This year, from May 1-5, Kansas City will be hosting the Romantic Times Convention at the Sheraton Hotel. This is a time for people to interact with some of their favorite authors. I love that some of the new authors and more established authors live right here in Kansas City. Some of our popular local authors include Julie Garwood, Carla Cassidy, and Shannon Butcher. (Shannon Butcher is also married to the popular fantasy author Jim Butcher). Some of the new and upcoming authors are Claire Ashgrove, Heather Snow, and Saranna DeWylde.
Midwest Genealogy Offers Great Help for Ancestry Search
On a recent daytrip to Jamesport, MO we ventured over to Trenton, MO to see the Crowder State Park. This is supposedly named after a distant relative of mine, Enoch Crowder, who was a Major General in the U.S. Army. He was instrumental in developing the Selective Service Act during World War 1 and was also an ambassador to Cuba.
Students tend to turn up their noses at the idea of poetry. Their experiences are limited to Hallmark cards and trite rhymes. And, they don’t think they have what it takes to write something others would want to read or something that could be published.
That changed when I was teaching middle school. I shared some of my favorite writers of poetry. One of those was Jack Prelutsky. Mr. Prelutsky has been writing for more than 40 years. In 2006, he was named the first Children’s Poet Laureate in the United States. There are many of his books in the MCPL system.
I started collecting quotes awhile back. They came in handy when I was making personalized scrapbooks for family members. But I suppose the secret reason is that I felt I needed some way to keep up with my teenagers’ love of carrying on entire conversations using lines from books and films. My only contribution seemed to be, "What’s that from?" or "Who said that?" to which no one responded.
I love March Madness. I grew up in the Kansas City, MO area, where there was the great border war between the University of Kansas and University of Missouri, or the interstate rivalry between University of Kansas and Kansas State University. My family loved college basketball, so I fell in love with it myself.
The United States is celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the Civil War. The Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 to May 9, 1865. The movie Lincoln got me interested in the Civil War. Even though I had learned about it during high school and college, I found myself fascinated by all the nuances that brought the southern states to secede and brought our country to war.
The other day, a friend of mine, who moved here last year from another state, asked me when the plaza fountains come on in the spring. I always assumed that they were just turned on when the weather was appropriate for it. However, being a library clerk, I just had to research the matter! After finding several different answers online, I remembered a device I used to use called a telephone.
While having dinner with some friends, someone mentioned Snow Creek. I told my husband that we should go up there sometime and see what it is like. So, with all the snow cleared from the highways but still covering the ground, we head for Weston, Missouri to check out the closest ski area to Kansas City. What we found were three ski lifts up to the side of a natural bluff covered with real snow. That day there were five busloads of school kids on an outing, so the lines were fairly long to get on the lift, although it seems to go pretty quickly.
Ah, coffee, one of my most favorite things in the world. I absolutely love, love, love it! I began drinking coffee at a young age, though my parents and grandparents would give me a little coffee with a lot of milk and some sugar. As I got older, I cut way back on the additives and savored the pureness of coffee more. There is something about the smell of fresh grounds and the sound of a percolating pot that is so soothing to me.
