Daily Thoughts 01/11/2012

[Owl above door to center reading room on fifth floor. Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.] Date Created/Published: 2007.
Daily Thoughts 01/11/2012

On the way to work, I finished reading Boomerang by Michael Lewis.  The last chapter is about economic failure in California.  It has bits on Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as some thoughts on the bankrupt city of Vallejo, California.  The book shows how the financial crisis in Europe has come back to haunt the United States.

I also read a little bit more on the Kindle Touch.  I decided to pass on the ebook Practically Radical by William C. Taylor.  

I started reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  It is a fantasy with a lot of style to it.

The book Tony Wheeler's Badlands A Tourist on the Axis of Evil came in for me to read.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also sent some emails out to people who might be interested in doing readings at the library.

The Computer Lab is open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm. today.  I downloaded a few more  ebooks for the Kindle that are free, The Art of War by Sun Zi, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Wired to Care How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik, and Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis.   Kenneth C. Davis will be at our library on December 12, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/KenDavis

The book, The Ecotechnic Future by John Michael Greer came in for me to read.  It should be quite interesting.  I also helped another person on the Kindle Fire today to show them how to download ebooks from the Digital Media Catalog.  More people are coming in to ask about this.
There is a City Council Hearing on the Budget going on right now on January 11, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.  If I was not working I would be there right now.  http://cmvny.com/2012/01/09/adopted-budget-2012/

Daily Thoughts 01/10/2012

1973 U.S. Postal Service stamp in honor of Robinson Jeffers


Daily Thoughts 01/10/2012

This morning, I read some of Michael Lewis Boomerang Travels in the New Third World.  This book is a tour guide to national financial collapse.  The author visits different countries and describes how their economies collapsed.  So far as a reader I have visited Finland where banking speculation crushed the economy, Greece where excessive civil service positions and not paying taxes destroyed the economy, and Ireland where speculation in real estate created a giant housing bubble which collapsed.  It is interesting reading.

I also read some more of Disrupt Think The Unthinkable on the way to work on my Kindle Touch.  The author is writing about the nine minute business pitch made to clients to sell ideas. 

This morning, I checked the Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I also talked to a colleague about central library district funds.  The displays and flyers are in order right now.

I also spent some time sending a few queries to local authors about doing author talks at our library.

I got another call about how to use the Kindle Fire to download free library books.

I put the book, Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson on hold.  It was reviewed in the New York Times Bestseller List.  Seth Godin has a new book We Are All Weird which has gotten very little coverage.  It was released in September of 2011.

On the way home, I finished reading Disrupt on the the Kindle Touch. A constant theme was that it was a good idea to look for everyday activities to improve that most people don't even think about.  I am beginnning to like the Kindle Touch.  I even tried out a free word game called Jigsaw Words.

I also read a little bit more of Boomerang.  Michael Lewis is writing about how German banks helped create the economic mess in Greece, Ireland, and Finland.