i was raised on wise sayings. my mother knew them all - english and spanish. of course, she never quite got them in the right order, so they ended up being more of the "you buttered your bread now sleep in it" variety.


still, i find things in my life are falling into cautionary tales based off of those old sayings.

* create fama y hechate a dormir. (make a reputation for yourself and then you can fall asleep)


two girls came into the library in a big rush. "laura! laura!! there's a cat outside and he's lost and hungry!!" so i went outside with them. the cat in question was at least a year old, glossy, and licking his paws on someone's porch.


"you should take it home," they told me.


"he belongs to someone!" i replied. "and he looks perfectly happy!"


"you should take him," they repeated. "you like cats!"


* you can't judge a book by its cover.


as a librarian, i should totally buy in to this one. when i'm deciding which books to buy and which to keep, however, i admit that i look carefully at the cover. and i've based more than one decision on whether the kids will look a the book and want to check it out.

and, wise sayings forgive me, i'm usually right.