The Voice Of Reason

I nearly didn't go. I was lazy and comfortable and thought i might not go out to see the library after all but really, there was no excuse so i put on my coat and went. The weather wasn't even too cold or icky, quite nice for this time of year, actually. The new library is really beautiful, I think. I've been watching it go up and taking photos of it as it was constructed and I was excited to see the inside. It was pretty busy but I was talking to one of the staff and she said there were over a thousand in there that morning when they opened the doors. I figured as much which is why i went later in the afternoon. My other reason was so that I could take photos of the exterior at night when it was lit up inside. Beautiful!

There are five floors. The top floor looks like an afterthought, smaller and hitched on at an angle but when you look at the whole building, there are other corners and angles and it's meant to look like a stack of books. The overhanging angled bit on top is mainly public space. There's a group of comfy chairs in the front section with great views over the city and a cafe in the back section. I can't remember if there are any books at all on that level. Something tells me no. there's also a "green" roof garden and you can go outside on a little deck that faces the harbour. Nice touch.

There are a couple of small theatre spaces for performances, several specialized sections such as the First Nations' Circle with resources and the African Nova Scotian section and a glass walled room for local NS history. Nice touches. The main floor seems to be a bit of everything as far as books go. Kind of like various shelves of new releases and top picks for a wide variety of categories from children to fiction and non-fiction, travel, biographies. There is a cafe on the ground floor as well and a big information desk. There are self checkout stations and computer stations where you can search the catalogue. I think there's free wifi but i didn't test it out. They also have small booths on one floor for study with electrical outlets for laptops. There are a few places that have comfy seating all over. The main colour scheme is white with accents and furniture in orange and green. Some of the bookshelves are white and many are black. The big feature of the building is that all the floors are open, that is, from the ground in the centre you can look straight up to the top floor. All the floors circle around the centre open area and there are walkways that cross the open spaces and stairs to the next floor down which lead on an angle. Three elevators, of course, because you have to have mobility access. Lots of toilets. Lots of natural light. They mean for it to be more than just books, that it should be a gathering place for the community as well.

Here are the photos I took yesterday.

( And in keeping with the theme, more 2014 books finished )

We have a holiday on November 11 which is Tuesday so I booked Monday off as a vacation day. Yesterday I decided to book off this afternoon as well as i had a "spare" half day vacation, having used one half for something or other a few months ago, I forget when that was. I'll stop in at the gym before i head home at dinnertime.

There's a Steampunk exhibit on at the Natural History museum here so I will try to get to that over the weekend maybe, If i can borrow Mom's car. It's being put on by a local Jules Verne Phantastical Society.  Not sure what else I'll get up to on the weekend, perhaps I'll get busy and make the Turtle candy and find some Christmas paper and wrap the gifts that I'll have to mail.

( 2014 book catchup )

Just catching up on my book list.

( 2014 books )

It's Monday morning again and in one week I will be in Montreal to see Queen (+Adam Lambert). Because he's not an official full time member of the band, he gets to have his name added on in all the publicity. My coworker who is a dedicated Adam fan suspects things are in the works for him to join full time at some point but I also hear he is going to work on a new album of his own later this year. That being said, there's no reason he couldn't join full time and still put out his own solo stuff.

I wonder, if he joins full time, that they'll record new stuff? It seems like there's a lot more excitement surrounding the band these days than when they had Paul Rogers singing with them. I think that was never meant to be a long term thing though they did release an album of new music. It was pretty good, better than him performing their classic stuff. In my opinion. I've got nothing against PR as a vocalist, he's got a good voice, I just never though it meshed with Queen particularly well. Adam Lambert really does seem to fit in well. His style is also flambuoyant but in his own way. Because Queen has been so associated with the likes of Freddie Mercury, you need someone that has a similar flair, I think and in AL it seems they have found it.

We're just in and out, basically, flying in on Sunday and back home on Tuesday after the concert. We'll get to do a little bit of stuff in Montreal on the Monday, maybe visit the BioDome and walk around Old Montreal for a bit as well. It really is a cool city.

And catching up on 2014 books...

( 2014 books )

Getting near the end of my sessions with the trainer. I'm really going to miss him. I really want to  keep going to the gym so i really will have to discipline myself now. He suggested for the last few weeks that we meet on Mondays and Fridays and I come on my own on Wednesdays. That's a good idea, and I also thought about filling out a spreadsheet or form with each time i go and what i did and emailing it to him, maybe once a month. That might keep me honest, too! It's too easy to skip a workout and then it all falls apart.

( 2014 books )

Graham will be here at the end of August for my niece's wedding and then we're going to drive down into New England along the Maine coast as far as Salem. Probably get a day in Boston as well and possibly a whale watching cruise if we have the time for it. I'd like to do some of the outlet shopping as well, either in Kittery or Freeport.

Not caught up on my 2014 book list for some time so no reviews as such, just titles mainly. For my own records
#17 - 29
Victoria Line, Central Line - Maeve Binchy short stories
Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light - David Downie essays on Paris
Adventures in the Screen Trade - William Goldman - all about screen writing and movies up to 1982
Reamde - Neal Stephenson long and involved but I liked it
Allegiant (Divergent, #3) - Veronica Roth third in the trilogy. Liked Hunger Games better
Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles, #1) - Jeffrey Archer
The Rainbow - D.H. Lawrence It was a struggle.
Bonjour 40: A Paris travel log - Karen A. Chase - short sound bites on her trip to Paris
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Meet Me in Malmo (Inspector Anita Sundstrom #1) - Torquil MacLeod
Still Foolin' 'Em - Billy Crystal
22 Britannia Road - Amanda Hodgkinson review here
A Change Of Climate - Hilary Mantel she doesn't disappoint

End of January already!
I've had my flights booked and am going through the usual angst over choosing a hotel in Paris and London. The Canadian dollar has gone down so the pound is more expensive. We were spoiled for the last couple of years with the pound costing about $1.55 to $1.60 and it's not upwards of $1.80 or 85, back to the bad old days, nearly. The Euro is still steady though so that's helpful. I thought about consulting a travel agent, maybe they can get a good deal on the hotels with a one way Eurostar ticket to join them up. You can get really good deals on the Eurostar site as a package but only if you have a return ticket which we won't. The agent i spoke to just to find out said that but she said they could probably put something together for me. I'll give them the chance. I gotta get my hair done on Saturday so i'll talk to them then i think, if the one that i usually deal with is in.

I've read 8 books this month. I usually try to set a goal of 90 for the year. Only just made it last year. It sounds like a lot but when you have 3 or 4 on the go at a time, it seems to go quickly and I do average 6 - 8 a month depending on how long them are. I'm currently struggling through a D.H. Lawrence, the Rainbow. I do try to take in some classics or older books to broading my reading experience but this one is starting to be a struggle. Dear heavens the characters, particularly the males are drama queens! Talk about making a meal out of a minor crisis, it's practically a banquet! For instance, a young couple has just got married. After a day or two in bed, she decides it's time to get up and do some housework and get back to reality. He takes  a hissy fit, pouts, shuts her off coldly, his soul ground into the darkness, sulks, you name it. WTF? There's several pages of how pissed off, dark souled, angry, nasty etc. he is from both his point of view and hers. Get over yourself, buddy. And you, missus? Throw a plate or something! Tell him to grow the F$$$ up. Then she takes him to church and gets highly irritated that he doesn't take in the sermon like she does. Internalizing, of course, but highly irritated? Please. I'll give you highly irritated. But it's not grinding my soul into darkness, just giving my eye rolling muscles a good workout. It was not quite this bad at first but still the mostly male characters don't half go on and on in their thoughts and feelings and I really don't think people, especially simple country folk as these characters are portrayed as being, would philosophize, ruminate and sink into that mire of belly button gazing like the author has them doiong. I've probably just written what will end up being my review! Anyway, I'll stick with it for now, just so i can post that review on Goodreads when I"m done!

So the rest of the  books for January were:
(And i had the first four written before I realized I'd already posted them earlier in the month. Doh)
( 2014 books )