It’s Halloween and some of you probably find opera to be scary. It’s really not. Also, the economy seems pretty scary right now. It really is. So two of your worst fears may be realized in John Steinbeck’s tale of Depression-era economic woe being turned into an opera. Conquer your [...]
Entries from October 2008
October 30, 2008
Hallowe’en, A Question
Halloween brings tricks and treats tomorrow, darkness falls an hour earlier on Sunday with the return of standard time, and the 2008 presidential election concludes next Tuesday. For someone who can’t help pondering questions about how we got here, the next few days offer abundant incentive for contemplation.
Halloween. My 1960s childhood Halloweens included costume parties [...]
October 29, 2008
Thomas Hardy: Under the Greenwood Tree
After poetry and property taxes and the dentist and, oh, yes, William Shakespeare himself, Thomas Hardy is perhaps the hardest sell of all. So how, oh how, did I ever get ensnared Under the Greenwood Tree?
The answer is simple, really: the cover. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Did I mention that since finishing One [...]
October 28, 2008
The Cold, Cold Ground…and the Warm, Warm Hearts
On October 16th, the weather forecasters were warning that a drop in temperature was about to take place. Having been rather warm for October in Pittsburgh, we were finally going to see our first chilly evening–some predicting around 37 degrees.
I hate to be cold. I don’t do well in the cold. My fingers and toes [...]
October 27, 2008
Who you should vote for…
…Only you can decide that. And while plenty of network news anchors, newspapers, bloggers, protesters, lobbyists and the candidates themselves have ideas about which lever you should pull (or glowing rectangle you should touch), the library does not officially endorse any candidates or political views. We do, however, help you find the resources to make the most informed decision. [...]
October 25, 2008
Music Sale at Main, November 1st and 2nd
The Friends of the Music Library Music Sale will be held on Saturday November 1, 2008 from 10am – 4pm and Sunday November 2, 2008 from 1 – 5pm at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main in the second floor International Poetry Room. Music books, music scores, CDs and more are all gently used and priced [...]
October 24, 2008
Congratulations!
A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of meeting the American “scary fantasy”/horror novelist Frederick Durbin. Mr. Durbin was visiting Pittsburgh from Japan, where he has been teaching English at the university level for almost 20 years. My friends contacted him after reading and loving his best-known work Dragonfly, a Christmas Carol-like homage [...]
October 23, 2008
I’m not a music librarian!
For the past few years the Music Department and the Film & Audio Department have been sharing a room and a reference desk. Our powers combined have formed the Music, Film & Audio Department!
But what does this mean to you, our wonderful customers? Basically, it means that you have approximately a one in four chance [...]
October 22, 2008
Shelf Examination: Inspirational Fiction
I thought this series had just about run its course, but guess what? There’s a new fiction collection at Main Library! Today’s episode of Shelf Examination takes a quick peek at the New and Featured Department’s latest contribution to readerly interests: inspirational fiction.
Like some of the other collections featured in this series, inspirational fiction spans [...]
October 21, 2008
Cities of the Dead in Pittsburgh
Of Pittsburgh’s many outdoor attractions, its famed cemeteries are by far my favorite. If that seems morbid, then perhaps you’ve never strolled through the splendors that are the Homewood and Allegheny Cemeteries. These “cities of the dead” were designed with beauty and relaxation in mind, and the myriad of graves and mausoleums, more architecturally stunning than scary, [...]
