Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pillow Talk:
Jason: What if Spencer from the The Hills is really a huge joke on us as reality TV viewers? What if his character was designed to make us think that he actually is that big of a "______"
Cam: I hate him
Jason: That is the whole point, Spencer is laughing at us right now because we hate him
Cam: I freakin want to throw up all over his flesh colored beard
Jason: Bingo! (laughing)
Jason: What if Spencer from the The Hills is really a huge joke on us as reality TV viewers? What if his character was designed to make us think that he actually is that big of a "______"
Cam: I hate him
Jason: That is the whole point, Spencer is laughing at us right now because we hate him
Cam: I freakin want to throw up all over his flesh colored beard
Jason: Bingo! (laughing)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I lost my cool today
I would like to think that I am a man of the people. I love libraries because I think that they are one of the few remaining, highly functional socialist entities. There are people in my life that I love dearly who only know socialism as it is defined by Sean Hannity... tragic, but true. I believe that libraries are the one place where everybody still has a choice, and when you choose to come to a library, my view is that you choose to better yourself in some way. It can said that many of the ills that have our "third-world in a first world" class by the throat are of their own choosing...drugs, alcohol or just plain lack of will. It is not my position to judge or to think that I am entitled to some higher form of treatment because I pay my taxes and contribute to society.
But today...
As a public service provided by the OPD, we are sent fliers of recently released, convicted sex offenders with their photo and residence. (all of this is public information) Without sounding alarms, they end up in here for various purposes. The other day, we were helping an individual...hmmm, how to put it...that is questioning his gender identification.... when one of the aforementioned Level III sex offenders was waiting in line at the reference desk behind him. Afterwards, level III comes up to us and starts criticizing the transgender individual for wearing a skirt. Level III has no clue that I know what his story is, or his gruesome pedophile history, so I reminded him with surgical precision and a thick dose of irony, that the library is a place where everybody is entitled to feel safe and free from discrimination and that if he continued to act in his present manner, he would lose that privilege quickly himself. So he wandered off...
Two minutes later he was in the children's section chatting with one of our teenage volunteers. I was in his face in .2 seconds asking him if he had a special interest in children's books and if he did, that I would be the one to help him with it and any other questions that he might have, but if he did not, then he has no reason for being in this area. He said something to the effect of "that he has a right to be in whatever part of the library he wanted to, blah blah..." I refrained and told him to move to another area in the library.
Point being, it kept me up all that night thinking about privacy. Is privacy becoming something that is indistinguishable as a right? Am I, as a librarian, expected to take an active role in securing the public space that I am responsible for or did I infringe in some way? The information that I had about Level III was not obtained in any way that any other individual could not find, but at the same time, it is my job to be informed. But it seems to me that Americans are only taking a passive interest in their privacy, allowing others to be the custodians of their information. But what happens when the custodians start speaking in panicked tones? If Level III has lost his right to be within a certain distance of an elementary school, does that deprivation of rights extend to a clearly marked children's section in a large, urban public library?
I am frightened for the future of my children and I lost my cool today...
But today...
As a public service provided by the OPD, we are sent fliers of recently released, convicted sex offenders with their photo and residence. (all of this is public information) Without sounding alarms, they end up in here for various purposes. The other day, we were helping an individual...hmmm, how to put it...that is questioning his gender identification.... when one of the aforementioned Level III sex offenders was waiting in line at the reference desk behind him. Afterwards, level III comes up to us and starts criticizing the transgender individual for wearing a skirt. Level III has no clue that I know what his story is, or his gruesome pedophile history, so I reminded him with surgical precision and a thick dose of irony, that the library is a place where everybody is entitled to feel safe and free from discrimination and that if he continued to act in his present manner, he would lose that privilege quickly himself. So he wandered off...
Two minutes later he was in the children's section chatting with one of our teenage volunteers. I was in his face in .2 seconds asking him if he had a special interest in children's books and if he did, that I would be the one to help him with it and any other questions that he might have, but if he did not, then he has no reason for being in this area. He said something to the effect of "that he has a right to be in whatever part of the library he wanted to, blah blah..." I refrained and told him to move to another area in the library.
Point being, it kept me up all that night thinking about privacy. Is privacy becoming something that is indistinguishable as a right? Am I, as a librarian, expected to take an active role in securing the public space that I am responsible for or did I infringe in some way? The information that I had about Level III was not obtained in any way that any other individual could not find, but at the same time, it is my job to be informed. But it seems to me that Americans are only taking a passive interest in their privacy, allowing others to be the custodians of their information. But what happens when the custodians start speaking in panicked tones? If Level III has lost his right to be within a certain distance of an elementary school, does that deprivation of rights extend to a clearly marked children's section in a large, urban public library?
I am frightened for the future of my children and I lost my cool today...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Happy Fall
I got this cute idea from my dear friend Alayna,one of the most creative and talented people I know. We made this fabulous Pumpkin chocolate chip bread and took it around to friends to say "Happy Fall". I wish I could have made it to all of you. I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful colors and smells of Fall. I love it.
African safari
Sullivan would barely keep this costume on long enough to say Trick or Treat, but him and Owie looked pretty cute.
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