Chocolatespoon: Emily’s Musings

Watts Wacker, talking about his book The Deviant’s Advantage will be the
Virtual Chautauqua guest December 19th-23rd!

To my friends having babies, I wanted to share this cool link to the Baby Name Wizard that I saw posted on a Jupiter Blog. You put in a name and it charts the popularity of the name over time.

via Neat New Stuff, the The 100 Best Communities for Young People based on:

Community support of children and youth
Resources Children and youth receive (the Five Promises)
Children and youth outcomes

None of the towns I grew up in made it, but San Jose is on the list. I do love random lists of top places to live…

I thought this site was so cool: What do you fancy tonight?, East Midlands Libraries working together to promote books and reading supported by Arts Council East Midlands.

“whatareyouuptotonight.com helps you pick a read depending on whether you want a quiet night in or are feeling more adventurous. You can also choose books according to your star sign or even set up a blind date with a book at your nearest library! ”

I LOVE the blind date idea! You pick the kind of “date” you want and then say which library you want to meet up at, and in 5 days your secret book will be waiting there for you. “You could end up being bored or embarrassed but you might discover the love of your life.”

Other fun things:

-list of books you don’t want to be seen with
-Can’t think of anything to say? Want to “wow” people with your knowledge? Help is at hand.
-Get all soapy! Find out what’s behind the scenes driving our fave goodies and baddies! [book picks from soap opera stars!]
-Fed up of rows between your mates arguing whether the film was better than the book ? Find out for yourself
-What your read says about you – Find out what message your book is giving to potential partners.
-Can’t be ar**d with university? Can’t be ar**d with saving money? Can’t be ar**d to get out of bed? can’t be ar**d to go to the gym? can’t be ar**d with Revolution? Can’t be a**ed with Football? Can’t be ar**d with Harry Potter? can’t be ar**d to think about politics? Can’t be ar**d with Dr Who?
-Mind your own business – books to judge a job by

(via People’s Network‘s reading links via 24-hour library services at your fingertips)

via MoCoLoCo an artist made the city of San Francisco out of jello! You have to take a look (and watch the video, which lets the city wobble.

(and speaking of cool web site, have you seen the cool Absolutmetropolis ad?)

via Lady Crumpet,

and S got:

I just missed way too many of these: Washington Post Technology Trivia Quiz.

Doesn’t this look like fun? (via librarian.net)

Great Read in the Park
“An extraordinary literary event commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the New York Times best-seller list”

The Great Read in the Park is being held in Bryant Park on Sunday, October 2, 2005, with events starting at 9am and ending at 6pm. Bryant Park is located in midtown Manhattan, New York City, NY, between 5th and 6th Avenues and 40th and 42nd street.

The event includes: More than 150 nationally known authors; Panel Discussions, readings and book signings; Children’s area sponsored by Target with performances, readings and costumed characters; Literary Brunch and Tea at Celeste Bartos Forum at The New York Public Library; On-site Barnes & Noble bookstore; Book appraisals by Bauman Rare Books; Entertainment including yoga on the lawn, Big Apple Circus, Broadway performances and WQXR’s “Music to Read By” live on stage; and a “Gently Used, Greatly Loved Book Sale”

These two fundraising efforts really appealed to me, so I thought I’d post them.

1) via the knitist, people are giving gifts of love to the original signers of the anti-gay marriage legislation petition in Massachusetts. What are they giving? They are making a donation in their name to The Human Rights Campaign Fund. All HRC gift memberships of $35 or more include a cuddly Equality bear and a personalized gift card with your special note. Don’t forget: a $50 gift also includes an HRC Cap! You can adopt a name from the list (claim it in the comments.) While you’re at it, you can sign HRC’s Million for Marriage petition.

2) via apophenia, an opportunity to Pledge-a-Picket at Planned Parenthood in Southeastern Pennsylvania. They are going to count and record the number of anti-choice picketers each day from October 1 through November 30, 2005 and you can pledge a certain amount for each that shows up. As Danah writes, “Thus, every picketer gains Planned Parenthood money by engaging in their egregious behaviors. Their activities are no longer purely destructive – they are inverted to help PP do its work!” Brilliant.

I love the Citibank ad I saw in the New Yorker. It has a great bookmark that you can punch out with Lillly from Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. The directions on the rest of the page read:

1. Punch out.
2. Find a kid.
3. Open book.
4. Read [out loud]!
5. Place in book when kid falls asleep.
6. Repeat steps 2-5. Lots.

And, to be extra classy, the bookmark doesn’t even mention Citibank again, it just says, “To donate books to New York-area schools in need, visit http://www.projectcicero.org