My first job after graduating from college was at Richmond's Valentine Museum, where I served as assistant curator for the photograph collection for a couple of years. At about the same time, my brother worked part time at A & N, but not, I think under this sign:

In recent years, the Val has also added this sign, below, from the Mill End Shop to its fine neon collection. The fabric store remained in business on Cary Street through the early years of its gentrification -- or as I saw it, the transformation from a street full of useful shops to a street full of Boutiques. The former being much more useful to an actual Fan / Museum district resident than the later. Thank goodness for the staying power of Mongrel (ne Cards, Cards, Cards) and Bygones.

But, I digress. Phil and I went to the Museum for a special Henrico County 400 open house. We enjoyed a small photo exhibition, curator talks, a quick Wickham House tour, and a behind-the-scenes tour. A new collection included the workers' newsletter for a factory at Seven Pines; there was a handbill from the opening of Byrd Field, and a booklet from the 1930s(?) touting Sandston as a lovely suburb. 

Confession: my favorite part of behind-the-scenes tours there is finding photo storage boxes with my handwriting on them.

The End!

Book idea #85: work with words.

52/52

Happy Halloween!

An Old Family Recipe

(Which is odd, because we're not a very old family)

Cookie Cutter Cookies

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour

Cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the egg and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together and stir into butter-sugar-egg mixture with a wooden spoon.

Chill dough.

Using about ⅓ of the dough at a time, roll on a lightly floured surface ⅛ inch thick (can be thinner if using plain cookie cutters). Flour solid cookie cutters before using. Re-chill scraps.

Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet in (preheated) 400 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes.

50/52

"Avoiding the Path to Obsolescence," by Steven Smith and Carmelita Pickett. American Libraries, Sept./Oct. 2011.

In short: be nimble, responsive.

Learn from two key failures seen as Blockbuster collapsed:
- "internal constituency . . . couldn't believe those days [whatever they are for your org.] were gone for good"

- "'once decision-makers invest in a a project, they're likely to keep doing so, because of the money already at stake.'"

Respond to "customer wants and needs in a timely and efficient manner, even at the expense of letting go of past practices and tools no matter how cherished or successful.'"

New model possibilities:
- connect users to lots of things, across formats
- just in time better than deep inventory
- convenient formats
- variety of spaces: both quiet and lively
- flexible space available as close to 24/7 as possible
- look for new initiatives, ventures

Triple Threat

Skull Appreciation and submission for Cake Wrecks party and a little gel icing heart. (Does Cake Mate see a jump in sales in each town Jen visits on book tour? After a failed attempt at a tiny homemade bit of frosting, I had to rush out an buy different colors than the lone green I found in the pantry.)

Ref Desk Random

Enjoying this Audubon game; wondering how to attract virtual birds to CCD. Linkage, perhaps? I see Richmond Audubon's page has a visitor.

We have nice bird books, and other field guides, at this lib. I haven't been asked for one in a while, though.

Posting a birdhouse today for the Audubon Society's online birding game.

Hose Heart

It's a warm and sunny day so I bought yet one more mum and poked around in the yard a bit. These new allergies of mine have been awful for a month now, but I really needed to unblock the gutters in strategic spots. So I did that, but little else. Watered (above) and spent two minutes just observing the monarchs on the butterfly bush. The paper said the drought in Texas could make this year's trip extra rough. I wished them luck.

Hidden Heart

On Sunday, I wrapped two gifts for Phil to give to friends. One was a record, and I put it between two pieces of cardboard, masking taped together. A little masking tape heart jumped in on that action. I photocopied the owl and  mask decorations from a book of vintage Halloween goodies.