During volatile market times, it is easy to lose one's perspective in things. Morningstar's Investing Centers offers helpful articles on ways to better manage portfolios, and ways to avoid the deadly temptations to sell on an impulse. You can also find advices on retirement as well as college planning.

We had a terrifice program last night with famed photographer, Monte Nagler. Did you know he studied under Adam Ansel and was a close personal friend? Monte's eight great tips for turning snapshots into photographs were as follows: 1. Be aware of taking pictures using VERTICAL as well as horizontal. Most people, trees, buildings, etc. look better vertical. 2. Move in close. That can mean physically or with a zoom (in the case of wild, dangerous animals). Fill the frame with your subject for an "in your face" photo. 3. Place the main subject off center. It gives a much more interesting effect. 4. Add people to your photos. It gives a good perspective to backgrounds, buildings and objects of art. 5. Watch those backgrounds. Don't let a distracting background spoil your picture. . .

http://catalog.cantonpl.org/record=1422885

I wanted to put in a plug for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, now underway, but its website doesn't appear to be connecting this morning, or even yesterday afternoon, so use that link if you like and be prepared for some frustration. What I will do, though, is provide a recommendation for one of the 2006 films at the festival that the library has just added to its collection: Starter for 10. It's a nice comedy... boy wants brainy girl, figures the best way to do it is become a member of the school's quiz team... from BBC Films and HBO Films. It received a short theatrical release awhile back, but little was heard about it. Now's a good time to take a look.

http://www.helpguide.org/life/fast_food_nutrition.htm

It can be really hard to eat healthy when you're eating out. Here is an article that provides some tips and advice for making healthy choices.

/database/index.html#socscience

My son, age 6, is starting 1st grade this school year. As a mom, librarian, and former EMU graduate with a teaching degree, I'm always on the look-out for ways to encourage learning through books and reading. The ERIC database has an article published in the March '07 issue of Reading Teacher, which our library owns. The article discusses how teachers can bring characters to life in stories to help students understand plots, themes, and text.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/04/quechup-is-rotten-do.html

Like many other people, I got fooled! I received an invite to a new social networking service called Queckup - the invite was from a tech-savvy friend who usually only invites me to things I consider valuable, so I accepted. Little did I know that soon everyone in my address book would be spammed with messages that appear to be from me, inviting them to join this insidious so-called service. Now I'm making apologies and warning folks to beware - if you get an invite to join Queckup, just say no!

Our bimonthly newsletter, Connections, is now available online as a pdf file (attached below).

http://www.handmadedetroit.com/2007/08/30/this-sunday-crafternoon-the-wab/

There's no shortage of things to do in the metro area this Sunday while the library is closed. One such neat thing is Sunday Crafternoon, held at the Woodward Avenue Brewers, 9 mile and Woodward Ave. in Detroit. Crafternoons are craft fairs held monthly, featuring a rotating cast of handpicked local artists, sponsored by Handmade Detroit.

These Days with celebrity scandals popping up everywhere and tabloid journalism running rampant it's easy to forget how important journalism is to American society. Journalists have opened our eyes to hidden corruption and evil and daily they help us see our world in new ways that benefit everyone. I have a degree in journalism and a person I knew who had been a reporter and an all around good person passed away early today so I'm feeling particularly reflective. Here are a few books and films about Journalists who've made a difference in the world and inspired me: Good Night, and Good Luck: Many people have heard of and seen this film because of it's Academy Award nominations. If you have yet to see it you should.