Well, the earliest I can leave is 7.

eta: basically, what changed my mind is Taylor. She needs to be there. I'll call her tomorrow and tell her it is a go.

I think it will be worth it sara.

The world is officially insane -- you know the legislation that is out there to keep kids from being exposed to lead -- well, it isn't just going to effect ye old toymaker craftsman or clothing designer - but libraries

To ensure that children are not exposed to lead and phthalates, non-regulated items designed primarily for children--including books--will be subject to the same testing standards as toys or clothing. In a worst case scenario, school, academic and public libraries will be forced to either remove all children's books from the shelves, or ban children from entering libraries completely.

from the CLA website [link]

Lead causes brain damage, right? Do we seem noticeably smarter as a people since they stopped painting houses with lead paint?

Home from work. Am unthawing. My eyeglasses actually iced over like a car windshield this morning. Currently am deciding if I'm hungry enough to get out of bed and make a real dinner, or if I'm just going to microwave a Lean Pocket. Which I normally don't buy, but they were on sale.

Lead poisoning among low income kids, and the resulting brain damages, is kinda something that gets talked about a lot here. A lot of shady rentals violate the lead abatement laws.

beth- I know there is a group asking one to write to ones congressperson regarding the handmade toys/clothes-- is there a similar one for libraries? I would be happy to write if it could help... the whole thing seems well-intentioned, but really not well-thought out!

sara- I think you will be happiest if you go to the inauguration

Everyone- Doers anyone have a good black bean soup recipe-- I an cobble one together, but I'd love recs

I just made an itinerary for myself this weekend, and everything seems doable Too bad I would rather sit in my livingroom watching TV, but I think I can pull costumes, do laundry, go groery shopping, finally give my BF some belated X-mas gifts, and manage significant knitting time.

I can do so well if I plan, but I seem to have this mental block where having things planned makes me angry, and I resist it. Not in work life, where I am all for planning, but in home. I almost think that I am so afraid of beocming manic and overplanned that I opt for being a lump.

It's definitely not nothing, but I don't think these toys and etc. are anything compared to paint that peels off walls and kids eat.

In my childhood backyard, we planted a garden one year. The herbs and tomatoes grew fine, but carrots never would. At some point, they got the lead levels tested, and we learned that there is no way anyone should eat anything that grew in the ground, even if it would have.

Sophia - the CLA is collecting stuff to present to congress( I sure other state library associations are doing the same) and I suspect that there will be some sort of exception for libraries - but it is just one of those things that drive me insane. No one can think of every possible problem with a new law - but I thought thazt was why we pay people to to write, read and vote on such things.

Yeah- the lead levels likely to bei n library book vs the benefit of library books seems to make the law silly, compared to the actal PAINT in all these buildings. I would think that it would be better to spend the money helping landlords pay for lead abatement in a way that does not lead to increases in rent for poor tenants

But hey, I grew up in an asbestos shingled house! I could die at any minute I am pretty sure it was full of lead paint, too, and I spent a lot of time, un masked, taking off layers of paint and wallpaper as a child.