Just read: Detroit Tigers Reader

February is still a few days away and Windsor is 3 cms away from breaking an all-time snow fall record. As I write this, there's a foot of snow on my lawn and another 10 cms predicted. Sometimes when we're shoveling out the car or trudging across campus, D or I will say "Pitchers and catchers, pitchers and catchers." According to the widget on Tigers.com, pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 13 days, 18 hours and 29 minutes. I wish I could say the same thing about spring itself but pitchers and catchers reporting is the most reliable harbinger of spring around (prairie crocuses are a close second).

For two Octobers in a row, I've had the same conversation with my colleagues D and D in my workplace's stairwell: "Now that baseball's over," I say, "what are we going to talk about?" Both Octobers, they've looked at me, shrugged and said "Next season, of course." In the past few years, I've started to see the beauty of the hot stove league but lately I'm finding comfort in it. As a cure for the midwinter blues, I started reading Tom Stanton's excellent Detroit Tigers Reader. Collections of this kind are often hit and miss but this one is packed with lovely pieces of writing: informative, engaging, heartbreaking and inspiring. Along with the kinds of pieces one might expect, Stanton includes a remarkable piece on Satchel Paige from The Daily Worker (1941), a moving piece on the death of Charlie Gehringer, (1993), and a heart-breaking piece about Mickey Cochrane (1937). After getting lost in this book, the world seemed a little greener and warmer. It was startling to look up from its pages and see the snow falling.

I'm starting to see that the appeal of following a team is its continuous narrative. Not only does one season seem like the next chapter of the previous, one finds allusions, nuances and insights into today's game by learning about yesterday's. Reading Grantland Rice's piece about the 1935 Tigers winning the world championship, I was struck not only by Grantland's skillful narration but by the way that the scene I was reading was remarkably timeless: "The score was tied at 3-3. The Cubs had spiked him for eleven hits. It was quite apparent that one run meant the ball game and possibly the championship. At this ticklish moment, Stan Hack kicked in with a low liner that cleared Gerald Walker's head for a triple. Here was a Cub on third, only a few steps from a run that looked taller than Mt. Everest. And there was nobody out." Change the names, change the teams and it could have been last year.

Maybe that's where the comfort comes from. In some ways, nothing changes. Yet everything is possible. I think that's why I keep checking the widget and saying "pitchers and catchers, pitchers and catchers." If you're pining for the warmth of the ballpark, check this out.

Collected Status Updates

By popular-ish demand, here are three weeks’ worth of status updates. The ones in quotations were generously donated by my very funny friend JW who generously took on the task of writing my status updates while I was sick. He continues to offer them. He’s just that kind of guy. Thanks for reading.


Heidi feels better about working today knowing it will get her Opening Day off in April. 1:53pm -

Heidi "hasn't had this much fun since the pigs ate Grandpa." 12:20pm -

Heidi wonders if one can develop Stockholm Syndrome in relation to one's workplace. 10:28am -

Heidi has brought today's Meeting-a-palooza to an end. 2:37pm -

Heidi has used paperclips and sticky notes to impose order on chaos. 9:55am -

Heidi's morning began with Elizabeth rejecting Mr Darcy. Even though she's read the novel 16 times before she still says "gasp!" 8:18am -

Heidi is happy to be wearing her Keen Mary Janes. She does not expect Grover Cleveland Alexander or Grover Cleveland would be similarly happy. 5:01pm -

Heidi wonders if Grover Cleveland Alexander would be a better mascot for the day than Grover Cleveland or Super Grover. 1:17pm -

Heidi wonders if Grover Cleveland would be a better mascot for the day. 11:32am -

Heidi said "Oh. Yeah... forgot that" when J reminded her of Super Grover's propensity for crashing into things. 8:48am -

Heidi wishes she had a cape to help her feel more like Super Grover. 8:13am -

Jan 21

Heidi is back to being Groverian. 1:16pm -

Heidi wonders what would happen if she answered every question she gets on the reference desk as Yoda would. 10:52am -

Heidi is feeling less like Chewbacca and more like Grover today. 8:58am -

Heidi is going to take a muscle relaxant so she will stop making sounds like Chewbacca every time she moves. It's hard to be Heidi lately. 9:12pm -

Heidi IS walking around like Frankenstein. Or a burly linebacker in heels. 4:24pm –

Heidi worries she's walking around with a stride akin to Frankenstein's thanks to her recent physio appointment (if Frankenstein wore shoes like she does). 3:15pm -

Heidi needs to step out of the library. She just referred to someone as "embodying chivalry 2.0." 2:20pm -

Heidi wonders how long until the First Puppy is appointed. 12:46pm -

Heidi has radio coverage!! Woo hoo! 11:53am -

Heidi can't get a live stream of anything... boo hoo... 11:49am -

Heidi is giddily watching CNN

Heidi is listening to Patty Griffin's "Heavenly Day" and celebrating this long-awaited "brighter coming day." 9:11am -

Jan 19

Heidi is changing her name to Fernando ‘Boogaloo’ Velez. Maybe not right away. But soon. 10:30pm -

Heidi wishes she had Dap-Kings named Homer ‘Funkyfoot’ Steinweiss and Fernando ‘Boogaloo’ Velez. 1:02pm -

Heidi hopes leaving her keys at home isn't an omen for the week. 9:16am -

Jan 18

Heidi is working on her difficult third album. 5:46pm -

Heidi is stepping away from the laptop.... 4:04pm -

Heidi is thinking about setting up a facebook group callled "Fans of Mr Dickson and his generous use of his snow blower on our street." 2:45pm -

Heidi is once more convinced that the right pen can solve just about any writing problem. Today's weapon of choice: the Elysee medium nib fountain pen with Parker ink. 11:33am -

Heidi is feeling reclusive, recalcitrant, recast and oddly receptive. In short, she has a day of writing ahead of her. 8:55am -

Jan 17

Heidi "dreamt she walked through a field of tulips with Colin Firth. He was about to ask her something important when he tripped, broke his leg & she had to shoot him.” 10:38pm -

Heidi "has never been to Alaska, but she's starting to think maybe she has..." 10:33pm -

Heidi "has ended her trash talking and is contemplating taking out the trash, but without talking to it." 2:11pm -

Heidi has been listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and is wondering where a girl might get some Dap-Kings of her own. 1:05pm -

Heidi is venturing thither. To America. Anon. 9:05am -

Jan 16

Heidi is probably not going to join the Facebook group "People who turn acronyms into adverbs and don't use them with irony." 11:31pm -

Heidi had a pint o' Strongbow. She no longer has a need for a geospatial portal. 7:12pm -

Heidi has a list of status updates that she wrote during her 5 hrs of meetings. Most relevant: "Heidi would like a beer. Or a geospatial portal." 3:56pm -

Heidi appears to have her own fight song... cool. 11:19am -

Heidi regrets saying "meh" to her question "should I dry my hair this morning?" 8:32am -

Jan 15
Heidi was told that he was bad, but Heidi knew Charley Gehringer was sad. That's why she fell for... 10:19pm -

Heidi was asked, "by the way where'd you meet Charley Gehringer?" She met him at the candy store. He turned around and smiled at her. You get the picture? 5:36pm -

Heidi heard the words she doesn't like to hear "Heidi... I thought you were supposed to one of the nice ones." 4:24pm -

Heidi and Charley Gehringer apologize to K for being unable to do anything about her library fines. Charley says "library fines do not make you a bad person." 12:03pm -

Heidi disagrees with D. She does not think Charley Gehringer would be "horribly disappointed" in her for accruing 75 cents in overdue fines at WPL. 8:47am -

Heidi "realizes with a start that in another life she was actually Charley Gehringer." 3:07pm -

Heidi wishes she'd published in "Fenland Notes and Queries: a quarterly antiquarian journal for the fenland, in the counties of Huntingdon, Cambridge." 2:33pm -

Heidi is having her mind read. It is unlikely it will become one of Oprah's Picks. 12:10pm -

Heidi wonders why there are TV chefs yet not TV librarians. 10:49am -

Heidi wonders what Gordon Ramsay would be like as a librarian. 9:48am -

Heidi is trying not to roll her eyes at the discussions of the "extreme, bitter cold" hitting Windsor. 9:12am -

Jan 13

Heidi did not realize until she read D’s status update that she was being all Gordon Ramsay-y while cooking. At least it wasn't Rachel Ray. 7:56pm -

Heidi did not know there was a song about pinball machines in the Mikado. She is a better person for knowing that there is. 5:54pm -

Heidi wonders how a librarian will be written into the Mikado but looks forward to finding out. 4:41pm -

Heidi has been made the subject of re-written Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics "For She is an English Librarian." Heidi is greatly amused. 1:02pm -

Heidi now knows what "luthier" means. 12:04pm -

Heidi is watching the snow fall and thinking about pitchers and catchers. 9:16am -

Heidi "has sent a message to an old friend. It reads, in its entirety, 'Ishmael: Call me.'." 10:55pm -

Heidi 's status writer is back at work: "Heidi is worried about the famed "Irony Triangle" that crosses the 49th Parallel. No, actually, she's not worried." 8:35pm -

Heidi is singing Supremes songs about Curtis. Again. 7:17pm -

Heidi doesn't know how to break it to D that we're going to have to go to Home Depot again. Oops. She thinks she just did. Darn status updates. 4:02pm -

Heidi is thost in lot... 2:02pm -

Heidi is happy to have a cute photo of Stephen Colbert in her presentation for this afternoon. 1:01pm -

Heidi just watched a Russell Crowe movie and still doesn't know which monochrome to wear tomorrow. These two facts are not as related as one might think. 10:38pm -

Heidi is trying to decide which monochrome to wear tomorrow. It's harder than one might think. Really. 5:45pm -

Heidi 's claim to Pinball Wizardry is tangential, at best. 4:47pm –

Heidi has been outed as a pinball wizard by Dale. She's as incredulous as you are (but hoping to beat her top score of 37,433 points today). 11:09am -
Jan 10

Heidi admits the pinball machine is pretty cool. 4:47pm -

Heidi is watching the arrival of a pinball machine from a distance. 12:11pm -

Heidi is smiling at D's inner ten-year-old as he patiently awaits the arrival of his pinball machines. 8:46am -

Jan 9

Heidi will be supplying her own status updates over the weekend. Her writer has the weekend off. She thanks him for his top notch work. 5:52pm -

Heidi "is no longer under the weather. She's back to controlling it from her mountain aerie." 1:31pm -

Heidi "feels so good she's considering a run for the Senate in 2010." 12:00pm -

Heidi feels better than she has in 23 days!! Woohoo!!!! 10:31am -

Heidi is very happy with her professionally-written status updates. She wonders what else she can outsource. 3:54pm -

Heidi "is invading her personal space." 1:42pm -

Heidi "was going to contemplate the enduring mystery of life, but then she thought, 'Oh, screw it.'." 1:02pm -

Heidi is, according to her professional status update writer, "the funniest person who ever lived more than a year in Lincoln Nebraska" other than Johnny Carson. 12:28pm -

Heidi 's 3rd outsourced update: Heidi thinks people everywhere just wanna be free, & they'd probably want it even more if they were working in a library. 12:13pm -

Heidi likes having a professional writing her status updates. Here's the latest: "heidi rules, but only with lined paper." 11:51am -

Heidi has resorted to outsourcing her status updates to professionals: "Heidi has decided to stop being sick, and the decision couldn't have come at a better time." 11:00am -

Heidi feels like a freak show: 3 out of 5 people she has met said "Whoa, you look horrible," 1 said "there there" and 1 said "Hey! I like your hat!" 9:37am -

Heidi made it to her office... 9:15am -

Jan 7

Heidi likes these phrases from a NY-er restaurant review: "oxymoronically bland" and "with the texture of Play-doh, a freezer burned strawberry parfait." 5:45pm -

Heidi is home again today. 8:52am -

Jan 6

Heidi is thoroughly bored with her recurring status update motif and knows you are too. She apologizes. :(. 10:55pm -

Heidi would not have made a good invalid in a Victorian novel. 4:54pm -

Heidi is yellow today, she shines her light out like the sun/ She is a rainbow today/ All the colors of the world... 9:10am -
Jan 4

Heidi can't remember whether librarians report before or after pitchers and catchers. 8:35pm -

Heidi thinks Laundry Gnome 72 does a nice job with silks. 5:39pm

Heidi is happy to see Laundry Gnome 72. 3:32pm -

Heidi is looking out the window anxiously awaiting the arrival of the laundry gnomes. 1:43pm -

Heidi thinks that if you're sick for the whole holidays you should get a do-over. 1:21pm -

Jan 3

Heidi is still gathering library fines while she may. 4:26pm -

Heidi might be said to be a maverick.

Obama Dress Updates

What an amazing day! It's going to take more than a few hours to process how incredible it was. After my earlier post, I feel compelled to note that Michelle's inaugural dress was a lovely creation by Isabel Toledo which was paired with Jimmy Choo shoes. Meanwhile, the adorable Malia and Sasha appeared in outfits designed for them by J Crew. According to the Guardian: "From a fashion-watcher's perspective, it was Malia and Sasha Obama who stole the show today. Not even Aretha Franklin's spectacular hat could compete with a virtuoso display of on-trend colour-blocking by the first daughters, in their contrasting coats and scarves. Malia, 10, looked terrific in electric blue and black while Sasha, 7, hit it out of the park in this season's hot orange-and-pink colour combination. You heard it here first: orange and pink is the new red, white and blue." No news on the inaugural gown nor the First Puppy. Know that I'm eagerly awaiting news on both.

Facebook status update: Heidi is once more convinced that the right pen can solve just about any writing problem.

I'm behind on a writing deadline and I am trying to catch up today. I'll admit the prospect of spending today writing was making me a little cranky. My crankiness was also, I knew, the reason why I was spinning my writerly wheels. Over the years, I've developed a few tricks and today I pulled out the tried and true "writing with a lovely pen can make any writing task do-able and enjoyable." Today's weapon of choice: the new Elysee medium nib in older Elysee body with black Parker ink. Result: A less cranky Heidi and a map out of my writer's block and a good start at finishing. While taking a break, I started pondering my pens and took a few photos.































Some links of possible interest:
J Herbin Ink
Pear Tree Pen Company
Lamy Pens

Things Pondered: Michelle Obama's fashion sense

Sorry for the slowdown at the Cafe. After 3 weeks of struggling with what my doctor called "something viral," I am finally feeling almost 100%. The mind does funny things when the body is ailing and, after hours and hours of feeling horrible and watching distressing cable news stories, this particular mind found refuge in pondering Michelle Obama's fashion sense.

First of all, I should confess that I am someone who made a Michelle Obama inspired dress purchase this fall. But, I'm also someone who actively followed the Obama campaign and is excited by the idea of a "Michelle 2016" campaign. My interest in Obama's fashion sense is, in part, rooted in my own fondness for her dresses and fantastic kitten heel shoes. Mostly, however, I am fascinated by the ways in which her style has been politicized but also how style has become political in ways I do not recall seeing before.

In discussions of her sense of style, her choice of dress is routinely read as indicative of something larger, something more powerful, something more important than just a well chosen, well-tailored dress. In Saturday's Globe and Mail, there was an interesting article on the front page of the style section: "Relevant, Modern, Fresh, Cool, Self-Assured, Accessible, Poised, Unpretentious, Michelle." In this article, Amy Verner writes, "don't call her the new Jackie Kennedy. Michelle Obama's accessible chic says more about the culture at large than the world of haute labels."

Indeed, part of what seems to make Michelle Obama so accessible is many of her clothes come from stores we see at our local malls--albeit sometimes some of the upper end malls. Stores like Target, H & M, J. Crew and Black Market White House are accessible in ways that Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barney’s New York and Macy’s are not. In the summer, US Weekly also announced on its front page that Michelle shopped at Target. Perhaps Michelle Obama's appeal is rooted in a kind of sartorial "Yes We Can" idea. In writing about Target's partnership with Thakoon, one of Michelle Obama's favourite designers, New York Magazine writes "Sounds like we'll be getting Michelle Obama fare, which means we can all dress like her for New Year's!" In other words, with Michelle Obama-inspired wear at Target, the slogan might be "yes we can (perhaps) afford it."

Is Michelle Obama's sense of style bigger than "mere fashion"? It may well be. Contrast the stories about Michelle Obama's dresses from H&M, J. Crew and Black Market White House with some of the other fashion stories floating around during the election. And, more recently, A New York Times article suggests Obama may in fact be able to "Save America’s Fashion Industry?"

Interestingly, the Globe and Mail article also cites Suzanne Boyd, editor in chief of Zoomer Magazine, who notes, "There was never a run on anything Laura Bush wore." Change we can believe in? So it would seem.

Some other links perhaps of interest: Michelle Obama Fashion and Style, Michelle Obama: What Should She Wear, and the First Lady Fashion Quiz (I scored 11/15)

Possible margin comments my 18 year old self might have made if my afternoon were a short story: "Auspicious." "Symbolic." "Important."

Today, New Year's Day, I was washing up some dishes and thinking about the year that passed and the year to come. 2008 had some truly amazing days, hours and moments but it also had some very difficult segments.
In thinking about the year to come, I noticed two of my flowering plants-- neither of which had bloomed in 2008-- were starting 2009 on a pretty hopeful note despite the short, cold, dark days we're now having. Ever the student of literature I couldn't help but see this as a very good sign of things to come for 2009. "My year will blossom! I will flourish!" I smiled inwardly at my instinctive leap toward seeing the objects on my countertop as part of a larger symbolic and metaphoric matrix. Last week, you see, my brother found at my parents' house my copy of The Stone Angel. It was the copy I read in my first semester of university. Earlier this week, he was amusing me by reading out my young marginalia over the phone. No matter how distant the lass who wrote "symbolic" and "important" in green ink in the margins of her novels might seem from the person washing dishes in a different decade and province, it's strangely comforting to see she is still alive, well and ever hopeful.