Killed By A Giant Bird

Check out this awesome Hunger Games name and death generator over at hungernames.com!  I am Cashmere Scrabblerod and I had the honor of being a District 8 tribute in the 62nd Hunger Games! I was killed by a giant bird. Comment me with your name and fate!

Book Sale This Weekend

Don’t forget the Library Friends’ Book Sale this weekend! Find great deals on great books while you help the Friends raise money (money they use to buy stuff for us, including summer reading prizes!).

Thursday, March 8, 7-9 p.m. During our fundraising preview sale, we ask for a $10 donation at the door.

Friday-Saturday, March 9-10, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Free admission. Look for discounts Saturday afternoon!

Weekend Wishes

You guys probably have noticed that in order to keep this blog fresh! new! and awesome!, I try to post a few times a week - at the very least, on Mondays and Thursdays. So today’s Thursday, and guess what? The idea factory is currently out of stock.  Haha, sorry!  But never fear, I plan for a weekend of nothing serious and everything fun, so my brain will be back on Monday fully refreshed.

Next week I’ll have for you a review of Variant by Robison Wells (intriguing so far; heard it has a great twist at the end), and we’ll talk about a little movie called Breaking Dawn Part 1.  Romantic vampire/human wedding AND gruesome birth of a half-vampire baby in the same movie?! Count me in. See you with all that next week – have a great weekend!

Katie

See You at Good Old Days!

Winfield Good Old Days is this weekend! The library will have a float in Sunday’s parade, which starts at 1 pm, so come check it out.

You can also drop by the library Friday or Saturday from 9-4 for the library’s booksale – get great books at a cheap price and help the Library Friends raise money to help the library.  The Friends donated our Summer Reading grand prize this year – a digital camera!  So, support them in return!

Have a great weekend and check out the Good Old Days website for a schedule of the fun.

Katie

Chicago Comic Con

Thanks to our own Tressa for these pictures of her trip to Chicago’s Wizard World Comic Con 2011!

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Marvel and DC the Musical

A hilarious start to your weekend, thanks to ItsJustSomeRandomGuy…

Hahahahahahahaha…
Katie

Check, Check, 1 2 3…

I want to blog today, but did you ever have one of those days when you know you have to write something and absolutely nothing comes to mind?  Like that paper for English class that has you staring at a white computer screen and you just can’t get started?  Yep, that’s me today. 

So, I’ll just update you on my world.  If you don’t see me around much in the next couple of weeks, it’s because I’m only here a few days a week in December.  That’s right, I confess: I’m a vacation hoarder.  I always take a bunch of vacation days in December to enjoy the winter wonderland (yes, I know that sounds super cheesy, but deal with it, I just love this season ).  One of the days I WILL be here is next Friday, the 10th, for our gingerbread house making program.  There’s still room if you want to sign up!   

See you in a few days,
Katie

10 Things You Might Not Know About the Library

1. We have TV series on DVD.  Come in and check out Glee, Modern Family, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Vampire Diaries, The Office and more.
   
2. You can take practice tests for the ACT, PSAT, SAT, AP Exams and more using our Testing and Education Reference Center.  You can also see in-depth information about college programs.  Just click here to access the Testing Center.  Your user ID is your Winfield Library card number.  

3. We’ve got a Flickr photostream with pictures from library events.  Check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/winfieldpubliclibrary. 

4. If you forget your library card, but you have your school photo ID with your name on it, you may still check out library materials. 

5. Our all ages chess club meets once a month.  The next meeting is Saturday, December 11 at 10:00 a.m.  The club meets in our Youth Services department, but adults, teens, and kids are all welcome to join. 

6. If you need to do research for a school project, click here to access Encyclopedia Britannica to get biographical information, timelines, atlases, country comparisons and for general research.  You can even make your own custom charts to compare information.  Your password is your library card number. 

7. Back issues of magazines may be checked out for two weeks.  Check out the teen magazines, like Alternative Press, Shonen Jump, Mad Magazine, Teen Voices, Seventeen, Game Informer and more. 

8. If you need a book but we don’t have it, you can request an interlibrary loan and we’ll get it for you from another library.  Just ask for a form at the front desk. 

9. If you have to write a paper about a social issue, like abortion, cloning, global warming, or another controversial issue, SIRS Knowledge Source is perfect for you.  A quick call to the library will get you the password information if you have a Winfield Library card. 

10. We have a suggestion box in the teen area of the library.  Drop in a card with the names of books you want me to buy, ideas for library programs, or general comments.  If you want a personal response, put your name and number or email on the card.  Anonymous suggestions are welcome, too!

November!

NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month, starts today, so I’m (hopefully) going to post something to this blog daily until the end of November.

If you, too, are blogging every day this month and need ideas, you can always go to www.nablopomo.com and go to their “Prompts” section.  There, you’ll see tons of questions you can use to get your creative juices flowing and your blog fingers typing.

Here are a few examples from the Prompts page:

What is the one thing you love that no one else does?
My answer: The platypus! Not exactly a common favorite animal.

Name one famous movie you’ve never seen. Why not?
My answer: Gone with the Wind. My sisters both LOVE  it, but even in the little snippets of the movie I’ve seen, Scarlett just gets on my last nerve, so I can’t make myself watch the whole thing.

Where were you and what were you doing 10 years ago?
My answer: In the fall of 2000, I was in college studying abroad in Spain, having the most amazing six months of my life.  I highly recommend studying in another country if you can.

There are plenty of great prompts like that on the site, so make sure to visit if you need ideas.  If you’re a Winfield teen with a blog, whether or not you’re doing NaBloPoMo this month, leave a link to your blog in the comments!

Katie

Chicago Comic Con

Hey everyone, this is Tressa! I’m taking over Katie’s blog to post some pictures from the Chicago ComicCon/Wizard World 2010 convention that I went to this past weekend. It was awesome! The crowds were incredible! Our favorite part was seeing everyone dressed up in costumes. Of course, we couldn’t attend ComicCon without dressing up ourselves, so we went as Mario from the Mario Bros. games and X-Men characters Gambit and Rogue. We saw many famous celebrities such as Christopher Knight (Peter Brady), Jake Lloyd (Anikan Skywalker), William Shatner (Star Trek), Adam West (Batman), and ex-governor Rod Blagojevich. If you ever get the chance to go, it’s always a lot of fun!

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Back Again

Hello, my people, I’m back from vacation and ready to blog. I’ve got book reviews, special event announcements, tons of new books and more to talk about, so keep coming back!

Katie

Come Hither, Cousin

Today is William Shakespeare’s 446th birthday, and more importantly, it’s Talk Like Shakespeare Day!

Hopefully no one will call me a “villainous abominable misleader of youth” if I tell you about the Shakespearean Insult Generator.  Go ahead! Call your friend a “puking folly-fallen coxcomb” today. After all,  YOU didn’t say it, SHAKESPEARE did.  It’s literature, people.

Try to find out which words were coined by Shakespeare, in the “Which Words are Will’s Words?”  game or play “Romeo Wherefore Art Thou?”.

Want a quick fix? Come in to the library and check out our DVDs of “As You Like It,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Merchant of Venice” or “Macbeth.”

There are tons of ways to celebrate – you can find more Shakespearean good times at  http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/.

Book Spine Poems

April is National Poetry Month, so find your inspiration this month anywhere you can!  Check out these two poems I created using book spines. 

Alright, fine! I admit it! I’m addicted to book spine poetry.  There are four more poems after the jump.  Check them out, then feel free to come to the library and add your own poem to our display.

Resolved

Once again, my resolution this year will be to read more young adult books, so I can review them for you people!  Wish me luck, I’m sure I’ll need it.  Here’s your chance to tell me what you want reviewed for this blog…

How To Get What You Want

So yesterday, I mentioned the suggestion box that’s in the teen section of the library.  Yes, I do read every suggestion and I try to get the things people want.  But sometimes it’s tough because the notes are not specific. 

Here is a hint: the more specific you are in your request, the more likely I am to respond.  Instead of saying “Get more manga”  or “Get interesting books” or “More popular books” tell me specific manga titles, or what books you think are interesting, or the title of a book you saw that you want to read. 

So comment me by filling in the blanks:

“Buy more books like ___________________.”

“I saw __________________ in the bookstore and I think we should buy it for the library.”

“All my friends are reading __________________.  Get it!”

I want the library to have what you want, so comment me here, or the next time you’re in the library, drop a card in the suggestion box.

National Gaming Day @ Your Library

Today is, you guessed it, National Gaming Day at Your Library.  To celebrate, I’m giving away three new card games donated by Hasbro.  The first three people between grades 7 and 12 who come in to the library and mention this blog post will get to choose a game!  Find me in the library or ask for me, Katie, at the front desk.

Scrabble Slam, Pictureka and Monopoly Deal card games.

It’s first come, first served, so drop by the library today to check out your favorite books, movies and CDs and if you’re quick enough, get a free game, too. 

Happy Gaming Day!
Katie

Bold and Pungent

Believe it or not, today is Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day!  Love garlic? Sauerkraut? Curry? Today’s the perfect day to pour it on! 

In honor of this day, here’s my own recipe for some tasty, easy taco dip:

Take 1 pkg. of cream cheese stirred together with 1 pkg. of taco seasoning and spread it on a plate.  Top it with refried black beans, chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a mixture of half salsa and half ranch dressing.   To make it extra bold and pungent, add some crushed red pepper flakes, tabasco or fiery hot salsa.  Enjoy!

You’re Welcome

You all can thank my sister’s People.com addiction for this gem…it’s Robert Pattinson’s 30 Hottest Stares.  Cracks me up because to me, it’s kind of just the one stare with progressivly crazier hair, but to each her own.

Can’t get enough RPattz?  He and Kristen Stewart are this month’s Harper’s Bazaar cover story, where among other things, he says that if he were invisible, he would “… probably spy on people to hear what they think of me — and then hate them for it afterward.”  Check out the whole interview here.

And, in other Twilight-related news, if you can’t wait for New Moon to come to theaters, come to the library to check out the soundtrack!

Disney to buy out Marvel?!

According to news this morning, Disney is set to buy out Marvel for $4 billion, including complete control of Marvel’s over 5000 characters.  I can’t help thinking this is a travesty!  But what do you think? 

Chicago Comic-Con 2009

Hey everyone! This is Tressa. I’m taking over Katie’s blog for just a moment. A couple of weeks ago I went to the Chicago Comic-Con and it was unbelievably awesome!  The whole conference floor was jammed pack with comic book collections, games, specialized toys, t-shirts…you name it, it was there!!!

The best part was seeing everyone dressed up in costumes. Before you even got into the conference area, people were walking around dressed as characters from Star Wars, Batman, Spiderman, Watchmen, etc.  Next year I am totally dressing up! 

 Another fun part was seeing some somewhat-famous celebrities:  Michelle Rodriguez (“Anna Lucia” from LOST) was there; Peter Brady from “The Brady Bunch”; Ray Park (Darth Maul), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrission) from “Star Wars”; the original Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno; …oh, and some kid named Cameron Bright who will be Alec, one of the Volturi, in the next Twilight movie. 

 Anyway, it was a ton of fun!! If you guys ever get the chance to go, it is definitely worth it!!  More pictures after the jump…