Desperately seeking stuffing...

Well, dear readers, it's that time again. The ginkgo trees are starting their annual transformation from deep verdant green to a resplendent gold. Our "Welcome, Fall" flag (featuring Snoopy the beagle!) is waving in front of the library. Your loyal blogger is on half-rations to better prepare himself for Thursday's turkey-and-stuffing induced food coma...

It's a wonderful time of the year, and the Library Society wishes a happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. We will be closed as of tomorrow, Wednesday the 23rd, and will remain closed through the weekend. Normal hours resume Monday the 28th.

[We'll hit the ground running when we get back, too... Wide Angle Lunch with Tara FitzGerald will be on December the 1st, and our Parade Party and Unedited: Bluegrass Christmas will be the 4th! Get your tickets now...]

Also, as a service to you: your loyal blogger does not want to leave you without something to read for the four days the Library will be closed. So, if you've never seen it before, take some time to visit Book-a-Minute Classics.

If you're unfamiliar with the site, Book-a-Minute classics extracts the Western canon to their quintessence, usually in hilarious fashion. I'll leave you with just a few examples:

The Sun Also Rises-

Stock Hemmingway Narrator:
It was in Europe after the war. We were depressed. We drank a lot. We were still depressed.
The end.

The Crucible-

Reverend Parris:
Abigail Williams, you and your friends are in trouble, unless you can shift the blame to someone else.
Abigail Williams:She did it! He did it! They did it! Everybody but us did it!
Judge Danforth:Ah, now we are getting somewhere.
(Everybody gets hanged, which just goes to show how evil McCarthyism is.)
The end.

And to finish, your loyal blogger's favourite novel:

The Great Gatsby-

Gatsby:
Daisy, I made all this money for you, because I love you.
Daisy:
I cannot reciprocate, because I represent the American Dream.
Gatsby:
Now I must die, because I also represent the American Dream.(Gatsby DIES.)
Nick:
I hate New Yorkers.
The end.

Enjoy the site, and enjoy your break! We'll see you at the Library next week.
The end.

The rush before the rush...

Strolling up King Street today, dear readers, your loyal blogger heard it. He knew it was coming, but today was the day. Through the crisp air came the rhythmic ringing of the Salvation Army bell, from the ringer and the little red kettle in front of Charleston Place hotel: the first sound that's always sure to signal the holiday season in my mind.

Of course, the big-box stores have been hanging tinsel and blaring Adult Contemporary Christmas music for a few weeks now, but I've been more-or-less successful at tuning that out. But the Salvation Army bell tells me that it really is time for people other than Sam Walton and Charles J. Kmart to be thinking about Christmas presents. (Good thing for your loyal blogger that I got most of my Christmas shopping done in the late summer.)

Still, we are not letting thoughts of sugarplum fairies invade our thoughts here at the Library (though we've got all sorts of great CLS gifts you might like to consder!), or at least not yet. Look at the list of events we've got before Thanksgiving rolls around: Amanda Foreman is lecturing tonight, there's a Bourbon Tasting on Wednesday, Wes Jackson's lecturing on sustainable agriculture on Thursday evening, Edward Ball is speaking at Friday's Wide Angle Lunch, and then on Saturday and Sunday we host our annual Fall Book Sale. (As always check out our upcoming events here.)

So give yourself (and your mind!) an early present - come to a library event this week!