Tecumseh Family Holiday Card

Click below to view our holiday card, set to the theme from The Addams Family.


Credits!
*Videographer: Jerry the Volunteer
*Awesome Sound Guy: Keith
*Props, Vision, Producer: Lettie
*Props, Casting & Director: Deb
*Amazing Editor, Videographer, Tech Guru: Amanda
*Tech Support: Carolyn
And Anna as a disturbingly good Wednesday, Carly as Hand in the Dropbox, Jon as Man in Closet, Stephanie pretending to be "The Normal One", and Nick as Lockheart in Photo, a role we will force him to live over and over.
I work with talented people!
Happy Holidays Everyone!

Tecumseh, you don't look a day over 79!

Yay! Tecumseh Branch is celebrating it's 80th birthday this year, and we are doing it BIG! Instead of doing Winterfest this year, we've decided to honor the grand old library with a two-week festival called, TECUMSEH-FEST!

The big party happens on Thursday, Dec. 27th. At 10:30, we'll have a special "Birthdays" storytime for our younger patrons, and at 3:30, we will feature The Ceremony of Library Service. In this special event, we'll hear from two special guest speakers, watch the debut of the new Tecumseh Library documentary, prepare a time capsule, display historic photos, and of course, eat cake!

Christmas? Bah Humbug!

Looking for an amateur Christmas play with adorable kids in it to see? Come to the Family Christmas Eve Service at First Presbyterian on Dec. 24 at 4:00. Bring your kids, too! It's an informal thing--so fidgety, curious, noisy little people are welcome.

I'm directing the play, called, "Christmas? Bah Humbug!". The plot is simple: a group of merry-making kids show Scrooge Jr. the true meaning of Christmas, complete with a Nativity flashback!

Admission is FREE.

Plastic Bag Monster

Okay, I admit my ignorance here. When the bagger at the grocery store says, "Paper or Plastic?" I always said, "Plastic, of course!", thinking of all the trees that I was so righteously saving. Not necessarily so. It may actually be better for the environment to say, "Paper". Those plastic bags cause all sorts of problems, including litter, but also waste a LOT of petroleum, a natural resource that the earth is running out of. The real solution is to use a re-usable bag, maybe canvas? The Children's Team at my church have been selling Chico Bags as a fundraiser, in an attempt to raise money AND promote green living. Chico Bags are bags that are similar to those plastic bags, but are made of nylon.

Want to see something funny, though? Check out this short video of the Plastic Bag Monster from the folks at Chico Bags: "">/a

I'm most scared about the giant mass of plastic bags floating in the ocean just off the coast of California....

"In the Northern Pacific Gyre, a great vortex of ocean currents, there's now a swirling mass of plastic trash about 1,000 miles off the coast of California, which spans an area that's twice the size of Texas, including fragments of plastic bags. There's six times as much plastic as biomass, including plankton and jellyfish, in the gyre. "
NOW THAT'S A PLASTIC BAG MONSTER!!!!
See the full article: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/

Remember Halloween, the ultimate day of pretend? Well, I'm sad to say that schools and other organizations are deleting that bit of fun from the childhoods of many kids out there. I know, there's the dicey history of the holiday, and there's the scare factor. I just really want there to be a day when kids get to dress up and pretend to be whoever-or whatever- they want to be. We value creativity in society today--as adults, in the REAL world, it's those who can generate ideas who make ideal team members. If we want our children to succeed, we need to show them how to practice creativity. It's NOT at all hard to do: just IMAGINE! Let those little imaginations shine! My point: Halloween is an opportunity to use your imaginations.

However, imaginations always shine at Tecumseh. Here's the crew in our costumes for dress-up day fun!

Going Green

Summer 2008 is going to be a little greener! The 2008 Summer Reading Program is going green: environmentally friendly. We will be using artwork from children's book illustrator Harry Bliss (Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider...) and working to use recycled items, prizes that won't end up in landfills, and programs that encourage environmentally-conscious thinking. I'm psyched for this, and so glad to be a part of this planning committee. Many kudos to Heather A., our fearless chairperson for her inspiring ideas.

What's my dog gonna wear for Halloween?

We call him Sir Mac, the Dark Knight!
Mac is a sweet, gentle lab, who at first, was not truly happy about wearing the costume. But after trying it on a few times, he seemed to tolerate it. Finally, when we pulled out the camera, he pranced around in his helmet proudly!

So....what's YOUR dog gonna wear for Halloween?

Fort Wayne Fright Night

Have you seen the skeletons in downtown Fort Wayne? They are hanging up high on the light posts, but are posed in such a realistic way! I had to do a double take because I could have sworn I saw one of them scrambling up the pole!
Here's some info about the event:

By Michael Waskiewicz
Downtown Improvement District

Only the brave will want to weather the chilling and electrifying streets of Downtown Fort Wayne on October 27 for Downtown Fright Night. The young and old will be awed, scared and thrilled at the haunting events only to be found in Downtown Fort Wayne.

Your day of terror begins at the Downtown Library plaza for the Three Rivers Coffin Races down Wayne Street. Be thrilled at the costume parade and Halloween activities at the Grand Wayne Center by WAJI. Get chills from the ARCH haunted bus and walking tours with ghost stories by the Fort Wayne library in the Indiana Hotel. Finally, be amazed at the old-time daring-do of “The Black Pirate,” a classic silent film at the Embassy accompanied by the historic Grande Page Pipe Organ.

There’s a little terror and haunting experience for every age group at the Downtown Fright Night. Admission is free for most events. Don’t miss it on October 27, 2007 at 5:00!

Downtown Fright Night Schedule

3:30-6:00 - Band at the Main Library Plaza

4:00-6:00 - Three River Coffin Race presented by Ultra-Zone

5:00-10:30 - Haunted Bus/Walking Tours

5:00-10:00 - Library Storytelling at the Indiana Hotel

5:30-7:00 - Grand Wayne Center, WAJI & Science Central costume-related activities

7:00-7:30 - Dick Stoner Magic Show at the Embassy

7:30-9:00 - “The Black Pirate” at the Embassy

9:30-11:00 - “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Main Library Plaza

Help! What can I read now?

Now that I've finished the Twilight series, I'm looking for another "It's SOOO good!" book. Would anyone care to recommend something? I only want books that were so good, you couldn't sleep!

So, what was the most totally engrossing book that you ever read?

Leave a comment for the rest of us!

What I'm reading now...

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. As you may or may not know, I have a penchance for Young Adult Fiction, mostly the new Sci-Fi Fantasy, like J.K. Rowling, Jonathan Stroud, Anna Dale, and Cornelia Funke. I'm also impressed with the fun that Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson provide in their Peter Pan series, and of course, I'm crazy about Pearson's Kingdom Keepers. You see, I am a literary wimp. I can't stand the idea that the story could end badly, and I've found that YA lit usually ends happily, with all the strings tied up into a nice package. It's safer. But back to Edward and Bella... The Twilight series, I'm almost ashamed to admit, is a romance, with---okay, yes, I know I am so dorky!---vampires and werewolves. Not my usual style at all!

Meyer's first book, Twilight, opens slowly. I have a friend who said that she just couldn't get into it. I almost felt the same way and put this book down, but kept chugging through the first chapter, which by the way, contains way too much description of the weather. The rain. It was raining. It was overcast and raining. The clouds threatened rain, but the ground was already soaked from yesterday's rain. All right, we get it! Forks, Washington is a cold, gloomy, dreary place. (To be fair, it is apparently the place in the U.S. that receives the most amount of rainfall each year.) Pull out your umbrellas, though. The storyline, at least, clears up even though the weather remains cloudy. By the second chapter, I was in too deep.

I finished the book, and was really happily surprised to find chapter one of the second book, New Moon, in the back of Twilight! Of course, that drew me in from page one, and I started the second book by noon the next day. I'm reading Eclipse, the third book now, but another book isn't slated to be published until Fall 2008. I'm afraid of the after-series slump, the withdrawal symptoms I'll have when I have to leave this mythical place.

If you choose to read this series, I'm envious of you. Savor it, for you can only read them for the first time once! Enjoy!

Ren Fest Photos...

Want to see more? Click here to see the rest.


Sir Eli, about to invade the village of Hollygrove...






...and a FLYING DOG, er...dog-squito????





Only at a Renaissance Fest do you see people dressed as knights, wenchs, fairies and druids. It's also the only place in the world that you see MANY dogs with wings. Some of the dogs had happy fairy wings, but I also saw some dogs with bat-like dragon wings breathing fire! (okay, maybe more like drool....) I'm not ashamed to say that I now own my own pair of fairy wings. Look for me dressed as a ladybug for Halloween!





Can I just point out that you can buy "dragon feets" at this place?






Click here to see the rest of the photos from the Michigan Renaissance Festival...

World's Greatest Pirate-Face...

ARRRGH!~ I be a pirate, see?

What I'm listening to...

My new favorite music to listen to is "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock" by the fan band, Harry and the Potters. Have you heard their stuff? As a self-proclaimed 80's buff, I can tell you that it's raw, un-polished garage band-type stuff. There's a quality about the Potters music that sounds alot like the Violent Femmes first album, or perhaps the Dead Milkmen (---does anybody remember them?!?)
The best part is that if you are a fan of the HP books, you will love this music. Listen to the Harrys proclaim, "Ron Weasley is MY BEST FRIEND !"; Enjoy the silliness of the playful track entitle, "S.P.E.W." , and my favorite has got to be, "The Human Hosepipe". I call it the Cho Chang song, because it's about that disastrous date Harry has with Cho Chang at Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop. I mean, check out these lyrics (they're hilarious!) :

Well, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Hermione.
And maybe you shouldn't have brought up Cedric Diggory.
Because I'd rather not talk about your dead ex-boyfriends over coffee...
And why'd you have to bring up Roger Davies---when he's sitting right there with his tea? Cause if you wanted to go out with Roger Davies, how come you're here with me?

Cho Chang, what have I done? I don't care where you and Cedric were snogging. Cho Chang, what have I done? I just want to replay this Valentine's Day...

AHHHH...teen angst!!! I also love, love, love "Luna Lovegood is OK". I think it's funny how she exceeds Harry in her weird notoriety. Here's some more lyrics:

Luna Loony Lovegood, Luna Loony Lovegood, you're okay in my book.
You're a little bit weird but I think that it's cool
There's noone else like you here at our school
I'm glad you were a part of Dumbledore's Army.
You fought against those Death Eaters so bravely beside me!

Here's a link to hear the Human Hosepipe:
Voldermort Can't Stop the Rock! at Indietastic

Harry Potter and Tinkerbell?!?



At the Harry Potter party in July, we had some fun costumes. Here is my son and my niece ready to party. He's wearing the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Ensemble, and she's dressed as Tinkerbell (I bet you didn't know that Tinkerbell was in the HP books!). I told her that if anyone asks, to tell them that she's a Cornish Pixie.




The Cornish Pixie escapes!!!!



And, with the help of Lisa B.'s digital camera, we captured the following exchange:

And this my husband's masterpiece, "Aragog's Web". Stephanie and Andy painted it for us. Steph's helping in the picture.

We haven't got your chocolate!

So, yesterday, we got a message from another librarian who has lost a program box called, "Chocolicious". She suspects that it may have gotten sent to our branch by accident. We told her that we have no idea where it could be... ;-0

Deb's Reading....

KINGDOM KEEPERS by Ridley Pearson
Has anyone read this book? It's set in WDW, one of my favorite places to be. I needed something to pull me out of my Harry Potter Funk. (I was just reading 7 over and over and over...)
Have you read it? What are your thoughts?

The Deb-log

Welcome!