Review: When you are engulfed in flames by David Sedaris

As I wrote recently, I bought a copy of When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris when he was in town for a reading.

I finished it reading it about a week ago. I rarely read short stories, or humour, but I think I should read more. What's nice about short stories is I don't feel the need to finish too quickly. With books, finishing a chapter doesn't feel like much progress, so I feel pressured to read quickly. Not so with short stories.

I remember reading a review somewhere and someone complained (yeah I know all so vague) that Sedaris' stories could've been about their own family and therefore not worthy of our praise. Hmm. Yeah, my family does some pretty silly things too, but I don't write about them and even if I tried I'm pretty sure the humour would not get across to all of you. The fact that his stories deal with the types of people and situations with which we are familiar is the very reason why they are enjoyable.

I do admit thought that there were only a few laugh out loud moments, and there were some stories that I just didn't get. Sometimes I forget to have a sense of humour. Overall it was a good read and a nice introduction to his work (other than the excepts I've seen online).

LibrarianGear is back!

The news is spreading across the Internet: LibrarianGear is back! Colour me thrilled. Looking back I'm surprised I never really blogged about LG other than a passing mention.

Back when M.J. was coordinating this back at Dalhousie, the student council at FIMS worked with him to bring the shirts to our school. I was on council and remember how involved it all was. I bought two shirts: librarian definition and Dewey decimator. DD is no longer available as a design so I'm glad I still have it. The definition one has long been gone because of some stains.

A couple months ago I was talking with a co-worker about something and librarian t-shirts came up, specifically the info*bitch design. This co-worker happened to be at the School of Information Studies one day and in passing - not even in direct contact - she saw a student wearing the info*bitch shirt. That student later applied for part time work at our library. My co-worker was relieved when that student did not get the position. You might write my co-worker off as a fuddy-duddy or humorless, but really I've learned a lot from her already, she is great to work with and open to new ideas. I tried to point out that the student was at school but she just didn't buy that as an excuse. She was uncomfortable with the idea of a self-proclaimed bitch providing reference service. I'm just glad she's never seen me in any of my shirts.

This isn't to scare anyone away from buying or wearing these shirts, just raising awareness that not everyone gets it. (BTW, even being on student council, I never heard any complaints from students or faculty when we got the shirts - some admitted they weren't their thing, but they never displayed offense.)

And, if you actually can wear t-shirts often enough to need them, check out the ones from Unshelved, and also the one cool design from Questionable Content. I've owned four Unshelved shirts (plus book bag), though I think I only have Library Schooled now, and yes I have the QC Library Science one.

There really are a lot of dancing librarians

I've blogged before about swing dancing. Perhaps I've mentioned how I knew two other librarians who attended FIMS just after me who are also swing dancers (well one of them started at FIMS my last semester there). Or maybe you heard me tell about the time I danced in Chicago and the lead and I were making small talk and he turned out to be a librarian too!
Back in June when I went to California I was supposed to meet up with two dancing librarians for dinner, unfortunatley our plans got derailed. I still was able to meet one of them (a law librarian from Colorado). That was in San Francisco. In L.A. I met another librarian at the Thursday night swing dance, Lindy Groove.
Well, she tracked me down and now there's a place for all of us swing and bal and blues and charleston dancing librarians on FaceBook. Yup, there's the Swing Dancing Librarians group!

Librarians do love to dance! I mean not just swing, but there's belly-dancing librarians, contra dancing librarians, line dancing librarians, even virtual dancing librarians!


See look, they even dance at conferences!


So, what type of dancing do you do?

WILU 2009 Call for Papers

WILU (Workshop for Instruction in Library Use) is an annual Canadian conference that is next happening here in Montreal, May 25 to 27, 2009. The WILU 2009 website is up and the committee is looking for proposals:

Our vision for the reflections of WILU 2009 is a spectrum of sessions that will inspire and engage the information literacy community.

I have always wanted to attend a WILU. I plan on volunteering as much as I can given work, but I hope I get to attend a few of the sessions too!

It's playtime

One thing I noticed about myself recently is I often substitute the word play for work or explore or investigate, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except when done repeatedly in an interview perhaps. *ahem*

I'm one of those types that never truly grew up. I get excited in candy and toy stores. I eat dessert before supper about once a week (though granted I don't have dessert all too often). I still laugh when my dad farts. Again, those who know me, know I'm not all fun and games, but really, fun is what I like. Relaxation is the only thing I'd put above fun (and I believe both are possible in work but that's another post). I've been thinking lately about playing more, online that is. I know, you're thinking I'm online too much as is, but I'm not playing so much as randomly surfing. Wouldn't it be better to have something to focus on?

I remember about 5 years ago I bought a Harry Potter video game for my PC but it didn't run well on my system. So I left it at a friend's place and played it there. She would watch me, and jumped and screeched with me when the giant spider attacked. I asked her if she played it when I wasn't there and she said no; she was only interested in watching me play.

So years after my childhood, and 5 years after my last gaming experience, I've decided to give games another go. Last month I dropped by my brother's place. He and his wife had to excuse themselves from supper while they went on a raid. Yes, raid. My brother has played World of Warcraft for years (or equivalent). It was through playing some of these MMORPG that he stayed close to his best friend while he lived overseas. Now that he's back in Canada, a new homeowner, I think gaming is main source of entertainment since his budget is tighter. Of course, he got his wife involved because besides her having no friends (moving can be lonely) it also is a good way to spend time together. So I sat on the carpet with their dogs and watched and listened while they did their raid thing with the Guild they're in. It was pretty cool.

Now that the librarians have gone and made their own guild, I think I'm about ready to jump on in and play too! See, one of the reasons I've never ventured into online playing, besides crappy computers which is no longer an issue, is that I didn't want to be the inexperienced one dragging everyone down. But librarians are used to being dragged down! Er, or, that is they're used to helping people, so who better to learn to play with? I emailed my brother yesterday and he sent me a trial link and I'm in the process of downloading the game now. So soon we shall see how Jen likes her online gaming. It's just too bad the librarian guild and my brother are on different 'realms'.

Sucker for an author signing

There's something about having the opportunity to see and hear an author that appeals to me. I'm not talking about any of my favorite authors or recent reads, just any author. Really, I don't have to have even heard of an author to be interested in going to her or his reading or book signing. Of course, that was one of the perks of going to library conferences like OLA Superconference. There's always so many authors signings (and at the conference the books are often free). Also why I attended Word on the Street a couple times. I discovered a few authors that way.

This past Sunday I went to see David Sedaris at an Indigo store here in Montréal. I heard about the signing on Twitter and so looked it up on the store website. I've heard of Sedaris before, and I've heard about him, but I guess it was a recent post by Wil Wheaton that got me thinking that I should check out his writing (I think I may have heard him on NPR or youtube or something before).

So what else was I to do on a rainy Sunday when all my close friends are out of town? I purchased a copy of When You Are Englufed in Flames and went and stood in the already forming line and began to read it. Glad I realized he was popular enough that I got there about an hour early. Okay actually 45 minutes early since I had to eat lunch first. I'd be annoyed that it's so cheap online compared to in store, but I still had a balance left on a gift card from my birthday six months ago so it worked out for me, plus I got it signed!

His reading was good though he admitted that he was feeling a bit rushed since he had to catch a flight back out in a few hours so he wasn't going to be as pokey as he usually is. Since I was already in the line, I didn't have the greatest view, though that wasn't as annoying as the fact that I was close to the escalator and clueless customers would come up talking loudly to each other or on their phones not realizing they were interrupting anything.

After the reading and a few audience questions he got down to signing. I think I was in line for maybe a half hour or so. He gave me a newspaper doily. What's with that? I got the sense that he does this at every signing, but does he make them himself? He drew a picture of a turtle in my book. I like turtles. When I stepped up to the desk he asked if I was Libra - no, taurus- no. He was closer with his first guess (in the sense that Libra and Aquarius are both air elements). He then asked if I was alone, saw anyone I'd want to date, saw anyone I'd sleep with for $7. Yeah, he wants to turn us all into prostitutes. During his talk he had mentioned that he advises people instead of going to do a Master's (in English?) to spend that time as a prostitute - you'd have more money and more writing material at the end of it!

Five month status update

It's been five months at my new job at a new institution in a new city, and I have some time right now so I thought I'd give another little update. Today I received the official email that I didn't get a permanent position that I had applied for here, although I already knew that weeks ago and in fact met the successful applicant about a week and a half ago. Of course I'm bummed - that's now two permanent positions I've applied for here and not received (since if you remember I originally applied for a tenure track one, but got this temp one instead). So, instead of focusing on trying to get a permanent place, I'm going to work at making the most of my time here and take this time to learn as much as I can and to grow and we'll see what happens next. No need to hurry, right?

Things are starting to come together now and I'm doing pretty much what I expected and doing the things an academic librarian does. In fact I'm finding it a little challenging learning to give reference staff work; I'm used to working in smaller orgs where librarians have to do their own 'menial' or clerical type things that I don't even think of asking the staff or student librarians to do stuff for me. As noted earlier, I have been given a subject area and so I've received some training on acquisitions which is going to continue for a while; they're pretty good at supporting and training new librarians here. I still haven't met with the chair from my department but considering it is summer I don't expect to hear from him for awhile, though various faculty have emailed me requests. No requests for library instruction at all though. I'm not sure if there's been any work done in that area for this department. I'm so happy that I have a subject area that I'm familiar with yet at the same time it makes things difficult - so many titles seem interesting to me, but I don't think they actually support the curriculum so I can't really buy them.

In addition to collections and reference, I've managed to get onto a couple committees. I know, most of you abhor committees since they mean meetings and meetings are time wasters, but any of you that know me, know that I'm a joiner and actually like committees and (some) meetings. Next week I have meetings with both committees that I'm on. Should be interesting - they're both areas I've had some experience in and want to work more with.

Can I just say, I feel like such a baby?! Really, compared to every other librarian here, I feel like I've accomplished little - they're all so experienced! Of course, I suspect I'm the youngest librarian here; I think there's maybe one the same age as me. Not that age is necessarily an indicator in this field, but it still helps puts things in perspective. Anyway, I still have time to find my place, as I was so worried about in a previous post.

And of course reference! You know me, I love reference. I do chat reference every day. It's pretty dead right now, but I get a few questions; even the occasional one that's NOT circulation related! Yesterday was a new milestone at the reference desk for me. I actually had two reference questions in French: one in person, one on the phone. The in-person question was from a professor who had looked for an author and saw his books were at our library but checked again and saw they were at the other campus. Turns out most of that particular author's books were at our campus, although the other campus had a couple too. The prof had a couple follow up questions too. So it wasn't too hard a transaction, but still I was proud that I didn't have to force him to switch to his broken English (which the clerk at circ needed him to do). The phone call sounded more complicated at first but that's just because the caller used a lot of words. Basically she was part of a research group that wrote a book and wants the library to buy it, so I transferred to the librarian that collects in the relevant area. Still, my phone language is horrible - I hate talking French on the phone; I sound like an imbecile.

Not much else comes to mind at the moment. Like I wrote, just trying to make the most of my experience here and learn. Still getting to know my coworkers; one had a nice garden party two weeks ago and I believe there's another party in August. Oh, and I guess I should mention the library has a new director! I haven't met him personally yet as when he was by on Monday the phone rang just before he walked by (I'm pretty sure he was going to greet me). He seems like a nice fellow, reminds me of my former Classics professors.

Review: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

This past Monday I finished reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I had at one time borrowed his The Omnivore's Dilemma from the library, but was unable to finish it before I had to return it (the hold list was quite long). Then I saw the video of him at Authors at Google and thought I'd give this book a try since I did enjoy what I read from Omnivore. Again, there was a long wait list, so much so that I forgot that I had put a hold on anything!

I think this book is another case of common sense that just ain't so common anymore. Like he writes, his book really boils down to seven words "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants". If you truly understand that then you probably don't need to read his book. But if you're like me you may be wondering what he means by those few words, and that is what he explains.

Pollan isn't too fond of nutrition science - he says it is too flawed and that everything is very reductionist - looking at one or two elements instead of a whole food or meal or food culture. He writes that this is one of the reasons that over the last several decades nutritionists and food scientists come out saying one thing then change their mind, or change their focus. Is margarine better or worse than butter? (Which off topic, but Québec just voted to repeal law that disallowed yellow margarine in the province for the last 20 years.) Is a low-fat diet better than low carb or high protein or...? All these specialists have been telling us what's good for us but in general Americans and Canadians haven't really improved our health. This is just one of the issues that Pollan tries to address in his book while he guides us through steps to take to make better choices about our food.

While reading this book I'd discuss a few things with a friend, who hasn't read it. She would sometimes respond with wary or negative comments, but I understand now because she already IS doing what he suggests she wasn't thinking like me. She eats real food, she grows her own herbs, she cooks fresh every day, she likes to eat with others, she eats mostly plants. It wasn't so much that she was disagreeing with anything so much as she still feels there's more to it than all that. She still also believes in nutrition (and she was reading the Thrive Diet which focuses on whole raw foods).

For me though, I am the stereotypical Westerner eating a 'Western' diet. I grew up on prepackaged foods and can barely remember a time when we didn't have a microwave. In fact, I used to think TV dinners were special! If you look in my high school yearbook you'll see that 'wrinkly peas in TV dinners' was my pet peeve. I don't remember when my family stopped eating dinner at the table - maybe when I was around 10? So since I was 10 I've been eating dinner in front of the t.v. I think that was also around the time I stopped eating breakfast. Mom rarely ever cooked from scratch (and she wasn't a good cook anyway). I do remember two things: baking peanut butter cookies with her, and making pizza from scratch with my dad (he was and still is a better cook than mom).

So this whole 'eating fresh, whole foods' thing is new to me. Even up til a year or so ago I would regularly buy a bag of frozen french fries each week! And microwave dinners? I just stopped buying those this year when I moved to Montreal (I used to get them for work). One of Pollan's 'guidelines' is that if it makes an health claim, it's probably no good since it's been played with by food scientists adding, removing and adjusting ingredients (natural and non), so don't buy it. Well, doesn't that just fly in the face of everything I've been told till now? Sure recently I've become aware of concerns with aspartame so I change from diet soda to regular...well until I cut it completely from my habits (Yup, used to drink at least one pop a day until, again, I moved to Montreal - now I have maybe one a week if that).

I may not fall for all the ideas in this book totally hook, line and sinker, but it certainly has helped me a lot. For the last few years I've been thinking about diet and health and that it would require a lifestyle change that seemed like the largest challenge of my life, but becoming aware of what people are saying about food, even those in discord, has helped me to start making small changes in my eating habits which I can only hope are benefiting my body and mind. Well, if anything I'm sure I've lost several pounds since coming to Montreal (an estimate since I don't own a scale, but clothes fit differently now - smaller size needed.) All the small changes - no pop, rarely chips, no fries, bringing lunch or going home, and more walking have added up! (oh and the occasional breakfast; that's still one of my greatest challenges.)

Now, I just need to learn to cook better!

Canadian Book Challenge update

July first was the end date of the first Canadian Book Challenge hosted by John over at the Book Mine Set.

Read his final update on the challenge; you might find some reviews you'd like to look at.

You'll notice that I'm a failure. I didn't complete it! I was so close reading 11 out of 13 required, much better than the last challenge I tried. My excuse is vacation - I went to the U.S. without any extra books than the last one I finished so had no more Canadian books to read! Ok, fine that was the start of June, but when I got back I never made it to the library either (as evidenced by my overdue fines). So I only made the 'Snowy Owl' level, which actually, was my name when I was a Brownie leader.

Here's my list again if you don't want to scroll through that final post!
- Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff
- Mary Ann Alice by Brian Doyle
- The Greenies by Myra Paperny
- Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The Ruby Kingdom by Patricia Bow
- Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay
- Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock
- Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
- The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
- No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

Although this challenge has come to an end, the 2nd Canadian Book challenge has started. Same 'rules', same number of books. Hopefully with a year to go I won't have a problem whatsoever completing the challenge this time!