Help From the Community
On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, Susan Currie is in her safe-haven, peering out the glass windows surrounding her workspace watching the people on Green Street in downtown Ithaca bustle around.
“I love [the library],” Currie, library director said. “I spent my childhood in libraries, surrounded by the smell of old books and the stories of Nancy Drew.”
While Currie sits behind her desk enjoying the atmosphere, one cannot help but notice the lack of activity happening from inside the library. A few older people walk through the isles browsing the selections, a middle aged man digs through an overwhelmingly thick book, and a woman uses an available computer.
“Things will start getting busier around lunch hour or when people are getting out of work,” Currie said. “Most of the people who use our library are from my generation or older. It’s like younger generations are finding alternative means of entertainment.”
However, Currie said that there has been a considerable increase in the younger generation’s use of the library since the country’s economic difficulties. She credited Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library, a contributing organization, for helping to peek younger children’s interest.
Many libraries across the country are flourishing during these hard economic times, as it becomes easier for people to borrow a book that they might have to pay $30-$40 for on Amazon.com. These libraries are being stocked with donated books from organizations such as the FTCPL.
“We have limited funding from the state,” Currie said. “[Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library] has helped in so many ways, and not only with money, but with newer books for the kids.”
FTCPL collects donated books throughout the year in order to hold large book sales to raise money for TCPL and other neighboring libraries. However, books published in 2009 and 2010, are sent directly to the library so the library can stay up to date with its books.
As stated on the organization’s website, FTCPL’s mission is to stimulate public interest in the library, purchase library materials, and support other cultural and educational programs in Tompkins County. Sarah Hatcher, assistant coordinator of FTCPL, says that people are being more generous in their donations of books.
“It seems that people who do buy books are reading them and almost immediately donating,” Hatcher said. “This provides a wonderful opportunity for the libraries, who would not have the books otherwise.”
With the increased popularity of newer book series, such as the Twilight books and Gossip Girl books, younger people have been visiting the library more. Kara McDuffee, a recently graduated Ithaca area high school student, said she goes to the library at least once a month to get a book.
“I remember when I first wanted to read Twilight a few years ago and the library didn’t have it,” McDuffee said. “But now the library has been pretty up-to-date with new books and series.”
Hatcher said she encourages people to continue donating books, especially those for young adults, because it encourages reading in the younger generations.
“Kids are watching a whole lot of television now a days,” Hatcher said. “So when all these newer books are donated and kids are getting excited about reading, it’s really a special thing.”
~Ginny Van de Wall and Kristin Lanshe
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Seasonal Shopping = Cheap Shopping
As Emily said in her last post, it is now the season for intense shopping. As I have said in multiple posts, I have no money! Oh what is a girl to do? In an ideal world, I could spend $6 on a gift for each of my friends and they wouldn’t be able to tell because the gift would be THAT awesome. Yeah I know dream big right?
On my endeavors in the commons last Friday I walked into Loose Threads. This is a clothing store I regularly check out (and by that I mean I usually walk in, realize that I’m much too cheap to buy any of the cute clothes they have, then walk out). To be fair however, their clothes are relatively inexpensive compared to most of the shops in the commons, but like I’ve said before, “bargain” is my middle name (I’ve actually never said that before…I don’t know why I said I had). Upon entering the store this time, I was not looking to buy clothes. Instead, I was looking to see if they had any cute accessories or nick-knacks I could
This is the store of holy cheapness! I suggest checking it out (it's location is 118 East State Street)
get my friends for Christmas. I figure even if my friends can tell I only spent $5-7 on them, they will appreciate the thought right?
Everything is priced at $5 nowadays. Two bags of chips are $5, two rolls of paper towels are $5, a pack of pencils cost $5 (can you say RIP OFF). I really thought about getting my best friend a pack of pencils for Christmas and then hyping up her present for the weeks leading up to the holiday. I feel like once she did open the present she would town between two emotions 1) What the HELL did she get me these for? 2) She seemed so excited to give me my present, maybe some how I put her under the impression that I really like pencils?
Needless to say, upon entering Loose Threads I found alternative gifts that I could get for all my friends (alternative as in not a pack of pencils and bags of chips). Loose Threads has some really cute scarfs in all different colors for $6. I’m sorry, WHAT? $6??? Isn’t that in the ball park of how much you wanted to spend? Why yes, yes it is….how did you know that? Oh right because I said it….about SIX times….SIX as in SIX DOLLARS! Anywaays, I fell in love with Loose Threads last Friday. I bought three of my friends really cute scarves (blue, gray, and pink…with just a little silver sparkle). I also bought two eye shadow sets for two of my other friends (they have shimmer and glitter in some of the colors…yes colors as in plural! Each eyeshadow set had about 8 colors in them…and only cost me $6!). They had really cute long necklaces with beads and peace signs for $6 as well and some cute earrings.
After leaving Loose Threads, I walked into Evolution. Oh haaaay very similar scarf to the ones I just bought except you cost $15 instead of $6. HA! I felt very proud of myself that Friday, like I had cheated the system…what system you ask? I don’t know, but it sounds cool to say so I’m saying it :p So for all those that don’t have too much money to spend for gifts this year, check out Loose Threads and be cheap! No one will ever find out 
Until next time,
Ginny
For Your Visual Pleasure
Hey readers!
Emily and I have put together a time line that shows when each of the places we have referenced in our blog were opened. Many of the places are relatively new, as you can see by the time line. In the process of putting this together, we found it interesting that many places around Ithaca had been rebuilt or switched location. For example, the Salvation Army Thrift Store moved down the street in 2005 to a newer and bigger building, the Regal Cinema added on 14 new theaters in 2007, and Cinemapolis just opened their new location in 2009. Who wudda thunk? We thought the time line was a nice visual just so you all have some history of the places we reference.
Just click on the link and it will bring you to our timeline on the dipity website (wordpress doesn’t support dipity hosting 
). On the time line, there is a link to the specific blog post where we mention a particular building. Also, don’t be fooled by the little plus (+) signs toward the bottom of the time line, you can click on them and a larger image with a description appears. We have put 10 locations on the time line! ENJOY!
Here to help,
Ginny
Happy Thanksgiving! Now Onto the Next Holiday!
Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! Enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie. I know I will.
Santa’s made his appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and in my family, that always means we’re allowed to talk about Christmas now. When my brother and sisters and I were younger, we’d always drag out the box of Christmas movies the second the jolly fat man came on TV in the parade. Now that we’re older, my brother would rather continue playing XBox Live and my sisters and I were upstairs getting ready to leave for my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, but it doesn’t mean the symbolism isn’t there.
I know I’ve previously mentioned my status as the president of Bargain Shopaholics Anonymous (a group I am really hoping will someday become legit.) and that means the holiday season is one that I particularly love. Buying things for other people is one of my favorite things to do, and if it’s cheap, then hey, that’s a bonus!
As I’m home in Buffalo right now and not actually in Ithaca, I can’t quite give you the specs on where to go, but be forewarned, dear readers, shopping advice galore lies ahead!
And until then, enjoy Thanksgiving. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to head off to my Aunt Cookie’s. There’s no way I’m risking arriving late and letting my ginormous family eat everything before I get there!
Happy Holidays!
-Em
‘Tis the season to go to the Salvo….fa la la la la la la la la
I hope everyone’s social life has been plentiful lately! During the past week I jammed in a bunch of fun stuff…I went to Five Guys again (switched up my theme and got mushrooms and A1 sauce…they forgot to put on the A1 sauce, bummer), Emily and I both went to the midnight showing of New Moon (holy muscles on Taylor Lautner!), and I got bubble tea for my birthday (I now get EXTRA tapioca…yummy yummy). Oh yeah, today’s my birthday by the way 
But anyways…the point of this post is not to advertise previous posts, but to give you all some more ideas of what you and your friends can do/enjoy in Ithaca. The holiday season is approaching quite rapidly which, at least to me, means the money in my wallet is disappearing at an equally rapid pace. I have so many people that I would like to buy a Christmas/Hanukkah present for but have no money to do so. So I sit and ponder…and ponder some more….the pondering is continuing to happen…and then….DING DING DING (that’s the sound my brain makes when I think of an idea….no really….it makes hat EXACT sound) I could go shopping at the Salvo! (for those of you who aren’t familiar with the lingo, I’m referring to the Salvation Army). OK so getting my friends presents from the Salvation Army isn’t ideal…but it’s affordable!
So you might be wondering what I could buy someone from the Salvo…someone’s used clothes??? That’s not actually what I had in mind…the Salvo has some cute nick nacks…such as electronics (my friend just recently bought an old fashion film camera for $2.99), books and magazines (my friend buys National Geographics in bulk for collaging), fabric (there’s lots and lots of material/fabric you could use to make a variety of different things), memory keepers (those books you put pictures in…I am unsure of their actual name)…and…ok I’m drawing a blank, but there’s a lot of stuff believe me!
My friends and I actually go to the Salvo on a regular basis. I go to buy 80 cent books, my other friend goes to buy puzzles, and the other one to buy magazines. Almost always we get side tracked and buy things we had no intentions of buying…not that we really know what is going to be in there because they are constantly adding stuff…but you my drift. So check out the Salvo with your friends sometime…it’s HUGE…at least it’s huge compared to the Salvo’s I’ve been to (which is actually only 3). But anywayyys, it has books, games, puzzles, electronics, decorations, posters, picture frames, and other stuff that I can’t think of right now. It’s a good alternative if you are like me and have a limited supply of the cash monies for the holidays.
Here to help,
Ginny
Uhh, the New Moon was Actually Last Tuesday. Tomorrow Night is a Waxing Crescent. Duh.
Ohh Ginny. Ginny, Ginny, Ginny…
"Whaaat? You're all coming to see ME?"
As you can see by her previous post, my dear co-blogger is one of those Twi-hard fans who is going to see the new movie at midnight tomorrow. I will rebut her post in what I like to call “Emily’s Great and Terrible Anti-Twilight Speech.”
Now, these Twilight movies are getting a little out of hand, if you ask me. They barely follow the books, display 90% of the film’s footage in the trailers and TV spots, and let’s be frank, guys, the acting sucks. Not to mention the films themselves. I’m no Cinema & Photography major, but even I can see they’re not great. And when they have as many fans and are making as much money and getting as much publicity as they do, there’s really no excuse for this. Except maybe laziness. Or lack of talent, perhaps?
New Moon has made more profits from pre-sold tickets than any movie ever. Why is this, do you think? Is it (ZOMG!) Rob Pattinson and his dreamy-but-stoic good looks? Or could it be (*SWOON*) ickle baby Taylor Lautner, who most fans my age adore despite his young age? But maybe it’s Kristin Stewart, with her spectacular acting skills? The point is, every aspect of the movie is pretty awful, from the acting to the technical film-ish parts, and yet people flock to see it all over the country.
I do have to agree with Ginny though, that midnight movie premieres are a lot of fun. Especially for movies like Twilight or Harry Potter, where everyone dresses up as characters and gets really into it, it’s a great time to go people watching. Believe me. I would know. I was one of the ones they watched.
So even if you go just to make fun of the really awful CGI werewolves or the badly delivered lines or the screaming tweenage girls, it could be fun. Buy yourself a tub of overpriced popcorn and a giant souvenir cup of Coke (Doubtless, it will have Taylor Lautner’s face all over it.), sit back, and enjoy the show. Because there’s sure to be a good one, regardless of your feelings toward the Cullen family.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go perfect my Alice Cullen costume for tomorrow and cross off another day on my Twilight-themed calendar.
Is that a joke, you ask?
You’ll never know.
-Emily
Are you a twilight fan???
If you’re a hardcore Twilight fan you don’t need me to tell you that New Moon comes out on Friday! Even if you’re not a Twilight fan, you probably already know that New Moon comes out on Friday due to excessive advertising. While some of you may be annoyed from the over emphasis on
oh haaay intense love triangle! (this movie poster is so foreshadowing!)
the movie, I am quite thrilled. I’m the girl that screeches when she sees Robert Patterson on the cover of a magazine/sees the trailer for the movie online. OK so I don’t actually think Robert Patterson is entirely too cute as a human being…but as a VAMPIRE, well that’s a different story. I can excuse the pastiness and the giant/messy hair when I think of him as a vampire, that’s hot right? When you’re that pasty and have hair that ridiculous in real life…it’s embarrassing. Don’t be hating on me ladies! If anything you should be glad I don’t like him as a real man…less competition ;P.
The Regal Cinema at the Ithaca Mall (which apparently is actually the Lansing mall…who knew!) will be showing the movie at midnight. For your last hoo-rah before Thanksgiving break, I suggest that you and all your friends go see it. If you don’t like Twilight…then go to make fun of it. What better things do you have to do with your time at midnight anyways? SLEEP? Who needs it! Nothing is tastier than over-priced movie theater popcorn at midnight! Nothing is more visually appealing than Robert Patterson and the werewolf guy (I don’t know his name in real life…but I am referring to the character Jacob) at midnight. And there’s always Kristen Stewart for the guys!…if you’re into girls that can’t act and look cracked out. Plus there’s an intense love triangle in this movie…DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT.
So to add late-night weekday (you rebel you) excitement into your life, go see New Moon at midnight! Wear your team Edward or team Jacob shirt (I’m team Edward!) and admire everything there is to admire about werewolfs and vampires without their shirts on! WOOT.
You all know who it is,
Ginny
Quest for the best burger
So does everyone remember how awesome my A1 burger from BenchWarmers was? Incase you forgot let me just reiterate…IT. WAS. AWESOME. I haven’t been able to find a place in Ithaca that makes better burgers than BenchWarmers…until now! I’m sure for everyone that’s been down Elmira Road you’ve noticed the new Five Guys restaurant. Have you eaten there yet? If you said “no” to that question I want you to drop everything you’re doing and go. Ok fine, you don’t have to go NOW, but you do have to go eventually!
I don’t eat burgers entirely too often, but when I have a craving for one, not any ole’ burger will suffice! When I have cravings my body has expectations. If I want a burger I want the BEST burger around. I do NOT want a crappy half-ass burger like the ones in the dining halls. I have recently discovered that when you go to Five Guys you are guaranteed to have one of the best burgers of your life….every time!
The inside of Five Guys
Five Guys has dedicated its entire franchise to burgers. BURGERS BURGERS BURGERS. When a restaurant specializes in one type of food, you know it has to be good! Five Guys is no exception. I am not telling you about this restaurant because it has the ability to make you dream about burgers, but also because the atmosphere fulfills social needs at the same time. Five Guys is a hoppin’ place (yes there’s that word again…HOPPIN’). The line is almost always out the door (though it wasn’t when I went Sunday around 6pm) and it is always packed (we must have just missed the line because there were almost no available seats).
It’s basically a fast food restaurant with places to sit…like McDonalds but without a drive-thru and bad rep. It’s appropriate for someone who just got done with a workout to go and mingle with buddies but also appropriate for someone who wants to show off their new outfit (ahem ladies). Go with a big group of people and eat peanuts and drink your fountain drink while you wait for your food.
Some of you may be wondering “should I get the fries?” The answer is YES. Five Guys cook their fries in peanut oil which make them have a unique/delicious taste. I suggest splitting a thing of fries with the people you go with (one thing of fries for 2/3 people), especially if you get a regular sized burger (2 meat patties) because they give you SO many fries.
Conclusion of this post…CHECK OUT FIVE GUYS! If you’re a burger person and you haven’t been there yet I feel embarrassed for you.
Until next time,
Ginny
Having trouble finding any of the places we’ve talked about?
Hey everyone!
So we’ve been referencing a lot of places you and your friends can go around Ithaca and it just recently occurred to us that maybe you all don’t know where these places are. Cinemapolis, Bench Warmers, Urban Outiftters, New Delhi Diamonds…ok so sure, we told you they were in the commons, but maybe you don’t have all day to walk around and try to find EXACTLY where their locations are. Don’t worry though! Emily and I have made this cute little map that gives you the address of the places we reference in our blog and pictures of each place. So now there is no excuse as to why your social life is not up to par
View Larger Map
Staying in Tonight?
Since I’ve gotten a job at the State Diner, I haven’t had much opportunity to go out much on the weekends. (I have to work early both Saturday and Sunday… yuck!) A friend of mine also doesn’t go out much on weekends, so the two of us decided to deviate from our now-standard movie and junk food nights. We headed to the mall and bought knitting supplies!
Now, if you’ve never done anything like this before, my friend Becca bought a “getting started” kit for about $12– it includes two pairs of needles, some funny looking plastic doodads that I’m sure will come in handy, and a book that helps you to get started. The knit-kit includes instructions on how to knit three different items: in this case, a scarf, an afghan, and a shawl.
For a knitting expert, like me, (and I use the term expert extremely lightly — my grandmother taught me how to knit years ago. She’s actually taught me several times, I just keep forgetting!) a pair of knitting needles costs about $5 at A.C. Moore, depending on the size of the needles. And yes, the needle size does count — the smaller the needles, the more tightly knit your final result will be.
With a quick pit stop at Borders (I bought the new Backstreet Boys CD… yeah, they’re still coming out with stuff, and yeah, I did actually spend money on it. I’m just sweet like that.) we left the mall and headed back to my room. For the rest of the night, we sat on my bed, trying desperately to figure out how on earth these two little needles could make something as intricate as a sweater, or even as simple as a scarf. There was laughter, there was frustration, there was the musical stylings of the Backstreet Boys… we only got a few rows done each by the end of the night, but we had a ton of fun trying to figure it all out.
So spend a few bucks on some supplies, grab some friends, and learn a new skill. Be it knitting, crocheting, drawing, or scrapbooking; who cares? Not everything in your social life needs to be done outside the home, and this way, you get a tangible memento of your hobby, even if it is just a knobbly scarf you wouldn’t wear in public if your life depended on it… Because really, guys, knitting’s “knot” as easy as you might think…
wheresmysociallife
emkrempy
