Shielder Series

I have always been a paranormal fan ever since my mom let me read Moonbeams and Magic by Janelle Taylor. I like futuristic stories about other galaxies and space travel, but I like Paranormal because it combines romance and science fiction.


I found the author Catherine Spangler by mistake. I saw a book in the bookstore called
Shadow Fires. The cover looked beautiful and the plot sounded good. A young woman named Jenna who had visions was looked upon a freak by her race. She becomes a bride to a warlike species called the Leors who were
humanoids cross breed with reptiles. The Leors are seeking brides from other races because their race is not producing offspring. Jenna struggles to fit in to the world on Saura which has slaves and is a desert world. I like the book so much that I backtracked and went to the beginning.

In Shadower, Sabin Travers works as (Shadower)a bounty hunter to earn money for his race ,the Shielders. who are being hunted down because they can not be mind probed. He meets Moriah Cameron, a smuggler who has had a bad past with Shadowers. In Shielder, Nessa Ranul is shunned by her people because she is lame and suffers seizures. She agrees to be injected with a virus that is killing Shielders and travels to get it to another Shielder colony. Her ship breaks down and she is rescued by Shadower Chase McKnight who is actually a Physician whose world was destroyed by a similar virus. Nessa needs to get to her destination in 4 weeks. Shadowers are hunting Shielders so she can't tell Chase the truth. In Shamara, Nessa's older brother Jarek is trying to find a safe haven for his people. Eirene Kane is on the run from being traded to a Leor warrior as a bride. Jarek realizes that she is an enchancer, a race with special healing abilities that is thought to be extinct. He needs her help but he killed her father many years ago in self defense.

In Shadow Crossing, Moriah's younger sister ,Celie and Chase and Nessa's daughter Raven, making shocking discoveries about their clients who may be both royalty and androids. Celie fears men because he father was a Shadower who sold her and Moriah as endentured servants. Raven is young and ready for romance. What will happen when both girls meet Jardonian royalty?


I love the characters in the Shielder world. So many races all in another galaxy. I wish the author would write more Shielder books.

Sunny Author

Never thought I would be into these books as I not a fan of Erotic novels, but I read excerpts in On the Prowl and Over the Moon. i didn't care much for the explict sex scenes and erotic stuff, but I thought the concept of the Monere species was interesting. I just finished Lucinda: Darkly Demon Princess Chronicles and enjoyed them better than the Mona Lisa books. There was sex scenes, but not hard core. The fantasy world of Hell was very imaginative and vivid, whereas the Mona lisa books had too much more eroticism and not much plot. I still will continue to read Sunny's books, I want to live forever and be immortal so I will still read about the Monere world. Sunny is a physician by trade and the healing rituals in the story plus the shifting of human and animals forms do make interesting reads.

The White Buffalo Calf Woman and albinism

I'm not Lakota, but my godparents are Dakota from Devils lake, ND and my bloodsister Alone in the Wind is too. I did my Masters thesis on teaching science using American Indian Legends and this legend fascinates me. I put up a few links for you.
White Buffalo Calf Woman Legend

I love the ending:

The sacred woman then took leave of the people, saying: "Toksha ake wacinyanktin ktelo, I shall see you again."

The people saw her walking off in the same direction from which she had come, outlined againest the red ball of the setting sun. As she went, she stopped and rolled over four times. The first time, she turned into a black buffalo; the second into a brown one; the third into a red one; and finally, the fouth time she rolled over, she turned into a white female buffalo calf. A white buffalo is the most sacred living thing you could ever encounter.

The White Buffalo Woman disappeared over the Horizon. Sometime she might come back. As soon as she had vanished, buffalo in great herds appeared, allowing themselves to be killed so tha the people might survive. And from that day on, our relations, the buffalo, furnished the people with everthing they needed, meat for their food, skins for their clothes and tipis, bones for their many tools.

In 1994, Miracle the white buffalo was born. If you go to

Miracle's color changes

Amazingly even though born white, Miracle turned black, red, and yellow before dying of an age of ten in 2004. In 2006, Miracle's secind chance was born. No realtion to Miracle but born on the same farm. Three months later he was killed along with four other buffalo when struck by lightning.

Wikipedia lists under "White Buffalo" that:
Mahpiya Ska ("White Cloud") (Cherokee:ᎤᏁᎬ ᎤᎶᎩᎸ) is an albino White Buffalo born July 10, 1996. She has resided since 1997 at the National Buffalo Museum and Cultural Center in Jamestown, North Dakota. Mahpiya Ska has been certified by the National Bison Association as an albino white bison; she is deaf and has impaired vision. She has had four brown calves. On August 31, 2007, she gave birth to a white calf. The calf has yet to be tested, but it is believed to be albino.

Even though the Lenni-Lenape (Delaware)traditions do not have spiritual importance or beliefs that the white buffalo is a sacred sign, I nevertheless have always been interested in albinism especially in animals and people of color. I went to high school with a boy who was black with albinism, I worked with a teacher who was white with albinism and I had a library school student who was chinese with albinism intern with me. The teacher I worked with who had albinism started off as a special day aid and went on to become a teacher. She did not let her vision issues hold her back and the kids really liked her. My school did not hire her on and I lost track of her. I have since then been reading more about albinism in popular culture and looking for famous people with albinism. Among American Indian tribes, both the Hopi of Arizona and the Kuna in Panama have very high rates of albinism in their population. The children's picture book rattlesnake dance mentions a Hopi with albinism as one of the dancers in a snake dance cermony.

Though sacred in many Native cultures, its sad that today's media portrays people who have albinism as freaks and villians especially in movies. I hope that one day that will change. Even one of my favorite authors Susan Grant portrayed some members of an alien race with albinism as evil in her novel Contact, but then made up for it by having one emerge at the end as a heroine.

Goodbye To Madeline L'engle

I don't like to talk about it because its scary, but sometimes I get visions. When I was in 1st grade I made a mistake and told a teacher that i had dreams of flying to Japan each night in my sleep and they made me see the school psychologist. Visionsare a part of American Indian life and to have one is special. Some full bloods go through life never having one, and envy us Metis or mix bloods who have them every now and then.

I don't get them too often. I have not had one since my adopted grandfather Milton died in I 1997 and my turtle necklace broke. I knew he was gone. In the most recent vision that i had over labor day weekend. I saw something white. The white buffalo calf woman is the first thing that came to my mind, but I am not Lakota. I have always been interested in learning about people who have albinism since I went to high school with someone who had it and also loved snowflake the Gorilla. I found that there was a rock star in Singapore who had albinism I wrote him he wrote me back. Seems like a cool guy. Didn't let his lisp or vision stop him. I was also fascinated by Miracle, the white buffalo. Did you know she turned white, brown, red, and yellow like the prophecy? But I am not lakota its not my world to live in. When I when on my vision quest at 21, I knew I was a rainbow a bridge between worlds but whose worlds. Hence my name tsiblenti okwa "carry the sky woman". It seems ironic my ex fiancee called me Plongee which means rainbow in Malay.


A turtle got stolen from a classroom at school. I have an affinity with turtles hey they are my medicine sign. I knew it wasn't dead because white is not death. When the buffalo calf woman left earth she was white. The turtle was found the next day. I looked on the Internet today, one of my favorite authors Madeline L'engle is gone. Why was white in my vision? (White Buffalo calf woman, Takana 's death, Mo's betrayal,Madeline L'Engle's death?)

4th or 5th grade maybe. My brother got the book A Swiftly Tilting Planet for his birthday. He didn't want to read it, but I did and so did my sister, because the unicorn flying on the cover looked cool.
Charles Wallace goes back in time to save the world. Time traveling, soul traveling! It was the coolest book. We had fights who would keep it in our room. I also read Camillaand A ring of Endless light. They are ok but nothing like the Kairos world, too chronos for me. ,br>

I forgot about Madeline till library school. I had to read A Wrinkle in Time for Resources for Ages 6-12. I fell in love with Madeline's books again.

I just found this on : Wikipedia L'Engle's best-known works are divided between "chronos" and "kairos"; the former is the framework in which the stories of the Austin family take place, and is presented in a primarily realistic setting, though occasionally with elements that might be regarded as science fiction. The latter is the framework in which the stories of the Murry and O'Keefe families take place, and is presented sometimes in a realistic setting and sometimes in a more fantastic or magical milieu. Generally speaking, the more realistic kairos material is found in the O'Keefe stories, which deal with the second generation characters.

The Murry-O'Keefe and Austin families should not be regarded as living in separate worlds, because several characters cross over between them, and historical events are also shared.

A theme often implied and occasionally explicit in L'Engle's works is that the phenomena that people call religion, science and magic are simply different aspects of a single seamless reality; a similar theme may arguably be discerned in the fiction works of C. S. Lewis or Diane Duane.[citation needed]

I felt for Polly when she lost her virginity in A house like a Lotus. I was glad that she decided not to see Zachary Gray again in An Acceptable Time. He already hurt Vicki in A ring of Endless light I cried when Sandy and Dennys had to leave the world of Noah's ark in Many Waters. Many waters still run deep.
I loved when Simon found his roots in Dragons of the Water. and Vicki and Adam were together in Troubling a Star.. I connected more with the Murray-O'Keefes then I did with the Austins even though I liked Vicki and Adam. Her adult novels A severed wasp and a Live coal at sea did not do much for me even though I liked some of the characters.

I became an Episcopalian while at SJSU. The Canterbury church really helped me to heal after I went through near death and heartbreak. Madeline's son -in -law Alan Jones was dean of Grace Catherdral but I never met him. What happened to Polly did she ever go to medical school? We know that Suzy married Josiah but what of Adam and Vicki? They said that Madeline was working on another O'keefe murray book this time about Meg. Now there will be no more Murray O'Keefe books.

Madeline is gone. I think of the poem by William Stafford

"Vacation"

One scene as I bow to pour her coffee:--

Three Indians in the scouring drouth
huddle at a grave scooped in the gravel,
lean to the wind as our train goes by.
Someone is gone.
There is dust on everything in Nevada.

I pour the cream

Is this what Jim Morrison who people said i may be related to saw in his vision as a little boy?( Don't laugh but both of us share the same crazy hair and the same Scotch-Irish bloodline and maybe members of the Morrison family clan, but too far removed to be more than a distant relation)Besides only the older generation remembers The Doors anyway.

Madeline, I remember reading and falling in love with your books. You are now at peace and surrounded by white light. One day I'll meet you and I'll find out what happened to Polly and Adam and Vicki.

Thing #23: Thoughts about School Library 2.0

I can't believe it. I made it finally. Our district Library and technology encouraged all of us ( 7 K-5 LMTS, 3 6-8, 3 high school) to do this. She promised us incentives if we completed it and I am competitive I love challenges. I also feel so technophobic and feel like I am a tech idiot compared to my other colleagues so I thought it would be something neat for me to try to learn. Two of my colleagues completed it way before me, but I was also teaching 3rd grade summer school so I had to go at a slower pace. Thanks to their comments of encouragement and those of other library 2,0 team members, I can now join the team.


1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

• setting up a blog was so cool and neat. My husband even decided to make one, but did not update like I did
  
• Making images using imagechef, image generator, adding images to my posts
  
• Making trading cards
  
• Cataloging on Library Thing
  
• Playing with You Tube, watching videos, and inserting them
  
• getting comments from others including two of my favorite authors
  
• Showing my husband and colleagues that even though I am not a tech goddess I can do it
  
• networking more with other LMTS in my district

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I did an online class through Chapman and hated it. I also hated video generated classes. I never thought that I would get into an Online class like I did with this one. I was constantly checking my blog for comments and was even able to teach my tech god husband a thing or too and he says that I should not call myself a media pspecialist or teacher because I always need help. This program really built up my confidence that I could do it. I never thought I would get past week 2 because I had trouble with my avator. I also got to know two of my colleagues better. I am now thinking of teaching blogging to seniors as I don't know if I can do it with my students yet but maybe adults.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I never thought that my husband would make a blog. My colleagues have created a LMT and lesson plan exchange blog that is helping me to learn more ideas since we can't always meet all the time. I even was able to share some of my ideas with them which for me was a plus as I always felt inferior because I don't have their tech skills. I learned about things like Wikis, and rss feeds that I never knew existed. I plan on continuing my blog.

4.What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I would prefer just thing numbers instead of weeks. Weeks maybe me feel like I was really behind.


5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I feel so inferior and like a tech idiot compare to the other LMTS in my district. This discovery program really gave me the confidence to try new things. I would definately do it again.
6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote CSLA learning activities
Awesome. It gave this tech newbie alot of self-confidence.

I don't know how ready and confident I feel about teaching blogging to students, but I will continue to maintain my blog and also blog with the others LMTS in my district and show my colleagues and administrators my blog. Thank you for a wonderful class. i will also post comments to others that really encoraged me to keep going.

week #9: thing #22 E-Books and Audio Books

I think that audio books are great for ESL students, Special day students, and those that are visually impaired. They are even better when they can be use along with the book to see the words and view the pictures. Some of the other LMT's that I work with record books. I am not into making cd-roms for books. Many students don't have a way of listening to them at homeat least in my population and I don't want to have to keep track or replace if lost. I do not by audiobooks unless its a core novel for a grade level. I have a few but they don't get checked out much because our resource room and reading room also have collections. I wonder though if listening to a book is like reading Cliff notes instead. Is the author reading word to word or is it abridged?

There are some e-books sites that I have used for students like

• Starfall
• Children's Books Online the Rosette Stone Project
  
• TumbleBooks for Kids
  
• Children's Storybooks Online

These sites are active with pictures and texts. I could see e-books as a great choice to get kids to read more because they love computers or also if you need a book for class and bookstore is sold out and library does not have anymore. I have read e-books, but I prefer a print copy in case I want to lay down and read can't do on a PC.

Week #9 Thing #21 Podcasts

For me this was the worst and most unpleasant activity so far for Library 2.0. I spent several hours on yahoo podcasts and I did not find one thing that interest me. I typed in every topic that I even had the slightest interest in and every time I placed a podcast it put me to sleep. I am not an audio person. I do not listen to cd-roms and I will not play any because I always scratch and ruin cd's and my husband gets mad. I don't even like to listen to music nor do I own an ipod or cd player. I used to have a cassette player but it broke and they don't make them anymore. I could see podcasts working for someone who likes to listen to audio, but not me I listen to the radio in the car and that's about it. I also am not into itunes either, because my music is limited to listening to the radio in the car. I could see itunes useful for aerobics instructors making their own music. Maybe if I become a water aerobics instructor, I may have use for it, but since I'm not really into music I would have no idea what songs to even pick. Yes, I still use VHS's because i am afraid that I'll scratch DVD's as I have already ruined one.

I could see kids maybe enjoying podcasts to talk about something they posted on the web or a report, but they would have to ask another teacher for help because audio is not something I enjoy. I also read about Vodcasts. Maybe that's something I'll explore more because I am more a visual person.