My Super Bowl History: 30 Years of 49ers
I was nine when I first understood how important winning a Super Bowl could be to a city. Growing up in Northern California, you couldn’t miss flags flying in front of houses, neighbors wearing hats and shirts, celebrating the 49ers winning Super Bowl 24. Fast forward to Super Bowl 54: I’m a bit older...and there have been some rough seasons for the Niners—alternating quarterbacks and coaches, even stadiums (and all that relocation drama). But for now, all of the talk is for the Red and Gold to win title number six! The team has had other successful runs in recent…
When Broadway Goes Dark, Use a Booklight
This Sunday Broadway will go dark in celebration of the 73rd Annual Tony Awards. While I am no expert on live theater, I know one thing for sure: only the experience of being transported into another world for two hours by professional performers wearing beautiful costumes can make a walk through Times Square on a Saturday night worth the hassle! As we are obliged to take a break from Broadway this weekend, why not use the intermission to look at some of the books upon which the nominations are based and enhance our Broadway savvy with a few deeper dives into its rich history…
Four Books to Cure Kitchen Gadget Shyness
The holidays were four months ago and your Instant Pot/air fryer/slow cooker are still in the box. You’ve tried “winging it” with recipes, but your creations are not what you might call "appetizing". And online recipes are useful, but doing battle with popup ads and sticky hands? That sounds like a recipe for a sticky phone! And you are stuck in this predicament, because before the internet, no technology existed for sharing information about food…. Wait! The Library has literally thousands of excellent books to help with both your gadget struggles and your recipe fails. With pictures to…
Truth over fiction: Oscar picks for Best Documentary
Okay, I admit, I’m a total documentary nerd. But I have great reason to be one. What is more interesting than real life? Real people facing challenges, forming relationships, defying death, and sharing stories that don’t need magic, fiction, or fantasy. In the spirit of this Sunday’s Oscar Awards, here are some of the nominees for long and short form documentaries I found compelling. Imagine climbing a 3000 foot solid granite wall without any ropes? This is exactly what Alex Honnold did in 2017, being the first person to free solo climb El Capitan. And he did it in less than 4 hours.…