The People I Have Found

Until you've seen this trash-can dream come true
You stand at the edge while people run you through
And I thank the Lord there's people out there like you
I thank the Lord there's people out there like you ....

And I thank the Lord for the people I have found
I thank the Lord for the people I have found

"Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters"

Elton John (lyrics by Bernie Taupin)

from the album Honky Château (1972)

 As I have wandered the streets throughout my life, I have met many a feline and canine friend and foe, and for each and every one, I have been profoundly thankful, for they have taught me the joys of companionship, the strength of vigilance, and the stimulation of unexpected encounters that make life interesting.

But it has been the kind humans I have known, those who have sheltered and fed moi, that have made the greatest impact.  Street life for cats is dangerous and difficult.  We treasure freedom, but we also desire security and serenity.  My human friends have shared this with moi and so much more.  Some felines never encounter a human hand extended with love and kindness.  I have had my share of unpleasant human confrontations.  Ultimately, it has been people like Kindly Couple, who have shared my forever home, along with my colleagues and patrons of Mooresville Public Library, that I shall always cherish and remember.

 As I travel toward my next adventures, there are welcome faces purring and head-butting, barking, or making other friendly noises.  They may be simply hanging out, enjoying the companionship.  Together, we continue our journey.  I will miss those left behind, but there are many roads ahead, and I am confident that we shall once again cross paths and rub cheeks against ankles.  Hope to see you soon.  I have loved you all.

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  Please enjoy this beautiful song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

I Can Certainly Relate

I can certainly relate to the feline main characters in Paul Gallico's classic children's chapter novel, The Abandoned (1950).  Minions, make with the book trailer.

MPL Book Trailer #460

The Abandoned, by Paul Gallico

Human readers may find it far-fetched that the little boy Peter turns into a white cat after being accidentally struck by a coal lorry (in American English, that's a truck).  The change is definitely an improvement, as far as I'm concerned.  Peter is only cat on the outside, however; inside, he's still a little boy, and that makes him a lousy street-roaming kitty.  Luckily, he quickly meets Jennie, a street-wise feline who is willing to teach Peter the ropes and watch out that his human qualities don't get him into too much trouble.

It's truly a hard life for strays--I know, for I've lived it--but with good friends to take care of one another, the duo sets sail from London to Glasgow in search of Jennie's family.  Although Jennie is a heart-hardened cat--her experience with humans has been filled with betrayal and sadness--Peter's humanity shines through at times, teaching his protector that not all two-leggeds are irretrievably bad.

Can the little boy trapped inside a furry feline body find his way home?  You'll have to read the novel to find out.  Can he change back to being a kid-person again?  More to the point, why would he want to?  Being a cat is such an improvement over being human.

Although this novel is classified as a children's chapter book, it would be a difficult read for any people under age eleven.  I think it would be better suited for older 'Tweens and young adults (traditional teens) (i.e., ages 11-18), and even adult readers should thoroughly enjoy Peter and Jennie's adventures.  So, in short, ages 11 and older would be my recommendation.

The author, Paul Gallico (1897-1976), was clearly a cat lover who wrote several novels (and nonfiction books) devoted to feline characters.  Goodreads has an excellent bibliography of Gallico's books, of which my library has three available to checkout from our Evergreen Indiana catalog (search all Evergreen libraries to find additional Gallico works).

On a personal note, I was once a street-wandering kitty.  Having a loving family and a forever home is much better.  Thank you, kindly couple, for "rescuing" moi.  That said, I still enjoy venturing out now and again, so let's leave that kitty door open, shall we?  'Nuff said.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

Beyond Books

Lady RaDA has created a cool "beyond books" display featuring lots of fun items you may checkout with your Evergreen Indiana library card.  The display is across from the library circulation desk, next to the Paul Hadley paintings.

Minions, make with the photos (click them to bigify):

The only item missing that would make the perfect display would be some canned tuna-in-oil.  I'd check that out, pronto.  Well, I'd have my minions check it out for moi.  I'm not sure how I'd return it to the library, however.

If you have any questions about checking out these items, just ask our circulation staff or Lady RaDA herself.  I'd explain it all, but my department is cuteness, which actually explains itself.  Just look at my photos, and it's self-explanatory.

Yep.  Pretty Much.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

Swipe Your Library Fines Away

T. Rex has installed a credit card payment machine at my library's self-checkout kiosk #2 (at the circulation desk), so patrons may now pay some library fines on credit.

All set to pay those fines?

Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg) (1902-1975)

Oops!  Wrong fine.

Let's see what this credit card swiperdoodle looks like.  Click the photos to bigify.

That's some of the screens that will appear on the self-checkout kiosk monitor (and credit card machine) while you're going through the paying process.  I'd explain the steps, but staff training hasn't happened yet, and there's no instructional handout or video yet.  Sounds like (... wait for it ...)

Yep.  Pretty much.

May 16, 2018 update:  Now we have a training video (see below).

Click Above to Play Video

Now for the boilerplate.

"Pay your library fines by credit card at self-checkout kiosk #2 at the circulation desk. Payment of full fines (greater than $3.00) has been enabled; partial fines (or sums less than $3.00) must be paid to circulation staff."

So, give it a try, next time you want to pay down your library fines.  Or pay the old-fashioned way.  We'll gladly take your money.

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

Where Large Print Went

If you're looking for large print books at my library, you won't find them where they used to be shelved (along the wall shared with the community room).  So where'd they go?  Take a peek at where the adult fiction books (A-C) used to be shelved.  (Click the photos to bigify.)

New Shelving Location For Large Print Books

Large print books are now shelved on the front shelves in the adult fiction area, starting at the north end (i.e., closest to the emergency exit onto the courtyard).  Large Print now occupies about two-and-one-half shelf ranges, as shown in the photos below.

Look for signs like these on the ends of the shelves.

So, where did all the adult fiction books go?  They start behind the newspaper & magazine shelves, run west (toward the community room shared wall), then run along that shared wall, then come back east (toward the grand hall) until they reach where large print are now shelved.  Easy, right?  Well, come take a look.  You'll see how it's arranged easily enough.

Adult Fiction K-M is along the back wall where Large Print used to be.  Deal with it.

Many thanks to Miss Kathleen (whom I'm now going to call CompTechGal as her Cauli nickname) and her team for shifting all those books around in really short order.  They were super-fast, so maybe I should call her The Flash.

Yep, Pretty Much

I'll stick with CompTechGal.  Trademark and copyright infringement lawsuits, I don't need.  (Teen Titan, notwithstanding.)

Your Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

Reporting the Roving Reporter

Anthony Woodside wrote a wonderful article about moi and my blog in today's edition of the Mooresville-Decatur Times (Wednesday, February 28, 2018, pp. A1-A7).  There's even my photo and everything!  Honestly, I'm quite excited about it.

Click Images to Bigify

Much of the article has Scowl-Face droning endlessly, as he is wont to do, about statistics and such like, but the bits about moi are really interesting.  I'm chuffed to be featured in a newspaper story, which is a bit of a twist, since I'm a feline roving reporter and usually do the reporting rather than be reported upon.  But it's pretty cool, to say the least.

There's also a nice article introducing CatPro to our patrons.

By the way, does my press hat make moi look fat?  Just wondering.

Because of this fine media coverage, I've decided (wait for it . . .) to retire from my retirement!  I'm going to once again be an active, full-fledged feline roving reporter for Mooresville Public Library.  Since I don't actually leave my house much anymore (I'm a senior kitty now and spend my time indoors), I'll have my minions (or my feline friends or "Flat" Caulis, all of whom you've met in my blog posts) do any roaming around that may be necessary to gather news stories about the library or whatever I'm reporting about.  I'll still dictate all the copy, however, and my minions will type it for moi.  My time is valuable, after all, and my minions have to be kept busy or they'll wander off into traffic.  We've already had several close calls with Scowl-Face at the intersection where our outdoor sign stands.  I just can't leave minions unsupervised!

As for my welcome back party, remember to stock-up on the canned tuna-in-oil, minions.  Just saying.

Your (Reactivated) Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  John Sebastian wrote "Welcome Back" (released as a single in 1976, reaching #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 pop charts in May), which was the theme song to the television series Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979).

What Makes a Cat a Cat

What makes a cat . . . a cat?  That's the theme of a delightful new children's picture book.  Naturally, we have a book trailer.

MPL Book Trailer #419

I Am A Cat, by Galia Bernstein

Simon is a cute cat--what humans typically call a house cat.  (Like we're going to be stuck inside a house if we want to go out?  Still, it's probably less insulting than domesticated cat, which is obviously an oxymoron.)  Simon knows he is a feline, but his bigger cousins disagree.  The large wild felines each describe cats in their own terms, depending upon their specific physical attributes (fur color, fur length, spots, ability to run fast, etc.)  But Simon sees beyond superficial physical characteristics to see the commonality among all felines.  Finally, the big cats get the big picture.

This is a heartwarming book that shows young readers that we may look different, but we're all cats.  I think that works for people, too.

Evergreen Indiana patrons may checkout this book from our online Evergreen Indiana catalog.

Your (Retired) Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat

High Praise, Indeed

My library's YouTube channel just received high praise, indeed, from a national blog.

 

Click (Above) to Bigify

 

 Click (Above) to Read Full Article
 

Now Scowl-Face will be impossible to live with.  Here's what his head looks like (with ego inflated):

Actor Lance Fuller (1928-2001) in the movie This Island Earth (1955),

lampooned by Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)

Anybody out there have a smartphone app that makes people's heads look bigger?  I've got a photo of Scowl-Face upon which to experiment.  Just saying.

We need to release some of that ego pressure from Scowl-Face's noggin.  This should do the trick.

Congratulations, MPL, on your video success.  Now, let's get serious.  Somebody needs lunch.  Hop to it, minions.  Those cans of tuna-in-oil don't open themselves.

Your (Retired) Roving Reporter On The Go,

Cauli Le Chat