Being A Librarian

The library profession is such an interesting field to get into. In the past week I have gone to a hip/hop gathering, a neighborhood business association meeting, a rotary club meeting and a young friends of the library (20 - 40) book discussion group. I have talked about graffiti and hip/hop artists, literary fiction, local politics and international service projects. Where else can you get that variety of experience and such a wealth of potential new friends?

Nuclear Defense Systems

This morning on my way to work I was listening to NPR and they were reporting on the fact that villagers in Poland were upset about the proposed nuclear defense system that the United States want to build next to their town. I have read book after book in the past year that talks about the fact the nuclear defense systems are a security blanket for the masses (that's us) because THEY DO NOT WORK!!!! So in it's infinite wisdom our government is going to spend millions or possibly even trillions of dollars to install them in other countries, making those countries targets for our enemies. That's the way to build good will and better friendships.

Reading Fiction

On one of my library listserv's today...

Personally, I love nothing better than to curl up
by the fire with a nice self-reflexive narrative
spatial ravelling whose semoitic square includes
a lot of represented perception, with a
pseudo-iterative frequency (no syllepses or
prolepses, thank you very much!)/ I'm probably
the ultimate postulated reader for a doubly (or
variably internal) focalized prospective
posterior narration by one or more unreliable
ficelles, just so long as the phatic function of
the narrativics doesn't stray too far from the
etic approach of the intradiegetic hermeneuteme.

David Wright, librarian

The Dead Father's Club

I had to really struggle to keep reading this one. It is about a boy whose father is killed. He reappears as a ghost to warn the son that the family is in danger because the uncle has killed him and wants to marry the boy's mother. Sound familiar to anyone? Anyway, the perspective of the young boy doesn't work as an adult novel. It reads more like a teen novel with a too young protagonist. I didn't hate the book but I couldn't keep my attention from wandering. I have read a fair number of teen novels and usually they are fast paced so the teen feel wasn't the problem. Something about the way the author used language or the pacing felt off to me. Other reviewers loved it though so I may put it aside for a while and try again later. My timing may be off on this one.

Myers-Brigss Personality Test

Just for fun I retested myself, I haven't changed but that isn't surprising. What is surprising is that these mini tests still manage to pick the same type as the long involved test I took years ago.

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's Your Personality Type?

Movie: Jesus Camp

Just a little freaked out tonight after watching the movie Jesus Camp. I am not even sure what to say about it except that I can't even begin to relate to this mindset even though there were very mild versions of this that made their way into church when I was growing up. They actually have children pray for a cardboard cutout of George Bush. Ok, they believe that global warming doesn't exist but they went too far when they trash talked Harry Potter.

Since I don't want this to turn into a rant I am going to stop now.

Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle

Paula Spencer is one of those novels that quietly sinks in and weeks later you find yourself remembering bits and pieces of it. I think I am liking it better as I continue to think about it. This follow-up to The Woman Who Walked Into Doors shows a now sober Paula, renegotiating the day-to-day struggle of her new life as a recovering alcoholic. She worries about her daughter, who seems to be following in her footsteps and tries to reconnect with her son, who is also a recovering addict.

This is another of those novels that I am sitting on for a while before I decide whether or not to nominate it.