Medicare Basics Videos Now Available on NIHSeniorHealth

If you’re caring for an older family member or friend, or if you’re getting on in years yourself, you’ve probably had questions about Medicare, the Federal health insurance program for adults 65 and older and people under age 65 with disabilities. NIHSeniorHealth.gov, the health and wellness website for older adults, has recently added seven short videos about Medicare coverage to its Medicare Basics for Caregivers topic.
The videos explain Medicare basics in simple terms and will interest caregivers and Medicare recipients alike. Topics include eligibility, enrollment, costs, and the different types of coverage available to Medicare recipients.
To watch the Medicare videos, visit NIHSeniorHealth at http://nihseniorhealth.gov/videolist.html#medicare
To read about Medicare basics, visit NIHSeniorHealth at http://nihseniorhealth.gov/medicare/toc.html
For more health and wellness information for older adults, go to www.nihseniorhealth.gov.

NIHSeniorHealth.gov is a senior-friendly website from the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, both parts of the National Institutes of Health.

Recent Returns

I'm always curious to learn what Missoulians are reading these days. I took a quick survey of the return carts in the circulation office to see what was brought back to the library this afternoon. Here is a random sampling of recently returned non-fiction...

How to Expand Love: Widening the circle of loving relationships
by His Holiness the Dalia Lama, translated & edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
Call #: 294.3567 BSTAN

The Better Brain Book: The best tools for improving memory and sharpness and for preventing aging of the brain by David Perlmutter & Carol Colman
Call #: 616.84 PERLMUT

America Anonymous: Eight addicts in search of a life by Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Call #: 616.86 DENIZET

Essential Manners for Couples: From snoring and sex to finances and fighting fair -- what works, what doesn't, and why by Peter Post
Call # 646.78 POST

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar... Understanding philosophy through jokes by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
Call #: 102.07 CATHCAR

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Call #: 822.33 Q1

Taking Time to Read?

There's no doubt about it ~ this is a busy weekend. Yesterday, most of us filled ourselves with way too much food and today we shopped till we dropped. Some of us will display our holiday decorations tomorrow and some of us will be at Missoula Library! (yes, we open at 10:00 on Saturday) During all of this activity, are you taking the time to read?

Let us know in the comments section below what you enjoyed the most this weekend. I looked at my ever-growing TBR (to-be-read) pile and started, "The Archivist" by Martha Cooley. [Call # is: COOLEY] Has anyone read this? It looks like an enormous undertaking, but I'm already enjoying Mathias, the protagonist. Mathias Lane is a 65 year old widower who is the archivist at an unnamed university where he is in charge of the T.S. Eliot collection of letters written to Emily Hale. I'm wondering if I will be able to "keep up" since I lack complete literary knowledge of T.S. Eliot. In any event, I've started it and hope that if you've read it, you will let me know if it remains captivating throughout. Or, should I tackle the next book on my pile, "9 Dragons" by Michael Connelly? [Call # is: CONNELL]

The Missoula Library will be closed today, November 26th and tomorrow, November 27th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We will reopen on Saturday, November 28th at 10:00 a.m.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from your friendly staff at Missoula Public Library!

Conan the Librarian

Discovered this 'movie trailer' on youtube the other day.
Thought you all might enjoy it too.

Books On My Desk

New YA titles coming soon to a
library shelf near you!

This Family is Driving Me Crazy: Ten stories about surviving your family edited by M. Jerry Weiss & Helen S. Wiess.
Call #: Y THISFAM

Grab this short story collection when you're ready for a time-out from the fam.



Do Polar Bears Get Lonely?: And answers to 100 other weird and wacky questions about how the world works
Call #: Y 500 DOPOLAR

Find answers to strange, silly, and mind-boggling questions such as: can pigeons sweat? can fish get thristy? can insects get fat? if forced to eat parts of yourself to survive, which organs should you sample? eeewww! You might want to save this until after Thanksgiving Dinner!



Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
Call #: Y CROSS

Superpowers are awesome--unless you actually have them, as Avery does. It's dangerous to be different, so for now he'll pretend to be normal, unremarkable Avery--a dull boy--anything to keep his secret safe. [Author Sarah Cross has saved the world, like, five times since fifth grade--and you didn't even notice. This is her first novel.]



The Rough Guide to Anime: Japan's finest from Ghibli to Gankutsuo
by Simon Richmond
Call #: Y 791.4334 RICHMON

Explore the dynamic world of Japanese animation. This book offers a comprehensive overview of one of the most exciting and fashionable genres in today's popular culture.

Thanksgiving Mysteries

Who doesn't love a good mystery? Enjoy your holiday by reading one of these delightful Thanksgiving mysteries:

	Death of a Turkey (MPBK BORDEN) by Kate Borden This is a light-hearted cozy that features interesting characters and a wonderful setting in a picturesque New England town. More reviews
	Sins out of School (DAMS) by Jeanne M. Dams Set in England, Dorothy Martin (of Dams' Dorothy Martin series) tries to solve a murder and prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. More reviews
The Thanksgiving Day Murder by Lee Harris (HARRIS) A Christine Bennett mystery, in which a woman goes to buy a Thanksgiving Parade balloon and vanishes into thin air.
	Turkey Day Murder (MEIER) by Leslie Meier A murder occurs during a small town's Thanksgiving festivities.

Harvest of Murder
by Ann Ripley (RIPLEY)

A Gardening Mystery, with plenty of familial banter, plant genetics information, and villainous machinations. An easy, pleasant read. (Library Journal)

Don't have time to sit down and read due to all the cooking and preparing that needs to be done? Check out Janet Evanovich's Thanksgiving on CD (BKCD EVANOVI). From our shared catalog: "When it comes to men, Megan Murphy has an aversion to "I do." Then she meets irresistible pediatrician Pat Hunter. Add in a cozy colonial cottage, the world's biggest turkey, two hopeful families and a skirt-chomping rabbit, and you've got a feast of fabulous fun."

What other Thanksgiving mysteries can you recommend we read this week?

Love the Library & Win a Prize

What's your library story? Share it, and win.

The American Library Association is holding an "At My Library" Creative Essay Contest to share unique library experiences and why libraries are important. Write an essay, film a video, or put together a photo slideshow about your fabulous library experience and send it out by Dec. 7, and you could be a grand prize winner of $350. Plus, you can see the submissions and vote for your favorite - people's choice award wins $100.

Stop by the AtMyLibrary contest page to see the full rules.

No library story? Stop by the building and find one. See you soon!

Something to Do

A day off from school and nothing to do? There's only one way to fill your Saturday: Make jewelry at the library, of course!

Something To Do is for grades 4-6. It meets every third Saturday of the month to do a different (but always FUN) project. Tomorrow (Nov. 21) we have jewelry making - learn to make great jewelry and take home your creations for yourself or as a gift (those holidays are coming up fast!). It starts at 4 p.m. in the small meeting room at Missoula Public Library. See our events calendar for more details. So come on in Saturday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. There's always something to do at the library!

Something To Do returns December 19 for a Library Scavenger Hunt!

Planning for the future?

Social Security’s online Retirement Estimator, available at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator, can now be used to provide immediate and personalized benefit estimates to Medicare only beneficiaries. This means that people who have enrolled in Medicare, but have not yet filed for Social Security benefits, will no longer need to contact their local office to obtain an estimate of their retirement benefits.

With the colder weather arriving, are you ready for some holiday books? If so, try these two to start:

HOLIDAYS ON ICE by David Sedaris ~ A best-selling classic featuring six additional works on the joys and embarrassments of favorite holidays, in a volume that includes tales of tardy trick-or-treaters, the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to another culture, and a barnyard Secret Santa scheme gone awry. As usual, Sedaris is hilarious!






SKIPPING CHRISTMAS by John Grisham - This story is not what you’d expect from Grisham ~ it has none of the serious action or drama of his legal thrillers, but it’s a delightful, hilarious look at the craziness of the holiday season.



Have you read any other farcical, non-traditional holiday books that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below.

Teen Media Lab

Video Mashups & Editing. Audio Loops. Video Remixing. Camera Techniques. Sound interesting? Teens grades 7-12 (ages 13-18) can learn how to do all this from the pros at MCAT!

The Teen Media Lab starts Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. in the computer classroom on the lower level at the library. We're all starting from scratch, so you don't need to know anything about media to take part. PLUS (and this is a huge, huge PLUS) you'll be trained on MCAT equipment, which means you can check out their cameras, and your MCAT membership is FREE!

You can work on any style project you like, on any topic that you find interesting -- music videos, animation, you name it. Work on your own, or with other Labbers. There's no downside unless you don't come.

Word Woman

Welcome to another amazing installment of Word Woman’s Weekly Work-Out! Your mental skills are available on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, so keep in practice by learning new vocabulary. Here’s the Word of the Week to get you started:

Ersatz: Something ersatz is an imitation or a substitute. A German word that came into English in about 1870, ersatz derives from the German ersetzen, to replace. -- “The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins”, Robert Hendrickson, Checkmark Books, New York, 1997.

Example: John's ersatz diamond engagement ring did not impress Sally, who knew a cubic zirconium when she saw one. She turned him down cold.

Books on My Desk

Attention

Young Adult Fiction Fans
Recently arrived
titles coming soon
to a library shelf near you...

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd
edited by Holly Black & Cecil Castellucci
A collection of twenty-nine short stories about geeks.
Call #: Y GEEKTAS

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
While recuperating in a Baghdad hospital from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the Iraq War, eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy struggles to recall what happened to him and how it relates to his ten-year-old friend, Ali.
Call #: Y MCCORMI

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John H. Ritter
In 1881, the scrappy, rough-and-tumble baseball team in a California mining town enlists the help of a quick-witted twelve-year-old orphan and the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid to win a big game against the National League Champion Chicago White Stockings.
Call #: Y RITTER

Positively by Courney Sheinmel
Thirteen-year-old Emmy, grieving over her mother who died of AIDS, resentful of having to live with her father and pregnant stepmother, and despairing about her future, finds hope at a summer camp for HIV-positive girls like herself. Includes facts about Elizabeth Glaser, one of the founders of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Call #: Y SHEINME

Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan
Jameela feels relatively secure, sustained by her Muslim faith and the love of her mother, Mor. But when Mor dies, Jameela's father impulsively decides to start a new life in Kabul where Jameela ultimately becomes an orphan after being abandoned in a busy marketplace by her father and stepmother. With only the memory of her mother to sustain her, Jameela finds the strength to face those who abandoned her when fate brings them together again.
Call #: Y KHAN

Happy Birthday, Sesame Street!

This is fun and cute ~ for the kids and us kids~at~heart:


Today is Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary! Check out this classic YouTube Cookie Monster and the local librarian sketch. http://bit.ly/4fnYpE

November Happenings!

Mark your calendars because this is a busy month at the Library!

World Wide Cinema, showing "Somers Town" is on Friday, November 13th at 7:00 p.m. in the large meeting room.

On Tuesday, November 17th at 7:30 p.m. enjoy "An International Evening" with Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong. Besides hands-on activities, there will be artifacts from Ghana.

The November Cheap Date Night movie will be "Transformers-Revenge of the Fallen"!! I've seen it and you won't be sorry if you join us on November 20th at 7:00 p.m. See you there!

Since we are closed on Wednesday, November 11th, our afternoon matinee of "A Raisin in the Sun" will be showing on Wednesday, November 25th in the large meeting room at 2:00 p.m.

You can keep up with all of our happenings by signing up to follow our Blog, Tweets or Facebook page. These links are on our home page at missoulapubliclibrary.org.

It's Easy Being Green

Story time had a special visitor Friday morning- Sammy the Frog!

Sammy and his friend Julie from Missoula Federal Credit Union did a special set of stories on money. And made lots of friends whilel they were at it.

Julie will be back today, Saturday Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. to share more of her story time wealth.

See more photos on our flickr page.

New Moon Trivia

I learned a new term the other day: Tweeks. Twilight Geeks. Anyone who loves the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer qualifies, or so I'm told. So for all you Tweeks out there anxiously waiting for the New Moon movie release, here's something to keep you busy:

What's your favorite piece of New Moon trivia?

We're going to have a New Moon release party for teens grades 7-12 on Friday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. including a trivia contest. I've been rifling through my copy to pick out some tidbits, but I'm curious what you know. How many times have you read the book? Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? What's your favorite part? Drop us a comment.

Teens: After the party, Meet Me at the Movies - a bunch of us librarians are heading over to see the 7 p.m. showing of movie Nov. 20 and we want you to join us there! (You'll have to get your own ticket and transportation.) Here's a link to the official movie site, and unofficial fan site, to get you in the mood. Plus, Stephenie Meyer's page.

Word Woman

Welcome to another exciting episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! I thought that I would break with tradition this week and introduce a suffix rather than a word in its entirety. But please don't feel that you're not getting your verbal due, because it will be combined with various prefixes to form not one but several words in their entirety for your edification. Here we go:

-cracy

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κράτος (kratos), “‘power, rule’”).

[edit] Suffix

-cracy

1. rule

[edit] Usage notes

• Contrast -cracy with the far rarer, homophonous -crasy.

[edit] Derived terms

• See Appendix:Forms of government
• aristocracy
• autocracy
• bureaucracy
• democracy
• gynocracy
• meritocracy
• ochlocracy
• quangocracy
• sociocracy
• theocracy

-- Wiktionary, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-cracy, last modified on 17 April 2009, at 02:24.

Example: If voting were to be accomplished based purely on majority rule of all living creatures in our house, then we would definitely be living in a felinocracy. The cats would rule, if indeed it can be said that they don't already.

MORE Readers' Choice Suggestions!

Our Power Walls for Staff Picks and Readers' Choice are full of great suggestions! Readers' Choice selections are titles that you, our patrons, recommend for other patrons and us! If you'd like to recommend a title, see us at the Accounts Desk or leave a comment below. We'll feature your recommendations on our Power Walls, here on our blog and also on our Shelfari Web Site, an online gathering place for everyone who loves books!

This morning, we've had three suggestions from our patrons:

David recommends this Manga book as an "interesting"one!

Another patron has suggested two books, which she describes as "very entertaining and very inspiring":

Autobiography of a Yogi (B-YOGANANDA) Throughout the decades, one title that continues to appear on best-seller lists is Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. This timeless book remains a seminal work in the field of Eastern religion -- the definitive introduction to the science and philosophy of yoga meditation that draws more readers with each passing year.

The Education of Little Tree (B-CARTER) tells of a boy orphaned very young, who is adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and half-Cherokee grandfather in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee during the Great Depression. Little Tree, as his grandparents call him is shown how to hunt and survive in the mountains, to respect nature in the Cherokee Way, taking only what is needed, leaving the rest for nature to run its course. Little Tree also learns the often callous ways of white businessmen and tax collectors, and how Granpa, in hilarious vignettes, scares them away from his illegal attempts to enter the cash economy. Granma teaches Little Tree the joys of reading and education. But when Little Tree is taken away by whites for schooling, we learn of Little Tree's perception of the Anglo world and how it differs from the Cherokee Way.

Great suggestions! Thanks to all who supply these recommendations for all of us! Everyone can comment on these titles below in the Comments section.

Happy Reading!

Free music download from your library

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74
The latest free download from Classical Music Library is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, performed by the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra; Fernando Lozano, conductor. The symphony is commonly referred to as the 'Pathetique' symphony. Visit our link from the Electronic databases page of our website to Alexander Street Press Online Music to get it and burn it.

Day of the Read

Missoula's Die-brarians took over the streets as part of the Day of the Dead parade. Watch out for zombie librarians on the loose! If you didn't make it, here are some pics to see what you missed:

Photos courtesy E. Doyle Photography, http://www.edoylephotography.com/. See more pictures on our flickr page!

Readers' Choice Suggestion

Our patron, Nan, has recommended Mindfulness and Money as "a very good book that is interesting and helpful" and she thinks others will enjoy it, too.

Booklist Review: "A Buddhist teacher (Kulananda) and founder of a successful consulting firm(Dominic Houder), the authors of this self-help business book build on Buddhist teaching, hoping to show how best to integrate one's material and spiritual needs in order to "find ways to lead a whole life." The book provides a basic primer on Buddhism, showing that its "wheel of life" can "shed light on any aspect of human behavior." By offering genuine examples and easily understood exercises, the authors make it clear that their work is more than just another New Age tonic. It's really a way to a "path of abundance," and whether or not one believes in the power of Buddhism is beside the point. There is no question that the harsh realities of capitalism will always be with us, but the authors suggest that by following the basic precepts outlined here (kindness, generosity, contentment, honesty, and awareness), we may make ourselves better people, thus contributing to a better world. It's not an entirely new message but one that should resonate with many readers."

You can find this book on our Readers' Choice shelf!

Beat Writers' Block

Well, as you know (see previous post if you don't), November is National Novel Writing Month. Got an idea for your novel yet? If not, do not fret -- try using an online 'idea generator' to jump start your imagination. Here are a few generators I discovered this afternoon. Below the links are the random ideas each generator provided me.

http://funstuff.pantomimepony.co.uk/writers-plot-ideas.php
Plot: When they are given two weeks to live, a gang of escaped prisoners design a mythical beast.

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-writ.php
The theme of this story: epic conflict. The main characters: lucky cab driver and unambitious assistant. The major event of the story: training.

http://www.archetypewriting.com/muse/generators/plot.htm
The story starts when your protagonist chooses a particular book at the library. Another character is a doctor who has been following your protagonist for years.