Feria International del Libro de Guadalajara

November 27-30 at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was able to attend due to the financial aid of ALA and donating publishers/vendors that give travel grants to members of the American Library Association. I received $200 towards my airfare, three nights hotel, and free registration to the Book Fair.For more information about the Free Pass Program , see the web site for ALA International Relations Office. Plus the vendors supply a fabulous gala dinner for all ALA participating librarians

In size, FIL can be compared to the Vendor Hall at an ALA Annual Conference.  In content, it is all about books. All kinds of books: children's, scholarly, photography, artisan, how-to, popular culture, graphic novels... Many librarians come to FIL with a credit card, collecting book as they travel through the Fair and mailing them back home. Others walk through escorted by a vendor representative that takes notes of desired titles in order to gather and send out later.  Many books published in Latin America are limited in number, making it difficult to acquire through a vendor after retruning home.

Many of the ALA Free Pass librarians balance out the book fair with day trips to the nearby artisan towns of Tlaquepaque or Tonala. I have visited these places on previous trips to FIL and they are adorable with good shopping. Lake Chapala is also nearby, full of ex-pats in their retiremment communiities. This trip I spent my extra time working on a revision of my dissertation summary... getting VERY close to being finished..

Overnight Autumn Bicycle Trip, Blue Ridge Parkway

Fall break! John and I decided to get out for one last bike tour before winter. We missed the high point of the Fall leaf season by only a couple of days (due to strong rain and winds) but still gorgeous. The weather completely cooperated, cool but not cold and no rain.


We headed up Winklers Creek and onto old 221. Rode on the Blue Ridge Parkway until we reached Linville Falls Campground.






Arriving early afternoon, we headed to Famous Louise's for pie and coffee. Walked to the Falls for a short hike. All in all, a wonderful and well deserved break.

Bicycles Are Cheap

And he is not talking about the bike that cost more than a BMW F650GS (cars are damn expensive to operate).

Bicycles Are Cheap: One of the stranger political phenomena of the past 10 years has been the extent to which the non-automobile transportation in many cities has been coded a “white” area of concern. When someone writes a piece about the growing market for automobiles in China, nobody thinks that’s an article about how China’s getting poorer. As [...]/p

Moving Planet 9/24/11

McKibben on Moving Planet 9/24/11: “If We’re Going to Win This Global Fight, We Need a Global Movement.”

Amendment to Kill Bike/Ped Funding?

How Dangerous is Sen. Coburn’s Amendment to Kill Bike/Ped Funding?

Bicyclists and Pedestrians

Newest GOP Hostages: Bicyclists and Pedestrians | Crooks and Liars

Writing instead of riding and Anniversary

Been working hard on my dissertation. Don't know why but I can't find sufficient energy to balance long hours of writing with riding my bike or motorcycle. My muscles are atrophying and my chains are rusting. As I wrote in my introduction, my dissertation topic is about international library development, questioning if these libraries are relevant and sustainable. My blogs for my two field trips can be found at http://llpzambia.blogspot.com/ and http://oclfvolunteer.blogspot.com/.

By the way, yesterday was the three year anniversary of my motorcycle accident in which I broke 20+ bones. I'm all better now and have some pretty impressive scars. I am amazed at my body's recuperative powers.

I do get a lot of questions from people since I purchased a new motorcycle. And of course I have not yet told family back in Kansas about the BMW F650GS.. Guess in some ways, I'm hoping they find this blog and can love me despite my love of motorcycles.

Tomorrow I get to celebrate my anniversary by riding to Durham to visit Emma at school. A 6 hour ride/break from dissertation. Celebration of life!!!