For all the hyperbole in that title, I do believe the sentiment, at least from a certain point of view, if I may invoke a wise man from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
In the last forty-two years, I've spent more hours of my life in libraries than in any other type of institutional buildings, IF I only count time spent actively engaged in my surroundings. Oh sure, whiled away huge chunks of my time in classrooms of varying sorts, from public schools to graduate level instruction. No doubt many of my life's moments slipped past in shopping venues, dining establishments, and all manner of recreational facilities. Don't even get me started on how long I spent in public "conveniences" through my life or in transportation from here to there. None of those minutes/hours/days of time enriched me as did the bits of my life spent in libraries.
At school, I was the worst student (and I know plenty who can attest to the fact that I STILL may be among the worst). My mind moved too fast to keep the pace of school, or so one of my personal theories about myself goes. Perhaps my intellect possessed both too much ambition and too little practicality to excel in academic pursuits. I have been called lazy, unmotivated, uninterested, ADD, ADHD,
afraid to apply myself, and even by one brutally honest and brilliantly
observant teacher, accused of "doing really stupid things for such a smart person."
To me, it all translated to confirmation that I didn't
want to learn what THEY wanted to teach me. Maybe I WAS just lazy. I happily entertain these notions and many more besides, and my reason for that is because I just don't really care about the WHY so much as I care about HOW I managed to keep myself thriving.
That HOW is where the library comes in. All through my schooling, through nearly every class and every project, from Grade 1 to my current Master of Library Science degree program, rather than sit in class, I'd go to the
library and learn what I wanted to know!
Did the libraries I visited save my life by taking a bullet for me or curing my terminal disease? That would be ludicrous to assume, but libraries did offer me safe places where I could let my mind grow and mature in ways that made me who I am today. This life I live, all biological processes and intellectual pursuits, THIS is the only life I know, and I would not know it as I do if not for libraries helping to bring me here. Perhaps I could have given this post the title, "Fire Departments Saved My Life," or invoked any number of other institutions as being vital to me becoming the person writing this. However, none of those left such a deep, enduring mark on me. Memories of my elementary school library, the James A. Michener Library on the University of Northern Colorado campus, the Philip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock, these show how my true self came to be.
...Ah, now THERE's some hyperbole for you! I actually see my life as a perpetual work in progress, ever becoming. Even so, what I've found and continue to find in the libraries I know ‒ collections, staff, furnishings, most of all ideas ‒ allow me to see how wonderfully incomplete I am and how much I still can become. I would not trade THAT for anything!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
IT Librarian Interview (Simulation Recreation Quantification)
In the interest of full disclosure, I was not actually there for this interview in class. On the Friday in question (July 15, 2011) at the time in question (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., MDT), I was flying from Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado. It was, um, not exactly where I wanted to be.
However, thanks to a classmate, I was able to view a recording of the interviews. Thanks a lot, Leanne!
...Anyway, the interview was interesting. I found the paths that these two fellows took to be interesting, as their choices led them to almost be "accidental" techies. I know that such things happen all the time, and I have a feeling that something like that can happen to me. Still, the fact they both embraced the chances and made the best of the challenges. I really respect that!
Also, the various levels of interaction that are required of technology guys are required to maintain surprised me, but in retrospect, it should not have had that effect on me. After all, I know that once I say, "I know a little about computers," I then I become a commodity. That such happens in libraries too is good to know.
Where I work, I don't know that we really have proper IT librarians. Our information technology people are all in a separate department, away from the rest of the library. When we have a problem, the IT Department goes into action. They are more of a support service than a truly integrated part of the library's regular operation. The interview led me to a revelation that the two could be combined into one library.
I have gained a much greater appreciation of the role of technology professionals in libraries. The snobbery of techies that I came into my Information Technology in Libraries is an idea that has not quite panned out of me, and I must say that I'm very pleased to be proved wrong.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was not actually there for this interview in class. On the Friday in question (July 15, 2011) at the time in question (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., MDT), I was flying from Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado. It was, um, not exactly where I wanted to be.
However, thanks to a classmate, I was able to view a recording of the interviews. Thanks a lot, Leanne!
...Anyway, the interview was interesting. I found the paths that these two fellows took to be interesting, as their choices led them to almost be "accidental" techies. I know that such things happen all the time, and I have a feeling that something like that can happen to me. Still, the fact they both embraced the chances and made the best of the challenges. I really respect that!
Also, the various levels of interaction that are required of technology guys are required to maintain surprised me, but in retrospect, it should not have had that effect on me. After all, I know that once I say, "I know a little about computers," I then I become a commodity. That such happens in libraries too is good to know.
Where I work, I don't know that we really have proper IT librarians. Our information technology people are all in a separate department, away from the rest of the library. When we have a problem, the IT Department goes into action. They are more of a support service than a truly integrated part of the library's regular operation. The interview led me to a revelation that the two could be combined into one library.
I have gained a much greater appreciation of the role of technology professionals in libraries. The snobbery of techies that I came into my Information Technology in Libraries is an idea that has not quite panned out of me, and I must say that I'm very pleased to be proved wrong.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
My First (Good) Website!
Okay, this blog was started for the Information Technology in Libraries class, but I'm talking here about my subject guide for the Reference and User Services class. It was supposed to be a proper web site for a the presentation, but my first attempt looked more like this:
It was, um, okay. When I finally got it up as a real, live site, it looked more like this:
The thing about all of this is that it has given me a far greater degree of respect for those who do this for a living. When you go to my site (which I know you shall... just make sure it opens in a different view so you can keep reading this), you'll see that it is simple, no-nonsense and conversational. Well, that picture is a little nonsense, but my scanner is being churlish; that's the most "professional" looking picture I have on this machine.
I built the site on Google Sites first. I chose this one because it did what I wanted, and not because I found it inherently superior to Weebly or Wordpress. I looked at both of those sites (as well as a couple of other options), and I saw that Google offered customizing functions right on introduction page. If I wanted just to plug my content into a premade template, Weebly would be perfect. Instead, I wanted to tinker a little.
Also, Google Sites worked with my Google log-in. For that matter, though, so does Blogger, but I'll get to that a little later.
I had to "cheat" a bunch of stuff. If you see something that looks like a link to facebook, know that it's a fake. I'd like to make it a real thing, but I can't find the gadget to do that. Yeah, that's a weak excuse, I know, but there you are.
All of the "resource" pages except the one for writing are each a separate Blogger site that I set up. I couldn't find any other way to get comments to appear. This is where the Blogger mention above comes in. As a little bit of a rant, I was disappointed that the same comments that are on this blog cannot be plugged into a Google Site page, but I know that's how things work. Google didn't develop this blog site so much as acquire it, and I made it work.
...That's enough on the subject of building the site. I'll post something in a few days about my impression of subject guides in general.
Okay, this blog was started for the Information Technology in Libraries class, but I'm talking here about my subject guide for the Reference and User Services class. It was supposed to be a proper web site for a the presentation, but my first attempt looked more like this:
 |
| I call this a website... You can call it a PowerPoint slide |
 |
| A tremendous improvement! |
I built the site on Google Sites first. I chose this one because it did what I wanted, and not because I found it inherently superior to Weebly or Wordpress. I looked at both of those sites (as well as a couple of other options), and I saw that Google offered customizing functions right on introduction page. If I wanted just to plug my content into a premade template, Weebly would be perfect. Instead, I wanted to tinker a little.
Also, Google Sites worked with my Google log-in. For that matter, though, so does Blogger, but I'll get to that a little later.
I had to "cheat" a bunch of stuff. If you see something that looks like a link to facebook, know that it's a fake. I'd like to make it a real thing, but I can't find the gadget to do that. Yeah, that's a weak excuse, I know, but there you are.
All of the "resource" pages except the one for writing are each a separate Blogger site that I set up. I couldn't find any other way to get comments to appear. This is where the Blogger mention above comes in. As a little bit of a rant, I was disappointed that the same comments that are on this blog cannot be plugged into a Google Site page, but I know that's how things work. Google didn't develop this blog site so much as acquire it, and I made it work.
...That's enough on the subject of building the site. I'll post something in a few days about my impression of subject guides in general.
Friday, July 15, 2011
TOPIC 6: The Digital Divide
This is something that hits me pretty hard, but only when I take the time and effort to think about it. Like too many forms of poverty, the digital divide is easy to overlook.
We know that there are plenty of people in our communities who do not have computers at home or access to the internet. That's not a surprise. Those who are homeless, who are struggling to keep their families fed and roof overhead are easy to identify. However, we tend to miss those who are caught in between the status of "have" and "have not."
The digital divide is not a chasm to be bridged. It is a wide ocean separating two extremes, and those who occupy the little islands between where I stand (the solid ground of high speed wireless) and the opposite shore (a technological wasteland) are overlooked. Some of them have smart phones, or they make do with dial-up connections. They might have a cheap laptop and access to a McDonald's or Starbucks where they can get some WiFi, but they are still solidly stuck in the digital divide.
As a nascent information professional, I acutely feel the pain of those suffering from information poverty. I live with a wealth of technology, and my information appetites are rarely left unsatisfied. This was not always the case. For most of my adult life, I suffered with substandard technology, the hand-me-downs of others. I only recently (in the past three or four years), started to purchase my own machines and sign-up for my own broadband access. I know what it is to be "not enough" between the "haves" and "have nots."
...We can do better, but like the other forms of poverty in our world, our culture seems able to ignore those who have very little, those who barely scrape by but are not completely indigent. We're only able to see the extremes. I don't know what to do about that, but I want to find solutions.
This is something that hits me pretty hard, but only when I take the time and effort to think about it. Like too many forms of poverty, the digital divide is easy to overlook.
We know that there are plenty of people in our communities who do not have computers at home or access to the internet. That's not a surprise. Those who are homeless, who are struggling to keep their families fed and roof overhead are easy to identify. However, we tend to miss those who are caught in between the status of "have" and "have not."
The digital divide is not a chasm to be bridged. It is a wide ocean separating two extremes, and those who occupy the little islands between where I stand (the solid ground of high speed wireless) and the opposite shore (a technological wasteland) are overlooked. Some of them have smart phones, or they make do with dial-up connections. They might have a cheap laptop and access to a McDonald's or Starbucks where they can get some WiFi, but they are still solidly stuck in the digital divide.
As a nascent information professional, I acutely feel the pain of those suffering from information poverty. I live with a wealth of technology, and my information appetites are rarely left unsatisfied. This was not always the case. For most of my adult life, I suffered with substandard technology, the hand-me-downs of others. I only recently (in the past three or four years), started to purchase my own machines and sign-up for my own broadband access. I know what it is to be "not enough" between the "haves" and "have nots."
...We can do better, but like the other forms of poverty in our world, our culture seems able to ignore those who have very little, those who barely scrape by but are not completely indigent. We're only able to see the extremes. I don't know what to do about that, but I want to find solutions.
TOPIC 4: My Experience with an Open Source Product
When I was younger (and perhaps not so wise), I found myself using a LOT of what we'd call today open source software. Back then (circa 1990), we didn't so much call it "open source," but we knew the idea. We called it "freeware" or "shareware," and much of it came with little admonitions that if you liked the product, you could send a few bucks to the developer. Alternately, you might find an ad that would tell you that a paid version could be purchased.
In those days, most of the really fun stuff that could be found for Macintosh machines and platforms took the form of the not-paid-for nature. We didn't care about viruses for Macs back then, and I guess we still don't. The funny thing is, I'm not 100% where all of these programs came from. We had games like RISK, Artillery, FreeCell, and Centipede that we played on the old black-and-white screens of our early Macs. It was fun, and we shared them via floppy disks (the 3.25" ones, not those really old 5.5" disks). For all of the 25 machines on which we ran these things, I dunno that any one of us ever send a U.S. dollar to a developer.
We didn't really care about the morality of these games, and I'm not sure that many who use open source today even care about such, either. The free software movement has really taken off since around 1998, and the ways that we distributed and used our little "free" games is cast into a different light today. I would feel like a thief now for playing these things for free... Or would I? I mean, those games were inferior to the little widget games that come free with Windows 7.
That said, they were pretty awesome back in the 90s! Ah, they were simpler times.
When I was younger (and perhaps not so wise), I found myself using a LOT of what we'd call today open source software. Back then (circa 1990), we didn't so much call it "open source," but we knew the idea. We called it "freeware" or "shareware," and much of it came with little admonitions that if you liked the product, you could send a few bucks to the developer. Alternately, you might find an ad that would tell you that a paid version could be purchased.
In those days, most of the really fun stuff that could be found for Macintosh machines and platforms took the form of the not-paid-for nature. We didn't care about viruses for Macs back then, and I guess we still don't. The funny thing is, I'm not 100% where all of these programs came from. We had games like RISK, Artillery, FreeCell, and Centipede that we played on the old black-and-white screens of our early Macs. It was fun, and we shared them via floppy disks (the 3.25" ones, not those really old 5.5" disks). For all of the 25 machines on which we ran these things, I dunno that any one of us ever send a U.S. dollar to a developer.
 |
| A game I remember well... Though this one's in German? |
That said, they were pretty awesome back in the 90s! Ah, they were simpler times.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
My Tech Philosophy
Technology, as I see it, is less a continuum than a herky-jerky forward stumble. From counting on our fingers and toes to the "innovation" of the iPad, we are not in an inevitable roll toward progress.
We are just here, at a point somewhere beyond our start. This is far from the apex of our journey.
Technology, as I see it, is less a continuum than a herky-jerky forward stumble. From counting on our fingers and toes to the "innovation" of the iPad, we are not in an inevitable roll toward progress.
We are just here, at a point somewhere beyond our start. This is far from the apex of our journey.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Hold It
[Note: This is a long-ish rant, but I think it's worth the time.]
Maybe this goes a little far afield, but stick with it as it does get back to the idea of technology in libraries...
Where I work (as a Materials Handler Technician in Douglas County Libraries), a decent portion of my job is locked up in filling patron requests for materials to be kept on hold for them at the library. It starts with a good hour of compiling the lists of those holds that have expired or been canceled and subsequently pulling those off the holds shelves and processing them back into the system. Then comes about an hour of compiling and printing the list of that day's requested materials to be pulled off our various collections' shelves to fill new patron holds. That is followed by four to six hours of actually pulling the materials that were requested from our branch, processing those materials, and getting them ready to go where they need to go. On top of that, throughout the day, we spend around six hours printing slips for the materials that will fill holds at our branch and shelving said materials for patron pick up and check out. The next day, we start over again with the expired and canceled holds.
Obviously, one person does not do all of these tasks, but all of us in my department (25 or so at my branch) participate in nearly every step of the process each week. We had a district wide performance study done on this process late last year, and we found that across the board at Douglas County Libraries, we used over 25% of our budgeted time on holds for patrons.
In short, it is a big part of what we do.
Now, all of this is made possible by our library technology (See? Here it is!). Patrons place their holds via our computer system, whether from home, at the library computers, or by having a staff member place a request for some item that is checked out or only available from another branch. We use the computer to call up the list, then our computer system tracks the materials' physical locations and tells us when the hold has expired. It's all pretty neat and efficient, at least until the human element is factored in.
In a best case scenario, it can take up to three days to receive a hold item from when a patron makes the request to when it appears on the shelf for pick up. Here, "best case" means that the item is on the shelf at one of our branches rather than checked out by another patron. This is due to the fact that we only compile a list of items to pull from the shelf once a day, in the morning. This is district standard, and it can take most of the day to find all of the items on the list. Then the items must be transported from branch to branch by our courier. He usually only makes one circuit of the district every day in the wee hours of the morning, though we do on occasion have a second delivery in the early afternoon. Then the items delivered are processed at the branch and made ready to shelve. Each step (pulling, transport, processing) can take up to a day to finish.
Few of our patrons seem to understand that the process takes time. Someone might put in a request for a hold at the library in Castle Rock for a book that is at the library in Highlands Ranch at 10:00 in the morning. Then that patron is annoyed that the book has not arrived in Castle Rock by 4:00 in the afternoon of that same day. The library staff look lazy and apathetic to that patron.
Fortunately, such is the exception rather than the norm.
Still, when I see how many requests for materials we tend to have every day (a list that includes from 300 to 700 items, averaging closer to 600) versus the number of expired and canceled items (recently averaging 120 a day), it bothers me how many of the items that we process go unused. It comes to around 15% to 20% of the items that we list daily! That's why it takes a full hour to deal with those items every morning.
...Maybe I'm being overly sensitive on this issue, but when that much of a task's time is spent on undoing the work, it seems like a problem. On the one hand, it is job security for the people in my department, but on the other hand it's a little stupid. The technology has made it easy to request items, but some human element makes it easy to ignore those requests. There seems to be an interrupt between the human and machine here, and I don't know what to do about it.
[Note: This is a long-ish rant, but I think it's worth the time.]
Maybe this goes a little far afield, but stick with it as it does get back to the idea of technology in libraries...
Where I work (as a Materials Handler Technician in Douglas County Libraries), a decent portion of my job is locked up in filling patron requests for materials to be kept on hold for them at the library. It starts with a good hour of compiling the lists of those holds that have expired or been canceled and subsequently pulling those off the holds shelves and processing them back into the system. Then comes about an hour of compiling and printing the list of that day's requested materials to be pulled off our various collections' shelves to fill new patron holds. That is followed by four to six hours of actually pulling the materials that were requested from our branch, processing those materials, and getting them ready to go where they need to go. On top of that, throughout the day, we spend around six hours printing slips for the materials that will fill holds at our branch and shelving said materials for patron pick up and check out. The next day, we start over again with the expired and canceled holds.
Obviously, one person does not do all of these tasks, but all of us in my department (25 or so at my branch) participate in nearly every step of the process each week. We had a district wide performance study done on this process late last year, and we found that across the board at Douglas County Libraries, we used over 25% of our budgeted time on holds for patrons.
In short, it is a big part of what we do.
Now, all of this is made possible by our library technology (See? Here it is!). Patrons place their holds via our computer system, whether from home, at the library computers, or by having a staff member place a request for some item that is checked out or only available from another branch. We use the computer to call up the list, then our computer system tracks the materials' physical locations and tells us when the hold has expired. It's all pretty neat and efficient, at least until the human element is factored in.
In a best case scenario, it can take up to three days to receive a hold item from when a patron makes the request to when it appears on the shelf for pick up. Here, "best case" means that the item is on the shelf at one of our branches rather than checked out by another patron. This is due to the fact that we only compile a list of items to pull from the shelf once a day, in the morning. This is district standard, and it can take most of the day to find all of the items on the list. Then the items must be transported from branch to branch by our courier. He usually only makes one circuit of the district every day in the wee hours of the morning, though we do on occasion have a second delivery in the early afternoon. Then the items delivered are processed at the branch and made ready to shelve. Each step (pulling, transport, processing) can take up to a day to finish.
Few of our patrons seem to understand that the process takes time. Someone might put in a request for a hold at the library in Castle Rock for a book that is at the library in Highlands Ranch at 10:00 in the morning. Then that patron is annoyed that the book has not arrived in Castle Rock by 4:00 in the afternoon of that same day. The library staff look lazy and apathetic to that patron.
Fortunately, such is the exception rather than the norm.
Still, when I see how many requests for materials we tend to have every day (a list that includes from 300 to 700 items, averaging closer to 600) versus the number of expired and canceled items (recently averaging 120 a day), it bothers me how many of the items that we process go unused. It comes to around 15% to 20% of the items that we list daily! That's why it takes a full hour to deal with those items every morning.
...Maybe I'm being overly sensitive on this issue, but when that much of a task's time is spent on undoing the work, it seems like a problem. On the one hand, it is job security for the people in my department, but on the other hand it's a little stupid. The technology has made it easy to request items, but some human element makes it easy to ignore those requests. There seems to be an interrupt between the human and machine here, and I don't know what to do about it.
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The Ebook Revolution Will Be Downloaded
The other day, I heard that my library district is anticipating the end of printed media, the primacy of the electronic book, and the need to re-task the structures of libraries. "Library as Place" is the buzz word for this.
I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Books are not a terribly old innovation, regardless of what we might want to believe. Sure, writing has been around for around 5000 years in some form, and paper has been around for maybe 2000 years. Put them together, and it's like a book as we know it. However, it was not until around 1450 that the movable type printing press allowed for books that could be produced in any quantity.
(And yes, I admit to omitting any number of innovations such as papyrus, scriptoria, codices, blah and blah, but that's not my point here. Feel free to call me out on any of these, though. I'm all for it!)
So, that leaves us with around 10% of the time of written language with books, printed leaves of paper in bound volumes.
...So, what's my point? It's just that the idea of a book is still evolving, still growing into something. My choice of tense there is significant, in that it is STILL HAPPENING. The so-called "revolution" has not come and gone. We are in the thick of it right now.
As one of my heroes said, "People think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history just yet."
Hear, hear, Captain Kirk!
The other day, I heard that my library district is anticipating the end of printed media, the primacy of the electronic book, and the need to re-task the structures of libraries. "Library as Place" is the buzz word for this.
I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Books are not a terribly old innovation, regardless of what we might want to believe. Sure, writing has been around for around 5000 years in some form, and paper has been around for maybe 2000 years. Put them together, and it's like a book as we know it. However, it was not until around 1450 that the movable type printing press allowed for books that could be produced in any quantity.
(And yes, I admit to omitting any number of innovations such as papyrus, scriptoria, codices, blah and blah, but that's not my point here. Feel free to call me out on any of these, though. I'm all for it!)
So, that leaves us with around 10% of the time of written language with books, printed leaves of paper in bound volumes.
...So, what's my point? It's just that the idea of a book is still evolving, still growing into something. My choice of tense there is significant, in that it is STILL HAPPENING. The so-called "revolution" has not come and gone. We are in the thick of it right now.
As one of my heroes said, "People think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history just yet."
Hear, hear, Captain Kirk!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Electronic Class 9000X
I'm in class right now... and I'm BLOGGING!
That's not really as awesome as it seems, but it's a first for me. I'm pretty excited about this class, but that's only 'coz I suddenly feel like a proper geek. I know a little bit about computers and information technology, that gives me a feeling of power.
This is gonna be fun!
I'm in class right now... and I'm BLOGGING!
That's not really as awesome as it seems, but it's a first for me. I'm pretty excited about this class, but that's only 'coz I suddenly feel like a proper geek. I know a little bit about computers and information technology, that gives me a feeling of power.
This is gonna be fun!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Monday, January 05, 2004
Alien Invader Observation Journal: Number 6
Alien invaders on Earth have trouble with the more personal, private aspects of human behavior. Without access to television or movies (see Alien Invader Observation Journal: Number 11), they must rely on other sources for information on the human experience.
The bathroom is an especially problematic area for alien invaders. While they understand the principles of the toilet (the expulsion of solid and liquid wastes), the mechanics of the fixtures vex alien invaders. The urinal, for example, confounded them until one particularly inquisitive alien invader looked over the shoulder of a human using the installation and the mystery was solved. The commode remains a source of conjecture, since no such discreet investigations are possible.
Sexual congress also eludes alien invaders. From various publications (biology textbooks, Penthouse letters, etc.), alien invaders have gleaned ideas of how the act is done, but a number of unanswered questions remain. Alien invaders tend to be inventive, if ultimately frustrating, bed partners for most humans.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Alien Invader Observation Journal: Number 93
Alien invaders on Earth are, as a general rule, excellent drivers. However, this only follows if the alien invader is alone in the automobile.
Due to their telepathic nature (see Alien Invader Observation Journal: Number 43), the more alien invaders in a single vehicle decreases the efficacy of their driving ablilities.
Two alien invaders in a car together may be seen moving in an erradic fashion (weaving in the lane, failure to propperly signal at every intersection, etc.), but four or more alien invaders in a car together becomes downright scary. Instances of random lane changes, disregard for rules of the road and intermittent speed changes result from too many alien invaders all trying to control a machine at the same time.
This accounts for the high incidence of alien invaders gaining work as taxi drivers versus the low incidence of alien invaders as bus drivers. Alien invaders are far more likely to take a cab than to ride mass-trasit, knowing that the danger to themselves and others is lower if there are fewer of them in a single vehicle.
Sunday, February 02, 2003
A Note of Response to Y'all...
Note: Those of you who don't regularly read Teri's Blog may find this rant a little hard to follow, but I reckon that there ain't many of those creatures out there...
Perhaps at one time Anne Rice was a good writer, but now she is just plagiarizing herself. This thought came from an article I read about her novel, Memnoc the Devil, and I went on to read the danged book anyway. That was the last one of her books that I made it all the way through.
In Queen of the Damned, Ms. Rice introduced something new to the genre, but in subsequent installments of her Vampire Chronicles, she has repeated the same angsty fruitiness over and over and over.
Maybe I can be a bit of a purist, but while I love Dracula (in most of his incarnations), I do enjoy stories that push the vampire notion to the limit. Movies like Lifeforce and Ingmar Bergman's Hour of the Wolf offer fascinating insights on the condition -- not to mention the effects -- of vampirism. The soul-reaving Raziel has a great appeal to me, and the Hebrew God of Exodus -- taking the life of every firstborn in Egypt -- is an aspect of the greatest vampire conceivable. There are people around us, at the office or neighbors, who can suck energy out of others just with inane conversation. Above all others, there is the invention of television, that modern wonder that is the vampire of our minds.
I don't hate Anne Rice, but I'd crave something new from her. I enjoyed The Witching Hour, even with the incest and brutality, but that was 'coz I hadn't read her take on witchcraft. Now that she's merged the Mayfair Witches with her Vampire Chronicles, the former kinda turns my stomach.
As for the 'homo-dellic' characters, I must say that being gay ain't a crime in my book, just so's y'all know. Even a gay vampire is okay, but a whole blasted nocturnal world filled with neurotic, boy-crazy, self-esteem challenged blood-suckers (most of whom exhibit godlike powers), well it pushes credulity. My power to suspend disbelief only goes so far.
If Ms. Rice wants to go on filing the serial number off of Lestat, giving him a new paint-job and thinking that -- prest-o, change-o -- she has a new character who only needs a name, that's her prerogative. I wouldn't do it, though...
Anne Rice books can be fun to read, but I think her fan-base has become too much of that suburban, ultra-goth mall girl sorta crowd. I guess we need those types, that they serve some cosmic purpose in the universe, but I am not one of those humanoids.
...As for you, Signore Dissentero (whose name rhymes with 'buttocks'), my writing skill remains as sharp as ever, and you are all my Literature Bee-yatches. The true faith of the Divine Monkey will live longer than any of us, and nothing you can say will stop me!
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Just Something...
It's that time of year again when I am reminded that Denver -- despite all of its pretensions toward culture and civility -- really is just a cow town. Yes, it's time again for the National Western Stock Show!
Teri made some comment about this, saying that she had the terrible state of Colorado's culture brought to her attention when our state's first Krispy Kreme doughnut shop opened. I imagined the situation from an outsider's point of view being as if Coloradans didn't even know what a doughnut was.
If you'll forgive me, I'll try to recreate a little piece of impromptu theater that Teri enjoyed:
Martha: My word, Henry! What on Earth is that thing?
Henry: Why, Martha, I do believe it's one of those dough-nuts.
Martha: What's a dough-nut?
Henry: I reckon it's like a beignet with a hole in it...
Martha: My stars! What will they think of next?
...I guess you had to be there. *sigh*
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Poetry... Finally!
I write. That's one of the fundamental things about me.
Maybe I smoke and drink, look at girls and drive too fast, but my real vice is in putting pen to paper. Like sand on virgin snow, the lure of metaphor and imagery gnaws at me night and day.
This poem, a work in progress since 1999, takes my love of allusion and myth to edge of mania. If you ain't read The Odyssey, you may not 'catch' all the references, but I think that you'll like it, nonetheless.
Ulysses
Between break beats,
strobes, smoke and sweat,
the dance floor as the wine-dark sea,
my ship tossed on the shore, and
Calypso’s eyes bring me again to my
age of servitude,
reminder of immortal joys
forsaken for mortal life.
Did he ever — by merest chance —
pull Pallas Athena aside,
offer to buy her a Long Island,
ask about his sea-witch Circe?
The swine and the flawless bed,
did these echo through his dreams,
torment him after years of nights
spent in Penelope’s whisper-soft arms?
Did he ever duck into a doorway,
hearing the tick-tick of cane as
Polyphemus, the Cyclops,
bumbled past with his guide dog?
That giant, struggling with Braille signage,
did our hero wistfully recall Scylla and
Charybdis as remorse’s needle-toothed
bite took chunks from the king’s heart?
I hear Agamemnon and Achilles laugh,
Meneleus goads me in this underworld
where I cannot fend off my foe,
specter of the sea-nymph;
no sword rages,
no shield fends
the ghosts that hold me
prisoner far from Ithaca.
I write. That's one of the fundamental things about me.
Maybe I smoke and drink, look at girls and drive too fast, but my real vice is in putting pen to paper. Like sand on virgin snow, the lure of metaphor and imagery gnaws at me night and day.
This poem, a work in progress since 1999, takes my love of allusion and myth to edge of mania. If you ain't read The Odyssey, you may not 'catch' all the references, but I think that you'll like it, nonetheless.
Ulysses
Between break beats,
strobes, smoke and sweat,
the dance floor as the wine-dark sea,
my ship tossed on the shore, and
Calypso’s eyes bring me again to my
age of servitude,
reminder of immortal joys
forsaken for mortal life.
Did he ever — by merest chance —
pull Pallas Athena aside,
offer to buy her a Long Island,
ask about his sea-witch Circe?
The swine and the flawless bed,
did these echo through his dreams,
torment him after years of nights
spent in Penelope’s whisper-soft arms?
Did he ever duck into a doorway,
hearing the tick-tick of cane as
Polyphemus, the Cyclops,
bumbled past with his guide dog?
That giant, struggling with Braille signage,
did our hero wistfully recall Scylla and
Charybdis as remorse’s needle-toothed
bite took chunks from the king’s heart?
I hear Agamemnon and Achilles laugh,
Meneleus goads me in this underworld
where I cannot fend off my foe,
specter of the sea-nymph;
no sword rages,
no shield fends
the ghosts that hold me
prisoner far from Ithaca.
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Zipp-it
I was over at Sean and Julie’s the other day, and Jules was reading the Sunday funnies. She read a few to Sean, and I just sat there, seething.
I dislike it when someone reads the funnies to someone else, but I know that it’s one of my evil pet peeves. Ya’ see, I find myself doing that as well, so I have no leg to stand on when I criticize another...
I also sing along to the radio, fail to announce who I am on the telephone, eat with my mouth open. All of these things drive me batty when others do them, and I’m just a big ol’ hypocrite!
So, in the interests of bugging everyone (or anyone who actually reads this blog...) I’m gonna transcribe my favorite comic strip here.
This is a Zippy strip, from October 17, 1996. Written by Bill Griffith, found in the Rocky Mountain News of the same date. All rights reserved, and I hope y’all don’t think that I’m plagiarizing:
Dear diary,
So I met French philosopher & mathematician René Descartes in study hall today and he’s all, “Logical analysis is the only way to interpret reality!”
And I’m all, “No way, René! What about intuition ‘n’ stuff? I mean, hello, does the phrase ‘Emotional Intelligence’ mean anything to you?”
And he’s all, “You gotta, like, suspend all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain, dude!” & I was all, like, "Duhhhhh!!”
Then he was all, “That’s all I have to say” and I was all, “Is that all there is?” And he’s all, “That’s all!” & it was, like, all over.
I was over at Sean and Julie’s the other day, and Jules was reading the Sunday funnies. She read a few to Sean, and I just sat there, seething.
I dislike it when someone reads the funnies to someone else, but I know that it’s one of my evil pet peeves. Ya’ see, I find myself doing that as well, so I have no leg to stand on when I criticize another...
I also sing along to the radio, fail to announce who I am on the telephone, eat with my mouth open. All of these things drive me batty when others do them, and I’m just a big ol’ hypocrite!
So, in the interests of bugging everyone (or anyone who actually reads this blog...) I’m gonna transcribe my favorite comic strip here.
This is a Zippy strip, from October 17, 1996. Written by Bill Griffith, found in the Rocky Mountain News of the same date. All rights reserved, and I hope y’all don’t think that I’m plagiarizing:
Dear diary,
So I met French philosopher & mathematician René Descartes in study hall today and he’s all, “Logical analysis is the only way to interpret reality!”
And I’m all, “No way, René! What about intuition ‘n’ stuff? I mean, hello, does the phrase ‘Emotional Intelligence’ mean anything to you?”
And he’s all, “You gotta, like, suspend all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain, dude!” & I was all, like, "Duhhhhh!!”
Then he was all, “That’s all I have to say” and I was all, “Is that all there is?” And he’s all, “That’s all!” & it was, like, all over.
Friday, September 20, 2002
At Night
They came at night, as usual.
I sat up in bed, thinking that the wind had blown the papers taped to my wall. The tick-tack, tick-tack of one sheet went on and on. In the dark, without my glasses on, I couldn’t see anything in the room with me. Then I heard her voice.
‘Don’t worry, little one.’
Her voice sounded more like the wind than words, but I’d stopped being afraid of her.
‘We’ve come to ask you again,’ he said. His voice echoed in the room, though he never spoke above a whisper.
‘Ask.’ All I ever needed to tell them, this started the ritual.
‘Where did you come from?’ This question seemed forever on their minds. He asked like a child, and I tried to answer.
‘My parents created me.’ As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, they lurked in the darkness. I knew if I turned on the light, they would vanish. Their ways had ceased to upset me months ago.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but before that, where were you?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Not this body,’ he gestured from the shadows -- a dark talon, not at all shaped like a hand -- toward my chest, ‘but your essence, where did it come from?’
Once, they asked only simple questions, or so I thought. How long have I known that I existed? What do I call myself? Have I always looked the way I do now? Well, I thought these questions reflected their simple understanding of human life. I’ve come to realize that they pry into deeper meanings.
‘I do not remember.’ That reply wouldn’t suffice, but what else could I tell them?
‘We understand your linear perceptions,’ she said, more to herself than to me. ‘We need more.’
‘Do all of your kind think as you?’ His voice held something like fear in it.
‘I can’t say,’ I told him, but my eyes remained locked on her form. In the dark, I fixated on what appeared as two embers suspended in her tenebrous form -- her eyes? I found no other human-like features in either of them.
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘You only know this life’s experiences.’
‘Exactly.’ Sleep still clung to my brain.
They folded themselves back into the dark. I thought that they’d left me, but then her voice whispered in my ear.
‘Don’t you ever feel limited by this linear life?’
‘I guess so,’ I mumbled.
‘If you could find another way,’ his sonorous hiss said in my other ear, ‘would you choose to sacrifice this existence?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If we offered you another way,’ she sounded plaintive, ‘should you accept it instead of your current condition?’
I had no answer.
‘We may return,’ he said, and then I felt them leave.
The paper tick-tacked again, but as I lay down again, my mind kept returning to their half-explained offer.
If I could find another way... What did they mean?
Now I toss and turn all night, waiting for their return. I wait to ask them more.
They came at night, as usual.
I sat up in bed, thinking that the wind had blown the papers taped to my wall. The tick-tack, tick-tack of one sheet went on and on. In the dark, without my glasses on, I couldn’t see anything in the room with me. Then I heard her voice.
‘Don’t worry, little one.’
Her voice sounded more like the wind than words, but I’d stopped being afraid of her.
‘We’ve come to ask you again,’ he said. His voice echoed in the room, though he never spoke above a whisper.
‘Ask.’ All I ever needed to tell them, this started the ritual.
‘Where did you come from?’ This question seemed forever on their minds. He asked like a child, and I tried to answer.
‘My parents created me.’ As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, they lurked in the darkness. I knew if I turned on the light, they would vanish. Their ways had ceased to upset me months ago.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but before that, where were you?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Not this body,’ he gestured from the shadows -- a dark talon, not at all shaped like a hand -- toward my chest, ‘but your essence, where did it come from?’
Once, they asked only simple questions, or so I thought. How long have I known that I existed? What do I call myself? Have I always looked the way I do now? Well, I thought these questions reflected their simple understanding of human life. I’ve come to realize that they pry into deeper meanings.
‘I do not remember.’ That reply wouldn’t suffice, but what else could I tell them?
‘We understand your linear perceptions,’ she said, more to herself than to me. ‘We need more.’
‘Do all of your kind think as you?’ His voice held something like fear in it.
‘I can’t say,’ I told him, but my eyes remained locked on her form. In the dark, I fixated on what appeared as two embers suspended in her tenebrous form -- her eyes? I found no other human-like features in either of them.
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘You only know this life’s experiences.’
‘Exactly.’ Sleep still clung to my brain.
They folded themselves back into the dark. I thought that they’d left me, but then her voice whispered in my ear.
‘Don’t you ever feel limited by this linear life?’
‘I guess so,’ I mumbled.
‘If you could find another way,’ his sonorous hiss said in my other ear, ‘would you choose to sacrifice this existence?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If we offered you another way,’ she sounded plaintive, ‘should you accept it instead of your current condition?’
I had no answer.
‘We may return,’ he said, and then I felt them leave.
The paper tick-tacked again, but as I lay down again, my mind kept returning to their half-explained offer.
If I could find another way... What did they mean?
Now I toss and turn all night, waiting for their return. I wait to ask them more.
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