LOLcat Bible Transcript: for fans of the LOLcats (I can haz cheezburger?), here’s the LOLcat Bible.

Via Quotidian Hell.

Posted by Amy as Fun Stuff at 1:12 AM EDT

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ephemera: exploring the world of old paper. Very cool site.

Via Neat New Stuff On The Web.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers, Books at 1:10 AM EDT

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14 Ways To Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit. I can’t imagine reading not being a part of my life—it’s as essential to me as regular meals—but I know there are people out there who, mystifyingly, don’t feel the same way. If you know someone like this if they want to start reading, here’s a place for them to get started:

Somewhere after “lose weight”, “stop procrastinating”, and “fall in love”, “read more” is one of the top goals that many people set for themselves. And rightly so: A good book can be hugely satisfying, can teach you about things beyond your daily horizons, and can create characters so vivid you feel as if you really know them.

If reading is a habit you’d like to get into, there are a number of ways to cultivate it.

Via Rebecca’s Pocket.

Posted by Amy as Readers & Reading at 1:08 AM EDT

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I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was designated a Rockin’ Girl Blogger—thanks, Kim!

Now I’m asked to name 4 other Rockin’ Girl Bloggers. It’s always hard to keep it to four—there are so many wonderful bloggers out there. Also, like Kim, I tried to find 4 who I couldn’t see had been named before.

But here are my picks:

• Sandra at Book World
• Leila at bookshelves of doom
• Els at book, book, book
• Heather at The Library Ladder

These four are now asked to list four bloggers each.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 11:44 AM EDT

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Out Of This World: Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Out of This World: Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy is an exhibition produced after four years of time, travel and research into Canada’s considerable body of science fiction and fantasy literature. Produced by the National Library of Canada in conjunction with the Toronto Public Library’s Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, this is the electronic version of the exhibition which originally opened May 13, 1995 at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.

The purpose of this exhibition is both to celebrate and define the rich heritage of Canadian science fiction and speculative fiction within a historical and international context. The items presented represent a variety of media including books and magazines, as well as the artistic and intellectual achievements of an evolving high-tech world in the form of sound, visuals, music and animation.

Science fiction and fantasy are more than specialized genres — they have become an enduring source of themes, ideas and characters in our popular culture. This exhibition is divided into six major themes that encompass and explore Canadian science fiction and fantasy. They are:

• The Identity Variations
• Fantastic Voyages
• Strange Worlds and Strange Peoples
• Quebec Fantasy and Science Fiction
• The Genre Variations
• Who Reads This Stuff?

Posted by Amy as Speculative Fiction, Canadian at 1:40 AM EDT

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Dante’s Inferno: A Virtual Tour of Hell

Via Incoming Signals.

Posted by Amy as Medieval and Old English at 1:31 AM EDT

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Important Infrequently Used Words To Know: I didn’t think these words were all that infrequent–maybe they are in conversation, but not in reading. However, there’s a good guide to the pronunciation of them.

Posted by Amy as Words at 1:25 AM EDT

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Phil of the wonderful Brandywine Books has tagged me with the “8 Things About Me” meme. I love memes, so here goes.

Rules: the rules of the meme are posted at the beginning of the blog entry. The blogger then posts 8 facts about himself/herself and finishes by tagging eight other bloggers (and then notifying them that they’ve been tagged).

Here are my 8 things:

1. I’m an information junkie and cheerfully sit in a library or browse the Internet for hours at a time. Encyclopedias are fun.

2. I’ve been told I have a distinctive voice (a “CBC voice”). Note for non-Canadian readers: the CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national radio public radio stations (AM and FM). There’s also CBC television.

3. I like to plan ahead and do things as far in advance as possible. I don’t always manage, but I try.

4. I’ve never cared for clowns. I’m not afraid of them, as some people are, but I just don’t get it. Ditto for mimes or any form of practical jokes (which often seem to have a streak of cruelty).

5. On the other hand, I love good stand-up comics—I enjoy watching Just For Laughs.

6. I’ve recently discovered Facebook and am hooked.

7. I like to play Scrabble but exasperate my sister to no end because I’m not in the least competitive about it; I just like to make words (“Look! I can make ‘egg’!”).

8. Two subjects with a multiplicity of meanings that I enjoy reading about: integrity and irony.

8.5. I love the name Brandywine Books and wish it were the name for this blog.

*****

I always feel bad about tagging people because that means excluding others. So this is an open tag to anyone who wants to do this—just make sure you let me know you’ve done it!

Posted by Amy as Memes at 1:22 AM EDT

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Hello everyone! The last couple of weeks have been great. I had a wonderful time at the colony and got a fair bit of not-bad writing done. Next year I might go for two weeks.

Harry Potter was great too, and I also discovered Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. It was riveting.

I hope you’ve all had a lovely couple of weeks and that you’re enjoying the summer.

Posted by Amy as Blog Housekeeping at 8:25 PM EDT

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I’m going to take a bit of a break from blogging for the next couple of weeks. I’ll have plenty to do, though–I’ll be going to the beautiful St. Peter’s Abbey to take part in the much beloved Writers/Artists Colony co-sponsored by the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and CARFAC.

After that I intend to sit down and do nothing but read Harry Potter until I finish it, and then I’m going to do some serious relaxing.

So I hope you all have a lovely couple of weeks!

Posted by Amy as Blog Housekeeping at 5:47 AM EDT

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Handbook For Storytellers:

This handbook on storytelling offers hints to anyone who is interested in telling stories. You’ll have to learn for yourself what works for you. You’ll need to develop your own storytelling style. These suggestions are offered as a means of beginning your journey into the wonderful world of storytelling.

Posted by Amy as Storytelling at 8:37 PM EDT

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The Writing Show:

The Writing Show provides information and inspiration for writers of all kinds. Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, songs, games, manuals, ads, reports, reviews, or poetry, we’re here to entertain, help, and engage you.

Every week or so, we offer a new podcast–usually an interview–designed to shed light on some aspect of writing, writers, publishing, and other topics of interest to people who write. We post interview transcripts, articles, and other resources to help writers craft their works, get published, market their material, and get inspired. We also hold writing contests, and each Halloween we present a cavalcade of horror stories read by their authors.

Posted by Amy as Writing at 4:06 AM EDT

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Emily Post’s Etiquette In Society, In Business, In Politics And At Home

Far from being a proscriber of minutiae, Post the philosopher offers a way of living: “Manners are made up of trivialities of deportment which can be easily learned if one does not happen to know them; manner is personality—the outward manifestation of one’s innate character and attitude toward life.” Post gives us thousands of tips on correspondence, wedding planning, party giving and conduct in every public or private setting.

Via Plep.

Posted by Amy as Books Online, Reference at 1:35 AM EDT

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AskOxford’s Jargon Buster:

Are you confused by a conjugation or puzzled by the postpositive?
Our jargon buster gives clear and concise definitions for grammar and literary terms.

Posted by Amy as Words, Reference at 7:45 PM EDT

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Alchemist Name Generator: I like Rebecca Alfakim.

Posted by Amy as Fun Stuff at 3:19 AM EDT

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Blogging For a Good Book: a suggestion a day from the Williamsburg Regional Library.

This nifty blog has the following goal:

Read a new review every day, Monday through Friday! The staff of the Williamsburg Regional Library in Virginia bring you short reviews of books, movies, and more!

. . . .

A different staff member picks favorite reviews for each different week.

Via Rebecca’s Pocket.

Posted by Amy as Libraries, Readers & Reading at 1:31 AM EDT

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Is it indicative of anything in our culture that we now “rip” music and “burn” data? Is there a technical reason for these terms?

It seems awfully violent to me; couldn’t “copy” be used just as well?

Just wondering.

Posted by Amy as Language, Words at 1:50 AM EDT

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50 for 50 Arts Challenge: The Canada Council is 50 years old this year, and it’s issuing a challenge to everyone:

Can you do 50 arts activities in a year? You may think you’re not an “arts person” but have you ever thought about how art figures into your day? Here is your opportunity to tell Canadians about your 50 arts adventures in 2007– be they serious, extraordinary, official, ridiculous or sublime.

Here are a few samples:

• read a book
• took a photo of a friend
• church choir practice
• listened to a CD
• read a magazine
• watched a live dance performance
• knitted a scarf
• watched a television show

Posted by Amy as Arts Organisations, Challenges at 9:35 AM EDT

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