Ski lodge, amusement park and penthouse elements combine to create a mix of interior and outdoor space at the new Salt Lake City public library. With glass on all sides of the trianglular structure, you're continously awash in natural light. It's open, inviting and yet cozy. There's a feeling of a large, well-furnished den that you might expect to find in Bill Gates' home. See some nice shots of the new library in Phil Windley's blog, but don't settle for just seeing this on the web.

Warning: Be generous with yourself in how much time you budget for this outing. I thought I'd drop in for half an hour last Saturday morning. I was in Library Zen for about 90 minutes before I even thought to look at my watch.

A short list of other great, nearby libraries: Eccles, Quinney and Marriott Libraries at the U, the newly remodeled and expanded Anderson Branch near Foothill Boulevard, the historic old Sprague Branch in Sugarhouse, and available virtually anytime, anyplace (via the Internet) Pioneer, Utah's Online Library.

"You must live feverishly in a library. Colleges are not going to do any good unless you are raised and live in a library everyday of your life." — Ray Bradbury, from Quotations about Libraries

Found while looking for something else: About Public Radio

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Tried out the much-touted* Magnetic Poetry generator this morning. It gives you a screen of virtual magnetic words when you add any url to the end of the generator url, such as this:

http://diveintomark.org/magnetic/rfin.blogspot.com

Then, of course, you can just play with the words. Write a silly sentence or a haiku…

watched mentioned, told
remember continuing
associate much

A few of UEN's many language arts resources are: Virtual Field Trips - Language Arts - Elementary & Secondary and ThemePark - Imagination - Creative Writing. Find more with UEN Curriculum Search.

"Here’s the way I write a book: I start on the word processor and write as much as I can. Then I print it. I take what I’ve printed, go sit somewhere else--like the porch--read it, say, "This is terrible," and start working on it. I go back to the word processor, put in the changes, and print it. I take what I’ve printed, go sit somewhere else, say, "Oh, this is still terrible," and rewrite it. I keep doing this until I say, "This is not as terrible as it used to be," then, "This is getting better," and finally (hopefully), "This is not bad at all." That’s how I do my writing, no matter what kind it is--short stories, essays, novels. And it’s worked for thirty years." --Betsy Byars, The Moon and I

*In the Daypop Top 40, a list of links that are currently popular with webloggers from around the world.

Found while looking for something else: The Shifted Librarian

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UEN's Barry Bryson mentioned it in his blog. Former KUED associate Aaron Evans was quoted about in it the Deseret News. Veterinarian Charlie Gold told me about his “free afternoons” there as a kid. I, too, have more than a few memories of The Villa Theatre which closed forever a couple of nights ago.

I remember Sleeping Beauty as a 5-year-old and with my own kids 25-years later. Somehow Maleficent seemed much more artistic and much less frightening the second time around. Do you remember This is Cinerama, the three-projector widescreen forerunner to IMAX? In junior high I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on the huge Villa screen, and more recently the Disney renaissance in animation starting with Little Mermaid and continuing with Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan. And last Thursday night Charlie and I paid our final respects to The Villa as we caught the 8 p.m. showing of The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers.

As with the Tower Theatre, Valley Music Hall, Promised Valley Playhouse, The Old Social Hall, Capitol Theatre, Kingsbury Hall, Fort Douglas, even Snappy Service and the Olympic Torch, perhaps The Villa will be “re-purposed” or otherwise resurrected or restored in someway. More likely it will meet the the fate of the Dee Burger, the U of U 18-Hole Golf Course, Keith Obriens, Auerbachs, and the Deseret Gym -- and live on only in our memories and in the Utah in the 50’s documentaries of Elizabeth Searles and Ted Capener.

A few of UEN's many "movie" resources are: Digital Video Courses, ThemePark and Film 3210, a KULC telecourse offered by the University of Utah starting in May. Find more with UEN's Google Search and UEN Curriculum Search.

“It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” --Walt Disney (1901 - 1966)

Found while looking for something else: Daypop, a blog search engine

audblog audio post

A banana sits on the top of the radio on my desk. It’s not only today’s lunch, but an opportunity to consider great packaging. It’s easy to open. Easy to transport. Features integrated, color-coded freshness indicator. The whole thing’s bio-degradable. Oh and it actually under-promises and over-delivers. Because inside this ingenious package you’ll find excellent nutrition that’s sweet and filling, yet low calorie, fat free, no cholesterol, no sodium and a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, and vitamins B6 and C. Whew! (Just too healthy to be any fun? Then enjoy it fried with ice cream, or in a shake or cream pie.) Take a banana quiz...

(Read a more recent blog entry on the topic of bananas.) A few of the many Nutrition resources UEN include: ThemePark - Curriculum Web Sites - Activities - Find more with UEN Search and UEN Curriculum Search.

"The light bulb was not invented by the candle industry looking to improve output." --Joab Jackson in Washington Technology

Found while looking for something else: Fat, Fitness, Tobacco and Cancer from the AP’s Ira Dreyfuss

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More about paradox. This time concerning networks, like UEN. Both Pete and Jim are pondering this in their recent blogs. How many kids does it take to paint a bathroom? At our house it stacked up this way over the weekend. Two college students to conceive the project and persuade their parents to go with a contemporary color scheme and buy the paint. Two high school kids to offer their strongly-felt opinions about appropriate tints and the need for a new, wood-framed mirror to get rid of “that awful cabinet – it's so eighties.” And one sixth grader to offer her skill in cleaning, organizing and pinpointing details others had overlooked. I’m proud of ‘em. They took it on. Planned well. Executed well. And we’ve all enjoyed the result and sense of accomplishment. (At various points this weekend our home felt like Trading Spaces, Martha Stewart, and This Old House.) For the student in you and/or the students in your life: UEN Distance Learning Catalogs in these flavors – EDNET and Satellite – KULC College Telecourses – Utah Electronic College – Utah Electronic High School – Combo of All. We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems. --John W. Gardner (American Educator, Social Activist) Found while looking for something else: Is Your Work Out Tough Enough? - Science Daily Comment?

"Funding education as our first priority is not just a redeeming social decision, it is an economic strategy. And right now we need to be thinking long-term in our economy and I think the best way to do that is to assure this our children, our grandchildren, our workers are all well prepared to compete in the global economy." --Governor Michael O. Leavitt Next Monday, February 24: Marbury vs. Madison, the case that forever changed the authority of the Supreme Court Found while looking for something else: Found Magazine

The answer: “Paradox.” The question: “What do you get when you put an MD and a PhD in the same room together?” Ok, ok, bad bun but it does provide an introduction to the subject of paradoxes. Among my favorites are "strength and weakness." You gain strength when you exercise a muscle to the point of fatigue – immunity and well-being often result from exposure to the very thing that makes you sick or uneasy -- while success and comfort are instructive, our more effective teachers are more typically challenge and pain. Got a favorite paradox? Pass it along. "When it gets dark enough you can see the stars." --Lee Salk When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either. --Leo Burnett (Unless you’re reaching from a ladder in the mud and you lose your balance.) Do you know about free Professional Development Courses from UEN? From Creating Digital Video Projects to the new Web Masters Forum and more UEN professional development trains thousands of Utah educators every year. Found while looking for something else: Cosmic Revelations - Satellite homes in on the infant universe