i think someone else i know might come to okkervil river. good times.
first step away from laziness September 30, 2008
made a list of the craft projects i want to finish. thinking about even setting due dates. for real. i will break the cycle of my laziness. the thing that is so weird is i really want to work on these projects. there is nothing NOT fun about them. i just can't seem to find the time, even though i have plenty of time in reality.
purchased today September 30, 2008
I was wrong. The meaning of apologies.
what encouraged me to buy this book: the mention of "bad apology" in which you say something like i donut' believe i did anything wrong but i'm sorry. so priceless.
some fun coverage of banned books week. September 30, 2008
first off, AV Club reminds you that banned books week does not entail actually burning books.
second. the la times wonders if it even matters…. i have to wonder if this person even knows any librarians. we do defend your right to read whatever you want- that's the point. i would totally defend your right to read crap vs. the catcher in the rye. i may think you're making a poor choice but that's my personal opinion, not my professional one. i'm most likely happy you're reading no matter what it is. we let people have access. period. i'm so proud to say that. these are the things that actually get me excited about my job. the author makes a point to say we should be having converstations during banned books week about the "implications of the free flow of ideas". we do that. all the time. not just for one week a year. it is more glamorous to talk about how could someone ever want to ban the catcher in the rye. people can relate to that. especially those like me who loved that book and still do. i get the author's point, but to act like banned books is just about the glamorous is to say i don't do my job.
enough library speak for one day.
nick and norah’s infinite playlist September 30, 2008
so, i read nick and norah's infinite playlist a few weeks back. if i was a teenager (and i kinda am…) i would have fallen in love with that book. i totally enjoyed it, they reaction and role music plays in one life obviously is a big thing to me. i'm totally writing my dissertation on that. anyway. i was disappointed when i saw the commercial b/c things seem to have changed from the book. i read an interview with the two people in it and probably will want to see it again. anyway. the interview was cool but i was stunned to read that neither actor had experienceas going to shows. that was such a total formative part of my life, i'm stunned that it wasn't in theirs.anyway. the interview is on AV Club.
Untitled September 29, 2008
oh my gosh, i feel a million times better after writing that, breathing, and just remembering i'm trying to help myself.
on a side note: MGMT cd in high rotation. that will clear your mind for sure.
the mayhem in my head September 29, 2008
concentration is so lacking this week. i know it's only monday, but still, i'm not all here. tired? maybe. not swimming? yeah, few more days till my leg permits me to swim. brain? messy.
i would love to escape for a bit. what does that solve? probably nothing. things have been a bit hard with my fam. life lately. i feel like i don't help enough, but feel anxious when i do help. like super crazy anxious. i don't know. i'm not good at the helping part either. my mom and i are still having a lot of trouble letting go of the material things that were my dad's. it's not fun. we have made a lot of progress and i know it's only been a few months, but i swear it's 3 steps fwd. and 2 back, so you're ahead, but not really as far as you thought you were. i feel terrible even writing any of this. i guess i'm just that crazy today that i'm letting it all out.
in the aftermath of week 1 of my not having rules, i'm feeling a bit…. lost. for sure. i feel like i'm not doing anything too well the last few days. a constant mess. there were things that were good about week 1, no rules. lots of funny jokes in my head. but, it is taking me a while to adjust. like being ok on saturday talking to bea while pp volunteers were in my house. they were just there eating lunch, and normally i would be checking on them to make sure they had everything they needed. i tried (sorry, i tried) to focus on talking ot bea in the hallway and let them do their thing. they'd ask if they needed me right?
other things were good too.
i knew this was not an immediate change, i guess i'm kind of being reprogrammed. it'll take a while, there's a ton of garbage in my brain to wade through.
dude………… September 29, 2008
Uh. i think i may get a peer reviewed journal article outta this….. amazing. depressing. oh, mcsweeneys. why?
DUDES! DID YOU SEE THE LIBRARY THEY'VE GOT HERE?
BY J. BYARD YODER
- – - -
Man, when I came out to campus for the prospective students' weekend last spring, I knew it was going to be fucking off the hook.
I mean, it's just a completely different level from high school. I have
my own room with my best bud Kyle, and high-speed Internet and cable, a cafeteria open till 11 p.m. with, like, all the Honey Nut Cheerios I could ever eat and an omelet bar on weekends, and even a whole floor full of totally hot sophomore chicks just an elevator ride away.
But the library, man, the library is the bomb.
I mean, you know how
we spent all of high school telling each other we were totally going to
start staying after football practice to spend some quality time with
the books? And we never did? Dude—now the library is, like, just across
the quad from my dorm room. I can totally go study every morning, on
the way to Psych 101. Or just before lunch. Or, like, right at the end
of the day. Or maybe late at night, if they're open that late.
Yeah, Kyle, I think I heard, like, till 11, maybe 11:30 p.m. Man, my brain is going to be totally pumped by spring break.
Oh, I took the tour
back during the prospective weekend. It got me totally psyched. Dude,
they've got the latest computerized catalog system—just roll right up
to a terminal, type in your search terms, and it gives you a list of
titles and call numbers, plus a little map to show you where they all
are. Fucking Dewey decimal, man. It's tight. Or maybe I'll just
wander through the stacks—they've got those awesome shelves on wheels,
so they're all space-efficient—and just pick something at random. It'll
be totally intense. Six floors of books and periodicals, all ordered as
neatly as soldiers on parade.
Like that use of
simile, huh, Chris? Yeah, I've done a little studying over the summer,
trying to get a base for hitting the big time this semester. My dad's
got a couple of shelves of classics in the basement. Nothing real
hard—a little Dickens, a little Frost. Some Emily Dickinson. Chick was
fucking messed up, dudes. But she could scan like shit. "Because I
could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me." Yeah, I think
I'm going to try and really hit the ground running. Start with some
Shakespeare sonnets, maybe work my way up to memorizing "Howl" by fall
break. I think I could totally do it, if I really just put in the time,
went to the library every day and hit the books.
I'll come back from
biology and change into my nylon-mesh shorts and this awesome Under
Armour shirt I got over the summer. It's sleeveless, so you can totally
see my new tattoo, with the Mark Twain quote. "The man who doesn't read
good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." Words to
live by, man. Because, yeah, it's about showing off a bit, too. I'll
sit down at a table across from the big glass windows in the
second-floor lounge, so I can get a bit of reflection, check myself
out. Maybe catch some chicks checking me out, too. I'll be all cool and
stuff—I'll have my headphones on, with Nickelback going, and I'll just
keep turning pages. But I'll know they're watching. Getting totally hot
for my mind.
I tell you what,
though, dudes—you only get a chance like this while you're in college.
After we graduate, we'll have to figure out how to fit studying into
our work schedules, make time to get to the city library branch and its
crappy little collection. Yeah, while I'm here on campus, my life is
totally going to revolve around that library.
