223 Topic Selection

Topic Selection

I have recently been doing research and writing on a variety of topics. It occurred to me that very narrow subjects are my topics of choice.

I was an English major in college and went on to get a master's in English literature after I had my master's degree in library science. 

For the English degree, I was required to write a thesis. I loved Shakespeare. I have been obsessed with his work since junior high school when we studied MacBeth and Julius Caesar. In class, we read each play aloud--maybe not the entire play--but a substantial portion. 

So I thought, I'll write my thesis on Shakespeare! I had several ideas for a topic. But since I was a librarian, I soon discovered there was no way I could locate and read all the previous research on any Shakespearean topic. There is much written in English and as well as a huge amount in many other languages.

The World Shakespeare Bibliography, a searchable database from Texas A&M University, provides a comprehensive database of Shakespeare scholarship from 1960 to the present. It contains 146,000 entries! 

So I wrote my thesis on John Updike--much more manageable, but he is no Shakespeare!

I am working on a book about Judge Richard Parker, the judge who sentenced John Brown to death. That was his main claim to fame, and I now have hundreds of pages of information about his life. Much of it comes from avid manuscript collectors who tried to locate all the documents about and by him. However, only one person has written in any detail about his life so he meets my criteria!

In fact, I have an article coming out soon in the Journal of the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era, a Shenandoah University publication that is the brainchild of Jonathan Noyalas. The article concentrates on a week in Judge Parker's life. You can't get much more narrow than that!

These are the six; I found images of five.

I have spoken several times on another Civil War topic, one piece of graffiti in the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Museum in Winchester. It features the names of about twelve Union officers, but I talk about only six! I have found hundreds of pages of information about these men as well--perhaps a future blog!

And we can't forget one of my most infamous blogs--the one on dryer lint!

You Can't Get Too Narrow Trish              

222 Reunion redux

Reunion Redux 

Hello, Readers, for me--nostalgia kicks in the fall – football games, crunching the fallen leaves, favorite sweaters for the evenings, and the new notebooks, pens, and pencils for the new school year.

 

This year is my 55th high school class reunion. I am getting older! I hate to face it, but I am.

On October 20, 2014, my blog was titled “REUNION.” I sentimentally wrote about the whole process from getting together a committee, to finding out where everyone lived for a database for communication, to selecting venues, sending out invitations, setting up events, creating decorations, etc., etc., etc. 

Then, I wrote about how important it was to recall the old memories of our emerging selves. The 50th was such a success that the 55th (which we did not anticipate having) will be held on October 5! (yes, our high school colors were orange and blue!)

The 50th was a three-day event; this one is a one event casual dinner. To our surprise, the response has been very good. We were originally a class of 75. We have lost 18 members over the years. We have 45 signed up to attend on October 5. Some of that number includes spouses, but we are pleased with the response. 

We’ve gone from an elegant venue with open bar to the Baptist Church social hall, from salmon and filets to fried chicken and country ham. We’ve gone from a documentary film some of our masterful committee members created to a paid entertainer.

Yes, this year we are going back to our rural county roots: a non-alcoholic social hour, a good home cooked and catered meal, and for our entertainment--hold your hats! We have hired an Elvis impersonator. The fellow, as I read his bio, is a hit in the tri-state area and we would never have been able to book him were it not for a committee member’s connections.  

Some of us may hit a local “watering hole” for drinks later. 

(Wonder if classmates are coming to see each other or to see Elvis? I know why dear husband said YES very quickly.)

Now, I will take the liberty of quoting myself from that blog of five years ago: 

GO to your reunion. It will be worth it. We are senior citizens even if we don’t feel like it. When I look in the mirror, I wonder how all years slipped away. 

My senior picture--1964!

We may not see these old classmates or recall the old memories ever again. It is a scary truth, but some of us might not be here for the next reunion. While we may not be exactly the same as we were in high school, this is where we got our start, where intellectual seeds were sown, and basic principles learned. So, please, Go! Celebrate life! Give homage to your past. Share your memories!

Regards from older (and maybe a bit savvier) 

         Glenne

221 Reality reno!

Reality reno! 

The era of gutting a house and turning it into a gorgeous place to live is definitely upon us. Various TV channels host programs that demolish and rebuild countless homes. Sometimes it is as if they love the thought of tearing things down more than redoing them.

It is amazing the foresight and vision these people have when they see a rather drab, tired, beat-up property that definitely needs a total reno. How do they do it?

Walls are moved, kitchens are completely rearranged, bathrooms are destroyed and rebuilt—nothing is sacred—anything is fair game and can be moved, replaced, and realigned.

I definitely live vicariously through the programs that continually remodel and remake homes that blow your mind. Thank you HGTV for many of them!

“Property Brothers” (Drew and Jonathan Scott) is a favorite show where one twin does the remake and the other helps the family find the diamond in the rough that will make the family’s dreams come true. Banter back and forth with the two is good-humored and seems to work well for them. The families are thrilled with what these two can accomplish. While from Canada, the brothers film the programs in many other locations.

Another favorite is the “Fixer Upper” show with Joanna and Chip Gaines of Waco, Texas. They help a family find a home that needs a massive overhaul. Joanna designs and Chip does the reno with lots of good-natured kidding. The decorating that follows all the physical structure changes is massive. She says that is her favorite part and it shows with touches that cover the dishes to the towels--a true makeover. I still wonder about expenses and what if the family doesn’t really like the decorating touches.

One aspect of these shows that is a little perplexing is the amazing decorating that finishes off the remake. Gorgeous furniture with pillows and collectibles that add breath-taking moments when the reveal takes place. It really is over the top on so many of the shows. Who pays for all of this--the budget is often discussed but it doesn’t seem like enough for the features added to all the rooms.

I really would love to see these houses in a few years to determine if the upkeep is maintained. For some of the houses, it seems massive but maybe not!

Another show “Good Bones” that I recently started watching is a mother-daughter duo, Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak. They tackle disgusting houses in the area near where they live in Indianapolis. Their goal is to improve the neighborhood and help families find affordable housing. They don’t seem to make a huge profit, but they are usually pleased with salvaging another inner-city property. Again, the decorating is amazing with subtle touches that truly make the house a home by using items they can often reclaim for another purpose. The duo also salvages many of the items, which is a real bonus!

I look around my house and fantasize what would I do. Definitely, I would move the laundry to the second floor from the basement but that takes major change, especially when water lines and electricity are involved. I can keep on dreaming but you never know--maybe someday.

We did reno a tiny bathroom in our landing, heading to the basement. I was pleased with a corner sink the plumber found for us that really makes the room functional.

For now, I have to be satisfied with new pillows, rugs, flowers, or other easy to move objects. 

A recent addition to the TV room was a hassock that was actually called a pouf. It is amazing how you can look online and have the item at your house in a matter of days. Make sure you like it--I hate to think about returns.

Frances              

220 You can go back

You can go back!

After I retired from Handley Regional Library, many people asked me if I was going to volunteer there. My answer was an emphatic NO! I thought my presence might be uncomfortable for the new director--and for me.

But then, when I go to Florida, I have no desire to volunteer at a library there.

However, I have found a library volunteer job that I am enjoying greatly--starting a library from scratch.

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation had a large collection in the basement of its headquarters building in New Market. The foundation owns books, artwork, manuscripts, relics, and books that have been donated over time.

Craig Morin, a member of the SVBF Board, was concerned about the health of the collection since the basement was damp and occasionally flooded. He solicited my help and that of other volunteers to find a better solution.

The board, led by Executive Director Keven Walker, purchased a home a few blocks away that had been a church parsonage and was in good condition.

Voila! We had a library & archives! Actually, a lot of work went into checking that we could maintain good security, temperature, and humidity before anything that could be moved. Shelves and boxes of books had to be moved from several locations. The books were placed on the shelves by the donated collection from which they came--not a good way to figure out what you have.

We sorted the books into rough categories to search for duplicates. It seems that almost every old-time collector had to have all the basic books by Catton, Nevins, etc., from the Civil War Centennial. 

Huge numbers of magazines were donated and one volunteer has devoted himself to putting them in order and pulling out the duplicates. We had a huge book and magazine sale in August that was quite successful.

Meanwhile, we were inventorying the collection using a telephone app. When the person who was listing all the books changed from an android to an Apple phone, she had to find a new app. Other lists of donations came to us on Excel spreadsheets.

Right now we are working on merging several formats of lists. So far I have pulled together four different lists into one and we have a total of 1,015 books listed with many more lists to add in--a very tedious job! When we are close to a list of everything, we will inventory and then place the books in order by call number. Eventually, we will have full cataloging information but we will be happy just to have one master list!

We have three to four volunteers that actually work but we are having fun. Sometimes Tootsie comes to provide entertainment to the group. I enjoy everything--the manual labor of unpacking and packing books, shelving books, shifting collections of books from room to room, and alphabetizing titles in each book collection. We can now find most books by figuring out what category we placed it in and then finding it alphabetically--this helps until we have the collection fully classified.

The building is not yet handicapped accessible so the books collection is available to only staff and board members. There is no deadline to finish the library, but we have to get it in order before we begin on the archives collection, which will be a MUCH bigger task.

I have become much more knowledgeable about the bibliography of the Civil War. Our collection is somewhat haphazard since all the books are donated, but some of the donors had amazing collections, which we are lucky to have.

One reason that the work is fun is that as the only librarian, everyone assumes I know what I am doing--which is true most of the time. Plus, I work just one day per week!

So you can go back again and enjoy it--if you set your own schedule and are your own boss! 

Library Savvy Trish          

219 Let's talk phones

Let's Talk Phones

Greetings! Can’t believe it is September already. Thought I would take stock of the fall projects. Closets to clean out always. We have a mouse which we are chasing down along with the dogs’ help. (No luck yet!)

One major thing I have noticed this summer while I was hiding in the house out of the heat and humidity is that we use our landline phones less and less and our cell phones more and more. We are not yet ready to give up a landline because we live in a “dead spot.” 

Our house does not help cell service either. It’s an 1808 brick with thick plaster walls--which holds the heat in the winter and stays relatively cool in the summer with no air conditioning. That aside, it takes forever to load something on the phone when we are inside. In fact, we have been known to walk up the hill and hold the phone up to the sky and hope for the best.

The landline phone has 48 messages on it. I scrolled through them. Only four were from real people I might have liked to hear from. The others, some of which even read “spam? [name of city, state]. Erase, erase, erase. Only one of the four left a message. What a waste of time. 

I need to get more pro-active about getting rid of these callers. There is an app listed on Google called robokiller.com. Read about it if you’ve time. I am not sure about this particular site as it suggests ways to “get even with the robots.” Interesting reading though. At FFC.gov you will find the phone number for the national “do not call list” (1-888-382-1222). I have done this. Wonder how many calls we would have gotten had I NOT called this number? GOOD GRIEF. 

The cell phone seems to be a different matter of trash filling up space. I had 92 emails – YES, that is not an incorrect count from Friday evening until this morning. None was a scary mail. Amazon, Playbill, NY Times, Mental Floss, PND (grant announcements), our local newspaper, Chewy (dog food), Schwan’s, etc., etc. They are all sites from which I order or whose information I read regularly. BUT the algorithms used are fantastic. My cell phone and my email know more about me than I do. There are some tech geniuses at work somewhere!! 

And Facebook! Mixed emotions here. I do enjoy checking it about once a week. I rarely post anything. Are you, too, now getting friend suggestions every day? And some are people I thought were already friends?

Okay, here is an anecdote I think you will enjoy. Several years ago, I planned a tea party for about 40 older ladies. So, I looked up tea parties. Along with some lovely sites with suggestions for sweets and savories to accompany tea, how to make tea for a large number of guests, I also became the “sweetheart” for the political right-leaning TEA PARTY. 

Not just from the Virginia Tea Party but from Tea Parties all over the country. I had to unsubscribe one by one by one. Talk about how to make me a liberal! (Oh, guess that’s a different blog!) Just a warning to watch what you type when you search!! Taught me a lesson.

We’d love to hear your phone stories! Happy September to all. Thanks for reading.

Savvy Glenne