By now you must have heard that the MTA plans to raise the price of fares yet again ... and again. Yes, by this time next summer, you could be paying an additional eight percent to travel into Manhattan on the LIRR, but by 2011 that will seem like a pittance. The MTA plans to increase fares by another five percent early that year. I'm not more than an occasionally commuter. I work from home so I don't have to worry too much about the rising cost of commuting to work myself. However I do feel bad for those who will be affected by these fare hikes.

With rising gas prices and attempts to become less dependent on fuel, not to mention environmental concerns, more people are moving toward using public transportation for their daily commutes. You have to wonder, though, what they will do when the cost of doing that becomes prohibitive. What will you do? If you currently use the LIRR to get to work, will you continue to do so if fares increase? Please take my poll and then share your thoughts about the MTA fare increase by posting your comments below.

It was nice to see a Long Island town on Money Magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Live. The Town of North Hempstead was ranked number 46 on the list which appears in the August issue of the publication and on its Web Site. Attributes of the town noted by Money Magazine include Harbor Links, a public golf course in Port Washington, Clark Botanic Garden in Albertson and the Americana Mall in Manhasset. Last year's Top 100 Best Places to Live focused on small communities and included Baldwin at number 25.

I love books and I especially like owning them. I'm a huge fan of the library — actually I'm a librarian by training — but I'm a slow reader and I have trouble returning books on time. I have a Barnes and Noble membership card so I can save a few dollars when I buy books there. Today I bought a couple of books at Costco. Even with my cost cutting I end up spending a lot of money — books are expensive.

Today I saw a post on the Bryant Library Blog (disclosure: the librarian who writes the blog is my good friend) about their annual outdoor book sale. The Bryant Library, in Roslyn, has a bookstore that is open year-round as well, but during the annual outdoor book sale there are even more books available as the librarians do some major weeding of their collection to make room on the library's shelves for new purchases. There are children's books, young adult titles, adult fiction, biography, reference books as well as oversized coffee table books for sale. If you don't live near the Bryant Library, many local libraries have periodic book sales and many have books available for sale year round.

This weekend I caught a performance of the Long Island Comedy Festival at the Jeanne Rimsky Theatre in Port Washington. If you need a good laugh, and who doesn't, I highly recommend seeing a performance at one of the festival's other shows. There were five comedians performing, including the host. Most of them were extremely funny (like tears rolling down my face, finding it hard to breath funny). One I found quite offensive — perhaps not to everyone, but I heard few laughs during his performance. This is definitely a fun night out.

The Long Island Comedy festival has many comedians in its lineup. Five perform at each show. Some jokes are very local since several of the festival's comedians are Long Islanders. You can catch a performance throughout the summer. According to the official Long Island Comedy Festival Web Site, which you should check for more information, there are five shows left:

• Friday, July 25: Martha Clara Vineyards in Riverhead
• Saturday, July 26: Islip Pavillion in Islip
• Thursday, August 14: Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center in Westhampton
• Friday, August 29 and Saturday, August 30: Theatre Three in Port Jefferson