Your Neighborhood Librarian

This is a nice cookbook for a new cook, young or old. There are many great tips such as cracking the freshly hardboiled eggs and letting them sit in cold water to make them easier to peel ( I also add baking soda to the water while boiling). The recipes looked pretty solid and there are a lot of them. They include verything from breakfast smoothies to baked, grilled, slow cooked meals. I could see a young person who is honing their skills in the kitchen really liking this. The style is mature enough that any age beginner would like it.

      This is my personal experience and opinion. Please pardon my conversational tone and know that this is not all I have to say on the subject. It is about one percent of what could be said in defense of libraries and in defense of equitable access to information.         With that said... I don't bite. Pardon the fishing metaphor but when someone says something that is wrong or ignorant on the internet, in the comments, in passing, 99% of the time I don't bite. I mentally remind myself just to let it go. But in person, especially with people I am close to, I sometimes bite. I have had to explain to people more often lately why libraries are important. In the most recent instance a relative casually said libraries will be  "obsolete" and are "replaced by the internet".       So I said something like this: I teach 21 classes, 375 students every 6 day cycle. Our library checks out 18,000 PRINT BOOKS A YEAR. That is one school. Yes we have computers an

 Being in elementary school for the second time has really taught me a lot 😁 Did you know there are other famous groundhogs? I never knew Punxsutawney Phil wasn't the only guy in the know about Spring. And Gail Gibbons is my go to for great nonfiction about so many topics.

One of Julian's favorite people is our friend Bob. When Jules asked me what I was watching on TV and I told him " Bob Ross" he was distraught, " NOT BOB!" he said ( because it wasn't his friend Bob). Anyway, I have a terrible cold and this book is easy for me to read (and super funny) .

I can barely drive my own kids through bad weather and worries about things we might run into.  Bus drivers drive our kids every day and are tough cookies. My favorite fictional tough cookie bus driver is Axel Annie! And when we get sent home early and face snow tomorrow too, I think of her!

The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia Jason A. Gagnon Bringing it back to Earth January 16, 2019 Format: Paperback The Philokalia is a tricky set of books. It is a collection of writings from spiritual Fathers of the Eastern Christian tradition who lived and wrote between the fourth and fifth centuries. It often comes with a warning - "Don't read these without the guidance of a spiritual father!" They were written largely by monks for monks- but still, for a set of books called "Love of the Beautiful" that is strange advice. If these writings are to help the devout on the path to salvation, why do they so often come with a warning? To be fair, flipping through a volume of the Philokalia can sometimes read like the Eastern Christian equivalent of Zen Koans. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Beats me. But what about when St Isaiah the Solitary writes "He who receives no help when. at war should feel no confidence when a