Life in the 21st Century...

Well for starters the name of the tax service I used, FreeTaxes???

Anyway, for the last few years I have been filing my tax return electronically. When you do this, you sign your return electronically too. (Don't ask, I have no idea how that works, except that you click on the indicated button and it's done.) So, last week I received a letter from the IRS. My first thought was "Oh, no! They want money!" What they wanted though was for me to fill out and sign a 8453-OL form; why? because I didn't fill it out and send it along with my original return, which as I said was filed electronically. Incase you were wondering, the 8453-OL is the form you fill out when you are signing your return electronically. Not wanting to be in trouble with the IRS, I filled out the form, put it in an envelope, addressed it, put a stamp on and mailed it off!

Saturday at work...

It's Saturday and I am at work. All week I have been complaining that I have to work a six day week, have Sunday off, and then start again on Monday. But, actually it isn't all that bad. Most of the librarians are away at the American Library Association convention. All of the support staff love ALA, when they are away; things run just as smoothly as when they are here; um...think of that! So, I guess that makes me in charge today. It's cool being in charge when you don't actually have the responsibility of actually being in charge...


In the meantime, did you know that it's the International Year of the Potato?? Here is our Gov Info exhibit...


and the potato we're growing. It's at least 2 feet tall now and has buds at the top.

I am powerless and in the face of this powerlessness there is prayer.

O Thou most glorious Lord! Make this little maidservant of Thine blessed and happy; cause her to be cherished at the threshold of Thy oneness, and let her drink deep from the cup of Thy love so that she may be filled with rapture and ecstasy and diffuse sweet-smelling fragrance. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful, and Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Eleanor, 1947
Harry Callahan

I miss you...

New Daguerreotypes...

Here are some contemporary daguerreotypes from DagLabs.

There are quite a few people today using this timeless photographic process. The results are beautiful, if not highly interesting because of the contrast of the "old" texture of the photos and the contemporary look of the subjects. There is a stillness that comes across (since the exposure time is long and the people must hold still until the picture is taken) in these photos that seems to slow down the person and our chaotic modern lives.

More Kovarsky...

In the simplest way Kovarsky has the ability to express both the inner and outer life of the people he creates in his cartoons. I love this one; simple and yet very funny at the same time, it makes everyday life interesting.

Happy Birthday!!

Girls and dresses

I love the neck line of these 19th century children's dresses. Of course back then young boys wore dresses too, and had long curly hair. This custom was even true well into the 20th century, as my family has photos of my grandfather with long beautifully curly hair wearing a summery white dress; he was five years old.

Here are a few more daguerreotypes of girls (and yet the youngster on the left of the upper right photograph could be a boy). I like the expressions on their faces; particularly, the girl on the bottom. Girls can be a handful and I wonder if this was so with her?

Maori tattoo

I came across the book, Mau Moko, by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, et al., with new photography by Becky Nunes, University of Hawai'i Press, 2007, while at work the other day. It is a about Maori tattoo in the past and present. I have always loved to draw faces and the additional lines of the tattoos adds a very different dimension to the face. What especially intrigues me is the dark lips.

Above: Tawhiao Potatau Te Wherowhero, the Second c. 1885 and Pare Watene of Ngati Maru, c. 1878; both paintings by Gorrfried Lindauer.