- Random House has their "Books are Great Gifts Campaign." I could not agree more: a book does make a great gift. And if you live in Latin America (or in our house), you are still on time for Dia de Reyes (Three Kings' Day). They even have a video with some celebrities telling why books make great gifts. I love Jon Stewart's reason because I will often pop open a book when I come across a slow buffering website too. And because you can travel to faraway lands for less than the cost of a gas tank, according to Christopher Paolini.
- I found this story about book clubs that don't quite get along interesting. Personally, I am not a reader who cares for book clubs, and some of the reasons in the article are mine as well. From The New York Times, "Fought over any good books lately?" This could be why I would not make a good public librarian: I don't care much for book clubs (at least as most of them seem to work).
- Want to remember some forgotten books? Go to The Neglected Books Page.
- BusinessWeek has a list of Best Business Books of 2008. Not so sure we want to remember 2008 in terms of business given the economic chaos and the many financial villains, but still worth a look.
- The Financial Times has its look at The Reading Year for 2008. They have lists in various categories.
- Now, if the economy is tight, you may want to consider this piece of advice: read the books you already have on your shelves. From The Wall Street Journal. I know I have a good number of books sitting in my perpetual TBR pile. Maybe it's time in 2009 to see if I can make a dent on that TBR pile and read some of the books I have bought (or gotten as gifts, so on), but not quite gotten around to yet. For the pile to grow is easy: I am a slow reader, so books often pile up in my case. But maybe 2009 will be the year we decrease the TBR pile.
- The Library Advocate offers a huge "Gift Guide for Library and Book Lovers." You are bound to find something here.
- Cosmic Variance blog has a list of "The Thousand Best Popular-Science Books." The list itself is not quite a thousand, but what they do is they ask readers to comment and provide their own suggestions as well. This could be the year for more people to read a bit more in the area of science.
In this blog, I feature book reviews, other reviews such as Tarot and oracle deck reviews, and some items of general interest. The home of features such as "Signs the Economy is Bad" and "Reading About the Reading Life." If you are looking for my professional (i.e. the librarianship blog), go to Notes from a Simple Librarian.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Holiday Post 2008: The one for readers
I barely managed to get back to this, but here we are. As the Spanish saying goes, "lo prometido es deuda" (a promise is a debt), and I promised three posts for the holiday. This is the third, which is basically a collection of some reading lists and other things for readers I have found around the net. As a disclaimer, I tried to avoid the obvious lists (The NYTBR, TLS, and similar) since you can easily find them elsewhere. I will be posting the annual list of books I read later this week at The Gypsy Librarian, so I hope my two readers will return for that. In the meantime, here we go:
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Holiday Post 2008 Continued: The Funny and/or Interesting
This second posting for the 2008 Holiday Season is a compilation of amusing and funny things I have been finding.
On gifts and shopping:
On arts and crafts:
- Ever wonder what would happen if Santa had to put up with the dreaded Institutional Review Board? You know, the guys on campus whose job it is to make sure any experimental subjects are treated humanely (at least, that's their story). Apophenia imagines what Santa's IRB proposal would be like.
- PNC Financial Services does their annual Christmas Price Index. What amuses me so much of this feature is how the financial advisor keeps such a straight face in spite of the cute subject. Keep an eye on the ticker as well. They also include an about section where they explain how they calculate the whole thing. They even have a little economics trivia game for kids.
- And speaking of how much things cost, it seems the animals for hire business is having woes of its own. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- YesButNoButYes looks at guns and Christmas, specifically recalling the good old days when you could give a boy a gun without the PC Police coming over.
- Now giving is a big part of the holiday, specially charity giving. But what if you happen to be atheist (or just plain secular), and you want a charity to match your needs? Look no further. Here is a list of Atheist (or at least secular) Charities. From Techskeptic's Data Daily.
- It is not all peace and love during the holidays. There are just some people that we hate during this holiday. Campus Squeeze has a list of "People You Hate During the Holidays." Go ahead, have a look. I am sure you can identify at least one of them.
- And as if things were not bad enough, Campus Squeeze also points out "16 Things About Christmas We Hate." I bet you can find at least one or two from the list you agree with.
On gifts and shopping:
- Maybe kitsch is your thing. The BBC has a photo gallery of "Kitschmas" items. They got the items from Ship of Fools, a Christian humor site.
- Cool Material has a list of What NOT to Buy Your Girlfriend for Christmas. One or two of these may work any other time of the year. A few others should certainly remain forgotten.
- Do you need to send some Christmas cards? However, you just want something alternative? Order of St. Nick has you covered with some alternative greeting cards. If you have a healthy sense of humor and are not easily offended, you can get these (not for the faint of heart or the pc people).
- I will go on a limb and say that I find the whole "War on Christmas" nonsense (as exemplified by people like Bill O'Reilly) totally ridiculous. If someone says to you "Happy Holidays," it does not follow they must be some enemy of the season. Personally, I will reply with what you use: you say "Merry Christmas," I will say it back. You say something else, I will reply in kind. Simple. Live and let live, but unfortunately some people have to impose their views on others. The "friendly" folks of the Liberty Counsel (same folks from Liberty U) want to make sure you know where the battle lines are on this "crucial" battlefront. They have created a list of merchants that are naughty (no mention of Christmas) and nice (do mention Christmas). Go have a laugh at their expense. They certainly deserve it for promoting division during what should be a season of peace and friendship and family (and they claim to be for family values).
- Now I am sure by now everyone has seen the infamous commemorative plates honoring Barack Obama's election victory. Well, what about that other guy he ran with? Fear no more: now you can get his plate too, and in time for Christmas (a hat tip to the Rude Pundit):
- And what happens when you have one of those people who just has everything already? What do you get them? Well, if they are heroin addict, this sketch has the answer:
On arts and crafts:
- From Lifehacker, here are some DIY Beer Can and Liquor Bottle Holiday Ornaments. With all the drinking that goes on this season, you may consider doing some creative recycling. Besides, beats Hallmark. My personal favorite is the Three Wise Men ornament.
- From last year, here is Tattoo Santa. You can put some ink on the jolly old man and then send it on e-mail to your friends. Just the right blend of amusing and slightly unsettling.
The Holiday Post 2008
My goodness. I have not posted here since last month when I did the post for Thanksgiving. Time does move fast. I will simply say that things got very chaotic right after Thanksgiving. My mother passed away on December 4th after a decades long battle with lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus if you wish to get specific). She remained optimistic and positive to the very end, and at some point I will probably write a post or two about her. For instance, she enjoyed riding roller coasters, but that is another story. She was a big fan of Christmas, and in our house, the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. So I know she would want me to continue with traditions, and thus we come to our Holiday Post of 2008.
This is now the fourth year I have done this (see 2005, 2006, and the 2007 three part extravaganza), and I do enjoy putting these together for the amusement of my two readers. This time I am putting things in no particular order by broad categories, so my two readers can find what they like. Just like last year, we have enough stuff to make another three part extravaganza. Part One is this post. Part two will be a collection of humor with a bit of "spice" thrown in (an adult thing or two could get in), and Part Three will be a special post for book lovers and readers (hey, I am a librarian after all).
So here we go:
Safety: It is important to be safe during the holidays.
Miscellaneous (or I was not quite sure where to put these):
And I leave you with a bit humor for now (by Matthew Henry Hall, from Inside Higher Ed.):
Update Note (12/31/08): I added the links to Parts 2 and 3 above.
This is now the fourth year I have done this (see 2005, 2006, and the 2007 three part extravaganza), and I do enjoy putting these together for the amusement of my two readers. This time I am putting things in no particular order by broad categories, so my two readers can find what they like. Just like last year, we have enough stuff to make another three part extravaganza. Part One is this post. Part two will be a collection of humor with a bit of "spice" thrown in (an adult thing or two could get in), and Part Three will be a special post for book lovers and readers (hey, I am a librarian after all).
So here we go:
Safety: It is important to be safe during the holidays.
- From the blog GovGab, a post on holiday safety with those Christmas lights and decorations. They also point to information on food safety. Given the many meals that will be prepared, being aware of food safety is important.
- Speaking of safety, this time when traveling: if you fly, you may want to look over the list of restrictions on food and gifts from the TSA.
- The Federal Trade Commission has some Holiday Shopping Tips, Circa 2008. They offer some good advice for consumers.
- By now, you probably bought most of your gifts. If you had to ship anything, you should have done it by now (hey, Christmas Eve is tomorrow). Anyhow, here are 10 Tips for Shipping Holiday presents.
- Maybe you have decided to do a little regifting. If you go this route, here are 12 Rules for 'Regifting' you may want to consider (via MSN). There is even a whole website dedicated to the concept of regifting (www.regiftable.com).
- The economy is tight, to put it mildly. So people are looking for ways to save and still have a meaningful holiday. To help out, here are the "Top 25 Life-Improving Christmas Gifts Under $10" (via ZenHabits).
- If you are looking for gifts that may be a bit humourous or amusing or just plain different, you may want to give Uncommon Goods a try.
- Giving can also involve charitable giving. But how do you give when money is tight? From the National Better Business Bureau, here are "Five Ways to Donate to Charities When Money is Tight."Found via GovGab, which also has other ways to get creative with giving. I am not very good at giving formally, but I always put something in the red kettles of the Salvation Army when I come out of stores and establishments. While I don't keep track of it, I am sure it would add up.
- From The New York Times, a feature on Hanukkah Recipes, for our Jewish friends as well as those of us just interested in what other people do over the holidays.
- I always say if you choose drink during the holidays, to please do so in moderation. Here is an article on making the perfect holiday drink, from the folks at the Wired HowTo wiki.
- From WikiHow, here is how to make mulled beer.
- Liquor Snob has published their 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.
- Cheap Fun Wines also has their 2008 Holiday Gift Guide. Find something for the wine lover friend or family member. As for me, yes, wine is always a welcome gift.
- Food Network always has a big section for the holidays. Find food ideas for Christmas as well as other holidays.
- Epicurious also has their feature for Christmas recipes.
- Since I am Puerto Rican, even though I live in East Texas (not exactly the most diverse place), we still make a recipe or two at home. This year, we will be making some coquito at home. I will let you know how it turns out. If you are curious, here is a small summary of Puerto Rican holiday traditions (from PRCooking.com). If you want to do some shopping of PR things, El Colmadito might be able to help (I just discovered this). Want some books on Puerto Rican cooking, Amazon has a selection. I personally recommend the one by Aboy Valldejuli. Wikipedia has a decent overview of Puerto Rican cuisine, just so you have an idea of how good the stuff is.
- From Disney Family, a whole page on Christmas Crafts.
Miscellaneous (or I was not quite sure where to put these):
- This is one I saved from last year. If you need some ideas, here are 50 Ungrinchy Holiday Ideas. It has a selection of simple things to do for things like crafts, shopping, and cards. (via Tinker X).
- Make sure that you get the right lyrics when you go caroling. Look them up in this handy Christmas Carol Lyrics Database. You can browse it online or download it to your computer.
- The U.S. Census Bureau always puts out a Facts For Features sheet for the holidays. Here is the one for 2008. For example, did you know that sales by U.S. Christmas tree farmers in 2007 totaled $493.3 million?
- Many people will be traveling this holiday season. My family and I will probably take a short road trip (or at least a day trip or two), but not too far. To help out travelers, here is a list of 20+ Tools for Holiday Travel, from Mashable.
- The holidays can be a time of stress for some people. There is a Spanish song, pretty popular in Puerto Rico, that speaks of Christmas that returns ("Navidad que vuelve") where some are happy, and some are crying ("unos van alegres y otros van llorando"). Christmas this year will clearly be a bit different for me this year, but I am doing my best to keep the party going. To help folks out, here is a Holiday Survival Guide from the folks at About.com. The guide has items on things like dealing with family during gatherings and simplifying things. Folks, do remember to take care of yourselves as well as each other. And do keep things simple.
- Ever wondered who invented those cool Christmas lights? Find the answer here, a feature from the Library of Congress.
- GovGab has a nice summary of what they do for the holidays at the White House. There is even a link to the first dog's BarneyCam.
- The Australian Government cultural portal has a page on Christmas in Australia. A shout out to my brother who is currently living in Australia with his wife and two lovely daughters.
- The American Antiquarian Society has an online exhibit on "Visions of Christmas." They present a nice collection of images from books and materials from the 19th century.
- Also from GovGab, a summary of issues about animals and the holidays. This is mostly about whether to adopt an animal and giving to agencies like the Humane Society. We have two cats at home, Autumn and (the mighty) Isis, who were adopted from a shelter. We were in Houston when we adopted them and got them at CAP. If you are getting a pet, I would encourage people to seriously consider adopting one from a shelter, especially for cats since they often have more kittens than they know what to do with, as the saying goes.
- Talking about music, Accuradio has an excellent holiday music section. Their Navidad section has a great selection with a lot of Puerto Rican and Caribbean holiday music. If you want to get a taste of "mi musica," go listen. It's what I am listening to now while I am blogging.
And I leave you with a bit humor for now (by Matthew Henry Hall, from Inside Higher Ed.):
Update Note (12/31/08): I added the links to Parts 2 and 3 above.
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