Week ending 4/21
A week where I mostly ignored a paper that I should be writing RIGHT THIS INSTANT.
What did you read?
"Threadbare," a needlework mystery by Monica Ferris. Addicted as I am to this series-- nice Minnesotans talk about knitting and solve murders-- I just didn't expect to become captivated by any novel with Hardanger as a theme. Serves me right for pre-judging an entire craft before I'd every looked into it. Another excellent installment of this series.
"Arkansas Traveller." by Earlene Fowler. I picked this up at random in the library; I was stuck at the Merced branch waiting for a train. I got the impression that I joined a mystery in the middle of a series-- it probably makes more sense when you've read these from the beginning, but I did catch on enough to follow and enjoy the plot. Very very churchy-- what's interesting about mystery novel is the sense that you get of justice being served and the right people winning at the end (because, of course, the author can make the choice to let the evidence fall into the correct hands, which we don't control in the real world.) What's odd to me is the use of Christianity parallel to the justice-seeking paradigm of a mystery novel. I get that it is supposed to work that way, that Christians are supposed to seek justice, but it's weird to see the secular mystery format adopted in this way. Anyway, it was a pretty good novel. A little too much "Gosh, isn't this Southern! Look at all these signifiers! Moon pies! Pecan pies! Hogs! Etc!" Maybe it just seems fake if you're not from there.
Resisted the urge to by an NYT on Sunday and Tuesday (for the science section.) I really don't need to be wasting money on these-- the reporting is good, but not worth it when I can get the same coverage online from the BBC or blogs for free.
Skimmed "Out Behind the Desk" by Nectoux and read more deeply into "Liberating Minds" I think edited by Carmichael? I don't have it to hand, but they're both about library service to/by QUILTBAG people (although "Liberating Minds" is from the early 90's and therefore only references the LGB aspects.) "Out" also includes narratives of library workers who are themselves in the QUILTBAG, but I found myself, tellingly, trying to figure out where all these people were finding jobs at all, not really finding strength in knowing that queers are librarians, too. Thrilled to see K.R. Roberto represented-- I love his work, have since Revolting Librarians Redux. Also, we have the same vestigial initials, which makes me rather fond and possessive.
Skimmed the cognitive science chapter of "Why People Believe Weird Things" in an attempt to tie in critical thinking for my online searching class. FAIL. Didn't pay enough attention.
Read a bunch of crap on collections and acquisitions policy. It's for a paper that I'm writing on records disposition/disposal that I would rather be writing on the archival/records role in social justice. YOU HAVE CHOSEN...POORLY...in this paper topic. Anyway, expect reviews of all sorts of this sort of thing for next week, since I'm writing the actual paper on MONDAY aka NOW. "Archives Power" by Jimerson actually has discussion of something that might give me an actual reason to vote Obama (I refuse to accept the political default because it's "not that bad." I need my favorite baseball team to win the series once per decade, and I need my president to give me a reason to vote, that's just how it is) and that's the executive order that rescinded the ability of previous presidents and vice presidents to classify materials after they leave office. Better look that up.
Did you watch TV?
I watched the 1X3 episode of the BBC's Sherlock. WOW. I love this show. Have heard that the writing falls off a little int he next season, which only (legally) makes it to the US on the 6th. !!! Such a cliffhanger, too.
And incidentally, I watched the back end of Bridesmaids, which I can now safely never see. Same goes for Sex And The City, which I can also now never watch again, having given it a try in the living room one day. Not for me. We also spent some time watching "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" which I would watch again even though it's a tad exploitative, and several minutes of "All Girls Garage" which is model-actress-mechanics fixing cars and demonstrating car products. They do appear to actually work on the cars, some of them. Best infomercial ever.
Did you go anywhere new?
No, unless returning to the National Holistic Institute counts-- I've been away so long that my chart got tossed. Got a massage and my student was a nice old lady with hands of steel. I always ask for a medium pressure to start, and she figured out faster than many that I actually prefer to quickly work up to "please leave bruises if possible." Anyway, fixed me right up.
How far did you swim?
3 3/4 miles. It would have been longer but I'm too busy and will be too damn busy for the next couple weeks until the semester ends. Also, I scared myself by reading a bunch of stories about rotator cuff overuse injuries.
What did you read?
"Threadbare," a needlework mystery by Monica Ferris. Addicted as I am to this series-- nice Minnesotans talk about knitting and solve murders-- I just didn't expect to become captivated by any novel with Hardanger as a theme. Serves me right for pre-judging an entire craft before I'd every looked into it. Another excellent installment of this series.
"Arkansas Traveller." by Earlene Fowler. I picked this up at random in the library; I was stuck at the Merced branch waiting for a train. I got the impression that I joined a mystery in the middle of a series-- it probably makes more sense when you've read these from the beginning, but I did catch on enough to follow and enjoy the plot. Very very churchy-- what's interesting about mystery novel is the sense that you get of justice being served and the right people winning at the end (because, of course, the author can make the choice to let the evidence fall into the correct hands, which we don't control in the real world.) What's odd to me is the use of Christianity parallel to the justice-seeking paradigm of a mystery novel. I get that it is supposed to work that way, that Christians are supposed to seek justice, but it's weird to see the secular mystery format adopted in this way. Anyway, it was a pretty good novel. A little too much "Gosh, isn't this Southern! Look at all these signifiers! Moon pies! Pecan pies! Hogs! Etc!" Maybe it just seems fake if you're not from there.
Resisted the urge to by an NYT on Sunday and Tuesday (for the science section.) I really don't need to be wasting money on these-- the reporting is good, but not worth it when I can get the same coverage online from the BBC or blogs for free.
Skimmed "Out Behind the Desk" by Nectoux and read more deeply into "Liberating Minds" I think edited by Carmichael? I don't have it to hand, but they're both about library service to/by QUILTBAG people (although "Liberating Minds" is from the early 90's and therefore only references the LGB aspects.) "Out" also includes narratives of library workers who are themselves in the QUILTBAG, but I found myself, tellingly, trying to figure out where all these people were finding jobs at all, not really finding strength in knowing that queers are librarians, too. Thrilled to see K.R. Roberto represented-- I love his work, have since Revolting Librarians Redux. Also, we have the same vestigial initials, which makes me rather fond and possessive.
Skimmed the cognitive science chapter of "Why People Believe Weird Things" in an attempt to tie in critical thinking for my online searching class. FAIL. Didn't pay enough attention.
Read a bunch of crap on collections and acquisitions policy. It's for a paper that I'm writing on records disposition/disposal that I would rather be writing on the archival/records role in social justice. YOU HAVE CHOSEN...POORLY...in this paper topic. Anyway, expect reviews of all sorts of this sort of thing for next week, since I'm writing the actual paper on MONDAY aka NOW. "Archives Power" by Jimerson actually has discussion of something that might give me an actual reason to vote Obama (I refuse to accept the political default because it's "not that bad." I need my favorite baseball team to win the series once per decade, and I need my president to give me a reason to vote, that's just how it is) and that's the executive order that rescinded the ability of previous presidents and vice presidents to classify materials after they leave office. Better look that up.
Did you watch TV?
I watched the 1X3 episode of the BBC's Sherlock. WOW. I love this show. Have heard that the writing falls off a little int he next season, which only (legally) makes it to the US on the 6th. !!! Such a cliffhanger, too.
And incidentally, I watched the back end of Bridesmaids, which I can now safely never see. Same goes for Sex And The City, which I can also now never watch again, having given it a try in the living room one day. Not for me. We also spent some time watching "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" which I would watch again even though it's a tad exploitative, and several minutes of "All Girls Garage" which is model-actress-mechanics fixing cars and demonstrating car products. They do appear to actually work on the cars, some of them. Best infomercial ever.
Did you go anywhere new?
No, unless returning to the National Holistic Institute counts-- I've been away so long that my chart got tossed. Got a massage and my student was a nice old lady with hands of steel. I always ask for a medium pressure to start, and she figured out faster than many that I actually prefer to quickly work up to "please leave bruises if possible." Anyway, fixed me right up.
How far did you swim?
3 3/4 miles. It would have been longer but I'm too busy and will be too damn busy for the next couple weeks until the semester ends. Also, I scared myself by reading a bunch of stories about rotator cuff overuse injuries.