MommaLibrarian's Commonplaces

Nerd Knits

Maybe ski mask would work

Knitting nerds

from whip up by kath_red

Sometimes I worry

My baby daughter is 28 and she lives in a very cold place and even though I shouldn't I do worry. . .

Is she warm enough?

Image courtesy the State Library of New South Wales: Australian Antarctic Territory collection

We tend to escape

<-- little brains on the loose

"Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not designed for thinking. It’s designed to save you from having to think, because the brain is actually not very good at thinking. Thinking is slow and unreliable."

"people enjoy mental work if it is successful."  Hence the popularity of crossword puzzles, sudoku games, and brain teasers. What makes mental work enjoyable? The snap of discovery, the sudden moment of insight. Mental work becomes fun and even entertaining if it consistently yields such moments.

Daniel T. Willingham
Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom.
Knewton Blog

I understand at some level why everyone does not enjoy school but I have to confess I loved being a student (the learning part).  Too bad no one will pay you to go to school.

Why not?

"According to the American Journal of Public Health, the birth control pill is better understood than any other drug in human history and no medical diagnosis is necessary."

"Author Virginia Postrel says extortion is the main reason why female birth control continues to require a doctor's prescription."

The Case for Over-the-Counter Birth Control
by Orion Jones on March 10, 2012, 11:00 AM
The Big Think

Greedy Doctors - Time Magazine - Gary Taxali 
Portfolio 1 - 19 of 20

What do you think?  I am tired of women's health issues being a political football.

we all want to be special

NoBrow Cartoons

We have to have some pride in ourselves the question is where is the balance between self-loathing and overweening hubris?  Sometimes we cannot trust ourselves to be the best judge.

Is this English?

"I think this takes things too far. This is essentially an anarchistic epistemology that negates the idea of shared cultural values or common frames of reference."

source

good complex IMHO - base of a tree

Belly buttons

West Coast Crafty captured these children's drawings.  The eyes, mouth and legs were important enough pieces to include.

They reminded me of my oldest daughter's art.  Her families always had belly buttons too.

Love a Librarian

Toronto's librarians need your help and love

BoingBoing By Cory Doctorow at 6:08 am Wednesday, Feb 22

Toronto's librarians are considering going on strike, as Mayor Rob Ford continues to make good on his election promise of "outsourcing everything that isn't nailed down." They're looking for your support, in the form of an endorsement for their "Love a Librarian" petition.

The City is pursuing a bargaining agenda to downgrade and reduce library staff and service. Their strategy is to slash service to diminish satisfaction in our public library. They think the public backlash will be smaller when the Toronto Public Library, in whole or in part, is placed on the market for sale. Standing in the wings is the huge American library management firm Library Systems and Services, or LSSI.

Already, LSSI engaged the lobbying services of Paul Christie, a former city politician with close ties to Mayor Ford and at least one of his hand-picked members of the Library Board, to influence debate about the budget for our public library. Christie quietly wined and dined officials extolling the virtues of private ownership of our public library during the budget debate.

This is the same Paul Christie who oversaw the decimation of public school funding under Conservative Premier Ernie Eves. Even though LSSI has concluded its arrangement with Christie for the time being, they are ready to pounce if we give them the opportunity. This would be disastrous for Toronto residents. Every experience involving LSSI in the US and the UK where the company operates has resulted in higher costs, fewer books and less access for library users.

That is why we must strongly oppose the Mayor’s privatization agenda and keep our library public. Working together, I know we can prevail. Please sign the Love a Librarian petition right now, then share it with your networks.

Love a Librarian Petition