Inspirations in a library..............
Juliska
I've always loved books, and I think I can honestly say that I've read thousands of them...............but I'd never been much of a library person. When I wanted a book, I bought it.
However, when circumstances forced me off the internet at home in December of 2004, I wound up using the computers in our new public library. I became familiar to some of the people there as a regular and when they started up a Thursday night story hour, for kids in the three to six year old age range, I thought that would be a good activity for my granddaughter.
.........and thus it came to pass that I made the acquaintance of Juliska.
Anyone who has read me regularly knows that, however much taken with the female form in it's endless and delightful variety that I may be, I am particularly attracted to the slender and lithe, the gracious, the Degas ballerina or the Art Deco statuette. Delicate, almost dainty of feature....this describes Juliska.
Insofar as she is young,(very young) I was polite and discreet....if for no other reason than to preserve my own dignity. I found out....
That she graduated High School at least a year early......
That she plays violin and piano and possibly another instrument as well.....
That she is a student of martial arts and doesn't quail at the odd bump and bruise begot from honest physical activity........thus belying that delicacy suggested by her outward appearance.
That she keeps not one but several web sites (somewhat compulsively) that range with neural abandon at electric speeds over a wildly eclectic variety of subjects.
She's got God trapped in a corner with an empty glass, a finger poking Him in the chest, and firing questions at a rate that's got the poor old guy taking notes just to keep apace.
On one occasion, I had gleaned an armload of ambitious tomes from the used book rack. When I went to pay for them, she remarked that I had bought up the books she had donated. People, this was not lightweight fare that I had picked up.
I think she knows that she is nice looking.........I don't think she has a clue how timelessly, classically, breathtakingly pretty she is.
I think she knows that she is smart enough and talented enough to distinguish her from lesser lights...........I don't think she has a clue how intensely smart and talented she really is.
What a marvelous life she has in store for her....How fortunate I am to be allowed to witness a bit of it unfold.
I've added links to at least five of her websites.......Delphic_Trope, That's Enough, My Alien Eyes, Stick Activity and (the latest) Readmewrite. They are all worth a more than casual examination.............I highly recommend "the Timmy Book"........and leave you to explore to your delight, confusion, consternation and, perhaps, frustration, as you scurry about in her world scrambling after the thoughts and observations that she leaves in her wake.
Cheyenne's World
Cheyenne is an outgoing child and tends to "take over" what ever environment she finds herself in. She makes friends and digs right in, making a home for herself.
The library has been no different than anyplace she has made herself at home. She adores the ladies at the library and wants to help them. I try to let her satisfy her curiosity and express a boldness whenever possible or permissable. At the same time, I try to keep her occupied at least to the point where she is not "pesky".....interfering with the work that they have to do. I am not sure how successful I am at the latter, but the ladies are tolerant and patient and gracious about it.
Even after Story Hour ended (before the holidays) I thought it would be a good idea to keep Library night as a going part of our weekdays together. As she advanced in the accumulation of "sight words" to the point that she could begin to construct simple sentences, I began to formulate the idea of her writing a story. After all, one of the Dr. Suess books comprises only 220 words and at this point, Cheyenne has about fifty words that she can recognize, read and (for the most part) spell.
I am not sure when exactly the idea came to me to spend 15 or so minutes a night working up a weekly diary entry using, as much as possible, the simple words that she knows and helping her post them to a website....but over the course of the past couple of weeks, this has come to fruition. Dear readers, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Cheyenne's World.
On Monday night, we make up an "idea' card...........she writes down some of the things that she would like to write about.
On Tuesday night we make a rough draft of the entry. She does all the writing for all of these things and I help her with spelling out the words that she doesn't know yet, and editing the text down to a level where she can mostly read her own entry without help.
On Wednesday night she copies the rough draft onto the special "three line paper" they use in kindergarten and first grade. She has to write it out as neatly as though she were going to hand it in to the teacher. It is here that we make any changes to the text.
On Thursday night she posts her entry on the library computers. She does all the writing and all the typing.........I post the pictures and see to the template and such like.
I encourage everyone who reads this to visit her(the site has been added to my links list) and leave a comment. She is thrilled by the idea that people from all over the world may be reading what she has to say, and would be delighted to hear from you.
The comments are "moderated" by me..........so they won't be posted immediately. They will come to me by email and post upon approval.
Take note that even non-blogger users can now sign a name and leave a link to their url by choosing the "other" radio button over the comments box.
It's time to scrounge up something to eat for supper.........so I'll let this stand as the entry of the hour for the nonce. Regaining the momentum of entry that I maintained before my forced dormancy is further complicated by the fact that each delay spent in catch-up mode creates a new catch-up point..which makes the whole effort a Jay-Oh-fucking-Bee as opposed to a pleasurable excercise in unfettered Bozean expressionism.......but as in all things, this too shall pass and before you know it I'll be back to figuratively staggering in from some mental bender, bouncing off the walls of the blog-o-verse,and kneeling before the cybernetic equivalent of the porcelain altar.
Thus endeth the entry............
I've always loved books, and I think I can honestly say that I've read thousands of them...............but I'd never been much of a library person. When I wanted a book, I bought it.
However, when circumstances forced me off the internet at home in December of 2004, I wound up using the computers in our new public library. I became familiar to some of the people there as a regular and when they started up a Thursday night story hour, for kids in the three to six year old age range, I thought that would be a good activity for my granddaughter.
.........and thus it came to pass that I made the acquaintance of Juliska.
Anyone who has read me regularly knows that, however much taken with the female form in it's endless and delightful variety that I may be, I am particularly attracted to the slender and lithe, the gracious, the Degas ballerina or the Art Deco statuette. Delicate, almost dainty of feature....this describes Juliska.
Insofar as she is young,(very young) I was polite and discreet....if for no other reason than to preserve my own dignity. I found out....
That she graduated High School at least a year early......
That she plays violin and piano and possibly another instrument as well.....
That she is a student of martial arts and doesn't quail at the odd bump and bruise begot from honest physical activity........thus belying that delicacy suggested by her outward appearance.
That she keeps not one but several web sites (somewhat compulsively) that range with neural abandon at electric speeds over a wildly eclectic variety of subjects.
She's got God trapped in a corner with an empty glass, a finger poking Him in the chest, and firing questions at a rate that's got the poor old guy taking notes just to keep apace.
On one occasion, I had gleaned an armload of ambitious tomes from the used book rack. When I went to pay for them, she remarked that I had bought up the books she had donated. People, this was not lightweight fare that I had picked up.
I think she knows that she is nice looking.........I don't think she has a clue how timelessly, classically, breathtakingly pretty she is.
I think she knows that she is smart enough and talented enough to distinguish her from lesser lights...........I don't think she has a clue how intensely smart and talented she really is.
What a marvelous life she has in store for her....How fortunate I am to be allowed to witness a bit of it unfold.
I've added links to at least five of her websites.......Delphic_Trope, That's Enough, My Alien Eyes, Stick Activity and (the latest) Readmewrite. They are all worth a more than casual examination.............I highly recommend "the Timmy Book"........and leave you to explore to your delight, confusion, consternation and, perhaps, frustration, as you scurry about in her world scrambling after the thoughts and observations that she leaves in her wake.
Cheyenne's World
Cheyenne is an outgoing child and tends to "take over" what ever environment she finds herself in. She makes friends and digs right in, making a home for herself.
The library has been no different than anyplace she has made herself at home. She adores the ladies at the library and wants to help them. I try to let her satisfy her curiosity and express a boldness whenever possible or permissable. At the same time, I try to keep her occupied at least to the point where she is not "pesky".....interfering with the work that they have to do. I am not sure how successful I am at the latter, but the ladies are tolerant and patient and gracious about it.
Even after Story Hour ended (before the holidays) I thought it would be a good idea to keep Library night as a going part of our weekdays together. As she advanced in the accumulation of "sight words" to the point that she could begin to construct simple sentences, I began to formulate the idea of her writing a story. After all, one of the Dr. Suess books comprises only 220 words and at this point, Cheyenne has about fifty words that she can recognize, read and (for the most part) spell.
I am not sure when exactly the idea came to me to spend 15 or so minutes a night working up a weekly diary entry using, as much as possible, the simple words that she knows and helping her post them to a website....but over the course of the past couple of weeks, this has come to fruition. Dear readers, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Cheyenne's World.
On Monday night, we make up an "idea' card...........she writes down some of the things that she would like to write about.
On Tuesday night we make a rough draft of the entry. She does all the writing for all of these things and I help her with spelling out the words that she doesn't know yet, and editing the text down to a level where she can mostly read her own entry without help.
On Wednesday night she copies the rough draft onto the special "three line paper" they use in kindergarten and first grade. She has to write it out as neatly as though she were going to hand it in to the teacher. It is here that we make any changes to the text.
On Thursday night she posts her entry on the library computers. She does all the writing and all the typing.........I post the pictures and see to the template and such like.
I encourage everyone who reads this to visit her(the site has been added to my links list) and leave a comment. She is thrilled by the idea that people from all over the world may be reading what she has to say, and would be delighted to hear from you.
The comments are "moderated" by me..........so they won't be posted immediately. They will come to me by email and post upon approval.
Take note that even non-blogger users can now sign a name and leave a link to their url by choosing the "other" radio button over the comments box.
It's time to scrounge up something to eat for supper.........so I'll let this stand as the entry of the hour for the nonce. Regaining the momentum of entry that I maintained before my forced dormancy is further complicated by the fact that each delay spent in catch-up mode creates a new catch-up point..which makes the whole effort a Jay-Oh-fucking-Bee as opposed to a pleasurable excercise in unfettered Bozean expressionism.......but as in all things, this too shall pass and before you know it I'll be back to figuratively staggering in from some mental bender, bouncing off the walls of the blog-o-verse,and kneeling before the cybernetic equivalent of the porcelain altar.
Thus endeth the entry............
posted by captn | 1/13/2006 07:00:00 PM
3 Comments:
she's got a weird name, too.
:-P
perhaps more "else" than weird......and when you consider how musical it sounds when properly pronounced and what it means ..........very appropriate, I think.
tx
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