Daily Thoughts 11/10/2011

Still Life With a Lighted Candle, Peter Claesz

Daily Thoughts 11/10/2011


I read some more of Supergods by Grant Morrison on the train to work this morning.  I also read a little bit more of The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer.  I am looking forward to the Biography Book Club next week on Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  We are also having the Mount Vernon Writers Network on Thursday, November 17, 2011 from

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also printed shipping labels for the Better World Books boxes.  The boxes are packed and labeled for Monday. 

We opened the Computer Lab from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. for academic use.  There was a person who was doing some research on Phillis Wheatley and another gentleman who was looking for a job.  It was fairly quiet today.

I spent some more time on Lynda.com studying Microsoft Publisher 2010.  It has become a lot easier for me to help people with basic wordprocessing questions.

I also read the latest Booklist magazine.  

On the way home, I finished reading Supergods by Grant Morrison. Much of the book covers the authors experiences as a writer for superhero comics.  He has firsthand knowledge of what he is writing about.  It was an enjoyable.  I also read some more of The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer.  This is much more down to earth than most books I read.  Robert Frost was a farmer in addition to being a poet.  He has a very old fashioned sensibility to his writing.  I also started The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker.  This is an argument for how civilized behavior reduces violence.

Web Bits

The Public Library Completely Reimagined
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/11/the-public-library-completely-reimagined/

Build A Digital People's Library-- From Galley Cat
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/build-a-digital-peoples-library_b41973#more-41973

Occupy Comics Kickstarter Project
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/11/occupy-comics-kickstarter-campaign-raises-funds-for-protesters

Daily Thoughts 11/7/2011

Photo of American Transcendentalist and writer James Freeman Clarke, seated and reading a book. Cropped version.

Daily Thoughts 11/7/2011

I read some more of Supergods this morning.  Grant Morrison is writing about Alan Moore and Frank Miller.  I rather like Alan Moore.  Watchmen was an interesting book, but I liked The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen much better.

This morning I also checked the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the library as well as the displays.

The Friends of the Library are packing up the books leftover from the book sale to be sent to Better World Books.  We are also sending our discards over to Better World Books As Well.  Better World Books is paying the freight. http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Info-Discards-Donations-Program-m-4.aspx  Having a book sale is more than just about making money for the library.  It is also a way to generate goodwill for the library which can seem a bit intangible to some people, but is very important.

I also spent some time on the website learning to make minor adjustments as well as watched a bit of the Lynda.com training videos for Photoshop CS5 and Microsoft Publisher 2010.

Two books came in for me to read, The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge which is science fiction and The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker.

On the way home I read some more of Supergods. I also switched back to reading The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer. The book of letters is very slow reading.  The thinking and style is very dense.  Each letter condenses a lot of living into a very small space.

Please go out and vote tomorrow.  Election day is on November 8, 2011 in New York.

Web Bits

Saving Libraries but Not Librarians Blowback
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/11/saving-libraries-but-not-librarians-blowback.html

This is a reflection on how people are thinking of things.  Our profession has been facing a lot of changes for some time.  We are also increasingly facing competition from the business world who would like to make libraries less able to deal with a digital future.  Other people are trying to label our profession as superfluous.  It is important that we get better control over technology and start advertising the access we offer.

Net Neutrality Is Under Attack Email Your Senators Before Tuesday's Vote
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/hutchison_nn/?source=fb

Net neutrality ensures open access to the internet.  It is important to ensure free access to information.

Sign Online Petition to Save School Libraries
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/892737-312/sign_online_petition_to_save.html.csp
 This is another example of how libraries have been challenged.  I can understand asking people to change their skills and offer retraining for relevance, but that is often not what is happening.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Jennifer Egan Just Showed Up With Jonathan Lethem At Occupy Wall Street

http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-egan-just-jonathan-lethem-occupy-wall-street-2011-11

Daily Thoughts 11/6/2011

Wow Comics No.38, Cover Art by Jack Binder, Fawcett Comics. The character is "Mary Marvel."  


Daily Thoughts 11/6/2011


This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook account for the library.  I also spent some time on Lynda.com studying Publisher 2010.

I read some more of Supergods by Grant Morrison.  Grant Morrison references David Hajdu's The Ten Cent Plague:  The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America.  The Ten Cent Plague is a very entertaining book.  There are also references to Frank Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent where Superman is seen as a fascist and Batman is considered indecent.  Grant Morrison's writing is changing to a seductive mix of pop psychology and counter culture memes while he is writing about this.

I read some more of Supergods in the laundromat.  It has become very entertaining.  I rather liked Garnt Morrison statement that he would rather see people building Mars colonies and spaceship than going to war.  It resonates with me.

Right now, I am reading about the beginning of Grant Morrison's career in Scotland. He mentions two of my favorite comics.  The first is Star Reach which was a series of science fiction comics that had adult content and mature stories based on authors like Arthur C. Clarke, Roger Zelazny, and Michael Moorcock.  Star Reach featured some of Richard Corben's early artwork http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Reach.  Grant Morrison also mentions the Adventures of Luther Artkwright by Bryan Talbot which has a very counterculture feel with a psychedelic psychic superhip hero that reminds me a bit of Michael Moorcock's character Jerry Cornelius in The Condition of Muzak.  This all ties in with the "New Wave" in science fiction




Web Bits

A Trip to the Worlds Largest 'Art Museum' In Print

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/03/141992336/the-art-museum-a-case-for-the-printed-book 

Fighting For Literacy Library By Library

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/fighting-for-literacy-library-by-library/?scp=7&sq=libraries&st=cse

Daily Thoughts 11/5/2011

Old Corner Bookstore First Brick Building in Boston 1909

Daily Thoughts 11/5/2011

Sometimes your posts go missing.  I am redoing this post.  In the morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook page about the Book and Bake Sale which is today, November 5, 2011.  I very much enjoyed going to it yesterday.  It is an excellent way to support our library.


I spent some time studying Photoshop CS5 and Publishers 2010 this morning on Lynda.com as well.  This takes away from my time to write book reviews.  Right now, I think it is more important for me to rebuild my computer skills.  I have been talking to other libraries that give computer classes.  People are using libraries more and more to have computer access and access to broadband.  Our library offers internet access, WiFi, and access to computers for typing papers.


This afternoon I read some more of Supergods by Grant Morrison who is a very famous comic book writer.  Right now, he is writing about the origins of Superman who he compares to Apollo.  Grant Morrison has a very interesting bombastic style of writing which reminds me a little of the old radio plays like The Shadow or The Spider.

Web Bits

The Small But Powerful Guide To Winning Big Support For Your Rural Library
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/toolkits/rural/index.cfm

All 50 State Librarians Vote to Form Alliance With Internet Archive’s Open Libraryhttp://www.thedigitalshift.com/2011/11/ebooks/all-50-state-librarians-vote-to-form-alliance-with-internet-archives-open-library/

Your Own Private Librarian

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/my-own-private-librarian.html?_r=1

This is also happening in the public libraries on a different scale.  Yonkers Public Library and New Rochelle Public Library have set up a sign up sheet for librarians for up to one hours time one on one to help with basic computer tasks like filling out forms, applying for a job, or setting up an email account.