Heidi's Trip to Washington: a travel essay in 42 handwritten FB Updates

Heidi realizes much too late that she has left her flight itinerary in the printer. She has no other record of her travel plans in the US. Maybe this will be the time they won't ask for it... June 19, 9:05 AM

Heidi has evidence-- not just a hunch-- that leaving the flight itinerary in the printer does not impress Homeland Security one teeny tiny bit. Nor one's husband. June 19, 9:10 AM

"Maybe this will be the time they won't ask for it..." Heidi is a complete idiot. June 19, 9:11 AM

Heidi feels like a petulant teen having just said "I know. I know. I KNOW. Yes, I know. I KNOW" to Homeland Security when informed she really should have details of her flight. June 19, 9:14 AM

Heidi really doesn't want to know what D is thinking but she has a pretty good idea. 9:15 AM

Heidi is dealing with a difficult, turbulent and thunderstorm-filled flight by having Lyle Lovett sing lullabies to her on her iPod. It's nice to know that if she needed him, he would come to her, he would swim the seas, for to ease her pain. Heidi is grateful for Lyle. June 19, 11:10 AM

Heidi is looking at the map of the National Gallery while eating a sandwich of tomato, bocconcini and fresh basil on rosemary bread. Art and lunch. Two of her favourite things. June 19, 2:20 PM

Heidi wonders why she's got "Mambo Italiano" going through her head. She thinks it could be because she's trying to find the 15th century Italian art section. June 19, 2:40 PM


Heidi has found the Italian art section and is singing "Hey Mambo, five more Botticellis, Hey Mambo, an Ugolino Lorenzetti..." June 19, 2:50 PM

Heidi just added 5 new Botticelli paintings to her life list. She's pretty excited. June 19, 3:00 PM

Heidi thinks, as she has thought many times before: "Art and lunch. Life doesn't get any better than this." June 19, 4:00 PM

Heidi is trying not to think about her regrets at not becoming an art historian. Heidi is not being terribly successful at repressing these thoughts. June 19, 5:10 PM

Heidi wonders-- upon seeing 4 monks wandering the gallery halls-- if it's bad to wonder if they sing "Hey hey we're the monk-ees!" Heidi decides, "probably." Still, there is a part of her that really wants to ask. June 19, 5:12 PM

Heidi is smiling at this voice mail: "And after dinner, E and I will go home and you and S can go clubbing." June 19, 5:30 PM

Heidi is so happy to see G, S and E. June 19, 6:30 PM

Heidi wishes the waiter would stop filling her wine glass... well, no... keep it coming, sir. June 19, 7:20 PM

Heidi is also smiling at this conversation: "So, where did he meet this band?" "Craig's List." June 19, 10:00 PM

Heidi is happy S was in town this weekend; she has missed her. June 19, 10:20

Heidi is nerding out over the fact that S has been to a Supreme Court Staff Holiday Party and can fill her in on which Supreme Court Justice is the best Christmas carol singer. June 19, 10:30 PM

Heidi thinks it's cool that there's a shoe store in Alexandria open at 11:00 PM. Heidi did not buy the black flats with the sort of deranged puppy on them, though she was tempted. 10:40 PM

Heidi is grateful for her amazing friends and she falls asleep wondering what she did to deserve them all. June 20, 12:40 AM

Heidi is elated that E is so excited about seeing the Library of Congress (and she's not even a librarian!) June 20, 11:30 AM

Heidi is speechless looking at Thomas Jefferson's personal library. She wears her cardigan with pride today. June 20, 12:15 PM

Heidi wonders if anyone else has said "Wow... Madison was a presidential hotty" out loud at the Madison Library or if people mostly just keep that thought to themselves. June 20 1:20 PM

Heidi remembers how unfit she is for southern heat, especially since she knows it's not really that bad today. June 20, 2:30 PM

Heidi can't quite believe the impact Facebook has had on her life. Why, for example, is she writing status updates with a pen on paper? June 20, 3:20 PM


Heidi is grateful she and E trekked on in the heat so they could gaze upon the White House with reverence for the first time in 8 years. June 20, 4:00 PM

Heidi wishes she could write a status update saying "Heidi has remembered to hydrate herself in this unpleasant heat and thus feels hale and hearty." 4:30 PM

Heidi has an unpleasant encounter with a mirror and realizes she doesn't look as bad as she feels. Sadly she looks much worse. Thankfully, the hotel has Aveda products and Heidi is hopeful they can work a small miracle in the next 45 minutes. June 20, 4:50 PM

Heidi, it would seem, no longer appears to look like a zombie with heat stroke. Huzzah. June 20, 6:30 PM


Heidi is fond of her dress and thanks the co-worker who said "what are you waiting for? Buy it already." June 20, 6:35 PM

Heidi realizes it hadn't quite sunk in that they were going to the Bolshoi until E handed her the ticket and they both said "ooooooooooooo...." June 20, 7:00 PM

Heidi is speechless after Act I of "Le Corsaire" and wonders "can the rest be this good?" June 20, 8:30 PM

Heidi recalls that when she and E went to see the Kirov, E asked her, "How far should we be willing to travel to see the Bolshoi?" A woman overhearing E said "You should be willing to travel very, very far to see them." Heidi finally understands. June 20, 9:30 PM

Heidi says "Gee... I don't know." when E asks "So, how are they going to stage a shipwreck in a ballet?" June 20, 9:40 PM

Heidi and E both say "Whoooooooooooooaaaa! Cool!!!!" when they see how they stage a shipwreck in a ballet. June 20, 9:45 PM

Heidi thinks there should be more ballets with pirates and with synopses that have lines like "They became mutinous" and "Birbanto requests permission to regale his fellow pirates with a barrel of wine." June 20, 11:30 PM

Heidi has been asked for directions 4 times this weekend. If you know Heidi, you know how funny this is. If you know Heidi, then you also know how amazing it is that she was able to give all 4 people real and reliable directions. June 21, 12:20 PM

Heidi is spending her last morning in DC basking in the US Botanic Gardens. She is amused that it's Pollenator Week. Pollen is your friend. It makes you laugh and cry. June 21, 10:30 AM

Heidi has taken 2 photos of her black Keen Mary Janes in two spots where she thought of how happy she was to be walking in DC on a perfect June Sunday; alone but thinking of everyone she loves. RealLY, a happier girl, there could not be. June 21, 12:20 PM

Heidi has found the elusive "Magnolia bloom at Heidi height" during her last 15 minutes of her last walk in DC. She has missed magnolias. 12:50 PM

Heidi is listening to Lyle Lovett on the Metro to the airport. Lyle sings "Li, li, li, le, le, le, lend me your hand, there's many a river that waters the land" while Heidi feels teary speeding away from the perfect weekend. A weekend, some might say, that was so perfect it can't be accurately stated. June 21, 1:30 PM

May 17, 2009: Before the Game and some desultory thoughts on Ranch Dressing

Game: May 17, 2009,
Tigers vs Oakland A's
Score: 11-7 Tigers
Game time temperature: 57o
Attendance:27,535
2hrs 57 minutes
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Biggie Bagel

I'm not sure if it was because the hockey game was on too but the ballpark seemed a little on the empty side today. While there's a part of me that would like to see every game be a full house, I will admit there's a part of me that's relieved when the crowds are a little thin. I like wending my way through the crowd instead of being tossed like a cork. It also gives me a chance to take photos I've been wanting to take but couldn't due to the press of the crowds. It gives me more time to think. I would like to say that this Sunday I was able to constructively use the time I usually spend thinking about how to get from Point A to Point B without wearing someone's beer or having my Mary Janed toes trod upon.

Alas, as you shall see, this was not the case. I found myself thinking about Ranch dressing. With the thinner crowds I was finally able to get a photo of these giant Ranch dressing dispensers which have amused me for several weeks. I don't have an opinion either way on Ranch dressing: I'm really just curious about a few things. For example, I noted that--just like the veggie dogs-- Ranch dressing is available for the first time this season at one location. As someone who wrote an email to Comerica petitioning for veggie dogs at the ballpark, I began to wonder if Ranch dressing has a following so loyal that letters would be written asking for its inclusion on the condiment stands. What rhetoric might a Ranch dressing fan use? Also, I was intrigued to see that the Ranch dressing dispenser is the same size as the ketchup and mustard. Does that mean that Ranch dressing is on par with ketchup and mustard? Finally, I have noticed that the Ranch dressing dispensers disappear part way through the game while the ketchup and mustard dispensers remain. Do they appear or disappear like some sort of condiment Brigadoon or is it is prohibited to dispense Ranch dressing after, say, the 7th inning when beer sales stop? Is "last call for Ranch dressing" announced or do the dispensers just disappear? And, one other question remains: why am I compelled to capitalize Ranch? I had no intention to write about Ranch dressing. Here are some other photos.

Storms from the 34th Floor of a Toronto Hotel, May 9, 2009

May 3, 2009: More on the beauty of the game.

Game: May 3, 2009,
Tigers vs Cleveland Indians
Score: 3-1 Tigers
Game time temperature: 66
Attendance:27,411
2hrs 37 minutes
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Biggie Bagel





When I first started going to baseball with D in 1992, I have to admit much of the appeal of baseball for me was pure aesthetics. I loved sitting up high and watching the perfect balance of players on the field. I loved the red earth, the green grass, the white of the lines, and the expanse of sky above. At the time I longed for a camera but was content enough to compose shots in my mind. Now I never go to a ball game without a camera: I still can't get over the beauty of park and the game.

When we first started going to Tigers games, we generally sat in the 320 range which gave me that beautiful, expansive view of the skyline and the field. Our partial season tickets are 13 rows up from the field between the first baseman and the right fielder. Though I often miss the view from the 300s, this space gives me a different angle on the game and I've learned to like what it offers. Last week I purchased a new lens for the camera and I'm pretty excited about that. Here are some photos to celebrate the beauty of the game and the arrival of the new lens (thanks PWM!) Oh, and here's Biggie Bagel with the new lens; he looks mighty fine!

April 29, 2009: Why it's a beautiful game

Game: April 29, 2009, Tigers vs Yankees
Score: 8-6 Yankees
Game time temperature: 51o
Attendance: 28,345
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Dashing Donut

2hrs 57 mins

At 9:44 PM, it was the bottom of the 8th inning.  I took this photograph of a nearly empty ballpark and told Dale "I'm going to call this 'O ye of little faith.'"  D nodded but noted, "There's an inning left and they're down 7 runs."  "True, but you never know."  Indeed, you never know.  This is why this is a beautiful game.



The ninth inning began with Cabrera getting a walk.  Guillen follows and gets a double.  Laird strikes out.  Inge gets a double and scores two runs. 8-3.  Anderson strikes out. The second out.  Santiago gets a single. The guys in front of us put on their rally caps. The Yankees get nervous. Curtis steps up, hits it out of the park and scores 3 runs.  The rally cap guys hug each other.  8-6. Still only 2 outs. They could do it.  Polanco pops it to 2nd base and gets the final out.  The Tigers lose by 2 runs.  Still, they almost did it.  And this is why it's a beautiful, beautiful game.

Orange Prize Shortlist

One of my favourite literary prizes is the Orange Prize for Fiction. They just released the shortlist and the winner will be announced June 3. Here's the list. Sadly, your local academic library is at year-end so your friendly neighbourhood English librarian won't be able to order these for many weeks. WPL has two right now.

Scottsboro
Ellen Feldman

The Wilderness
Samantha Harvey

The Invention of Everything Else
Samantha Hunt

Molly Fox's Birthday
Deirdre Madden

Home
Marilynne Robinson

Burnt Shadows
Kamila Shamsie

Over the past few years, I've encountered some of my favourite new authors through the Orange Prize longlist and short list. If you're looking for something new to read, both lists are great starts. Also, check out previous winners and previous shortlists.

Read (and loved): Moby Dick

Last month I was surprised to learn that there are few things more likely to start a conversation than reading Moby Dick on a plane. In carting Moby Dick across the continent and back, I've realized that this is one of the few books that almost everyone has an opinion on whether they've read it or not. It's also a book whose mere presence seems to strike fear into the hearts and minds of the general public. I saw in my plane-mates many of the same feelings I had about the book: fear, dread, and an almost morbid curiosity about why someone would want to read this for (ahem?) fun.

Here's a small sampling of the comments I received:

"How is it the second time?"
"Gee... they sure don't write them like that anymore, do they? Probably a good thing, eh?"
"What's wrong with you? Did you fail highschool? Is that why they're making you read that again?"
"Are you reading that because you want to or you have to? Want to? Whoooaa..."
"You know they have Cliff Notes for that, don't you?"
"I can lend you my Ken Follett if you want. Look, short chapters!"

One wintery night, my lovely friend J and I talked about Moby Dick. We were also talking about baseball and how it seemed like Opening Day would never arrive. I'm not entirely certain how it all came about but somehow he convinced me that I needed to re-read Moby Dick. Perhaps to sweeten the deal, he said, "If you start Moby Dick the first week of March, by the time you finish it, it's opening day!" And so, for reasons I still don't understand, I agreed that on the first of March, I would start Moby Dick. "Ohhh you're in for a treat," he said. "We'll see..." I replied dubiously.

In the first week of March, I tucked Moby into my briefcase in preparation for my trip. I grumbled online to J about its heft and my inability to fit another book in my bag. I made J swear I wouldn't hate him if, on his advice, Moby was the only book I brought on my cross-country flight: "You won't hate it. I promise. You know," he said with a significant pause, "you sure complain a lot for someone who is about to receive a fantastic gift." He was right. I decided to leave my feelings about Melville and the book at home and start anew.

I don't think we'd even left the airport when I realized how wrong I had been to grumble about Moby. By the end of the first 10 pages, I was hooked. I read it through our delay, I read it standing in line to board, I read it through take-off, I read it through turbulence, I read it across 3 time zones. I even read the Cetology chapters.

Even though I found evidence in the margins that I had read it 15 years ago, this seemed like an entirely different book from the one I appear to have read. In its pages I found some of the most evocative prose I'd seen in a very long time. Many times I was tempted to elbow my aisle seat neighbour and say "check out this sentence: 'We are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water. . .'" or "Check this out: 'Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed'" or "read this paragraph at the top of page 104. Isn't it stunning?" It really was a remarkable book and a fantastic read.

Moby Dick is, I think, one of those books that I thought I knew. I see I knew it only by a reputation I mistrusted and by memories of reading it with the sole purpose of negotiating it in a comprehensive exam or a job interview. It's a different book when you read it away from all the reasons that we are supposed to read it: it's a classic, it's important, it's on the exam. I think I liked it because J told me to read it "because you will like it." J was right: I was given a fantastic gift and was wrong to grumble. And wrong to doubt Herman. I am sorry. "Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable" (88).

Read (and loved):Museum Behind the Scenes at the Metrpolitan Museum of Art

Every once and a while, I am found by the perfect book exactly when I need it. This time it was Danny Danzinger's Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it found me during our last few hours in NYC in February. We had just left the Met for our second visit in two days and I had a hard time leaving.

At 11:30, I realized I had 30 minutes before I had to leave. I was standing outside the European Paintings Galleries staring at my map trying to decide which way to go. A gentle security guard approached me and asked if I needed directions. I said "I have thirty minutes before I have to leave for the airport and I'm trying to decide if I should spend it looking at work I already love or if I should try to find something new I might love." He smiled, looked around and said, "Well...I'm guessing you already have artists you love. And if you only have 30 minutes, I think you should pick the one you want to see most and then go see that. That's what I would do. Here, this is for you." He reached into his jacket pocket and handed me a detailed floor plan with all the European artists and their locations noted. It was exactly what I needed.

I thanked him and scanned the plan. It was a hard decision but I decided to pick based on where I would most like to be transported to on this grey, snowy, final day of a too short holiday. The warmth of Botticelli seemed exactly what I needed and so I went off to Gallery 4A, and wandered blissfully through sunny scenes of Italy until I found the lovely Botticelli. My 30 minutes was up before I knew it. I set out to find my security guard and thank him for what he'd given me but he was nowhere to be seen. Had I been able to find him, I sure he wouldn't have been surprised to hear that I left that gallery somehow transformed by what I had seen. I am sure it happens almost every minute at the Met.
Soon after we left the Met, I picked up Danzinger's book at Posman Books in Grand Central. As the blurb describes:" In the fifty-two interviews in Museum, we meet some of the people who have given their lives to making the Met the success that it is. We are introduced to curators with endless knowledge who look after the collections; as well as cleaners; florists; police and security staff who maintain and secure the building; plus the philanthropists and millionaires who donate their money for new and wonderful art works"

Reading it has seemed like a decadent treat over the past few weeks. Every time I pick it up, it puts me back in the galleries and shows me something new. I have many favourite parts but this section from Harold Holzer, Senior VP for External Affairs, stands out: "The Museum's for the obvious things, education and illumination, but it's also about a part of life that's to do with creativity and not about strife and conflict. I think it's a way to leave the hurly-burly of the present and to be absolutely transported by visions of beauty or reverence on a scale that we don't experience anymore today, tragically, and to see how all that passion can be focused on something beautiful and extraordinary" (95). What I loved about this book is how many times people say "I can't believe how lucky I am to have this job" or "I can't believe they pay me to do this amazing job." The passion for the Met runs through every page and I now have a list of things I really want to see next time I'm there. And I still have my map tucked into the pages of this fantastic book.

April 15: Jackie Robinson Day

Game: April 15, 2009, Tigers vs White Sox
Score: 9-0 Tigers
Game time temperature: 48o
Attendance: 20,212
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Cuppie Coffee

April 12, 2009

Game: April 12, 2009, Tigers vs Rangers
Score: 6-4 Tigers
Game time temperature: 54
Attendance: 18,905
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Dashing Donut

Today was one of those days when I realized what a beautiful, beautiful game this is. 4-0 Rangers at the bottom of the 8th: a HR from Inge starts off the inning and, as they say, "we have ourselves a ballgame." The Tigers win 6-4.

The 2.0 Haiku: A month of Facebook SU's

Heidi is singing "hey la, hey la, my boyfriends are back"

Heidi doesn't think it's a good sign when neither she nor her friend can answer the question "is this the band or the sound check?"

Heidi is a lot like Piers Plowman, apparently

Heidi wonders why the bigger the store, the more guys there are who look like D.

Heidi wonders if "do you have a stapler I could borrow?" counts as a reference query.

Heidi is reading an article that starts: "There's an old cliche that librarians are dusty, spinsterish women in twin sets and granny glasses shushing patrons who turn their pages too loudly."

Heidi wonders if she is alone in a library and no one asks her questions, is she still a librarian?

Heidi sounded her barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world and it sounded like this: "Woohoo!! Currtiiissss!!!!"

Heidi can't wait to see Curtis, Mr Van Slyke, her favourite scorecard vendor and veggie dogs

Heidi was going to get to Comerica early on Sunday to hide eggs in the outfield for Curtis but thought better of it.

Heidi does not have Amy Winehouse's beehive...

Heidi's new research project has given her hives... seriously

Heidi is not angry because you mentioned she's an actor

Heidi is unpredictable as weather. She's as flighty as a feather. She's a darling! She's a demon! She's a lamb!

Heidi just had a V8 and thought "Drat. I could have had a chocolate croissant!"

Heidi wonders if that burly cro-magnon dude who, last Opening Day, explained to his pal that garden burgers were "some of that vegetarian bull*&^%..." will be as gleeful as she is that they have veggie dogs at Comerica. She guesses "yes!"

Heidi says OMG OMG OMG!!! They have veggie dogs at Comerica this year!!!! All those letters I sent under DB's name sure paid off! Woooo!!!

Heidi dares to disturb the universe....

Heidi finished Moby Dick! Wow…

Heidi is going to change all her business cards to say "University of Windsor Castle" and change the logo to a little corgi

Heidi is, according to MR, "ruthlessly clever" and evidence that the world does NOT do his will. Ah... Scrabble....

Heidi just answered "uh... yeah.. sometimes..." to the question "Hey, I don't see your husband around much anymore. Do you?"
·
Heidi is trying to decide whether she should try to finish her "difficult third album" or go get a coffee.

Heidi is having one of those moments where she's hoping her friends are sending her fake emails trying to get her to buy fake books. The other scenario is that these are real novels. This scares her.

Heidi is listening to Said the Whale and preparing to read the last few chapters of Moby Dick.

Heidi is remembering that last spring D decided to call her "Nemo" until the Tigers won their first game. Heidi was Nemo for weeks. She hopes today is her only day as Nemo.

Heidi has recreated her trip in 13 status updates. She will stop now.

Heidi is happy to have her feet on the ground after a flight that resembled white water rafting and necessitated the flight crew to announce "if someone is missing their box of Hot Tamales, it's back here in the rear of the cabin.

Heidi is feeling nostalgic for the days of wasabi foam

Heidi is wondering when gross cuts of meat and internal bovine organs replaced wasabi foam as the "must have" menu item in trendy restaurants

Heidi must be Cutie because this sure seems like a Death Cab

Heidi thinks you're better off traveling with D since "that place where they had all those pretty flowers" and "that corner where we saw that Yorkie puppy" are not terribly useful navigational signposts.

Heidi and D were thinking of the same cheese shop. It is on State and Lake and had pretty flowers last fall.

Heidi and D evidently think about urban spaces differently. H: "you mean that cheese shop that had all those beautiful flowers last fall?" D: "I don't remember flowers; it was on State and Lake. Was the one you're thinking of on State and Lake?" "Was the one on State and Lake the one with flowers?"

Heidi wants it to be spring even more since she was found by the perfect black dress. D reminds her she has mentioned this six times already

Heidi is wandering around the Art Institute and thinking about Whitman: "If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles."

Heidi must have done something right since the perfect DKNY black dress found her and was 75% off.

Heidi is shopping for the perfect imaginary chaise lounge for her imaginary loft in Chicago. Because it's imaginary, D is amenable to it being pink.

Heidi is traveling without a laptop but finds herself still thinking in status updates

Heidi wonders what she did to deserve getting a Kelly Clarkson song stuck in her head. PS: Oh, and there are about 5 of you who aren't allowed to answer that. You know who you are.

Heidi is happy to be your Little Hoodrat Friend

Heidi is happy her prose of yesterday is evolving from "turgid" to "workman-like"

Heidi is slaying rhetorical dragons before noon. Watch out...

Heidi has been alerted: "there's a man who has been looking for you." Upon further research, Heidi has determined it is not Curtis Granderson, Colin Firth or Alan Rickman.

Heidi is the librarian your mother warned you about

Heidi's Super Powers seem to have disappeared. It's blustery again. Drat on both accounts.

Heidi wonders if she woke up with Super Powers. An hour ago she said, "I wish it were sunny..." and now it is. She'll keep you updated!

Heidi wonders why it always rains on her and her bike... is it because they lied when they were 17?

Heidi had the tuna salad sandwich from food services. She mentions this in case she is unable to answer "what's wrong? was it something you ate?"

Heidi is cheering for the whale. Run Moby run!

Heidi is starting to think Ahab might be a zombie...

Heidi realizes it might appear that it takes a village to help her pick out shoes. Some days, this is true.

Heidi IS going to finish Moby before starting P&P and Zombies. Still, she notes the blurb: "The real question is: if Mr Darcy became infected, would Elizabeth have the fortitude to behead him in time." Moby marathon ensues (and H is ok with that)

Heidi wants you to know that the first line of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

Heidi says: quick, facebook friends: Kitten heeled pumps or patent flats??

Heidi says "wooohooo!" Her copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has shipped from Amazon

Heidi says "hey Windsorites, see that sunshine? You can thank my kitten heeled shoes for that!"

Heidi realizes she'd have a hard time calling Samuel Beckett a hotty. In case you were wondering...

Heidi is convinced that wearing kitten heeled shoes today will hasten the arrival of spring.

Heidi has to look away when there's violence against whales in Moby-Dick. It's hard to read with one's eyes closed but Heidi's doing ok.

Heidi thinks Leonard Cohen should have written more poems about librarians

Heidi is set in 11/13pt Garamond Three

Heidi placed an order for a new fountain pen cap and glowers at the drain that devoured the first one. Heidi feels guilty for glowering since it's really her fault.

Heidi says "Just say No to Boolean Searching."

Heidi is thinking she might become the Gob Bluth of Librarianship

Heidi does not own an oatmeal sweater. As far as she knows it is not grounds for biblio excommunication (contrary to popular belief)

Heidi is probably not going to arm wrestle for cash at L__s

Heidi is home, exhausted, unable to sleep and amazed at her own stupidity for accidentally dropping her fountain pen lid down a drain. Sigh.

Today at the ballpark: Opening Day, Crepes and Curtis

Game: April 10, 2009, Tigers vs Rangers
Score: 15-2 Tigers
Gametime temperature: 51
Attendance: 44,588
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Biggie Bagel




As reported earlier, a good friend of the cafe said, "If you start Moby Dick the first week of March, by the time you finish it, it's opening day!" I started Moby Dick the first week of March, I finished it this week, it's opening day.

Seeing the park and the players at batting practice today, I remembered why there was a lump in my throat as I left the park for the last time last season.



And, in what could easily become a pre-game tradition, D and I sought out and found this amazing creperie close to the ballpark. It's a creperie takeout window called Good Girls Go to Paris. It's really worth checking out and supporting people doing cool, interesting things in Detroit.

Bibliography of Unfinished Books: A Chance Encounter

Last month on a long flight, I had a conversation with my row mate, an architect from Tennessee. When he found out I was a librarian, he said "what do you think about eBooks?" "Oh...gosh..." was all I could say for a few minutes. I asked if he wanted the long answer or the short answer and was relieved when he said "maybe the short answer." Truthfully, I'm still working on my long answer but here is my short answer: "It depends."
My architect friend is not alone in wondering about eBooks: almost every day someone asks me something about eBooks. Are they the wave of the future? The end of the biblio world as we know it? The harbinger of democracy or an omen of doom? I don't think there is an answer to the eBook question, or, more accurately, the eBook questions. While unanswerable in many ways, I think questions about eBooks are important for all of us to consider in whichever ways are important to us. The major issues, it seems to me, are related to copyright, access, and preservation. Here is but one example of an issue many of us need to consider sooner rather than later.

Today, while waiting for someone near the "overflow" reference works, I saw a title that caught my eye and made me smile: Bibliography of Unfinished Books (1915). Feeling guilty about being the authoress of two unfinished books, I sighed and picked it up to see if, by chance, my name and unfinished titles were listed there. Thankfully they were not.
While advances in eBooks (particularly related to historic books) intrigue and engage me,something magical happened in the act picking up this book, flipping through its yellow pages and liberating the decades worth of dust trapped on its edges. Embossed with gold lettering and bound in once elegant blue cloth now faded with disuse, this book captured my imagination in ways I've yet to fully articulate. I was instantly captivated and have since spent part of the afternoon perusing it and discovering in its pages the seeds of my next research project. There will be more to come on this subject over the next weeks and months to be sure but I thought it would be useful to post this brief note about one version of this book and post a link to another version. In some ways, they are the same book, in others, they are very, very different. More on this later.

Finally a periodic table I understand...

This is mighty cool.

Melville, Mudville, March

Good friends are hard enough to find but finding a good friend who likes both the Tigers and Melville is a rare and welcome thing. This particular friend said to me, "If you start Moby Dick the first week of March, by the time you finish it, it's opening day!" And so, I find myself re-reading Moby Dick on the first day of March and looking forward to opening day. Seeking out my dusty copy, I was amused to see the various copies of Moby Dick that I have acquired over the years (all, I believe, from D). In honour of Melville, baseball, and those who love both, here's a small gallery of Moby images from my collection.

Construction or Christo at the Leddyverse?

You be the judge.

"this town is ripe for really great things to happen." Tom Lucier

D and I went to Phog Lounge twice yesterday: once right after it was announced that Phog is officially the "No.1 live music venue in Canada" and then a second time later in the evening to share a pint with other Phog revelers.

As we left Phog last night, I stopped to take this photo. It's probably not obvious from the photo but there's something
magical going on inside those orange walls on University Ave and I know I'm not the only one to think so.

There is--despite the news (or maybe because of the news)-- a more urgent sense of hope in the people I know in Windsor. Maybe it all started on November 4 when Obama said "I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there." The news in Windsor has been particularly difficult lately. Still, somehow, everywhere I go there's a growing sense of optimism that things can change. Two things in particular stand out. Last week I attended one of the most amazing and inspiring events I have been to in recent memory. You can hear Tom talk about Pecha Kucha Windsor - Talk 20 and watch video of the various stellar presentations. I think everyone left feeling a little more inspired, amazed, challenged, reflective and, most importantly, connected to our city and to each other.

All day I've been walking with a spring in my step. In part it's because Windsor's own Phog lounge was voted the No.1 live music venue in Canada. While the victory is lovely, it's the process that has been particularly moving. In Phog, Frank and Tom have created something really special in Windsor. More and more, Phog seems to embody the undercurrent of energy, creativity and determination that has always appealed to me about Windsor since we moved here in 2000. Every single day I see evidence that contradicts the recurrent comments that I hear about Windsor.

In a recent story, Tom is quoted as saying "People are so blinded by this 'poor me, poor Windsor,' but this town is ripe for really great things to happen. There are people doing things besides worrying. They're getting out there and getting excited about the place they're living in." There's an excitement building and I think Tom's right: this town is ripe for really great things to happen.

If you live in Windsor, stop by Phog for a pint, some Phries and some perfectly chilled Junior Mints. If you don't live in Windsor, Tom will take you on a tour here. Either way, I think you'll see why so many of us voted for Phog. It's not just a space where we go see bands: it's much, much more. As Tom notes on the PhogBlog, "When you want something, and you participate in what it takes to make that happen with a mobilized group of inspired individuals, you succeed whether it ends in a victory or defeat paired with a tighter community." Yesterday Phog's win proved how true this is and how amazing it can be.

One week later...

It's not quite time for one of my Mum's favourite poems but on my walk this morning, there were a few places that were definitely mud hyphen line break luscious. It's pretty amazing when compared to this time last week.

Caliginous, diaphanous, mellifluous: some of the most beautiful words

My missed friend A (of whom I could write an ebullient encomium) sent me this fantastic link to the Hundred Most Beautiful Words in English. This link is inspiring me. Stay tuned.

Sunshine and baseball of a different sort

Yesterday was one of the first sunny days in weeks. I went for a walk in the quietness of a sunny Sunday morning and marveled at Alberta-ness of the sky.