Son of Citation Machine and Grey's Anatomy

This website, Son of Citation Machine, has been really helpful to me this week as I've been writing my research proposal and trying to figure out how I want to do citations. I actually discovered it a couple weeks ago when I was working on the Reference group project and we included it then as a tool to help high schoolers. It pretty much does the work of citations for you to simply things, which is great for me because pretty much all teachers want you to do it a different way and I can never keep track of which way to do it. I decided to do MLA because APA was kinda confusing and it works like a dream. I recommend it to those in college or those with kids in high school. 

This paper has been a giant pain as I am having problems trying to put what I want into paper form. It makes sense to me, but I've been wallowing in the info for the whole semester. So I need to send it to my mom so she can see if it makes sense too and isn't just a giant pile of crap. I'm sure it has good points, but right now it's just frustrating. 

So since this week and past couple have been pretty stressful at my house, while we are trying to figure out our finances in conjunction with the baby, and I think this quote fits in with our situation quite nicely. Now I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan even though I know it's a fluffy girl show, but sometimes they do say some brilliant things on there, like this quote from everyone's favorite bad boy Karev in Season 5. 

• Grey’s Anatomy, Season 5, Episode 18, Karev: "Trauma messes everybody up, but maybe that's the point. All the pain, the fear and the crap...maybe going through all that is what keeps us going forward...it's what pushes us. Maybe we have to get a little messed up, before we step up."

*Muppet Wiki*

I'm a day late with this, but I've been swamped with school work,  so I apologize. Well that and I couldn't come up with a good website to share until now, lol. I finished my portfolio Sunday night and submitted it so just waiting for the feedback on it. I spent about half of the day today working on a paper for my reference class which was due tonight, and now my brain is fried and my lower back is killing me from lugging a heavy bookbag and laptop all over the library. So I'm watching Inuyasha episodes and relaxing. I think I might have some ice cream after I finish this post. 

 

So the website of the week is the Muppet Wiki, which I discovered last week while browsing the web.  As they say on the website, it is a "collaborative encyclopedia for everything related to Jim Henson, The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and The Muppets Studio. The wiki format allows anyone to create or edit any article, so we can all work together to create a comprehensive database for fans of the Muppets." I think it is a great idea! I have loved the Muppets ever since I was little, probably 8 or 9, and I grew up watching Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, The Muppet Show, and Labyrinth. I was a little miffed when the Jim Henson Company (JHC) officially sold the rights to the Muppets to Disney (both companies I love watching movies and TV shows from, but they were owned by Disney before unwillingly and it just looks like they sold out). I know they probably did it because Disney is able to market them in ways the JHC couldn't dream of, because they have so much more money, but it kinda seems like they sold out. But anyways, I ended up browsing the wiki for news of the new Muppet movie that should be coming out next year's Christmas Day. So yay, excited to hear that! So take a look around the wiki and enjoy.

*KarmaTube*

We all know YouTube right? Well I was browsing my email and once again the geniuses at Skirt! magazine had sent me another brilliant link, this time from a website called KarmaTube. The description on the website says that it is "a collection of short, 'do something' videos coupled with simple actions that every viewer can take. Our mission is to spread the good." 

Now the reason I went to this website was for this virtual choir video, where this guy Eric Whitacre sent out free copies of his musical work Lux Arumque via the internet and 185 random people sent in videos of themselves singing individual parts, which he then put together to create this wonderful music video. The music itself is so sublime (I am a former church and recreational choir member so I know what I'm talking about), but the fact that he got 185 strangers to cooperate is just amazing. I would be be very interested to hear more of his work. The other one that I really liked was this video about a non-verbal autistic girl who was able to talk through a computer. She is very inspirational, and I passed it along to my social worker friends as an example of the what kids can do.

This past weekend

This past weekend nothing much happened, except for two things. One of our friends decided to move out to where we live so we'll actually get to see him more, always a plus. The other thing was that Liverpool won their second game in a row, even though it is only the 3rd win of the season and the first away game. But we're still hopeful, though I do wish Torres would get his act together. He's been out of it since end of last year, and has only scored 2 goals in 23 games this season. I've also now been waiting three weeks to hear back from the library folks in Arizona, so I don't know what to think about that, except feeling really frustrated. Anyways, on to quotes and website highlights. 


This week the quotes for the week will be from two of my favorite comics. The first will be from the extremely talented Alan Moore and his Absolute Watchmen, which includes all the cool behind the scenes and extra stuff from the comic book. The second comes from my newly discovered favorite comic, Rex Libris Volume 1: I, Librarian. For those who have not heard about it, it is about an awesome, witty and just plain hilarious comic strip about a 2000+ yr old librarian named Rex Libris whose job is to shush people and reclaim overdue library books from creatures all over the galaxy, with force if needed. 

• “Why do we argue? Life's so fragile, a successful virus clinging to a speck of mud, suspended in endless nothing.”--Alan Moore, end of Chapter 6, Absolute Watchmen 
  
  
• “That fiend knows my every weakness! Damn you Yeti! Why do you torment me so? These buttertarts brim with the very calories of evil! Inexorably drawing me in to a carbohydrate-fueled hell of high caloric sin!”—Rex Libris, Rex Libris: I, Librarian

The website of the week is Book Club Buddy, which I found a couple of weeks ago through the women's newspaper, Skirt. I've not been able to use it yet, but it seems like an awesome site! It's got Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry books that you can check out to read, Author Interviews, Videos which include book trailers and author Q&A, and Reading Guides for Book Clubs. Also, if you are an author, you can promote your book and if you register for the site, you can win free books.

*David Lebovitz*

Today's blog highlight is for pastry chef David Lebovitz's website. I had not heard of him before finding his newest cookbook Ready for Desserts: My Best Recipes that one of my Goodreads friends had read (fantastic recipes by the way). I then got his biography with recipes The Sweet Life in Paris which was about him moving from the US to Paris to live, and his food adventures in France. I've also read his cookbook Ripe for Dessert and his contribution to The Bakers's Dozen Cookbook, which were both excellent. So I subscribe to his blog as he always has interesting things to say, like when he was talking about "10 Thing to Bring Back from Paris," Economy Candy a candy store for adults in NYC,  or his experience with sushi in his life and in Paris. His website has a "My Paris" section, where he recommends good restaurants and guides to the city. There are sections for his schedule for book signings, frequently asked questions, a store to buy his books, a tour that you can book with the author for a fee (which I would absolutely love to do if I had the money), and the recipe page (which is currently being revised so is offline).

Goodreads and Fab Frugal Food

I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last favorite blog of the week post but things have been super busy around here and I forgot. To make up for it, I will include two blogs/websites this week:

The first is Goodreads. I've been a member here Sept 2008 when I started graduate school, but I didn't become really active till the following spring when I started taking all my childrens and teen literature classes. I love it because it is a good way to keep track of all the books you've read, though it's not got all the books I've ever read (but I add them as I think of them). I usually had to read 50 books per class, and I have really bad short term memory, so this is excellent for keeping track of the books I've read and what I thought of them. You can write reviews or just give them stars (out of 5), as well as checking out reviews before you read a book, adding books to your reading list, and listing what books you are currently reading. You can also add your favorite writers, rank them in order of your favorite and follow their blogs if you want. Ooh and they do book giveaways every months, I've won a few free ones that way. They have a ridiculously long trivia game that you can play, there are book discussion groups you can join, and sometimes authors come on there and you can ask them questions. Oh and you can add friends. I've "met" a lot of interesting people that way, mostly librarians which I enjoy, but also writers and other people with interesting reads. Once a week you get a newsletter which tells you which books they want to read and you can add them too if you like. Goodreads also links through Facebook if you are interested in that.

A blog that I really enjoy and check regularly is Fab Frugal Food, which does "budget friendly recipes for foodies." I have very expensive taste on a very limited budget, so I can't always have the kind of food I want but rather what I can afford. This website is great for that, as is the one I will feature next week. I like FFF because they feature vegetarian, gluten-free or vegan recipes, which I like to throw into my diet now and again for variety. Plus they endorse Meatless Mondays, another great food blog. They feature yummy recipes such as Peaches and Cream Quesadillas, Summer Rolls, Granitas Five Ways, and Artisan Cheese Bread.

*Maria Palito*

I've decided to highlight one cool blog or website a week. Last week's was Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, one of my favorite food blogs. I'm starting with a friend's blog/web store, Maria Palito. I met my friend Maria Jose through one of the volunteering programs I do at my local public library. She makes beautiful eco-friendly jewelry and adorable felt animals, cards, and door hangers. I own one of her Tagua seed and wooden bead necklace and earrings sets, in red and black, which I totally love. Tagua seed is a fruit seed that grows mainly on the tropical rain forest of South America. I gave a friend of mine one of her super cute stuffed felt duckies and she absolutely loved it. So here's her blog/website and enjoy: http://workshop.mariapalitousa.com/