The Boy and the Library

My son just came into the library to get my extra iPod cable from me and "borrow" my debit card. He didn't look good; his eyes were tired looking and his hair was dirty. I asked him about it, and he "Doesn't want to talk about it." He's 22 and I know I should let it go, but it's hard, really hard, not to worry about your kids -- alleged adult or not. Then he says things like, "Why does it matter to you?" He doesn't get that it will ALWAYS matter to me. Always.

On a lighter note, why do patrons come into the library with their mp3 players, turn the music up so loud that I can hear it far far away from where they are and then just look astounded and offended when I tell them to turn it down? I should not be able to identify singer, album, and song from 50 feet away! Okay, not 50 feet, but still . . .

Demon Days and the Friday Shuffle

Mister B. Gone: Clive Barker: It's funny how people's tastes can be so different. I like Clive Barker - - always have. He can have a real turn with a phrase, and he can really ratchet up the dread in his books. Not so much dread here, but I still liked the book. I appear to be the only person who did if you check out the amazom.com reviews. Do I think it's the best novel Clive Barker has ever written? No -- I would go with The Damnation Game for that -- but neither do I think it's as bad as some of his detractors would have you believe. It's a quirky little story that begins with the narrator -- a demon trapped in a book -- begging you, the reader, to burn the book you hold in your hand. As an enticement for you to do so, the demon, Jakabok Botch, tells you snippets of his story from his childhood to how he got in the book. There is no intricate world created here, like Barker does in such books as Imagica and Weaveworld; the narration skips over centuries at a time and is at times thin, but the book was still, for me, a quick and enjoyable read. I wouldn't recommend it if it's the first Clive Barker novel you've ever read, but I didn't find it a disappointment.

Friday Shuffle

1. 15 Step: Radiohead from In Rainbows
2. At My Window Sad and Lonely: Billy Bragg and Wilco from Mermaid Avenue
3. What If: Lucinda Williams from West
4. Bend & Break: Keane from Hopes and Fears
5. No Vacancy: The Subdudes from Behind the Levee
6. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: Shelby Lynne from Just a Little Lovin'
7. Corazon Espinado: Santana from Supernatural
8. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Carly Simon from Clouds in My Coffee
9. Amy Amy Amy: Amy Winehouse from Frank
10. Walk Away: Christina Aquilera from Stripped
    

Book meme

From Hilda:

• Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more - No cheating.
• Turn to page 123 and find the first five sentences.
• Now post the next three sentences.
• The fun begins - - tag some people to play along. I'm not going to tag anyone - if you want to play please let me know in my Comments.

His digestion was poor, and he had a weeping eye. But as his youth died out,
his gaiety increased; he replaced his teeth with jests, his hair with joy, his
health with irony, and his weeping eye was always laughing. He was dilapidated, but bedecked with flowers.

From Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee.

Dreamers and the late Friday Shuffle

Dreamers of the Day: Mary Doria Russell: Have you ever read a book and become so immersed in that world that when you finish, it's hard to pick up another book? That's the case with me right now. I was so thrilled when I heard this book was coming out -- I could barely wait for it. The Sparrow, Children of God, and A Thread of Grace are three of my favorite books. Then it turned out I didn't have to wait; I got an advance reader copy when I was at ALA. Then I was nervous about it -- what if I didn't like it as much as the other three? After all, the subject matter was something I knew nothing about -- the Cairo Peace Conference that established Iraq as a country. While Dreamers did not turn out to be my favorite Russell novel, it was still brilliant. She has a way of creating characters and making them memorable. Here, Agnes Shanklin is a woman who has always followed her mother's wishes for her and believed the things her mother has said about her -- she's mousy and uninteresting. When her family dies in the 1918 influenza epidemic, Agnes is left alone with money and the opportunity to redefine herself out of her mother's shadow. Her decision to follow her sister's footsteps and take a trip to Egypt is fateful for both her and for us. In Egypt she meets her sister's friend, T. E. Lawrence -- that Lawrence -- Lawrence of Arabia. In doing so, she falls into a social circle with Gertrude Bell and a youngish Winston Churchill and becomes privy to the events and arguments that end in the creation of Iraq. In the hands of Russell, these huge historic figures become human -- Lawrence, with his giggle, and Gertrude Bell, with her disdain for other women, and finally Winston Churchill, charging about the Middle East, annoying his bodyguard. All of this history takes place around Agnes' more everyday romance with a man she meets at her hotel. Agnes tells us we cannot understand our current story unless we understand her history, and she is right. Her story, taking place on the periphery of historic events, helped me understand more about some of the current tensions in the Middle East than any history book could have. Like I still miss Emilio Sandoz, I will miss Agnes as well. This is a novel that stays with you. It is also the only novel where I saw the sense of humor that Russell displayed in her speech at ALA; there are some genuinely funny sections in this book.

Friday Shuffle

1. Thread: k.d. lang from Watershed
2. Square One: Coldplay from X & Y
3. International Echo: Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello from The River in Reverse
4. Little Bird: Emmylou Harris from Stumble into Grace
5. Foolin' Around: Patsy Cline from The Patsy Cline Story
6. Cross My Fingers: John Hiatt from Perfectly Good Guitar
7. Lubbock or Leave It: The Dixie Chicks from Taking the Long Way
8. I Really Hope: The Cranberries from Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
9. Last Good Time in Town: The Eagles from Long Road Out of Eden
10. From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) : The Decemberists from Picaresque
    

Night before Mardi Gras day

The library is opened on the day before Fat Tuesday, a day all students, faculty and staff have off (Fat Tuesday, that is.) I'm so bored I can barely stand myself. I've been here since 6:00pm and I've been asked 2 questions. I don't see much point to being opened on Monday and then closed Tuesday. Why can't we have Monday off as well? Do you think I could be any whinier?