soon we’ll be swimming

maura @ 10:07 pm

Time for the end of TV season finale wrap up! Pull up a chair and join us, won’t you?

(P.S. Spoilers ahead! Duh. And anyway these were all aired over a week ago so they really shouldn’t be news to anyone.)

House:
Man, this finale was intense, with a capital TENSE. Nothing tweaks me like watching the aftermath of a building collapse. I’m not claustrophobic, but there’s just something primal fear-ish about being trapped in a small space; I was literally squirming during the entire show. Add to that a commando, disaster-scene IV in the tibia — yowza! (Also: OUCH! The tibia is no trivial bone, I tell ya.) This episode was pretty near perfect, really. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough Wilson. But the ending was nice, esp. the way they pulled a hallucination fakeout on us. Have a good summer, Hugh!

Fringe:
Ah, the two-part finale. It often starts out so well, and then…

Fringe has been much better since they’ve gotten back to the main storyline in the second half of this season, and the pre-finale episode made great strides in pushing that plot forward. I love the alternate universe: zeppelins docking at the Empire State Building (so fun!), random buildings + people encased in that weird temporal solidifying amber goo, Walternate is creepy, and Charlie’s alive (yay!) Badass tattooed alternate Olivia is a bit precious, but what can you do?

So things were moving along just fine, and then they had to go mess it all up by sending the badass Olivia back instead of the real one. I guess we should have expected it: really where can anything go once there’s been a scene in which you’ve punched your own self out? Fighting with your alternate universe double is such a cliche. Let’s hope they wrap this up quickly at the beginning of next season. Does anyone actually believe that the real Olivia would sit in the dark blubbering about her fate?

The Office:
Meh. I mean, kind of funny, but not laugh riot funny. Except for Woof, Ryan the Temp’s social media service. That was awesome.

30 Rock:
Also a two-parter. Overall, much more consistent than Fringe. I’ll miss Julianne Moore’s stupid Boston accent. Matt Damon was pretty funny, too.

I know the finale-est finale last week was for Lost, but I abandoned that show years ago so don’t ask me! Jonathan watched, though, and reports: “I liked it.” So there you have it.

things i’m bad at

maura @ 5:51 pm

I’m sick, and it’s a drag. I know: alert the media! No one likes being sick, but this sickness was sneaky, which seems extra-unfair. I guess it’s a head cold: I’m achey and sniffly, and my main symptom is an annoying, intermittent hacking cough.

I admit that I have been known to try to work through my illness, to not use my sick days, etc. But lately I’ve tried to change my ways. I started feeling sick last weekend and I took it easy, really I did! Then I didn’t get any better, but I didn’t get any worse, either: after a shower, a cup of coffee and 2 advil in the morning I felt pretty okay. So I went into work and kept taking it easy at home. I mean, it’s not like I’m doing hard labor on a dig — many days my job involves mostly sitting at a computer or sitting in a meeting.

Yesterday morning I started feeling slightly worse, but it was my last day of class (student presentations!) and the last meeting of a committee I co-chaired (elections!) so I had to and wanted to go in. Last night it was clear that I was actually sick, so I’m home today coughing, drinking tea and alternating between convalescing in the living room and the bedroom.

During extra-busy times I’ve been guilty of occasionally wishing I’d get sick so I could have an excuse to rest all day, who hasn’t? But the reality is always much more boring and less enjoyable than I imagine. Because in my daydreams of course I forget that sickness slows down your brain, so it’s not like you can catch up on anything. It is nice to have the chance to read, esp. when you have a good book: a neighbor lent me her British copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (which is awesome since by the time I remembered to request a copy from the public library I was #252 in the queue, and of course it’s not even out here yet). And now that I have a laptop I can check email whilst reclining and sipping tea, which is also good.

But I hate how a sick day sloooooows to a crawl. I always feel like I’m missing everything going on in the real world, and that things are just piling up while time goes down the toilet. I want being sick to be like any other work. Today I worked at getting better. I worked hard and put in my 8 hours, why don’t I feel any better? How many days of work will it take until I finish this sickness project, anyway? This was not in the original spec. Where’s a good project manager when you need one?

you turn the music up

maura @ 11:10 pm

This past Monday was pretty crappy. I was still sick, the cat barfed, and I didn’t get much work done on the article or conference presentation I’m working on. Can someone please tell me why, exactly, our weird cat likes to eat the plastic from window envelopes? (Also I’m still sick — who can fix that for me?)

But something very good happened, too: the new Tracey Thorn CD, Love and Its Opposite, came in the mail. Yay! You may remember a few months ago when I complained that I couldn’t possibly be expected to wait til it was released. And then suddenly here it is, in a lovely package from Merge Records with a poster (for my office wall!) and a sticker (for my bike! or computer, haven’t decided yet).

I imposed a media blackout on myself and didn’t read the review in the New Yorker or anywhere else until after I’d had a chance to listen to the record all the way through a couple of times. It’s different than the last record, not techno-y at all, which I initially missed a bit (even though when you look at the whole of her/EBTG’s career the dancey stuff is not in the majority by any means). On this records there’s lots of piano, the songs are mostly quiet, and some are just achingly sad and gorgeous. But there’s some rolicking good times in there too, including the most enjoyable song about menopause *I’ve* ever heard (don’t know about you, though).

Just like with the last record there won’t be a tour, and I’m surprisingly un-unhappy about that. I’ve written before on my mixed feelings about live music these days: I miss it, but more in a nostalgic way than a run-right-out-and-go-to-a-show way. So in some ways it’s easier when there’s *not* a tour, then I don’t need to feel guilty or lame about not going. I feel g + l enough about missing The Primitives at the Bell House earlier this month, and of course I will also be missing Unrest at same in July.

But all’s not lost: from what I’ve read there will be videos of Tracey Thorn performing these new songs from time to time. Scroll down on her website to see the first one: the new single. I do miss the strings from the recorded version, but it’s lovely all the same.

getting the band back together

maura @ 7:47 pm

Okay, admission time: I’ve fallen off the writing bandwagon lately. Predictably, it happened in the middle of the semester when things got busy, but since then there’s been all manner of excuses: I have a standing 8:30 meeting on Tuesdays, it’s raining, I’ve had a low-level head cold since the end of last week, Gus didn’t sleep well last night (so no one else did either), I walked the long (and nicer) way to work, the maintenance folks were cleaning near my office, etc. etc. etc.

Time for me to stop being so lame and get back on the horse. And other lame motivational metaphors. Which reminds me of this hilarious book we just deaccessioned and I brought home called The Dictionary of DO’S and DON’TS (caps in original). According to the jacket flap it’s an “indispensble companion” for writers, and contains such enlightening entries as “overwhelming majority,” “met one’s match,” and “playing-card metaphors.” Because I like my metaphors arranged alphabetically and by topic, don’t you?

Anyway, I digress. The horse, I’m on it. Or not, because I’m actually kind of afraid of horses. But you know what I mean, metaphor or no metaphor. I’m going to make myself write something every single day if it kills me. Which hopefully it won’t (though of course you never know). It might not always be in this here blag, but it’s going to happen. Absolutely. Definitely. Probably.

good things came in the mail today

maura @ 6:21 pm

Ack, such a bummer round here the past few days! Sorry about that. Won’t reading some twitter cheer us all up?

@What_Went_Wrong 104 pages in and I can heartily recommend it, tho it’s definitely sad to be this close to the end.
about 20 hours ago via web

Should probly be working but a neighbor lent me a British copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest & I cannot resist its Swedish charms
about 21 hours ago via web

@edrabinski I would lie right down in them if I didn’t know that the guards would yell at me. And still some lilacs, too. Yay BBG!
3:44 PM May 16th via Echofon in reply to edrabinski

We didn’t miss the bluebells! http://twitpic.com/1oebux
2:18 PM May 16th via Echofon

Frankly, I’m surprised you don’t hear more Cardigans songs in Ikea.
3:56 PM May 15th via Echofon

Even the crabbiest kid can’t resist the joy of flying side kicks.
12:12 PM May 15th via Echofon

@puckupdate Yeah, when I was an archaeologist this used to happen to me at the end of a dig, too. The older I get, the older it gets…
10:18 AM May 15th via Echofon in reply to puckupdate

It’s 4 days before finals start, please welcome my traditional end o’ semester illness. This semester it’s a head cold. Yay.
9:44 AM May 15th via Echofon

@edrabinski gah, I know, B71 is the only good way to my kid’s school. *was,* I mean. stupid budget.
10:58 PM May 14th via Echofon in reply to edrabinski

Sing it! RT @edrabinski: Totally won over by arguments for data transparency. #opensciny
6:12 PM May 14th via Echofon

after a brief window of heat last week, my part of the library is freezing again today. i’m dressed like a jawa in my long hooded sweater.
11:13 AM May 14th via web

almost afraid to say this out loud: i only have 1 thing on my calendar today. ONE! will this be the day i finally catch up? stay tuned!
8:51 AM May 14th via web

RT @TheRepoRat: Elsevier gross: $10B. Margin on sci-tech articles: 30%. INSANE. #cli10 (me: picks up jaw off floor)
7:20 PM May 13th via Echofon

RT @cunynewswire: CUNY Newswire: One-Day Furlough for Employees on the New York State Payroll http://bit.ly/d2380O
10:26 PM May 11th via Echofon

checked the Merge site re: new @tracey_thorn record: “Preorders will ship to arrive on or around the May 18, 2010 release date.” squee!
9:36 PM May 10th via web

This just in: I’ve been cold all day. The cats are acting crazy. Soon it will be dinnertime. And that’s the news from here.
5:16 PM May 10th via web

The suboptimal weather on a weekend conundrum is in effect: kid is spazzy + needs activity, parents want a quiet reading/media day.
3:01 PM May 9th via web

RT @maura new tracey thorn album streaming in its entirety at npr (i was lucky to write the copy): http://n.pr/bdDjPV [yay, maura!]
10:42 AM May 9th via web

@edrabinski You too! Such a great day, my brain is full.
7:35 PM May 8th via Echofon in reply to edrabinski

@cpellegr I thought the same thing this morning! Who do we petition to move it to June?
5:34 PM May 8th via Echofon in reply to cpellegr

@PunkRockKarl Too true, that is definitely more radical!
5:26 PM May 8th via Echofon in reply to PunkRockKarl

Nothing is more radical than a baby at a lecture. :)
2:17 PM May 8th via Echofon

@mkgold Wow, go you! I feel chained to fb by family pressures, but flirt w/leaving practically daily.
9:01 AM May 8th via Echofon in reply to mkgold

3rd + Final Stop: Back in the BK. Sometimes it’s nice to tour the city where you live. Happy Friday!
8:23 PM May 7th via web

Stop 2: Manhattan. Graduate Center. Academic Commons/CAT meeting. Tasty cafeteria lunch. Beets FTW!
1:44 PM May 7th via Echofon

Great talk on assessing information literacy by Megan Oakleaf. We have a lot of work to do!
12:01 PM May 7th via Echofon

Stop 1 on my three-boro tour today: Megan Oakleaf’s talk @ LaGCC in Queens.
9:59 AM May 7th via Echofon

Bouncy castle on campus today. File under surreal: http://twitpic.com/1ln2x1
9:09 PM May 6th via Echofon

@lwaltzer One of the few things I don’t like about apt livin’ = no grill. Bon appetit!
9:06 PM May 6th via Echofon in reply to lwaltzer

@paigecasey With cookies!
6:26 PM May 6th via Echofon in reply to paigecasey

At the Honors Scholars Poster Session. #CityTech students FTW!
1:07 PM May 6th via Echofon

dear google, once again you are screwing up my precious morning writing time. i may have to break up with you!
8:35 AM May 6th via web

getting ready to create the last rubric of the semester. rather tired of rubrics, really.
9:04 PM May 5th via web

man, google docs, what is your damage today?
10:14 AM May 5th via web

dear internets, please send bubble of quiet focused concentration. kthxbai!
8:32 AM May 5th via web

my sweet kid is a softie: he’s gone to sleep very sad that he’s nearly finished reading “mrs frisby & the rats of nimh”
9:03 PM May 4th via web

musical ep of Fringe < musical ep of Buffy OR musical ep of Xena
11:31 AM May 1st via Echofon

@mikhailg @lwaltzer @jrrnyc @jugoretz @boonebgorges @mkgold Have fun today at #blsci. Wish I could be there. Tweet lots!
9:26 AM Apr 30th via web in reply to mikhailg

considering the research assignment as a game: overly reductive or potentially useful? discuss.
8:38 AM Apr 30th via web

@alevtina the hidden down side of sharing! but snickerdoodles are so tasty, i’m sure everyone was happy you shared.
8:44 PM Apr 29th via web in reply to alevtina

list longer now than on monday morning. home inbox 19. work inbox 50. tired. sigh. solution? watch house, drink a beer, sleep.
8:41 PM Apr 29th via web

@mkgold happy birthday matt! glad you were able to do something non-worky today.
8:39 PM Apr 29th via web in reply to mkgold

Student performances at #CityTech #LitFest
5:51 PM Apr 29th via Echofon

This week has just evaporated.
7:02 PM Apr 28th via Echofon

RT @CityTechLitFest #CityTech #LiteraryArtsFestival #writing #fiction #poetry #drama #essays #WilliePerdomo #free #brooklyn #DoNotMissIt http://bit.ly/bKFKGu
1:09 PM Apr 28th via web Retweeted by you and 2 others

@listentomyvoice Yes! I still have slides from an archaeology paper I presented in ’96. Photos of charts & graphs FTW! (and woah I am old)
12:12 PM Apr 27th via Echofon in reply to listentomyvoice

RT @librarianmer Love it! RT @nengard: Free as in Library http://flic.kr/p/75TqsC
8:33 PM Apr 26th via TweetDeck Retweeted by you and 1 other

RT @berkmancenter: @eszter’s new paper: “Trust Online: Young Adults’ Evaluation of Web Content” http://bit.ly/afBb0P
2:08 PM Apr 26th via Echofon

RT @kerim How to Draw Time – http://nyti.ms/aXOHap
9:51 AM Apr 25th via TimesPeople Retweeted by you and 10 others

@divanoir hey, can you pass on a bluebells & lilacs status report?
2:55 PM Apr 24th via Echofon in reply to divanoir

@lwaltzer happy birthday Kaya! 6 is awesome.
3:23 PM Apr 23rd via Echofon in reply to lwaltzer

Just heard an awesome talk on eBook Readers Bill of Rights by Alycia Sellie & Matthew Goins: http://bit.ly/9JdON5
3:02 PM Apr 23rd via Echofon

@mikhailg “I drive a Mister Softee truck. It’s not boring.”
8:22 PM Apr 22nd via Echofon in reply to mikhailg

I just told Gus to go back to playing his Mtv videogames, to which he replied “what’s Mtv?”
8:19 PM Apr 22nd via Echofon

RT @ChrysalisArch: Happy Earth Day … we could learn a few things about being green from the past. (archaeology FTW!)
12:50 PM Apr 22nd via Echofon

@alevtina bacon, you say? Intriguing…
7:21 AM Apr 22nd via Echofon in reply to alevtina

power force motion drive

maura @ 5:12 pm

You know, I try to be a good hippie: hanging our clothes to dry, intermittent composting, buying most clothes secondhand, etc. I’m not the biggest fan of capitalism — the older I get, the more global income inequality bothers me. I’ve sort of flirted with doing The Compact from time to time, and since I don’t enjoy shopping all that much it’s usually not too hard not to buy much anyway.

But consumerism sometimes gets the best of me, and this week has been a particularly stark example. We’ve been planning to redo our bathrooms for a while now, at least one but perhaps both. About 9 yrs ago we got the kitchen redone, and I guess I’d been using that as a guide when I thought about how much a renovation should cost rather than doing any research on actual prices (yes, I am a librarian, why do you ask?). So I had a number in my head before we asked a contractor to come give us an estimate. And it turns out that number was really, really wrong.

At first I was disappointed at the cost, which seems so out of proportion to the size of the room (though of course I realize that plumbing, tiling, etc., is lots of work). But last week was busy so I didn’t have time to give it much more thought. Except that today, I realized that I *had* been thinking about it, just not overtly. Then I was disappointed in myself, both for being so disappointed and for my resulting compensatory behavior.

Let me explain.

I kind of have a thing for sneakers, particularly those of a certain brand. I feel guilty about this for all the usual reasons: consumerism, sweatshops, susceptibility to advertiser manipulation, etc. But I remember the royal blue Samoas with chartreuse stripes that I had in 6th grade: they’re like my Ur sneakers, and I am powerless in nostalgia’s grip. (And lest I paint too bad a picture of myself I should mention that my last 2 pairs [one for summer and one for winter] lasted about 7 yrs, so I do try to get the most out of them that I can).

So every so often I surf on over to the Adidas website and take a look at what they’ve got. Customization is huge right now, if you hadn’t noticed, and they’re no different: you can pick a sneaker type and create your very own, from a limited color palette. The other night I used the sneakermaker to make these:

I didn’t order any of these — they’re $115!!! — but still, it was kind of a time suck to create them and I’m not getting any of that time back, either. And since royal blue + chartreuse aren’t color options I can’t live out my sneaker dreams.

Fast forward to yesterday. Our building’s stoop sale is coming up which means I’m thinking about tables again. Our current table is old. We bought it in 1996 and it’s just a standard pine table so by now it’s full of nicks and scratches, many courtesy of baby Gus’s exuberant silverware drumming days. We’ve been flirting with this one table at Ikea for about 2 yrs now but I keep thinking I don’t like it. It’s heavy, it’s light-colored wood, and what I really want is a mid-century number with leaves that slide out from underneath the table top.

But with a kid + 2 cats now is not the time to invest in expensive furniture, so yesterday I made us go to Ikea to check to see if there were any new tables, just in case we could get one in time to sell the old one at the stoop sale. Well, we ended up getting that table we always look at, and I guess I’ve made my peace with it. We also got 4 black chairs in 4 different styles, a quirky twist that Jonathan talked me into. And some throw pillows and a new duvet and a lampshade to replace one the cats knocked over and a nightlight for Gus and a couple of other small things.

It’s taken me until yesterday evening to realize that I’ve bought (or thought about buying) all this stuff because I’m disappointed about the bathroom, disappointed that I’m not going to get a shiny new pedestal sink and black-and-white tile floor. This realization hasn’t cheered me up at all, I have to say. I guess it’s good to be self-reflective, but the only real takeaway I can come up with is that capitalism makes me feel bad.

(Woah, how did I end up with 2 bummer posts in a row? Next time I promise to write something more uplifting!)

letters from a grumpy old lady

maura @ 9:11 pm

Dear VCR,

You are seriously bugging me lately. A couple of months ago we tried to use you to calm down a bunch of rambunctious children during dinner, but you appeared to be broken. Since our building’s stoop sale is coming up soon we started to think that maybe it’s time for you to go, so last weekend I tried a couple of videotapes to confirm your unworkingness. The result of this experiment is that now you seem NOT to be broken (though several tapes are clearly kaput).

Now I don’t know what to do. We don’t use you much to watch videos anymore, haven’t, really, for months and months. But when I was testing tapes I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for Alice in Wonderland, Spice World, Tron, etc… And now I’m not sure we’re ready to let them go, even though it would free up a bunch of space on the shelves.

Stupid VCR. It was much easier when you were pretending to be broken.

Grumpily yours,
Maura

—

Dear weather,

Not to be rude, but are you taunting me? Last month it was eleventy billion degrees practically every day. All the flowers bloomed early and we rushed around like crazy people trying to see them. Since Spring was definitely sprung we spent time shopping for, ordering, and putting together new bikes for 2/3 of the family (the other 1/3 already has a bike that fits).

Now the bikes are here (and an extra bike, too, since we haven’t gotten rid of Gus’s old bike) and it’s blustery windy rainy November outside. Especially on the weekends. What is your damage, weather?

Don’t hope to see you soon,
Maura

—

Dear city,

Have you ever ridden the B71 bus westbound at about 8am on a schoolday? No? Then allow me to enlighten you. It is PACKED full of kids (and parents) on their way to school, and people on their way to work, to the subway, etc. This bus is not at all underused (at least in the mornings) and is really the only straightforward way to get from Crown/Prospect Heights to Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens.

Or at least it will be, until June 27th. That’s the last day of service for this bus line, at any time. Now, I know the bus can be pretty empty in the middle of the day, but cutting the whole line? That’s just cold. We are lucky that Gus’s school has a school bus, but who’s to say what the other kids on the bus will do?

And an extra special thanks-for-nothing for the date of the switch: the last day of public school is Monday, June 28th.

Unsincerely,
Maura

—

Dear state,

Get a grip.

Worst,
Maura

nothing’s coming to mind

maura @ 10:11 pm

In the past 2 days I have ridden 4 subway lines (in order: G,* 7,** Q and 5) and traveled to 3 CUNY campuses for 2 great librariany programs (and 2 meetings). Yesterday was a program on information literacy assessment at LaGuardia Community College, and today was a program on critical pedagogy and library instruction at Brooklyn College. (And in between I had 2 meetings at the Graduate Center, where the wifi is not locked down + the cafeteria always has something tasty for lunch.)

* The G used to be Gus’s favorite train when he was wee, for obvious reasons. The logo is a pleasing spring green, so I like it too.

** Gus used to <3 the 7, too, when his favorite color was purple. I love it because it goes elevated in Queens and passes by an incredibly beautifully graffitied building.

It’s so strange the way my brain reacts to new knowledge sometimes. These programs were both incredibly engaging and thought-provoking, and usually afterward I’d be working things out in my head or scribbling (really typing) down some half-baked notes + ideas sparked by all of the good stuff I heard + thought about. But I think that the close proximity of two highly interesting + relevant (both work-relevant and research-interest-relevant) talks has overloaded my brain somewhat. The wheels are spinning a bit, but nothing coherent and no urge to write it down.

I think my brain is temporarily full. Maybe stuff will percolate out tomorrow or later. In the meantime, Sherlock Holmes will help empty it out a bit, right?

in rushing rising rivulets

maura @ 10:04 pm

I did not sleep well last night. It was hot, yes, but that wasn’t really the problem. (All hail ceiling fans!)

Last night we finished up watching 2102. It was my pick, and I’m not going to apologize for it: I like a good big budget special effects apocalyptic flick every so often. Yes, at 2 hrs 38 mins it was a good hour too long, full of lame end-of-the-world conversations that could’ve been left on the cutting room floor. But the actiony parts were pretty sweet. Giant fissures opening up in the earth! California literally sliding into the ocean! Supervolcano exploding under Yosemite! Planes flying through Las Vegas skyscrapers as they collapsed! Good times. And it’s always nice to see John Cusack getting work.

So the big giant ending of the movie (SPOILER ALERT) is that the things referred to as arks that save the human race (plus a few giraffes and elephants) that we *thought* were spaceships throughout most of the movie are *actually* boats! (really submarines, absolutely enormous submarines.) So the ultimate Earth-ending climax is a series of gigantic tsunamis that overrun practically the entire landmass of the planet. Again, the effects were nice. Well worth the Netflixing.

(More spoilers: John Cusack does not die, just in case you were worried.)

But I think my brain was working overtime as I slept, because I awoke with a lingering weird feeling about water. Maybe it’s the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is such a huge bummer that I can’t read anything more about it. Also, once we lived in an apartment that had a roof that leaked insanely when it rained. Seriously, water used to drip from the light fixtures, and our landlords regularly failed to see that as a problem.

Continuing the watery theme, in the early morning hours it rained torrentially. We listen to white noise when we sleep that just happens to be the sounds of rainfall, so despite the thunder it took us a while to wake up. But I realized that the rain was louder than usual at 5:12am and spent the next 10 minutes stumbling around the apartment closing windows and drying off windowsills. Happy Monday! I was kind of tired today, natch.

All of this means that I’ve had the “Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down” song from the old Disney cartoon for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day running through my head all day. I tried to find it for you on YouTube, but I could only find it in Swedish and Finnish. Here’s the Swedish version — enjoy!

he can cut a record from side to side

maura @ 10:05 pm

ZOMG! The number of possible things to do this semester is somewhat more overwhelming than usual. This isn’t new, of course, and I’m not the first person to notice it, either. Today was insane on campus — I think there were literally 10 different things I could have gone to during club hour (which is the break between classes from 1-2-ish on Thursdays, so named because student clubs meet then). I had a meeting and ended up going to none of them, though I did hit the first half of the very awesome Literary Arts Festival this evening and got to see students, faculty and poet Willie Perdomo do their thing.

(P.S. I’ve recently realized that I like poetry. This is a new thing — for much of my life I paid poetry no mind. I think it might actually be Gus’s fault. There’s a lot of Shel Silverstein in our lives, and kids like to write poetry.)

Partly this is overwhelming because I’m a librarian. So we host our own events, of course, like all the other departments on campus. We’re also inherently interdisciplinary. I like that part of librarianship a lot: it’s kind of incredible to take it as a given that we can be interested in and learn about (and even research, to an extent) all manner of subjects. But this also means that practically any event at the college is relevant to us. So, you know, I really want to go to all of these events.

But I can’t. Which is a drag. There’s another 3 things going on tomorrow, but I’ll only be at one of them, sigh. On the other hand, I’ll get to play a game or two, which is pretty dang cool.