From SLJ.com

People need to wake up to the poisons they are daily feeding themselves and innocent children. I find Twinkies revolting. Even as a kid I didn’t like them. If we don’t want McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, etc. to ruin our health, we have to be responsible and speak with our purses by not buying this garbage, non-food anymore. –May 16

(Reacting to a Doug Johnson/Blueskunk Blog entry about limiting the personal in blogs)

I went to Technorati and searched for the terms “library cats” and found hundreds of references to librarians’ cats, teachers’ cats, etc. ... those libraries that do have cats are passionate about them.

When I agreed to write for SLJ’s blogs, I assured [the editors] I wouldn’t blog about my dog, but they insisted that I not limit myself to only professional topics because the personal stuff is what makes blogs unique. In fact, I received more comments from people in person and via email about my dog than I had on any other topic. People are passionate about their pets… Much of school librarianship involves helping students discover their interests and passions while connecting them to resources. Remember, the child who dances to your desk to tell you about their new pet parakeet and you are able to send them home with a book? They will spend the rest of the day showing the book to their friends and talking about their pet. –May 7

Continuing with the theme of embracing and “owning” Google instead of bashing it (which doesn’t go over really well with the many people who love it), here is a way to “own” a bit of Google without forking over mondo cash for their stock. By setting up an iGoggle, you can bring additional capabilities to the search giant’s site.

By using gadgets, you can add instant access to dictionaries, news headlines, and any other RSS feeds you might want to stay up with. So while it would be really cool to have your students watch you search using another great alternative (might I recommend Clusty?), if you are going to Google, you can at least show off a tricked-out page that provides additional information!

To get started, go to http://google.com/ig and sign in (if you have a Google account) or just start “adding stuff.” iGoogle will remember your page with cookies on the computer you are using; your customized page will then display for you everywhere. —May 10