Discovered after his death, the poetry of Tupac Shakur sheds light on the artist’s innermost  thoughts and is shared here in The Rose That Grew from Concrete. These poems, created from the time he was nineteen, are written in Tupac’s own hand and express his honest views on the world in which he lived.

Book of Haikus by Jack Kerouac

Need more Kerouac in your life after seeing On the Road? Book of Haikus highlights Kerouac’s experimentation with haiku throughout his career, a lesser-known talent of the writer. Kerouac scholar Regina Weinreich shares an incomplete draft of a haiku manuscript found in Kerouac’s archives along with a large amount of his other haiku derived from both published and unpublished sources.

Happy reading!

- a -

One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good – Regina Leeds
Leeds provides a year-long schedule with cleaning and organization projects for each month. This schedule is an excellent way to work towards your goal of having a spot-free, efficient space by managing the time you set aside for each task wisely. Leeds thinks of everything, too. For example, when weeding out the clothes you no longer wear from your closet, she suggests working on one section at a time rather than taking everything out and separating them. After all, if you get interrupted, you’ll be left with clothes everywhere!

How to Cheat at Cleaning: Time-Slashing Techniques to Cut Corners and Restore Your Sanity – Jeff Bredenberg
I love Bredenberg’s tip for presorting junk mail. Several years ago, he had subscribed to a few different magazines, all with different bogus names. Of course, publishers sell their subscription lists to marketers who then send you a ridiculous amount of junk mail, but whenever mail arrived for “Aloysius Bredenberg”, our author immediately knew that envelope was to be sent directly to recycling. Genius! This book contains a ton of different cleaning techniques for the home and even a few tricks for getting that grease stain out of your favorite shirt!

Clear Away the Clutter: Getting Rid of Excess Stuff that Clogs Your Life – Susan Wright
Wright gives some very helpful tips on keeping clutter out of our homes as well as offices and workspaces. For example, it is a good idea to avoid collecting small bins, racks, and trays to stash more stuff – eventually, you’ll have to find more bins for even more stuff! Also, making your office too much like home is a clutter trap of many. While it’s always nice to personalize your workspace with a photo or two of loved ones or pics from that awesome trip you had last summer, you may want to leave your collection of brightly haired troll dolls at home and reclaim some desk space.

Actually, you may want to get rid of those trolls altogether. It’s time to let go.

How do you keep — or attempt to keep — your life clutter-free? Share in the comments below!

- a -

1. Cloud Atlas

Now in theaters, Cloud Atlas shares the linked tales of people from the past and the distant future. You can find the book here.

2. I, Alex Cross

Also currently in theaters, Alex Cross is a crime thriller about a detective who is bent on capturing his niece’s murderer.  Alex Cross discovers that his niece was involved with a group of menacing people and finds himself in a case that draws Alex into the heart of an underworld fantasy club. Find the book here.

3. Lorax

A twelve-year-old boy, in his quest to find a living tree, visits the Once-ler who tells him the tale of the cranky but lovable Lorax who tried to save the forest by speaking up for the trees. Both the book and film are sure to please audiences of all ages.

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky, freshman Charlie has always been a loner until he meets a pair of seniors who guide him through the awkwardness of adolescence. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story of love, pain, fear, hope and the friends that make life bearable. The movie will soon be in our collection, but be sure to read the book as well!

5. Lawless, based on the novel The Wettest County in the World

Lawless is a gangster film based on the true story of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers in Prohibition-era Virginia. The movie and book are both at Fountaindale!

Eggnog-Frosted Nutmeg Sugar Cookies
Very Merry Cookies by Better Homes and Gardens
Makes about 24 cookies

1/2 of a vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, or 2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon eggnog
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 recipe Eggnog Icing (see below)
Coarse sugar

Eggnog Icing: In a medium bowl stir together 3 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in enough eggnog or milk (3 to 4 tablespoons) to make an icing of spreading consistency.

1. Using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape pulp from the vanilla bean; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg, eggnog, and vanilla pulp or vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough about 1 hour or until easy to handle.
 

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface roll each dough half to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a fluted round 3-inch cookie cutter (I used a star-shaped cookie cutter instead), cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are light brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Spread eggnog icing on cookies. If desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar. Let stand until icing is dry.

For those of you that like eggnog, this is the cookie for you. It has the sweet simplicity of a sugar cookie with a holiday twist. I did have to wait an hour for the dough to chill, but preparing it was a snap. However, I would only use a dash of nutmeg instead of a teaspoon the next time around since my taste buds, as well as those of my taste testers, thought it was a bit much.

4/5 stars for taste, 5/5 stars for ease

Orange Snowballs
Cookies For Christmas by Jennifer Dorland Darling

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel (set aside)
2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel (set aside)
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon gold edible glitter (optional)

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in orange juice until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the 1 tablespoon orange peel and remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 15 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile in a food processor or a blender container combine the 3/4 cup granulated sugar and the 2 teaspoons orange peel Cover and process or blend until mixture is combined. Stir in edible glitter, if desired. Roll the baked cookies, still slightly warm, in the sugar mixture. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. Makes about 48 cookies.

I can’t say I’ve ever had a cookie like this before, but I’m glad I tried it. The orange flavor was pretty subtle, and if you want more of a citrus taste, I would suggest adding just a tiny bit of orange extract, perhaps 1/8 teaspoon, or perhaps increase the amount of orange juice by about 1/2 teaspoon. These cookies were quick and easy to make and while my taste testers and I enjoyed them, we all agreed they could use a little oomph.

3/5 stars for taste, 5/5 stars for ease

Baby Butter & Jam Sandwiches
Christmas Cookies by Lisa Zwirn
Makes about 36 cookies

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting the cookies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Raspberry preserves (or strawberry or apricot preserves or some of each)

Cookie cutter needed: 1 1/2-inch round
Zwin shares an awesome tip and writes, “The first time I made these I couldn’t find my 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter. I ended up using one of those little plastic cups that come with a bottle of cough syrup. The rim was a perfect 1 1/2 inches! And the cup can be gently squeezed to loosen any cutouts that get stuck.”

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar until fully blended. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Using your hands, gather the dough into a ball, then press it into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the dough is firm enough to roll out. (If refrigerated longer, let the dough sit at room temperature for about 30 to 45 minutes to soften before rolling.)

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. Using the cutter, stamp out circles close together and arrange them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Re-roll the scraps two or three times. (Working the dough too much can make it tough.)

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, or until the cookies are just beginning to color and the edges are pale golden. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

To assemble: Spread a little of the preserves on the bottom side of half of the rounds, taking care not to spread it too close to the edge. Top with another round, right side up. Just before serving, sift confectioners’ sugar over the sandwich cookies.

Store the plain rounds in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Once the cookies are spread with jam, they’ll start to soften after 1 to 2 days.

Out of the three recipes I tested, I’d say this one was my favorite. Soft, buttery, and flaky with the tartness of raspberries – what more could you want in a cookie? While I was impatient and didn’t want to wait an hour for this dough to chill as well, the prep process was very simple and the end product was well worth the wait! My only regret is that I didn’t make more of these!

5/5 stars for taste, 5/5 stars for ease

All three books are filled with plenty of other great recipes, so feel free to stop by the library to check them out and browse our other cookbooks! Happy Holidays!

-a-

Look for the display on the third floor for your free pumpkin carving stencils.

-J-

There’s really only four basic tools you need for carving pumpkins. These include:
-Long, thin, preferably serrated knife for large cuts (drywall saw or boning knife works best)
–Small, thin, preferably serrated knife for small detailed cuts (paring knife or carving kit knife works best)
–Sharp object to transfer your pattern onto your pumpkin (tack, nail, toothpick, etc.)
–Big metal spoon to scrape out the guts of the pumpkin
–Option of using a Dremel tool for more elaborate patterns or for carving the fake pumpkins

I usually find patterns online through out the year and print them out. Some websites I use for patterns include:
http://www.zombiepumpkins.com
–Website with a vast array of pumpkin carving patterns; you do have to sign up and pay a small fee
http://www.pumpkinlady.com
–Website with a vast array of pumpkin carving patterns; you do have to sign up and pay a small fee
http://www.carvingpumpkins.com
–Website with a vast array of pumpkin carving patterns; some free selections, you do have to sign up and pay a small fee if you want more
http://www.paperpumpkins.com
–Large selection of free pumpkin patterns
-Most local stores carry pumpkin patterns around October
-The library also will have a selection of free patterns

As we get closer to October, I will post more pumpkin carving tips and tricks.

-J-

Being a fan of the movies, cartoon and also the Book First Blood written by David Morrell, I am pretty psyched to see a video game come out. Although there was the NES version and the Sega Genesis version that I liked playing as a kid, I am really looking forward to playing it with better graphics. This will probably be one of those video games that goes on my pre-order list, once the release date is announced. But for now please enjoy The Rambo: The Video Game release trailer.

-J-

The song that he is singing in the first one minute of the clip is called “Black Slacks” and is sung by the late 1950s band Joe Bennett and The Sparkletones. That song is what I’ve been diggin, I’ve recently re-discovered a love for Rockabilly music. I did a little searching and found out that the library actually has a CD with that particular song on it, its on a greatest hits album mixed with a few other well known Rockabilly musicians.   That particular CD can be found in our library’s catalog here.  There’s so many different Rockabilly bands out there. Here’s a few to start out with that I found that we have at our library: Rockabilly Riot, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Elvis Presley and the Original Rock ‘n’ Roll Kings, and Stray Cats.

-J-

5. Plan vs. Zombies

This game is pretty fun, goofy, and highly addictive. The premise of this game is to defend your house by planting different plants with different abilities to take care of the horde of zombies. The game is really colorful and not really creepy making it perfect for all the gamers in the family.  You will defend your game in several locations of your house from the front yard, backyard l, and the roof. Each one of the levels requires different strategies and you will also meet exclusive zombies for each level. You can also unlock several mini games some of them resembling other popular titles from Pop Cap. Have you ever played bowling with zombies? Well you can in this game

4. Age of zombies

Meet Barry Steakfries the most awesome time traveler/zombie killer you will ever meet. You will travel through time to defeat a mad scientist and his creations. With Barry you will travel through 5 different time periods (6 levels on some devices) to exterminate the zombies of each time period. All the locations vary from the age of the caveman, the 1930s, Egypt, Japan, The future with robot zombies, and on some devices they have access to the Wild West.  Throughout your time traveling adventure you will find power ups which include several weapons, secondary weapons, sentry guns, force fields or speed up buffs, and the occasional extra life. I love that they made a tribute to the Fonz from Happy days because when you pick up a power up in the 1930s level you can hear the famous Aaaaeeeyyy! Plus one of the power ups you can find is the awesome hover board from the Back to the Future Film.

3.  House of the Dead: Overkill

I have been a fan of the House of the dead games and used to put a lot of quarters for this game at the arcade. When the House of the Dead: Overkills was released for the Wii I just had to get it. I am actually glad I did because this game has made me laugh so hard at the crude humor, the really awkward and hilarious script. You will play Agent G who is not related to the previous Agent G of the games. Your sidekick will be Detective Isaac Washington a really foulmouthed character. I have never played a game where a F-bomb is dropped in every single level especially for a Nintendo console. As you progress in the game you will meet allies, new zombies, and really interesting bosses. The only complain I can find is that in some levels the game seems to “freeze” or slow down to a crawl. Other than that the game is pretty good. I have seen it has also been released for the PS3 but have not had the chance to try it out. One things is for sure this game is not really for kids as it is classified M for mature.

2. Call of duty Black Ops Zombies.

I was pretty excited when they announced the zombie mode will be back after its release on World at War. Better yet the maps from World at War are available including some new maps, characters, and weapons. You will control one of twelve different characters, eight of them available on two especial levels . Each character has their own personality and appearance but the all play the same. But the most interesting feature is that when playing with several characters they interact with funny dialogue. The game does not offer a direct story scattered through the level there many tape recorders hinting the player of how everything started. The best addition to the levels I would say it’s the Easter eggs. If you find all the especial Items that are scattered through the levels you will unlock an amazing song. The game starts quite easy but as you progress it will get really tough and you will run out of ammo pretty quick. One of the most amazing additions was adding George A. Romero granddaddy of the zombies as the main boss on the Call of the Dead level. One more thing I am happy of the Call of Duty zombies Black ops is the addition of Dead Ops Arcade an arcade style shooter pretty much like the Age of Zombies game with view on top. The premise is the same survive until the round is over move to a new map and collect treasure and weapons for more score.

1. Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2

I am a huge fan of the Left 4 Dead series. When it first came out I was surprised at the idea of having four people helping you survive a long level infested of zombies.  Plus you do require teamwork to be able to pass a level. The characters you will take control of are the survivors Zoey, Francis, Louis, and Bill Left 4 Dead. On Left 4 Dead 2 you will be able to control Rochelle, Nick, Coach, and Ellis. The player always start at a safe place where there is ammo, weapons, and a health kit but after opening the door that keeps you safe all chaos is set loose. The reason of this is because of the “director” the Artificial intelligence controlling everything in the game. Sometimes it will be really generous to the player offering weapons and recovery items at early points of the game. On other times it makes the player suffer by spawning many infected or even worse spawning both a Witch and a Tank two of the most powerful infected in the game . The infected are pretty easy to dispatch but can be quite deadly in numbers. But what makes this game different of others is the addition of especial infected zombies. This especial infected are the Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank, Spitter, Jockey, Charger, and Witch all of them with unique attacks that make more damage than a regular infected.  The replay value is really high as it is never the same when you play a level thanks to the Director making it the best zombie game I have ever played.

So here it is the top 5 Zombie games  I have played so far hopefully it woke your appetite for brains. Please comment and let me know what are your favorite zombie games.

-J.R.-

Hello and welcome to part 2 of the Nintendo 3ds software. We will continue where we left on the last blog talking about my experience with my 3Ds and how I had  fun just using the applications available in the system and some that are free to download.

Face Raiders must be one of the funniest games included on every 3Ds. The game starts requesting you to take a picture of a face be it yours or friend/family. It will be very picky while taking the picture but just follow the instructions and the 3Ds will automatically take the picture, crop it, and add especial effects. Now the fun begins! This game is also a AR (augmented reality) game as it uses both front cameras of the 3Ds and turns your surrounding into the stage where the Face raiders will attack! The point of the game is to aim with your cross hair  and look around to shot the face raiders who will kiss you, throw pieces of shattered dimension to you. The game starts to get challenging as you progress and you even get to fight bosses who will be more protected against damage or will have certain weak points that require timing to hit. You do have a hit point bar and any damage you withstand will remain until you finish the stage or find power ups. At the end you get to see a hilarious animation which I will not spoil for you .

This application even though is not a game it is still quite fun to use. I have always wanted to know what titles I have played and also how long I have played each one of them. This application keeps track exactly of this and even more. It also keeps count of how many steps you have taken since the Nintendo 3Ds has a built in pedometer. It has been a whole year since I purchased my Nintendo 3Ds and it still has a record of the first application I used and the games I have played. This is the last of the most awesome built in software the Nintendo 3Ds when you purchase a device.

The next applications can be applied after you update your Nintendo 3Ds and also I will speak of some free of charge that you can download and take advantage of the Nintendo 3Ds capabilities.

This application it is more like the App Store from Apple or the Android Market. This is where you go to get more applications and games from Nintendo. Most of the applications I will be talking at this point will need to be downloaded for free from the Nintendo eShop and do require an internet connection.  But Nintendo does offer a wide selection of games for a fee including Demos for upcoming games, 3D games, Game Boy games, NES, and many more.

This is free software that you can download to your Nintendo 3Ds. It is really amazing because I am a huge Pokémon fan and I have actually always wanted to have a Pokedex. Thanks to this amazing software you turn your 3Ds in a functional pokedex with all the information of the pokemon you have selected. The pokedex will display the pokemon in a wonderful 3D model that moves and has a especial animation. It will also display what attacks it can learns, a brief description, and what abilities, and type it is. Best of all if a friend of yours has a Pokedex 3D and has pokemon you have never seen before you can interchange them via QR codes.

Swap note is a really interesting application as it allows you to create and receive “notes” that are in 3D.  You can save several message and share them to any user with the same device that comes close to your device via Street Pass ( a connection system used to share information between Nintendo 3Ds) or Spot Pass (the wireless connection to the internet). The messages can be customized with several options from sounds to stationary cards. I have not used it that much myself but I have received a lot of messages from friends.

Many of you have probably heard or already know about Netflix and as you know it can be downloaded or comes in many handheld devices. Nintendo 3Ds is not an exception as Netflix has already reached the system and is available for free download, of course to use Netflix you will need to have an account with them and pay for the monthly fee. The reason I wanted to talk about this application is because Nintendo has promised that there will be 3D videos.  For the moment I have yet to see one of this programs or videos that are to be in 3D but I do think it would be amazing to be able to see a whole movie in 3D.

Finally the Nintendo Video this application it is quite interesting. It does require you to have an internet connection as it downloads different videos in a weekly fashion.  Most of this videos downloaded are Trailers for upcoming movies, video game shorts such as Kid Icarus anime, Music videos, and many more. The videos get deleted as new ones come in so it is quite a short time to view them.

I really enjoy my Nintendo 3Ds and I am actually happy that I purchased when it came out even though the initial price was somewhat high. But it was really worth it especially since Nintendo offered free games to the people that purchased the Nintendo 3Ds when it was released to make up for the price change. Even though upon its release there were not that many games available I was still having fun just using the 3D apps that were available on the system and also had fun playing my Nintendo DS games. So far I have 5 Nintendo 3Ds titles and my favorite one is the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D. I am also very excited of the new titles that will be coming especially Luigi’s Mansion 2 and recently it has been announced of a Nintendo 3Ds XL.

The Fountaindale Library does offer a wide selection of Nintendo 3Ds/DS games and I have checked out some of them before I purchase a copy to myself.

That is all for the software for the Nintendo 3Ds  Please comment and let me know what has been your experience with your 3D and what games have you played or are looking forward to.

-J.R.-