OMG & LOL!

These days everything is about social media. Twitter. Facebook. Flickr. YouTube. Online gaming. And, supposedly, it's especially true with teens and pre-teens.

In a recent presentation to our library staff, Beth Gallaway (aka the Information Goddess) cited a statistic that teens spend an average of 80 minutes per day chatting and texting.

Surprising? Maybe. It certainly surprised me when this sly, proud face greeted me the other morning.

I was eating breakfast and thought J was playing trains, per his usual morning routine. Not so. He apparently took a cue from my typical morning routine and powered up the computer. He knelt on our office swivel chair from IKEA, hands hovering above the keyboard, only looking up for a brief second when I entered the room.

"Hey", I said. "What are you doing, buddy?"

"E-mail."

"E-mail?"

"Yeah. I typin' to Lulu."

Lulu is a friend's two year-old daughter.

Wow. Just two years old and this little guy is already sneaking time on the computer with the intent to talk to a girl. Am I in for it or what?!!

I will say though, in his (and my!) defense, his #1 favorite thing to do on the computer when I let him sit on my lap is look through our virtual photo albums, calling out who and what he sees and basically reminiscing. His second favorite thing to do is pore over the keyboard identifying the letters and telling me what they're for.

"A "J" for my name! A "H" for hen! A "D" for Daddy! A "Z" for Zebra! A "P" for Papa!"

And, of course, "A "L" for Lulu!"

And that warms my heart. My love-of-reading, literacy-promoting heart. Even when he's reminding me to blog and tweet in moderation, he still makes me proud.

TTYL,
Katie

summertime heat and summertime eats

That's right! Two weeks ago it was cool April showers and now, in typical Ohio fashion, it feels like the dog days of summer. For several days now we've had bright sunshine and warm temperatures in the mid-80's! I do really love Spring, however, so I'm hoping we'll get a return to some of the more typical weather before the inevitable summer heat wave.

But, the warm weather does mean that C has fired up the charcoal grill twice this week, and boy, have we missed grilled food!

And, remember how I have a thing for food photography? Well, I just couldn't pass up photographing this salad before digging in. I thought the color of the tomatoes, carrots and almonds really popped against the deep green baby spinach. And, aside from being pretty, it was pretty darn tasty! I'll go ahead and jot down the ingredients here, even though no one comes to this blog for food fixes!

My Simple Sweet & Savory Salad

baby spinach

shredded carrot

chopped celery

pint grape tomatoes

dried cranberries

sliced almonds

crumbled feta cheese

We topped it with sliced grilled chicken, and drizzled it with a homemade mustard vinaigrette, courtesy of Everyday Food Magazine's cookbook Great Food Fast. That recipe:

4 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

whisk till combined, then add coarse salt and black pepper to taste

Voila! A quick, no-heat-in-the-kitchen meal.

Tenacity

The word "tenacity" came to C's mind as we watched our little guy climb the slide with happy determination tonight. Other words that come to mind:

fearlessness

spunk

purpose

freedom

motivation

delight

presence

and above all,

LOVE.

Got Books?

Check out this video of a Biblioburro in Columbia. Yes, it's a donkey bookmobile!

What an amazing effort to get books--a variety of books--into the hands, minds, and imaginations of the children here. I don't even know what else to say. It definitely gives me pause as a user and employee of the #1 rated library in the nation.

Sepia Sweetness

Hoping yours was a peaceful Easter, and wishing you a bright cheery Spring!