Category: school

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libraries montreal personal photo school

Sunny with a chance of winter

McGill GSLIS

Today I can feel the first gusts of winter, flush with cold, though I’m sure that it’s a meager herald of the coming ice age. I’m a rain-baby, you see, born and having lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest, I know fancy words like “rainshadow” and I’m used to more green than white, even in the winter. Granted I spent quite a bit of my youth in eastern Washington, where there is a real winter, including temperates well below zero and snow up to your belly-button, at times. But it’s been awhile since then and from what I’ve been told the winter here will be make eastern Washington seem a tropical paradise. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Tomorrow marks the end of my first two weeks of classes. They’ve been going well so far. My classmates are – so far in my experience without exception – intelligent and interesting people, and though I wouldn’t say that I’ve made any “fast friends”, I’ve made some nice connections and shared some good conversations and conspiratorial smiles. We’re all in this together, after all, for the next two years, which means plenty of time to conspire, work, and share this experience called grad school.

The GLIS at McGill is modeled to resemble real-life work in a lot of ways. It’s considered a professional degree, so the studies rest much more on the practical than the theoretical, which I think is reasonable and very useful. The graded work in most of my classes is based almost entirely on group projects. Much as a real work environment, you have a project, people to work with (or you work on your own), and a completion date. Much as a real work environment, you generally have multiple ongoing projects at the same time, and you have to schedule the projects around other aspects of the job, in this case lectures and labs (which one could equate at work to time at the reference desk, or cataloguing, or other daily tasks). This is a good model for me because even though I’ve gotten much better at working in groups over the last couple years than I used to be, I consider it an essential part of effective library practice and it remains an area where I feel like I could still grow and learn. Working with people is always the most difficult, and most rewarding, part of the job.

I have some exams as well, and term tests, and individual projects to work on. I have plenty to work on, indeed. I’m not too stressed. Yet. Give me a couple weeks.

I’m working on creating a bibliographic database with a partner in a program called InMagic. We create fields – author, title, keywords, etc – decide how we want these fields to be searchable – term search, word search, both, or neither – and then enter records using the field information. We also have to identify our purpose and audience, and pick a subject, which for us is French Poetry. So far it’s been the most daunting of the projects assigned, though hopefully once we put some elbow grease into it then it won’t seem so insurmountable. For the moment, I’m just having trouble wrapping my brain around it.

Other projects involve creating a diagram describing how information flows within a library, which I’m working with two other people on, as well as creating original card- and MARC-format descriptive bibliographies for three books and comparing my records to records for the same books entered in other libraries. Like I said, I’m quite busy.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my Flickr photos (I added some new ones on Sunday and now there is a link over to the right), and check back here when you can. I’m going to make an effort, now that my life here in Montreal is solidly underway, to be more bloggerish. No, really!

Categories
love personal school

Comme les Quebecois

Susann from McGill's GSLIS called yesterday about some funding they found for me.  I called her back this morning, and in the interim dreamed that perhaps they had seen my library experience and wanted me to do some sort of work study bit in the library there, since I was obviously so well-qualified.  It's not work, sadly, but it is an international tuition waiver, which means that, for my first term at least, I'll be paying Quebec tuition rates instead of international rates.  She told me that it's a $3500 difference for the term, and I'm definately not gonna quibble about that.  I do wish more people would just call me up, out of the blue, and offer me money, though.  It's a disappointingly rare occurence.

I'm getting more revved up, and more scared, about the impending departure.  In the meantime, I've tried to make the most of being where I am and particularly in taking advantage of the people I love who are nearby.  I went to Friday Harbor over the Fourth of July to see Cree and Benj and Gypsy, and to meet Nomi and Anne and Renee and little Aye-la.  It was unaccountably good to see these, my friends, my best friends, of gradeschool through highschool and beyond, doing well, living happily, in good relationships and making healthy choices.  All of them went through rough patches, during which I didn't speak with them much if at all.  We all have to go through things on our own sometimes, and nothing I could have done would have helped, I think.  It's great to have them back, though, even if I am leaving.

This past weekend I went to Port Townsend, where I was born and where my mom lives still.  It was a little hectic but a lot of fun in a house packed with my mom, Abby and myself, Coyote and Paul, and even Kas and Lavinia.  Kas is another best friend from highschool, my acting buddy, and has been living in Holland with his musician wife.  Last time I saw him was four years ago when I graduated from Evergreen, and our visits always seem to be for too brief a time.  Brief or no, at a visit every four years, I'll take what I can get.  Seeing my sister and mom is always nice, of course, and being in Port Townsend is ever-relaxing, even when the time spent is busy and occupied.  Abby got along well with everyone, and vice versa, which is nice since I imagine her being in the picture for a long, long time.  I wasn't worried, but it's still nice when these little details work themselves out.  

She'll meet my dad this weekend, which should be interesting.  I'm sure they'll get along, even if my dad's a little strange.  Still, I'm a lot strange, and she seems to like me okay, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.  I've yet to meet her parents, though I imagine I will before I head east.  So far, she's been a gem about meeting my family, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being a little nervous about meeting hers.  It's not that I've heard horror stories, or have any reason to be concerned, except she's been so good and my family likes her enough that I want to be able to return the favor.

August 15th.  Now less than two weeks away.  Sweet zombie jesus … 

… please keep my ailing sanity in your prayers as I get ready to leave behind the city and friends and woman that I love to pursue some silly graduate school … thing.  It'll all be worth it, right? 

Categories
libraries personal school

Demoting quiet scholarship

In a flash of intuition I decided to visit the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation website to see if they had proclaimed yet their awardees of the 2006-2007 fellowships.  I hadn't heard anything, which the realistic side of me said was probably bad news, but I usually muzzle that side of me and throw it in a dark closet (where it is, I think, quite content).  The optimist in me held out hope, as is its wont, and honestly didn't take it too poorly when it read, from the "press release" issued just today (hence a flash of intuition), that I was not awarded fantastic monies to ease my way through graduate school.  Reading on, the Foundation provided brief bios of some of the "winners", and I let out an exasperated sigh.  How was I, who had led a non-heroic life of quiet if passionate academia and subtle, local public service, how was I to compete with these "heroes" of service and scholarship?

The new Jack Kent Cooke Scholars include: 

  • Bess Greenberg was a college basketball star who played professionally in Denmark and Israel. While traveling the world as an athlete, she honed her photographic skills. She'll be attending the International Center of Photography in New York. 

  • Ted Ehnle was working in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer when he found his "calling."  It was there he began teaching music to village children.  Ted will be attending Northwestern University. 

  • Natacha Chough accomplished a lot in the years since she graduated from college. She's worked with NASA in preparation for the Mars Exploration program and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan.  She hopes to become a NASA flight surgeon so she can enjoy her two loves – medicine and space exploration.

I mean, check out those buzzwords: "traveling the world", "college basketball star", "Peace Corps volunteer" (twice), "teaching music to village children", "NASA", "Mars Exploration Program", and "NASA flight surgeon".

I understand, certainly, that scholarships are meant to be given to outstanding scholars in their field.  I guess that I am, nonetheless, a little off-put in feeling like the Foundation is awarding some sort of glamorous scholarship heroism rather than those of us in a more perhaps salt-of-the-earth type job, if one that still has incredible educational and social consequence.  This leads me, in turn, to wonder if any of the awardees are going to graduate school to study library science.  I'd love to know, but, ignorant, I'd be willing to wager that none are.

Maybe I'm just a little bitter that libraries and librarians are an undervalued commodity in our society's educational and community landscapes, despite their incredible worth and potential.  That, and I was honestly pretty excited that they might just up and give me $30k a year, both years, to get my master's degree.  Can't blame a guy for a little disappointment there.  I always felt I could use a few more loans, anyway …. 

I would, though, sincerely like to congratulate the seventy-seven recipients of the Fellowship.  Way to be, and good luck with your space exploration medicinal music-teaching photography peace corps type stuff.  Me, I'd rather be a librarian.  Even a poor one.

Categories
personal poetic school

Passing time as I wait for time to pass.

Some afternoons just drag on, as if to spite a person. I don’t feel like I write well anymore, and it bugs me a little bit. On the other hand, i realize that I don’t really practice very often, so I should just shut my damn yapper and get some serious pen-time going on if I want to feel better about myself. I wrote well once, I think. My oeuvre is well liked among certain literary circles.

I freaked out a bit this past Monday about school and Montreal. I read at first that getting my student permit would take 6-12 months from application, and I panicked. Finally I found the fine print that stated that as an international student from the United States there was actually NO wait time involved, and that I could just get my student permit at my point of entry. What I do have to do is get my CAQ (quack backwards: reminds me of a bad joke. What do you call a duck that flies upside down? A quack-up!), which is something like Certification d’acceptance des etudes a Quebec, or something. The CAQ takes 4-6 weeks, which is certainly manageable, but it also requires proof of funds, not only to pay for the entire first year, but to assure them of being able to pay the second and subsequent years as well (should there be any). So, I got stressed out again, until I heard from the financial aid office at McGill that I should have already received or will at least receive soon a letter of award for the sum of $18,500 in loans. While I’d obviously prefer not to take out that much in loans, at the least it will assure my CAQ eligability while I wait for less soulsucking sources of funding to avail themselves upon my wallet. I should hear about ALA scholarships soon, though not about the big, supercool fellowship until mid-July.

I’m giving serious, very serious and honest-to-goodness no-holds-barred thought to selling my car and flying to Montreal. I would not own a car. It would be the first period of my not owning a car since before I turned 16. Over ten years. It’s a frightening and liberating concept. Montreal does have a good transportation system, and if I live close enough to campus, which is the goal, I think that I’d much prefer to walk everywhere anyway. Among other things, it will be cheaper, and the way things are looking I will most certainly be your quintessential dirt-broke grad student who needs every penny. Obviously I’ll lose a little outward mobility, i.e. it’ll be tough to visit folks like Tim who would be a relatively short drive away otherwise. I did think that maybe I would buy a motorcycle for weekend excursions, but I can come to that when I come to that.

In an effort to feel like more of a writer, today I decided I would create new idioms for the english language. Here is my first attempt. If you like it, please spread it around and say things like, “Wow, that Ahniwa fellow sure is a heck of a guy, did you hear this thing he made up?” and so on.

The idiom expresses an attempt made by someone to do the impossible, to bend a person or thing, which is impressively stubborn, around to your point of view. Furthermore, it implies a negative consequence for even making the attempt, such that by even trying to argue the point you are turning the person or object against you.

The expression itself is: trying to milk a lemon; or, milking lemons. And variations thereof.

Example: Sergei tried to impress upon Anna the efficacy of the Bush regime. The more he pushed, the angrier Anna got, until finally she threw him down a well. Years later, his friend Ajax came by to say, “That’s what you get for trying to milk a lemon.” Sergei had at that time, one might surmise, already been eaten by rats, and could not appreciate his friend’s advice.

Tee hee. Morbid, I suppose. My apologies. Please, go now, and have great weekends, and above all, don’t milk any lemons around any wells. Those rats are already overfed. Thank you.

Categories
personal school

Dear Government, Please Give Me Money.

Egads!

I’ve spent four hours already today trying to work out student loan applications. It’s a process that’s involved three seperate phone calls and one call-back left on my voicemail, about six websites (with three open at any one time for referencing purposes), four different login (and registration) processes, and a lot of (probably annoying) finger tapping while I was on hold. Good thing it’s spring break this week and the library is quiet.

In any case, I have successfully (I think) navigated the maze of applying for a student loan. Been awhile since I’ve done that, and it’s a lot tougher applying to a school in another country. The really annoying part is that I can’t get my student visa until I can prove financial means to pay for school, and they’re in no hurry at all to tell me how much they’re going to give me. This will result in frayed nerves for the Ahniwa, I’m afraid.

I’m anxious about it as it is (though super excited), which probably accounts for my dream last night. I was supposed to catch a plane to Paris, but it was the day of my flight and I didn’t have a ride to the airport. Around 6:40pm (in my dream), someone said to me, “Wasn’t your flight supposed to take off at 6:00?”. Somehow, I figured if I could just make it to the airport, it wouldn’t matter if I was late, but I never did get there before I woke up. I had another weird airport dream pretty recently. Not exactly sure what’s up with that.

Cross your fingers for me. I’m more than happy to owe another $40k in loans if I get to live in Montreal for two years and get my masters degree. Especially now that so much has been leading up to it.

Categories
libraries school

Implications of changing names in changing times.

I came across an interesting paper written as a masters thesis
(around 2000, I think), that addresses this topic pretty well.

“The implications of name changes for library and information
science schools” – JULIA ANNE MURPHY

the link is: http://www.crowbold.com/homepage/topic4.htm

Of particular interest concerning this topic:

Positive and Negative Aspects of Name Changes
Most proponents of library school name changes agree that the changes are important in recruiting a new type of student. Changing librarianships’ negative stereotypical image is cited as an important reason. Maurita Holland of the University of Michigan says that the term “library” conjures up archaic images (Davis, 1998) and Jose-Marie Griffiths, Director of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Tennessee agrees. “We are striving to recruit students of a different type who wouldn’t think about entering a library and information science program because they have the traditional view of what it’s all about” (Dean’s list, 1994, p. 60).

Another important factor is psychological. Name changes show academe and potential students that the field of information science is not limited to librarianship, and that information science education can lead to non-traditional, higher paying jobs (once again, usually in the corporate world). Library schools today are adamant about divorcing librarianship from the physical institution of the library. “Information science” connotes that information is everywhere and that therefore graduates of a program can work just about anywhere, whether that is in a library, corporate setting, or as a freelance information broker. Nancy Van House, former Dean of the now-defunct School of Library and Information Science at the University of California at Berkeley agrees. “If we focus as ‘library schools’, on the library, then we are tied to an institution that is changing and that could disappear”(Dean’s list, 1994, p.62).

Naturally, others disagree heartily with the name changes, finding them superficial at best and an utter betrayal of the profession at worst. While proponents of the changes believe the name changes will improve relations with the rest of academe, critics feel that universities will see the new titles as simply another attempt by a
low-ranking discipline to manipulate words in order to raise its status (Crowley, 1998). And while name changes may appear to be a token effort to address the reality of the information paradigm shift, it takes time and strategic planning to develop a corresponding curriculum that is properly balanced between theoretical and practical education. In this sense, name changes, especially with the plethora of permutations of the word “information”, can be evidence again of the identity crisis within which library schools are involved (Bohannan, 1991). What are such schools, really? More library school than information science school? Or vice versa? These questions lead one directly back to the definitions described above — definitions that provide few answers except to show that as a profession, librarianship is still struggling to define itself and its schools.

I still don’t know how I feel about getting rid of the word “Library” from graduate programs. Perhaps I’m biased because I do want the degree to pursue work IN libraries, which I realize isn’t the case for everyone.

Here are some more links I’ve run across that seem relevant.
There’s a lot to read, just thought I’d throw it out there.

http://www.si.umich.edu/cristaled/postings/V52.html

http://walt.lishost.org/?p=231

http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/cap03/regan/unitedstates.htm

In addition, library schools are choosing to drop the word ‘library’ from their faculty names in order to disassociate themselves with the low status occupation of librarian. Farley suggests that librarians can improve their status and pay by: 1) standing firm on wage negotiations despite economic downturns, 2) disseminating information on fair pay, 3) embracing the title of librarian instead of information specialist. She generally recommends marketing the librarian as important to society and refute the common misconceptions of the librarian.

Categories
libraries school

The idea of “library” and the importance of a name.

McGill’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies is evidently considering dropped the words “Graduate” and “Library”, which has some students up in arms. School of Information Studies? I don’t think it sounds as nice, or fits as well the role of the school, which just added three specializations this year: Knowledge Management, Archival Studies, and Librarianship. If you’re going to offer a specialization in “librarianship”, wouldn’t it make sense to keep “library” in the name? The crux is this, what does the word “library” mean in the 21st century, and how is it viewed outside of the library community? Removing the word would likely be based on the idea that “library science” has fallen far enough out of its specialization in libraries and into a more general idea of information management. Is there an viable instance where “library studies” are outside of and distinct from “information studies”?

If you do a wikipedia search for library science it automatically brings up the entry for LIS (Library and Information Science). For wikipedia, library science automatically incorporates information science, but the reverse does not seem to be true.

Library and information science (LIS) is the study of issues related to libraries and the information fields. This includes academic studies regarding how library resources are used and how people interact with library systems. These studies tend to be specific to certain libraries at certain times. The organization of knowledge for efficient retrieval of relevant information is also a major research goal of LIS. Basic topics in LIS include the acquisition, cataloging, classification, and preservation of library materials. In a more present-day view, a fervent outgrowth of LIS is information architecture. LIS should not be confused with information theory, the mathematical study of the concept of information or information science a field related to computer science and cognitive science.

Programs in LIS are interdisciplinary, overlapping with the fields of computer science, various social sciences, statistics, and systems analysis.

Doing a search for “information science” points you to informatics, where the language points much more into the realm of computer science and information management via databases and software engineering.

Informatics or information science is the study of information. It is often, though not exclusively, studied as a branch of computer science and information technology and is related to database, ontology and software engineering.

Informatics is primarily concerned with the structure, creation, management, storage, retrieval, dissemination and transfer of information. Informatics also includes studying the application of information in organizations, on its usage and the interaction between people, organizations and information systems. Within information science attention has been given in recent years to human computer interaction (HCI) and to the ways people generate, use and find information.

In the academic world, it’s easy to think that being a librarian is all about creating databases, utilizing new software, being technologically innovative, and so-on and so-forth, ad technologicum. However, many LIS graduates find work in small public libraries, where you still find a lot of patrons who don’t want to use computers or databases, and who want to ask the librarian anytime they have a question. For a lot of librarians, patron interaction and reference work are what make their jobs worthwhile, and while younger library users will likely jump on the technology bandwagon, utilizing the software and databases created by the librarian instead of the librarian directly, we have a more conventional generation, who having grown up with card catalogs and print indexes, aren’t keen on skipping the middleman and jumping straight into information overload.

Day by day the line is blurring between LIS and Informatics. We, as librarians and library students, are at a point where we need to try and straddle the gap between the two, and eventually build a bridge. I think that it is important to maintain the distinction between information study as a librarian to information study as a computer science student or software engineer. Yes, as “librarians” we want to be able to branch out. We are versatile, and can offer many skills outside of the library setting. But if that is our explicit goal, then the field of library science will decline, and the importance of the library as place will eventually be swallowed by technology, computer science, and the internet. The library can always expand its purview, and incorporate innovation and technology to its heart’s content. We can make the words “library science” mean “information expert”, rather than letting “information expert” destroy the word “librarian”.

Categories
montreal personal school

La Nouvelle France

We’ve a ways to go yet,
time to spend,
waiting …

for me to get nervous.

Will this whole financial aid thing work out? Will I be able to go to Montreal? I’ll sell me soul to do so, but I hear they’re not going for much these days.

In this regard, I was price-checking colleges again the other day. McGill is a good choice, financially. For instance: U. of Wisconsin: Madison charges about $500 per credit instate, and over $1500 per credit out of state. Simmons College in Boston, as a private institution, charges just under $900 per credit, across the board. If I were lucky enough to be a resident of Quebec, McGill would only cost $60 per credit. As it is, it’s still only $375 per credit, which is chump change compared to my other options. So that’s good, but I still don’t know, as an international student, exactly how my aid works out. US Aid should apply to me just as if I was attending a US school, but I need to doublecheck that. Instead, I’m writing about how I should be doublechecking it. Priorities, I know.

Rent is affordable in Montreal as well, according to their Craigslist. Bearing in mind that those numbers, as well as the tuition numbers, are in Canadian currency, actual price is about %88 of the amount listed. Even better.

Wikipedia has (as usual) a great article on Montreal, with lots of links, shiny buttons, and pikters. If you like that sorta thing. Back in the day I was reading the Montreal City Weblog, which has fun dirt on local political stories, and well as news on various artistic events. Good times.

Montreal proper is about three times as populated as Seattle, which gives you an idea of how big it is. Visually, I find it to be an attractive city.

So how close am I to getting there? Well, I got my official acceptance packet from McGill, which was exciting in its own right. Included were immigration papers for Canada and Quebec, seperately, to let them know that I’ll be there attending school. I filled out my FAFSA, always a joy, and I’ve started filling out mad scholarship applications. Between four years of library employment and good references from coworkers and professors, I think I demonstrate a dedication to the job and the ability to excel that scholarship committees are looking for. But having never been through this process before, I admit to no small amount of trepidation.

My undergrad process was so easy. I filled out the FAFSA (not entirely easy, but easy enough), and the state and federal government practically threw grants, aid, and loans in my face. After four years I ended owing a little over $20k, which isn’t horrible by any means, which is now down to about $7k. I’m a giant fan of subsidized loans for education, and if they want to offer me a whole ton of money in loans, I’d be happy to take it. The education is the thing, and I can’t think of a cost too great to not make it worthwhile. Which is all well and good, but doesn’t mean they’ll give me the money, anyway.

So that’s my state of the union, as it were. I’ve been out dancing a lot, again, which is great fun, and I’ve been meeting some super people. And it helps me not worry so much about the grad school money thing, because it will work out, one way or another. Until it does, I’ll just keep dancing.

Categories
internet poetic school socialweb

Battle of the Megictionaries

Whatever their shortcomings, neither encyclopedia appears to be as error-prone as one might have inferred from Nature, and if Britannica has an edge in accuracy, Wikipedia seems bound to catch up.

Continued here…

In other Wiki news, have you heard about Wikiversity?

The main goal of Wikiversity is not just to impart knowledge but to facilitate learning. The collaborative model of the wiki will be applied to an e-learning framework. This differs significantly from a classic university model, although it does acknowledge the growing acceptance of a social theory of learning in pedagogical and academic practice.

Wikiversity will not prohibit research, though it need not necessarily be a part of every course. In the technical training aspects of its work, its goal is not to discover new things, but to teach things which are already known to new people. At a higher level of education, there will probably have to be some scope for students to do their own research, whether a survey of the literature or of primary research, though this will have to be monitored carefully, and will be dependent on the type of course offered.

Wikiversity does not yet certify student’s mastery. We currently have no way of assuring who is doing the work for a course. We have no way ensuring that every course that would be required for a degree has enough teachers to even attempt it. We attempt to teach the same material many accredited schools do, and to teach the material as well (or better!). But we are not yet an accredited university. There is no guarantee that we will attempt to gain accreditation in the future. It is an open question with diverse opinions within the current community of participants whether accreditation and the ability to award recognized credentials will be useful or effective in the performance of our mission to facilitate free learning. It is already clear that Wikiversity will be a radically different kind of learning platform/environment/resource and its identity and scope will be continually shaped by its students and its practitioners.

Our goal, therefore, is to teach the material to whomever wants to learn it, to the best of our ability and theirs. We set out the materials needed to learn, and set up a framework for collaborative learning and teaching. It is the task of the self selected participants to work towards actual mastery of desired skills sufficient and necessary to pursue personal goals.

And since I don’t remember if I posted this before, it’s a great wiki resource for librarians.

You guessed it, it’s Wiki Wednesday!

Before I said that, I didn’t even know it was an actual phenom.

Categories
personal poetic school webcomics

Et tu, McGill?

Running a webcomic in a serious fashion dominates your life. It’s like crack, giant ramakins full of crack with dollops of “hilarious” and “ARGH!” thrown in as seasoning, simmered for 80 hours, and shoved down your gullet without so much as a bon appetit. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun, but time-consuming much? Yes. Of course, I’m the slacker that doesn’t have to draw the damn thing, so I got shit to complain about. Ask Theo about his social life lately … oh wait, you won’t be able to find him since he’s holed up drawing all the time.

That’s not entirely true. We hit the town, play pool, and cat about. It’s a toss, let me tell ya.

So this month is a big month. This month, I should learn if I get accepted to McGill for next Fall. Yes, Montreal is still on the plate, and in some ways it’s looking more savory than ever. I love the Northwest, but I dunno if I need to settle down in one area quite yet, and if I don’t explore the world when the opportunity presents in my youth, what are the chances that I’ll do so as I grow older?

In this, I have been fickle so far. Well, not entirely, considering I wasn’t accepted and therefore not offered the opportunity to be fickle (and I bet I would have gone, too, though I don’t regret staying here for another year). I’ll leave it at the fact that I’ve made my plays, and put things in motion, and at this point I don’t mind being a leaf in the wind, watching what unfolds.

My French skills fucking suck right now, though. I explete because this irritates me, and I’d like to parler fucking bien. When no one can hear me, I recite Apollinaire to myself, and always stop at the third stanza, dismayed that I’ve forgotten. Could I look it up? But then what would I complain about? I’ll leave you with the first two stanzas, from memory:

Vous y dansiez petite fille.
Y danzerez-vous mere-grande.
C’est la maclotte qui sautille,
toutes les cloches sonneront.
Quand donc reviendrez-vous, Marie?

Les masques sont silencieux,
et la musique est si lointaine,
qu’elle semble venir des cieux,
oui je veux vous aimer mais vous aimer a peine
et mon mal est delicieux.

That’s a memory from a long time ago, indeed.

Categories
personal school

‘Til the wheels fall off …

I apologize for the abrupt disappearance. I’m still not completely sure what I’m doing with this blog, but I do get the itch to post here every once in awhile, and I figure I can do that even while I try to figure it all out.

For those of you that didn’t hear, I didn’t get accepted to McGill, and that’s put a serious crimp in my style. I feel a bit adrift. I’ll figure something out yet, I’m sure.

Anyway, the following are pictures I took while visiting my mom in Port Townsend over Mother’s Day weekend. I hope you enjoy them.

I promise I won’t pull any more stunts, at least for awhile.

Thank you all for your support. 🙂

Categories
game news school

La Métro-Politesse

We spent all day on Sunday playing a board game. And by “all day”, I mean this game takes a good 12 hours from start to finish. We’ve had multi-day games happen before, but it’s never as exciting the next day, so now we try to start early and finish fast. I always tend to be the one trying to “move things along”, for some reason. I don’t have any/much German in me, so I can’t explain this need to facilitate.

Daniel came down to visit for a couple days, and Civ is our tradition, dating all the way back to early ’99. He was in China for a year, and now lives in Austin, so it’s been awhile. It was a great time, with some good guys and lots of beer (once again, Adam brought an excellent home-brew). Daniel stayed until this morning, and he got the full flavor of an Ahniwa slice-of-life: swing dancing, and music. I wish I didn’t work so close to the line (the line of financial ruin, that is) and could have taken some time off to visit with him more. Hopefully he didn’t feel cheated, but I did warn him that my life is frantically busy. Still, it was good to see him, and he’s coming back down for another weekend soon, so perhaps we’ll be able to catch up more then.

—

Sprint has stolen my soul and replaced it with cancer.
That’s right, I’m now cellular.

I like the service, but the prices screw you over unless you get a two-year contract, which seems a bit long for me. And evidently, if you cancel your contract early, Sprint is entitled to your first-born child and a yearly Christmas card. They can have the damn kid (had I one), but I suck at sending Christmas cards.

The first phone I got sucked.
But I’m getting a new one.

It’s like Eddie Izzard says, when you get a new technology, you expect it to be able to do everything for you. “I got this new thing, now I’ll never have to work or do anything myself ever again!” I don’t know why, but that’s what I expected from my cell phone (I even tried to cure a leper with it). Instead, the coolest thing I’ve gotten it to do so far is play the Cure whenever one of my friends calls me (which is, in fact, pretty cool). The funny thing is, I blame my phone’s failures at performing miracles on the particular phone I had, and not the technology in general. So when I get my new phone, I’ll go through this all over again, most likely (unless it actually can cure leprosy, I’ll let you know). Even if it fails at miracles, the new phone is silver and blue instead of just silver, and it’s got the whole walkie-talkie thing going for it, and a speakerphone, so I can just set the phone down and yell at the top of my voice (because that seems like it will annoy everyone around me even more, which is my goal as a new cell-phone user seeking revenge). I’ve joined the 21st century, and lo, there was much rejoicing. Thank you, Saint Sprint.

—

Gamespy has a first. A decent article. But you’d know that already if you read Penny Arcade. Which you should. The game itself looks neat. The concept is ground-breaking.

Also, with EA so big in the news lately, people should take a moment and read the EA Spouse transmission. I don’t know if such a thing is possible any longer in our EA-infested world, but I’m strongly considering boycotting them. This is old news, evidently, but it’s the first time I’d ever seen it. So I put here on the off-chance it’s the first time you’d ever seen it too.

Other news: McGill Application – Finished, Sent.
Yelm Job: I declined the interview. It was too far away.
Likeliness that I’ll still be in Oly this fall: 95%.

If you live in Washington, I hope you’re living through our pollen plague. Flowers are sure rude bastards. You don’t see me throwing my male gametes all over the place, do you? Do you!? No, and you don’t want to either. In honor of these plants being assholes, I’ve butchered the “Roses are red…” poem in a new and fun way.

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
keep your seeds to yourself,
I don’t gamete on you!

Yes, “gamete” is now a verb. Use freely.

–OHMYGODBECKYLOOKATHERPISTILITISSOBIG–

Categories
humor montreal school

Guerilla warfare is for monkeys

And monkeys are awesome, so it’s all good.

I think we all need to do more stuff like this.
Imagine the possibilities.

Tickle-Me Elmos could stop giggling and start screaming “Bad touch! Bad touch!” to teach kids that it’s okay to speak out against their local priest. The Pee-Wee Herman doll could make lewd comments about how much he likes it when you pull his cord. But nothing’s quite as good as a G.I. Joe doll idly wondering, “Will I ever have enough clothes?” Thanks to Kevin for the link.

So I’ve been in absolute la-la land lately. A lot of those “complications” I mentioned in a previous entry have worked themselves out, and I’ve been having a blast. Last night I cooked borscht for the first time, and it actually turned out pretty well! Granted, we cheated a bit and used a food chopper device, which made the beets a little more minced than I would have liked, but the end product was superb. We sucked that down with some red wine and some warm bread, cleansed our pallettes with a raspberry liqueur (which was heavenly, oh my god), and watched a couple movies. Everyone had left after the first movie, and so just the two of us were left to snuggle through Gods and Monsters, which saw us both passed out within a half-hour. So I guess I can’t say I really watched it. But the first half-hour seemed quite interesting!

Something which may surprise some, dismay or anger others. I’ve pretty much decided that if I get accepted to McGill that I’ll defer for a year, during which time I’ll also apply to the University Of Washington’s MLIS program (which I was too late for this year, unfortunately). McGill would be awesome, and Montreal looks fantastic, but ya know … I gotta see about a girl. It’s not an easy decision, and nothing’s written in stone yet, but for now I feel like putting grad school back a year and perhaps not doing it in Montreal is a smaller sacrifice than letting this amazing woman possibly slip away. Hey, it’s a surprise to me too!

As Theo‘s mentioned, tonight we’re going up to Seattle for a bit of club-hopping. They have a deal in Pioneer Square where you can get a club pass (7 clubs) for $12. Not bad! We’re gonna start out with some grubbin’ at The New Orleans, a place I mentioned previously when I went up to Seattle with Christine and met some great swing-dancers, and then the guys are gonna swing over to The Owl ‘N Thistle for to take advantage of their nice dart boards and fine brews. Then who knows what the night may bring. I’ll be sure to let you know.

That’s it for now. I’m gonna go try and write a micro.

And now your moment of zen.

Categories
poetic school

Deux petits chansons en francais

Elle est sans elephants,
sans soucis ou souris,
sans sens mais elle danse,
et pour moi ca suffit.

———————–

Tant pis? Tant mieux?
Je ne sais pas.
et toi?
Toi non plus.
Je danserai comme d’habitude,
en France ou non,
n’importe ou,
je m’en fou.

————————

Today I need to bust ass on my McGill app and scholarship and financial aid stuff, so I’m gonna go get to it! Wish me luck!

Categories
cinema poetic school

All good things come to those who marathon

We had a marathontacular weekend, involving oodles of screen space projected onto our white-smackled wall, creating a sort of matte finish to the film which is kind of artsy in a way, a subwoofer which makes your ass tingle if you’re sitting on the floor, and the fate of middle-earth. Yes, we marathoned the extended editions of all three of the Lord of the Rings movies with a digital projector and a boat-load of malted beverage, and it was glorious.

More excitingly, I stopped procrastin’ and applied to McGill for the Fall term. I also emailed my fave professors at Evergreen, and they’re going to hook me up with some fantabulous letters of recommendation. Now I just need to bust ass on scholarship apps, and my support documents, and I’ll be all set. Then it’ll just be left for me to shiver anxiously in the corner until I find out if they accept me or not. I’ve got all my eggs in this basket; and I’m in the mood to make an omelette.

I wrote a story on Saturday for the Brief Lies microfiction. I think it turned out pretty well, though I’d love some critique. You can read it here.

Categories
dance montreal personal school

Montreal swing

I continued to research graduate schools today for a glorious future of library employment. McGill in Montreal is still at the top of my list, followed in no particular order by: U. of Wisconsin, Madison; Simmons, in Boston; Southern Connecticut State University, in New Haven; U. of Washington, in Seattle; and U. of B.C., Vancouver. Aside from quality of the schools, and really they all seem pretty decent (if they suck they don’t last long), I’ve been focusing on location, and where I want to be. One of the main qualifiers is, you might have guessed, the hepness of the swing-dance scene. And so, in searching, I came across this, which seems very hep indeed. Moving to Montreal scares the shit out of me, but without even ever having been there, I’ve already started to really like the city. No matter what works out in the Fall, I’ve a feeling I’ll end up in Montreal regardless, one way or another.

Last night, abandoned by my usual swing cohorts, I drove up to Tacoma by myself, and had nothing less than a rockin’ good time. Taking smoke breaks alone wasn’t half as much fun, but I managed anyway. I worked on my blues styling a tiny bit (though I still feel woefully inadequate during slower songs), danced with three great dancers I’d never danced with before, chatted with some nice people and got an e-mail address (one step down from a phone #, sure, but hey) to see if some girls want to hook up at McCabe’s next Tuesday for some western swing dancing. As I was leaving, I asked Dave about blues dancing classes, of which I guess there is one (only one *sigh*) up at the Dance Underground next Friday. We’re also working on a new performance routine for V-day to “Tainted Love”, which should be smashing, simply smashing. I suspect we’ll be supposing to practice the performance next Friday, but I may sneak away anyway. I wanna learn me some blues.

On a juicier note, I’ve been getting some major vibe from a very dangerous girl on Tuesday nights. She portrays herself as a bit of a player, and though I’ve no doubt that she’s crafty, I still think she talks a bit bigger than she acts. Even so, she’d probably chew me up and spit me out, which remains tempting all the same. Tempting, but not likely. I wouldn’t mind but for a strange sense of morality that keeps getting in my way. Ah well, probably for the best.

Categories
libraries music personal school

Our kitty may be bulemic

Hey look, it’s March! Not even just March, but March 3!
How many days I have missed, living and not writing! Fah.

Well, lesse – I submitted my application to Kent online, for the MLIS offered through the local community college. Now I just have to: get three letters of recommendation, submit my career goals, a urine and sperm sample, a pint of blood, a lock of hair, and my firstborn child. And that’s just to be considered! I think I may try to pass off Crookshanx as my child, but I kind of doubt they’ll go for it. He really has the mentality of a 2nd, or even 3rd-born child. (like me!)

Emily is nearly finished paying off her credit cards. My dad offered to pay off the loan on my car. That will just leave my college loans, which may grow soon as well, but are well worth it, anyway. It’s pretty neat to think about being out of debt, even though I know it will still take a while.

The most exciting thing right now: a new guitar. I asked my dad for one for my birthday, coming up. His friend, Paul, is a guitar genius — so I think he’s gonna have Paul get one for me. Lately, I really miss playing. This time, maybe I’ll actually even work on learning how!

On a brief side note, I think our kitty may be bulemic.
I’ll leave you with that disturbing thought. Ta!