-ups
7 Weeks to 300 Sit-ups
Warrior Cardio
Warrior Cardio

Joanie B: Wrawk about a Playaway for exercise??
Playaway for Checkout at SCCLD
Happy Healthy Monsters and More
Happy Healthy Monsters and More

Alice: Since we have a DVD player, we could exercise in the comfort of our coop - how about these - ??
DVDs for Exercise like these are at SCCLD
Ageless with Kathy Smith
Ageless with Kathy Smith
Banish Fat Boost Metabolism

Banish Fat Boost Metabolism

Joanie B:  Chook, chook, chook!  There are always good BOOKs for exercise ideas -
Exercise in a BOOK
The Men's Health Big Book
The Men's Health Big Book
Chubster
Chubster

Notes from Laurenjoan:
There's no denyin' - or lyin' - we need to exercise in order to live a happy, healthy life.  You can try a gym - or you can try the library - SCCLD has a vast collection of books, DVDs, ebooks, and more for your exercising pleasure.

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Chicken exercising photo source:  Sacha Goldberg - the photo is really of Sacha's grandmother and her chicken named Bob.
Super Mamika

Mamika and Bob