Friends: Old and New

I am reading a memoir ("Before the Year Dot") by my favorite soap star on my favorite British soap.  June Brown is the actress and "Eastenders" is the soap. (I have been watching that show for over 25 years, since it was first introduced to American audiences on PBS).

In her memoir she says about old friends,

"In the end I lost touch with most of my school friends but when you meet people who were your childhood friends you just pick up where you left off.  You have your childhood in common and your youth - there is an understanding there that you don't share with friends you make when you are older.  Your childhood friends know you as you were - before the baggage of life and age attached itself."

I latched onto that because I think it is so true.

I have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with some childhood friends over the years and have found many more of my old friends through Facebook.  I know there are many of you out there who believe Facebook is evil, and that might be true to a certain extent, but Facebook has also put me back in touch with those childhood friends who knew me as I was..."before the baggage of life and age attached itself."  And we have indeed picked up where we left off, sharing memories and getting to know our new selves, the ones with baggage. 

It's funny, though, what each of us remembers and what each of us has forgotten.  For example, my college roommate and I used to play a card game (Nertz) almost every night our Freshman year, a card game that SHE taught ME.  I recently asked her about the scoring.  I remember how to play the game, but I couldn't remember how it was scored.  SHE NOT ONLY DID NOT REMEMBER THE SCORING SHE DIDN'T REMEMBER PLAYING THAT GAME WITH ME AT ALL!

But I can forgive her.  Memories are strange things.  We retain some; discard others.  Some mean more to me; some mean more to them. Some get tarnished or embellished with time.

I have many happy memories.  I have learned a lot from my friends - old and new.

Here is what we were like before age and "the baggage" set in and some things I learned from them.

One of my very early friends was Bobby, who lived down the alley from us.  We used to play Robin Hood and Maid Marian in the rock garden next door to his house.  His family had a bomb shelter in their back yard.  That's when I started worrying about the bomb.

 

When I was seven, we moved, and my best friend was another boy - Chucky.  He lived around the block from me and his family also had a collie, except it was one of those black and brown collies.  His name was Buzzy.  Here Buzzy and Echo (our collie) are playing and running free as dogs did in those days. Chucky and I acted out all of the "Twins" books ("The Dutch Twins," "The American Twins of the Revolution," etc. ) by Lucy Fitch Perkins.  They were boy and girl twins so that fit perfectly into our dramatizations.  We also played with my dolls together. His Dad didn't like that.  I learned much later that Chucky was one of the early victims of AIDS.

 

 

Barbie was one of my best friends in elementary and middle school.  You can see how much I liked her because I am photo bombing the picture with my fingers behind her head (someone should bomb my glasses and hair).  She and her family (that's her sister in the foreground with the glasses) lived in a fantastic mansion with a ballroom on the top floor, and we would go up there and play dress up and get up to all kinds of mischief.  I remember loving her mother. 

Barbie and I went to camp together when we were seven.  I was a fussy eater and we were required to take at least one bite of everything served to us. I would gag just thinking about it.  I also couldn't swim and was not good at making lanyards.  I think it got to be too much, and I humiliated myself by crying for my Mom.  When I was trying to go to sleep at night I would see tuna fish sandwiches and my mother's face swirling around and it was more than I could bear.  They let me call my Mom and then I managed to make it for the rest of the time.  Barbie never held that against me.

.

First big crush.  In grade school he called me a freckled faced monster and I hit him with my bucket purse.  But here we are older - 7th grade.  I asked him to a Sadie Hawkins type dance and he said yes. He taught me to like nice, tall, handsome boys.

Janice was one of my best friends since middle school (we called it Junior High in those days).  She was the first to like Bob Dylan (I'm talking 8th grade here and we were so sophisticated we loved his "Baby Let Me Follow You Down"), when even the DJ's didn't know who he was and didn't pronounce his name properly - they called him Bobby Die-lyn.  She wrote wonderful poetry and was very intellectual. We worked on the problems of the world.  We even started a school Philosophy Club together.  She taught me what it was to be cool.

Another best friend, Linda, was an only child so her parents took me on lots of trips with them - Chicago, Florida, New England.  I have so many memories, but one in particular was her showing me how to shave my legs and some other girl stuff.  My mother was clueless when it came to that kind of thing.  Linda taught me what it was to be a loving friend.

We are the smarty pants being inducted into the Honor Society but starting to show our rebellious side.   Long story about Charles Hackley.

Speaking of rebellious, it's the late 60's.  My roommate in college.  Poor girl.  She wanted a non-smoking roommate, but I couldn't say I smoked on my college application. My mother would see.  I remember my parents dropping me off on the first day and then when they left, flopping down in a chair and with my best Tallulah Bankhead impression (I was very dramatic) saying to her, "By the way, I smoke and I sleep with my boyfriend."  What could she do?  So we became best friends.  She taught me about being a loyal friend even when I was a pain in the butt.

And here we are at Thanksgiving at my parent's home. She lived on the West Coast and we were in college in Michigan so she came home with me.  We are thinking we are very cool in our "kooky" sunglasses.  And, Mom, what's with that wallpaper?

Right after college, I moved to San Francisco.  That was what everyone from Michigan was doing in those days.  My first job was working for the Bank of America and Jeanne was my best friend there.  She was a Californian. She just about choked on her lunch when I said I wanted some "pop," meaning a soft drink.  She also couldn't believe anyone would eat doughnuts with apple cider, a Fall highlight of my growing up years in Michigan.  She taught me it was OK to be opinionated and not to suffer fools.  I liked that.  I just found her recently on Facebook after over 40 years.  We just picked up where we left off.

After a horrible divorce that left me devastated, I met soon-to-be Hubby and his friends and they took me on.  Let's just say it was the 80's.  They taught me how to party again.

 

When Hubby was immersed in the computer industry, he traveled to the UK frequently and I got to tag along.  We made many friends there.  They taught us that some things travel well:  friendship. 

 

If you read my blog post on my Swedish heritage, you know all about my cousin Jane. Having her in my life has been a great gift. She looked after my son when he studied in Sweden, she and her husband have made the effort to travel with us in Europe and she is that wonderful link to my mother's Swedish side of the family.   

 

And as for new friends... ten years ago, Hubby and I took a leap and moved to a completely new city, not knowing anyone.  We had heard that people in Seattle were friendly and polite, but not likely to invite you over for BBQ.  That is true to a certain extent, but despite the difficulty of meeting and making friends when you are older and encumbered with that aforementioned baggage, we have some wonderful friends who have welcomed us over for BBQ!

So many wonderful friendships in my life, and I am so glad I am still in touch with many of the people I have known over the years, even if it's just in cyberspace. Barbie, Candy, Lois, Janice, Linda, Rick, Ralph, Paul, Jeanne, David, Stephen, Dan, Bob, John, Leslie, Bill, Glenn, Steve, Judy, Lois, Lesley, Myra, Janie, Chris, Jim and John. So many more and too many new faces to list here.

No matter what you feel about the Internet or Facebook or any form of social media, it does have the power to bridge the time gap, to reach out over time and bring back happy memories and reunite us with those who knew our young and pure selves, before we had all of that baggage to carry.

Thinking about them all, I am wondering if our memories of each other would be the same.  If they remember the same things that I remember.  What remains and what has fallen away?

  

My 50th High School Reunion will take place in 2016 and I plan to attend so I can see my "childhood" friends in person once again.  And you know what?  I think we will just pick up where we left off!

 

Have you reunited with your childhood friends?

 

 

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

 

See you Friday

 

for my review of the new movie

 

 "Pride"

 

 and my

 

Week in Reviews

 

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Judging "The Judge" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "The Judge," the DVDs "Obvious Child" and "Summer in February," the Broadway touring company production of "Kinky Boots," and Brooke Shield's new memoir.  I also bring you up to date on "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" and share my "A-HA Moment of the Week"]

Judging "The Judge"

The Judge

Hotshot big city lawyer, Hank Palmer, is called back to his small Indiana town upon the death of his mother.  He is not happy about having to go back.

Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again."  He should have said "You shouldn't go home again."

Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) will do anything to win a case.  He's selfish, he's a liar and an arrogant smart-ass.  Did I mention that his marriage is also in trouble?

When his mother dies unexpectedly, Hank must return to his small Midwestern home town.  He wasn't happy when he left and he is not happy to return. 

This is a family drama, a courtroom drama, a mystery and a tearjerker.

The family drama begins when it becomes clear early on that Hank's marriage is in trouble and he also doesn't get along with his father and brothers.

Hank's father, Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) has sat on the bench as one of the local judges for 42 years.  He's a hard-hitting curmudgeon with those who stand before him and with his sons too. Hank and "The Judge," as Hank calls his father, trade barbs and clearly don't like each other.

The courtroom drama begins when "The Judge" is charged with murder and Hank must step in to save him. 

The mystery begins when you wonder whether or not "The Judge" did it.

The tearjerker part begins when you find out that "The Judge" is dying of cancer.

Robert Downey Jr. has perfected the smart-ass persona in his "Iron Man" films and elsewhere and here it's no different.  But he also shows his tender side as he navigates the difficult waters of his relationship with his father.

It's good to see Duvall again (he only made one film last year), and he gives a magnificent performance.  It's also refreshing to see Downey warming up his dramatic chops.  He's a fine actor.  They are both supported by Vincent D’Onofrio, who brings in a poignant performance as Hank's older brother; Jeremy Strong as his younger autistic brother obsessed with filming everything; Vera Farmiga (high school girlfriend), who is always good but here really doesn't have enough to do, and Billy Bob Thornton, who cuts an imposing figure as the prosecutor, Hank's nemesis at trial.

The parent child dynamic is reminisicent of "On Golden Pond" and seems to say be sure you say what you need to say to your loved ones before it's too late.

I judge comedies by whether or not I laugh. 

I judge tearjerkers by whether or not I cry.

I cried.

Yes, like "Gone Girl,"  it's too long (what's with these two and a half hour movies these days?) and yes, some things don't add up, but it's good old-fashioned movie making, a riveting story with fantastic performances.

Rosy the Reviewer says..."Judge," I sentence you to several Academy Award nominations, especially for Duvall's performance.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

Obvious Child (2014)

 

Ex-SNL alum Jenny Slate stars in this indie tale of a young woman trying to make it as a stand-up comedienne, while at the same time trying to sort out her life.

The film opens with our heroine, Donna, doing stand-up in a seedy little club in Brooklyn.  Donna's brand of humor is off-the-cuff and very off color, scattered and personal.  Her boyfriend takes issue with her using him as laugh fodder and breaks up with her.  She doesn't take it well and her stand-up routine takes a hit when she goes on stage drunk.

Donna is almost 30 and still lives with her parents and works a dead-end job and manages to lose that too.  This break-up breaks her and one night she has a one night stand and ends up pregnant.  What to do?  She hardly knows this guy.

So the discussion leads to the "A" word:  abortion.

Slate's Donna is quirky, raw and annoying.  You may or may not like her, but this film tackles real issues young women face today and it's a brave little film.  Much of the film feels unrehearsed, adding to its authenticity.

Donna is a mess as many twenty-somethings are, but she has loyal friends and a life she needs to sort out.  It's called growing up.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a strange little rom-com that is almost anti-rom-com and far from obvious.

 

Summer in February (2013)

 

 

True tale of a love triangle among members of a bohemian group of British artists called the Lamorna group.

It's 1913 and, young Florence  has arrived in Cornwall to join the Lamorna Group.  Alfred Munnings is the leader who is prone to reciting American poetry such as Poe's "The Raven" and Wadsworth's "Hiawatha."  He is instantly attracted to Florence, but so is newcomer Gilbert, a military officer and friend of Alfred’s. Gilbert falls in love with Florence but Alfred gets there first and asks her to marry him.  She says yes which is strange because despite how handsome Dominic Cooper is, there was absolutely no build-up in this relationship.  I remember watching the film and when she said "Yes," I literally said "What?" out loud.

Gilbert is crushed but remains friends with the couple.  When Florence realizes what she has done, she embarks on an affair with Gilbert.

The film stars Dominic Cooper (who I loved in the mini-series "Fleming") as British artist Alfred Munnings, Emily Browning as wanna be artist Florence Carter-Wood, and Dan Stevens (this is where you Downton Abbey fans can see Matthew again) as Gilbert Evans.  It focuses on the early 20th century love triangle of these three.

Gorgeous Cornwall vistas beautifully photographed and gorgeous Dan Stevens, who we all loved in Downton Abbey, are the highlights of this rather dull tale of love gone wrong.  Stevens shows much more passion here than he did with Lady Mary in Downton, but alas, that does not save this plodding tale that doesn't seem to have much of a point since all of the characters are kind of nutty.

For example, every time things don't go well for Florence, she tries to poison herself.

An entire hour goes by before anything happens.  At exactly one hour and 17 minutes things get going, but it's too late.  I have already gone to sleep.

The Brits usually do ill-fated love stories very well (think "Wuthering Heights" and "Waterloo Bridge"), but not this time.

Rosy the Reviewer says...even you hard-core lovers of British costume dramas won't be able to slog through this.

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project"

 

 

308 to go!

The Black Cat (1934)

American honeymooners visiting Hungary are taken to a creepy castle after an accident.

Joan and Peter Allison meet Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) aboard the Orient Express.  They all get off at the same stop and Werdegast offers them a ride.  After a car accident en route, Joan is injured so Wedegast takes them with him to the castle of Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff, but billed as just "Karloff") and then the fun begins.  Poelzig lives in a creepy, though very modern, castle that sits on the graves of men killed during the war.

This movie doesn't stand up very well to today's standards.  Campy is the word that comes to mind.  Many of the old over-dramatic movie-making devices are at work here: musical crescendos every time Karloff enters the room, the long suspicious looks, train wheels chugging to show the passage of time, buggy eyes, but if you can get over all of that, it's quite an enjoyable film.  It would make a great late night double feature with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," since naïve Joan and Peter Allison are dead-ringers for Brad and Janet.

Why it's a Must See: "...the first screen teaming of the great monster stars of the 1930's, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi...the most perverse and the artiest of the original run of Universal horror pictures..."
("1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.")

Rosy the Reviewer says...it's stylish and campy, but I prefer Bela as Dracula and Boris as The Mummy, though I did find Boris' lisp and his ducktail haircut quite adorable, but kind of distracting for a horror film.


In a Lonely Place (1950)

A screenwriter with a violent temper is cleared of a murder by his lovely neighbor.  But did he do it?

Dixon "Dix" Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is a down-on-his-luck screenwriter. At a nightclub, Dix notices that the hat check girl is reading a book he wants to adapt, so he invites the girl, Mildred Atkinson (Martha Stewart) to his apartment to give him the synopsis so he doesn't have to read it himself.  Nothing untoward happens and he gives her money to catch a cab home.

The next morning, a police detective (Frank Lovejoy), who just happens to be an old friend arrives and tells him that Mildred was murdered during the night and Dix is a suspect.  However, Dix's beautiful neighbor, Laurel (Gloria Grahame), is brought to the police station and confirms seeing the girl leave Dix's apartment alone.  Laurel and Dix begin to fall in love but Laurel begins to wonder if Dix might have killed the girl when she witnesses some violent behavior. When Dix asks her to marry him she says yes, but only because she is too afraid to say no.  She makes plans to leave town but when Dix finds out, he almost strangles her. Red flags for the relationship, wouldn't you say?

Grahame does sultry and steamy very well, something that is de rigeur in film noir, and Bogart is hard-boiled and moody, another staple.

 

Why it's a Must See: "...[this] qualifies as a masterpiece on many grounds: as the single best film of cult director Nicholas Ray (he also did "Rebel without a Cause"); as a uniquely romantic and doom-haunted noir drama; as a showcase for personal best performances by Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame; and as one of the most insightful films about Hollywood."
("1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.")

Rosy the Reviewer says...Film noir at its best and it's even more fun when you realize that Gloria Grahame not only married Nicholas Ray, she also married his son (from another marriage, of course)! You can't get any more "noir" than that!

 

 

 

***At the Theatre***

 

 

 

 

A struggling shoe manufacturing company in the north of England must come up with a way to save the company. The young owner joins forces with a drag queen to manufacture thigh-high stiletto heeled boots - Kinky Boots.

 

Kinky Boots is a new musical with music and lyrics by Cyndy Lauper (and the songs sound just like her pop hits) and book by Harvey Fierstein based on a British film based on true life.  It won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Musical and is currently on tour in the U.S.

 

It's a story that's been done before - working class folks who join forces to overcome adversity but there is the added story that explores "what is a man?"

 

In this touring company, Kyle Taylor Parker is a stand-out as Lola (nee Simon), but sadly many of the other characters are stereotypes. But that doesn't mean it's not fun.  It is.  It's a real crowd-pleaser.

 

When I watch new musicals, I can't help but compare them to the musicals that have stood the test of time:  "West Side Story," "South Pacific," "Les Miserables," you know the ones.  Are the songs memorable?  Is the story original?  Was I moved by it?

Rosy the Reviewer says...the verdict is out on whether or not "Kinky Boots" will stand the test of time, but in the meantime, it's lots of fun.

 

***Book of the Week***

 

 

 

 

 

There Was a Little Girl  (publication date: Nov. 18)

 

 

This is a portrait of Terri Shields, Brooke Shield's mother who was portrayed in her obituary as a classic stage mother who inappropriately put her daughter out there in show business for her own gain.  Brooke wants to set the record straight.

 

Brooke Shields is probably best known today for her TV show "Suddenly Susan" and possibly her marriage to tennis star Andre Agassi.  However, as a child actress she starred as a young prostitute in "Pretty Baby," a highly controversial role and film for which her mother, Terri, took a lot of heat.

 

Though Brooke wrote an earlier memoir, "Down Came the Rain" (2006) that detailed her post-partum depression after the birth of her first child, here she turns her attention to her mother, Terri.  Terri, tough and gregarious, divorced Brooke's father after a whirlwind courtship and short marriage when Brooke was just a baby.  Brooke grew up feeling responsible for her mother and cites a story where Terri, driving with Brooke in the front seat, yelled at Brooke to jump into the back seat to avoid being injured in an inevitable crash. Brooke's reply was "If you die, I die."

 

Brooke was a beautiful child so modeling opportunities came her way and Terri took advantage of them.  Eventually, acting opportunities also started coming in, but it was Brooke's role as a child prostitute in "Pretty Baby" that earned Terri a reputation as a single mother who sold her daughter out for her own ambition.  It didn't help with subsequent roles in "Endless Love" and "The Blue Lagoon," both involving sex and/or nudity. 

 

Brooke talks about her career, but mostly this book is meant to set the record straight about her mother, but she pulls no punches about her mother's alcoholism and the role that played in both of their lives.  Terri died young of dementia and this book is Brooke's response in part to her own guilt that she never told her mother what she meant to her, because despite the fact that her mother's alcoholism was an embarrassment and a worry, she was her mother and she loved her very much.

Rosy the Reviewer says...An honest look at a relationship between an only child and her single alcoholic mother that will resonate with all mothers and daughters.

 

***A-HA Moment of the Week***

 

I have discovered BAKED grilled cheese sandwiches.

Works like a charm.  Put a baking sheet in the oven while it is heating to 400 degrees.  Butter one side of two pieces of bread.  When oven is heated, place the buttered side of the bread onto the baking sheet, top with cheese (2 Kraft singles work great), top with the other piece of bread, buttered side up.  Bake for 7 minutes, then flip the sandwich over and bake for another 6 minutes.  If you want to be really fancy, sprinkle with parmesan when flipping.  You can add ham, tomatoes, etc.  Enjoy!  I'm sold on this method.

 

 

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Tuesday

 

for

"Friends: Old and New"

    

 

 

 

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

Here is a quick link to get to all of them.  Choose the film you are interested in and then scroll down the list of reviewers to find "Rosy the Reviewer."
 

Or you can go directly to IMDB.  

Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."

 

 

Why I Love My Library: The ME Factor

You knew I couldn't go too long without talking about libraries. 

I can't help it. As you all know, I spent 40 years of my life as a librarian, over 30 of those years in California, so it's practically in my blood at this point.

So that said, I am continually struck by the fact that not everyone knows what a great job public libraries are doing and all of the great FREE services and programs they provide.

And it is important to me that people know what they are missing by not taking advantage of what public libraries have to offer. 

But let me digress a bit.

My first library job was in a small Carnegie Library in a very rural area of Northern California.  How rural was it?  It was so rural it didn't even have a McDonald's!

 

Things were looking up with my career until 1978, when the Jarvis-Gann tax initiative (also known as Proposition 13) took hold of California and things were never the same again.  Property taxes were rolled back to their 1975 values and annual increases were restricted to less than 2%.  And a 2/3 vote was required for any tax increases, making it extremely difficult for public entities to raise taxes.

This was good news for property owners, especially older ones who were increasingly being taxed out of their homes (one of the major reasons this "tax revolt" occurred), but it was the death knell for County and City services, especially libraries, that relied on property tax revenue to operate.

I had not been a librarian long enough to become entrenched in big budgets, but every year I saw more and more cuts to the library budgets, fewer books, fewer services, fewer programs.

But despite a lack of money, we librarians did what we always did: provided the information and service people needed to help them make sense of their world.  So all hail to my ex-colleagues at the Monterey County Free Libraries and to all library staff who strive to provide excellent customer service despite setbacks.

Fast forward to when I moved to the Seattle area.

It was a revelation and a delight to continue my career in Washington, a state that is not only known for it's coffee drinkers, but for being one of the most literate states in the country and its residents huge library supporters. 

 

I was able to spend the last ten years of my library career working in a library with enough money to provide the services its communities needed and wanted.

But even in an area where the residents support library services, I was continually running into a number of people who were not aware of the programs and services that are available for free from their local public library, despite libraries working very hard to advertise and market these programs and services.  And this has been something that has not changed much over the last 40 years. 

People like the idea of having a public library.  It's a part of the fabric of the community.  They know it's something good to have and they want to have it.  But ask the regular person on the street or in a bar or at a party if he or she goes to the library and you will inevitably hear, "I haven't been in a library since I was a little kid," or "I buy my books" or worse yet, "I haven't read a book in years." 

This is all assuming, of course, that libraries are only about books, which these days is certainly not the case.

Why, despite pointed efforts to promote library services, do so many people carry misconceptions about libraries and are not aware of the plethora of programs and services available?



I have come to the following conclusion:



People are not interested in GOOD NEWS.

We were talking about this issue when I was in library school 40 years ago.  How do we get people to think of the library when they need information, to continue their education or to gather with other community members? 

And 40 years later, we are still asking the same question.  And with information so readily available on the Internet, it is an even bigger question.

One of my professors in library school said the best thing that could happen to libraries would be for a librarian to be splashed across headlines in the tabloids as part of a scandalous love nest or (this was the Watergate years) to be found to be a Watergate conspirator.

The point being, bad news sells and gets the word out. 

Good news doesn't.

I always felt that if people knew about all of the programs and services offered by their local library FOR FREE they would be beating down the doors.

As I said, most people would say that libraries are good and a community should have a library.  It's part of the quality of life for a community and is part of the "greater good." But that doesn't mean they use the library.  And that doesn't mean that when it comes time to raise taxes to support libraries, that people will support "the greater good."

That leads me to conclusion number two: 

To have their value appreciated, libraries need to connect directly one on one with someone's specific need.  Then the light bulb goes off, or as Oprah would say, that "A-Ha Moment" happens.

Because, in the end, it's all about ME.

Here is an example:  I meet someone at a party.  He is telling me about how he enjoys listening to talking books in his car on the way to work.  I ask him if he knew he could download talking books for free from the library's website?  Light bulb goes off.  "I did not know that," he says.  "I am going to check that out."  

"The Me Factor?"  I like talking books and I like to save money.

Or the person who comes to the library as a last resort because a friend had heard the library had free computer classes.  She is looking for a job, needs to fill out an online application and knows nothing about computers.  The librarian helps her on the spot.  Light bulb goes off. 

"The Me Factor?  I need a job and I need help filling out an online application.

Or when people find out they can check out 10 current DVDS for free...another light bulb.

"The Me Factor?" I like to watch DVDs but I don't like paying Netflix $25.00 per month.

So it seems that when someone has a need and the library can go beyond that person's expectation to fulfill that need, their own PERSONAL NEED, that's when the realization hits: 

The library has what I need.  The library can answer MY question.  The library can fulfill MY needs.  I need the library.  I will be back.

Personally, in the last week alone, here is how my local library helped ME:

1.  I used Ancestry.com to get some information for my blog post about my Swedish heritage, which you can read here, if you are so inclined.  Ancestry.com is a genealogy database that costs a fortune to use if you subscribe on your own, but it's free at the library.  I type in the name of my ancestor and voila!  Census records, immigration lists, etc.  If you have watched the TV show "Who Do You Think You Are" or "Finding Our Roots (PBS)," they use Ancestry all of the time.

2.  If you have been reading my Friday blog posts, you know I am embroiled in a project to see all 1001 movies listed in the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," (and you can keep up with my progress every Friday), a book I heard about and found at my local library and which has given me a project that will keep me busy until...well, until I die.

I painstakingly went through and marked the ones I had seen and made a list of those I had not seen - 312.  Then I checked Netflix and Amazon and my library's catalog, and though the library did not have all 312, the library had many of them AND some that neither Netflix nor Amazon had.  One movie alone would have cost me $150 to buy through Amazon, but at the library, it was free.

3.  I am getting ready to visit my grandchildren in California.  Whenever I fly, I want to have content on my IPad so I load it up with the magazines from Zinio, another service that is quite expensive if you were to subscribe to an online magazine on your own.  This service is available free on my library's website, and it includes a wealth of full-text magazines for free in all of their full color glossiness.  Why spend $10 loading up on the gossip mags at the airport (and you know you do!) when you already have them for free on your device?  And nobody can judge you for your choice of reading material!

(I have to confess I read them at home via Zinio too, along with the Food Network Magazine and other cooking magazines, Oprah's "O Magazine," and tons of fashion magazines.  Why pay for magazine subscriptions when you don't have to? And there is something for everyone - from "The Advocate"  to "Golf Tips" to "National Geographic Traveler").

So that is how my library has helped ME, in just the last week.

• But if I still had toddlers at home, I would take them to the free story times that would help them get ready to go to school.

• If I needed help with my English, I would attend the free ESL classes.

• If I wanted to become a U.S citizen, I would attend the free classes that would help me pass the test.

• If I needed to repair my car, I would use the free car repair databases.

• If I wanted to learn a new language, I would use the free Mango service on the website.

• If I had school children, I would set them up with the free homework help available online.

I could go on and on. 

It just depends on what your specific need is right now - your "Me Factor." 

So whatever it is, next time you have a question, a need, check out the library first.  Your specific need might just be filled right there for free.

And, on the library side, I don't think marketing the library by directing the librarians to get involved in a scandal so as to make the news is a good option.  However, working on marketing the "Me Factor" might work.

The American Library Association has long had a motto:  "The right book for the right person at the right time."

In this day and age, it should be "The specific need fulfilled for the specific person (ME) at the specific (and perfect) time."

Because in the end, it's all about ME.

Oh, and my local library that has given me so much? 

 

Sno-Isle Libraries

 

But I think if you check out YOUR local library's website or better yet, pay the library a visit, you will find many of the same great services.

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday

 

where I will judge the new movie

 

"The Judge" 

 

along with my other reviews.

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