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Learning isn’t always easy

Ever had the dream of an exam or project due and you’re not at all prepared? Maybe you’re not even a student anymore but the dream still lingers.

Why is that? Maybe it’s just human nature to want to do or learn something that challenges us. There can be some anxiety in learning something new because, by definition, you have to start from a place of not knowing.

Continue Reading "Crunch Time: Train up at the library" →

Let's share something we KNOW we all have in common.

The LOVE of reading. Family Reading Night is Thursday November 17th!

Continue Reading "#DPPLfamiliesRead" →

November is National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo) and DPPL recognizes those who write.

We host write-ins every Tuesday night during this month for aspiring writers.

Folks who participate in NaNoWriMo aim to write a novel during the month of November.

The goal is to write at least 50,000 words (that is about 1666.67 words a day).  

Thousands of people sign up and take part across the world. The idea is that if you write fast and focused it doesn’t give the inner critic time to sabotage your efforts. You can go back and clean it up in December or January if necessary, but November is all about getting the words and ideas down.

The NaNoWriMo website has many useful tools including a community where you can get feedback, help with a plot, do research or just see what others are doing.

Continue Reading "We Have Local Authors (and you could be one too)" →

Conversation has lagged. The turkey needs another hour. Your brother-in-law is late. How do you entertain your guests during the little ‘quiet’ nothing-to-do but wait times.

Play charades? Keep busy? I think we should respect the quiet times. In fact, a little down time might re-energize the crowd for charades later. I think I found at least one solution.

Last Thanksgiving I checked out books and magazines from the library.

Continue Reading "Entertaining Your Thanksgiving and Holiday Guests" →

As a fellow musician and voracious reader, rock star memoirs are a pretty intriguing proposition to me. But for many years, with few exceptions, the books that fit this description tended to be either hastily (ghost)written and white-washed or trashy tabloid fodder. Since the 2004 publication of (future Pulitzer Prize winner) Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One, however, more music legends have signed lucrative book deals and delivered forthright, funny and well-written autobiographies that offer incredible perspective on their music and the personal circumstances that influenced it. Best of all, many of these musicians have also agreed to read an unabridged audiobook themselves, so listeners can be sit back and be regaled by stories from the same voices that sang so many timeless songs. Here are some of my favorites:

Continue Reading "Everyday I Write The Book: Memoirs by Rock Stars" →