Green onions on my cutting board and my radio

I'm just waiting for dinner to cook and am hoping the dish fairies will come and dry my dishes. A few moments ago, while chopping green onions, CBC Radio 2 just played Booker T and the MGs Green Onions, a song which never fails to put me in a great mood. This week, while hiding from the humidity, I've become an addict of CBC Radio 2 or, as it's been called, the New Radio Two. I sought it out last week when I wanted someone to give me something new to listen to and to show me something that I would not find on my own. Radio has, I realize, always been a huge part of my life but I'd forgotten about it recently. It's easy to get distracted by podcasts, web radio, and iPods. Lately, though, I've been thinking a lot about radio and have been trying to think about what makes radio so magical. I think it's that element of surprise, delight and intimacy. Even though some shows are podcast now, there's still that sense of the fleeting moment of radio. Once it's passed, it could be gone. One never knows what's coming next: it could be great, it could be ok, it could make you run for the volume (either up or down). Last week, I found myself doing something with CBC 2 that I've never done with a podcast or web radio. Even though I was exhausted and needed to be up in a few short hours, I couldn't bring myself to turn it off. I wanted to know what was coming next. I felt like my brother must have when he was about 10 or 12. Most nights, I'd hear my parents at his door: "Is your radio off??" and he'd offer a weak "Yeah..." Through our shared wall, however, I could hear the tinny sound of music coming out of cheap little white earphones he attached to his little pocket radio. Often I could hear it until the wee hours of the morning.

The day I'm going to remember that day in January

There's always a day in July that I think "I'm going to remember this day come January" and there's always a day in January when I remember that particular day in July and don't feel so cold. Today is one of those days in July. It's 33o and the air is so thick I feel like I'm walking under water. It's also one of those days (like those days in January) when I'm happily hermit-ing inside reading fiction. Some of my neighbours meanwhile are basking in the gooey heat. In my self-imposed exile, I've been thinking a lot about "the great read" and keep returning to two major questions: what is the allure of a good novel and how does one find a great read?
I've run into two interesting articles today which may also be of interest to Cafe visitors. The first is a recent G&M article that describes how "a group of Toronto researchers have compiled a body of evidence showing that bookworms have exceptionally strong people skills. Their years of research - summed up in the current issue of New Scientist magazine - has shown readers of narrative fiction scored higher on tests of empathy and social acumen than those who read non-fiction texts." Fiction, the researchers suggest, "is really about how to get around in the social world, which is not as easy as one might think." Interesting.
The other interesting article comes from the beloved Nancy Pearl (you may know her from her action figure with real shushing action) who offers a great list of "perfect carry-on books" for summer travel. One of the things I love about Nancy Pearl is her Rule of 50 that she describes in Book Lust: "Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren't enjoying but think they ought to read. I live by what I call 'the rule of fifty,' which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books is immense. If you're fifty years old or younger, give every book about fifty pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up. If you're over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100. The result is the number of pages you should read before deciding." I wished I had Nancy Pearl's sage advice when, years ago, I thought a 14 hour flying day would be a perfect way to get through a book I could not stand. And yes, Peter, it is that one.

Just finished: An Illuminated Life

Sometimes a day with the flu is a gift. Because of this cold/flu, I was finally able to finish Heidi Ardizzone's absolutely fabulous biography of Belle da Costa Greene that I've been reading for quite a while. It's rare that I get enthralled in non fiction but this one kept me turning pages. In 1905, Belle Greene was hired by J.P. Morgan to organize his rare books and manuscript collections. Over time, she acquired what became the Morgan Library, one of the finest collections of rare books and manuscripts anywhere. Her story is remarkable and fascinating and the book is meticulously researched and beautifully written. It's part biography (of Belle da Costa Greene), part history (social and political context early 20th century America), part social history (how exactly did race and gender work its way into almost every facet of life and how did Belle da Costa Greene negotiate her way into and through this matrix?), part intellectual history (about the art and rare book world of early 20th century New York and Europe as well a who's who of the New York art, theatre and literary worlds). And, it's also sort of a romance too. In the winter I was able to get to the Morgan Library and see some of the works I read about in this biography. It's a beautiful, magical place. Most recently, they've added a very nice Renzo Piano addition.  Thank you flu/ cold (don't hurry back though....).

Just read: The Sealed Letter

A good novel is a treat; a great novel a delicacy. This past week or so, I've been enthralled with Emma Donoghue's great new novel The Sealed Letter based on "the details of a scandalous divorce case that gripped England in 1864." It's by far one of the best novels I've read this year. Reading The Sealed Letter had me thinking about the genre of historical fiction (of which I read a lot). As with anything, there's great historical fiction, interesting historical fiction and what seems like gratuitous historical fiction. Gratuitous historical fiction is often fun to read and can usually be identified by the recurrence of lines like "The nurse put the baby in the perambulator, a remarkable new device that had been invented just last year." Good historical fiction conveys the time, place, and ideas evocatively, accurately and convincingly and uses historical detail deftly. Sometimes good historical fiction is better history than fiction; sometimes the needs of conveying history seem to override the needs of a well-crafted novel. I'm starting to think that great historical fiction not only recreates a time, place or character evocatively but that it also guides you through the nebulous areas of doubt, contradiction and ambiguity of that time. I think one of the recurrent shortcomings of historical fiction is that it suggests that eras before our own were simpler: that life made more sense, pieces fell into place and everything added up. Donoghue is clearly a gifted fiction writer but she's also a gifted historian. At the end of the novel, we understand that nothing has ever been simple. We are not offered answers but questions. We need to think not only about the events and characters she has brought back to life in this fine novel but also about the very act of telling and conveying history and how we shape and are shaped by history or histories.

Guerilla Gardening

When I was in Bruges last month, I saw a little patch of pansies on the street which struck me as a lovely random act of gardening. Today I've been reading about Guerilla Gardening (read more about it here) which is a great idea. Hmm...

American History and the Cracker Jack Prize

Today I purchased some Cracker Jacks at the ballpark as I root, root rooted for the home team. I was delighted to find this mini biography of George Washington as the prize. It reminds me of a Simpsons episode my pal N, a historian, often cites:
Bart: "Gee, how come you know so much American history?"
Grandpa Simpson: "I pieced it together…mostly from sugar packets."

And the winner is: the Chocolate Digestive

According to a BBC story, "about four out of five UK businesses believe the type of biscuit they serve to potential clients could clinch the deal or make it crumble." The survey of 1000 business types found that "the chocolate digestive was deemed to make the best impression followed by shortbread and Hob Nobs." I would have voted for the HobNob. On the topic of biscuit etiquette more than half of respondents looked down on dunking biscuits in tea or coffee during a meeting. On a related note, a survey of 7000 people last year revealed that the custard cream was the nation's favourite biscuit.

Sir Walter and Amy W

According to a story in the Guardian, "Cambridge University finalists have been asked to demonstrate their three years of intensive study at a world-class institution in an exam question that compared the poetry of Sir Walter Raleigh with the lyrics of the pop singer Amy Winehouse." A spokesman for the university said "the question was not 'usual', but added that it showed the university was firmly rooted in the 21st century." Ah. Yes. This comparison is pretty easy if you compare Winehouse's lyrical musings with Raleigh's very little known poem "Roanoke" : "They wanted me to go to Virginia and I said sure, sure, sure".

Two Photos

My poor cafe. I have been neglecting it. I've been a bit pre-occupied with todayphoto but I think I can get back to doing both. While sorting the candidates for today's today photo, I was struck by a few similarities that I would not have noticed had they not been side by side in iPhoto. One was taken while waiting for my bus on campus and the other while I poked around my garden. I'll let them speak for themselves.

Facebook Haiku: Volume 4

Heidi thinks it's good to know that both the Modern Language Association and the Meat and Livestock of Australia both use the acronym MLA.2:42pm

Heidi is amused by the New Yorker referring to Amy Winehouse as "the Marge Simpson of junkie retro soul".11:36am
Yesterday

Heidi had a fabulous guys' weekend: one can sure watch a lot of Jane Austen movies and try on a lot of shoes without them. AND get the remote.9:08pm
May 25

Heidi spent some time in the Mudville Nine.5:23pm

Heidi is, like the bank commercial says, 'richer than she thinks.' It's true. She just found 2.50 in Canadian Tire Money.9:22am
May 24

Heidi was wrong in thinking dashing out to grab a coffee would motivate her to read her icky book. Talking with Dave and Ron was a lot more fun.3:08pm

Heidi is wondering if she suffers from "techno-romantic idealism" or if she's just reading too much theory.1:58pm

Heidi is continuing her jet-setting by traveling to Chatham on Monday.11:17am

Heidi is participating in Take Your Giant Ferns Home From Work Day. D will join her. But he will mutter curse words. She will not.2:31pm

Heidi is living on the edge and microwaving her lunch!1:13pm

Heidi is not so vain as to think this song is about her.12:30pm

Heidi does not regret staying out til 1 AM on a school night. She might, however, regret it at 6:30 AM.1:01am
May 21

Heidi is not a geranium.9:22pm

Heidi still needs 2,026 delegates. Come on Puerto Rico!8:36pm

Heidi loves the statement she heard at a workshop: "as far as I'm concerned, if you're up @ 3AM wine & dancing should be involved; Foucault should not be." 12:25pm

Heidi is half the man she could be.8:09am
May 19

Heidi distrusts the email she just got promising she can be twice the man she is now.9:43pm

Heidi shouldn't be surprised to discover that standing in her backyard and whining "warm uuuupp!!!" doesn't achieve much.5:19pm

Heidi would really like to be sipping Campari on her front deck while neighbours ask "hot enough for ya?" Instead she's shivering and sipping tea inside.2:22pm

Heidi is grateful for the leads on butlers.7:03pm
May 17

Heidi is wondering if people still hire butlers these days; she thinks she would like one.3:50pm
May 16

Heidi is considering practicing random acts of microwaving.3:40pm

Heidi is baffled as to why, an hour after wondering why she's still here, she's still in her office on such a nice day. How did she miss lunch?? And coffee...3:21pm

Heidi is baffled as to why she's still in her office on such a nice day. How did she miss lunch??2:43pm

Heidi has been on the phone since 9:20...11:07am
May 15

Heidi is surprised that she is surprised to realize that emoticons lack subtley and precision.12:00pm

Heidi is wondering if her Tigers jersey would be considered business casual....10:43pm

Heidi has just been given a pair of brown argyle socks as a gift. Really.3:14pm

Heidi can't stop thinking about her lunch.12:25pm

Heidi feels like librarianship's Jim Leyland.11:16am

Heidi wishes she had a pain au chocolat for breakfast.9:04am
May 13

Heidi is not expected to win the West Virginia Primary. Things also don't look great for her in Kentucky, South Dakota, Oregon or Montana. Puerto Rico however...8:03pm

Heidi is not expected to win the West Virginia Primary. Things aren't looking great in Kentucky, South Dakota, Oregon.8:00pm

Heidi is not set to win West Virginia either but will take aim at McCain nonetheless.5:18pm

Heidi 's feelings of invincibility have been dashed. She just got a phone call from the circulation desk asking if she'd returned her own DVDs with her books. Ah.9:26am May 12

Heidi is feeling invincible! She can outsmart jetlag by ignoring it!8:21pm

Heidi is home! Her cats are happy; her inner vegetarian is joyous but her inner aesthete is singing a sad song by Edith Piaf.5:02pm
May 9

Heidi is sufficiently self aware to realize she is naive in believing Dale is charmed by her encyclopedic knowledge of dog breeds in Paris.4:50pm

Heidi is amazed at what looking at classical sculpture for a morning can do for one's body image.10:56am
May 7

Heidi is fond of Paris in the spring time.11:27am
May 6

Heidi is in Paris. She is happy to no longer be hearing the Eagles everywhere she goes. Really, Belgium, what gives??3:40pm
May 4

Heidi apparently has allergies that work in the European Union as well as NorthAmerica. Oh well.2:59am

Heidi now knows where bad American pop songs from the 70s went.8:36am
May 2

Heidi is in Brussels; Bruges tomorrow; all well.10:39am
April 28

Heidi is not married to Seal.3:47pm
April 25

Heidi is taking on 418 words. She might take Renee's advice and get rid of all words starting with T. Would anyone notice?9:25am
April 24

Heidi has 418 words to expunge and 72 hours to do it. But she also has a date with Curtis at 1:05. 418 words can wait.11:40am

Heidi has 682 words to expunge before first pitch.10:27am

Heidi is discovering BobbleHead Curtis's forte is not open ended questions.10:17am

Heidi is trying to delete 913 words before first pitch.9:18am
April 23

Heidi has lost her strathspey.10:31pm

Heidi is home and more mirthful.5:21pm

Heidi is looking a lot less merry than BobbleHead Curtis after a long day of editing.4:33pm

Heidi and BobbleHead Curtis only need to get rid of 961 words now. He's so agreeable.3:18pm

Heidi and BobbleHead Curtis are ecstatic that the AC is kicking in at work!1:52pm

Heidi has found that while BobbleHead Curtis is a very agreeable co-writer, he's not very speedy. She still needs to get rid of 1,164 words.1:24pm

Heidi is going for a walk and leaving BobbleHead Curtis with her revisions. Hopefully he'll delete 1300 words by the time she gets back.12:20pm

Heidi and Bobble Head Curtis are deleting 175 words per hour.12:14pm

Heidi is happy Bobble Head Curtis has agreed to help her rid her article of 1,438 words.9:17am
April 22

Heidi is amused R said it must be baseball season because "all the boys are coming to see you." I didn't want to say "they're actually here to see BobbleHead Curtis".2:28pm

Heidi is worried that her evilness has escaped her fragile facade of innocence.1:55pm

Heidi has just come back from a lunch where she shared many of her pranks over the years. She feels the need to apologize to everyone she's ever known. Sorry...1:44pm

Heidi still hopes to woo superdelegates, elected legislators and party insiders.11:25pm

Heidi is attempting to dispel rumours that she has a crush on a certain center fielder.11:17pm

Heidi is glad to hear she's appearing tactful.2:21pm

Heidi is not exactly as illustrated.2:04pm

Heidi finds that watching Curtis' bobble head bobble is a lot more fun than tending to some of her work email.1:54pm

Heidi would like you to know that Bobble Head Curtis is in the Leddy house.9:20am

Heidi regrets mentioning the baseball and is surprised people are emailing to say "are you ok" rather than "you got a Curtis Bobblehead? WOW!!!".10:08pm

Heidi sustained no major injuries after getting hit by a Toledo Mudhen baseball. She also now has a Curtis bobble head doll. EEEEEE!!!!7:50pm

Heidi is sort of weepy after seeing La Rondine at the Detroit Opera house. Poor Magda.10:45pm

Heidi has been researching shoes and finds the recurrent claim "where style and comfort meet" spurious.3:51pm
April 18

Paris photos

As many of you know, I've been in France and Belgium the past 2 weeks and am working through my photos.  I found this very lovely site this afternoon; sigh... it's not helping me adjust to work life but it's nice to look at.  

When Obama Wins

This is a site worthy of a visit and a few dozen clicks. I think my contribution to this would be "When Obama Wins, people will stop wearing UGG boots." Thanks to PB for passing this along.

3 months of facebook updates

Heidi is remembering her physiotherapist's advice from October: "when those cute shoes come out in the spring, I want you to remember how much this hurts.".
11:21pm

Heidi 's mind is hosting a monumental battle between good and evil: kitten heel sling backs or the wrath of her physiotherapist. Which side will win? Tough call.
6:11pm

Heidi is a hermit in her own mind.
10:04am

Heidi anticipates she will be scurvy free AND malaria free for the next several years. Hurrah for quinine and lime!
12:48am

Heidi thinks eating a cupcake and staying out way past her bedtime on a school night was exactly what she needed.
12:20am

Heidi can't believe she just read a story about "Farfallegate" and the McCain campaign.
6:43pm

Heidi is in a better mood because of a cupcake.
6:32pm

Heidi would have a live-in physio therapist if she were Celine Dion. Heidi would also be a lot taller and thinner if she were Celine Dion. She would annoy herself.
5:02pm

Heidi has had her name mispelled by 3 different people in the past 24 hours. She is starting to think she is spelling her own name wrong.
3:52pm

Heidi agrees with R however she thinks Cicero's cuter than Phaedrus the Epicurean but not as cute as Pliny the Elder.
1:01pm

Heidi wishes 1. she could get the image of the squashed rat she saw this weekend out of her head and 2. that she'd stop equating it with her scholarship.
9:53am

Heidi is alarmed that people actually read her status updates and regrets using the phrase "intellectual roadkill."
9:40am

Heidi thinking about baseball when she should be thinking about her article's impending deadline and its current state (which reminds her of intellectual roadkill).
9:22am

Heidi is thinking about getting a theramin for her cats.
4:12pm

Heidi apologizes to L and D for not sharing her Junior Caramels. She will know better next time.
2:34pm

Heidi wishes she hadn't eaten all those Junior Caramels. She feels ill. She can, however, take your calls now.
2:13pm

Heidi should know better than to answer the phone with a mouth full of Junior Caramels.
1:24pm

Heidi is wondering if cake is a form of rhetorical persuasion.
12:01pm

Heidi is apparently on the Survivor Leddy tribe who lost the challenge where the winning team gets room temperature work spaces.
9:20am

Heidi is miffed. After 3 weeks of leaving milk and cookies for the laundry fairies, she's decided she needs to take matters into her own hands.
6:24pm

Heidi found the hidden immunity idol.
9:21am

Heidi thanks D for acknowledging that it is he not she who curses at What Not To Wear.
3:55pm

Heidi does not curse at the TV during What Not to Wear.
2:14pm

Heidi is listening to D curse at the TV and having a hard time believing that D watches sports because it "relaxes him".
1:44pm

Heidi is laughing herself silly at P B's new political campaign: "The Audacity of Heidi: Change Albertans Can Live With.".
8:13pm

Heidi is uber proud of her brother. He's so swell.
11:18am

Heidi has written a lot of status updates about pudding lately. She wishes she had some now. Alas, she only has proof.
10:56pm

Heidi thinks R's on the right track again. The right pen and pudding. That's all. Then you can footnote "For proof, see pudding."
5:06pm

Heidi is happy with the frozen paneer tikka masala she got from the cafeteria.
1:37pm

Heidi is reconfiguring her email's "out of office" function to say "Heidi is out of sorts. She should be back to a less snarky state in several weeks. Thanks."
10:55pm

Heidi is wondering if she spilled pudding on the proofs she's correcting, would the proof be in the pudding?
10:16am

Heidi is having a hard time believing she just quoted the Fonz in a work-related email. Sigh.
9:41pm

Heidi is Nemo still.
8:18pm

Heidi is wondering why a database suggested she might be interested in newspaper articles on "Mascots in football." How did they know that?!?!
5:18pm

Heidi is five runs away from not being called Nemo.
5:06pm

Heidi is still hopeful today will be the last day Dale calls her Nemo even though the Tigers are still scoreless.
2:51pm

Heidi is brought to you by the number 7 and the letter B.
10:49am

Heidi is sad that her writing momentum from yesterday has seriously derailed .
10:04am

Heidi is surprised that D really is calling her "Nemo" until the Tigers win.
9:24am

Heidi is trying to recreate the logic that led her to believe making a curried carrot souffle on a school night would be a great idea.
7:13pm

Heidi is wondering if anyone would mind if she installed a porch door in her office and maybe a porch swing outside.
3:27pm

Heidi is kind of alarmed by the number of sandwich crumbs stuck in her keyboard.
2:22pm

Heidi fears she looks like a blonde Magglio Ordonez when she wears her ball cap.
10:27am

Heidi is getting very tired of her bad Tigers knock knock joke. The punchline's now Owen Six. To make things worse, D's calling her 'Nemo' until they win a game.
11:39pm

Heidi is telling her Tigers knock knock joke again. This time the punchline is "Owen Five.".
12:35am

Heidi wonders if, when he visits Canada, Jay-Z is Jay-Zed.
9:53am

Heidi has been restored by an hour of Motown.
9:35pm

Heidi has been upgraded to "ok" and is approaching "swell".
7:44pm

Heidi has been downgraded from "chock full 'o crankiness" to "crabby".
6:36pm

Heidi is chock full o' cranky-ness and wonders if that's an improvement from being one surly little hombre. She doesn't think it is.
4:02pm

Heidi is chock full o' cranky-ness.
4:00pm

Heidi is one surly little hombre.
1:39pm

Heidi is thinking about her career options at Dunder Mifflin ("The People Person's Paper People").
9:53pm

Heidi would like J to know that Heidi is "one tired little hombre.".
1:41pm

Heidi 's inner terrier is a little tired today.
11:59am

Heidi didn't quite realize how many traits she had in common with Scottish Terriers; it's really quite eerie.
3:21pm

Heidi just scored another 73 point word. She thinks it's the giant Toblerone she's been eating that's inspiring these words. She is still getting lots done at work.
2:36pm

Heidi is also getting lots of work done.
11:33am

Heidi just scored 74 points in Scrabble. Sorry M. K, aren't you glad it's not you?
11:12am

Heidi is glad she launched a 'bring tofu to Comerica Park" letter writing campaign; she hopes D B will forgive her for signing his name to all 900 letters.

Heidi is not Shelby Lynne
5:34pm

Heidi regrets making K that evil pudding.
3:03pm

Heidi is disappointed that K has realized that Heidi is an evil librarian.
1:19pm

Heidi is playing her own walk-up song as she approaches the mound that is the reference desk: she's chosen Wonderwall.
10:54am

Heidi is doing some calculations to see if she can have a bed built under her desk like George Costanza has.
9:35am

Heidi is never going to fall for this line again; if you like Jane Austen, you'll love this novel!" Blaaaaah.
8:32pm

Heidi found her Tigers cap and saw the injured Curtis.
6:37pm

Heidi is looking for her Tigers cap and looking forward to seeing Curtis (he'll still be there, right??).
10:18am

Heidi is happy to be watching Austen-a-palooza again.
9:44pm

Heidi just got wished "carpe diem" on her birthday card from the upper adminsitration. She wonders if "carpe diem" is administrative code for "take the day off... live a little!"
3:03pm

Heidi is feeling more cromulent.
3:42pm

Heidi is feeling low corpulent.
3:21pm

Heidi is surprised that it took 16 years but is happy that D finally realized she wasn't joking when she asked if he'd hide Easter eggs for her.
6:53pm

Heidi is feeling nostalgic for the days when she wrote amusing status updates.
5:44pm

Heidi would like to wave a white flag at 2008.
11:51am

Heidi is wondering what happened to her inner Nina Simone.
9:25pm

Heidi is unfortunately needing to think about what Death Cab for Cutie said that Sarah said again.
12:49pm

Heidi ate too much caramel corn...
6:27pm

Heidi would like to have a word with 2008: "could you be a bit kinder?".
6:07pm

Heidi 's inner Jane Austen is at war with her inner Nina Simone.
6:16pm

Heidi hasn't had enough coffee.
6:59pm

Heidi has received scholarly validation. She feel validated. She will now dance.
6:46pm

Heidi has been chipping away at mountains of minutiae all day and has conquered very little.
3:06pm

Heidi 's webinar is experiencing technical difficulties. She was about to type "I hope someone doesn't sing the Jeopardy theme" but someone already has.
2:23pm

Heidi listening to a webinar...though perhaps the fact she's on facebook suggests she is not.
2:19pm

Heidi makes a fine spinach lasagna (if she may be so bold as to say so).
1:42pm

Heidi is noticeably happier after reading her virtual puppy is "nicely fed, happy and well-loved." Ah, Marigold....
10:53am

Heidi is listening to Fountains of Wayne and thinking she too has a bright future in sales.
9:26pm

Heidi is feeling like one half of the Flight of the Concords. She won't tell you which. And she won't let you guess.
8:41pm

Heidi is glad she is nowhere near the 50-hour "Danny Boy" singing marathon.
3:58pm

Heidi might could be confused with Typhoid Mary.
12:46pm

Heidi is not at one with her daytimer.
11:08am

Heidi and Lily are celebrating Curtis's birthday.
10:15pm

Heidi is, apparently, kind of like Kermit the Frog.
6:44pm

Heidi had no idea Jimmy Page is "a collector of museum-quality pre-Raphaelite and British Arts and Crafts Movement pieces".
3:25pm

Heidi went to the Joffrey Ballet with E yesterday and was very excited to see two Borzoi dogs in the performance. There should be more dogs in ballet, she thinks.
12:56pm

Heidi is no longer feeling Dickensian now that the furnace has been fixed.
4:49pm

Heidi is ill but her virtual puppy is on the up.
1:53am

Heidi is wondering if she can find a sandwich in Pearson that is made of actual bread instead of a space-age polymer shaped like bread.
8:59pm

Heidi still has two Tim Tams which she will share with D.
8:57pm
March 12

Heidi is a firm believer that friends don't let friends wear conference name tags in public.
8:31pm

Heidi feels like a super hero now that she is carrying two Tim Tam cookies to save her and protect her from evil. Like Obi Wan says, "Use the Tim Tams, Luke".
10:50pm

Heidi thinks Melville Dewey would be pretty impressed with the way she arranged condiments in her newly cleaned and organized fridge. Heidi must get out of the house.
9:15am

Dancing Cupcakes!

This came from D with a note that says "This will make you feel better." Indeed it has!!!

When Librarians Make Films

 As my brother would say, "oh, those nutty librarians."  Four films for your biblio-enjoyment.

A little Tyson will do one good...

Four strong winds that blow lonely, seven seas that run high, all these things that don't change, come what may. But our good times are all gone and I'm bound for moving on. I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.

Low Corpulent, Stout or Stooping?

A friend, needing to order academic robes, passed this little curio onto me. It's the actual order form she needs to fill out. "Please, please tell me I'm not on my way toward 'low corpulent,'" she wrote. Indeed, one might worry about one's chosen profession when allowable body type options include low corpulent, stout, and stooping and when it is assumed one has one low shoulder: "Low Shoulder: Which? R_____ L______."

Mr. Collins??

After an agonizing three minutes of deciding upon my ideal "Man of Austen"( "Mr. Darcy! Henry Tilney? Willoughby! Colonel Brandon (only if it's actually Alan Rickman)? Frank Churchill? Mr. Knightley... Mr. Darcy!"), I finally decided on Henry Tilney. His interests in fashion, shopping, horseback riding and long walks in the country finally tipped the scales in his favour. Not surprisingly, Mr. Darcy ranks first among people like me who spend part of their Monday nights weighing the merits of various fictional men. But, Mr. Collins in 8th? Gack! Who is voting for Mr. Collins?!?! Maybe it's Lady Catherine de Bourgh? What would Miss Austen say? Vote for Willoughby?

We Tell Stories: Digital Fiction from Penguin

Lately I've been doing a lot of reading about the history of the book, the future of the page and all manner of topics related to those questions. Today I stumbled upon the We Tell Stories site which looks very interesting. Six authors. Six stories. Six Weeks. This week it's Charles Cumming's The 21 Steps, an homage to John Buchan's The 39 Steps. It is, as the site says, "an adrenaline-fuelled adventure written and designed for Google Maps." Penguin has just given me another reason to love them.

What White People Like: or, today I discovered what a predicatable demographic I am

Thanks to PB for pointing out this nifty blog. It starts out being sort of funny and then it turns kind of eerie. Like Barack Obama?: yup; own one of these water bottles?: indeed; am I one these coffee drinking people?: uh huh; own Apple products?: yep; go out for breakfast?: that too; fan of the Bluth family?: guilty as charged; Wrigley Field?: been there; and sigh, there's this too. I'm going to stop now.