How to Blog, by Tony Pierce

Awesome list - while I don’t agree with it all, I think all bloggers can certainly take something from this and incorporate it into their psyches.

Read it.

Book Review: Secret Life of Bees

In a few short words, the Secret Life of Bees was a compelling read, but a bit … predictable.

If I were feeling more up to it, I’d ramble about how Lily really KNEW that August and June knew her story, but was avoiding believing it. Or else I’d blather about the oft-repeated black man/white woman (Zach/Lily) dynamic. But I’m not feeling up to it, so I’ll leave it to you to read the book for yourselves.

Out of five stars, I’d only give this one a three.

February Vacation 2005: What I did during my virally-imposed work break

Slept.
Shivered.
Slept.
Whined.
Slept.
Learned to like Gatorade.
Slept.
Watched t.v.
Slept.
Finished Jasper Fforde’s Something Rotten, which I enjoyed very much.
Slept.
Finished the first sleeve of my Klaralund.
Slept.
Cancelled three classes.
Slept.
Went to the doctor.
Slept in the examining room.
Slept.
Watched more t.v.
Didn’t sleep. Thank you viral infection for moving to my sinuses and preventing me from breathing!
Slept.
Read Christoper Paolini’s Eragon, and enjoyed it very much.
Slept.
Took the dog for a walk to the local pharmacy.
Slept.

Rassin’ frassin’ petri-dish of a work environment. College students (much as I love working with them) are known for passing diseases like toddlers using pacifiers in daycare. And somehow, I got what they all have - a mild but exhausting case of ye olde influenza.

But tomorrow I head back to work. I think I’m no longer contagious, and I’d like to teach the class I’m scheduled to teach tomorrow night, and need some prep time for it during the day. We’ll see if I make it through the day. Wish me luck!

Librarians in Children’s Picture Books

Over the past several years, I’ve been half-heartedly collecting children’s picture books that feature librarians as main characters. I like having this kind of collection at hand - the librarians in question usually suffer from some sort of stereotype, and manage to cast off the misperceptions by the end of the book. Children’s picture books, in particular, provide the visual means to the stereotype. Mostly, the librarians in the books I own are white women, middle-aged, and decidedly middle-class. They often sport buns (I can’t tell you who the last librarian was who I saw sporting a BUN), and wear (of course) sensible shoes.

Okay, so my co-worker just walked past me wearing a bun. Sue me.

Anyhow, I decided to poke around to see if anyone had compiled a bibliography (annotated would be great) of librarians in children’s picture books. And lo and behold, Matthew Z. Heintzelman and Kristi Mulhern both have! Now I have loads more books to put on my Amazon.com wishlist.

Book Review: Life of Pi

This book gave me dreams for several nights - dreams of tigers and boats and the ocean and drifting and survival from those things that vex and scare and intrigue us most.

The first part of the book bothered me initially - I just wanted the author to get to the part about the boat and the tiger. But when I was reading that part of the story, I understood that the first part of the book was so very vital to understanding what Pi Patel and Richard Parker were experiencing on the ocean for so very long.

The final part of the book also annoyed me as I read it. It seemed to forced, too funny, to live in this book of such soul-searching depths. Upon further reflection, however, I see that it is just as vital to the story as everything else, for it forced me to confront the disbelief I’d put aside for most of the book.

Very satisfying, very much indeed. I also now want to call all felines “Richard Parker.”