Why the Library Rules

Pierre and I were at the Library last night and I was kind of shocked and thrilled to see a large number of teen and barely-teens gathered excitedly in the library. Now, this is the kind of behaviour I would have exhibited as a teen (being excited at a library) but not what you see there every day. Turns out they were having an open mic night, and anyone who signed up could perform a song, a skit, a reading, any kind of performance... we overheard things varying from some pop-style karoke to some rap in the short time we were there. What a great way to get kids expressing themselves - and they were all so psyched to be there having a chance to perform for each other! Imagine how much more excited I was when I saw a sign at the checkout saying this:

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YAK Club (Young Adults Knitting)
Ages 10-18 Sackville
Wednesdays, January 25 & February 8, 22/7- 8:30 pm
Need a creative outlet? The YAK Club is in opportunity to hang out with friends, meet new people and create really cool things.
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If you need more info here is the link to the page on the Halifax Public Library site. I've emailed the library offering to help out if they need any help, but it is probably too late to get in on this session for me(as a volunteer). Still, if I actually have any readers, and (even further from likely) any of them are teens in Sackville, you should call and sign up! And, remember knitting is not just for girls!

I also am going to make a point of asking about an adult knitting group at the Sackville branch, and would encourage any locals to do the same. One of the librarians mentioned there was interest amongst the staff, but they need to see interest from the patrons to get a group going! I know not everyone lives in Sackville, but if you do, the library is right there on the ubiquitous 80 bus route! It would be a great thing to get going don't you think? Any Knitty readers of Loop Cafe habitues interested?

This reminded me of a great book I had (from the library of course) about teen knitting... "Teen Knitting Club : Chill Out and Knit Some Cool Stuff" by Jennifer Wenger, Carol Abrams, and Maureen Lasher. It was well written and had some fun beginner projects. I'd recommend it to kids, teens, or adults - especially if you are trying to get a teen into knitting! The book is nicely photographed and spiral bound, and it emphasises the fact that knitting is for everyone, not just girls! I often find that more care is taken to have clear well-written and illustrated intruction books on the same subject when they are written for younger readers. Sometimes the quality far exceeds the "adult version"!

Right now, I'm busy trying to sort through my first attempt at a course in Pre-Chaucerian english lit. This is the text I'm studying - "The Auchinleck Manuscript", and it has a great website done by the National Library of Scotland. It is going to be a bit of a leap for me but I'm determined to do well. Once your eye gets used to the differences in spelling and so on it doesn't seem so puzzling - but it really does sound different. I was playing a clip of a reading and Pierre's comment was "I thought you were studying english, not gaelic!" I always find it so fascinating to find the same stories and themes retold, no matter how old the manuscript... for example this week we are studying a poem where a guy (my bad paraphrase) "...laid by a maid and swore to love her all his life, but told her little of his wife.." Some things never change do they?

In other reading, I got a bit desperate as I was stuck at home with the flu, so I broke down and started reading the book I got for Pierre for Christmas, "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. Not that I didn't want to read it but it seems rude to read a gift before the recipient gets a chance to. I have been a fan of this author since reading "The Diamond Age" and "Snowcrash". Cryptonomicon shows how he's evoloving into ever more fascinating and complexly entertwined plots, and is still great at exposing the reader to the world of technology, history, and other cultures, no matter what level of knowledge you go in with. You learn stuff while never noticing it, as you are so gripped by the plot twists. If you are into War thrillers, techno-thrillers, or just great, can't put it down reading, grab it. Don't be scared by the size, you won't notice it flying by!