Feb 22, 2010

Library World: 1, Me: 0

Oh, my poor little GL blog...so neglected...so sad. That's why I am forever grateful for good friends like Harriet, who point me to articles like this one. There's a new book out about librarians, written by Marilyn Johnson, called "This Book is Overdue"!: Hot for Librarian. Then there's a sub-subtitle: How Librarians and Cybrarians can SAVE US ALL, and a superhero librarian is flying out of a pile of books to do her heroic duty.

This it TOTALLY the book I should've written. Or could've written if I was already a librarian and not a library student with every waking moment eaten up by homework or children or needy pets. Or if I was actually a real writer who could sit down and write an entire book, which is doubtful because I'm getting more and more ADHD as time goes on. (ADHD: Aging, Dragging, Harassed and Droopy.)

But here's the thing: when you read the article, which is an interview with said Johnson, you'll see references to Megabeth, book cart drills, dancing librarians, and subversive librarian blogs like "Society for Librarians Who Say Motherfucker," ALL OF WHICH APPEAR ON THIS BLOG! Plus, she's really interested in the new librarian image, which is what I wanted to showcase with all my Gonnabe Librarian colleagues, but failed miserably at because I'm clearly not a motivating force. (Except I've probably proven that I would be a new librarian, if I was still somewhat new and not old and crotchety. So I guess I'll always be a measly wannabe new librarian, and will have to settle for being one of those sad ancient people who tries to be hip and young and looks like a moron, but has fun anyway. So, score one for me.) Anyway, I could've turned this blog into a book, if I was more enterprising. Take that one point away.

PLUS, Johnson's first book was called Dead Beat, about obituary writing, and I have actually started a blog called O-bitchuaries! I haven't actually posted any yet, because I'm stuck in mulling mode on that one. But keep your eyes peeled! (And if you want to bitch about something and can write it up as an obituary - like the death of your perfect, flat stomach after childbirth, or the death of the grocer's "s", send it to me and I'll stick it on there.) Anyway, I've decided that Johnson is my doppleganger. Maybe I should stalk her.

Speaking of which, Johnson says that librarians have stalkers! WTF?! I don't think I'll have to worry about that, because I'll be an old, creaky, trying-to-look-half-her-age-and-really-looking-like-a-pathetic-shadow-of-her-former-self librarian, and not at all attractive to stalkers. But just in case, here's what I would do if I had a stalker:

1. Shave my head.
2. Wear hockey jerseys.
3. Swear a lot. (Big surprise there.)
4. Get out the Doc Martins.
5. Carry the riding crop that I used in a cabaret show once, when I was a showgirl.

See how I slipped that in? Telling all y'all I was a showgirl, so you'd know I was once young and sexy? I'd post a photo, but that would just make me look desperate.

The upshot? I'm going to buy that book and cry hot tears about lost opportunities. Or at least get in what looks like a really good read.

Feb 7, 2010

Book Club Burlesque

Am I dead? Is this heaven? I got a tip from a friend and fellow future librarian about this delicious piece of not-so-bookish-and-yet-clearly-brainy-in-a-bizarre-and-subversive-sort-of-way entertainment. The article appears in the New Yorker, no less, in their Book Bench section. It's called Fiction Fetish, and it's got to be brilliant. It's a burlesque show with a stripping librarian, and was created by artists who idolize Edward Gorey and the Brothers Grimm, and "plan to dedicate shows to Amy Sedaris and Chuck Palahniuk."

Books and dancing and sex and Sedarises. I mean, come ON!

Feb 2, 2010

Pointers

Well, it's finally happened. What with the other blog, and writing assignments, and updating the Lessons Learned page on the personal website I had to create for a class, and keeping up with the discussion boards on our learning management system, I've finally hit a wall. I have actually run out of things to say.

But never fear, dear reader! (I know there's a reader out there somewhere. I can hear you breathing.) Here's my plan for today: pointers to stuff I've looked at recently and either a) snickered at or b) cried over or c) wrote myself and am THAT shamelessly promoting.

Let's get the shameless promotion out of the way, then: Library Class: Boon or Bane?

Now check out this list of librarians doing Michael Jackson's Thriller. Actually, that pointer comes from a pointer from the Infomaven's Desktop, which is a pretty cool blog, in case you haven't seen it. Anyway, the Thriller dance is a rite of passage for librarians around the world. Kind of like circumcision except the only thing that gets cut off is your dignity. I know that when I finally get a library job I WILL be forced to do the Thriller dance, and I WILL like it. (Actually, I really will like it. I even learned it once already. Back when it wasn't a cool bit of nostalgia but was actually cool.)

Here's why I'm pretty much terrified about losing my internship at the NYPL this summer: NYC Loves Libraries. Read this article for details about that ugly picture. And if you want to get even more depressed, you can see Obama's take on the real value of school libraries.
Say it ain't so, Barack! Say it ain't so!

Here's a video created by the Central New York library Resources Council in response to the fourth cut in two years. FOURTH funding cut! In TWO YEARS! WTF?!

But lest I leave you, dear reader, ready to slit your wrists in the bathtub, allow me to point you to a video that a fellow student pointed me to last semester. It's the only one I can watch over and over and over because it's THAT CUTE. And God, I need cute right now, because the future for librarians is looking pretty damn ugly.