BEA Pictures

Since I still do not have working internet (this post is being done from the library), this will not have too much substance to it, but here are some of my pics from BEA.

This is the Javits Center where the conference was held.  This picture is of the people in line behind us to get into the exhibits.

Here is Abby with Super Chicken Nugget Boy, who I believe has a book coming out soon.  As a vegetarian, I should find this offensive, but he is just so darn cute!  There were several characters like this walking around BEA including a book, some pirates, and several weird puppets that we learned to avoid.

This picture is kinda dark, so you might not be able to tell, but it is Tony Hawk.  If I had paid more attention to my program and realized he was there, I would have gotten in line for his book.  But by the time I realized he was there, the line was so long I couldn’t even find the end.  But I was brave enough to push past the paparazzi and news cameras to take my own pic.  I think it is kind of funny that he is sitting in front of a book called The Amish Way.

Here is a picture of me with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney.  I actually did wait in line for his book and got his autograph.  It was a very well managed line and even though it was super long, I only waited about 15 minutes.  They even had someone standing there with the sole job of taking pictures for you.  If you notice, my forehead is glistening with sweat.  That is because BEA is HARD WORK!  You can’t tell from the picture, but there is a huge bag filled with probably 20 books at my feet that practically broke my shoulder.  I felt a little bad standing so close to Mr. Kinney when I was all sweaty and gross.

Here is the giant typewriter at the Abrams booth that Jeff Kinney was sitting next too.  Did I mention how awesome Abrams was??

This is my spot in line for the Author Breakfast on Thursday morning.  I don’t know if you can tell how far ahead the line goes, but trust me, it went on FOREVER.

Here is the man himself, Jon Stewart.  He was funny, charming, and just a little bit irritable, which was pitch perfect.

If you want to see more BEA pictures, you can go to my Flickr page.  Also, make sure to check out Abby’s BEA recaps that are much more informative than mine.  Recap 1 Recap 2 Recap 3

Jen

BEA Highs and Lows

I am very relieved that I survived my first (and probably last) BEA experience.  It was a whirlwind trip that is unfortunately still going on.  My flight to Chicago got canceled, so I am chilling in a hotel (that I had to pay for) and waiting for my flight to leave tomorrow afternoon.  Yeah, that’s right….I will be getting home 24 hours after I was originally supposed to.  I hope my cats are okay.

Since I am still a little crabby about the whole airport fiasco and not in the mood to read, I thought I would post about my favorite parts of BEA.  I wish I had pics to share, but they will have to come later since my camera cord is at home.

Here are the best parts of BEA:

**Getting to see Abby!!  I haven’t seen her in months, so it was great to get to hang out with her again.  She was the perfect partner in crime to tackle the expo.

**The librarian’s dinner on Tuesday night was awesome!  We got like five books and dinner for free just for being librarians!!  All five authors spoke and they all did so well.  Jane Green was my fave because her accent was so cute, but I loved them all!

**The author’s breakfast with Jon Stewart, John Grisham, Condoleezza Rice, and Mary Roach.  Even though I didn’t get to actually meet any of these people (sigh) they did an amazing job of speaking.  Each one was really interesting to listen to, and of course, Jon Stewart was hilarious!  I think my favorite had to be Mary Roach, who talked about her new book Packing for Mars.  It’s about the more “human” aspects of astronaut life (like cleanliness, sex, and pooping in space).  I think it will be awesome!!

**Getting Jeff Kinney’s autograph!  I got the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Movie Diary signed and I am going to use it as a grand prize for the summer reading club (after I read it, of course).  I hope the kids will be as excited about it as I am.

**Getting Wendy Mass’ and Ingrid Law’s new books made the trip for me!!  These ladies are two of my favorites and I literally squealed when I picked up The Candymakers and Scumble.

**The Librarians’ Lounge and the shipping area were so convenient.  A free place to get food and a place to drop off all of my books in order to save my shoulder??  What more could I want??

**Getting free books!!!  Did I mention how amazing it is to get free books!  I did not get a count of how many I actually picked up, but I shipped two giant boxes back along with stowing some of them in my suitcase.  I picked up most of them for the library, but some of them were just for me 🙂

Here were some of the things I was not so fond of:

**The autographing area was not well organized at all.  Sometimes you had to push your way through four layers of people to get through to your line.  At least the lines were filled with polite people (mainly booksellers and librarians) who remained nice even when we all wanted to scream in frustration.

**I am not a fan of the city of New York.  I can’t imagine ever coming here as a tourist just to be a tourist.  Taking a cab ride anywhere is terrifying and walking is even scarier.  I don’t care what kind of wonderful things the city has to offer, I really don’t plan on coming back any time soon.

**There were a lot of rumblings among the seasoned BEA goers that there were not as many ARCs this year and that the publishers were not as willing to give things out.  I have nothing to compare it to, but I did notice that it did not seem to be as magical as everyone had described it (I was not literally swimming in books like I thought I would be).  But I did get a lot of great books and I have nothing to complain about.

**Getting stuck in New York is totally terrible.  Awful, awful awful.  I had an emotional breakdown at the airport in front of a lot of businessmen.  I probably should have been embarrassed, but I will never see these people again, so I did not care.  I am much more calm now, but I am still upset that I won’t be home for another 28 hours.

Overall, it was a great experience and I had a good time picking up books like a human tornado, but I don’t think I would spend the money to come again.

I will be sure to post pictures of all of my fun stuff as soon as my boxes get to the library.

Jen

I’m Going to BEA!!!

I am so excited right now that I can barely contain myself.  In less than 24 hours, I will be in New York City for the Book Expo of America!!  I’ve never been to New York before, so that alone is exciting, but I can’t wait to get my hands on all kinds of free books!!!

I told Abby (the) Librarian (my traveling partner) that I was going to be a human tornado, sucking up every book within range of my flailing arms.  I hope that I can contain myself enough to not be a rude human tornado.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is the Author’s Breakfast on Thursday morning.  I am going to get to eat breakfast with Jon Stewart!!!!  Well, Jon Stewart and hundreds of other people probably.  I will try to take pictures if they are allowed (and even if they’re not tee hee).  He is the person I am most looking forward to seeing.  Also, I would like to get a glimpse of Mo Williams and Adam Rex since they are two of the hot men of children’s literature (also, I happen to like their books).

There are a few titles that I am going to be truly crushed if I don’t get my hands on them, but I am not going to list them here.  I feel like that would jinx it somehow.  But we all know from the Catching Fire incident last year at ALA that there is nothing that will stop me from getting a book I want!  (Unfortunately, we already know that Mockingjay will not be given out, so I am not counting that as one of my titles.)  Wish me luck as I head off into the wild forests of ARCs!  Hopefully I will bring back some good stuff to keep me busy this summer.

Jen

Best Part of Any DVD

I love movies.  If I find one I like, I go see it over and over again in the theater and then immediately buy it on DVD when it comes out.  I also have an obsession where I can’t just buy the DVD, I have to buy the “Special Edition” that comes with extra discs containing goodness knows what.  It doesn’t even matter if it is just an impulse buy of a movie I kind of like, I have to get the fanciest version.

The reason I have to do this is because I love watching the extra features of movies (sometimes even more than the actual film).  I love behind-the-scenes documentaries and especially commentaries.  But the best part of any DVD is by far the blooper reel.  A good blooper reel can tell you more about what it is like to be on a movie set than any other part of the DVD.  What are the actors like when they mess up?  Can they laugh at themselves?  How do they act around their co-stars?  These are all things that can be learned from a great blooper reel.

One of the things I don’t like in blooper reels is endless takes of actors deliberately flubbing lines to make everyone laugh…..that just isn’t amusing to me.  I like to see people falling down, props malfunctioning, and people laughing at the chaos of making a film.

Two of my favorite blooper reels come from the Narnia movies.  I love that they include the actors and the crew.  It also seems like everyone is having a really good time working on the movies.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are the blooper reels from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.

I think I like the Prince Caspian one better because so many people fall over…..I’m not sure what it is about people falling over, but I just can’t seem to stop giggling when it happens!

Jen

Totally Awesome Fish Alert!

Today at work, I spent the last few minutes searching the interwebs for pictures of weird ocean animals to hide around the library.  Last year we hid funny Mona Lisa pictures throughout the building and the kids loved it!  Since this year’s summer reading theme is water, I decided to do the funny sea creatures.  I found ten really weird animals and I am psyched.

The cutest one I’ve found is the dumbo octopus.  Isn’t he so precious???

I just want to tickle his little ears!!!

But the coolest fish I have found was on the website Weird Sea Monsters (which is great by the way….check out the piglet squid…..it gives Dumbo a run for his money).  It is called the barreleye fish and it is nothing short of amazing.  Just look at this picture!

It doesn't even look real!!!

It has a freakin’ transparent head!!!  Apparently this picture is of the first live specimen ever found.  It is an elusive little guy.  I think I am so fascinated by it because it kind of looks like it has a human face.  Doesn’t it look like a baby??  The things that look like eyes are not actually its eyes, they are noses (I think).  The eyes are somewhere in the transparent dome thingy.  Go to the website and watch the video and you will probably understand it better than me.

I love that I get to discover things like this all in a day’s work.  I can’t wait to talk about it to the kids this summer!

Jen

P.S.  I find it interesting that the pic was taken in 2004, but just now released to the public…..I wonder what else scientists are hiding from us……Nessie perhaps?

In My Mail

Check out this envelope I got in the mail today.

Does that not scream AWESOME?

Here are my favorite parts:

Is this Lester?

Mickey Mouse as Indiana Jones? I would SO watch that!

Lisa Frank!

My favorite Disney movie!

Is this American Girl Kirsten???

Thank you, Amber!!!!  (And not just for the envelope.)  🙂

– Jill

NerdGirl Movie Alert!

I have already talked about how much I am looking forward to the movie Letters to Juliet.  I am to the point now where I am super annoyed that it hasn’t come out yet.  I’ve been waiting since NOVEMBER to see this!  Well, I am in luck because I get to see it this weekend!!

There is a special Mother’s Day sneak preview of the movie on Sunday, before the official release date of May 14.  My mom and I are going to see it together and we are both thrilled!!  This sounds like the perfect Mother-daughter movie.  Now, my mother is a minister, so when we go see movies, there better be no sex, no violence, and little to no swearing.  It is very hard to find a movie that fits those descriptions.  Letters to Juliet is only rated PG so it will totally fit all those qualifications!

Check your local theaters to see if there is a sneak preview near you.  Both theaters we looked at had only one show in the late afternoon, so make sure you check early.

Jen

P.S.  The older couple in the movie is totally married in real life!  Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever.  As my mom pointed out, even though that guy is old, “He sure is one good looking man!”

One of the reasons I love my job.

Because I get to DANCE! with little kids! and giant dogs! Seriously, my fellow librarians knew how happy this would make me that they didn’t even ask–I just got an email one afternoon that said “Amber, we are going to film you dancing to Beyonce tomorrow. Dress appropriately.”

(filmed for the River Bandits’ Library Night which then got rained out booooo)

Amber

Beastly….Well, Kind Of

I just finished reading Beastly by Alex Flinn and I adored it!!!  It is totally and completely my type of book.  It is a fairy tale adaptation that sticks close enough to the original story, but also brings something new to the table.  I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, love stories, or fairy tales.

I read this book to prepare myself for the movie that is coming out this summer.  I think we will be seeing a lot more YA love stories turned into movies in the near future (thank you Twilight!!).  I watched the trailer before I read the book, and after reading the original story, I noticed some things that the movie has drastically changed.  Here is the trailer for you:

Well, first of all, the guy in the book turns into an actual beast.  We are talking an actual animal with fur, claws, and fangs.  Hence the name Beastly.  I can understand why they changed it for the movie….it would have been hard on an actor and it is something that works in the book, but maybe not so much in a visual medium (although the old tv show with Linda Hamilton did it pretty well).  So that I can accept, even though after reading the book, this guy’s affliction seems like a minor skin irritation compared with being an actual walking animal.

Also, the witch is supposed to be really hideous when he first meets her.  I mean she is supposed to have gross teeth and stuff.  Basically like a real fairy tale witch.  I love the fact that they cast Mary-Kate Olsen, but let’s face it, she is about as far from hideous as you can get (even with that thing on her face).

I understand why they cast Vanessa Hudgens.  They needed to have a star to carry the movie.  But, um, in the book, Lindy is supposed to be a plain girl with crooked teeth that you might not notice at first.  I don’t know if the producers realized this, but Vanessa Hudgens is gorgeous.  Oh well, I guess I am just glad they didn’t try to ugly her up by putting her in glasses or something insulting like that.

I just find it very ironic that in a story all about looks not being important, they managed to pretty-up all of the characters.  Go figure.  I will still be first in line to see it because I loved the book (even though they also seem to have changed large amounts of the plot according to the trailer) and also because I love me some Neil Patrick Harris (I totally pictured him as Will the whole time I read it and he is perfect for the part).

Jen

Oh Nashville, You Never Cease To Surprise Me

So on Wednesday night as I was laying in bed, I became concerned because I thought someone was being shot near my home.  I mean, I do live in Nashville after all – the crime rate here is pretty high.  Also there was a gang shootout (nobody died, so it’s all cool) a couple of streets over from my apartment.  But then I was all like, no – that’s not gun fire (I have shot a gun before, so I totally know…kind of), that sounds more like fireworks.  But then when I looked out my window, I couldn’t see any fireworks!  So I would lay back down and then pop pop pop!  Jump back to the window – nothing.   Lay back down – POP!  It went on like this for a few minutes.  I never saw anything, but I swear to you – there were fireworks!  

Then I promptly fell asleep and forgot about the whole fireworks incident.  Then this morning I was laying in bed (it’s thunderstorming – don’t judge me), reading my fave Nashville blog, Nashvillest, and what do I see?  A story about how John Rich (of Big & Rich, or as I like to think of them – the save a horse, ride a cowboy guys – I only know one of their songs) pissed off all his neighbors by throwing a party with helicopters and fireworks.  FIREWORKS!  I wasn’t hallucinating guys!  I almost lived a few houses away from John Rich, but that apartment got snapped up before I could even see it – the pictures looked super nice and the price was super good!  Now I understand a little better why such a nice apartment would be so reasonable – John Rich.  Turns out he’s quite the nuisance.  His neighbors hate him with an absolute passion.  I live a mile away from his house and his fireworks bothered me – I can only imagine how pissed his next door neighbors were.  

I think it’s pretty hilarious that out of all places he chose to live, John Rich chose the place he did.  He build this 73 foot modern looking mansion thingy in this super cute, average sized house neighborhood.  It’s kind of like if someone built a 73 foot mansion next to my parent’s house back in Iowa.  It looks way out of place and is an eye sore (it is actually kind of ugly – plus, all the times I’ve been past it, I have never seen a pool.  What kind of country music star doesn’t own a pool?  It’s just wrong).

But anyways, I read the article, and he wasn’t actually throwing a party – he was shooting a video.  I don’t know if helicopters were really involved.  I don’t doubt the fireworks, but the helicopters could easily be explained away by the fact that we all live next to the hospital.  And there are helicopters flying around here all the time.  Plus, is it just me, or does it sound really not smart to have helicopters flying in the vicinity of fireworks at the same time, on purpose?  

So that’s the latest in Lindsay’s brushes with fame in Nashville.  I’ve only had “3”.  First one was … what’s his face?  Keith Urban?  or Toby Keith?  The one that’s married to Nicole Kidman I think – whoever that one is.  Amber told me that we saw him at Panera in Green Hills.  I’m not sure it counts if I don’t know who someone is.  The second one was totally legit though – Ben Folds (SCREAM!) was totally eating at the table behind me at my favorite Thai restaurant.  I didn’t see him come in, and I really wish I had, because I remember talking to husband about how he really needs to leave the toilet seat down at night because I was afraid of falling in (because I don’t turn on lights and I kind of sleepwalk to the toilet).  So Ben Folds knows of my fear of falling in the toilet at night.  And now brush 3 was being alarmed at John Rich’s fireworks.  I’m totally not even counting the time that Miley Cyrus was in the children’s hospital (which is right across the street from my work building), and the time that Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift ate at the pancake pantry while I was a half mile away (again working.  Do you see a theme here?  Working is holding me back from meeting all these stars).  So really I could have like 4 shaky brushes with one legit brush.  

I look forward to sharing more Nashville Brushes with Fame with you in the near future.  I’ve really got to brush up on my country music stars – I bet they’re all around me and I just don’t even realize it!

<3, lindsay

Save a dinosaur, ride a caveman.