Link O'Day: LISNews

Back in 2006 I started using Delicious which at that time was Del.icio.us for social bookmarking. Contrary to the big hoo-hah last fall, Delicious is still going strong and is not threatened with extinction. One of the first tags I started back then was "blogs." At that time I had students follow one blog for a semester and wanted to provide an ongoing list for them. Right now I have marked around 170 blogs. This one was the very first to be named and is still going strong. To be honest I have not been to this site in ages, but had fun with it tonight. The most recent featured story is about a disgruntled senior citizen who was arrested for putting condiments such as ketchup, mayonnaise, and maple syrup in her local library's book drops. Bad idea...landed her in the pokey. This blog highlights news stories from around the world, and is updated daily. Here is the self-description at the website:

"LISNews is a collaborative weblog [aka blog] devoted to current events and news in the world of Library and Information Science. A dedicated team of international bloggers scour the World Wide Web to find stories they find interesting. You'll find links to news stories and Web sites, along with original writing, interviews and reviews. LISNews is updated frequently, usually 7 days a week. We are a non-commercial site, supported by our users."

I scrolled through recent entries and saw a mix of serious, humorous, and offbeat. I did NOT see anything within the last few days about funding woes that are so much in the news right now. Maybe someone should send one in...they do call for submissions.

Link O'Day: Webspiration

Yesterday I shared a nifty mind-mapping site called Mindomo. It is a free site with a lot of potential and I thought it was well worth recommending. As mich as I like it though, I think Webspiration is better for teachers and kids. It is the Internet version of Inspiration software, long a favorite educational tool. Once Webspiration came along, it was free in BETA for the past three years. Now the free ride is scheduled t end. There is a notation at the Webspiration site that users who have joined prior the the end date of April 4 will be allowed to continue use through April 30 and then will be offered a discount for the future use of the site. This is one tool that I think is worth paying for, and if you take advantage of the last weeks of free service, then you can decide this for yourself. I feel sure there will be educational pricing. So hop on board while you have the chance!

Link O'Day: Mindomo

I love it when I learn from my students. Actually in this case I picked up a great link from a super former student, Naomi Bates. She posted the link to Mindomo via LM_NET. It is a fun and intuitive mind-mapping application, free online at the link above. You can just sign in with Facebook or create your own membership not linked to any other site. It reminds me a lot of Inspiration, another mind-mapping program. It looks a little simplistic compared to Inspiration, but it is FREE and you save your work right there at the site, in the cloud, so you can bring it up anywhere on any computer. I played with it enough to like it. I still like Inspiration better, but this may be a close second choice. Did I mention it was free?

Link O'Day: Multnoma County Library, Oregon

I have a soft spot for Multnoma County Libraries because I have visited them numerous times. In particular the downtown main library is quite wonderful. Here is a link with a good description of the downtown library: http://www.oregon.com/metro_portland_attractions/central_library
If you go, be sure and go into the Children's Room and see the storybook tree. It is a wonderful bronze sculpture with images of many well loved book characters. Surprisingly, it was not easy to find pictures of the sculpture. This link leads to the best ones I found.
http://norwitz.net/blog/2008/09/28/multnomah-library/
I have been to branch libraries as well, including a couple in charming older buildings. My daughter was a big library user there, and especially made use of their extensive collections of music.

Another thing I like about this library is their website.  Their site is a great reference tool. Teachers and librarians will do well to mark it, and anybody with an ounce of curiosity will enjoy browsing their links. So if you cannot get up to Portland and have a real visit, enjoy a virtual one!

This Saturday I will be teaching my Internet for Librarian class, and one thing we will of course talk about is website evaluation. Having students evaluate sites dealing with controversial topics is necessary for one of my assignments. The link below is one I will be showing--it is a list of social issues.

http://www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html#gen

Link O'Day: National Archives Digital Vaults

Had a bit of a hard day today. This leads me to want to end it on a positive note. Thus I am sharing one of my very favorite websites in the whole world. It defies description. Just go and browse. It also carries forward the theme from yesterday of history and primary source material.

Link O'Day: Footnote: The place for original historical documents online

On the evening of the State of the Union Address I thought a site that highlights American history is a good choice. This site puts thousands of primary source documents at the user's fingertips. Speeches, letters, legal documents, even photographs are included. There are several ways to access this information. You can browse using the timeline provided, or you can search for a specific name, event, or other search term. Also, there are eight special collections to browse. Certainly this site is invaluable for teachers and students, but I think it can be a great browse for any American or anyone interested in American history.

My Hero and Facebook Avatar, Dick Tracy

When I was a kid I was crazy about Dick Tracy. Yes, I was a nerdy little sprout. I even had a Bonnie Braids doll, as well as a Sparkle Plenty doll. This all dates me age-wise, I know. But I can remember playing out in the back yard, talking to my wrist, pretending there was a two-way wrist radio on it. The two-way wrist radio was a very big part of my infatuation with the square jawed-hero. I got to thinking about him recently when everybody on Facebook changed profile pics to cartoon characters to call attention to abuse against children. My choice was easy to make. I just did a little searching and discovered there is a Chester Gould/Dick Tracy Museum: http://www.dicktracymuseum.com/  Also, the comic strip lives on, it seems, though not in my paper. Here is a recent article about the future of Dick Tracy: http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20110124/NEWS01/101240311/A-dream-come-true-New-writer-artist-for-Dick-Tracy-comic-are-West-Tennesseans

Now I am noticing that people are starting to change back to previous or new profile shots and I probably will do the same before long, though reluctantly. Good old Dick explains a little about why I am a gadget freak today. It started back in my own big backyard. And now...look at me! I have the equivalent of the two-way wrist radio with my iPhone! I also have an iPad and a Kindle, a netbook, and a lovely MacBookPro. Life is good.

Link O'Day: BJ Pinchbeck

I remember recommending this site to students while still a school librarian back in the late 90's. BJ was just a little tad then, putting up homework help sites along with his dad. I liked the fact that I could show kids a site developed and maintained by a kid. BJ is still at it, now a 20-something with a degree from Drexel and an interest in photography and film studies. His motto is "If you can't find it here you just can't find it." I am happy to see the site still thriving. It is a great pick for kids of all ages.

Link O'Day: Kathy Schrock

OK surely every teacher and librarian in the United States KNOWS about this website, right? Nope...I talked to a group of new MLS students today and shared her site. I may be wrong, but I don't think there was one person out of the 18 present who knew about her site. So never assume...Your colleagues will love you forever if you show them this site. If nothing else excites them, they will love Puzzle Maker, where you can make FREE word searches, crosswords, and other puzzles right there at her site and then print them out and use. When I brought the site up, I noticed changes since the last time I visited. I had to click around a little to find the things I wanted to share. One useful tip is to use the tabs up at the top of the page: Administrators, Teachers, Parents, Students. Puzzle Maker is in the dropdown from the Teachers tab. There is such a wealth of information at this site, all of it exemplary, that I am not going to try to list off things to look for. I will just mention ONE other because I think she is absolutely spot on with her tools to help teachers and students evaluate websites. This is SO important. I am sure there are several ways to get to the checklists, and she has several for different ages of students. I think the easiest is to click on the main page under the heading called Teacher Helpers...Critical Evaluation Tools. A lot of people share similar checklists, but I don't think Kathy's can be beat. She is sharing all her information royalty free, so you can take one of her lists and even edit it if you want. You have permission granted at the site. Oh and I have to mention one other thing: Clip Art. Her clip art collection is constantly growing. It is royalty free. All the graphics are appropriate and attractive. I think if you don't tell your colleagues but one link for an entire year, you should make that one Kathy Schrock's page. It is that good.

Link O' Day: Taxedo takes Wordle idea to new heights

If you like Wordle you will love Taxedo. It allows you to put your words into letters, shapes, etc. You can use one of their images or provide your own. I will try to do some soon and share but maybe by then you will be using it too!

Link O'Day--Dogo News

I shared a real favorite news site last night, which is especially good for secondary students on up through adults. Today's news site is just for kids. It is strong in both science and social studies.

Link O'Day: Newsmap--Another great visual

Since I encountered and shared a great visual yesterday, I thought I would continue with the same theme. This one has been around a while, and is a great way to get a cross-section of world news, see what is going on, and read the articles that interest you most. There are a number of options for settings. This one is great for anyone with a nose for news, and for classes that follow current events.

Link O'Day: Media Universe

I LOVE graphic presentations of information. I am always on the lookout for new and compelling visual representations of data. This one is called Media Universe and it shows the many digital venues by which we communicate today. I think visual literacy is an important capability that we need to encourage in students. Besides, it is cool!

Link O'Day: Song Remembering My Dad

Today's link is admittedly very personal. My daughter is a singer-songwriter. People in the Portland OR area know she is a familiar performer in that area. She moved home to Texas in October, partly to be near my dad, Zeb Fitzgerald, was turned 98 in June of this year. She was a daily visitor with him until his death December 11. His death hit her very hard, as can be said for me. He was a constant in both of our lives. She sang "Amazing Grace" at his funeral. Then she went home and started on a song to honor him. That is my link for today. I am not sure what she will title it, but I am calling it "Song for Zeb." She worked it up over several days. At one point she got to a place in the lyrics, part of the chorus, and could not decide what should come next. I contributed a line and, amazingly, she liked it! She has NEVER liked any of my suggestions in the past and yeah, most are pretty off-the-wall. Anyway, here is MY line, which she pronounced the heart of the song:
"Take heart in the gift of knowing him
To remember as we go on."

I love that phrase "take heart" as an inspirational exhortation. I have serious doubts that she is likely to take a line from me in the future. She performed the song about a week later at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos. There were several people there who remembered him. It was a very touching and memorable event for me. I missed out on the very first bit, which may make the beginning sound abrupt, but I hope you enjoy it. In her remarks before the song she told how, in her mind, Dad was so special that everybody in town should have been at his funeral. Later, she takes comfort in the fact that at least people pulled over as the funeral procession made its way to the cemetery.

Link O'Day: Doodle for Google

This is a fun activity for students, whether or not they even submit entries. But why not go for the prize? That would be even more fun!

Link O'Day: Four Guys and a Guitar

This youtube video was shared by a Texas musician and Facebook friend, Bo Porter. I think it would be good to use at the beginning of a lesson or staff development about collaboration. In any case, it is a fun video. Oh and give Bo a visit too. This generous man heard my daughter play at Luckenbach and on the spot invited her to be a guest artist at Gruene Hall. People in Texas know both these Texas music landmarks, playing at Gruene Hall was a dream come true. Here is his website: http://www.boporter.com/

Link O'Day: Get your daily non-fiction fix at Delancey Place!

Do you love non-fiction? I think that for all librarians, the answer is yes. I love back stories about historical events, articles about science, and all kinds of informational readings. Here is how you can get yourself a daily fix: Subscribe to Delancey Place (linked from title). You will receive an emailed piece every day with a short and interesting offering. The selections are taken from periodical articles, from books, and from other resources.  I often save mine to read during my lunch break. Some days I am just too busy and simply delete without reading, but often I find these readings quite enjoyable. Case in point: Today I learned that Gutenberg got his idea for the printing press from the wine press. Who knew?

Link O'Day: ANOTHER Brand New Site...Blog by Alice Yucht

When Alice Yucht posts, I read. She has been an active contributor to the large and active message board for school librarians, LM_NET for as long as I can remember.  Her contributions are always worth reading. More often than not, she makes me think and laugh at the same time. She also has a great blog, Alice in Infoland (http://www.aliceinfo.org/).  Now she has another blog! She calls it Y's Guide SLIMPS and will be supporting her classes that she teaches at Rutgers. If you want to learn more about her, go to this link which will give you several facts and link to five more: http://www.aliceinfo.org/blog/seven-things-you-dont-need-to-know-about-me-a-meme.htm lSo far it looks like she is sharing lots of link via her new blog. I promise not to swipe from her but also to learn from her. Stop by!

Link O'Day: Jumo! Another brand new social networking tool!

Jumo is the brain child of one of the original Facebook crew, Chris Hughes.  It is an idealistic endeavor for people who want to change the world for the better.

The purpose is to help people find non-profits and causes, follow them, and eventually contribute or become an activist. You sign on with your Facebook account. Then you find a cause that resonates with you and follow it. You will be informed of the organization's activities and perhaps take part in them or support the group financially. I signed up last night, on the launch day. I then did a search and found a number of praiseworthy organizations. I looked for two topics, libraries and pets, and found some interesting and worthy causes. In a world where there is way too much pessimism, cynicism and bigotry, maybe this is a way to make a difference.

Link O'Day: Author Chris Cleve

I don't read nearly as many books as I once did, or as I would like to enjoy. The reason is my work. My current job's administrative side eats up large chunks of my time during and after regular work hours. Then, like all online teachers, I find myself interacting with students, grading, keeping discussions going, etc. Cleve's book Little Bee has been on my want-to-read list for at least a year. I enjoy ebooks, but picked up a paper copy of this one for my flight home from a conference in San Diego. As promised by reviewers, I was drawn in and had trouble putting it down until finished. It is a quick read, though, and most readers will only need a few hours to finish. The set-up is interesting, with alternating chapters narrated by the two protagonists, Little Bee and the woman who sought to save her. The story really makes me think about how little I know about the conditions in Nigeria and other African countries today. It is one not to miss. All the laudatory reviews are spot on.

Then you will want to go to Chris Cleve's website. He talks about all his books and shares the first chapter of each. AND he posts in and converses with readers who leave comments. He also offers blog postings with his musings, and has a free children's book, satirical and frankly not my cup of tea. But I LOVE Little Bee. This is a book to remember. Great for book club choices also.

Link O'Day: Not Even Past

So far the links I have shared have been ones that I had in my bookmarks for a very long time. Today I am STOKED to share a link to a great site that is brand new! I learned about it via LM_NET and it was launched this very day. The name of the site is Not Even Past, and is a wonderful history resource put up by The University of Texas at Austin's History Department. Because it is so new I am just now exploring. My first question was scope...is it limited to American History? Here is a bit of the site's self-description:

'Not Even Past provides dynamic, accessible, short articles on every field of History. Founded in 2010 and developed by the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin, Not Even Past speaks to everyone interested in the past and in the ways the past lives on in the present.'

So the scope is...well...all encompassing. No doubt that means it will grow exponentially in the future. There are options for video, text, and audio content, and a special tab just for TEXAS.  Clearly this site has lots to offer to teachers, students, and researchers, but I hope the most enthusiastic audience will be the great unwashed masses. Everybody can benefit from this engaging and informative resource. I submit that you will want to visit again and again and watch it grow. So Feliz Navidad, Not Even Past!

Link O'Day: RefDesk.com

Step right up folks! No need to stand in line! Just click on the link above and behold. You will be taken to a one-stop shop for EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED OR WILL IN THE FUTURE WILL WANT to know! OK...maybe that is a bit of hyperbole, but click on the title and take a look at Refdesk. I happen to love sites that are densely packed with tons of information. This one is considered one of the most comprehensive on the Internet. Here is an interesting fact about this site: It is hosted by Bob Drudge. Name sound familiar? He is the father of Matt Drudge of The Drudge Report. The sites are not connected but Bob brags a bit about Matt on his "About" page. Me, I like Dad's site best, because there is no hint of bias or sensationalism. Instead you get the the facts, just the facts. Facts about what? Well pretty much everything under the sun! Give it a try and see if there is anything missing that you want. If there is, let Bob know. He'll likely put it in!

Link O'Day: Great organizational site..TaDa List!

I have probably mentioned this link at some point already in my blog, because it is a big part of my life. I have always been a list-maker.  I am not blessed with photographic memory--far from it. The biggest tool I have to combat my forgetfulness is writing things down, and the best online list-keeper for me has been TaDa List. It is a simple process to set up the lists you want to keep. Each item shows up with a little box next to it. When you complete a task, you check the box. The item does not go away. Instead it moves down below to join other completed tasks. Thus you get to see all your completed tasks. For me, checking the boxes and seeing the tasks demoted to "done" is a great feeling. First thing this morning I set up a list called "Things I Don't Want to Think About Because I Am Too Lazy to Do Them." I listed seven things that have been nagging at me but that I have continually been postponing, because they involve some thinking through how to successfully complete them. One by one I ticked them off today. By mid-afternoon they were all done. It is a great feeling!

Link O'Day: Abbreviations.com

This link does not come from my bookmark bank. Instead it is one shared today by Sybel Finemel via LM_NET listserv for school librarians. She has been sharing links for years, including contributions to Librarians' Internet Index and Virtual Reference Desk. These days you can find her at Question Point: http://wiki.questionpoint.org/w/page/13839450/Global-Knowledge-Base-Editors
While you are at this location, take time to peruse the many resources at this information-filled wiki.

Abbreviation Index is just what it says, a repository of abbreviations and what they stand for. It also has a section for social network lingo, which they call "Wannas." You can search for a given abbreviation or browse by subject. Of course you can! It's an index, right? Here is my favorite section...check it out!

INTERNET

Chat, Emoticons, Domain Names, Wannas, HTTP, MIME, ASCII »

Link O'Day: Just for fun...library circulation desk made out of books

Link O'Day: Phil Bradley's Website

I went to my very oldest link tagged REVISIT to see what was there. I started using this tag back in April, 2007. Mr. Bradley bills himself as an "electronic publishing consultant." When I saw that he was a consultant, I was not sure I wanted to feature him because, frankly, there a lot of great consultants out there and we as librarians are consultants ourselves. BUT he has some great information, available FOR FREE. His list of search engines alone, linked from his main page, is worth a visit. He lists over 150 and has brief annotations for each. He also writes about Twitter,  and Web 2.0 applications. I am very glad I revisited his site, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in Internet searching and/or Web 2.0. Here is the address: http://www.philb.com/
Give Phil a visit! You can say I sent you.

Kicking Off Site O'Day (Sorta): Internet Archive!!!

Here goes my first short Site O'Day entry, which is in fulfillment of my 2011 New Year Resolution to blog "almost" every day. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I have a ton of unruly and disorganized bookmarks at my Delicious site:

One of my tags is SHARE and another is REVISIT. I use these when I come across a site I want to share with students or return to for a closer look. Alas, I seldom if ever have been revisiting, and my sharing is not much better though I do recommend to my MLS students. So I thought it would be fun to go back and visit my very first site to be tagged with SHARE. I wondered if it would be something that still had value, or for that matter if it would still be up and going. Well, I am patting myself on the back. My first site to share is Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/)!

I could not have picked a better choice! Here is the self description offered at the site, which explains it better than I am able:

"The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections, and provides specialized services for adaptive reading and information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities."

How would I describe it? As a huge repository of....wonderful stuff! I gave it a whirl but trying several searches:

• I searched the Music Archives for "Luckenbach" since I have been having a great time hanging out there recently. Yep, there were performances, including one by Corb Lund. I am a fan so this was a nice treat. There were 15 songs recorded on my last birthday! I am presently enjoying "Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle." I cannot wait to hear "Devil's Best Dress" and others.
• Next I went over to Video Archives and was struck by the title "The Days of Sexy Cigarettes." Since I am old enough to remember the TV commercials for cigarettes, I went to the link and viewed a funny/sad ad featuring Luci and Desi plugging Philip Morris.
• Next I was drawn to a link called which led me to The Beat Within which features creations by youngsters in the system who are or have been behind bars. Compelling stuff that could well be shared with other teens. 
•  Below you will see listings of all the links at this large and important collection. Click on any one to go to that section!
• Animation & Cartoons | Arts & Music | Community Video | Computers & Technology | Cultural & Academic Films | Ephemeral Films | Movies | News & Public Affairs | Prelinger Archives | Spirituality & Religion | Sports Videos | Videogame Videos | Vlogs | Youth Media

I could go on but I promised to keep entries short. Don't miss this site! Here is the link again: http://www.archive.org/ I cannot think of a better way to start my ambitious project for the coming year!

My New Year's Blogolution

I started this little blog because of a New Year's Resolution in January 2007. Since then one of my resolutions has always been to continue/improve my activity both in quantity and quality of postings. This year was the slowest on record, so much though that I started considering closing shop. But I do not want to do that. I don't like the idea of being a quitter.

So onward and upward! As is frequently the case, I am inspired by my colleague and one of my heroes, Dr. Teri Lesesne. She reads at least one book a day and blogs about them. Well I am NOT gonna try to match that! First, it is not in my job description since I teach technology rather than literature classes in our program and also toil on as department chair. Thus I have not the time or the reason, much less the chutzpah to try to compete with Professor Nana, whose blog you can find here: http://professornana.livejournal.com/

However I have another way to try to inspire myself on a regular basis, by sharing websites. I am still using Delicious despite the exaggerated reports of its death about a month ago. I just went over to my page where my hodgepodge of sites can be found: http://www.delicious.com/drmaryannbell
They are a wild and unruly bunch with a total number of over 1200. Two of my tags are there to help me and/or my students: SHARE and REVISIT. These tags are reserved for really interesting/nifty/fun/useful sites that I want to be sure I don't forget.  Obviously these are to remind me to do as directed but I must confess that I cannot recall every revisiting a single one of the sites bearing that tag.  Surely I have.......?

Anyway here's my plan: I am going to share a link with a brief description as many days as I can. Will it be every day? I would like to think so and I certainly have enough bookmarks, but I am not too interested in installing a Sword of Damocles over my head by vowing to do ANYTHING daily. I have enough things hanging by a thread in my life as it is.

To kick things off, I am sharing a site that I have used for several years as a reminder service. 43 Things exists to help people succeed with goal-setting. A user can post a goal or resolution, report progress, and send messages to himself and to others. For the past several years I had a weekly email reminder that was called "Get it right with Dad." The reason for this was because I recognized I had a unique opportunity to be there with and for my dad in his last years. Because I tend to get immersed in daily obligations, many of which are relatively trivial, I wanted a way to keep Dad in the forefront of my mind. Seeing the message was a prompt for me to give him a call or send him a card. I take a great deal of comfort in knowing I WAS there for Dad a respectable amount and that I could say good-bye without the regrets. Here is the URL for this site: http://www.43things.com/

HERE IS SOMETHING SUPER COOL: I just went over to 43 Things. I want to set up a goal and reminder to blog more as described above. Guess whose picture and goal are featured today? NANCY PEARL! Her New Year's Resolution posted there is (not surprisingly) TAKE TIME TO READ! Others can adopt any resolution as their own and I intend to do so with this one. I don't know how long her goal will be featured, but if you go there today it will show as the top item.  Since Nancy Pearl is another hero of mine, and her action figure is my constant running buddy, I take this as a positive omen. You can subscribe to any goal that is posted and join others with that same target. The temptation is great to subscribe to goals right and left, because there are lots of good ones there, but I am resisting. That sounds like a recipe for failure for me.

In closing, give 43 Things a try if you have something to which you want to remain dedicated for any amount of time. It helped me!

Song for Zeb

I cannot return to business as usual with my blog or with other things that make up the fabric of my life, without sharing a tribute to my dad, Zeb Fitzgerald. The problem is that I fail when I try to come up with words to say about him. He lived 98 years, almost all of them in San Marcos, TX. During his years he was very active in local and area politics, civic activities, and church life. If there was ever anybody that did not like my dad, I don't know who that might be. He was universally loved and respected. As his old friend Rev. Jack Byrom said, "If there was ever an issue upon which people were taking sides, I knew I could count on Zeb to come down on the right side." My brother and I know we are tremendously blessed to have him for a father and for grandfather to our children. I will miss him for the rest of my life.

Since my words are inadequate, I am borrowing some from my singer-songwriter daughter Emily Herring. Here is the refrain from her song written about him.

"There are men, and then there is this man,
There are lives, and there's a hundred years.
A man pulled up by his boot straps
With a heart to be revered.
So let's all sing Peace in the Valley
And hope that life goes on beyond
Take heart in the gift of knowing him
To remember as we go on."

Emily got to one point in writing and could not figure out what should go next. In a first and very likely last time to do so, I contributed a line to one of her songs. My words are in the last two lines above. We think they are the heart of the song, and I guess a fitting close for this tribute.

FIE on YOU 2010!

I cannot resist thumbing my nose at you, Old Retired Guy 2010! Why I got picked to have a Joe Btfstik kind of a year I cannot fathom. But you know what? I am still here! I am looking forward to a great 2011! Just for posterity, here are some of the things you brought me, you wrinkled old bag of days:

• Death of my dear old friend, best dog ever, and first dog to be really mine. I still miss you Ringo,
• Bad mammogram in January
• Cancer Diagnosis in February
• Surgery in March
• Radiation through June
• Dad's heart attack on first day of Summer II classes
• Dad's decline from then until...
• Dad's death on December 11

And then there were the little things! (Like Robert Earl Keen says, "It's the little things...")

• Things flung from the sky at me including three large limbs and one entire tree.
• Squashing of my carport by said tree.
• Breaking out rear window of my new car, Wanda Honda by backing into a dumpster. My bad.
• Poor Wanda then getting run into by a truck--twice.The same truck hit her once and the driver got out to apologize, leaving truck in gear to roll back and hit her again! Driver's lame excuse..."I just had my eyes dilated and can't see a thing!" Very funny 2010.
• Dinging front Wanda's front windshield days later. I now think I can feel Wanda shudder every time I put my key in the ignition.

In all fairness at least one really great thing happened. My daughter moved back to Texas after 9 years in Portland OR. So thanks for that 2010 but I still think you were mean to me. Thus I say, a pox upon you 2010! 2011 I am ready for you to take over!