Thursday, May 27, 2010

Online Resources for Jobseekers 50+

Try these if you are looking for part time, full time, or something interesting to do.

AARP Featured Employers shows major companies looking for older workers.
Experience Works helps low-income seniors with multiple barriers to employment get the training they need to find good jobs in their local communities.
Civic Ventures works to define the second half of adult life as a time of individual and social renewal. One program is Encore Fellows who seek to bridge midlife careers to encore careers that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact.
Senior Job Bank helping employers connect with the over-50 talent pool.
Retired Brains the complete service for those planning for retirement including jobseeker and employer services.
Your Encore connects experienced retired scientists and engineers with companies to enhance innovation.

posted by mb








Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Questions and Coincidences

Last week I was going to write a blog about Socrates, ninjas and pirates. You might be thinking about how that all went together. To keep you from hurting your brain about it, the concept was this- Socrates was a fan of asking questions. Some were important, some... not so much. But he overlooked one major question: who would win in a fight between a ninja and a pirate? It then devolved into various bear versus shark scenarios and other such hypothetical mental puzzles. Seeing as all the above was extremely lame, I erased it.

Then, in retaliation for my deletion, the cosmic Socrates/ninja/pirate flood gates opened. On my way home from work Wednesday, a radio ad mentioned Socrates in relation to an online dating service. I've never heard it before or since. Thursday morning McSweeney's posted a story on their website with Socrates as an infomercial huckster (a la Billy Mays). Friday I'm sent an e-mail about the comic book Action Philosophers in which philosophers (like Socrates) are represented as action heroes (like ninjas and pirates). Saturday I was stopped in the street by a balding, gray-bearded man asking me questions. The questions though were less philosophical and more practical such as, "do you have any change?" and "are you going to eat that?" But still, there's a spooky correlation, no?

Later that afternoon I am at a craft event where I see someone wearing a handmade shirt that states, "Fight like a ninja, party like a pirate." Also seen? Pillows in the shapes of both (and in the shape of a ham hock, but that's another story). Then on Monday when I was checking out books to a kid at the front desk, apropos of nothing he says to me, "I like ninjas... and pirates!" No visible stimulus would have prompted this comment. He had no books on either topic and behind me were only drawings of animals diving into water. True, the act of diving (depending on the size of the splash) could fall into ninja and/or pirate related skills, but that's a stretch.

So the question is, have I stumbled onto some sort of bizarre cultural zeitgeist or am I becoming a Pynchonian/Lynchian type paranoid who is reading far too much into the mundane nature of random coincidence? What would Socrates have to say about that?
posted by jw

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

IPhone Screen Repair


Does your iPhone look like the picture on the left? If the phone is still working, the lcd screen is still good and just the glass cover is cracked. Are you a DIY kind of person? If a 10 year old can do it, then a fix it yourself kind of person may be able to do it too. Just order a kit from a reputable online store and watch the video.
There are also stores and people doing these repairs all over the Bay Area. Go online and search for "iPhone screen repair".
Here are a few links that can help you.
Boy fixes cracked iPhone:
3G cracked Glass instructions and video:
One of the repair kit from Amazon:

Friday, May 21, 2010

Summer Reading Kickoff Party!




Make a Splash at Your Library Pig
Make a Splash! Read!
It's that time of year! What time of year, you ask? Time to kick off the Santa Clara City Library Summer Reading Program!

Attend our kickoff party:

Saturday, June 5
1:00-4:00 p.m.

Meet us on the grassy area behind the library.

Enjoy arts & crafts and face painting!

Juggler Daniel Da Vinci
2:00 p.m.

Please visit the Youth Services desk and ask a librarian if you have any questions about the kickoff party!

Posted by wk

Friday, May 14, 2010

Register to Vote before May 25, 2010

The last day to register to vote for the June 8, 2010, election is Monday, May 24. Sign up online at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters website or come in the library for a postcard which can be mailed in. June 1st is the deadline for requesting a mail-in ballot.



Nonpartisan information on candidates and issues appears on the Registrar of Voters website and in the Easy Voter Guide. Print copies of the Easy Voter Guide in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese are available for free at Central Park Library and Mission Family Reading Center libraries.


Early voting is available now through Monday, June 7, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at 1555 Berger Dr. Bldg. 2, San Jose, CA 95112. Mail in ballots require 61 cents in postage. Drop off your mail-in ballot at any polling place or City Halls during working hours. Santa Clara City Hall's ballot drop box is in the City Clerk's office at 1500 Warburton Ave. and hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.




posted by mb

I Spy With My Little Eye...

Eye Clipart
May is Healthy Vision Month! Learn some facts about keeping your eyes healthy by visiting the display next to the Youth Services desk. In addition, here are some more interesting facts:
  • Infants should have their first eye exam at around 6 months. Then, children should have their first comprehensive eye exam around 3 years old, unless a family history indicates that it should happen sooner.
  • Children and adults should wear recommended protective eyewear during the appropriate sports and recreational activities.
  • Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV (ultraviolet) rays that contribute to various eye diseases.Made up eychart: It says
  • Eat the right foods to help keep your eyes healthy. Try those with lots of beta-carotene (carrots, apricots), lutein (spinach, corn), and vitamin C (bell peppers, oranges).
  • Protect your child from furniture's sharp corners. Your 2-year-old is just the right height for his or her eye to reach the coffee table corner.
  • Teach your child to always walk when holding items such as pens, pencils, scissors, etc.
  • Children should avoid using cleaning products without their parents' permission. Chemicals, such as bleach, can cause serious eye harm if it gets into your eye.
  • Don't forget to wash your hands after touching any chemicals or even after petting the household dog, cat, or other animal.

*Some facts from medicalcenter.osu.edu, msnbc.com, and unightforsight.org.

Learn more about how to keep your eyes healthy by visiting the American Academy of Ophthalmology's site "Get Eye Smart" and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Or, visit the library.

“On the Path to Good Health” is supported by Kaiser Permanente and the Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends.

Posted by wk

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Importance of Flossing

As a child, my grandfather was a traveling salesman who specialized in dental equipment. Lined up neatly in his garage were case upon case of sharp and bizarre looking objects he would sell to dentists along the West Coast. They were dubious instruments which looked to be crafted for the sole purpose of causing pain. Medieval torture devices looked more welcoming. Or at least that's how I saw it as a five year old boy. And as I'm currently unable to feel the left side of my face after some intense dental work done this morning, that's how I see it now.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think dentists are sadists or anything (not on the whole at least... and certainly not my dentist! If you are reading this doctor, you are amazing. Seriously amazing. Please don't hurt me.). Anyone willing to hang their head over the gross mouths of random strangers day in and day out is next to a saint in my book. A well paid saint, but a saint nonetheless. Plus they have to put up with the Nervous Nelly's such as myself. It's no doubt an amazingly difficult job and I commend them.

My complaint comes from their instruments. It's one of those cliche "we can send a robot (robot!) to Mars to putz about in red dirt beaches and send us vacation photos from 48,678,972 miles away but we can't clean teeth without metal hooks and bloodshed" complaints. Cliche or not, it does illustrate that despite all of out advances in technology, teeth have been stubbornly resistant to its guiles. "Nope," they say (don't question how they say it, just roll with the anthropomorphism), "you can have all your fancy, lazer-y, whiz-bang tools. We are perfectly content with a sharp piece of metal thank you very much."

Of course, that's not exactly true. The fact that most of use still have teeth beyond the ripe old age of 30 is evidence of the fact that dental hygiene has come a long way. And replacing the teeth that don't make the cut has gotten quite a bit more sophisticated as well (and less shiny). This isn't even bringing up the revolutions that have been made in the toothpaste industry.

In the end though, it all boils down to scraping, poking and drilling. And when you are sitting in a chair having that done, all the whitening toothpaste in the world isn't going to make the process seem any more modern.
posted by jw

Monday, May 10, 2010

What Makes Men Tick?

The Male Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D. tells all in a readable, relatable book. She gives the reader the scientific information in clear, understandable prose while making it relatable by following male development from infancy through older age. Why can't boys sit still? What is the fascination with burps and farts? (I have wondered about this since it has become prevalent in movies these days.) For parents, there is a story about a recalcitrant student who is immediately turned around by a wise father's carrot and stick technique. For partners and potential partners there are details on the male "mating brain."

Female and male brains differ in anger expression, analysis of facial expression, and spatial manipulation. Learn more by reading this fascinating book.

Her earlier book The Female Brain available in English and Chinese is very popular at the library as well.

posted by mb

Friday, May 7, 2010

Celebrating Moms in Books


Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9. Whether you call her mom, mommy, mama, mother, eema, mamá, maa, maman, etc., the mother figure has appeared in books for as long as we've had books. Here are some books with mothers or mother figures for different Youth Services age groups:

Ages 0 to 3

I'll Always Love You by Paeony Lewis

I Love You, Good Night by Jon Buller

Mama's Right Here by Liza Baker

My Mom by Debbie Bailey


Ages 3 to 6

Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy

If I Were Your Mother by Margaret Park Bridges

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Mommy's Hands by Kathryn Lasky

Mother, May I? by Lynn Plourde


Beginning Reader

Amelia Bedelia books by Herman Parish

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

The Berenstain Bears' New Kitten and other books by Stan Berenstain

Helping Mom by Mercer Mayer


Grades 2 through 4

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

My Mom the Pirate by Jackie French





Grades 4 through 6+


Matilda by Roald Dahl

Polo's Mother by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary

Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan



Teen

All We Know of Love by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Play Me by Laura Ruby

A Thief in the House of Memory by Tim Wynne-Jones





If you'd like more suggestions, please visit the Youth Services desk and ask a librarian! Happy Mother's Day.

Posted by wk. *Mom heart and birds image found at The Gift Detective.